been pulling some late nights lately at CASAS. including two nights that i just cuddled up on the bench in my office and snagged a few z's before morning. i already know all the boundaries lectures i deserve - but you can spare them, as i give them to myself already.
but that´s not the point of this entry.
instead, i wanted to share with you the blessing that came with these late nights. time to share meals and conversation, pulled away from the work that will always demand attention, as part of an unlikely trio of dinner companions.
sebastian came to my door - "shannon, quieres comer con nosotros ? (would you like to eat with us?) he motioned over over to the semilary´s guest house comedor (dining room) where rigoberto was waving and smiling, pulling leftover spaghetti china (like chow mein) out of the microwave.
it was a welcome break.
so i made my way over and sat myself down as sebastian and rigoberto set the table, warmed the tortillas, poured the drinks, and served me first.
and we bowed our heads, and sebastian prayed for us in his mother tongue, german - giving thanks for the day, for our meal, for work to put our hands to, for friends to share a meal with, for shannon, for rigoberto. with an "amen" to close.
and we chatted - rigoberto, this mayan ke´kchi/ former soldier/turned pastor/ turned seminary doorman - about his daughter's recent birthday back in Altaverapaz (department 5 hours north of the city), that he was able to leave the seminary and the city to attend. about his english classes that he would start the next day to help him greet guests that come to the seminary and gueshouse speaking not a lick of spanish- he had hardly slept the night before he was so excited about starting class!
and we chatted- sebastian, this german student, finishing his masters in conflict resolution studies, and living at the seminary guesthouse while completing a 3 month internship with redpaz ("peace connection") in guatemala ( a peace education/conflict resolution training organization) - about the research he was doing. about his time studying in syria. about his kickboxing class. about whether he know any malburgs in germany. :)
we swapped our stories in spanish, our second or third or fourth language, but the one we all had in common.
and the next night...
rigoberto - this jack-of-all-trades/ guard/doorman, with a hospitable heart and a quick smile that welcomes all who enter semilla´s campus, came to my office window the next night...
"you are so beautiful" and gave me a shy, questioning look - "¿es corecto?" we laughed. he was practicing his english and wondered about his pronunciation and grammar, undoubtedly a phrase sebastian had put him up to. then he regained himself, "hermana shannon (sister shannon), quieres comer con nosotros otra vez anoche (again tonight)?"
sebastian was warming vegetable soup with wicoy (like a green potato), and doblados (fried corn tortillas folded over and stuffed with chicken and minced vegetables, topped with a red tomato sauce).
and we bowed our head, and rigoberto gave the blessing in ke´kchi. giving thanks for the day, his new class, friends to share meals with, family to share life with, work to put our hands to, for sebastian, for shannon. with an "amen" to close.
and we chatted, in spanish, commenting on the importance of family, and that we were being that to each other - all in our homes away from home, in a language not our own. and rigoberto sang as we washed dishes - worship songs he knew in ke´kchi, in spanish, in english, with his fluid tenor notes drifting into the early guatemalan darkness.
and i was stuck with a deep gratitude for these late nights. for time to be part of this unlikely trio: mayan ke´kchi former soldier, german masters student, and ex-pat gringa.
and as i cuddled up on my bench, and my mind began to slip into sleep, it rested a moment on the realization, and my lips smiled:
"amen" is the same.
