Like A Prayer

"When do people pray?" asked Father Jaime during mass this past Sunday. Automatically I began to think about the times I pray and what I pray for if anything in specific.  If I backtracked to the beginning of this year, most of my prayers started off like, " Dear God, thank you for this day of life... Can u please help me... (what I needed help in) and I promise to..." or " Dear God, I'm sorry for... (what ever I was sorry for)" or my favorite " Dear God, I know I ask for a lot of things but can you please give me... ( patience, energy, or a positive mentality were usually what I asked for) and I promise to..." Most of the time when I prayed was in times of need or struggle, and I always felt like I had to do something in return for God for helping me. This was my way of not being selfish and only asking. I was blinded by the thought that "if God didn't help me the way I had prayed for, then he really wasn't helping me." Silly me. As if I could tell God how to help me. Just because God didn't help me the way I wanted him to, didn't mean he wasn't helping me. God only knows when the time is right and it took me a little while to realize that. God will not let me down, and God will help me get through everything because after all, "All things are possible  through Jesus Christ" Phillip 4:13.

     Father Jaime said that giving thanks is the second step in praying because one should not be selfish and forget to give thanks to the Lord just because times are better and you've been helped. Looking back at this summer I went on a streak of giving thanks for everything once I was finally happy with my life and didn't feel the need to ask for anything. I gave thanks for another day, a sunny day, a rainy day, a good day at work, a day with family, a day with friends, a good conversation with my boyfriend, making someone smile, someone making me smile; everything. It felt good to just be thankful. In my head I was pretty sure God, was glad I was just being thankful too.

 Finally, Father Jaime said that the last step in prayer people reach is when one prays for others. I noticed that lately I not only pray for me or give thanks for the things that I have gotten or are grateful for, but I also pray for others and give thanks for the things others have received. Yes, I would usually pray for my family but now I go beyond that. I ask God to help those who are less fortunate, those who are in a time of struggle, those who are sick, and for those who need his guidance. I ask God to help those who have recently lost someone and are sad, to see the light. I give thanks to God, for helping those who were struggling, for those who were sick, and for those whom he guided through a rough time. I'm not sure when I began to do this but now I say things like, " I'll pray for you" or "I'll keep you in my prayers" and really pray for them. I mean don't get me wrong, I wouldn't tell someone "I'll pray for you" and not do it but I would pray maybe once or twice for that person. Now, if I say "I'll pray for you" I do on a regular basis.

So listening to Father Jaime talk about prayer on Sunday put a smile on my face because without even realizing it, I have gone through the three steps he talked about. There's just this pleasure about realizing something after it has already happened. Kind of like an "Ahh" moment; a really good "Ahh" moment. What I find most interesting is that I don't know when the change in my prayer occurred, I don't believe its a coincidence because something had to happen to cause that change. What ever it was, I'm glad for it because now when I pray, I talk to God and not just at night before going to bed like I used to, but sporadically throughout the day. I can say that I have seen God everywhere and all around because I do believe God is everywhere all the time, but it has not been easy. It's hard to see God everyday because I'm not always walking on clouds and having the greatest time of my life, but being able to see God even when my smile is upside down let's me know that I am never truly alone and that I have worked hard to be able to feel God's presence even when times are bad. 

Maybe it's living in a monastery in Puerto Rico and volunteering that has helped me. Maybe it's going to prayers a few times a week, or maybe its praying everyday all the time that has caused the change in my prayers. Or maybe it's this entire experience that caused the change. What ever it was, I'm glad for it because this is something I will cherish and carry with me for as long as I pray.

3 Favorite Things About Today

    Today was an exciting day because we got to take Sister Mary Jane out for the day. We went to a Lechon grill (equivalent of  a pig roast) and sat by a little stream with great scenery. It was Caesar, Yvonne Sister Vivian, Sister Mary Jane, Ashley and myself. After spending a couple hours there, we headed over to Viejo San Juan. As we were driving there, surprise surprise, it began to pour! I thought we were going to look for plan B, but Yvonne insisted that we still go and Sister Vivian prayed to St. Scholastica to make the rain go away and sure enough by the time we reached El Morro in Viejo San Juan it'd stopped raining. We explored three levels of the fort and took lots of pictures. After that we took a walk down Calle del Christo and went into the Cathedral were a wedding was taking place. We also got to see the Plaza de las Palomas and to end our trip we went by The Raices (Roots) water fountain. It sure was a lovely day spent with great people.
    I'd like to mention a little piece of my conversation with Mary Jane yesterday that made me feel a whole lot better. I was talking to her about something along the lines of me finding it hard to see the bright side of things all the time or at least most of the time. So she said that a group of women she knows gets together every night and mentions the three favorite things about their day (I don't remember word for word but I'm sure it was something like that). She said that that helped her feel good about her day even when she thought her day wasn't so great. So I decided to adapt this evening practice for myself. Not that I had a bad day today but I'd still like to mention my three favorite things about today:
1) I really liked that we still went with our original plans and didn't change them because of the weather
2) I really liked that Sister Vivian went with us and had a great time; I really enjoyed all her historical information about everything we saw
3) I really enjoyed spending a full day with Mary Jane and getting to know her better than I did

S Vivian, S Mary Jane, Yvonne and Caesar @ the El Lechon Grill

Raices water fountain

In El Morro

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine

Yesterday Ashley expressed how she felt about the kindergarteners, "I am in love I never thought you could be in love with more than one person but I am in love with 62 and they don't even reach my elbows. " I have to admit I feel the same way. Working in the computer lab has allowed me to meet students from k-9th grade. I feel closest to the kindergarten group because I also work with/for them when I help Ashley in Mrs. Velasques class and when I help her paste their work into their notebooks. I love those kindergartners.
      On a different note... Guess who is here? Yes! Sister Mary Jane! Oh, how good did it feel to see her in the airport and walking out of baggage claim. A part of MN is right here with us and it feels great. I am excited that she will be visiting the school tomorrow and supervising Ashley and myself. Thank you Sister Barbara for the cute picture and card, I will be sure to share them with Sister Myriam, Sister Rufina and Sister Flora.Sister Ruth, its unfortunate you couldn't come in Sister Mary Jane's checked luggage but thank you so much for the card that I received. It is still 85 degrees here with plenty of rain! Finally, thanks to all the Sisters who told Sister Mary Jane to say,"Hello" to us.  Really appreciate it. Thanks for the support, prayers, and love you are all constantly sending in my direction. It is greatly appreciated. When ever I start to get a little lonely or homesick I just remember that I am never alone (one: because God is always with me) because I have the support of a wonderful Benedictine Community. Miss and Love you all. 


                                                       ~Peace & Hugs, Laughs & Love~

Bless the hands that prepared this meal..

      After a full week of getting, having, and getting over the flu, I am proud to announce that my taste buds are back. Today just like  every Saturday I've been here Sister Flora has prepared lunch and boy, does she do a delicious job. Today's meal: Pollo en King (Chicken on King) was by far the best meal yet. Along with the chicken was rice, a carrot salad, homemade dressing and avocados. I am so glad the flu is gone and I was able to smell and taste the rice, chicken, mushrooms, bell peppers, and all the other magical ingredients that came together perfectly in order to complete the meal. Dessert was papaya (which I HATE fresh papaya) glazed with cinnamon and sugar. I didn't know it was papaya till I asked what I was eating. Mmm... Thanks to everyone who prayed for me to get well, it worked!
       On a equally exciting note, I am counting down the days (3 more days) till S Mary Jane comes to visit! S Mary Ruth has already mentioned a little place she'd like us to take S Mary Jane! Of course, I'm not going to say where, but I am excited to see a familiar face from Minnesota. I wonder if S Ruth is going to come along in S Mary Jane's check-in luggage? Well, you can't blame me for wondering.
    

Chef Nevarez

What an exciting weekend! To begin, Saturday was our day of cooking. We found out last Wednesday on our way to Longhorn Steakhouse when S Carmen casually mentioned that Ash and I were going to cook on Saturday for lunch. What a pleasant surprise right? Wrong! Ashley and I looked at each other with the expression of "What the..? What are we going to cook?" on our face. I quickly panicked as I tried to think of "meals" I can cook. (Quick note: all the sisters expressed how much they LOVED Mexican food upon our arrival three weeks ago and asked if we could cook anything). I thought, "Wow, they are really going to test us!" So after dinner that day, Ash and I taked about all the possible meals we could make without burning down the house, or at least the kitchen. We decided to make Green Chicken Enchiladas with traditional Mexican rice and beans, guacamole, chips and chocolate cake for dessert. On Friday when we went grocery shopping for all of the last minute ingredients, we discovered that Ralph's in Puerto Rico did not carry Enchilada sauce (who are we kidding, we weren't going to make it from scrach; I regrettably can't cook beans..yet) so we switched to plan B. Instead of Enchiladas, we were going to make Chicken tacos.

    Saturday morning, we started bright and early because in case anything happened, we had plenty of time to fix it. So as the sisters were starting their Chapter Meeting (thats the reason we were cooking) we started chopping in the kitchen. Ash startd with the cake and I started with the chips. I cut the tortillas in pretty little triangles and fried them up. Some were perfect, some were "tanned" and some a little roasted, but they were all delicious! Then I began the guacamole (my favorite). Ashley had already cut the cilantro, onions, tomato, and limes so my job was to smash the avocados, mix everything and add salt. MMMmmm (my mouth is watery just thinking about it!). Meanwhile Ashley is preparing the rice (which was AMAZING) and warming up the beans. Yeah, we didn't cook the beans from scrach; it takes too long. Any ways, finally we prepared the chicken and grilled it. We set up the table, fixed the food buffet style, and were done right at noon, just in time for lunch. Or so we thought. Usually, we eat lunch at noon but no one said we were having lunch at noon that Saturday. So we waited... and waited.... and waited. We wondered how long can a Chapter Meeting be? The sisters must be starving by now. So at 12:45 sharp, the sisters enter the kitchen. They compliment the smells and the looks of the food but, I just want them to taste the actual food. I was a bit nervous. When Ashley and I entered the dinning room, all the sisters began to compliment the actual food. We were extremely pleased by they compliments. They went something like, "It's so GOOOOD", "I've never had rice this delicious", "The chips are great", etc. Boy, was I happy. And then the unexpected happened. S Mary Ruth said she wanted us to cook for her birthday party. Since S Mary Ruth and S Vivian are born on the same month, S Vivian said we can cook for her too. And then, S Rufina (the sister who cooks most of the time) said that she didn't know who was going to cook on her birthday, but it wasn't going to be her. Wow! I was a bit shocked they liked it that much. Not that I expected the food to taste nasty or anything but I was really really happy they liked it so much. Some of the sisters even got up for seconds! So once again, Ash and I exchange that same look as we did when we found out we were cooking in the first place.  Last but not least, the Devil's Chocolate Cake! What a way to end a meal! I'll just say that some of the sisters took a nap after this lunch.

    Then Saturday evening, Ash and I went out with Yvone and her husband Ceasar (a couple that the sisters have know for almost a decate and are in the same choir group). They took us out to El Conquistador resort in Fajardo. I went to the casino for the first time and played on the slot machines. Those are the only machines I understood. All in all, it was a good evening of just being out and in a new enviroment. Then on Sunday, Ash and I went to mass in the morning and then spent the whole afternoon in Plaza Las Americas. Its like a smaller version of the Mall of America with a little over 300 stores. Walking around and seeing all the familiar stores made me feel as if I was 'home" for a bit. Again, it was nice to just be out and about, walking, people watching, and doing a little shopping. It was a great and enjoyable weekend and we found out that this weekend might be full of excitement as well.

       S Maria's nephew is getting married this weekend and S Mary Ruth told me that we might be going along with her.  The wedding is in Maria's hometown of Mayaguez. Mayaguez is located on the west side of the island and rumor has it that the best beaches are on the west! So i'll just wait and see what happens next... Till then, toodles!

We don't explode, we stretch...

Maybe about 90% of the time I had dinner at Gorecki I would always end my meal by saying, "Ugh. I feel I'm gonna explode" (after eating so much of course). And onetime my dear sweet friend Jackie Murillo corrected me one time and replied, " We don't explode, we stretch." For some reason I thought that was the funniest thing, anyone could have said. But having that shame of being so full that I couldn't move, or eating so much I would get tired and sleepy, made me come to the decision that I should not ever have that feeling again because it wasn't a good one. It was selfish to eat that much food simply because I could. I am proud to say that I have not said, "I feel I'm gonna explode" much since I graduated in May 2010. Of course until today.

   S. Mary Ruth told me yesterday that S. Carmen (aka the Prioress) wanted to take us (the September birthday girls) out for dinner today. She said it was a surprise and had no idea where we were going. We went to Longhorn Steakhouse (S. Carmen's favorite restaurant!) to celebrate our birthdays for the third time! I ordered a Tender Mushroom Filet Chops smothered with onions, mushrooms, and red wine sauce with french fries. This was of course after, a slice of bread with butter, 2 wings, a Caesar Salad and half of my Pina Colada. After the meal, I murmured Jackie's response to my little guilty after meal guilt. I laughed. But it was all so good and tasty and the steak was juicy and well done (sorry I don't like pink meat) just how I like it. S. Carmen asked if we'd like dessert and looking around I could see everyone was full as well. So she suggested we buy Krispy Kreme doughnuts and take them home. I couldn't believe she could still crave something after our dinner when I felt like unbuckling my pants. As we walked into the Krispy Kreme doughnut shop, we were greeted by a lovely gentlemen who gave us all free, fresh, soft, mouth watering and melting glazed doughnuts right off the line! Mmm, did I mention they were free?! So I ate it and unbuckled my pants instead of trying to suck in my stomach. "Sweet Jesus" as Ann Marie would say. it was a perfect treat. The entire evening was a gift on top of a gift. I have really felt at home here (with the exception of last weekend). The Sisters are all truly, Gifts from God.

     The reason I said that I have celebrated my birthday three times is because I have. One: the day of my birthday, two: Yesterday (the Sisters celebrated all the September birthdays), and three: Today. Yesterday we had a blast! Mass, dinner, the singing, dessert, the games,  the blessing, and all the gifts. I haven't had such a wonderful party since my Quinceanera. I received some PJ's, lotion, deodorant, toothpaste, drier sheets, soap (lots of it!), face wash, and most important cards. Each Sister wrote a card in addition to their gift and they expressed how grateful they are that we are here, how much they care for us, and some of the Sisters wrote "blessings from God and the Virgin Mary". I love them! Its been great. 

Can I have some TCL to go please?

Okay, so it took me two weeks to become "ill". Since I was a little girl, whenever traveling my family was always very careful because I was the one that fell, got injured, got sick, cut herself, pretty much the one that accidents always happened to. So now that I have been in Puerto Rico for two weeks, can someone please tell me how is it possible that my right eye is swollen for no given reason? I had an ingrown pimple (i know its sick) next to my nose and all of a sudden I wake up and my right eye is swollen all around =(. I really just wanted to be home this weekend. Ashley and I shared similar feelings today about that. 

    Its not that any particular event happened that made me feel this way, but I just got really home sick. i just wanted to see my mom and have her nurse me back to health. She would have put some ointment on my face, probably made me a tea to drink and some chicken soup. Gosh, I miss home right now. I will not post a picture of my face because I think its pretty ugly looking right now. I just hope the swelling goes down by tomorrow just in time for school. 

   its getting late so I'm going to go to bed. Miss you Mom, Raulito, and Dad. Miss you Sisters and all the kids. If I would have been home today, we would have gotten off work at 6pm, gotten home like at 7:30 pm, and my Dad would have probably invited people over to out house for a bit. 

   On the bright side, things can only go uphill from here.