Yesterday we spent pretty much the whole day at our church, La Quinta, in Diriamba. We were told we were going to spend the morning helping out with the childrens´ service. I pictured my days as a child at Children´s Church, where we would sing songs, sit and watch a cartoon Moses talk about the Ten Commandments, and then get lollipops as our parents picked us up. Oh how different Nicaraguan children´s church is! Picture about 30 or 40 little whirlwinds between the ages of 6 and 10 with bubbles, little hands grabbing American cameras, and loud music blaring from the speakers on the stage.
We had four activities: coloring, painting, face painting, and ¨hair salon.´´ I had a group of chatty girls who decided that they wanted to stay at the hair salon activity for about 45 minutes. Braids, beads, brushes flying everywhere, and the little girls twirled around their new hairstyles as we snapped pictures like proud parents at prom. After braiding a few girls´ hair, one insisted on playing with mine. She meticulously twisted and tied my hair with the confidence of a professional. Occassionally she would mutter and undo whatever she had just done before beginning on a new section of my hair. I couldn´t help but smile, thinking about all the times my friends and I had played with each others´ hair and how some things are universal.
Later in the day after all the children had left (and it was much quieter), Joshua invited me over to chat with 2 of his new Nicaraguan friends, Victor and Alex. They are learning English and Joshua and I were eager to practice our Spanish, so the four of us chatted about different phrases we don´t understand or words we have trouble saying. The conversation turned to music, and Victor picked up a guitar and started playing Pink Floyd. Joshua and I couldn´t help but laugh as we listened to him talk about his favorite music (Zeppelin and the Beatles, to name a few). We just can´t seem to escape American culture.
I wish I could detail for you all the friends here we are making, but this blog would turn into a novel, and I doubt anyone would read it. God is breaking down language barriers, teaching us through the Spirit, and showing me how deep His love for His people goes. I am so blessed to be here and can´t wait to see where God takes these new friendships!
Dios te bendiga,
Paige
I had a picture of my hair after the girls finished with it but the computer doesn´t recognize my camera! I´ll attempt next time…
