Friday, November 30, 2007
Some new photos
I meant to add some photos of Ecuador and Confirmation with my last entry, but my camera and the computer weren´t communicating well. They are now posted, see the photo link at right.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Ecuador y Sacramentos
Greetings from Chimbote!
I wrote last week just prior to our trip to Ecuador -- and we made it there and back safe and sound. Though the bus trip was long (15 hours including immigration stops) the bus was the nicest I`ve ever been on, more like traveling on the train in terms of space to stretch out. Also, there was a bathroom on board and decent meals were served. Though the majority of the trip both ways was at night, I did get a picture of what the north coast of Peru is like. The terrain and climate continue quite dry most of the way, at times quite desolate with exception of a sleepy (it was 7:00 am) beach town of Mancora. As we neared the border of Ecuador, however, the humidity increased significantly and more plant life was in evidence. Except for paying an unexpected fine upon leaving Peru for overstaying our visas (we thought we`d received an extension), the exit/entry went smoothly on the way up. Machala, our destination, was described in the guidebook as the `Banana Capital of the World´, though we missed the late-September Banana Festival with the Banana Queen beauty pageant. Indeed, banana plantations lined the highway for the final hour or so of the trip. It turns out that our bus wasn´t actually scheduled to stop in Machala, which lies a few miles off the Pan American highway. So, instead of arriving at a bus terminal we were dropped rather quickly at a gas station, the attendant pointing to the left to indicate the direction of Machala. Fortunately, we joined up with a couple young travels from Britain to take a cab to the city center and then took another cab to the Consulate of Peru where our visas were waiting. We arrived at 1;20, just as the last employee was leaving for lunch, so we waiting for a couple hours in a pleasant nearby park, and then waiting a couple more hours in the office before everything was okay with our visas. We found a motel in Machala near the green, attractive central plaza and ate pretty good pizza for dinner, and began our trip back the next morning. A few reflections on the journey:
- Machala was at least one level up economically from Chimbote -- cleaner, more paved streets, and more private cars.
- The official currency of Ecuador is the US $, so it was weird to spend dollars again for a day.
- The markets were bustling but a bit less chaotic than in Chimbote -- more permanent stalls, fruit stacked nicely, etc.
- We saw our first Christmas decorations of the season in Machala, both for sale in stores and hanging various places, including a Santa Claus printed with `Merry Christmas´ on our hotel room door. We hadn`t seen any sign of Christmas in Chimbote, though a few small traces have appeared this week. Maybe the increase US influence and/or higher economic level of Machala increased the Christmas commercialism there.
- Machala seems a bit more ethnically diverse than Chimbote, with small but significant black population and a larger number of people with stronger indigenous roots.
- The heat was more intense, made worse by the high humidity. The benefit of this was a lot more greenery and less dust.
- When I got off the bus with other travelers to go through exit procedures at the Ecuadorean border, I grabbed my bag but left my pillow and fleece jacket, thinking it would be a quick off and on. To my surprise, as I disembarked the bus promptly pulled away to drop off/pick up passengers at a nearby town. Though the bus returned, by pillow and jacket didn`t. A bit frustrating but not a huge loss -- summer is coming anyway :).
- We had a several hour layover in Tumbes, Peru, a half hour from the border. The food was cheap (soup, chicken, rice and beans for three of us for $4 total), the plaza there was quite impressive and the town overall a bit more developed than Chimbote, including a raised promenade along the river. There was an anniversary celebration for a local school, including an exposition of student arts and crafts. The young people, primary and secundary, loved talking with us, showing us their work, and asking questions about English and the United States. I took a walk around town and when I returned a crowd of at least ten youth were crowded around Nicole and Emily, who were obviously a bit tired from the extended Spanish.
- We now have an official religious visa and have 30 days to do the paperwork for our Carnet, or residency card. We will need to travel to Lima in December for a couple days to complete the process.
The second part of this entry concerns the events of first communion and Confirmation at the parish, both of which were held this past Sunday (10 am First Communion, 7:30 pm Confirmation). I assisted in a more-or-less crowd control capacity for both events, as well as assisting with pre-ceremony Confirmation preparations and attending the `compartir` afterwards. This after celebration had the same joy and smiles of the parallel gathering in Corvallis, except that here they served tamales, brought out a radio and had a dance. Also similar to Corvallis -- I was there to the end (though not the only one) sweeping and cleaning up :).
I feel significantly this week a combination of being very glad to be here (two months as of two days ago) as well as missing family and friends with the holiday season upon us. I wish you a wonderful season of Advent!
The second
I wrote last week just prior to our trip to Ecuador -- and we made it there and back safe and sound. Though the bus trip was long (15 hours including immigration stops) the bus was the nicest I`ve ever been on, more like traveling on the train in terms of space to stretch out. Also, there was a bathroom on board and decent meals were served. Though the majority of the trip both ways was at night, I did get a picture of what the north coast of Peru is like. The terrain and climate continue quite dry most of the way, at times quite desolate with exception of a sleepy (it was 7:00 am) beach town of Mancora. As we neared the border of Ecuador, however, the humidity increased significantly and more plant life was in evidence. Except for paying an unexpected fine upon leaving Peru for overstaying our visas (we thought we`d received an extension), the exit/entry went smoothly on the way up. Machala, our destination, was described in the guidebook as the `Banana Capital of the World´, though we missed the late-September Banana Festival with the Banana Queen beauty pageant. Indeed, banana plantations lined the highway for the final hour or so of the trip. It turns out that our bus wasn´t actually scheduled to stop in Machala, which lies a few miles off the Pan American highway. So, instead of arriving at a bus terminal we were dropped rather quickly at a gas station, the attendant pointing to the left to indicate the direction of Machala. Fortunately, we joined up with a couple young travels from Britain to take a cab to the city center and then took another cab to the Consulate of Peru where our visas were waiting. We arrived at 1;20, just as the last employee was leaving for lunch, so we waiting for a couple hours in a pleasant nearby park, and then waiting a couple more hours in the office before everything was okay with our visas. We found a motel in Machala near the green, attractive central plaza and ate pretty good pizza for dinner, and began our trip back the next morning. A few reflections on the journey:
- Machala was at least one level up economically from Chimbote -- cleaner, more paved streets, and more private cars.
- The official currency of Ecuador is the US $, so it was weird to spend dollars again for a day.
- The markets were bustling but a bit less chaotic than in Chimbote -- more permanent stalls, fruit stacked nicely, etc.
- We saw our first Christmas decorations of the season in Machala, both for sale in stores and hanging various places, including a Santa Claus printed with `Merry Christmas´ on our hotel room door. We hadn`t seen any sign of Christmas in Chimbote, though a few small traces have appeared this week. Maybe the increase US influence and/or higher economic level of Machala increased the Christmas commercialism there.
- Machala seems a bit more ethnically diverse than Chimbote, with small but significant black population and a larger number of people with stronger indigenous roots.
- The heat was more intense, made worse by the high humidity. The benefit of this was a lot more greenery and less dust.
- When I got off the bus with other travelers to go through exit procedures at the Ecuadorean border, I grabbed my bag but left my pillow and fleece jacket, thinking it would be a quick off and on. To my surprise, as I disembarked the bus promptly pulled away to drop off/pick up passengers at a nearby town. Though the bus returned, by pillow and jacket didn`t. A bit frustrating but not a huge loss -- summer is coming anyway :).
- We had a several hour layover in Tumbes, Peru, a half hour from the border. The food was cheap (soup, chicken, rice and beans for three of us for $4 total), the plaza there was quite impressive and the town overall a bit more developed than Chimbote, including a raised promenade along the river. There was an anniversary celebration for a local school, including an exposition of student arts and crafts. The young people, primary and secundary, loved talking with us, showing us their work, and asking questions about English and the United States. I took a walk around town and when I returned a crowd of at least ten youth were crowded around Nicole and Emily, who were obviously a bit tired from the extended Spanish.
- We now have an official religious visa and have 30 days to do the paperwork for our Carnet, or residency card. We will need to travel to Lima in December for a couple days to complete the process.
The second part of this entry concerns the events of first communion and Confirmation at the parish, both of which were held this past Sunday (10 am First Communion, 7:30 pm Confirmation). I assisted in a more-or-less crowd control capacity for both events, as well as assisting with pre-ceremony Confirmation preparations and attending the `compartir` afterwards. This after celebration had the same joy and smiles of the parallel gathering in Corvallis, except that here they served tamales, brought out a radio and had a dance. Also similar to Corvallis -- I was there to the end (though not the only one) sweeping and cleaning up :).
I feel significantly this week a combination of being very glad to be here (two months as of two days ago) as well as missing family and friends with the holiday season upon us. I wish you a wonderful season of Advent!
The second
Monday, November 19, 2007
Something smells fishy...
Greetings! I write you today a few hours before Nicole, Emily and I embark on a 14+ hour bus trip to Machala, Ecuador in order to get our long term visas (we currently have short-term visas). Also, before I forget -- I am posting some new photos so check out the photo link at right.
A number of things to write about, but, as the title of the blog indicates, the fishing season has begun here and the smell is quite strong at times. With the openings in our house, the air flows right through, especially in the kitchen. At least now one doesn`t have to worry about smelling up the house by cooking fish :). People here say that they are basically used to it, and in general people are happy because a lot of people have work that can`t usually find it. And, it used to last all year until overfishing led to just a couple months of intensive fishing (though fishing on a small scale continues year round). The smell comes from the factories that process the fish.
My main news to share is about our Confirmation retreat this past weekend. I accompanied the group to the town of Pariacoto, about one hour south and two hours east into the mountains. The town is in a river valley which has been harnessed by irragation to create significant agricultural greenery, but the rugged mountains that surround the town of a couple thousand people at about 1300 meters of elevation are dusty, rocky and dry with little plant life. The franciscans that run our parish also serve at the parish there and have a small retreat center that just managed to fit our 35 youth and six leaders. I was a little concerned prior to the retreat because the priest in charge of Confirmation notified us at the last moment that he was unable to come, but all-in-all the experience was a good one. Some reflections:
-- Speaking only Spanish for the whole weekend was a bit tiring but really good for me. I know that if I could speak Spanish at home or lived with a family here, that my fluency would increase much faster. Of course, that advantage is weighed against the breaks to speak English and having space to just get away for quiet time and reminders of home. Anyway, I learned new words like avanzar, which means something like `Come on` or `Let`s go` in the sense of `Avanza, it`s time to get up` or `Avanzan, your group has only five minutes left for the project and you have not yet started.´(I only heard this word about 200 times during the weekend). Also, aplastar (to crush), as in `The crackers we brought are aplastados.´ Final, contradecir (to contradict), as when the retreat coordinator asked another leader to not contradecir him when he told the group that there would be no sports, since this was not a weekend for sports but was a retreat.
- The highlights of the retreat, next to a number of opportunities to get to know individual youth better through conversations, were a couple of hikes we took with the group (see photos) to a cross atop a nearby hill and the site where two Franciscan priests were martyred in 1991 by the Shining Path because they were foreigners and represented imperialism. The views were amazing, the excercise welcome after the three-hour trip in a cramped mini-van-type bus called a combi, and the air very clean. At the cross atop the mountain, we left the rocks we`d hauled in our backpacks up the 45-minute climb as symbols of leaving the weight of our sin behind at the foot of the cross.
- We had mass both days, and Saturday night´s planned mass happened to coincide with a planned wedding/baptism at the parish. No problem! We, with 40 teegagers/young adults, simply joined in the celebration, taking up over a third of the seats so that a number of late arrivals to the wedding mass (and baptism of the couple´s child) had to stand in the back. The kids were occasional not talking during the ceremony, but nonetheless I enjoyed the chance to participate in the wedding celebration, which in many respects was very similar to US weddings. Mass on Sunday was at 7:00 am (after ending the last Saturday session at 11:30 pm), which I wouldn´t try to do on a youth retreat in the US :).
- The transportation to the retreat for the 41 of us was in two combis, which comfortably hold about 15 people, and a pickup truck which holds four. We were a bit smashed (I sat facing backward both coming and going, see photo), that is once the vans arrived -- an hour after the scheduled retreat departure time. They understandably struggled up the hills, the drivers stayed with us at the retreat center (and came back drunk on Saturday night), and one of the combis refused to start for the return trip. We waited for an hour for the drivers and assistants to fix the problem, a process which required shuttling a battery back and forth between the two vans at least four times, a couple of false loadings of the vans, etc. Makes the Club Wagon seem like a breeze.:)
- Males here, even the group leaders, seem to expect to be served -- even by the female leaders -- and seem unaccustomed to handling anything having to so with serving food for themselves.
On other topics, I continue with my physical therapy for my elbow. I had pictured progressing more quickly to complete use of my arm, but still have to admit that progress is being made. I have some excercises to do at home, including stretching/bending and carrying a small weight in my left hand to help stretch the contracted ligaments.
The past two weeks I have begun what will be a once-weekly accompaniment of the Hospice´s pastoral agent, visiting homes of terminally ill patients. The first house we went to was one at which the patient, an elderly man who had had cancer, had died just moments before. I felt somewhat out of place in the midst of the family mourning, but it was a strong reminder of the reality of death, how fragile we really are. The visits are a good chance to meet people in their homes, which vary widely in economic status. One man, younger than me, has a tumor in his back but in order to raise money for his family`s food and his pain medicine makes flip-flops out of used tires, which family members sell on the street for less than a dollar per pair. His home is mostly open to the sky, with dirt floors, chickens, and some cute baby pigs. These visits also have the side benefit of helping me with my Spanish.
Finally, I recommend taking some time to read Laura´s blog, the link is at the right. She is an IWM in Guatemala who is doing an excellent job of sharing and reflecting on her experience, especially interesting to me after spending some time in that country but time well spent for anyone interested in learning about life there, both the joys and many struggles the people face.
Thanks for taking time to read, and I´ll check in with more after our return from Thanksgiving. We are hoping to make it back for a dinner hosted by some Sisters who are friends of friends of Nicole and Emily and live here in town.
Wishing you peace and gratitude.
A number of things to write about, but, as the title of the blog indicates, the fishing season has begun here and the smell is quite strong at times. With the openings in our house, the air flows right through, especially in the kitchen. At least now one doesn`t have to worry about smelling up the house by cooking fish :). People here say that they are basically used to it, and in general people are happy because a lot of people have work that can`t usually find it. And, it used to last all year until overfishing led to just a couple months of intensive fishing (though fishing on a small scale continues year round). The smell comes from the factories that process the fish.
My main news to share is about our Confirmation retreat this past weekend. I accompanied the group to the town of Pariacoto, about one hour south and two hours east into the mountains. The town is in a river valley which has been harnessed by irragation to create significant agricultural greenery, but the rugged mountains that surround the town of a couple thousand people at about 1300 meters of elevation are dusty, rocky and dry with little plant life. The franciscans that run our parish also serve at the parish there and have a small retreat center that just managed to fit our 35 youth and six leaders. I was a little concerned prior to the retreat because the priest in charge of Confirmation notified us at the last moment that he was unable to come, but all-in-all the experience was a good one. Some reflections:
-- Speaking only Spanish for the whole weekend was a bit tiring but really good for me. I know that if I could speak Spanish at home or lived with a family here, that my fluency would increase much faster. Of course, that advantage is weighed against the breaks to speak English and having space to just get away for quiet time and reminders of home. Anyway, I learned new words like avanzar, which means something like `Come on` or `Let`s go` in the sense of `Avanza, it`s time to get up` or `Avanzan, your group has only five minutes left for the project and you have not yet started.´(I only heard this word about 200 times during the weekend). Also, aplastar (to crush), as in `The crackers we brought are aplastados.´ Final, contradecir (to contradict), as when the retreat coordinator asked another leader to not contradecir him when he told the group that there would be no sports, since this was not a weekend for sports but was a retreat.
- The highlights of the retreat, next to a number of opportunities to get to know individual youth better through conversations, were a couple of hikes we took with the group (see photos) to a cross atop a nearby hill and the site where two Franciscan priests were martyred in 1991 by the Shining Path because they were foreigners and represented imperialism. The views were amazing, the excercise welcome after the three-hour trip in a cramped mini-van-type bus called a combi, and the air very clean. At the cross atop the mountain, we left the rocks we`d hauled in our backpacks up the 45-minute climb as symbols of leaving the weight of our sin behind at the foot of the cross.
- We had mass both days, and Saturday night´s planned mass happened to coincide with a planned wedding/baptism at the parish. No problem! We, with 40 teegagers/young adults, simply joined in the celebration, taking up over a third of the seats so that a number of late arrivals to the wedding mass (and baptism of the couple´s child) had to stand in the back. The kids were occasional not talking during the ceremony, but nonetheless I enjoyed the chance to participate in the wedding celebration, which in many respects was very similar to US weddings. Mass on Sunday was at 7:00 am (after ending the last Saturday session at 11:30 pm), which I wouldn´t try to do on a youth retreat in the US :).
- The transportation to the retreat for the 41 of us was in two combis, which comfortably hold about 15 people, and a pickup truck which holds four. We were a bit smashed (I sat facing backward both coming and going, see photo), that is once the vans arrived -- an hour after the scheduled retreat departure time. They understandably struggled up the hills, the drivers stayed with us at the retreat center (and came back drunk on Saturday night), and one of the combis refused to start for the return trip. We waited for an hour for the drivers and assistants to fix the problem, a process which required shuttling a battery back and forth between the two vans at least four times, a couple of false loadings of the vans, etc. Makes the Club Wagon seem like a breeze.:)
- Males here, even the group leaders, seem to expect to be served -- even by the female leaders -- and seem unaccustomed to handling anything having to so with serving food for themselves.
On other topics, I continue with my physical therapy for my elbow. I had pictured progressing more quickly to complete use of my arm, but still have to admit that progress is being made. I have some excercises to do at home, including stretching/bending and carrying a small weight in my left hand to help stretch the contracted ligaments.
The past two weeks I have begun what will be a once-weekly accompaniment of the Hospice´s pastoral agent, visiting homes of terminally ill patients. The first house we went to was one at which the patient, an elderly man who had had cancer, had died just moments before. I felt somewhat out of place in the midst of the family mourning, but it was a strong reminder of the reality of death, how fragile we really are. The visits are a good chance to meet people in their homes, which vary widely in economic status. One man, younger than me, has a tumor in his back but in order to raise money for his family`s food and his pain medicine makes flip-flops out of used tires, which family members sell on the street for less than a dollar per pair. His home is mostly open to the sky, with dirt floors, chickens, and some cute baby pigs. These visits also have the side benefit of helping me with my Spanish.
Finally, I recommend taking some time to read Laura´s blog, the link is at the right. She is an IWM in Guatemala who is doing an excellent job of sharing and reflecting on her experience, especially interesting to me after spending some time in that country but time well spent for anyone interested in learning about life there, both the joys and many struggles the people face.
Thanks for taking time to read, and I´ll check in with more after our return from Thanksgiving. We are hoping to make it back for a dinner hosted by some Sisters who are friends of friends of Nicole and Emily and live here in town.
Wishing you peace and gratitude.
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Mejor de Salud y Curso de Inglès
Good afternoon! Later in the day after my last post, I wondered if I had done too much complaining, but I hope to keep the tone here informal and a fairly acurate picture of how I am feeling. Thanks for the encouragement from those who responded, and I`m happy to report that this week I am (finally) feeling better, which amazingly has an impact as well on my overall mood and outlook.
A new undertaking this week for Nicole,Emily and I was the beginning of our English classes in the parish, which will continue each week on Monday and Thursday evenings. We had 11 and 16 students attend, and more or less we have begun well. We are on the lookout for an ESL course teacher´s edition that we might be able to have sent through the Tardio´s at Christmas, but until then we are covering some of the basics on our own with a little help from some online ideas and input from our students as to what they would like to learn. The ages of our students range from 14 to about 30, with a variety of English experience and proficiency, though all seem eager to learn. Because several requested help with pronunciation, we spent some time preparing a summary of how Spanish vowel sounds can be spelled in English as well as compiling example words for sounds that don`t exist in Spanish. Doing so made us realize how unpredictable English actually is and how many exceptions there are to the rules that do exist. Any ideas would be welcome -- and we are posting summaries of our classes online for our students at www.cursodeinlgespsfda.blogspot.com in case you are curious. Because Nicole and Emily have a fairly full work schedule, I am taking on the majority of the preparation work and generally take the lead during the class when explanations in Spanish are needed.
An exciting event this Wednesday was another trip to the soccer stadium, this time packed full for `El Clàsico` between two of the most popular teams of the Peruvian national league. The game was quite exciting, the fans were loud (reminded me of college football level) and generally an exciting atmosphere. Interesting too that we ended up walking home more than 45 minutes since most don`t have cars and all the taxis are overloaded when the game ends. At least here, though, the stadium-design doesn`t have to take parking lot space into account. Hopefully next week I`ll post some photos from the event.
I began physical therapy this week for my elbow, now completely without cast or sling. Since it was bent at 90 degrees for four weeks, I am still not able to fully extend my arm nor flex it all the way. The therapy sessions are a bit painful in that she works to stretch the contracted muscles and tendons, but afterward I can feel the increased mobility. This week also included the small victories of drinking and shampooing my hair with my left hand :). I have a good ways to go before I am back to normal (or at least as normal as I was before), but little by little I see progress.
This coming weekend I will assist with the Confirmation retreat Saturday-Sunday at a place called Pariacoto, a couple hours away east into the mountains -- supposedly quite pretty there. Efforts to gather leaders of the eight parish neighborhoods were unsuccessful last week, but I did meet with leaders of one neighborhood regarding efforts to invite more of their youth to active participation. My vision at this point is to just begin with visits to homes, among other things looking to identify potencial youth leaders in each neighborhood. In January, there is a national youth ministry training course in Lima for a week or so which I hope to attend and bring interested youth leaders with me. If anyone might be interested in sponsoring the expenses for one of our young people here to attend, please let me know. I don`t yet have information about cost, but my guess is that it will be quite reasonable by US standards though out of reach for some youth and families here. In addition, we still have some plans for Advent -- outing, mini-retreat evenings, a community service project,a Christmas play and having youth help decorate the church. Similar to some parishes in the US, the members of the youth counsel felt that they were not asked for help with many parish events and were excited about the idea of being able to contribute ideas and time to helping decorate for Advent and Christmas.
Tonight we have been invited to a birthday party of one of the choir members whom we know, which should be a fun (and late) evening. I will go after my 8:00 meeting to help plan the upcoming Confirmation retreat (I can`t imagine calling a similar meeting at 8:00 pm on Saturday in the IS :)). I wish you a blessed week, and thanks for checking in!
A new undertaking this week for Nicole,Emily and I was the beginning of our English classes in the parish, which will continue each week on Monday and Thursday evenings. We had 11 and 16 students attend, and more or less we have begun well. We are on the lookout for an ESL course teacher´s edition that we might be able to have sent through the Tardio´s at Christmas, but until then we are covering some of the basics on our own with a little help from some online ideas and input from our students as to what they would like to learn. The ages of our students range from 14 to about 30, with a variety of English experience and proficiency, though all seem eager to learn. Because several requested help with pronunciation, we spent some time preparing a summary of how Spanish vowel sounds can be spelled in English as well as compiling example words for sounds that don`t exist in Spanish. Doing so made us realize how unpredictable English actually is and how many exceptions there are to the rules that do exist. Any ideas would be welcome -- and we are posting summaries of our classes online for our students at www.cursodeinlgespsfda.blogspot.com in case you are curious. Because Nicole and Emily have a fairly full work schedule, I am taking on the majority of the preparation work and generally take the lead during the class when explanations in Spanish are needed.
An exciting event this Wednesday was another trip to the soccer stadium, this time packed full for `El Clàsico` between two of the most popular teams of the Peruvian national league. The game was quite exciting, the fans were loud (reminded me of college football level) and generally an exciting atmosphere. Interesting too that we ended up walking home more than 45 minutes since most don`t have cars and all the taxis are overloaded when the game ends. At least here, though, the stadium-design doesn`t have to take parking lot space into account. Hopefully next week I`ll post some photos from the event.
I began physical therapy this week for my elbow, now completely without cast or sling. Since it was bent at 90 degrees for four weeks, I am still not able to fully extend my arm nor flex it all the way. The therapy sessions are a bit painful in that she works to stretch the contracted muscles and tendons, but afterward I can feel the increased mobility. This week also included the small victories of drinking and shampooing my hair with my left hand :). I have a good ways to go before I am back to normal (or at least as normal as I was before), but little by little I see progress.
This coming weekend I will assist with the Confirmation retreat Saturday-Sunday at a place called Pariacoto, a couple hours away east into the mountains -- supposedly quite pretty there. Efforts to gather leaders of the eight parish neighborhoods were unsuccessful last week, but I did meet with leaders of one neighborhood regarding efforts to invite more of their youth to active participation. My vision at this point is to just begin with visits to homes, among other things looking to identify potencial youth leaders in each neighborhood. In January, there is a national youth ministry training course in Lima for a week or so which I hope to attend and bring interested youth leaders with me. If anyone might be interested in sponsoring the expenses for one of our young people here to attend, please let me know. I don`t yet have information about cost, but my guess is that it will be quite reasonable by US standards though out of reach for some youth and families here. In addition, we still have some plans for Advent -- outing, mini-retreat evenings, a community service project,a Christmas play and having youth help decorate the church. Similar to some parishes in the US, the members of the youth counsel felt that they were not asked for help with many parish events and were excited about the idea of being able to contribute ideas and time to helping decorate for Advent and Christmas.
Tonight we have been invited to a birthday party of one of the choir members whom we know, which should be a fun (and late) evening. I will go after my 8:00 meeting to help plan the upcoming Confirmation retreat (I can`t imagine calling a similar meeting at 8:00 pm on Saturday in the IS :)). I wish you a blessed week, and thanks for checking in!
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Tener gripe no està divertido
Good morning! I write today from the convent computer here in Chimbote, and for the first time in a while with two hands (learning to appreciate the little things). Most of my news since my last posting, as the title suggests, involves being sick. On Wednesday the 24th I came down with the flu, a combination of fever, cough, and nasty headache that lasted until about Monday. I peaked at 102.5 degrees on Friday night, and I have to say that when you are forced to lie in bed all night not being able to sleep, the general noise of life here can be a little more irritating that usual. Anyway, with the help of some antibiotics and fever-reducer from the doctor here, I beat the fever by Monday, only to struggle with stomach cramps and nausea for couple more days. Finally yesterday and today I feel nearly back to normal, though my stomach still feels uneasy. Though in some ways I feel as though I lost a week, I was able to use some of the time to read, think, and ponder the questions of life (like why is the brass band at the cultural center across the street still playing at 3 a.m.? and who invented fireworks anyway?).
In general I must say that I have a felt a little homesick the past couple days, probably in part due to not quite feeling 100%. I find myself missing things about home, even little things like types of food, such as cereal and cold milk in the morning (so yesterday I splurged and bought some of each at the supermarket downtown). The underlying nausea also decreases may waning ability to be excited about any of the food choices here, as we seem to be running out of options and ideas for different things to cook. Our basic ingredients to work with include pototaes, white rice, pasta, chicken, eggs, a cheese that appears like swiss but becomes a bit rubbery when melted, carrots, brocoli, a few types of beans, apples, oranges,and other fruits, a few spices, tomatoes. We may try fish now and then, though Nicole is not a big fan so that will happen only occasionally. We buy fresh bread rolls every couple days from one of the bread vendors on the street, which we tend to eat with either breakfast or supper. They do have oatmeal here, which some of you may know was a staple of my diet in the US, but here it is milled quite finely and therefore upon cooking rapidly turns into a paste which I am having increasing difficulty in getting down. We did learn about this stage of culture shock in our orientation, `longing for food from home,`so I guess I could have expected it, and I`m sure as my stomach settles down the choices will sound more appetizing.
Also, I realize that in choosing a life here and giving up many of the small pleasures, luxuries, and comforts, and predictable routines of my life in the US I am left with some sense of a void, a lack of little pick-me-ups that I didn`t realize my moods depended upon so much. Thus, a conscious effort is required to notice this within myself and look around for constructive investments of time that can sustain my spirit, maybe even more so than what I am missing at the moment. To this end, I have already been journalling substantially more, have more time to read, study Spanish, and just these past few days have again picked up my guitar and am working to get my fingers and chord-positions back in shape. I also recognize more clearly my need for quiet prayer in the mornings as a way to help foster a mindset of more awareness and appreciation for what is actually here. This experience is no doubt an opportunity to serve, but maybe more than I realized an opportunity for self-discovery as well.
In closing, a summary of a few events of the past week that did happen in spite of my illness. We had a few friends over for Halloween and then went downtown to hear some Peruvian music, as October 31 is also a national holiday del Cancion Criollo, or native music. On All Saints Day, which is a national holiday here, some of the same group took us to the Vivero Forestal, a kind of city park with trees, playground, swimming pool, a few unhappy zoo animals, four-wheeler rides, and a small lake on which one can rent rowboats. It is really the only place like it in Chimbote, an oasis of relative green in mostly a dustly and dry local (though isolated houses and neighborhoods, such as that of the neighboring parish of Fr. Jack, do make real efforts to plant and care for green space). Preparations for a youth outing/field trip are under way for next Sunday, and a number of Confirmation-related meetings and events will happen this month. Tonight we three are going to a benefit dinner for the Hospice, which is held at a restaurant downtown and should be a festive event with dancing, etc. Socially, we are gradually meeting and getting to know a few friends better (especially guys, who seem to be quite interested in `practicing English and teaching Spanish` with Nicole and Emily :). They have learned that their status as still novelties here can be a bit tricky to navigate without creating unintended expectations or hurt feelings when more than one person wants to visit or be their guide at a given time, but no major problems. Friendships still take time to build, but there are some seeds that may grow with time.
Well, probably enough introspective rambling for one day -- thanks for reading!
In general I must say that I have a felt a little homesick the past couple days, probably in part due to not quite feeling 100%. I find myself missing things about home, even little things like types of food, such as cereal and cold milk in the morning (so yesterday I splurged and bought some of each at the supermarket downtown). The underlying nausea also decreases may waning ability to be excited about any of the food choices here, as we seem to be running out of options and ideas for different things to cook. Our basic ingredients to work with include pototaes, white rice, pasta, chicken, eggs, a cheese that appears like swiss but becomes a bit rubbery when melted, carrots, brocoli, a few types of beans, apples, oranges,and other fruits, a few spices, tomatoes. We may try fish now and then, though Nicole is not a big fan so that will happen only occasionally. We buy fresh bread rolls every couple days from one of the bread vendors on the street, which we tend to eat with either breakfast or supper. They do have oatmeal here, which some of you may know was a staple of my diet in the US, but here it is milled quite finely and therefore upon cooking rapidly turns into a paste which I am having increasing difficulty in getting down. We did learn about this stage of culture shock in our orientation, `longing for food from home,`so I guess I could have expected it, and I`m sure as my stomach settles down the choices will sound more appetizing.
Also, I realize that in choosing a life here and giving up many of the small pleasures, luxuries, and comforts, and predictable routines of my life in the US I am left with some sense of a void, a lack of little pick-me-ups that I didn`t realize my moods depended upon so much. Thus, a conscious effort is required to notice this within myself and look around for constructive investments of time that can sustain my spirit, maybe even more so than what I am missing at the moment. To this end, I have already been journalling substantially more, have more time to read, study Spanish, and just these past few days have again picked up my guitar and am working to get my fingers and chord-positions back in shape. I also recognize more clearly my need for quiet prayer in the mornings as a way to help foster a mindset of more awareness and appreciation for what is actually here. This experience is no doubt an opportunity to serve, but maybe more than I realized an opportunity for self-discovery as well.
In closing, a summary of a few events of the past week that did happen in spite of my illness. We had a few friends over for Halloween and then went downtown to hear some Peruvian music, as October 31 is also a national holiday del Cancion Criollo, or native music. On All Saints Day, which is a national holiday here, some of the same group took us to the Vivero Forestal, a kind of city park with trees, playground, swimming pool, a few unhappy zoo animals, four-wheeler rides, and a small lake on which one can rent rowboats. It is really the only place like it in Chimbote, an oasis of relative green in mostly a dustly and dry local (though isolated houses and neighborhoods, such as that of the neighboring parish of Fr. Jack, do make real efforts to plant and care for green space). Preparations for a youth outing/field trip are under way for next Sunday, and a number of Confirmation-related meetings and events will happen this month. Tonight we three are going to a benefit dinner for the Hospice, which is held at a restaurant downtown and should be a festive event with dancing, etc. Socially, we are gradually meeting and getting to know a few friends better (especially guys, who seem to be quite interested in `practicing English and teaching Spanish` with Nicole and Emily :). They have learned that their status as still novelties here can be a bit tricky to navigate without creating unintended expectations or hurt feelings when more than one person wants to visit or be their guide at a given time, but no major problems. Friendships still take time to build, but there are some seeds that may grow with time.
Well, probably enough introspective rambling for one day -- thanks for reading!
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