I have been away from the blogdesk for some time, but promise a thorough update of the past month within a few days. Until then, I offer the text of an article that I recently wrote for the Peruvian Incarnate Word Sisters` bulletin, in which I reflect on my experience after nearly one year here. Also, I have posted a couple of albums of recent photos which you can see by accessing the link at right. Enjoy!


THE CHIMBOTE MISSIONARY LIFE (written August 4, 2008)

I found the Incarnate Word Missionaries ad in the Response catalog of an organization called Catholic Network of Volunteer Service, or CNVS, in the spring of 2007 as I was exploring options for living and serving in Latin America for an extended period. Two previous visits to Guatemala and several service trips with youth to Tijuana had triggered and sustained this calling, this tug on my heart that did not go away even amidst the busy and fulfilling life of youth ministry in a U.S. Catholic parish. This interior stirring, combined with a growing sense of the ignorance of most US citizens (and Catholics) of life outside the US and a desire to help build bridges and encourage increased solidarity in my fellow US Christians, was plenty of motivation for sending CNVS interest forms to about 10 congregational volunteer programs. About four later I had chosen – and had been chosen by – the Incarnate Word Missionary program of the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate word.

Following a three-week orientation and retreat period in San Antonio, I embarked with my fellow Peru IWM`s – Emily and Nicole Tardio, from Cincinnati, Ohio – on our adventure into the unknown. Our daily sessions and discussions at the University of the Incarnate Word had included a wide range of topics, from cross-cultural sensitivity and culture shock to CCVI history, journaling, and recommendations for living together in community. Still, we grew more and more eager to actually see our new home, city, country – what would our new life be like? Despite the best efforts of Meg and Tere, we all three feel that the true orientation was `on the job,` so to speak. What have we learned these eleven months? From the unique perspective of this August Monday morning in Chimbote, I seek to share with you some reflections as I ponder this very worthy question.

RAW FISH ISN`T THAT BAD
Though fans of sushi might already have learned this, we have come to enjoy this concoction of raw fish (can also include shellfish), garlic, lime juice, ajì (hot pepper), sweet potato, yucca, and corn. The typical Chimbotano eats ceviche multiple times each week – if not every day – usually as a mid-morning snack, at home or one of the ubiquitous formal and informal (i.e. the clean and the hygienically questionable) cevicherìas.

MOPPING THE FLOOR IS A LOSING BATTLE
Dust is a reality of life here – it keeps coming, and coming, and coming. We began by mopping the whole house each week, only to judge the effort pointless – we succeeded only in moving the dirt around and removing a few footprints. Though we now have settled into sweeping once per week and mopping occasionally, we have developed a certain dust tolerance and never go barefoot in the house.

WHAT SMELL?
Warned numerous times before our arrival how Chimbote smells strongly of fish, we were pleasantly surprised not to smell anything out of the ordinary as we got off the bus for the first time, Sister Juanita there to meet us. Nowadays, we learned, fishing periods are limited due to past over-fishing – which is bad news for the local economy but good news for local lungs. Still, we have had a taste of `the smell of money`, as they say here, for a few short periods.

TIME IS RELATIVE
I have adjusted somewhat, but I don`t think I will ever fully get used to the flexible conception of time and schedules, i.e. `Let`s say the meeting starts at 7:00 so that we will be sure to start by 7:30.` Why not just say it starts at 7:30 and actually start then? I naively ask. Because then everyone won`t arrive until 8:00. On the positive side, I love how I can organize an outing with 5-10 friends with a day`s notice.

ENGLISH IS A DIFFICULT LANGUAGE TO LEARN
As one of our steady ministries here we offer a program of English classes within the parish, now with three different levels. A couple realizations: English pronunciation is difficult, we have many expressions that make no literal sense, and teaching English is a lot more complicated than just knowing how to speak it.

PERUVIANS LOVE TO DANCE TO LOUD MUSIC
What`s a party without dancing? Well, here it wouldn`t be a party at all. I enjoy the festive culture, but the noise level of parties (like from the `social and cultural association` across the street) and life in general has taken some getting used to. We can sleep through the dogs no problem by now, though the garbage truck`s horn remains impossible to work into one`s dreams.

OUR WORK AND PRESENCE IS APPRECIATED
Though my parish work in the US was more involved, took more time, and sometimes produced more tangible `results` than my efforts here, I have experienced genuine welcome and appreciation that in my own culture we often don`t take the time to express. Especially in my first couple months here (complicated by a dislocated elbow playing basketball) I felt like I was floating a bit – looking for where I would find a niche, where I would do my `work.` Now I have more projects in mind than there is time to start, yet have adopted a slower, more patient rhythm and expectations.

CHIMBOTE IS NOT A TOURIST CITY
A major struggle for the three of us has been the general lack of security here coupled with our glaring `non-anonymity.` With few gringos around, we attract attention (especially Emily and Nicole) wherever we go. Experiences of being robbed in the street have made us more watchful and careful as to when, where, and carrying which things we will walk around. Though we are more obvious targets due to the association of gringos with money, our friends who live here also are victims of crime and have to take precautions.

PROBLEMS ARE BIG, BUT PEOPLE WANT CHANGE
The struggles that many here face – individually and as a society – can seem overwhelming and an adequate response impossible: pollution and garbage, lack of work, poverty, the humble living conditions of some hospice patients, corrupt and inefficient government, inadequate health care services, despair and drug use, gangs, crime, etc. Still, especially among the young people I have met in my work at the parish, hope and desire for change are alive and well. How do I help them take their own steps toward transforming their reality? I feel that my first year has been full of learning – now how do I convert some of my new found understanding into concrete actions that make a difference? Even that statement, I realize, reflects my own bias toward action as more important than presence.

I CAN SING?
I have loved my experience of Peruvian music here – not so much the cumbia/pop of Grupo 5 (the group of the moment) flowing out of the mototaxis and late-night parties, but my opportunity to help create music as part of a parish youth choir here. I have generally enjoyed singing in church in the past, but with an admittedly soft voice and very little confidence. Still, I was invited to join one of our two youth choirs and have seen significant improvement in both qualities. Inspired by the talented musicians in the choir and among our friends here, I have increased my guitar skills and taken up learning to play the zamponia and quena, two styles of traditional Andean flutes.

THE INCARNATE WORD SISTERS IN PERU ARE COOL
When we arrived to Jorge Chàvez airport in September, Sisters Silvia and Elia were there to meet us. Sister Juanita met our bus in Chimbote and gave us a several-day tour and orientation to our new city. Sister Pilar, Sister Hirayda and Sister Elia helped make possible the attendance of 14 Chimbote youth at a two-week youth ministry training course in Lima. The communities of Comas and San Juan Lurigancho made my stay in Lima in June – for a Peruvian reality course at the Bartholomew de las Casas Institute – both possible and a lot of fun, and Sister Teresa de Jesùs in Huancanè showed us great hospitality in cold Huancanè. Being a missionary here I have genuinely felt a welcome and included member of the IW congregational community, and I am very grateful for this and the friendships with sisters that have developed.

I LIKE MY LIFE HERE
The slow and patient rhythm, time to read and practice music during the afternoon siesta (the girls sleep a bit more than I do), the numerous chances to serve and accompany young people, not being in charge, continually improving my Spanish, friendships that have grown quickly in comparison to past experiences of moving to new places in the US, the cheap and flavorful food, the colorful chaos of the outdoor market. Chimbote is far from perfect, and there are moments when I strongly miss my family, my culture. I have been an Incarnate Word Missionary in Chimbote for almost one year of my two year term, and there is still so much to do and see and learn. I already know that when I leave I will be both excited to return home and sad to leave, to say goodbye to the people and the life I led. I do know too, however, that my experience here – given to me by the CCVI sisters – will help me live out my call as a Christian to live as a missionary of the gospel wherever I find myself in the future.