Plenty of Movimiento

Another word I’ve warmed up to in the Spanish language is movimiento. To us English speakers it looks very much like the word ‘movement’ and sometimes it can be translated so. The first time I heard it, however, it was used by my middle ‘sister’ Diana when she was describing what she missed when she lived in Ciudad Del Este, a large commercial city on the border between Paraguay and Brazil. Her answered included a brief description with the emphasis on the movimeinto or the constant motion, activity, hustle and bustle of the city.

I recount this memory to try to let you in on what life is like in the Molinas' household. If I was describing it to a friend I would probably say it is ‘crazy busy’ to my mom ‘absolutely nuts’ and to a Spanish speaker ‘demasiado movimiento’. Acting as sort of a central hub being so close to the church there is never a lack of social interaction. There are the daily drop bys of the local young adults, weekly visits from a Swiss family (unfortunately they are not named Robinson) who live about an hour outside of town and stop ins at any moment from family, friends, church members, neighbors, clients of Secundino’s work and any other random visitor that feels free to stop by. This has only been compounded the last few weeks by a surprising amount of birthday parties, family anniversaries and Christmas celebrations.

Christmas in Paraguay was definitely a different scene. First of all it was hot and the only white Christmas you are ever going to get is in your dreams. Festivities started the Saturday before the big day where there was a ‘theater’ night in the church where every age group prepared something to share including a couple of choral songs from the adults, the always popular dressed up 2-5 year olds doing hand motions to a song, a skit from the preteens and another skit from the young adults starring yours truly. I still got some bugs to work out with my Spanish because apparently when you want to say, ‘Um… Can I just watch first to see what the play is going to be like’ it really means ‘Yea! I’ll be in it just tell me what to do!’ The following day instead of a Sunday morning service there was an all church Christmas dinner which involved excellent food, Karaoke, a table center piece competition and a few minor language slip ups from the foreigners that produced some stifled laughter.

The family spent Christmas Eve with relatives from both Secundino and María’s side. The morning of the 24^th was used to set up decorations, cook and prep the house for the festivities. Secundino’s brother’s family came around 3 in the afternoon where we pretty much just hung out until about 10 at night where we had a huge candlelit dinner outside, fireworks at midnight, presents opening and finally a sparkling cider toast. We all slept in the 25^th to recover from the long night and continued to enjoy, according to my host mother, the only day in the year where we don’t have to do anything!

I remember when I was just a little criatura...

That has to be my favorite word used in Paraguay, criatura. Literally it means ¨creature¨ but here they use it in reference to little kids and babies like Lucas, the son of a church couple who had his first birthday last week or my baby ¨cousin¨ who has monster cheeks they call ¨cachetes¨.

Can you remember when you where just a little criatura? Pretty carefree wasn’t it? I can still vividly recall neighborhood water balloon fights, craving driven candy hunts, secret club formations and competitions on who could run/ride/lift/jump faster/more/higher. I don’t think I’ve grown out of those last two and depending on who you ask some might say I haven’t grown out of any. But the point is life was free of stress. The number one thing on your mind was either how awesome it would be if the Ninja Turtles and G.I. Joes joined forces or where the heck did mom hide the soda this time.

This is a pretty accurate analogy of my life in Paraguay. Not that I sit around all day thinking of all the materials I need to build a super-top-secret-underground-tunnel-fort (those metal tube slides are impossible to find here) it’s just that I’m enjoying what I’m doing here. As of yet I teach about 4 different English classes every week which adds up to about 12 hours of in class time which I’ve come to enjoy tremendously. The majority of my out of class time I spend prepping and making lesson plans.

Beyond teaching I’m becoming more involved with the family by helping out with dishes and cooking, accompanying them on town errands and giving up my room for overnight guests. Church life has also become a solid part of my life in Paraguay. Every Saturday night we have a young adults service followed by a huge hangout afterwards where we play fútbol and vole. Sundays are just an extension of Saturday with Sunday morning culto (service) at 9, a relaxing afternoon and more hanging out and sport playing later that night. The support I'm recieving from the family, young adults and church is outstanding and I really can't imagine what Paraguay would be like without them.

Paraguayan Extremes: City hearts to starlit farms

Much has happened since the last time I blogged. One of the most exciting and perhaps refreshing excursions was a trip to the countryside (called ´el campo´) to visit my host mother’s father. He lives on a farm a good three and half hour bus ride away from my home. From the outset we were received with a warm welcome and a ox powered cart ride from the bus stop thanks to Marías brother. Very shortly after our arrival to the house we were given an afternoon tour of the farm layout. The house where Marías dad lives serves as a sort of central hub to the surrounding houses belonging to his children that decided to stay in the area (María has 13 brothers and sisters). On one side of the house there are various sorts of fields that grow crops like sugarcane. On other sides there are all sorts of animal pens, small gardens and orchard type setups and in front of the house runs a long, rough dirt road. The rest of the day was spent hanging out under shade trees talking with the family, drinking terere and enjoying the surprisingly comfortable wooden hammock. That night we had a grandiose dinner with at least 15 people under the open campo sky followed by speedy motorcycle trips to neighbors’ houses where we would spending the night.

The open air atmosphere of the campo was very quickly forgotten after about 20 members from the church loaded up in a decently sized rented bus at 3:00 in the morning that following weekend for a trip to Ciudad del Este. The trip itself took about 5 hours but to me and Scott it felt like no more than 10 minutes since we slept the entire way. We arrived first to Itaipu, one of the largest damns in the world where we were able to see massive amounts of water being spilled into the river from overflow releases and a general tour of the damn’s premises. This was followed up by a venture into the heart of Ciudad del Esteto eat and shop that ended in me bustling around 3 multi-storied buildings with my host parents looking for a pair of headphones with a microphone to use on Skype. The rest of our trip was spent relaxing in the hotel and heading to services of sister churches in the area that I later came to find out were started by my host parents in their younger years. The trip ended on a bit of a sad note since we had to leave Dorothea behind because this was her placement city.

Dorothea was only the first. The day following our return to Asunción the rest of the group dispersed; Craig, Krista and Scott headed about 45 minutes away in San Lorenzo and Becca an hour away in Villa Hayes leaving me in the same house were we all started. With the change of location also comes the change of schedule. We’ve all started to teach our English classes. My first week was a little strange because I’m not fully familiar to the social workings of this culture so I had some problems setting a class schedule but after a few days of quick placement tests and chats concerning students free time, I’ve set a time for my first class which starts tonight at 6:30. It’s really exciting to finally get started and dealt responsibility.

Rock Shelters and Rickety Bridges

You know that feeling when you are suspended over a decently large stream by a bridge that resembles some sort of backyard construction project you tried to build without dad’s help? Me either, until this last weekend when our group accompanied the young adults from the local church on a trip to a country town a few hours away called Eusebio Ayala. Besides trying out our luck on how many people the bridge would hold until it collapsed, we also took several stops along the way to eat, explore the countryside including some intruding shallow, cave-like rock formations, and play soccer and volleyball.

This seems to be a heavy focus right now; getting to know the country, the people, and the churches were we will be spending the next 9 months. We have weekly trips to significant places around Asuncion inlcuding La Casa de Independcia, a monumental hill that has a specific title that I have forgotten and many of the surrounding churches were we will be working. Besides this we have also been getting to know the people we will be living and working with, so much so I find it very difficult to remember more than half their names. At least twice a week we are invited over to peoples´ houses where we will have a meal, drink terere, or just hang out. Since the location we are staying at right now is going to be the same location where I will be staying the rest of the year, I’m able to start building relationships with the church and neighborhood. For the most part I’m highly involved with the young adults group in the church where my host father preaches. I’m invited to just about every event that they happen to be doing and feel a continually warm welcome from all of them.

While familiarizing ourselves with Paraguay, we’ve also been involved in an interesting dichotomy of learning Spanish and learning how to teach English. Besides the mere immersion of learning of the language we have also been having 3 or 4 Spanish lessons a week taught by the oldest daughter Laura in the house we were are staying. Learning how to teach English has come at the expense of taking taxing bus rides to a Seminary downtown where we have been learning under two college language professors on teaching techniques and have each had at least 2 practice sessions with local Paraguayans. Both of these have proved to be amazingly helpful.

In the midst of all these happenings, I’ve managed to get sick twice; once during the first week and once more in the second week. I’m not exactly sure what caused the sickness but Krista thinks it could be related to my unconscious habit of touching every public object including hand rails, light posts and anything else within my reach. Whatever the cause, each sickness took me out of routine for at least a day. However, Maria, my host mother, who is a nurse and quiet possibly could have helped written a book on natural remedies, has nursed me back to 100% both times.

If you’ve read this far on the blog you’re a real trooper and I thank for you for you’re interest in me and my journey! I would encourage you to write a comment to let me know who is reading this and what you think of it and also because they are amazingly uplifting! Thanks!!!

Reciepe for 10 months in Paraguay

Well the dawn has broken and were in Paraguay! After so much anticipation it’s good to finally be here.

Our travel here was an adventure in itself. We left the airport in Chicago around 2:30 in the afternoon last Tuesday to Miami. The flight was a bit long but were we so excited it didn’t matter much to us. We had about an 5 hour layover which was nice and relaxing and even informational since we were able to watch the 2^nd presidential debate on a conveniently central tv by our gate entrance. However, Miami was also a bit sobering because it was the last place our cell phones were going to work so we were all making frantic last minute phone calls. Soon we were all aboard our plane to Lima, Peru (it was about 1 o’clock in the morning) and we are facing the longest flight of the trip. We settled in, took off and in less than an hour were served breakfast, which was a little strange for everybody becuase it was 2 am. This flight was also our introduction to our next 10 months in Latin America since everything announced, presented, read or asked was in both Spanish and English. A side goal of mine was to fool the flight attendants into thinking I was a Latin-American. Didn’t work.

Our flight landed and we stumbled out tired and disoriented awaiting our next flight to Santiago, Chile. We didn’t have to wait too long until we were flying over the Andes mountains on the way to our final destination of Asuncion, Paraguay. The flight landed followed by the shortest customs wait I’d ever been in (I’ve only been in two) after the longest trip I’d ever taken (30 hours from the time we left) and we were immediately greeted by a whirlwind of hosts. There was hugging and kissing (it´s a custom here...) and before we knew our team was seperated into 3 cars which consequently met at the same house just 10 minutes later.

The house was that of Maria Molinas, who happens to be my host mother for the next 10 months. She is an excellent, fun loving women who is married to the pastor of the local Mennonite Church located just down the street. Her family has proven to be a rock in our first month of language orientation and have adopted us, especially me, as their new hijos. Her husband’s name is Secundino and together they have 3 daughters, all of which are named Laura which has lead to an interesting phenomenon of me being renamed as Lauro Tyler Molinas. In effect, I’m the fourth Laura.

Our setup looks like this; Dorothea and Rebecca are staying in the house which will probably soon be my room when our group dissipates. Craig and Krista and staying with member of the church a quick stroll down the street and Scott and I are bunking together in a room off the side of the church that I believe is usually used as a Sunday school classroom considering the brightly colored pawprints and pictures of babies dressed in animal costumes on the wall.

A typical day is pretty relaxed. Some breakfast in the morning followed by some sort of Spanish immersion, lunch with a restful siesta right behind it, then dinner and some games to complete the day. We’ve been learning a little about the culture and actually had a trip to downtown Asuncion the other day where we hung out and were able to see a lot of government buildings, fairs, and a museum. We’ve also gone to a couple church services already were we attempted to figure out what was going on amidst us being brought to the front to introduce ourselves and trying to sing the tunes of new songs.

All in all, I can say it’s been a very comforting and warm welcome which has helped me transition smoothly, however there are so many new things to discover. It reminds of being a kid who has gone to his friend’s house for the afternoon and is exploring his backyard for the very first time. There are so many new things to discover but everything resembles a basic pattern of familiar. The people are different in the language they speak but something similar lies beneath. We eat new food but the table is still full of laughter. We wake up in a different bed but fall asleep like we’ve always have. It seems as though Paraguay, if made a recipe, would be a lot of new with a hint of familiar.

Like the breaking of the dawn...

…I’ve dove into this last week sensing that I’m on the verge of something new, in a weird limbo between the anxious present and the unknown that is soon to be.

Week 4 has definitely proven its worth. Much like last week we’ve had more unscheduled time while simultaneously going one step further. Our last speaker was James Kraybill who led us in two days of discussion concerning missional attitude; a more complete look at the Gospel and reconciliation. I found it filled some misconceived gaps and a new sense of wholeness to my understanding. The rest of our time has been used in a variety of ways including museum and exhibit going, logistical meetings regarding team finances and covenants, tying up loose ends before we leave, and just plain enjoying each other. Most of our days include some kind of game playing, usually cards or frisbee or both, and more than often we end in an unplanned house hangout that eventually trickles into bedtime.
Possibly the most surreal experience has been the certainy that we are in fact leaving very soon. This was made even more clear to us when the first team from the house left this Saturday. To help England load their luggage and disappear for the airport was a strange reality, especially since this meant I lost my only roommate for this month. The absurdity of our time here and the impending 10 months that are now only 2 days away makes me revisit the idea that I'm on verge of something new, in a bizarre hingepoint that was ironically emphasized in a David Crowder song I heard this morning;

“I think I'm on the brink of something large
Maybe like the breaking of the dawn
Maybe like a match being lit
Or the sinking of a ship, letting go gives a better grip”

Loosening up and digging in

As my title infers, our 3rd week in this crazy thing called “The Radical Journey” has both loosened up and gone deeper. It's loosened up in the sense of a schedule; we have more time in the day so that we are responsible to explore, interact and enjoy. But at the same time its also gotten deeper.
We’ve continued to build our teams, have fun as house and grow individually by participating in conversations and exercises regarding topics such as conflict resolution, expectations/apprehensions for the upcoming year, and just good old quality time. In our on going mixer of spiritual disciplines, we practiced Lectio Devina and solitude along with another service project where me and 5 others worked in a community garden a few blocks down the street. We’ve also had time to travel to Chinatown, explore some museums and see the WhiteSox play the Cleveland Indians. On an even deeper level, we’ve had some guest “speakers” (I’m not sure if they want to be labeled as “speakers”) come in and lead us in conversation regarding the cultural context of the countries we are entering, our role in ministry in our locations and maybe most excitingly because of its practicality, a beginners course in teaching English as a second language.
For those that haven’t heard or were fuzzy on the details, the majority of our time in our country will be devoted to teaching English to locals. In Paraguay, we will be working with those that are wanting to volunteer for Mennonite World Conference, in Asuncion, Paraguay in July 2009. Beyond this, learning English is seen as one of the most effective ways to break poverty cycles by providing a foothold in which to obtain better jobs.

So even though week three has come and gone like the departing blue line train at the “L” station, it’s only to be replaced by the arrival of week 4 carrying with it just as many hopes and opportunities as it’s predecessor.

Going off the deep end...

The second week of "The Radical Journey" has definitely proven to go much deeper. While the first week was exploring the city and getting to know each other, week two has dove headfirst into our Spiritual Narratives (aka testimonies), theological exploration/conversation, and continuation of spiritual disciplines.
We’ve also been able to break off into individual country groups to do some team building. This has mainly been composed talking through and getting to know some of our spiritual tendencies, love languages and personality traits. Besides this, the house has had ample time to bond as well. We usually have a good chunk of the day either in the afternoon or at night for free time that we fill with ultimate frisbee in the nearby park and a myriad of card/board games in the house. We also have time to explore the city and get acquainted with its diverse neighborhoods and attractions. We’re encouraged to go to festivals, new church services and experience Chicago’s different cultures. It’s been a fascinating time. In the midst of all of this we have also had some time to explore some service and ministry. After a unit on the spiritual discipline of service we were able to animate this by doing our own service. The house split up into groups; one went to a homeless shelter and the other went to a sort of preparatory preschool called Gad’s Hill to hang out with kids and help the teachers, I was part of the later group. The kids were amazing and the level of excellence there is off the charts.
Later that week we visited Emmaus Ministries in Uptown Chicago, what a uniquely amazing ministry. They work with male prostitutes and are one of the few, if any, ministries that do this. We listened in on a couple that musically recounts some of the guys’ stories that are worked with at Emmaus. It was a very honest and humbling experience.
Only two more weeks until we make the trek to Paraguay!

First Week Jitters

Hello all and welcome to my blog!  This is the place where I will be recounting and keeping you updated 

on all of my journeys in Paraguay this upcoming year.  As of right now all of the participants in the Radical Journey Program, including myself, are in Chicago for a month of orientation. Our present living quarters is a house, which we aptly named “Mennonite Real World” due to 16 Mennonites (let’s just assume I’m Mennonite) living in what feels like a reality show type of setting just without the cameras, that is located next to The First Church of the Brethren in downtown 

Chicago. 

Basically the program breaks down like this; there are four teams that are going to various locations around the world.  There is a team heading to Brazil, another to Sweden, a third to England, 

and finally my team that is going to Paraguay where we will be mostly working with local populations teaching English.  We will also have opportunities to become involved in the church and community (more details to come when I actually get there).

Celebrating our one week anniversary in orientation tomorrow, I have found it to be, at the least, very informational and experiential. 

 We generally have some sort of devotions in the morning as a group that focus on different spiritual disciplines such as prayer, hospitality, and solitude followed by late morning and afternoon exercises which, for the first week, were mainly learning how to navigate in a large city such as Chicago.  We still have 3 more weeks until we head out and I’m terribly excited to get there!

Please feel free to check back here often (at least once a week) and ask questions for more specific details that you would like to know!