Where I Am

“In a plane, train, boat, or car, the greatest place is where you are.”

~ Dr. Suess ~

View from the top of a lighthouse downtown

“Buenas,” friends, family, and people I have yet to meet. Happy end of August and welcome to September!

I will start with a quick “I am alive, strong, and healthy.” Ok, strong is a relative term. But as a matter of fact, I’m one of only 4 volunteers (Duran included) who have yet to be sick. Feelin’ better than ever and I haven’t even been conservative on my diet—in that I’ve eaten and drunk outside the house.

All in all, these past two weeks have been productive, hot, and a smorgasbord of experiences. A lot has happened, so although there are things I hope to go more in detail on in the not so distant future, I figure I will fill you in on what has been happening since the 1 month anniversary, two weeks ago.

Work at Proyecto Misión has definitely been both a struggle and a blessing. Of course the language is a challenge every day, but before this week both Coli and I—after having finished reading all the important documents to get us caught up on the work of the office—were having trouble defining our role in the office, and what kind of work we would be doing. Last week was hard in that sense, but this week I was finally able to experience the “out-of-the-office” work, and delivered invitations twice to the neighborhood presidents. So twice this week I spent the mornings walking all of Mount Sinai, touring parts I had never seen, and meeting committee members, which was exciting and life-giving. All the while strengthening my calf muscles and getting some sun.
Back in the office, I asked Alexis (one of the bosses) about what I could be doing in the office, and that’s when I found out that this next month is going to be a lot of work. After talking about it for awhile, it was decided that I am going to begin, in October, teaching Computer Workshops to the coordinators of the committees in Mount Sinai. By myself. Which means this next month is not only a month to plan how to teach computation to individuals who have never used a computer, but also a month to improve my Spanish. A lot. Again, thinking of me in front of a bunch of adults teaching in Spanish makes me laugh…but now it’s a reality.

The neighborhood time has been absolutely wonderful. Two weeks ago I learned how to make arroz con menestra with Monica, one of the first friends of Rostro de Cristo in Sinai. I went over on a Friday morning and just opened beans, cut vegetables, and watched her work her magic on a slab of aluminum in her front yard. There was a moment, while “unbeaning” bean pods that I just took notice of my calmness. Sitting there, talking with this woman I met 3 weeks prior about each others lives, partaking in work she does daily…I felt at peace and so happy for the opportunity to be sitting right there. I talk often and read much about being “present,” following the Dr. Suess quote above, but I don’t know if I’ve ever actually felt it like I did that morning. No phone in my pocket or schedule of to-do’s…Just garlic-cutting and making a friend. 

It was a wonderful motivation to push myself, and since then I’ve met many more neighbors. A couple of us met many of the women of the indigenous community this last weekend, I now help two boys (Ricardo and Elias) with English homework, two girls (Ivis and Mel) with Math, and have learned so much about WWE wrestling from every child here. I am blown away, daily, by these people’s ability to combine patience, hospitality, and openness into the way they receive a stranger like myself. They make loving where I am easier every day.

Other tid bits:

• Last week we figured out our roles for parish involvement, and although I am doing music ministry with the youth whenever they need me, I will also be teaching a catechism class every Saturday before the 5PM mass. It is a second level Confirmation class that I am sitting in on right now, and I hope to be able to have my own group after a month or so. 

• My dog duty is going swell and I think the Rottweiler is finally warming up to bath time.  

 Clubber: Quite the guard dog.

• As of last week I am officially HIGHWAY CERTIFIED, which means I learned stick shift and am good enough to drive the Rostro vans. My passive driving has no place on these dog-eat-dog roads, and with every honk of the horn my confidence rises. Wish me luck.

• The first retreat group for Duran is here as we speak, and they come to visit Mount Sinai for a day tomorrow. I’m giving a talk on Mount Sinai and then after lunch we break into micro-groups for neighborhood visits. That means I’ll be taking a group of 3 retreatants to a house by myself…and if I don’t get a fluent speaker in those 3, I’ll be translating. Poor kids…

• My community is doing well. We’ve gotten into a schedule of community nights, spirituality nights, chore rotations, and we’ve made Sunday nights accountability nights. These nights we’ve gone through the pillars of Rostro and just talked—in a safe, honest, and open space—about how we’ve been living them out: what has been going well and what should we pay more attention to. There are, of course, difficulties and tough times; we are not all perfect, but in general we’ve gotten along great. We even discovered that the dark, long, and ominous hallway…

…doubles as a wonderful bowling alley.

• And two weekends ago both communities took a day trip to the Malecon (boardwalk) and spent the day checking out one of the more touristy parts of Guayaquil. Almost everyone went to the IMAX theater to see the new Batman…but as it was in Spanish with no subtitles, I stubbornly opted out with two other who have been anxiously waiting to see it. Instead, the 3 of us hiked up a hill of colorful houses to a lighthouse where I was able to take the picture at the top of this blog. After getting my photography fix, we stumbled across the Miniature Museum with an exhibit on the history of Guayaquil, so we ended the day with tiny scenes of the city’s past that blew my shoebox diorama’s out of the water. Except for my project on Narwhales. That was awesome.

• Lastly, as the rainy season approaches, so do the bugs. This beetle was the size of my face. Or at least a newborn’s face…or hand. Not my scene.

Take note of the sheer terror in the reflection

That’s enough rambling for now, but expect another soon rather than later! I’ll save more words for another day.

From right where I am,
Miguel