Blood in the Streets

6/22
For the first time in a while I pulled the blanket up to my chin. The usual nocturnal sounds of the city were not so comforting after drifting off to the waves meeting the rocks on the coast. I arose to fall; gathered myself and went to church. Singing songs with familiar tunes but new words is a wonderful opportunity to examine what it is we are saying to God. The lesson covered Adam, Noah, Abraham, and Moses all in honor of Father’s Day. I met the group I’ll be working with during class; the adolescent group had 4 today but Latisha taught class, and afterwards we talked about getting together on Friday evenings to do different things. The ball’s in my court on this one. I also met with the parents to work out the schedule after class. Lulu (Miguel and Pedro’s mom) invited me to a going away party for Pedro (he’s moving to Puebla to begin his medical internship).
I went to the caseta (Gerardo’s shop) and had lunch with the family, went to the store for supplies for the caseta, and returned to the house. I took my first siesta. Pedro came and picked me up and we went to his grandmother’s house where the family had gathered for the celebration. As we were getting out of the car a man was walking toward us with blood running down his face, his arms and shirt were covered. Pedro jumped out of the car and went over to him; another you man was sitting on the curb bleeding from the ear. Another was trying to hitch a ride for the injured to the hospital. He talked with Pedro who called them a taxi while helping the first man who had a large, deep cut and inch and a half below his right eye. We went inside while Pedro stayed to help (he is training to be a doctor and has already performed may types of aid including stitching up injuries like this). It was really impressive to see Pedro’s heart shine through for a drunken stranger whose indiscretion caused him injury. The police arrived and the injured got a ride to wherever they were going. We went celebrated with sandwiches and desserts. The cake was awesome. I met a number of Miguel and Pedro’s cousins and we talked for a bit about different things. I was asked to say a prayer and did so stumbling over my words and pausing looking for the proper verb tenses. Sometimes my tongue works and other time it doesn’t. Afterwards Lulu, Miguel, Felix (his uncle who makes the pottery), and one of his aunts went to a back room where we circled around Pedro. Felix and his aunt said prayers of blessing and protection for Pedro.
They dropped me off at Gerardo’s house where Gerardo and I watched Rocky 3 and 4. We had coffee and cookies, and as Monday began I slept better than I have in a few days.