A date w/ Pacaya

easy tiger...
Originally uploaded by misk77

Antigua is nestled "comfortably" in the midst of three volcanoes. Of course, I wanted to climb them. Then I found out that one is pretty active (Fuego pictured here w/ the smoke coming out of it; the one w/ the visible top is the tallest one Acatenango which is just over 13K!) and they're all over 12K. I've never climbed that high... so I'm sticking w/ the shorter volcano, Pacaya, an hour or so away that

SESENTA PALABRAS!

(wall for future mural)

Escuela Integrada: Yesterday, I conducted my first activity for the kids in Spanish. It was really hilarious. The kids got a real kick out of trying to figure out what the heck I was trying to say, laughing and then repeating back how I should have said it. I learned a bunch of new vocabulary from them! Well, miraculously, with the help of my teacher, I was able to get some ideas across and it went really well! These kids are really quick. Today was the 8^th graders. I’ll do this intro activity with 7^th, 8^th, and 9^th, and then do the 2^nd activity with each grade later this week. This mural is still being designed, but here’s the basic idea: One of the themes that the teachers in the school wanted the mural to address was the value of each person; how God values each and every person. I’ve got the reIMAGE theme bouncing around in my head for our work at Ayuda next year, so this project will display how we are all created in the image of God and can reflect the Lord to each other. We are each individually essential for this reflection b/c we each have a very unique “face” of the Lord to reflect to others.

Activity #1: The students complete the statement “God is ______.” Then the students are paired up and complete the sentence “My partner is ______.” They fill in the blank with qualities they appreciate about their partner, ways that they may help them, things they admire… We then gather all of the words describing the Lord on one side of the board and the words describing our friends on the other side. As you may expect, there are many similar words. We take time to circle them and comment on how we all have an opportunity to reflect the qualities of the Lord to each other. We discuss Genesis 1:27 and 2 Corinthians 3: 18 and talk about how the more we gaze at the Lord, He will make us more and more like Him. You know... all in Spanish! HA!

As I was walking home, I felt like it was my birthday and I’d received the coolest gift from these kids. When I got home, I looked through the papers of the 17 students in the 8^th grade and counted 60 different words to describe the Lord! Many words were repeated among the students, and each time I came across a new word, I was struck, “yes, the Lord is also this…” It was a gift to see the Lord through their eyes and I was reminded how vast, how true, how beautiful, how big, how faithful…

Activity #2: Each student will choose two words, one describing the Lord and one describing their partner, and create symbols for each word. Next week, we will make stencils with their symbols and they will create the mural. Or... something like that! I’ll keep you posted!

wall at zacapa

"Yo soy lo que soy; no mas."

(candles at Santa Domingo candle workshop)

Day 1 of Week #3: Update on Zacapa.

My trip to the prison in Zacapa last Thursday was an intense day. My friend and I arrived in Guatemala City late Wednesday evening and left at 5AM to meet up with J and the bus. I realized then that this was going to be a very important trip. The families of the women incarcerated in Zacapa do not generally have the money to make the 3 hours bus trip for visits from G. City. J and the prison chaplain had gathered all of the families of the women and provided a school bus for them to be able to visit their loved ones. Many children were among the group; two said they hadn’t seen their mom in 1 & ½ years. Also along for the journey was a group of folks from New Life Church in Philly! That was a cool surprise; though I didn’t know any of them before, we will be able to meet up when I return to the city. The trip was amazing… too many thoughts to record here. One thing I will say that the women there were VERY excited at the idea of getting together in a couple of weeks to paint a mural. I’ve been in a few prisons in the states, but I’ve never seen a prison like this one. Prisons are quite different in third-world. The rough physical space that is the home for these 15 women is a prime place for a redemptive mural. Wrestling with my worries about finishing a mural in three days, I’m also reminded that the most important thing is not the mural; it’s the relationships, interactions, and show of love that can occur when people are truly present with each other. (Thanks N.) The Lord has taught me this time and time again through my neighbors in Hunting Park. I will be spending three days there (July 24-26) working on the mural. Please pray for the Lord to be present with us as we dialogue and paint together.

I thought all day about how I’m so not the best person to do this mural! I can’t even really communicate with the ladies; my Spanish is so slow coming… it was pretty overwhelming and humbling simply to be in the space let alone try to talk about painting a mural together. But those walls are their home. And we will work together for 3 days to create something that will redeem this space to speak of home, hope, self-value and significance; all that the Lord will bring to our souls which we all so desperately need. When I communicated some of my apprehension about my language abilities to my Spanish teacher, she said to repeat to myself, “Yo soy lo que soy; no mas.” I am what I am; no more. Insufficiencies are the crux of life. (Thanks D.)

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” - Jesus (2 Cor. 12:9)

“God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things – and the things that are not – to nullify the things that are…” (1 Cor. 1:27-29)

A Quick Update

Lake Atitlan
Originally uploaded by misk77

Saturday and Sunday I travelled with 3 other students from my Spanish School (CSA) to beautiful Lake Atitlan. We arrived on Saturday morning after a crazy drive through the mountains. I'm from West Virginia; I thought I knew what a "hair-pin curve" was... I've never seen anything like the mountain roads in Guatemala. Quite fun! We took a boat across the lake to see San Lucas, Santiago, and San Pedro then returned to Panajachel where our Hotel was. See the Lake Pix here. We saw a lot... I want to see as much as I possibly can while I'm here. This is my first time leaving the US and I'm astounded at how BIG the world is... how many people... how different our "normals" are... I'm learning more than just language here. The poverty here is much more severe than I have ever experienced. It's difficult to be a "tourist/student" here. I am very uncomfortable and not sure what to do with those emotions... not really ready to put it into words, so, onward.

Spanish: I've begun week two and I'm amazed that anyone actually can learn an entire new language... it's a crazy idea! There are just too many words to learn and too many tenses to imagine that may require new spellings and so on... Needless to say, I'm finding it difficult. However, I'm keeping in mind that my primary goal for learning Spanish is for conversation; I want to be able to talk to my neighbors and the parents of my kids who speak no English. I try (pitifully at times) to converse as much as possible with Guatemalans but what I'd heard about learning in Antigua is proving to be true: Muchas Gringos! With so many foreigners here, I hear and speak English quite often. Good for meeting fun people, bad for learning Spanish. I'll just keep pluggin away... The best thing is my teacher. As we do the lessons, we get off on many topics... families, politics, music, education, poverty, war, and today she talked to me about her family fleeing Guatemala in the 80's b/c of the vast oppression and murders of the government (all in Spanish, mind you. I understand much more than I could ever speak!) She is close to my age and we laugh alot... it's a wonder we get any Spanish done!

Work Projects: Things are not quite set in stone for the work projects, but I have really enjoyed spending time at Escuela Integrada and hope to paint a mural with the 7th, 8th, & 9th students. More to come one that... As for Zacapa, I will be traveling up to Zacapa on Thursday with the ministry from Guatemala City as they are taking up families of the women in prison there. I will get a chance to meet the women, see the space, and talk to them about a possible mural. More to come on that as well...

Family: As I speak to other students in Antigua, I realize that I have a very fortunate host family situation. The details are very comfortable: enough food (and it's delicious), warm-ish shower, comfortable room, inexpensive internet, and now a desk (I moved into one of the other rooms after a fellow student left b/c she had a desk). Beyond that, the people are very friendly and encouraging in my Spanish, especially the mom, Adita. The two older sons speak English very well, so again, there's an out to just default back on my English words if I get stuck. They're very hip and tell me where good places are for the night life. :) The youngest son Brian is 8 and again, we laugh alot. He's my favorite.

I'm happy. Last night (Sunday) the normal blues set in and I missed Philly and familiarity... to be expected. But I am just amazed that I'm here doing this! I feel that everyday I am at the mercy of the Guatemalan's that I am interacting with to feel generous to have patience with me and spend time trying to converse. The people here are kind. They have the most beautiful smiles. Every day I am pretty helpless; very humbling and remarkably beautiful to experience. I am asking the Lord everyday to help me to have open eyes and ears. There is so much to take in and I want to be as present as possible. So I'm going to get off this computer and do some homework. Adios!

Partnership with BuildaBridge International

Just finished watching the afternoon rain and I'm packing up my bag for my first day of lessons. I wanted to share a little bit about my affiliation with BuildaBridge International. My time in Guatemala will be greatly enhanced by partnering with BI's Artists on Call. Here's a description of BI's program:

Artists on Call International

Artists on Call is the advanced volunteer program of BuildaBridge International comprised of arts therapy professionals, artists, and community service workers trained in emergency relief through artistic intervention.

The mission of AOC is to bring--through the arts--emotional healing, to provide a sense of normalcy and aesthetic nourishment (feeding the souls) of children who have experienced traumatic circumstances as a result of war and catastrophic events around the world.

I have collaborated with BuildaBridge in many ways over my last six years in Philadelphia. They have been very generous with me as I have stumbled through the trial and error of starting the Community Arts Program at Ayuda. They have engaging the transformative power of the arts all around the world since their beginnings in 1997. For the past two years, BI has made it possible for me to attend their 5-Day Institute training professionals who work in community arts. Dr Corbitt and Dr. Nix-Early have been kind enough to meet with me regularly and guide me through program/curriculum development, vision casting and goal setting, program assessment, and more. Read more about BuildaBridge here.

For my time in Guatemala, learning Spanish is my primary goal; however, I wanted to interact at a deeper level with the communities here and BuildaBridge has provide those opportunities. They have a variety of contacts here for me to do work in the arts. As it stands today, I will begin Wednesday teaching art in the mornings at Escuela Integrada associated with LACES (Latin American Christian Education Services). I will also have an opportunity to work with Joel Van Dyke's ministry in Guatemala City. We are planning to travel to a prison in Zacapa, Guatemala to paint a mural with the incarcerated women there. And who knows what else! I appreciate BuildaBridge giving me the opportunity to enrich my experience here in Guatemala.

Antigua, Guatemala: Day 1

Domingo
Originally uploaded by misk77

(Of course, I won't be counting every day, but I'm making the most of the wifi that i've got for the moment.)

I've made it and I'm am so happy to be here. Antigua is better than everyone had described to me. So unique and beautiful. I walked all over the small city and soaked it in. Lots of new photos on Flickr so enjoy. My host family is very sweet and speak no English (only the son speaks a little) so I'd better get busy! Tomorrow, I meet w/ the head of the school where I was to teach art (swine flu has the schools closed until Wednesday, so we'll talk about what's ahead) and then my Spanish lessons start tomorrow at 2pm and will go till 6pm every day. After spending the day trying to communicate, I'm anxious to get some Spanish into my head!

I'm enjoying Henri Nouwen's book GRACIAS! a Latin American Journal which I started on the plane. As he describes his own leaving to journey in Latin America, he reflects on the love of those who "sent" him. He describes his friend lovingly coming to help him pack which made me think of my friend Lauren and how she kept me company my last night, ironing and helping me choose what to bring on my 8 week trip. Nouwen: "Whatever my experience in Latin America will bring to me, it will be part of a body formed in love and it will reverberate in all its members..." Wherever we are, we are all connected as the Body of Christ and what happens in our lives reverberates... I know that from having my friend Deb living and working in Thailand; what happens there in her life affects me in Philly. And that's just Deb... there's also you, and you, and you...

He writes about getting to know his neighbors in Peru: "The people speak about God and His Presence in ways I must slowly come to understand. It will take time, much time, but a willingness to learn is one thing I can bring here." Amen.