May flew by!! Between kids ministry at El Redentor and being involved with more classes at IEA, to celebrating Día de la Patria and exploring both new spaces and revisiting spaces I've loved, I look back and wonder where all the time has gone. As much as I don't want to think about my YAGM year ending, the reality of the end of my year is creeping in: I'm soaking in the time I have left and chasing joy all the same. :)
May was full of activities!! With First Communion classes starting back up, Ligas, being in the capellanía for Friday recreo, attending high school English classes (not pictured) and escuelita the last Sunday of May, there were so many moments of connection and joy with kiddos both in kids ministry spaces at El Redentor and at IEA. I feel so deeply grateful to build these connections and be involved in so many different spaces — learning time and time again about the power of presence: showing up, listening, and being present goes a long way, no matter what. (faces censored for kiddos' privacy!)
First Communion classes are BACK! Classes started again at the end of April // after Easter. This year, we have 25 (!!!) third graders spread across two different classes/days, which is a lot at times, but is also equally exciting to see so many kiddos interested in taking their First Communion at El Redentor.
May Ligas!!
Our second Ligas of 2025!! Just like April Ligas, I helped Erika out with a ton of the behind-the-scenes prep work for the craft station— this month focused on hot gluing popsicle sticks together to make little face frames, which then Erika painted yellow for the kiddos to make into emojis. I also printed and cut out different shapes (such as hearts, tears, tongues, circles, and stars) and emoji-faces for the kiddos to decorate their popsicle stick emojis.
For Ligas itself, I accompanied a group of 24 third graders along with Fran, another young adult from El Redentor and one of my closest friends here — the two of us will be paired together and always be with the third graders so the kiddos have consistent leaders each Ligas, and also then we get to know the kiddos on a deeper level. I knew quite a few of the kiddos from First Communion classes, as well as Taller de Pascua and the April Ligas, which made it all the more exciting! Highlights included kiddos showing off their cookie stacks at snack time, comforting a homesick crying kiddo (sad but also so many hugs), helping with bracelets during craft time, and one of our high school helpers picking out all the beads for me to make a bracelet myself (featuring my name and IEA for the school!).
In Argentina, May 25th is Día de la Patria, commemorating the Revolución de Mayo de 1810 (May Revolution in 1810) when the first national government [known as the First Junta] was formed, marking the start of the process of Argentina's independence (distinct from Independence Day, which is July 9th).
Día de la Patria is a hugely patriotic celebration: the preschool had their patriotic art projects about the bandera (flag) and escarapela (rosette) on display, I got to witness baile folklore (folkloric dance) in an assembly at the high school, and eat locro at the congregational lunch — locro is the traditional dish for Día de la Patria [made with many different meats, beans, veggies, and simmered all together for hours!!] and since May 25th landed on a Sunday this year, three ladies from the congregation cooked up a huge pot of locro for us all to share. I absolutely loved it, and am also so deeply grateful for the opportunity to learn about Día de la Patria and experience the patriotism and national pride with my host community!
We had escuelita (Sunday School) and talked about the peace of Jesus [John 14:27-28]. Each kiddo made a little plant craft with different ways we can encounter Jesus' peace on each leaf. We had only a small group of girls, but telling the Gospel reading at a level they would understand brings me so much joy!
This month was full of adventures and cultural experiences! I appreciated going to another fútbol game (¡¡Dale Vélez!!), celebrating Día de la Patria (¡¡Viva la patria!!), drinking mate and hanging out with friends in plazas around Buenos Aires, and just exploring and soaking in the city.
I visited Plaza de Mayo on Día de la Patria (May 25th), which is the huge plaza in front of the Casa Rosada (Presidential Office). The name of the plaza itself pays homage to the Revolución de Mayo de 1810 (May Revolution in 1810), which occurred in this same plaza, and was the birthplace of the first national government [known as the First Junta], marking the start of the process of Argentina's independence. The plaza was full of people, vendors selling banderas (flags) and escarapela (rosette) pins, as well as keychains and magnets! It was exciting to see all the Argentinian flags everywhere and hear people yelling "¡¡Viva la patria!!" across the street at random strangers. The national pride, sense of togetherness and community, and overwhelming sense of joy brought me so much peace amidst the chaos of downtown Buenos Aires, adding to an already quite culturally rich and patriotic experience.
I got the opportunity to go to another fútbol game, this time with two of my cohortmates (Tom and Maggie) and their housemate. It was an international game: Vélez (the Argentinian team we were rooting for) versus San Antonio Bulo Bulo (the visiting team from Bolivia). Vélez dominated throughout the game and won 3—0, which was super exciting! The stadium was filled with joy and cheers, and the energy was infectious!
📍 El Ateneo Grand Splendid - Recoleta, Buenos Aires
A former theatre now turned bookstore and coffee shop, El Ateneo Grand Splendid has to be one of my favorite spots in Buenos Aires. Pictures honestly can't do it justice — the space itself is so incredibly open, the artwork and architecture are stunning, and the selection of books is extensive! I had saved pictures of this exact library on Pinterest years ago without realizing it was in Buenos Aires, so it was wild to visit with a friend from my host community for the first time back in November. It's such a tranquil, inviting space, and as someone who loves and appreciates architecture, theatre, and books, it's a space I know I'll miss a ton.
While it simultaneously feels like forever ago and a week ago that we were at Retreat #2, the end of April brought the cohort together again for Retreat #3!!! This time we were in Colonia Valdense in Uruguay: a small town about an hour-long bus ride from Colonia del Sacramento. We stayed at Centro Emmanuel, which serves as a farm, retreat center, and center for eco-theology. Albeit a short retreat, we spent our time reflecting on the YAGM experience as a whole, as well as processing and discussing what the last two (!!!) months of our time in the YAGM program and at our site placements will look like. I loved being surrounded by nature and green: even though it's fall here, the flowers are still blooming, and it was decently warm! We spent quite a bit of time outside, which I deeply appreciated before heading back to the bustling busyness of downtown Buenos Aires.
April was insane! From Ligas and Holy Week to spending time with friends and celebrating my 24th birthday, I'm so thankful for the community I have here and for all the memories and joy. :)
This month was, by far, the craziest, busiest month of my YAGM year thus far! Between all the behind-the-scenes prep for Ligas and the Taller de Pascua, the activities themselves, and prep and services for Holy Week and Easter, work at site has been go-go-go unending. Amidst and in spite of the busyness, my heart is so full with all the love, care, and community, and I'm so thankful to experience (and help out with !!) Holy Week in my host community here. (faces censored for kiddos' privacy!)
April Ligas!!
Our first Ligas of 2025!! I helped Erika out with a ton of the behind-the-scenes prep work for the craft station for Ligas — from going together to buy beads for the bracelet making station, to making posters for the different sub-stations during the craft activity rotation, to printing and cutting out different shapes and emoji-faces for the kiddos to decorate their boxes with. This year's overarching Ligas theme is emotions, so all of the crafts focus on emotions (hence the various emoji-face printouts or the smiley face beads for the bracelets)!!
For Ligas itself, I accompanied a group of 24 third graders along with Fran, another young adult from El Redentor, and one of my closest friends here. I loved seeing the kiddos' excitement with each activity and station, and also all their curious questions. Highlights include refilling juice cups during snack time, talking with one of the kiddos about hobbies and interests, patiently holding beads for kiddos so they weren't scouring the floor to find them, and one of the girls showing me all the pictures she found in the Bible during Bible story time.
Semana Santa (Holy Week) started out with Domingo de Ramos (Palm Sunday). Service started outside where we all got ramos (olive leaf branches) from the giant basket with liturgy and Bible readings before all processing inside for the rest of the service. It was so incredibly special for the congregation to be all outside and the imagery of all processing in together — I realized how accustomed I am to kiddos processing during service with ferns and leaves, so to process in as the whole congregation was really impactful.
Taller de Pascua!
This was the first year ever that El Redentor did a Taller de Pascua, which was held the Wednesday of Holy Week — it was chaotic and a lot on top of an already very busy week, but the kiddos loved it and had a wonderful time, which made it all worth it. Behind-the-scenes prep included making origami baskets for the kiddos to take their cookies home in, as well as making the icing and cookies themselves (over 180 cookies!!). We prepped for a little over 100 kiddos, which felt like a lot at times, but the teamwork and sharing of different parts of the prep helped the work not feel as overwhelming. I accompanied the 3rd graders for the Taller de Pascua itself — I'd been with most of them for Ligas the Saturday before, which made for familiar faces and names for everyone. We talked about Easter and Jesus' resurrection, as well as decorated egg-shaped cookies for the kiddos to take home.
Semana Santa (Holy Week) continued with Jueves Santo (Maundy Thursday). El Redentor hosts a cena pasual (Passover supper) in conjunction with liturgy, Bible readings, and singing for Jueves Santo. I helped prepare the different parts of the cena pascual alongside Erika and Celeste (her daughter). It was fascinating to see both sides of Jueves Santo service, alongside knowing this is a yearly tradition here. Service taking place with all of us sitting around the same table was really powerful, reinforcing the idea of community and togetherness I reflect on so often throughout my year here, and is an experience I'm so incredibly grateful for.
At the end of service on Thursday, everything was taken off the altar and out of the church, and a black cloth was hung on the cross in preparation for Viernes Santo (Good Friday). We did the Vía Crucis (Stations of the Cross) for Viernes Santo — each station was accompanied by a Bible reading, a reflection by someone from the congregation, and a different artistic depiction of Jesus on the cross. My reflection was on the 4th station: Jesús encuentra a su madre // Jesus meets His mother, along with the Bible reading of Luke 2:35. Reflecting on when Simon tells Mary that "a sword will pierce through your own heart also" made me consider how Mary — like all parents — know that their children will suffer at some point in their lives: it's part of being human and simply a part of life. But how painful it must have been to think about this when Jesus was still an infant, and at the same time learn that she was going to feel the same pain that her son would feel.
Donde hay amor, hay dolor. // Where there is love, there is pain.
Semana Santa (Holy Week) culminated in Domingo de Pascua (Easter Sunday). There was an desayuno pascual (Easter breakfast) before service, with various sweet breads, desserts, and pastries brought by various members of the congregation. Easter service itself was a mix of familiarity and special: singing familiar hymns warmed my heart, and there was a guest choir that sang during Holy Communion (in a mix of Spanish and English, which brought a smile to my face!!!). It was also the first time I've celebrated Easter in fall, but the yellow-brown falling leaves are beautiful nonetheless.
As if Holy Week and Easter by themselves weren't crazy enough, my 24th birthday was the day before Easter. Fran (one of my close friends) had invited me to join him at church on Holy Saturday to practice music for Easter Sunday the next day. Little did I know at the time that my host community friends had planned a surprise birthday party for me, and Fran inviting me to practice was the least suspicious way they found to get me to come to site on a non-work day. I was so surprised, and so deeply grateful for my friends and their love and care. My host congregation also surprised me with a cake (and singing "feliz cumpleaños") during Easter Breakfast the next day.
My 24th was so incredibly memorable thanks to my community here, and I'm so incredibly thankful. :)
Amidst lots of time spent at site this month, I still found ways to soak in the little moments of living in Buenos Aires. From exploring new neighborhoods to spending time with my friends drinking mate and playing cards in plazas, living in the moment (and sometimes snapping a photo or two for the memories) brings me so much joy.
One huge part of my YAGM year and living in the city of Buenos Aires is public transportation!!
I get around the city via colectivo (bus) most of the time, but also use the subte (subway) and tren (train) fairly often as well. Living in the heart of downtown is definitely a mixed bag at times: I am grateful that there are a ton of options of buses and subway lines close-by, yet road closures sometimes mean last-minute changes to how I planned my commute. It definitely adds to the experience!!
📍 Tramway Histórico de Buenos Aires - Caballito, Buenos Aires
For 100 years, the tramway served as main way of urban public transport here, until it disappeared suddenly in 1963. In the 1920s, Buenos Aires was known as the "city of tramways" with 544 miles of tramways and 99 tram lines using 3000 carriages running throughout the city. Since the 1980s, the Asociación Amigos del Tranvía (Friends of the Tramway Association) has continued to run one line as a way to keep the history and story of the tramways alive today.
Pope Francis (Papa Francisco) passed away Easter Monday. He was from Buenos Aires, and was archbishop in the Catedral Metropolitana de Buenos Aires // Metropolitan Cathedral in the heart of downtown Buenos Aires before he became a cardinal in the Vatican. With Argentina being a Catholic country and the Pope being Argentinian, the grief here has been heavy. I visited the Metropolitan Cathedral on the Wednesday after his death, and was met with all the candles, flowers, notes, and tributes paid on the front steps of the cathedral. There was also a memorial for Papa Francisco at the front of the cathedral, with a desk and papers for people to write their last words to the Pope. Mass was also really moving: while it was different than a service at El Redentor, I was comforted in understanding the sermon and being able to recite the Padrenuestro (Lord's Prayer). Accompanying my friends amidst their grief has also impacted me a lot. One of my friends told me, "yo aún no puedo creer que haya muerto nuestro papa" // "I still can't believe that our Pope died" — the national pride that the Pope was Argentinian, as well as stood up for the marginalized and the environment, means that his death leaves quite a hole.
Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay