First Impressions..

Sunday was our first day in the township. We started the day by attending church. We drove into the township and it was heart wrenching. For the most part, I had no idea what to expect. I tried to expect the worst, so I wouldn't be too surprised. We only saw a small part of the township in our drive to the church. There were paved roads and houses on the drive. Later, I found out that most of the township consisted of shacks. Although the paved roads and houses were more than I expected, I was still taken back by the conditions of this area. There was garbage everywhere. The houses were dirty and small. There were little kids walking around by themselves. I was relieved and distraught at the same time.

We walked into the church. It was a nice building but cold. I soon noticed that the building was designed to be outside when walking room to room. We put our luggage in an office and joined the church activities. I wasn’t sure if it would be okay if we kept our coats on. Then I noticed everyone had their coats on as well. They were wearing big winter jackets. The church service started with a song. The choir and everyone else sang. A few people handed us hymnals. The singing was amazing. The choir leader had a small pillow that she held in one hand and hit with another hand to add to the beat of the songs. The church service proceeded on with prayers and a sermon. We frequently stood up for songs. The reverend would ask members of the church to volunteer to read the reading of the day-something that would never happen in the church that I went to growing up. There was no bulletin and the church service flowed into whatever happened. Later we were told that some services go on a lot later or shorter, depending upon whatever “happens.”

After the church service, we met our host moms. The first thing my host mom told me is that she was vegetarian too. She told me she is vegetarian because she wants to take care of herself and that every time she goes to the doctor, they say she is healthy. I was really nervous that I would be staying by myself in the township. The fact that she was vegetarian did not relieve any of my anxieties and I was still really nervous about this. She asked me what I wanted for breakfast the next day and insisted that I was not shy about it.

All of the host moms and students sat down. Everyone introduced themselves. They noticed that David, the teacher’s assistant, was there for the second time. They were all happy to see him again. This was comforting. It was great to see how much they appreciate us there, and especially David coming for the second time.

We were told that many people did not attend church that day because of the rain. I did not exactly know what they meant, but I assumed that they did not want to walk in the rain. Then I found out that the rain is a problem for people living in the shacks. Their shacks get flooded. Some families have to stay up all night to make sure that their stuff doesn’t get ruined by the rain. This is very contradicting for me. A family committed to worship God cannot go to church because of the rain. I believe in God and yet there were many times that I did not want to go to church because of other reasons. There were times growing up that I stayed up late doing fun things like going to movies, bowling, or just spending time with friends and family. Moreover, there were other times I just wanted to sleep in or I was simply too lazy to go. My religion might not be as important to some people in this township or maybe more important, but I couldn’t imagine having the opportunity of going to church taken away from me by trying to save the little bit that I had.

Next, we went home to the host families houses.

More coming soon..