Hello everyone! Just a note tonight to share that we three -- my housemates Emily, Nicole, and I -- arrived in Lima, Peru safe and sound last night at 10:30 pm. Incarnate Word Sisters Silvia and Aelia met us at the airport where we crammed us five and our bags into a cab (guitar on our laps), headed to the sisters' house of hospitality, and shared some bread and tea before falling into bed.
Today has been a great first day here. I accompanied Sr. Silvia to the market and enjoyed the bustling activity, sights and sounds. We also accompanied Sr. Aelia to a neighbor's celebration of the feast day of the patron of her small shop that sells priestly vestments and other religious articles (shop is the Mercederia, patron Mary of Merced). A communion service led by Pierre, a seminarian from Togo, was followed by a lunch of aji de gallina and rice and conversations with the other 10 friends and family present, which was followed by live guitar music/singing of traditional Peruvian music, to which we had to get up and dance to, of course. All this in a smallish, green-painted room that had been converted from Marian shrine to chapel to dining room for the occasion. The spontaneity, warmth, and joy of the gathering made us all feel welcome -- I even contributed a song of my own on the guitar (and then tried to translate the lyrics :)).
A walk to the ocean and back (about a mile total), a lively daily mass at the local church with a beautiful dome, and some more tea and bread with Sr. Aelia have finished out the day. Sr. Aelia is 82 years old, from the US. Sr. Silvia is about 30 and is from Peru.
It turns out that we will be heading to our home base, Chimbote, sooner than we thought -- tomorrow, in fact! We're excited and curious to see our new home.
A final thought, from the book Gracias by Henri Nouwen. In discussing liberation theology, he quotes Gustavo Guitierrez that real, practical theology shouldn't start in the head but instead in a lived experience of Christ -- "We don't think ourselves into a new way of living, but instead live ourselves into a new way of thinking." Seems simple, but how often do we avoid choices in our live that might force us to think, and maybe to change?
Monday, September 24, 2007
Friday, September 21, 2007
Casi nos vamos...
Good morning to you -- and thanks for checking back! Since my last post, our orientation has continued at a good clip. We've focused heavily on cultural awareness and went away to a retreat center north of Austin for a restful weekend that was guided by Sr. Carmelita from Mexico City. Other topics of presentations have included the religious culture of Latin America, Christology, anthropology and family systems, living as a public figure and representative of the Incarnate Word Sisters, staying healthy in mission, scriptural study, and awareness of our own cultural tendencies. Particularly helpful this week was an analysis of Low Contextual and High Contextual cultures and a project for us missionaries to identify strengths that make our US culture unique.
Today we have free to accomplish tasks (such as packing) and errands before a final set of meetings tomorrow and our flight to Peru on Sunday. We leave 5:45 am from San Antonio and arrive in Lima, Peru at 9 pm (eastern time zone, I believe) by way of Houston and Miami. I feel mostly excited with dash of nervousness -- something I've wanted to do for a few years is finally happening. These past three and a half weeks have felt a little like a parallel universe -- an in-between time in which the rest of the world continues to go to school, work, etc. I do feel more prepared to embark on the journey than when I arrived, but I also feel ready to jump in, to stop talking about it and actually see what life will be like in Peru. Upon our arrival in Peru, however, we won't go directly to Chimbote but will instead stay for "a few days" in Lima with the IW sisters there while we take care of some visa paperwork.
Finally, you may have noticed the new link at the upper right where you will be directed to a collection of my photos posted on Shutterfly. No password is needed to view the photos. I have also included a link to a map of Peru.
Have a blessed day, and I'll write you next from south of the equator!
Today we have free to accomplish tasks (such as packing) and errands before a final set of meetings tomorrow and our flight to Peru on Sunday. We leave 5:45 am from San Antonio and arrive in Lima, Peru at 9 pm (eastern time zone, I believe) by way of Houston and Miami. I feel mostly excited with dash of nervousness -- something I've wanted to do for a few years is finally happening. These past three and a half weeks have felt a little like a parallel universe -- an in-between time in which the rest of the world continues to go to school, work, etc. I do feel more prepared to embark on the journey than when I arrived, but I also feel ready to jump in, to stop talking about it and actually see what life will be like in Peru. Upon our arrival in Peru, however, we won't go directly to Chimbote but will instead stay for "a few days" in Lima with the IW sisters there while we take care of some visa paperwork.
Finally, you may have noticed the new link at the upper right where you will be directed to a collection of my photos posted on Shutterfly. No password is needed to view the photos. I have also included a link to a map of Peru.
Have a blessed day, and I'll write you next from south of the equator!
Monday, September 10, 2007
Incarnate Word Immersion
Good evening! I am writing from a computer lab in the conference center/international student dorm at the the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas. Since Sunday, September 2, I have been here at the university, which was founded by the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word -- who sponsor the Incarnate Word Missionaries that I am participating in. 
Though we have been staying at the Conference Center, I stayed at a different spot on campus my first night and took a photo from the window that you see here (the view out of my current room is much less exciting).
The past week has been a mixture of getting to know the four other missionaries and numerous Incarnate Word Sisters, having some helpful orientation sessions on avariety of topics, continuing some reading in preparation for the trip, and down time to explore the campus. Yesterday we went to mass at San Fernando Cathedral in downtown San Antonio, the oldest standing Catholic church in the United States. The bilingual Mass there was recorded for airing on a few local and regional stations, including Mexico. After Mass, a couple sisters and our program directors took us on a walking tour of downtown San Antonio, including the market, the hospital founded by the sisters in 1869, the famous River Walk, and lunch at a Mexican restaurant. The weather has been fairly hot and humid with a little rain here and there -- they definitely make a lot of use of air conditioning.:)
The other Incarnate Word Missionaries that are entering with me are: Nicole and Emily Tardio (nurses from Cincinatti who will be going with me to Peru), Tessia Pierce (University of Dayton graduate who will be serving at a home for homeless mothers here in San Antonio), and Laura Koeppel (Catholic school biology teacher from Milwaukie, WI, who will be working at a home for Mayan teenagers in Santa Cruz del Quiche, Guatemala). We also met yesterday three novice sisters from Peru (one is from Chimbote) who are in San Antonio for a few months to study English. I had a lot of fun practicing my Spanish by talking with them about their stories and life in Peru. It made me anticipate even more the opportunity to live as a long-term resident in another country, remembering how profound that experience was for me (though only eight weeks) in Guatemala in 2003. Here you can see a photo on the River Walk of, from left to right: Laura, Tessia, Gladys (IW sister from Peru), Emily, Meghan (IWM assistant director), Nicole, Tere (IWM director).
I don't know many more details about my ministry in Peru except that it will include helping out with youth at one of the local parishes. However, we have met several people who have visited and/or served in Chimbote with the sisters there, and Nicole, Emily and I have noticed a few commonalities among the comments: a frequent smell of fish from the port and factories, a lot of stray dogs (Peru in general), insufficient trash collection, many people living in poverty, and beautiful, warm and generous people. Also, everyone we talk with wants to make sure that we visit Machu Picchu of the Incas. To be sure, we are going to a place with a lot of need.
On typical days here (including Saturday) we have morning and afternoon sessions, with a couple evening events as well. There is a university pool which they have obtained permission for us to use while we are here for our training, so I have been there a few times to swim some laps. The presenters and discussion leaders for our sessions have included IW Sisters, university professors and other lay people. Topics so far have been Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word history/mission, journaling, the Enneagram (comparable to Meyers Briggs), strategies for living/working in new communities, making choices to intentionally the principles of spirituality, community, simple living, and service, Incarnational spirituality (seeing Christ in others and allowing Christ to work through us), personal and community practices for maintaining a life of prayer, Latin American cultural/spiritual reality, and dealing with violence in mission (personal, systemic, environmental, etc). From our incarnational spirituality talk, one quote I liked was that "we are called to see Christ within each person we meet, and to make it as easy as possible for them to see Christ in us." Many of our presenters have lived and served in Latin America themselves, and they share with us a lot of practical wisdom and personal stories.
Next weekend we will go out of town for a retreat (a couple of hours away), and the weekend after that I head to Peru. I thank you for the interest you have demonstrated in reading this whole entry, and I wish you a blessed week.
Though we have been staying at the Conference Center, I stayed at a different spot on campus my first night and took a photo from the window that you see here (the view out of my current room is much less exciting).The past week has been a mixture of getting to know the four other missionaries and numerous Incarnate Word Sisters, having some helpful orientation sessions on avariety of topics, continuing some reading in preparation for the trip, and down time to explore the campus. Yesterday we went to mass at San Fernando Cathedral in downtown San Antonio, the oldest standing Catholic church in the United States. The bilingual Mass there was recorded for airing on a few local and regional stations, including Mexico. After Mass, a couple sisters and our program directors took us on a walking tour of downtown San Antonio, including the market, the hospital founded by the sisters in 1869, the famous River Walk, and lunch at a Mexican restaurant. The weather has been fairly hot and humid with a little rain here and there -- they definitely make a lot of use of air conditioning.:)
The other Incarnate Word Missionaries that are entering with me are: Nicole and Emily Tardio (nurses from Cincinatti who will be going with me to Peru), Tessia Pierce (University of Dayton graduate who will be serving at a home for homeless mothers here in San Antonio), and Laura Koeppel (Catholic school biology teacher from Milwaukie, WI, who will be working at a home for Mayan teenagers in Santa Cruz del Quiche, Guatemala). We also met yesterday three novice sisters from Peru (one is from Chimbote) who are in San Antonio for a few months to study English. I had a lot of fun practicing my Spanish by talking with them about their stories and life in Peru. It made me anticipate even more the opportunity to live as a long-term resident in another country, remembering how profound that experience was for me (though only eight weeks) in Guatemala in 2003. Here you can see a photo on the River Walk of, from left to right: Laura, Tessia, Gladys (IW sister from Peru), Emily, Meghan (IWM assistant director), Nicole, Tere (IWM director).
I don't know many more details about my ministry in Peru except that it will include helping out with youth at one of the local parishes. However, we have met several people who have visited and/or served in Chimbote with the sisters there, and Nicole, Emily and I have noticed a few commonalities among the comments: a frequent smell of fish from the port and factories, a lot of stray dogs (Peru in general), insufficient trash collection, many people living in poverty, and beautiful, warm and generous people. Also, everyone we talk with wants to make sure that we visit Machu Picchu of the Incas. To be sure, we are going to a place with a lot of need.
On typical days here (including Saturday) we have morning and afternoon sessions, with a couple evening events as well. There is a university pool which they have obtained permission for us to use while we are here for our training, so I have been there a few times to swim some laps. The presenters and discussion leaders for our sessions have included IW Sisters, university professors and other lay people. Topics so far have been Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word history/mission, journaling, the Enneagram (comparable to Meyers Briggs), strategies for living/working in new communities, making choices to intentionally the principles of spirituality, community, simple living, and service, Incarnational spirituality (seeing Christ in others and allowing Christ to work through us), personal and community practices for maintaining a life of prayer, Latin American cultural/spiritual reality, and dealing with violence in mission (personal, systemic, environmental, etc). From our incarnational spirituality talk, one quote I liked was that "we are called to see Christ within each person we meet, and to make it as easy as possible for them to see Christ in us." Many of our presenters have lived and served in Latin America themselves, and they share with us a lot of practical wisdom and personal stories.
Next weekend we will go out of town for a retreat (a couple of hours away), and the weekend after that I head to Peru. I thank you for the interest you have demonstrated in reading this whole entry, and I wish you a blessed week.
Saturday, September 1, 2007
Goodbye Oregon, Hello San Antonio
Tonight is Saturday, September 1, and I leave for Peru three weeks from tomorrow. I arrive in San Antonio on Monday, August 27 after a weekend in Corvallis and mostly 
Portland with Michi and her family. On Saturday th five riders (Michi, her brother Francis, his girlfriend Melissa, Michi's brother-in-law Justin and I) and our support team (Michi's sister Katrina and 18-month-old niece Malina) had a "carbo-load" pasta dinner followed by a concert in the park with the Oregon Symphony. The weather was refreshingly cool following the typical 100 degree days in Redding.
We and our bikes stayed at Katrina's loft downtown, and we took part in the Portland Century bike ride on Sunday, which was a blast. I rode the 50-mile loop through some great, long bike trails, streets, the Columbia River, bridges and residential neighborhoods under partly sunny to cloudy skies.
When a train impeded our way for 10 minutes and then just stopped, the group of bikers piling up eventually to just haul our bikes over the flat car and hope the train 
didn't resume while we were on it. As far as I know, it didn't. After a gourmet meal and "goodie bag" of beer, Clif Bar and coffee, Michi and I took in the movie Once before going to dinner. On Monday, Michi resisted the urge to "accidentally" get lost on the way to the airport and, though the moments of goodbye were tough, I just did make my flight.
In San Antonio I have been generously hosted by Gina Anderson and her family at their home. Gina and I are friends from our time in Marina, CA, where we met through church retreats and youth work. She was on a two-week stay in SA after just returning from a two-year stint in Iraq, and it was intriguing and sobering to hear her assesment of the situation there. Some of her concerns are well laid out in the documentary currently in theatres called No End in Sight about the decisions leading up to and during the invasion of Iraq. I just saw the movie tonight and recommend it to anyone wishing for a clear, straightforward, chronological presentation of the mostly poor decisions made by various individuals concerning the conduct of the post-invasion period. Otherwise, I've made a couple trips to the dentist to get impressions for crowns (the dentist is Gina's cousin), studied and read Spanish aloud, building some general background in Peruvian history from The Peru Reader (recommended combination of historical articles, poems, short stories, and primary sources to paint a picture of Peru and its people), taking care of lingering logistical and financial details, and taking outings to visit family, friends, and prayer groups of the Andersons.
Tomorrow I go to the Incarnate Word campus here in town, and the rest of this year's missionaries (three of us to Peru plus two others) arrive on Monday for our orientation which begins Tuesday. I am ready to get started and look forward to this "in between time" of learning, prayer, spiritual preparation and community building. In a future post, I will give more details about what our orientation has included. For now, I wish you a wonderful week. I can still be reached at 541-602-4327, though you may have to leave me a message. I am unsure what my access to email will be in these three weeks, but I will post an update when I can. Go bless and have a wonderful week!
Portland with Michi and her family. On Saturday th five riders (Michi, her brother Francis, his girlfriend Melissa, Michi's brother-in-law Justin and I) and our support team (Michi's sister Katrina and 18-month-old niece Malina) had a "carbo-load" pasta dinner followed by a concert in the park with the Oregon Symphony. The weather was refreshingly cool following the typical 100 degree days in Redding.We and our bikes stayed at Katrina's loft downtown, and we took part in the Portland Century bike ride on Sunday, which was a blast. I rode the 50-mile loop through some great, long bike trails, streets, the Columbia River, bridges and residential neighborhoods under partly sunny to cloudy skies.
When a train impeded our way for 10 minutes and then just stopped, the group of bikers piling up eventually to just haul our bikes over the flat car and hope the train 
didn't resume while we were on it. As far as I know, it didn't. After a gourmet meal and "goodie bag" of beer, Clif Bar and coffee, Michi and I took in the movie Once before going to dinner. On Monday, Michi resisted the urge to "accidentally" get lost on the way to the airport and, though the moments of goodbye were tough, I just did make my flight. In San Antonio I have been generously hosted by Gina Anderson and her family at their home. Gina and I are friends from our time in Marina, CA, where we met through church retreats and youth work. She was on a two-week stay in SA after just returning from a two-year stint in Iraq, and it was intriguing and sobering to hear her assesment of the situation there. Some of her concerns are well laid out in the documentary currently in theatres called No End in Sight about the decisions leading up to and during the invasion of Iraq. I just saw the movie tonight and recommend it to anyone wishing for a clear, straightforward, chronological presentation of the mostly poor decisions made by various individuals concerning the conduct of the post-invasion period. Otherwise, I've made a couple trips to the dentist to get impressions for crowns (the dentist is Gina's cousin), studied and read Spanish aloud, building some general background in Peruvian history from The Peru Reader (recommended combination of historical articles, poems, short stories, and primary sources to paint a picture of Peru and its people), taking care of lingering logistical and financial details, and taking outings to visit family, friends, and prayer groups of the Andersons.
Tomorrow I go to the Incarnate Word campus here in town, and the rest of this year's missionaries (three of us to Peru plus two others) arrive on Monday for our orientation which begins Tuesday. I am ready to get started and look forward to this "in between time" of learning, prayer, spiritual preparation and community building. In a future post, I will give more details about what our orientation has included. For now, I wish you a wonderful week. I can still be reached at 541-602-4327, though you may have to leave me a message. I am unsure what my access to email will be in these three weeks, but I will post an update when I can. Go bless and have a wonderful week!
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