Rain.

At the present moment, I am sitting on my bed, with a cup of coffee, Josh Groban and my fan blasting, emailing my mom in India and my Spanish teacher here, and looking at an extensive list of the many things I have to blog about. I feel like the most legit human being ever right now. I feel like some kind of travel writer. And it's awesome. I am so glad I am here. I feel like this is what I should be doing. Minus the class. Ha. I like my classes, but they are just another thing to worry about. Well, actually, the only thing I have to worry about. That and drowning in the humidity.

I love Lady Gaga. I confess. Right now. She.is.fantastic. Some lovely housemate gave me her cds, and I am hooked. I mean, it's pop music, so it doesn't have a ton of depth or meaning or anything, but she is so cool. New music obsession. Tango, Lady Gaga, and Texas country. How is that for eclectic.

Yesterday we went to a festival for the sea goddes Yemanja. There are pics up on my facebook about it. I am basically ripping off Wikipedia when I explain it, but Yemanja is a sea goddess from the Yoruba religion that was brought over by the slaves from Africa. She is celebrated not only in Uruguay, but in Brazil, Cuba, and Haiti as well. In Africa, she originally was the goddess of the sea, and a diety of women, especially pregnant women. Because of all of the African influences that exist in South America, Brazil an Uruguay especially, these celebrations have huge promience within society. During the celebration, people take their offerings, wade far out into the atlantic ocean, leave their offerings in the sea, and walk backwards onto the shore. I saw many people doing this at the beach yesterday, offering all sorts of things, primarily food, like watermelon and canteloupe. A lot of people offered flowers as well. While I was at the beach I saw a ceremony for Yemanja, where people were ringing bells and banging drums and singing to the goddess in an aching, haunting way. As they were singing, people in the ceremony got down in the sand and kissed it in front of the alter that they had. As I was watching, it didn't hurt me until I saw a young woman prostrating herself before the sacrifice and before the man playing the drums. It was the same sort of feeling that I had when I was in India; a kind of sinking feeling, something inside me jus said "No..." and it was rather surprising how much it hurt me to see her do that. It was sort of the same way at the statue we saw when we first arrived. Before you get down to the sand there is a statue of Yemenja, and yesterday the foot of the offering was covered with flowers, fruit, cigarettes, anything that anyone could give. Also at the statue was a man with blue and white candles saying "vela vela, a voluntad a vela," which mean you could get a candle for as much as you wanted to give, like an offering. You didn't have to give any money, or you could give money for a candle. I wanted to get a candle, but then I got guilted into not buying one, which sort of upset me. I want to have a keepsake that I can hold and feel and not just look at. I don't think that by getting one I would be participating in a pagan ritual, especially if I just took the candle and I didn't give any money. Whatever Lauren. It's a candle. Pick your battles.

It was a really interesting thing to see. I had never seen anything like that before, I had always heard about it and watched Pirates of the Carribbean and the Discovery Channel, but I'd never really experienced that feel. Which now that I think about it, is a feeling of frailty and uncertainty, mixed with a vibrancy that is, in my opinion, globally unparalleled. Going even further, I could say that there is a feeling of desperation within rituals like that. Maybe it's just me, but that's how I feel. And I am not sure how I should deal with it. I don't want them to be desperate, but how do you incorporate Jesus into things like that? I never know how to do that. I don't want to destroy their culture or rituals, but I want them to know Jesus. What to do, what to do...



It is pouring rain right now. Delightful. Such a lovely break from the suffocating humidity I have experienced as of late. We got another fan in our room, Gracias a Dios, and I do not think I have slept better. I didn't want to get out of my bed because I knew that if I moved I would be hot. So I stayed in bed until the last possible second. But now it is absolutely pouring rain. Love it. Hopefully it rains all day and it's clear and beautiful for the llamadas tomorrow.

That is all. A pretty mellow blog. Enjoy it while you can because I will definitely have a lot to say in Buenos Aires. One and a half days!!

Paz, amores.