Merry Christmas! Coherent narrative storytelling/reflection just isn't going to work today. Sorry.
An official YAV newsletter will be coming soon. I promise.
I preached in Spanish twice this past week, with barely any notes (I was told that if I "read" my sermon, no one will listen). I'll upload a video on youtube later, although anyone who wants to watch me incoherently ramble in Spanish for fifteen minutes about the meaning of Christmas is certifiably insane.
I went camping on the beach two nights ago, watched the sun set over the pacific and slept on a blanket under the stars.
Evaporated milk is probably the most popular item at every single supermarket and in an average Peruvian family's home. On an unrelated note, I personally think evaporated milk is disgusting.
A group of us from Santa Isabel church took used clothes, 20 loafs of paneton (Peruvian-style fruitcake) and a bunch of soda up the hill to share with some of the very poor squatter families that live there. It was one of the first "service" events that I've participated in with a church here, and I loved it. The best part is that the church members all felt really good afterward and want to make community service a more important part of their church life.
At 5:40am on Friday I leave for Cuzco for two weeks of vacation that will include Macchu Pichu, Lake Titicaca/Puno and Colca Canyon/Arequipa. I have a hard time explaining to my Peruvian friends the difference between this "real" vacation and the "work-related" retreats/reunions that the YAV group takes every 6 weeks or so to various touristy beach/mountain locales.
Peruvians celebrate Christmas at midnight on the 24th with hot chocolate, fireworks, presents (new clothes are the normal Christmas gift) and a huge turkey dinner. All the TV stations play a Christmas countdown, much like on New Year's Eve in the states.
On New Years, they do the whole thing all over again. But with less turkey and more champagne. And with the added tradition of using all of the family's old clothes to dress a homemade mannequin and then setting the clothes on fire to symbolize leaving the old year behind and starting the new year fresh. I assume this is why people first give each other new clothes for Christmas. Apparently it's also good luck if you wear yellow underwear for new years.
I don't have a car here. And I don't even miss it. How long will it be before people in the US actually become convinced that walking, public transportation and massive carpooling is DEFINITELY worth it?
I've officially finished 1/3 of my YAV placement. That was fast.
"Crash" was on TV the other night ("Vidas Cruzadas" is the title of the dubbed Spanish version). I watched it with my host family and remembered why it's my favorite movie ever.
Remember, if you want to see photos, they're all available from the "Picasa" link on the left side of the page.
Starting in January, I'm going to be preaching a lot more in both Santa Isabel church and Kilometer 13 church. Let's hope my Spanish extemporaneous public speaking skills improve.
Slowly, I'm starting to feel more spiritually fulfilled by the worship services here. The "sociologist" in me is finally getting bored as I've gotten used to a lot of the differences between here and home. This is allowing me to take in the spirit of community and presence of God here on a personal level.
I'm still long overdue on making a boring, overly intellectual/pretentious-sounding blog post that reflects on the political/theological differences between "evangelical" churches here and mainline denominational churches in the US as they relate to respective differences in social/economic realities. But of course the real objective is to try to use big words to impress you and make you think that I'm SO READY to go to seminary and single-handedly fix the problems of the church/world.
I know this is looking WAY far ahead, but when I come back to the US I don't even want to SEE a grain of white rice or a beet for at least 3 months.... Except for the "beet" part. I don't want to see a beet again, period. Ever.
Ceviche and Tallerin verde with carne de res, however, will always be favorites.
Some days I find myself speaking spanish so well that I forget that I'm speaking a foreign language, and later on when I chat online with people from back home it's hard to remember certain English words. Other days it seems like I can barely form complete sentences in Spanish, and when people talk to me I ask them to repeat themselves at least 3 times before I eventually just say "ohhhh!" and then nod my head and pretend I understood what they just said.
Two years ago, if you told me that right now I would be spending Christmas Eve with a host family in Lima, Peru while working as a Young Adult Volunteer for the Presbyterian Church, I would have suggested that you seek psychological counseling....
Well, probably not. But I most likely would have laughed excessively and said "really?"
I missed Christmas Vespers at Trinity. I going to miss spending Christmas morning with family and relatives back home in Decatur. I'm going to miss spending New Years with more family and relatives at "home" in Montreat. And I'm going to miss the Montreat summer staff reunion and college conference during the New Year, too.
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5 comments:
Hey Alex - just followed the link from Facebook, and though I haven't read most of your entries yet (or even all of this one...), just wanted to chime in and say that it's great that living in Peru has changed your attitudes towards transportation. I don't know how common bicycles are where you are (or whether the terrain is at all friendly to them), but if you can, you should start riding one. It's extremely convenient, and fun. Anyways, I'll get off my soapbox now, so that you can continue ranting from yours. Hope you're doing well!
Also: "...and when people talk to me I ask them to repeat themselves at least 3 times before I eventually just say "ohhhh!" and then nod my head and pretend I understood what they just said." I do this when speaking English sometimes, so you shouldn't feel bad. Also, ceviche is delicious.
All I can say is... I understand. Merry Christmas! -Alexis
Merry Christmas and I'm sorry you miss home, but are glad you're doing God's work. Also, you are way behind in posting intellectual/pretentious blogs about social issues that show your ready to go to seminary. I mean, I did that on a Facebook note with a couple months of being called to ministry, so quit slacking and start pissing people off already.
Ummm hellloooooo return to Earth please.
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