Church!

Hugo and I went to church for the first time yesterday. We had been debating for awhile about where to go. You know...the typical big church vs. little church debate. Do we want all the fancy, glamorous perks of a big church or do we want to go where we have the opportunity to actually get to know people. A co-worker of Hugo's invited us to church with her, so that finally settled the debate - we would try a small church first.

Eva and her husband Carlos picked us up at 9:50am. I was a bit nervous about arriving so late. I was fairly confident that everyone in the church would turn to look at the giant white girl when she entered. I figured showing up late would only enhance the spectical. When we walked into the church, there were maybe ten other people. The service had started, but I was relieved there weren't more people to ogle. Later, the room would be full (almost overflowing with people). I've noticed that being on time isn't really important here. People come and go as they please. In fact, I saw one couple come in ten minutes before the service ended. Anyway...take note that the room did in fact fill up...perhaps 75 people were there. You'll need that information later! :)

I've heard of church's who strive to make members and visitors feel welcome. However the five...yes FIVE people I had to hug and KISS before I could sit down was a bit over the top. And, there was a lady to usher us to our seats. Not "usher" like we're used to in America. This lady actually led us to chairs and told us where to sit. There were seven people in our group but the row she led us to only had three chairs left. Hugo, Eva and I sat in those three. She made Carlos and the others start a new row. I watched her do this for everyone who entered. I guess if you wanted to sit with your friend, you better come together and cross your fingers you get to sit together!

Once the music started, I felt a bit more relaxed. If everyone was focusing on the words to the songs, they couldn't stare at me anymore. But, wait...where were the words to the songs? In a hymnal? No. On a screen? No. Everyone was just supposed to know the words. So instead of everyone staring at me, I started staring at them. What else was I supposed to do? I didn't know the words (I didn't knwo the English words...there was no hope of me knowing the Spanish words). Anyway...while I was people watching, I realized I was the only female over the age of 15 not in high heals. I'm fairly certain I will never wear heals again (considering my husband is like four feet tall) and I'm really ok with that decision. We stood and (those who could) sang for almost an hour. How did those women do it?! And why? Why was every single woman in heals? Did I miss the memo somewhere in life...the memo that says it is inappropriate for a grown woman to wear flat shoes?

Anyway, the singing continued fairly uneventfully for awhile. Then, the last song started. Oh my. It was a crazy, fast paced, party-like song. Women pulled tambourines out of their purses and started playing them (no joke!). The lead singer lady started salsa dancing while she was singing! Hugo and I just looked at each other. Pretty sure neither one of us have experienced anything like that in a church before.

After the singing was over (and everyone mopped off their sweaty faces from all the dancing), the pastor started with announcements. I kind of zoned out for awhile and wasn't paying much attention. All of a sudden I heard, "spanish spanish spanish Jessica and Hugo spanish spanish." The band kicked in and started playing the crazy salsa music again. I looked at Hugo and he looked at me...both of us with panic in our eyes. All of a sudden, everyone in the church (remember I said it got really full?!) got up and started walking towards us. We were surrounded by people hugging us and shaking our hands. It was crazy. After several minutes everyone sat down again. The pastor continuted and I looked at Hugo. He whispered, "that is the way they greet visitors." I have no idea how they got our name, but I'm pretty sure I'd like to wring the neck of the person who gave it to them!

After that, it was pretty uneventful again. I think the pastor was good. Everyone laughed a lot. And, it was a very interactive sermon. He would ask questions and people would shout out the answers. If the pastor thought people weren't paying enough attention he would yell, "HELLO!" Everyone would reply with, "AMEN!" And...that was it. TWO hours after we arrived, we left. Craziest, longest, most interesting two hours of my trip so far!

Oh, one other thing. Durring the announcements part of the service,the pastor was telling everyone about the English class's graduation ceremony next Saturday. After the service, the pastor asked me if I would like to participate in the next English class the church would be offering. I asked if he meant like teaching. He got a little embarrased and said no. The class is offered conversational style. The children (oh yeah...did I mention...it's a class for children?!) have a conversation in Spanish and then the teacher guides them in repeating the same conversation, only in English. The pastor thought I might learn some things in the Spanish part of the conversation. Can you imagine? A classroom full of children ages 4-8 and...me. Awesome!