Kari_Cultural Immersion Awesomeness

I had the best experience yesterday going to a hispanic baptist church called "Cristo Fusion". When I looked it up online, I didn't really know what to expect because their website said that they met in the Workforce building at Tallahassee Community College. When I got there, I was extremely early and waited in the lobby. In the conference room there was an earlier congregation of another English speaking church, and it had enough members to fill the entire room. Eventually a young couple in their thirties came in. I would later find out that the man was the pastor and the woman was his wife. Throughout the next half hour about 4 more people came in just as the other church was finishing in the conference room. While we were waiting, the young couple talked to me and asked me if I was from the other group and when I said that I was there for the Cristo Fusion, they were really surprised, but glad all the same. They welcomed me, said they were glad I was there, and really acted like it too. Their names were Juan and Rosie.

At first I was really shy, that's just my nature, but the Hispanic people were SO kind to me and asked all sorts of questions like, where was I from, what was my major, how long had I been in Tallahassee, how many siblings did I have, etc. I basically explained to them why I was there, and that I was doing a project for a class, but also that I was trying to practice my Spanish, so naturally they were eager to help. Juan explained that today things were going to be very different than they normally were because there were 2 birthday parties for members of the congregation. This explained why there were only 6 people including myself that showed up to the service. Also, Rosie said that she knew Ramin because she had learned English at CIES!

 Juan's sermon was also unlike anything I'd ever experienced in my years of going to church. Instead of having a set lesson in store, he asked the members if they had any questions, and if they did, that's what they would discuss and talk about. It was extremely family oriented and very small. At the beginning Juan said he would speak in Spanish slow for me so that I could keep up, but I asked him not to change his pace so that I could get the authentic blast of language submersion. During the sermon he did exactly as I asked him to, and while I was listening, I found that I couldn't understand individual words and that it was impossible to try and figure out meanings of individual words I didn't know because by the time I figured it out, he was ten more sentences down the road with new vocabulary in them. So what I did was try to get the general idea, but even still, it was difficult. The sermon lasted about half an hour simply because there were parties to go to, and of course, the members eagerly invited me.


One of the members that really looked out for me was named Juan G. Juan was probably in his early thirties, and was from Colombia. When he found out I was practicing Spanish, he was really excited and more than eager to help shake the rust off my skills. He sat next to me during the sermon and made sure I had a way to get to the parties. He would ask me questions in both English and Spanish and sometimes only in Spanish. The times he did speak to me in Spanish, he made sure to ask slowly and clearly for me and really reminded me of being a tutor. He was definitely my Spanish tutor for the day and taught me phrases and words depending on the context. Like when I was talking about my brother and his kids, he would tell me the terms for niece and nephew "sabroso" and "sabrosa".  He always made sure I was included, and when we got to the first party, the Olympics were on. More specifically, the soccer game between Egypt and Japan was playing. Juan and I along with the rest of the house were glued to the tv and talking about plays and strategies and also our experiences with playing soccer.

For the most part I found myself picking up words here and there and stumbling with the conversations-UNTIL-I heard the 3 most heavenly words in the entire world. "Con tres leches." Rosie and Rolinda were behind me speaking quietly to themselves, but my ears were subconsciously picking up things around me, and they are specially adapted to listen for those 3 glorious words. I spun around and asked if it was true we were having cake with three milks and the two ladies smiled and laughed, confirming that we were having the heavenly dessert. I nearly died with happiness when I learned that they were having postre con tres leches. For those who have not had the delight of experiencing this heavenly food gifted by the gods-it is a very light cake, but is baked with three types of milk at different times throughout the baking process, making the end result very moist. The cake LITERALLY melts in your mouth. It does not fall apart or have a disgusting consistency. It is just so heavenly and light that it gently dissolves like cotton candy or a cloud of cream where angels flew by and fluffed it with their wings and later sent it flowing like rivers of milk and honey....man I love that cake.

Other Mexican food that was prepared was a modified Lentil soup which had potatoes, carrots, chicken, lentils and a beef broth-it was MUY sabrosa! But that was just an appetizer. For the main lunch we had REAL HOME-MADE tacos! Not that packaged stuff from Taco Bell. The tortillas were hand made and steaming hot-you could taste the corn and flour in them and they even had a distinct baked oil taste to them. They also had Puerto Rican rice which was flavored rice cooked with lentils, sausage and chili sauce. For fillings on the tacos there was beef that had been broiled in chili sauce and ended up being extremely tender, also cilantro and onions, home-made guac or guacamole and sour cream, with a side of sliced limes.







After the first party, it was time to go to the second one. But before then, Rosie needed to pick up the presents from her house, and since I didn't know the way to where the party was, I followed Rosie to her home and she drove us the rest of the way. Her home was very clean and modern and not at all like a cliche Mexican home that you might picture.


The second party was for one of the attendees' daughter who turned 4 and was hosted at Maclay Gardens park. She was adorable! Her mother is Sylvia, and her husband is one of the managers at El Jalisco. Apparently all of the owners are related by marriage or siblings, which is pretty neat. The first thing the hosts encouraged us to do was grab a plate and eat more home-made tacos! Juan P convinced me to get another helping of tacos because he said these were different. And indeed he was right-these tacos were also home-made and baked in chili sauce with chicken and potatoes and were later drizzled with jalapeño salsa and cabbage. After we were stuffed with even more food, and the children were told to get out of the water due to thunder, it was time to beat the piñata! One of the grandmothers made the piñata from hand using layers and layers of newspaper and bottle caps on the outside to give it the appearance of a pineapple. (The party was a tropical theme). I swear that was the stubbornest piñata I've ever seen. It took 15 minutes to beat it down and the only reason it was finally opened was because two people had to pry it open with their hands.















The pastor Juan and his wife Rosie were some of the nicest people I've ever met. Even though today was my first time meeting them, they said that if I ever needed anything whether it was advice, a family,  a meal, or a place to stay, I was always welcome in their home. I am so glad that this experience lasted all day even though it was tiring by the end of it, and in a couple weeks when I return from Orlando, I plan on going back.