This past weekend I went to a three day retreat for Methodist youth in Serbia along with the Pastor's son and his fiance. It was an OK weekend, not the most exciting time but certainly not terrible. This weekend was set up to be a relaxing weekend for the youth, mainly teens. There is a more formal Bible camp over the summer. For me the weekend was like one of those "alone in a crowded room" type of things. I don't speak any Serbian, so unless there was a translator, I didn't really know what was going on. I intentionally did not sit with English speakers during some of the services because I feel like a burden when people feel like they need to translate everything for me.
The best part about the weekend was meeting other people. I just assumed those that wanted to practice their English would find me and they did. I was really impressed with some of the teens and their English skills. The school system must not be as good here in Padina because none of my kids could speak at the level of some of these teens. One girl was 14 and talked so fast in English that it was hard to keep up with her! It's wonderful that these kids could speak English so well, but it is also a little sad that some of them speak better English and have better grammar than kids their age in the US. My favorite conversation was with a shyer girl. She came over an sat next to me and didn't say anything at first. I asked her simple questions and then she eventually got comfortable with her English. I asked her what her favorite animal is. She responded by saying that she doesn't have a favorite because each animal has their own special beauty. I could have hugged her! It was so sweet and exactly how I feel!
There were a few downsides to the retreat other than not really understanding what was going on. I have never really enjoyed retreats. Most of the teens seemed to get so much energy from being around other teens from the Church. I am not the type that gets energy or motivation from being around other people - I find it more exhausting. Other than Sunday Church service and a walk through the small town, there were no planned activities. The main activity throughout the weekend was singing. It was an excellent chance for those that played instruments to come together and make music and for the rest of the group to sing. I have never enjoyed singing, I'm not really sure why but it is just not for me. I am also not the outwardly emotional type and a number of times many of the people started to cry during the songs. (This could have had something to do with the majority of the people there being emotional teenage girls). So it was a bit awkward for me at time being the only one that didn't know the words to the songs and that wasn't teary eyed. Oh well.
The important thing was that all the teens there seemed to have an amazing time. This was such a great chance for all the youth from the Church to come together, get to know each other, worship together, and sing. This retreat was meant for them so as long as they all had a great time, that's all that matters.
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