la merienda.

last night i had the strangest dream.

in fact. i don´t think it was a dream. it was me lying awake and thinking about the events of the evening.

yesterday afternoon i stayed after school to run an NHS NJHS activity with kids from gr. 7-12. we cooked arroz con pollo for 100 people, plus panela with milk to drink.

we then all sat together, ate a little bit of it, put ourselves and our creations on a bus and went downtown. it was around 7pm.

first stop was parque caldas, which is a mall downtown. we met up with a contact gustavo, who does merienda downtown all the time and knows every homeless person in manizales by name. i´m not kidding.

he runs this awesome merienda organization where he has organizations donate meals when they can, to bring to various locations in manizales to feed people who live on the street. he and his compañera run it like a classroom. the people sit quietly in a line, and are marked with an x so they don´t repeat. they have to sit and eat their servings where they are, they can´t take it with them, or trade it, or sell it. they have to clean up when they´re done. if the rules are broken, they are "grounded" of sorts and won´t get food the next merienda. the food is free, delicious, everyone eats, no one pays, and that is that. simple. beautiful.

my little ones obviously were a bit anxious but had the experienced highschool students help them out. and when the first student gave away the first plate and said "we made this for you. we hope you like it. merry christmas" - the ice was broken and we sat and talked and learned. We talked to old folk, young folk, kids, women, men, teenagers - all living on the street and all with their own stories, own families and own lives. some of them had studied. others no. most of the kids were in school but couldn´t go most days because they were working selling things on the street. some of them were drug dealers. some of them drug users. some were working selling artesanias or candies. some were just wandering, carrying their things, and some were sitting by the church, claiming they were listening to the mass when there was in fact no mass going on. gustavo told me later that they were deaf. anytime they sat by the church they were "listening to mass".

many funny questions - are you from argentina? no, i´m from canada. do you know where that is? nope. oh.
you look like my sister. really? no.
are you going to school ? yes. are you studying hard? no. why not? we´re in vacations right now. oh.
you speak english? yes. but you speak spanish. yes. woah.

anyway. my kids played a bit of soccer with one of the girls. the other girls were hugging my students, asking them to stay, to play, to take them with them. cry.

one boy just sat, silently, alone, and ate his food. i asked him if he liked it. he answered, si señora. and then he disappeared. he was about 11, but looked like he was 7. i wish i knew where he was going. but maybe i don´t.

anyway. it was a night for reflection. for me these kinds of things, as wonderful as they are, are so difficult. i was awake for most of the night thinking about all these people and their stories. why is it that there can be so much wealth and abundance in one place while so much need and poverty in another? everyone has a story. everyone deserves to tell it and to be listened to. everyone deserves dignity - and really, as gustavo said, that´s what we were bringing them - the opportunity to exist, even just for that moment, eating with us, in dignity.

and as we were going home, a beautiful sofia said to me

"they´re just like us. we walk by them on the street and we don´t even look at them. not even to say good morning or good afternoon. they all have their stories. good and bad decisions. we can help them like this.

we should do this more often."

and today, i was broody and the students were beaming. i´m glad they learned so much and enjoyed the experience. but i guess this is my place, for now - to show these kids life outside of granadino and motivate them to make changes in their communities. but just for now.