The Return

I want to say that I survived, but this year´s Mes de Mision experience was a lot more enjoyable and easy-going than last year. Obviously, every year many factors are unique to that year (the situation with the food, the type of work being accomplished, the students, etc) and the change from a Cristo Rey, the-kids-should-suffer mentality to a Miguel Pro, allow-the-kids-to-develop-and-mature-in-a-new-service-oriented enviornment both impacted the last month.

Basically, we spent the month pulling out Santa María (a type of weed that somewhat oddly has a holy name), cleaning and feeding goats, working with corn (weeding, harvesting, planting), and playing a lot of sports (from the small field soccer to volleyball to knock out - a wonderful, basketball-like game that we taught the Peruvians). We still had to deal with some of what I have come to see as the usual issues down here in southern Peru. At times, the government officials would tell us there was work, but never send transportation for us. At others, they would not communicate amongst themselves and we would be left hanging in the wind. Additionally, the lack of planning - although I have come to be better at simply being spontaneous, which us volunteers feel is a staple of the part of Peruvian culture that we have experienced down here - also wore on me a bit. I oversaw our finances and held on to all the money (which at the beginning meant carrying around the equivalent of over 1500 dollars in a fannypack all day and night) and my attempts to budget or organize this were expecially difficult with the lack of planning.

At the core of the experience, however, are the students and their personal development. This group of kids was especially respectful, fun-loving, and amiable. There were highs (one night, I was sitting alone in a corner of the school writing in my journal and a group of them came running over to sit around me and tell ghost stories) and there were lows (one kid spent an entire day pouting after I became very frustrated with his lack of participation in the catechesis class we led and told him sternly that he needed to get involved) as are to be expected.

There were many moments of laughter (one student loved throwing out random phrases in English and from time to time would ask me, ¨teacher, are you hungry?¨ when he saw me frustrated. He, of course, meant to ask me if I was angry, but with the silent h in Spanish, it came out in a way that always made me smile) and good bonding with my fellow volunteers and with the students (a hour-long, late night discussion about multiple universes over secretly-popped popcorn comes to mind). There was a lot of the same music (the kids loved to hear me terribly try to sing along to this song without knowing the words: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IEG3z7Ze3I. But let´s be honest, it is called ¨My Beautiful Girl¨ and is by Chino and Nacho, how could it now be wonderful to sing along to?) and some really good and greasy food (all the usual Peruvian cuisine of Arroz Chaufa - fried rice with hot dog bits - Ají de Gallina, Papa Rellena, Porotos, Lentejas, Chicharon de Pollo, Saltado, etc.).

Even though the passed in a much smoother way than last year, I still need time and space to process it and reflect. Next week, I will be going on a five-day silent retreat in which I plan to think a lot about the last month and begin to plan the steps I want to take for next December/January, when my time down here comes to a close. I promise there will be pictures and more thoughts to come!