Wednesday, April 10, 2019

Dibujar

A very hot afternoon in Cochabamba, despite the change of season. Has there been a day this warm since I arrived? Surely, yes, but today it felt hotter than I knew on any day before. 

At the Maryknoll Mission Center, Carla Bazoalto kept the language students’ minds on the adversities facing the children and adolescents of Bolivia, giving her presentation according to the outline we have thoroughly discussed in our classes. We concluded the hour-long conference by presenting ideas for how we who are entering mission abroad or returning home can support vulnerable children and young people. In a moment of child’s play, and at Carla’s direction, each of us, students and teachers, took Lego blocks and formed, to the best of our ability, the toy(s) we played with fondly in our youth. 

A short respite at Convento San Francisco for lunch and midday prayer, then off to Nuestra Casa to visit the girls. Five of them were at the house today with Señoras Nieves and Janet. All utilities were online today, electricity and water included. Hooray! We spent two hours doing the art project my sister Jennifer had recommended to me. As you may recall, the goal for the girls was to draw shapes and colors that fit the music they were hearing. An exercise in abstract expression, the mind moving between modalities. We had a lot of music from which to choose; Señora Nieves first played some melodies from China associated with the practice of feng shui. I suppose that was appropriate enough for an exercise meant to bring the girls’ seeing and hearing into harmony. We spent the better part of the first hour listening, then drawing what we heard. Then, for a second drawing, we turned to the tenor Andrea Bocelli singing a pop standard, but the girls weren’t getting into it. So Señora Nieves found another CD and an old disco song by Tina Charles that to my surprise they knew and liked a lot. So we went with that one for another hour. 

One of the girls really got the concept and flew with it. I was impressed! Some of them relied more on stencils to create familiar objects. I reminded them they only had to create simple shapes and lines and find appropriate colors to fill them in or highlight the composition. But despite the language barrier, I think all of them understood what we were doing. In the end we presented our works, going around the table. A couple of the girls were shy about showing their drawings to the adults and each other. Señoras Nieves and Janet and I are in agreement. We will try this project again next Wednesday with different music. And I will petition my sister the art teacher for more easy-to-execute projects. 

Today, as on Sunday, I felt much more at ease with the girls. I am hopeful that the sadness that overcame me during last Wednesday’s visit has flown for good. As for fatigue, that’s another story, but I am putting up a valiant fight against insomnia. 

Once again, I thank Carla for drawing a picture of childhood in Bolivia. I thank the girls at Nuestra Casa for indulging me and trying to draw the music of their minds.

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