1. I come home in less than two months, ahh! And as Im winding up, Im a total mix of emotions. Super excited to be with my family, to see everyone in Baltimore and at Villanova, and reconnect with HOBY friends -- yet obviously really super sad about leaving my friends here. I just ask for your prayers for all of us during this transition!
2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6znxHLelSxU -- super cool video about Mount Sinai -- the two little girls in the video are a family I love spending time with out there! Recently, we also painted a mural on the side of the Mt Sinai volunteer house when Marita´s sister came to visit -- together we construct a community of hope, it says. All the neighbors came and helped paint the important landmarks, stores and houses! I love Mount Sinai.
3. Catching you up on a few recent events -- nothing too super spectacular, but some things that super make me happy :)
- Lots of time in Elsa, told you that, and with the retreat groups (my last one from Loyola University in MD -- we got to go to Chicos and Elsa, and remember, you only live once!).
- Jessie and Mark both had bdays in the beginning of June, which were super fun to celebrate lots, both inside and outside the house.
- Spending LOTS of time with the neighbors and my friends from Chicos and the Valdivia families, really just aprovecharing (taking advantage of) my time here. The Chicos boys are obsessed with fb by the way, so funny. oh dear.
- CARDS! Ive recently become obsessed with various card games (some of the St X retreatants know this well -- I love cuarenta, siete afuera, rummy 500, and rummy 9.
4. I have learned so much about humility this year, starting with the fact of house responsibilities. We are responsible for so much here -- dishes, laundry, cooking, sweeping and mopping, organizing, just to mention a few! And to add to that, things are more complicated than in the U.S. -- no microwave, dryer for clothes, buying in bulk, pre-cooked meals, single chicken breasts, etc.
People here are so great at adapting to this, realizing that sometimes you have to wait for the water to come because there wasnt money to pay when the water truck came earlier that day (which can go as little as waiting for someone to return to ask where they hid the peanut butter -- since we dont have our own phones to just text them and ask).
Its also the notion of the phrase ´´te toca´´ or ´´me toca.´´ This kind of means ´´your turn´´ or ´´my turn´´ -- they use it when playing cards, for example -- but it applies so much to life here. sometimes its just your turn to help with refilling the blue water jugs, or fold the donations laundry, or take out the trash -- but later it will be someone else´s turn. Just do it like the kids at Valdivia -- grab a broom and start to sweep for goodness sake!
5. In a recent conversation, someone asked me if I was satisfied. ´´What do you mean?´´ I asked. ´´Of course I´m satisfied! And you know what, I really feel that I´ve completed my mission this year. I came to be the face of Christ to others and find the face of Christ in the people of Ecuador. And when I think about the people I love here -- my boys at Chicos, the kids at Valdivia, my neighbors, my housemates and the other volunteers -- I surely have done both of those things. No, I haven´t been perfect -- I can´t say I haven´t had bad times or made mistakes, but that wouldn´t teach humility, right? I was certainly inadequate in so much I did this year, but above all, I am super happy with all I have done here, and really feel I have completed my mission.´´
No comments:
Post a Comment