Friends
or, nuevos amigos
It has generally been easy for me to make friends with adolescents guys; perhaps, as I have been told, it is because I have the same level of maturity...nevertheless, most of my best friends are guys under 22 years of age. On this trip I wondered if I could form friendships with a significant language barrier between myself and the kids I was serving. I was pleasantly surprised with the ease of this and also surprised by the similarities between these Central American young men and the young men of suburban San Antonio. The 11-12 year old boys idolized and mimicked the older boys; the 13-14 year old boys farted and blamed each other and joked around a lot; the 16-17 year old young men loved competition and were very fastidious (translated - used copious amounts of hair gel and lots of time in front of the mirror) about the way they looked. If you don't dwell too much on where they are from and what they have been through you will find that they are just regular kids. It was a pleasure to be around them. Here are a few of my new friends:
- Erick, El Salvador - helped me with Spanish, more to follow...
- Luis, Honduras - always smiling, eager to learn English and always practicing every time I saw him
- Daniel, Honduras - always happy; he told me one day that he wanted me to adopt him because he, like me, was handsome and strong (his words, not mine). The irony of this was the difference in our hairstyles - Daniel with what would best be described as a massive "fro" and I have the opposite..
 |
| my hair = not a massive "fro" |
- Felix, Guatemala - quiet young man of remarkable courage, more to follow...
- My posse from Group G, aka Grupo Guapo - Erick, Jonathan, Cristian, Kelvin, Bryan, Jose, Oseas, more on these guys to follow...
- Eduardo, El Salvador - one of my Spanish tutors
- Estiven, Costa Rica - "El Costa Rican"
It is highly unlikely that I will see any of these guys again, this side of eternity...but am hoping for a future "5 People You Meet in Heaven" moment. They had a profound impact on me.
On a related side note, my thoughts on immigration have evolved over the years and largely influenced by a reading of Deuteronomy with a missional hermeneutic. My thoughts have been cemented after 16 days in an Emergency Shelter in Harlingen, Texas. The faces, names, and stories are etched in my memory. This has already caused a little friction between my Republican Christian friends and myself; oh well...
Here's a few decent documentaries on the human side of this debate:
