Gracias!

"A treasure lies hidden in the soul of Latin America, a spiritual treasure to be recognized as a gift for us who live in the illusion of power and self-control. It is the treasure of gratitiude that can help us to break through the walls of our individual and collective self-righteousness and can prevent us from destroying ourselves and our planet in the fertile attempt to hold onto what we consider our own." - Henri Nouwen in his book Gracias! A Latin American Journal (italic emphasis mine)

Henri Nouwen has been a favorite author and mentor of mine since my early college days. He was a Catholic priest from Europe who moved to the States to teach around the country in universities. He eventually left the lecture circuit to take a position as a priest in the Sunshine Community in Canada. It was a community for the mentally handicapped. He died in the late nineties but left a treasure in his writings from his college days to his late servanthood days.
I came across this book back in December. I had never known that Henri had a calling to South America, nor did I know that he wrote about his experience. I decided to find a used copy and have it sent down to Bogota. It has been an anchor book. I felt that we both had experienced very similar people, places, theologies, ideologies, and desires. It is truly an amzing book and I encourage anyone interested in traveling to South America or wanting to see a glimpse of this world to read it. His insights and thoughts have always been deep and wide. Two decades separate our experiences as well as two separate countries of South America. Yet, our experiences and thoughts have run parallel and perpendicular at times. There is something yet for me to learn as a North-American living in South America.

Worlds Away...

I woke up on Sunday morning in the same city I have for the past 2 years, Bogota. But today was different, I was in a different world.

Alan decided to "steal" me away on Saturday afternoon to an old, renovated, colonial, Colombian hotel in the heart of La Candaleria, the old city of Bogota. Although we were only a few miles from our apartment, we had such a wonderful time just getting away from the rush of the city to the quiet, quaint, cobblestone streets...and being alone together.

I awoke to birds chirping, and took a run in a part of the city I had not run in before, new faces, new buildings, a new smell, and a new sound. I thought, this is my city, but this is a whole different world than what I usually wake up to.

It is so great to be reminded that "our little worlds" are not that big...and that an amazing world goes on all over the universe every day that we don't get to see or be a part of. God made us to be such intricate beings, yet we are just a speck of dust, a flower floating in the wind.

Second language Acquisition

I am in the middle of my newest Alabama graduate course. It is a course on Second Language Acquisition taught by an applied linguist named Dr. Mantero. This class seems to be for those who want to become professional linguists, not teachers who teach in a bilingual setting. Needless to say, the class content is over my head. Some other classmates seem to be zoning out as well.

I decided to write a haiku about my experience. A haiku is a three line poem that originated in Japan. The first line is five syllables, the second line is seven syllables, and the third line has five syllables. I passed my haiku onto a friend in class, and so inspired wrote one of his own. The last half of class went by really quickly as the three of us wrote haikus to commemorate our experience. I wanted to share a few with you.

I sit in this chair
No clue of what he says now
Asleep in the ears

What I agree with
Pidgin, Socio, R2
or D2? Who cares

Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah
Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah
Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah

And my personal favorite:

Mantero rambling
Loving the sound of his voice
Alas! The weekend

New Room, New People...

As I have embarked upon making this mid-year change from 5th grade math teacher to 8th grade math teacher...I have been reflecting on many things...

...3-4 years age difference is not that much when it comes to maturity, but it is a lot when it comes to relationships. (I still have to tell my 8th graders, like my 5th graders, to take their hands off the geo-boards and listen to instructions.)

...I love having my own space to think, get work done, set the tone for class, and listen to uplifting music if I want to. (At times, it feels a bit like an island, but I also feel like I now have time to get work done and be the teacher I should be.)

...I love kids- all shapes, sizes, colors, and ages. I know, now more than ever, that this is one thing that God has called me to...youth. I don't know if it will always be in the traditional setting of a school...I pray it will someday be in a camp/wilderness type setting.

...I love kids- their thoughts, their actions, their craziness, their personalities, and most of all God using me to show love to them. So many kids just need love- they have been abandoned to face the challenges of this world alone. They notice the difference- they really do. When you care, when you smile, when you encourage, when you challenge, when you see them achieve their dreams, when you see them give their life to Christ...they know you care for and love them. And because of that...they can push forward.

Thank you God for the opportunity to live life abundantly and to encounter the broad array of your creation, in nature, and in humans.

Kings and their Castles

On Saturday, I chaperoned the annual CNG fashion show. My job was to take care of the food tickets, pay the vendors, and crowd control during the show. I was supposed to go and visit Abraham's mother in Tolima. Abraham works for my friend Ben at Monte Sion, just outside of Bogota. Abraham grew up in Tolima but moved to Bogota to find work and a better life. He lives in south Bogota. He recently told Ben about his mother's living conditions, which is primitive at best, and Ben told the story to me. We were to go together to visit Abraham's mother to see if we could help improve her living conditions somehow.

I could not go on this trip, because of the fashion show. Ben and Abraham went instead. As it turned out, Ben was very impressed with the way this woman lived. She had a small one-room house without electricity nor running water. There were all sorts of fruit trees that gave her food, and she owned a few chickens and a pig. She is surrounded by some of her family, and her neighbors have become her family support. Ben had an idea to build her a house that was not much bigger than her own, but it would have at least a toilet and running water. Yet, as he talked with this 80 year-old woman, he began to see that she enjoyed her life without all the modern day amenities. Ben asked her is she was happy and she replied with a yes. She said she was sad sometimes because she missed her husband, who has died, and her son who moved away.

Ben's paradigm shifted as he spent time with her. He realized that it is not her need to have a "castle." She was happy with her life. It was he who wanted the castle for her. So what can we do for her? We can spend time with her. We can have a meal with her. We can listen to her stories, and we can tell her ours. She doesn't need a castle. She needs family.

As Ben told the story, I sat there thinking about my attitude of helping. "They" must want what I have or what I think I need. How do I know? Because I think I have the right things? Because I want things that others have? My castle is good enough for me? Somehow I don't think these are the answers.

I watched this elite high school fashion show knowing that it was temporary. New fashions will come and go. New models will come and go. New castles will be designed. So, what is it that matters? My family matters. This creation matters. This moment in time matters with the person across the table. So, then how do I answer these questions? What should I do for Abraham's mother? What should I do for my students in the fashion show? What is true poverty? What am I to do? What would Jesus do? Am I failing Him? Am I failing my students? Am I failing the church? Am I failing I AM? Hands and feet I must be. Soft heart and tender tears I must have.