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Dancing Feet, Open Hands
7/22/09
It’s strange to know that our time here is almost up.
People from the community come up to us and tell us how much they’ll miss us. Kids pull at my arms and say, “No te vayas, Chelsey!” (Don’t go!) It’s a slow kind of goodbye though, a kind that makes me really appreciate the time I do have left to know, enjoy and celebrate relationship with them.
This Friday the kids are presenting songs and plays to their parents that we have taught them during the curso de verano (summer course) at our site. So the last week and a half have been filled with games and songs and all things crazy and fun. It’s great.
The family that taught us salsa dancing gave us another lesson last night. They stayed to be with us longer, hours after everyone else had left. I’m still not a wonderful dancer, but it’s one of those things that is worth doing, whether you’re good or not.
I was watching the married couple who taught us, as they danced. It was amazing. All their steps were smooth like they are the ones directing the music and not the other way around.
What struck me most last night was what you can tell about their relationship when they dance. They move together like they know each other well. It’s a visibly evident thing. But they’ve been married 13 years and had to learn and practice.
They’re probably one of the healthiest families at Armonía. They take all the opportunities to learn and grow in community that Armonía will offer and then they pour back into the center their time and resources. They know the dance of good community – learn, grow, give, share.
A couple of weeks ago, Atzin came up to me and recited all the parts of the body in English. She was so excited to show me how she had studied and memorized what I had taught her in English class. She said them all perfectly and then ran over to her mother and showed her.
It made me smile and I thought about the way people use new information. Sometimes they receive it and then close their hands, advancing only their own purposes. But the kids I’ve met receive information with open hands and use it to advance relationships instead. It causes me to ask myself, how do I use new information? And how can I take what I’ve learned here in Mexico and use it for advancing relationships when I return? What will it look like to keep my hands open?
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