Retreat Groups!

Retreat group season is in full swing! It is an important and large part of our year in Ecuador so I thought I would take advantage of our 36 hour break between groups and write a short post on it.

11 colleges and high schools will visit Mount Sinai during our year. Each group of about 10-14 students has one volunteer leader. In Sinai, while there is only one leader who stays with the group the entire week, it truly is a group effort splitting up cooking, driving, and translating responsibilities.

The groups come down after months of preparation to live a week by our pillars (simplicity, hospitality, community, spirituality, and service) and in solidarity with our neighbors. They embrace the Rostro mantras: “Participate don´t anticipate” and “Being instead of doing.”

This past week I FINALLY led my first retreat group. An AMAZING group of 12 individuals from St Joseph´s University came down and brightened our home and our community with their presence. We visited my community mate’s worksites at the San Felipe Neri school, Damien House, Nuevo Mundo school, and Casa Don Bosco; visited with some neighbors of Mount Sinai; attended masses; and played a lot of soccer! 

Leading a group summoned in me energy I didn’t know I had and gave me new perspective on my volunteer year. On the last day during a visit with one of my closest neighbors she told the group that they put color back into my face; I had been pale before. While I’m not sure how much truth there is to that as my Ecuadorian neighbors are always exaggerating comments on appearance, she did correctly identify something. I entered the retreat a little burnt out and in a rut with my routine. Experiencing Mount Sinai through fresh eyes regrounded me in my calling to be here and in gratitude for the 10 months I have had here.

We have four more groups to come and I will be leading my second group the beginning of June. These last two months will fly by with many gringos coming in and out of Sinai!

April (and March and February...) Showers Bring May Flowers

We are FINALLY nearing the end of the rainy season here in Ecuador. While the rain has brought destruction and uncertainty to Mount Sinai, it has also undoubtedly intensified the beauty of the sector; an interesting duality.

April was another eventful month here in Sinai. Ill try my best to recap some of the highlights here.

We joined in the unique Semana Santa (Holy Week) and Easter celebrations. On Palm Sunday we walked from the nearby San Felipe Neri School to our main parish, Corpus Cristi, with our palms and a donkey. My 6 year-old friend, Brittany, held my hand the whole way, and at times it seemed like she was leading me through the walk – how symbolic for what this year has been, journeying through a child´s eyes. 

On Good Friday we did a live stations of the cross walking from our chapel Santa Teresa to the San Felipe Neri School. The youth group kids played all the roles and did a fabulous job. It was very moving experience.

We had two wonderful retreat group stay with us this month, University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Fairfield Prep. The next group to come in May will finally be my turn to lead!

 

Visting with my office

At work I spent the beginning of the month visiting homes most affected by the rain and flooding. We wrote reports and helped distribute resources that were donated to Hogar de Cristo.

We had a few special dinners this month. The Madres (nuns) at the San Felipe Neri school where Greg and Heidi teach had us all over for dinner one night and cooked an American classic…pizza! We also had dinner with one of our close neighbors who may be moving soon. Knowing we cannot cook Ecuadorian food well enough to serve it to actual Ecuadorians we turned to another American classic…breakfast for dinner (pancakes, eggs, sausage, and potatoes).

View of the beach from the retreat house

Mt Sinai Community

We closed the month of April and entered our 10^th month here in Ecuador with a volunteer retreat at the beach in Manta. We stayed at a Jesuit retreat center right on the water. It was a restful and relaxing weekend. When asked at the end for one word or sentence to describe what we reflected on during the retreat or are taking from it I chose the word gratitude. While these past three months have been heavy, I feel truly blessed every day to be here in Mount Sinai. I will ground myself in this deep sense of gratitude and draw strength from it in our concluding 3 months in Ecuador.