Guatemalan Soup
So...my evening tonight was one to be remembered for a long while. There are so many subjects, I might have to split it up into a few posts. Tonight I helped out with the graduation ceremony for the Eastern Shipbuilding students with the ESOL program. Here's the deal, Eastern Shipbuilding Group allows Guatemalans with trades to apply to work in the US. They help them obtain passports and work visas (usually for 8-10 months) and fly them over here to work for their company. Yes, I know it's a super controversial subject, but I'm gonna table that particular issue for tonight. What I DO want to talk about is this group of students. The "foreman" for this group of workers coordinates classes with our ESOL program, we send a teacher out there three days a week, Eastern drives them to the college two nights for them to take their tests, and we drive out there for their graduation ceremony. So...that's where I start. We drive out there, arrive in this little "break room" with all these guys. I was one of two females present. Some of these guys have run home to shower but most of them are still dirty from work. And they stink.
We served them their meals and they ate like they hadn't eaten all day. (Included in this meal was Guatemalan soup over which they were super excited...I have to admit, it was pretty good) After supper, we served them cake that Carlos bought for them. It was the normal sheet cake that you always see at parties...the kind that I never want because I'm just not a fan of that kind of cake. But these guys...they gobbled it up. They came back for seconds, even when the first piece was actually an eighth of the entire cake. They took the leftovers home to their trailers. It was one little thing that made me realize how much I do take for granted. Cake from WalMart.
Next we handed out certificates. Now, we know that their visas have not been renewed and the government is sending them back home until they are renewed (They begin going back home on the 26th) and so we made sure to give them the super nice certificates. Now, I've received so many of those certificates and they've never been that big of a deal to me. I know that it's just a sheet of paper that's been run through the color printer. No biggie. But these guys, they treated them so special. One guy's got a little wet and he asked what to do. He was so concerned. They clapped for EVERY student that went up to get his certificate. And it wasn't that obligatory clap...it was a "hoop and holler" session. It was great.
Next...Gloria (the boss lady) had me hand out the candy bags I had made for them. See, I wanted to do something special for them so I made them small candy bags with a sheet of paper in each that said congratulations on all their hard work and so on. Gloria told all of them the story about the bags coming from me. Honestly, I was afraid they would think them totally hokey or corny. But no. These guys were so excited and kept saying, "Thank you!" to me.
Then the pictures. EVERY student wanted his picture made with us. There were so many cameras and so many students running up and back. I thought to myself that this must be what celebrities experience at the big awards. But you know what? Julia Roberts, Paris Hilton, or even Marilyn Monroe could not possibly have felt what I felt tonight. It wasn't anything like, "Check me out, they want my picture." I don't even know how to express it. It was awesome.
Here's this group of guys from Guatemala that are here working to make a better life for their families (almost all of them are married with families back home) and they're trying to better their skills and learn some English. I felt so humbled. So enlightened. So encouraged. The guys were awesome. Never have I been in a room with 30+ men and not one out-of-line comment was made. I thought to myself, 'You'd never get this with a bunch of rednecks.' I can't tell you how many times they wanted to know my name so they could thank me by name.
So...I drove home from the college crying the whole way. I'm so overwhelmed and I don't even know the word for it. I came home and told Ryan all about it and he just smiled and said how cool it sounded. And I know he can't understand 'cause he wasn't there. But it was. I don't know why God sent me there tonight and I don't know the big lesson to be learned from it. Maybe He just wanted me to see something totally different. Maybe He's just trying to remind me to appreciate the little things. Maybe He's doing something in tiny steps and I'll be able to connect them later on. I just don't know exactly. And that's okay. I'm really enjoying the journey so far.
Next time there's sheet cake though, I'm going to eat a big piece and I'll think of my guys. I'll be praying for them often.
I'll be sure to post more about this later. There's just too much for one night.
We served them their meals and they ate like they hadn't eaten all day. (Included in this meal was Guatemalan soup over which they were super excited...I have to admit, it was pretty good) After supper, we served them cake that Carlos bought for them. It was the normal sheet cake that you always see at parties...the kind that I never want because I'm just not a fan of that kind of cake. But these guys...they gobbled it up. They came back for seconds, even when the first piece was actually an eighth of the entire cake. They took the leftovers home to their trailers. It was one little thing that made me realize how much I do take for granted. Cake from WalMart.
Next we handed out certificates. Now, we know that their visas have not been renewed and the government is sending them back home until they are renewed (They begin going back home on the 26th) and so we made sure to give them the super nice certificates. Now, I've received so many of those certificates and they've never been that big of a deal to me. I know that it's just a sheet of paper that's been run through the color printer. No biggie. But these guys, they treated them so special. One guy's got a little wet and he asked what to do. He was so concerned. They clapped for EVERY student that went up to get his certificate. And it wasn't that obligatory clap...it was a "hoop and holler" session. It was great.
Next...Gloria (the boss lady) had me hand out the candy bags I had made for them. See, I wanted to do something special for them so I made them small candy bags with a sheet of paper in each that said congratulations on all their hard work and so on. Gloria told all of them the story about the bags coming from me. Honestly, I was afraid they would think them totally hokey or corny. But no. These guys were so excited and kept saying, "Thank you!" to me.
Then the pictures. EVERY student wanted his picture made with us. There were so many cameras and so many students running up and back. I thought to myself that this must be what celebrities experience at the big awards. But you know what? Julia Roberts, Paris Hilton, or even Marilyn Monroe could not possibly have felt what I felt tonight. It wasn't anything like, "Check me out, they want my picture." I don't even know how to express it. It was awesome.
Here's this group of guys from Guatemala that are here working to make a better life for their families (almost all of them are married with families back home) and they're trying to better their skills and learn some English. I felt so humbled. So enlightened. So encouraged. The guys were awesome. Never have I been in a room with 30+ men and not one out-of-line comment was made. I thought to myself, 'You'd never get this with a bunch of rednecks.' I can't tell you how many times they wanted to know my name so they could thank me by name.
So...I drove home from the college crying the whole way. I'm so overwhelmed and I don't even know the word for it. I came home and told Ryan all about it and he just smiled and said how cool it sounded. And I know he can't understand 'cause he wasn't there. But it was. I don't know why God sent me there tonight and I don't know the big lesson to be learned from it. Maybe He just wanted me to see something totally different. Maybe He's just trying to remind me to appreciate the little things. Maybe He's doing something in tiny steps and I'll be able to connect them later on. I just don't know exactly. And that's okay. I'm really enjoying the journey so far.
Next time there's sheet cake though, I'm going to eat a big piece and I'll think of my guys. I'll be praying for them often.
I'll be sure to post more about this later. There's just too much for one night.
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