So, I’m writing this blog Tuesday night I’m slowly making my way through my extensive rap collection (If you’re not sure, that was slight sarcasm). I just finished It’s Tricky by Run DMC and now 2Pac’s talking about Changes. You just get in those moods sometimes. Yeah…
My workdays have been good. These two weeks I go from school to school spreading the news about the program Sin Excusas by Decisiones (the place I work). In general terms it’s a program to teach teachers, its ultimate goal being to improve the character of kids, steering them away from alcohol, drugs and premarital sex, among other things. Let me break down my by taking you through how today (a typical day) went. Note: times are estimates.
6:54 a.m. I walk the two seemingly insurmountable blocks to work and press the doorbell. I wait a minute or two. Surprising cuz Sergio (secretary/anything else you need) is normally there to greet me. No Sergio today. Laura says hi (but in Spanish. don’t worry, I’ll translate when I can).
7:14 a.m. We prepare the fliers and invitations for the principals of all the different schools. Gabriel (fellow delivery, I won’t say boy, he’s very much a man, a former security guard/former/current (not sure which) boxer, but it’d probably take 3 me for it to be a fair fight) makes a comment how I’m like a maturing apple with my green polo. I’m confused. Things are slowly explained.
7:32 a.m. Fernando and I roll out in our sweet ’96 Toyota Camry. We say a prayer. He likes to make me pray in Spanish. I do, but poorly. I imagine God can fix my poor conjugation. (Yeah, praying in another language. That’s an interesting dynamic).
10:13 a.m. We visit our sixth school for the day. The directora is very excited to have us. She calls an emergency staff meeting so we can present directly to the teachers. Fernando tells me I can talk to them while he waits in the car. I politely decline.
11:29 a.m. We head to a local joint in Luque, a city just outside of Asuncion. I have my usual: ¼ chicken, yucca, salad and 350 mL of Coca-Cola. Delicious.
12:47 Fernando tells me that I’m going to present the program to the principal. I do, awkwardly stumbling through several of the key points before both the principal and I give a pleading looks to Fernando. He obliges.
1:19 We drink terere. This happens a lot. If you’re not familiar, you should get familiar. Link.
2:17 Some kid calls me rubio. This also happens a lot. It means blondie.
3:15 Fernando says, “let’s go, ho!” (in English, he likes to use a few words here and there) I laugh, and then ask him if he knows what he just said. He thinks ho is just a nonsense word or something that Santa Claus says (“you know,” he says, “like Santa Claus, Ho, Ho, Ho). I tell him otherwise. We head back to Decisiones.
3:35 We get back, and head home for the day. This is a bit earlier than normal but it we got to plenty of schools today, so it’s all good.
In other news, I’m pressing through my reading material, and I’m ready for more. I’ve read just about all that I’ve brought. Right now the only fresh meat on my bookshelf is the Politics of Jesus, and after slogging through the first chapter I remember I’m not a fan of John Howard Yoder’s sentence structure. Not good nighttime reading.
I’m having questions about my impact here too, I guess. What does me being here do for the people I come in contact with? Well, not lots. But that might change, and maybe I have made some sort of difference, I can’t answer with any sort of clear answer. I could meander more but this is so very public and I don’t think all of you are as quite as attentive as my mother would be. Good night.
dp
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Friday, October 16, 2009
Dear reader,
It's been awhile. I hope you are all doing well wherever your are whether it be Indiana or Iowa, Kansas or Canberra. I've been doing well. I'm getting ready to hear to our last day of orientation, leaving the comfort of not really being expected to do much and entering the excitement of a new job.
So my little bro Marcos (2 1/2 yrs old) is pretty ridiculous. He likes breaking into my room and hiding in my closet, terrorizing the family turtles or blazing around the house pushing his cars trying to run into me. Last night after his bath he broke into the fridge (naked, of course), grabbed the Nutella (ok, its not really Nutella. but its chocolate you can spread), grabbed a spoon and looked for a spot to sit (still naked). After deciding none of the chairs in the house would suffice, he took his 2 1/2 year old naked self and awkwardly crawled to the top of the table. He proceeded to sit cross-legged and swallow three large spoonfuls of Nutellaish before being scolded by mother and being sat in a more appropriate place. I really think he's going to do great things with his life.
Fun things are happening and I'm meeting lots of cool people.
More coming soon...
Daniel
It's been awhile. I hope you are all doing well wherever your are whether it be Indiana or Iowa, Kansas or Canberra. I've been doing well. I'm getting ready to hear to our last day of orientation, leaving the comfort of not really being expected to do much and entering the excitement of a new job.
So my little bro Marcos (2 1/2 yrs old) is pretty ridiculous. He likes breaking into my room and hiding in my closet, terrorizing the family turtles or blazing around the house pushing his cars trying to run into me. Last night after his bath he broke into the fridge (naked, of course), grabbed the Nutella (ok, its not really Nutella. but its chocolate you can spread), grabbed a spoon and looked for a spot to sit (still naked). After deciding none of the chairs in the house would suffice, he took his 2 1/2 year old naked self and awkwardly crawled to the top of the table. He proceeded to sit cross-legged and swallow three large spoonfuls of Nutellaish before being scolded by mother and being sat in a more appropriate place. I really think he's going to do great things with his life.
Fun things are happening and I'm meeting lots of cool people.
More coming soon...
Daniel
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Another post.
Hello again. Things are relaxed. Work hasn’t been started, but we continue with our methodical 3 times a week lessons. Every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. Monday we went to Laura’s house for lunch. Laura’s our teacher and I found out that day not only does she teach but she has an amazing family. And this cool old mauve Fiat that looks like it might be a Volkswagen Beetle but is really so much cooler. But her family’s great. I felt definitely and definitively welcomed walking past the curtains and into the kitchen where our feast was being prepared. A sister, mom and random neighbor girl (Moni, who enjoyed corrected my Spanish, dominated Naomi at whatever game they played, and practiced Kung Fu) greeted me and offered me something to drink, the bathroom, or a hammock (which is a verb in Spanish. to hammock. all right.). But their attitude with which they gave this genuine hospitality was memorable. They made me feel special and important.
After our morning lesson, terere and feast we watched Kung Fu Panda. Great Movie. Man, I don’t remember the last movie that made me giggle quite like that. It was good to sit back and watch a movie like that, because, well, the last movie I saw was Scarface and that’s no Kung Fu Panda. Yeah, Scarface isn’t the chuckle every other line kind of movie. At least it wasn’t for me and I hope it wasn’t for you.
It was hot too. 40 degrees celsius. I’ll let you do the math. Old Spice kind of failed me on my 20 minute walk home.
I’m enjoying it here. I haven’t settled into a definite role, because I’m not working at my job yet. I think this is where I’m supposed to be, but its hard to say, because so much of this first month has been structured to help us get comfortable, but right now it feels like its just delaying that process. My expectations weren’t the reality, which I was told was going to happen, but I somehow didn’t believe. Silly me. But I’m excited. Excited for this year. And ready to start working.
After our morning lesson, terere and feast we watched Kung Fu Panda. Great Movie. Man, I don’t remember the last movie that made me giggle quite like that. It was good to sit back and watch a movie like that, because, well, the last movie I saw was Scarface and that’s no Kung Fu Panda. Yeah, Scarface isn’t the chuckle every other line kind of movie. At least it wasn’t for me and I hope it wasn’t for you.
It was hot too. 40 degrees celsius. I’ll let you do the math. Old Spice kind of failed me on my 20 minute walk home.
I’m enjoying it here. I haven’t settled into a definite role, because I’m not working at my job yet. I think this is where I’m supposed to be, but its hard to say, because so much of this first month has been structured to help us get comfortable, but right now it feels like its just delaying that process. My expectations weren’t the reality, which I was told was going to happen, but I somehow didn’t believe. Silly me. But I’m excited. Excited for this year. And ready to start working.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
I'm here.
It’s been a week since I first landed on Paraguay soil, and it has been enjoyable. The people have been friendly and the schedule was kind enough to make so we arrived on the first day of spring (though yesterday was incredibly cold). I guess like anything incredibly new, it has come with a few surprises. The neatly-packaged two sentence description of what I’d be doing for the better part of a year was not in fact correct. I will not be working with MEDA Paraguay for the coming year.
I'm gonna be working with Desiciones a sex ed program. It took me a little bit to recover from this blow, as my mind was set on helping out with MEDA, I was very excited to work with economic development. Even for someone who adjusts to changes of plans well, this was a change that made me step back and say what? I reacted very negatively in my head, but I continued to listen. I needed to figure out what I was doing there. They told me that I’d be working with databases of high school students, maybe some photography and design work for their magazine as well as possibly updating the website. And this has helped me cope with the change. It’s not stuff I was trained to do, but I think I have enough of a base to learn as I go along. It’s work that will make me feel good and challenge me (I hope).
But yeah, the past week and a half has been overall enjoyable, meeting people, trying to communicate, sometimes succeeding, other times failing miserably, but I’m ready for this year here away from the comfort of my home and language.
Oh, and the other night I got lost. But its ok, because I only was lost for an hour and it wasn’t that dark when my host dad found me (curled up by the side of the road sucking my thumb). When you have general directions like go past the skinny park, turn right where there is a tall house, and you lose the telephone number of your destination and lack the address… It’s hard to get places. My family made me memorize our address and home phone number before I left the house the next morning.
Sometimes when I feel down I have one of those Dove Chocolates with the inspirational sort of quotes on them. They say cool things like, “Buy flowers for yourself today.” I did not do that, but the thought of maybe having flowers put a smile on my face.
So here’s the first post, I don’t know if I was very informative or descriptive, if you want more information e-mail me or comment saying “tell me more!” or something like that.
Daniel H. P.
I'm gonna be working with Desiciones a sex ed program. It took me a little bit to recover from this blow, as my mind was set on helping out with MEDA, I was very excited to work with economic development. Even for someone who adjusts to changes of plans well, this was a change that made me step back and say what? I reacted very negatively in my head, but I continued to listen. I needed to figure out what I was doing there. They told me that I’d be working with databases of high school students, maybe some photography and design work for their magazine as well as possibly updating the website. And this has helped me cope with the change. It’s not stuff I was trained to do, but I think I have enough of a base to learn as I go along. It’s work that will make me feel good and challenge me (I hope).
But yeah, the past week and a half has been overall enjoyable, meeting people, trying to communicate, sometimes succeeding, other times failing miserably, but I’m ready for this year here away from the comfort of my home and language.
Oh, and the other night I got lost. But its ok, because I only was lost for an hour and it wasn’t that dark when my host dad found me (curled up by the side of the road sucking my thumb). When you have general directions like go past the skinny park, turn right where there is a tall house, and you lose the telephone number of your destination and lack the address… It’s hard to get places. My family made me memorize our address and home phone number before I left the house the next morning.
Sometimes when I feel down I have one of those Dove Chocolates with the inspirational sort of quotes on them. They say cool things like, “Buy flowers for yourself today.” I did not do that, but the thought of maybe having flowers put a smile on my face.
So here’s the first post, I don’t know if I was very informative or descriptive, if you want more information e-mail me or comment saying “tell me more!” or something like that.
Daniel H. P.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Soup Kitchens, Mormons and Obama
So, today we volunteered in a soup kitchen. I suppose the action I thirsted for yesterday was to be quenched. I’d never worked in a soup kitchen, but I had this preconceived idea of what it might be, and it kind of met those expectations. I guess its fairly straightforward: there’s people making the food, food and people that need the food. But maybe that makes everything way too basic. I tried going in with a mindset of that I would at Subway, they were customers and I wasn’t doing anything noble by serving them.
After arriving at the soup kitchen a half an hour early, the six of us killed time by checking out the coffee shop The Hidden Pearl (apparently it was hidden for a reason… the girls said the coffee really wasn’t great). We then sat outside the Kenwood Soup Kitchen for about 20 minutes while we waited for the other volunteers to show up. The door was then unlocked and they proceeded to lead us to a room where we were told to wait for further instructions. So much for doing away with inaction… After waiting in the empty room for about 30 minutes we were given two large pans of peppers to slice and dice.
We talked and sliced, sliced and talked and then a couple of Mormons showed up, smartly dressed with their white shirts and striped ties. I just remember the one’s name (Jeffrey, he let it slip) because they introduced themselves by their last names (apparently they all go by the first name Elder while their doing there missionary work… who knew). They sliced eggplant, while we continued chopping are peppers. Then two more showed up. We cut some more. And then another showed up. We finished up chopping, and then the eleven of us moved to the kitchen/dining hall to help serve.
That was awkward. The Mormons kind of knew what they were doing, but we were very much the rookies, and stood around creating traffic jams at key intersections and asked continuously, “what can I do?” I kind of wondered how much help I was being. The Mormons reassured us saying, “lots of waiting for things to do goes on” and at that very moment I was terrified. Would I be waiting for things to do for the next ten months? What if I can’t find a purpose, I just am there in Paraguay, and no one has a use for me? That’s probably my biggest fear.
After suffering this minor panic attack from trying to glimpse in the future, I calmed my self by serving beans and potatoes. After all of the people had gone through I had my turn at the spread in front of me: green beans, potatoes, salad, cornbread, cake, and a delicious tomato corn sort of soup. It was a feast. Probably in the top 10 best meals I’ve had in Chicago… maybe top 5, I dunno. I had a nice talk with a guy named Patrick who apparently sold sandwiches when he wasn’t here eating at the Kenwood Soup Kitchen among various other facts ranging from how Iowa’s a great place to go to college and how he’s never going back to Minnesota. I guess what I’m trying to get at it is when I felt like I wasn’t having an impact, I just sat down and talked with someone. That made my time worthwhile. So, in Paraguay, if there’s nothing else for me to do, I suppose I can just sit down and try and relate.
FACT. Obama’s house was about 4 blocks from the soup kitchen. No, I didn’t go. Apparently there are quite a few cops and the house is hard to see. At least that’s what Jeffrey the Mormon tells us.
After arriving at the soup kitchen a half an hour early, the six of us killed time by checking out the coffee shop The Hidden Pearl (apparently it was hidden for a reason… the girls said the coffee really wasn’t great). We then sat outside the Kenwood Soup Kitchen for about 20 minutes while we waited for the other volunteers to show up. The door was then unlocked and they proceeded to lead us to a room where we were told to wait for further instructions. So much for doing away with inaction… After waiting in the empty room for about 30 minutes we were given two large pans of peppers to slice and dice.
We talked and sliced, sliced and talked and then a couple of Mormons showed up, smartly dressed with their white shirts and striped ties. I just remember the one’s name (Jeffrey, he let it slip) because they introduced themselves by their last names (apparently they all go by the first name Elder while their doing there missionary work… who knew). They sliced eggplant, while we continued chopping are peppers. Then two more showed up. We cut some more. And then another showed up. We finished up chopping, and then the eleven of us moved to the kitchen/dining hall to help serve.
That was awkward. The Mormons kind of knew what they were doing, but we were very much the rookies, and stood around creating traffic jams at key intersections and asked continuously, “what can I do?” I kind of wondered how much help I was being. The Mormons reassured us saying, “lots of waiting for things to do goes on” and at that very moment I was terrified. Would I be waiting for things to do for the next ten months? What if I can’t find a purpose, I just am there in Paraguay, and no one has a use for me? That’s probably my biggest fear.
After suffering this minor panic attack from trying to glimpse in the future, I calmed my self by serving beans and potatoes. After all of the people had gone through I had my turn at the spread in front of me: green beans, potatoes, salad, cornbread, cake, and a delicious tomato corn sort of soup. It was a feast. Probably in the top 10 best meals I’ve had in Chicago… maybe top 5, I dunno. I had a nice talk with a guy named Patrick who apparently sold sandwiches when he wasn’t here eating at the Kenwood Soup Kitchen among various other facts ranging from how Iowa’s a great place to go to college and how he’s never going back to Minnesota. I guess what I’m trying to get at it is when I felt like I wasn’t having an impact, I just sat down and talked with someone. That made my time worthwhile. So, in Paraguay, if there’s nothing else for me to do, I suppose I can just sit down and try and relate.
FACT. Obama’s house was about 4 blocks from the soup kitchen. No, I didn’t go. Apparently there are quite a few cops and the house is hard to see. At least that’s what Jeffrey the Mormon tells us.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Estoy listo.
Monday, September 14th.
It's less than a week now before I leave for Paraguay and my thoughts flip between excitement for all the things to come and the apprehension of exiting a comfort zone for the better part of a year. I'm struggling with the inaction which sometimes I feel orientation, but the "inaction" was valuable (right?). Readying my mind, giving me knowledge and enabling me to be the best I possibly can. But I suppose I have no way of measuring the value of this time. I know it helped... I just don't know how much. I guess what I'm trying to say is I'm ready to go. Say the goodbyes, board my plane and go.
It's less than a week now before I leave for Paraguay and my thoughts flip between excitement for all the things to come and the apprehension of exiting a comfort zone for the better part of a year. I'm struggling with the inaction which sometimes I feel orientation, but the "inaction" was valuable (right?). Readying my mind, giving me knowledge and enabling me to be the best I possibly can. But I suppose I have no way of measuring the value of this time. I know it helped... I just don't know how much. I guess what I'm trying to say is I'm ready to go. Say the goodbyes, board my plane and go.
cross-cultural
Sunday the 13th.
I appreciated the cross-cultural weekend in Goshen. I say this not because of the “hippie mentality” that people associate this campus with, but rather in comparison with my heavily tattooed, anything-pierced friends at Jesus People USA (the place I’m currently staying) the Goshen campus had the distinct air of conservatism. This wasn’t the same feel I had gotten in previous visits when the norm was shaped by the Hesston College standard. I suppose this shows how perspectives change when one is in a new environment (like a new country…) for a while, how familiar things become weird and the weird seems normal.
I appreciated the cross-cultural weekend in Goshen. I say this not because of the “hippie mentality” that people associate this campus with, but rather in comparison with my heavily tattooed, anything-pierced friends at Jesus People USA (the place I’m currently staying) the Goshen campus had the distinct air of conservatism. This wasn’t the same feel I had gotten in previous visits when the norm was shaped by the Hesston College standard. I suppose this shows how perspectives change when one is in a new environment (like a new country…) for a while, how familiar things become weird and the weird seems normal.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
