July 6, 2010: Coinsidences

Hola, All! Most of you know that I do not believe in conincidences. I believe that people or things come into our lives for a reason. For instance, last week my instuctor, Royner, told me about the School of Friends (Quakers). Last Fri this young woman named Eli sat at my table at break. It turns out that she is a Quaker from Pennsylvania. On Sat as I was walking to the farmers market, I ran into her as she was returning from there. After going to the farmers market, I went to a small store where natural products were sold. The young woman whose family owned the store told me that she attended the Quaker school. (Come on, this is really too much!) Since Royner and Eli both asked me to go to the service (called a Meeting) on Sunday, I decided to go. My other choice was to attend a Catholic service. Sunday morning I walked about 25 minutes to the Meeting. I got there just as they were finishing their last song. Then a woman got up to explain the Meeting. Really it was a time of silence, or meditation, when anyone could voice a prayer. After different people spoke, this woman would translate into Spanish. It was almost all about a member who had died recently of a disease. There were no more songs, no sermon, no religious affirmations, just some silence inbetween the people who had a prayer to say or who read a poem about something that was important to them. I found it really interesting when a man spoke about what they did during the childrens time, which took place outside. The kids were throwing a frisby back and forth, sometimes dropping it. Then he talked to them about staying in the present moment and really paying attendtion to what they were doing. After they resumed playing frisby, the kids did not drop it much. After the end of the silence period, there were announcements, introductions of the visitors, and then a pot luck lunch. All in all, I enjoyed the Meeting and the lunch.
For those of you who are wondering if I am learning any Spanish, the answer is yes. I go to school for 4 hours M-F, plus I probably study 2-3 hours a day. The teachers here are really good, and even give us homework.
Love you, chao for now!
Dawnie