Finding tarantulas, geckos and the gift of clarity in cold water...
Well, thanks so much for everyone who’s sent me e-mails recently. I’m trying to answer them a.s.a.p., but time is a premium right now with classes starting on Monday. However, I really appreciate hearing from everyone, you have no idea how much your thoughts and prayers mean!
The rainy season has been in full swing today. Ali, one of my housemates, and I left our house to walk up the hill to the school in the middle of a light drizzle which developed into a full thunderstorm. This is when we learned that in the first world, rain means puddles in the street. In the second world, the street kinda dissolves into a pile of rocks and water. The long and the short of this little story is thanks for the advice on the water sandals, Aunt Pam. Chacos definitely rock the free world and parts of Central America.
So, on a deeper level, the orientation for teachers has been a very interesting blend of lessons in respecting the culture and teaching 101. One of the first things we’ve learned is the importance of our witness here in Benque. Father Dan, one of our priests, talked to us yesterday about how we’re a handful of Americans in a small town in a small country, and when we do things in town, it’s only about 5 minutes before the whole town knows about it—for better or for worse. Therefore, he encouraged us to really be on guard about how we conduct ourselves around town. We are all known to be Catholic, and the way that we act in town very much affect the Church’s efforts here. He said, to the people of Benque, we are the Church. This totally excites me-- I mean, as a Catechist, I’ve always known the importance of living an authentic life that provides a witness in the classroom. However, this year, my classroom extends to a whole town! So far, from my experience, this is so true too. Whenever we walk around, it’s sort of like the street is a stage. ALL the eyes are on us from the windows and the stores. It’s a little unnerving at first, but awesome to know that we’re always being watched in our witness.
In the flora and fauna department, I saw my first tarantula this morning… Not in it’s native environment, thank heavens. Jay, a guy who’s in formation here, decided to venture down to some secret room under the sacristy in the church (anyone who knows Jay from FUS probably isn’t surprised about this…) and he found a tarantula that was… well, everything you’d imagine them to be from the movies. Hairy, big and creepy! He caught it in a bucket… maybe they should try and sell these things on e-bay for a fundraiser! I cleaned out my classroom today, trying to ignore the gecko that was crawling around the wall. I swept out piles of dust and killed a few small spiders but luckily that was about all that I ran into! In all honesty, it wasn’t as bad as sweeping the porch of the Cracker Barrel is—what with all the roaches that run around out there (if the Health Department is reading this, ignore that last statement).
Our house is definitely “Steubenville Central America”. Ali and Cathleen are both fellow graduates and then Anne, my other housemate, spent a year at Franuniv as part of an exchange program. It’s a tremendous blessing to be living with people I’m already acquainted with-- it’s one less aspect of life to get familiar with. We’re settling in and hoping to get shelves and chairs soon. Meanwhile, we’ve decorated the walls with all of the art Ali and I brought down for our classrooms. It’s sort of looking like a mini Vatican museum!
The other tangible aspect of life here is that the pace of things is just different. Life is different when you’re only aware of that which is immediately around you. There’s no radio, few televisions and I’ve yet to see a newspaper. The internet is here, thank goodness, but I think one of the first things I’ve noticed is that my involuntary awareness of the outside world—that knowledge you just absorb walking down the street in the states from all the media that pounds into your brain—is nonexistent. I have no idea who’s winning the Olympics, if Bush is more popular than Kerry (although Lord knows I have my hopes in that department) or what movies and songs are out. It’s almost like the elimination of all of this sort of frivolous knowledge that really has no immediate effect on you allows you to devote your thinking and energy to the more immediate, important aspects of life (such as, what I’m teaching this Monday!). However, this clarity (for lack of a better word) has affected life in areas I'm only beginning to be aware of-- it's allowed for deeper conversations with people, a greater sensitivity to the beauty around me and best of all, a sort of instant deepening of prayer. Even the sort of "comforts" that we're without here-- like warm water, air conditioning, etc, allow you to appreciate the simpler aspects of life. A cool breeze is a cause for unbelievable joy.
Ok, so much for procrastination, I need to get back to lesson planning! Please pray for me and my three classes of second formers (sophomores), I think we’re all gonna need all the help we can get!
The rainy season has been in full swing today. Ali, one of my housemates, and I left our house to walk up the hill to the school in the middle of a light drizzle which developed into a full thunderstorm. This is when we learned that in the first world, rain means puddles in the street. In the second world, the street kinda dissolves into a pile of rocks and water. The long and the short of this little story is thanks for the advice on the water sandals, Aunt Pam. Chacos definitely rock the free world and parts of Central America.
So, on a deeper level, the orientation for teachers has been a very interesting blend of lessons in respecting the culture and teaching 101. One of the first things we’ve learned is the importance of our witness here in Benque. Father Dan, one of our priests, talked to us yesterday about how we’re a handful of Americans in a small town in a small country, and when we do things in town, it’s only about 5 minutes before the whole town knows about it—for better or for worse. Therefore, he encouraged us to really be on guard about how we conduct ourselves around town. We are all known to be Catholic, and the way that we act in town very much affect the Church’s efforts here. He said, to the people of Benque, we are the Church. This totally excites me-- I mean, as a Catechist, I’ve always known the importance of living an authentic life that provides a witness in the classroom. However, this year, my classroom extends to a whole town! So far, from my experience, this is so true too. Whenever we walk around, it’s sort of like the street is a stage. ALL the eyes are on us from the windows and the stores. It’s a little unnerving at first, but awesome to know that we’re always being watched in our witness.
In the flora and fauna department, I saw my first tarantula this morning… Not in it’s native environment, thank heavens. Jay, a guy who’s in formation here, decided to venture down to some secret room under the sacristy in the church (anyone who knows Jay from FUS probably isn’t surprised about this…) and he found a tarantula that was… well, everything you’d imagine them to be from the movies. Hairy, big and creepy! He caught it in a bucket… maybe they should try and sell these things on e-bay for a fundraiser! I cleaned out my classroom today, trying to ignore the gecko that was crawling around the wall. I swept out piles of dust and killed a few small spiders but luckily that was about all that I ran into! In all honesty, it wasn’t as bad as sweeping the porch of the Cracker Barrel is—what with all the roaches that run around out there (if the Health Department is reading this, ignore that last statement).
Our house is definitely “Steubenville Central America”. Ali and Cathleen are both fellow graduates and then Anne, my other housemate, spent a year at Franuniv as part of an exchange program. It’s a tremendous blessing to be living with people I’m already acquainted with-- it’s one less aspect of life to get familiar with. We’re settling in and hoping to get shelves and chairs soon. Meanwhile, we’ve decorated the walls with all of the art Ali and I brought down for our classrooms. It’s sort of looking like a mini Vatican museum!
The other tangible aspect of life here is that the pace of things is just different. Life is different when you’re only aware of that which is immediately around you. There’s no radio, few televisions and I’ve yet to see a newspaper. The internet is here, thank goodness, but I think one of the first things I’ve noticed is that my involuntary awareness of the outside world—that knowledge you just absorb walking down the street in the states from all the media that pounds into your brain—is nonexistent. I have no idea who’s winning the Olympics, if Bush is more popular than Kerry (although Lord knows I have my hopes in that department) or what movies and songs are out. It’s almost like the elimination of all of this sort of frivolous knowledge that really has no immediate effect on you allows you to devote your thinking and energy to the more immediate, important aspects of life (such as, what I’m teaching this Monday!). However, this clarity (for lack of a better word) has affected life in areas I'm only beginning to be aware of-- it's allowed for deeper conversations with people, a greater sensitivity to the beauty around me and best of all, a sort of instant deepening of prayer. Even the sort of "comforts" that we're without here-- like warm water, air conditioning, etc, allow you to appreciate the simpler aspects of life. A cool breeze is a cause for unbelievable joy.
Ok, so much for procrastination, I need to get back to lesson planning! Please pray for me and my three classes of second formers (sophomores), I think we’re all gonna need all the help we can get!
posted by Alison G. @ 5:49 PM
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