Argentina
¨James you are in Argentina¨. I continue to say this phrase to myself, but nothing seems to make it sink in. It is hard to imagine yourself on the other side of the world even when things are so different from your ¨normal¨ life.
I work for a project called Mission Maria Magdalena in el barrio Juan bautista Alverdi. For the last three weeks I have helped with projects that have really been amazing. Our first event was to plant 20 trees around the church which before had little tree life. It was so much fun to take turns with a shovel with two or three argentine children talking about how hard the soil is.
Most days I am able to share la merienda with the kids here. Since they eat dinner so late here there is a snack of milk and bread at 5 which the kids eat at the Mission. It has become a custom for Josh (intern serving here who I live with) and I to rap or sing to the kids while we eat. It is a great time to just sit and enjoy being surrounded children of a different culture.
The end of September was our first day of spring party, which was the culmination of a lot of meetings and planning of the children’s part. My supervisor here is amazing woman who really empowers the community to plan and do things with their own ideas and opinions. She never decides anything for the community but presents them with the questions to answer for themselves. I think I am going to learn a lot from Ofelia.
I have started my first workshop here, guitar lessons. I normally have three woman and they are learning so fast. It is challenging because we only have two guitars, so we have to share, but it really fits into the culture here. It is like we are sharing mate, but with guitars. This week I am going to start my next workshop which will be to plan a mural. I’m hoping that my work with Ofelia will pay off and I’ll be able to give the kids the power to create this.
Spanish is still a challenge for me but it is makes every conversation that much for exciting. I so far have said that my brother plays the blender when trying to say drum, and I have mastered the art of saying ¿how do you say…..? I am starting Spanish lessons next week which will be a exciting challenge. I have learned the majority of my new vocabulary from learning the lyrics to songs. It also gives me something to sing to the people in the barrio.
There are moments here that make every difficult or lonely moment worth it. Playing hide and go seek and seeing a five year old hide in direct light, or twirling kids till we both fall down shine light onto how great life is. I am looking forward to my next month here as I get more involved in the mission and community. Thank you for all your support from the home front and I will keep you posted on more ridiculous mistakes I make in Spanish.
-james
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