"just being" together

On Sunday, March 18, the Peruvian government issued a presidential decree that it would come down much more harshly on informal mining (mining of whatever mineral without belong to a specific company, i.e., somebody who has iron ore on their land so they just mine it and sell it).  Later that day, hundreds of men and women who work in informal mining got together all over the country to voice their opinion.  In Peruvian democracy, that means blocking major highways so that no travel or commerce can happen, thereby calling everyone’s attention.  This time, it meant blocking the Pan-American Highway in a town called Casma, about 2 hours south of Chimbote, thus restricting any travel whatsoever to the capital, Lima, from anywhere in the northern part of the country.

Normally, it wouldn’t phase me too much as I really spend most of my time in Chimbote, but this time, I was especially grateful for the strike, because I happened to have a visit from two people that I love very much, and because of the strike got to spend another whole day with them.  Yes, my parents have now experienced cuy, anticuchos, crazy taxi drivers, dust upon dust upon dust, hand-washing, 24-hour cars honking and dogs barking, the delicious odor of the fish factories, Peruvian rice, fresh maracuyá juice, the sparkling waves of the Bay of Chimbote, the serenity and poverty and diversity of the agricultural zones surrounding the city, cold showers, ceviche AND chicarrón de pescado (yum!), Peruvian hospitality, and lots of others things that make up my daily life… (by the way, if there are words above that you don’t understand, that means you need to come visit Peru!)  As my mom said so well, meeting the people of Peru is much better than seeing the touristy sites of Peru!

But most of all, we got to hang out, catch up, get to know each other again (I’m only begin to discover all the characteristics I’ve inherited from them), have fun, laugh, talk about God and a little about politics (but not too much, haha), and as my dad said, just “be.” 

So for that extra day… thank you to the miners for standing up for their rights (and for resolving the conflicting in good timing!), hair dresser who had a cancelled appointment, to the Confirmation leaders who had to go it alone in the rehearsal, to our feedlot employees who were reliable and helped my dad be stress-free, to Jeff for lending an extra hand at home when he could have been doing a million other things for spring break, to Kim for taking care of Zoe, to Orbitz for finally referring us to American Airlines, to American Airlines for at least attempting to reduce to transfer fees, to Giancarlo for being relentless with the bus line, to my community mates for being all-around amazing, and to my PARENTS, Steve and Joan, for stepping outside their comfort zones into a completely foreign and unknown world, trusting that everything will work out, in order to better understand their daughter and why she does what she does. 

We live the lives that we live so that they may be shared, and in that sharing we all walk a little deeper into the mysterious beauty of life. 

merry christmas and a happy new year!

Well, Christmas went off with another big bang this year, literally, as midnight was welcomed with lots of Roman candles and sparklers (plus a flower or two).  Of course, it was a small show compared to a week later as the streets filled with life-size dolls burning away last year´s old to make room for this year´s new.  But back to Christmas.  My theater group opened Christmas Eve Mass with the nativity play, in which I starred one of Gabriel´s side-kicks in a white gown with hands folded in prayer and a smile on my face.  It went well and the mass was nice-- it was the first Mass said by our new priest, but unfortunately he didn´t give the homily so we didn´t really get a good taste of him yet!  After Mass we hung around for awhile, giving Christmas hugs to all our parish friends and taking pictures with the life-size nativity.  Then we went home to prepare a delicious dinner of Velveeta macaroni and cheese shells with ketchup (a special treat for us!) until midnight, when we put baby Jesus in the nativity and went outside to light fireworks with all the neighbors.  We mixed the Peruvians traditions with our own and waited til Christmas Day to open presents (by the way thank you for all the cards and gifts!) and lounge around.

But Christmas wasn´t all relaxing!  Since I work in youth ministry in our parish, it was also an important time for activities.  As has become tradition, the youth movement's biggest Christmas project this year was a chocolotada for about 60 of the poorest children in our parish.  But unlike tradition, this year we decided to do it a little differently.  They still received the signature panetón and hot chocolate, but the event was not advertised as a chocolotada.  Instead, we designed it as a birthday party for Jesus.  With animation similar to that typical of birthday parties here, each youth group presented a fun Christmas song or skit.  I acted as Wendy in my theater group´s presentation of Peter Pan 2.  The show culminated in a live representation of Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus, and angels (featuring my very own housemate Katie doing her best to hold a crying, hair-pulling, very heavy baby Jesus).  After circling the patio with the holy family, the kids re-entered the party room, where their gifts were arranged around a candle.  Each child then received a paper heart with the explanation that Jesus doesn´t need us to gift him expensive things, just our hearts.  One by one, they located their heart next to the candle, picked up a gift, and handed the gift to another child.  Amazingly, their pacience lasted almost to the last child, when they did start getting a little ansy!  It was a beautiful celebration (with very few flaws) in which the youth groups united together to give a clear message to the kids: Christmas isn´t about the gifts we receive but about sharing the love that Jesus came to give us.  Perhaps the kids got more excited by the piñatas at the end, but Jesus´ love was very apparent in the laughter, sincerity and participation of the youth and children alike.

New Year´s was also wonderful with a visit from my brother, Scott!  I think he got a good taste of Chimbote at New Years... fish smell, burning dolls and fireworks, and ceviche.  Now it´s time to get into full summer mode-- hot weather, snow cones, beach, volleyball, home improvements, summer school at the parish, evening games at the youth center, etc.  This week my community mates and I are cleansing our bodies.  That means nothing but raw veggies, apples, vegetable broth, and juiced fruits!  By the end of the seven days our insides should be thanking us for flushing out all the sugar and grease that has been consumed in the past month...  though right now I really just want a big bowl of rice and a Reese´s!

Thanks for reading!  I wish you a very happy new year as you embark anew on God´s mission for you in the world!  

out to sea

Hello everyone!  I hope this writing finds you all well and enjoying the summer!  It’s a little crazy for me to imagine you all celebrating the 4^th of July with barbecues and picnics when we’re just getting into the heart of winter here!  Of course, winter here is nothing compared to a Nebraska winter, with temperatures oscillating between perhaps 55 and 75, but the open-air nature of the buildings and houses here does allow for the constant coolness to reach under the skin and chill the bones. 

This weekend wrapped up the lingering festivities from the celebration of San Pedrito (Saint Peter), who is the patron saint of Chimbote.  It was a two-week celebration – the biggest event of the year – with lots of concerts, food and artisan fairs, art and dance exhibits, etc.  The first culminating event is the vigil night, June 28, which features a huge concert in the main plaza until about 6 in the morning.  I went for a few hours with a group of five people and we had to grab hands and make a train so we wouldn’t get lost in the sea of people!  The following day, June 29, is the central day of the fiesta and starts with a boat procession out to sea led by a 2-foot statue of San Pedro.  Despite being out late the night before, we were determined to pull ourselves out of bed and take advantage of the unique opportunity to take a boat ride in Chimbote’s bay.  It turned out to be quite the adventure…

We left the house later than planned, about 7:30 when we should have left at 7 at the latest.  We took a taxi to the main dock for boarding the boats and quickly got in line – a little questioning revealed that the boarding wouldn’t actually start until 9, so we had some time to wait.  We had been told, though, that the year before they had waited in line but the boats filled up before they reached the front, so we were willing to wait.  Our Peruvian friend went to check out another dock further down the seafront to see if we might have a better opportunity there, and brought back the news that the line we were in would only let us board tiny boats, which could be more dangerous and less comfortable, but the other line would lead us to bigger fishing boats, which could be a more enjoyable ride.  So, we decided to abandon our spot in line and head to the other site.  We arrived to find a short line of people waiting to board a very large boat, decked out in colorful flags and a five-person band.  After a short wait we became uneasy about the random method there seemed to be for letting some people board while others no, so our friend went to inquire.  He soon waved us over to the boarding ramp and explained that it was a private boat by invitation only, but he had explained that he had friends from abroad visiting and the captain invited us to join them.  After a bit of debate and prodding from the captain’s sister (details of which I won’t go into fully) a couple of us were very uncomfortable with the idea that we would get to board just because we were foreigners while all these other people would be refused entry.  So we sent our one roommate with her friend (who really was visiting from the US) on the large boat while three of us (Kelli and I and our Peruvian friend) left to see if we could still get on the smaller boats.  Story said and done we easily boarded a small row boat, which carried us to a slightly larger fishing boat and out to sea.  It was a 2-hour ride on a small, dirty fishing boat but it was beautiful and I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.  The waves made us a little uneasy at times but the sights of sea lions, pelicans, rocky islands and open water helped to distract us!

We compiled a little list of some of our San Pedrito experiences on the program blog, http://www.iwmissions.blogspot.com/.  I also wrote a little spiritual reflection about Saint Peter and the celebration with that article, so please read if your interest is sparked!  It really is a celebration of Chimbote – the culture, the food, and of course the people!  It’s a beautiful display of pride and unity that I hope is reflected in the U.S. during this holiday season!

Apart from the celebrations, my activities are going well!  My main activities are coordinating the parish youth council, organizing activities for the youth movement, helping teach Confirmation and First Communion, teaching English, participating in the parish theater group and volunteering at an after-school program for children who work on the streets of Chimbote.  I generally fill my spare time with preparations, one-on-one help with English or computers, cleaning the house, reading, praying, heading downtown, cooking, watching Kelli practice tricks on her spinning top, enjoying Marcelle’s cooking, playing music with friends, hanging out with the Sisters, catching up with the lives of friends and family on Facebook (haha, hint hint, call me!), etc., etc., etc. 

As we celebrate the 4^th of July, I pray that it can be a time of unity and that our pride (or whatever feeling it may be) in our home country may drive us to act on behalf of a stronger and healthier global community where dignity for all is our top priority:  “One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for ALL.”

Peace,

Emily

christmas in peru

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all of my family and friends!

I know it’s been awhile since I’ve last written, and lots of exciting things have happened!  Most of my activities have finished for the moment because of the holiday season and summer vacation, but the past week was busy with Christmas preparations.  Perú has very strong Christmas customs, and I really enjoyed immersing in the local traditions.  There were also lots of bittersweet moments as the joy of the holidays clashed with the hard realities faced by this community.

During the week leading up to Christmas, the city was busy withchocolotadas, which are celebrations, generally for children, with hot chocolate and panetón, a sweet bread with dried fruit and gummy chunks in it.  On Monday the youth movement in our parish hosted a chocolotada for children in need in our parish zone, and I wrote about it in our community blog here: http://www.iwmissions.blogspot.com/

My week was also busy with rehearsals for the Christmas play, put on by TEFA (TeatroFranciscano), the theater group in our parish.  Due to a bit of a personnel shortage, I played Elizabeth, then an innkeeper, then a shepherd.  I’m really enjoying getting to know the members of the theater group… they have lots of good energy and it is so apparent that sharing the spirit of love and community through theater makes them feel alive, and this brings me life as well. 

Our Christmas festivities began with our theater performance at 9:00 p.m. on Christmas Eve, just before the Mass.  It went well and the Mass was beautiful with the choir singing Christmas songs.  It is Peruvian custom to gather with family Christmas Eve night and wait for midnight of Christmas Day, when the celebration really beings!  We had been invited by the family of our friend Analí to join them for their family celebration, so we headed over to their house after Mass, arriving around 11 p.m.  They had arrived just a half hour or so earlier from selling things downtown all day (because the downtown is packed with people on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day), so they were pretty tired but in good spirits (despite low sales… there hasn’t been much fish lately so there’s not a lot of money in Chimbote… the whole city’s economy depends on the fishing industry). We hung out with them until midnight, talking and watching Gregory, their 7-year-old son, play with sparklers.  Then at midnight, the custom is to give everyone a Christmas hug (family and close friends), place Baby Jesus in the nativity scene (which they asked Kelli and I to do!), light fireworks (the whole neighborhood was full of the sights and sounds of fireworks... it was crazy!), and eat Christmas dinner.  Our Christmas dinner consisted of turkey (delicious… though they said they had never eaten turkey for Christmas before… probably because it is much more expensive than chicken), French fries (with mayonnaise and salsa, of course), lettuce salad, hot chocolate (which they drink tons of during Christmas, even though it’s summer here… and they make the real kind with bars of chocolate, milk, water, cinnamon, and cloves), and panetón.  It was a great meal.  Then we sat and talked for a while… and around 1:30 or so Analí received a phone call asking if she could come sing at a Christmas party (she sings as a side job).  Even though she was feeling terrible and very tired after working all day, she said she had to go because she is trying to earn enough money to get an ultrasound of her baby (she’s six months pregnant and the father wants nothing to do with it).  The party happened to be close to our house, so we left in a taxi with her and came home.  It was a great night, and they are a wonderful family… but it is hard to feel really good about it having to end like that.

We had been told prior to Christmas Eve night that the custom is to celebrate all night long.  Well, we got home around 2 assuming our night was over, when five minutes later the phone rang.  A few of our friends were wanting to go out!  So we did…. We went to a friend’s house and listened to music, danced a bit, and talked… until about 7 a.m.  It was super fun!  It wasn’t quite as fun three hours later, when we woke up to get ready for Christmas lunch at the Sisters’… but definitely worth it! 

Christmas Day, then, we had lunch at the Sisters’ with a group of about 20 religious men and women from different congregations in Chimbote.  It was a lot of fun getting to know a few sisters and a brother sitting at my table, and the food was great!  After lunch we played cards for a couple hours with some Dominican Sisters from the states.  And after that I got to Skype with my family!

That about sums up the festivities.  Now we await New Year’s Eve, which we hear is an even bigger all-night celebration, beginning at midnight with dinner with family, after which everyone goes out to celebration in the streets with friends and neighbors.  Should be a great time!

It is definitely difficult to be so far from family during the holidays, and I miss them a lot!  I am very blessed, though, to have already begun to form mi familiaChimbotana who help me to feel welcome and loved in my home here.

If you aren’t tired of reading yet, I again encourage you to check out our community blog (site above).  I hope you all are feeling the love of family, friends, and God this holiday season!