Showing posts with label hispanic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hispanic. Show all posts

Monday, April 6, 2009

And That's Just the Novices

The Missionary Servants of the Word are young, happy, and on fire for the mission to spread the Gospel of Christ with Bible in hand. That's what I learned during my recent trip to Mexico City. I also learned that they are going to send, not three, but four sisters to our parish in August. Hooray! Where are we going to put them? How are we going to pay for it? Don't forget, you are all invited to a very special event to raise funds for our new convent.
Mexico City and environs, known as the "Federal District", form a vast nightmarish landscape, like Mordor with really good food. 22 million persons inhabit the "DF" and I tip my hat to them, because you have to be really tough to live there. Just getting to work is hard work. Commuting times are long, roads are bumpy, and the traffic is indescribable. Drivers make up rules of the road as they go along. In addition to the usual stop signs and speed limit signs, the authorities have put up signs reminding people to do what the signs tell them to do. Let's think about the thought process that went into this decision. (1) authorities notice that drivers ignore speed limit signs (2) authorities notice that drivers ignore "yield" signs (3) authorities notice that drivers ignore "one way" signs (4) authorities conclude that additional signs reminding drivers to respect existing signs are a good investment. Now you understand Mexico.
On the plus side, I found that the Metro (subway) was mnre comfortable than that of Rome, even though Mexico City's Metro isn't a real subway in my opinion, because it has rubber tires. Real trains have steel wheels. Still, the trains are pretty clean, well lit, not too noisy, and the stations and platforms are of ample dimensions. I have seen much worse in New York City.

Friday, November 28, 2008

Feliz día del pavo

We tried something new in the parish yesterday: a Thanksgiving Dinner for all the Latinos who had the day off but weren't sure how to cook turkey and pumpkin pie. Food service began at 4pm, dancing at 8 pm. We had about 400 people come. The all-you-can-eat buffet included turkey (with homemade stuffing), ham, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, corn bread, pumpkin pie, and apple pie. Entertainment was provided by a DJ and a folkloric dance troop (see video). Volunteers worked very hard the day before Thanksgiving, preparing all the food from scratch, and getting the hall ready. In fact, they finished painting the cafeteria walls about 8:30 p.m. Wednesday!
The event was a great success which means, of course, that we will have to repeat it next year...