Well, the Bolivia girls have made it! The travel period was long and tiring, but finalmente, nosotros estamos aqui! Right now we're sitting in our library at Comite Central Menonita (MCC en America). We arrived around 8am this morning, and Lizzete picked us up and drove us to CCM. The city is beautiful! I don't really know a whole lot about it, but I'm excited to learn more! The city is formulated in rings, and CCM is pretty close to the center.
Tomorrow night we drive to Cochabomba! We're taking an overnight bus, which won't be fun at all because we have to climb up into the mountains! But it will be worth it. I'm excited to start learning more spanish. Even being here for only one day, I'm already getting back into it and learning more. My brain is accepting it, which is awesome.
Also, randomly, we experiencing super cold weather. It's around low 60's, I guess because a southern wind! So it's muy fresco. But next week it will start to get really hot again and we'll head into summer. I learned a lot about being healthy and safe today. And I forgot that the water here, although it's safe, is different. So we will have a lot of carbonated water! Also, today for breakfast we had a dish called salteñas.They are chicken and juice filled pot pies, kinda, but they're sealed in a bread and you have to drink them. They are a lot like empañadas.
Yesterday, while sitting for an hour or so in La Paz, a christian pastor from Dallas who's son lives in Santa Cruz was talking with me, and he said something that stuck with me. We were talking about our futures and he asked, "When you're driving down a dark road, with your headlights on, how far can you see?" I replied, "about twenty feet?", and he said, "Yes, but what you do you do when you can't see? You keep going and then you can."
His life is centered around following God. He and his family were missionaries in Argentina for ten years, and now his son, who is twenty, lives in Santa Cruz and plays division 2 soccer. His message to me, as I understand it, was that God is the headlights, and I'm the driver. Although I don't know where I'm going, I'm trusting Him to enlighten me when the time is necessary. It's a really good thought to have because I'm going into this year of service with very low expectations. We're supposed to. It's hard not to expect things, and want to know all about my placement and everything i'll be doing this next year, but I just have to trust God and wait it out.
"La exposicion de tus palabras nos da luz, y da entendimiento al sencillo."
"The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple."
-Salmos 119:130 Psalms 119:\:130
Friday, August 19, 2011
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Orientation
Well tonight is the last night in Akron. Some people are starting to leave around 1:45am for the airport, and we all follow tomorrow. It's kind of weird that this is the last night here, but I am also really ready to get out of limbo and in to Bolivia. It's hard to describe the experience that I've had here in Akron. It is such a healthy environment, that I think it will be a hard adjustment to being alone. Luckily I've got the Bolivia Girls for another month with language training, and Maggie and Alyson in Santa Cruz after that. I feel like I have been a part of so many deep friendships, and I can tell that they will be lasting ones.
I'm in for a day of ridiculous traveling tomorrow. We drive to Philly for our flight to Miami at 7:53am (an odd time, yes?) and my flight to Santa Cruz doesn't take off until 10:35 pm... So we have a six hour layover in Miami, and then a 7 (ish) hour flight to Santa Cruz, with an hour long stop in La Paz. Or so I'm told.
I haven't updated for a couple days, but the past three days were full of sessions. We had a sexual harassment session, a financial overview, "The Danger of a Single Story" which is about stereotypes and one-view perspectives, how to communicate during our assignment, Cross cultural adjustments, SALT Policy, and how to nurture ourselves spiritually. Some sessions were more helpful than others, but I think that all of them were important. I enjoyed most the "Danger of a Single Story" seminar and the cultural adjustment seminar. The MCC Staff kept us pretty busy during the day, but as soon as it got dark, the night was ours.
We apparently, are the liveliest SALT group that the Staff as seen for quite some time. We spend our evenings playing Ultimate Frisbee, Soccer, and having a series of parties. Tuesday was a birthday/dance party, complete with a pinata and cake. We danced with all different cultures and types of music! Wednesday was the "Noodle Party", hosted by Asia House. Then last night there was a BBQ at the Middle East/Europe house. They had S'mores, but they were made with Reeses peanut butter cups! Needless to say, we like to party.
Another fun thing we have done this week is a series of practical jokes. There is a statue from the Africa House, that has been moving around the campus all week. It started just in our house as a way to scare the roommates, but attention was gathered, and it all escalated. From the Africa house, our African Man moved to the Middle East/Europe house, where Alain, a guy from France (serving in Denver!) promptly decided that our African Man's name is Bob. Obviously. So Bob has switched locations many times. From in people's beds, outside their doors, in their showers, even into the main meeting place, Bob is everywhere. And he also has acquired some western garb.
Here is Bob in the Women's bathroom in Meeting Place.
Bob is part of the MCC Staff. Kathryn, Andrea and Eva are happy to be with him!
This is Alain and me with Bob. Alain is in my prayer group and is also quite the jokester. But he's fun to hang around.
Overall, this week has been such a wonderful experience. There were definitely some hard times and adjustments I had to make. I'm not used to spending SO much time with people. I had to find some 'Grace time' somewhere. Also, it was a strange adjustment to go from eating small frequent meals or snacks, to three a day, and large ones. I think I gained about two lbs just because the meals were so big, and dessert was always there.
But I know that those adjustments are minuscule compared with what is about to be thrust upon me. Luckily I have such a good support group behind me. Here are some more picture of my week:
This is the room where I stayed! It was pretty luxurious!
This is on our bus ride to the Mennonite Resource Center
Part of the MRC. This isn't where I volunteered, but close. I was ripping apart books to be recycled. Don't worry, the books were all in terrible condition, so it didn't break my heart AS much.
This is a map that represents where MCC has service workers, and where they support. Crazy that there are so many places alllll over the world that recieve some kind of aid from MCC.
This is my wonderful prayer group. On this day in particular, we were all feeling kind of silly and not so solemn, so we did yoga and stretches as our prayer!
These three girls are SO much fun. Marisol is on the left, then Karen, and then Clementine. Marisol is from Colombia, Karen is from Colombia as well (I think?) and Clementine is from France!
This is Mike. He's in my prayer group and is a Bethel grad!
Kelly Miller and I. She has been so wonderful. She just graduated from Goshen and is headed to Mexico. She's been telling me lots of things about Goshen, and I'm really excited to get there after SALT!
Keyla from Nicaragua! She has been so helpful with my spanish!
This is a group of boys doing 'Bye Bye' by N'SYNC during our Global Fair talent show
Another Talent! Diego and Karina were doing some brazillian dancing for the talent show!
All in all, this week has been AMAZING. I would not have traded it for the world. There are other things that I could write here, but I'm tired and my morning is pretty early tomorrow. Here is a little message for my fellow SALT and IVEPers..
An Old Irish Blessing...
May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back.
The sunshine warm upon your face,
The rainfall soft upon your fields,
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of his hand,
And give you peace.
I'm in for a day of ridiculous traveling tomorrow. We drive to Philly for our flight to Miami at 7:53am (an odd time, yes?) and my flight to Santa Cruz doesn't take off until 10:35 pm... So we have a six hour layover in Miami, and then a 7 (ish) hour flight to Santa Cruz, with an hour long stop in La Paz. Or so I'm told.
I haven't updated for a couple days, but the past three days were full of sessions. We had a sexual harassment session, a financial overview, "The Danger of a Single Story" which is about stereotypes and one-view perspectives, how to communicate during our assignment, Cross cultural adjustments, SALT Policy, and how to nurture ourselves spiritually. Some sessions were more helpful than others, but I think that all of them were important. I enjoyed most the "Danger of a Single Story" seminar and the cultural adjustment seminar. The MCC Staff kept us pretty busy during the day, but as soon as it got dark, the night was ours.
We apparently, are the liveliest SALT group that the Staff as seen for quite some time. We spend our evenings playing Ultimate Frisbee, Soccer, and having a series of parties. Tuesday was a birthday/dance party, complete with a pinata and cake. We danced with all different cultures and types of music! Wednesday was the "Noodle Party", hosted by Asia House. Then last night there was a BBQ at the Middle East/Europe house. They had S'mores, but they were made with Reeses peanut butter cups! Needless to say, we like to party.
Another fun thing we have done this week is a series of practical jokes. There is a statue from the Africa House, that has been moving around the campus all week. It started just in our house as a way to scare the roommates, but attention was gathered, and it all escalated. From the Africa house, our African Man moved to the Middle East/Europe house, where Alain, a guy from France (serving in Denver!) promptly decided that our African Man's name is Bob. Obviously. So Bob has switched locations many times. From in people's beds, outside their doors, in their showers, even into the main meeting place, Bob is everywhere. And he also has acquired some western garb.
Overall, this week has been such a wonderful experience. There were definitely some hard times and adjustments I had to make. I'm not used to spending SO much time with people. I had to find some 'Grace time' somewhere. Also, it was a strange adjustment to go from eating small frequent meals or snacks, to three a day, and large ones. I think I gained about two lbs just because the meals were so big, and dessert was always there.
But I know that those adjustments are minuscule compared with what is about to be thrust upon me. Luckily I have such a good support group behind me. Here are some more picture of my week:
All in all, this week has been AMAZING. I would not have traded it for the world. There are other things that I could write here, but I'm tired and my morning is pretty early tomorrow. Here is a little message for my fellow SALT and IVEPers..
An Old Irish Blessing...
May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back.
The sunshine warm upon your face,
The rainfall soft upon your fields,
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of his hand,
And give you peace.
Friday, August 12, 2011
To Akron!
Yesterday, the 11th was my first day here in Akron, PA. It started early. My flight was at 7:25am central time, and I couldn't fall asleep all night, so I was awake for a good 36 hours straight. I flew from KCI to Cleaveland, OH, and then to Harrisburg, PA where I met with nine other SALTers and we drove about 45 minutes to Akron. We got settled in in our various houses. I'm in "Africa" with a few other Bolivia girls. The LACA (Latin America/Central America) group got split up because there are so many of us. We had dinner and went through some things, checked in, and got to know one another.
It's interesting for me, because I am the youngest SALTer here, but I really feel like age makes no difference. I have been just as engaged in the political, theological and wonderful conversations as the twenty five year olds. I do think, and humbly, of course, that my maturity helps so much when trying to relate to the older adults. I love that everyone connects on such a deep level because we all share the same core beliefs and are all in this together. We automatically came in with something in common, but as we get to know one another, we start to share stories and I am realizing that I have experienced a lot of the things that others are talking about. There are about 70 SALTers here, and 50 IVEPers. IVEP stands for 'International Volunteer Exchange Progam.' and it is sort of the complimentary program to SALT. In IVEP, young adults from around the world come to serve a year in America. So the IVEPers and the SALTers share houses, and in most cases, share rooms. My roommate was unable to get to America, due to visa problems, and is stuck in Indonesia until she can fly to Canada and have orientation there. She and all the Indonesians are in my prayers.
The MCC campus is absolutely beautiful. I love the way it's laid out. The rooming is split up into a variety of houses; Americas, Africa, Asia, and Middle East/Europe, and that's where we're all staying, according to our placements. But some of the LACA people are split up, like me. So I'm in Africa 103, which is actually proving to be such a huge learning experience, since I am fairly ignorant about African culture. The girls across the hall are both headed to South Africa, and we have SALTers going to Zimbabwe, Egypt, Zambia, Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, Lesotho, and Tanzania! That's huge! There are IVEPers here from Zimbabwe, Egypt and Zambia, so we have been talking with them and getting their perspectives. I'm a little sad that I'm not in the Americas house, but I have enough contact with the IVEPers from Brazil, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Chile! None from Bolivia this year, however.
Here are some pictures of the campus!
This is the outside of the Americas, I believe.
This is on the walkway to the dining hall!
This is in the Meeting Place, a community gathering place where we have ping pong, carpet ball, and worship. There are also conference rooms and a small fitness room.
This is my house on the right, Africa.
Here is one of the community spaces in Africa, and we were just sitting and talking as housemates.
This is our worship hall, and main meeting place. On the wall are posters of influential peace makers.
Today I also went for a run all throughout Akron, and probably ended up going about five or six miles. I ran all around the city, and up through Roland Memorial Park, which actually goes to the top of a huge hill. I could see the sun set from the top and it was beautiful. That was definitely one of the highlights of my day. I'm going to take advantage of the beautiful (and hilly, my legs will be sore tomorrow!) scenery and try to run often, since I'm not sure what the situation will be like in Bolivia as far as running goes. It helped clear my head and sort of compartmentalize everything that has been going on the past two days.
It's interesting for me, because I am the youngest SALTer here, but I really feel like age makes no difference. I have been just as engaged in the political, theological and wonderful conversations as the twenty five year olds. I do think, and humbly, of course, that my maturity helps so much when trying to relate to the older adults. I love that everyone connects on such a deep level because we all share the same core beliefs and are all in this together. We automatically came in with something in common, but as we get to know one another, we start to share stories and I am realizing that I have experienced a lot of the things that others are talking about. There are about 70 SALTers here, and 50 IVEPers. IVEP stands for 'International Volunteer Exchange Progam.' and it is sort of the complimentary program to SALT. In IVEP, young adults from around the world come to serve a year in America. So the IVEPers and the SALTers share houses, and in most cases, share rooms. My roommate was unable to get to America, due to visa problems, and is stuck in Indonesia until she can fly to Canada and have orientation there. She and all the Indonesians are in my prayers.
The MCC campus is absolutely beautiful. I love the way it's laid out. The rooming is split up into a variety of houses; Americas, Africa, Asia, and Middle East/Europe, and that's where we're all staying, according to our placements. But some of the LACA people are split up, like me. So I'm in Africa 103, which is actually proving to be such a huge learning experience, since I am fairly ignorant about African culture. The girls across the hall are both headed to South Africa, and we have SALTers going to Zimbabwe, Egypt, Zambia, Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, Lesotho, and Tanzania! That's huge! There are IVEPers here from Zimbabwe, Egypt and Zambia, so we have been talking with them and getting their perspectives. I'm a little sad that I'm not in the Americas house, but I have enough contact with the IVEPers from Brazil, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Chile! None from Bolivia this year, however.
Here are some pictures of the campus!
This is another section of our 'Africa' house. All the furnishings are either authentic, or have been bought from a fair trade exchange business,Ten Thousand Villages.
The past two days have been packed full of things to do. Today, we set personal and though of the real reasons why we all have taken service terms. Here are examples of a few that I remember:
- Grow and learn
- Be open minded
- Think from a 'global perspective'
- Bridge borders and build relationships
- Accept that we won't always know what is going on, but trust in God through it all
- Because God has called us
- Language study
- Peacebuilding
We also talked about MCC's vision and purpose, and how we can be good representatives of the agency. MCC's official vision is to "envision communities worldwide in right relationship with God, one another, and creation." and their top priorities are "Justice and peacebuilding, disaster relief, and sustainable community development." Today (Friday, August 12) was a day packed full of information, both specific to our countries, and the overall history of MCC. Needless to say, we're pretty exhausted. But as I'm typing this in my bedroom, I can hear laughter and lots of talk from the kitchen. I'm pretty sure there's a Dutch Blitz tournament going, and perhaps a Spoons game.
Today I also went for a run all throughout Akron, and probably ended up going about five or six miles. I ran all around the city, and up through Roland Memorial Park, which actually goes to the top of a huge hill. I could see the sun set from the top and it was beautiful. That was definitely one of the highlights of my day. I'm going to take advantage of the beautiful (and hilly, my legs will be sore tomorrow!) scenery and try to run often, since I'm not sure what the situation will be like in Bolivia as far as running goes. It helped clear my head and sort of compartmentalize everything that has been going on the past two days.
All in all, the week is going fantastically, but I'm pretty ready to get the move on to Bolivia. I can't wait to see Guadaria Moises and the city of Santa Cruz, especially now that I have met and am getting to know the Bolivia Girls, Rachel, Maggie, Christa, and Alyson! Maggie and Alyson will be in Santa Cruz with me, and Maggie and Christa have more rural assignments, but hopefully I will get to see them fairly often. I will update with some more pictures and descriptions in a few days!
Paz y amor,
Grace
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