I am 10 days into my Cross Cultural Experience at New City Parish and South East Los Angeles. No, I am not in Watts or Compton. We started our Spanish immersion portion a week ago. I would like to say that I hadn't forgotten any of my university Spanish, but that wasn't true.
For the first 3 days, we lived with African American families in the Inglewood area and have over the past week experienced how Holy Trinity Lutheran Church expresses their faith within community (both the church and Inglewood). Then we transitioned to our Spanish immersion experience and moved in with our Spanish speaking family about 7 miles north of Inglewood. Every day I get up and my language class starts at 8:30 and continues to noon. Then we break for lunch and the afternoon is dedicated to the latino/a community and culture in Los Angeles. I then come home to do my "tarea". Today for example we spent the morning working on demonstrative and possessive pronouns, then ate lunch at St. Mark's LC with their
"between homes" folks, sang church music and liturgy in Spanish and then visited with the Esperanza community organization.
It is a very compelling experience to live with folks living between two cultures. In our home we have a mix of Mexican and Guatemalan culture along with 21st century U.S. culture. I have many more questions than I have answers, I am content to live in the tension. The hospitality and commitment of these communities with each other is amazing. I find myself asking, "Why do we insist on introducing complexity to our worship and lives? Do we really gain more than we lose? And focusing not on whose we are but rather who we are, who and "whose" have been lost?"
Hebrews 13:2 is circling in my head.
Hasta luego! Necessita completar mi tarea.
Gretchen
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