I forgot to say a couple of things yesterday, and today was a very interesting day, so I'll share and try to keep it manageable to read for once...we'll see.
So, last Thursday, I went with Paula to her bellydancing class..HA...and I thought I knew how to shimmy. It was something very fun to try, but I like other types of dance a lot more. Paula calls it baile del ombligo (belly button dancing) and Mike calls it pansa danza (literally would be gut/belly dancing) but it's totally incorrect and funny.
So I was kind of on a high yesterday, and I realize it was because it had been a long time (like 3 days) that we hadn't worked on our clinic project together. So today hit hard when it was a disaster to work togehter again. We are translating a wordy powerpoint that is like paragraphs in spanish that we are changing to english. I want to change so much more than the language. I don't like doing things that I don't think are done well, and I don't like being bossed around...I guess this is an opportunity for growth. Anyways, Paula was sick of the powerpoint too, and so at 2pm when Laura left the clinic, the two of us went with her to catch the bus home.
Just 2 blocks from the clinic where we catch the bus, we witnessed 2 guys approach a taxi driver stopped at a red light and punch him in the head through his open window. It was very disturbing to witness, but we walked quickly away as soon as it started. We reported it to another taxi driver of the same company, but realized that we don't know what to do in a situation like this. Good reminder that emergency numbers should be with us at all times. Also, it puts our work more in perspective. It was terrifying seeing this man get beat up when he was driving. It was the most violent event I have ever witnessed in my life. Laura took the bus home with us afterwards and we unpacked what had happened. I felt sick to my stomach so I laid down for awhile. Laura and Paula went for a walk, but I stayed inside, made supper, and later went for a walk with Paula and then walked up to HEB to get some groceries. So that was today. Whew!
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Today I am in a peak of the emotional roller coaster that is my life right now. I always want to start writing starting with the most recent thing that happened, and backing up, but I realize that is probably horrible for a reader, so I'll try to organize myself.
Friday we went to a workshop downtown on teenage pregancy for November's theme of Women's Reproductive Health month. There were 2 speakers. The first gave lots of stats about pregnancies in Mexico and in the world in general, and all about the consequenes. It was done in the light that education is necessary, and we all have responsability to help make this better. The second person was a motivational speaker basically encouraging people to take more responsability for our lives and how we approach relationships and work. He was very funny, and it was very theurapeutic to laugh. Linda, Laura, Paula, and I went to a mexican restaurant for lunch after the workshop. I took the metro and buses back to Fomerrey 35 for choir rehearsal at 4pm, stopped to use the bathroom at the clinic, and went home. I chilled out which was much needed.
Saturday: Slept in, made a big breakfast of french toast, grilled ham, eggs with onions, and yogurt! Then I read for awhile (I'm reading "The Poisonwood Bible" which is a story of a baptist preacher that went with his family to Africa and tried to impose a lot of things on the people there. It is a neat story to read that helps me to examine my attitudes that I bring here. It's like a "what not to do" book. ) I went to Fomerrey 35 to sing with the choir at a wedding and afterwards I went over to Isabel and Franciso's house. They are the adopted grandparents that I especially enjoy. Their grandson nextdoor was celebrating his 24th bday. I have now met all of their kids, and many of their grandkids. We had coffee and toast (I am drinking coffee more often and would even venture to say that I like it as long at it has a lot of sugar and milk/cream in it). Isabel has a sewing machine, so I'm supposed to bring a couple pairs of pants that I have that are too long that she's going to help me hem. It always brightens my day to visit them. I took the bus home about 6:30pm. Kame (he's the son of Dra. Granados- the one I used to think was named Camo in a previous blog entry) and I had planned on seeing a play this weekend, and he sent me a couple of messages about setting something up. So, when I got home, I called him and we decided to go to various things that he had been invited to rather than go to the play. First we went to a Chinese Restaurant for one bday party. I met another Andrea and we talked the whole time we were at the restaurant. She's a law student with Kame, and she spoke english very very well, but we mostly spoke in spanish...(it feels like I'm getting better at Spanish, thank God!) Then, Kame and I went to a bar which was a lot like the Backer (which was hands-down my favorite bar in South Bend for those who don't know) except it was huge! There was karaoke, and it was a mix of 80s, 90s music and stuff that is popular now in english and spanish, and salsa too. So, I didn't know anyone except for Kame and he kept pushing me into the group of girls, and that was awkward for me. It was fun overall, though. Kame and I danced Salsa until we were both dripping sweat and I was dizzy from so much spinning and dipping, and I kinda met some of the girls. We stayed until like 1:30am. Then, I was hungry! We went to the house of another friend of Kame's which was in a gated community...very fancy. Those friends had just gotten home from being out and obviously had been drinking quite a bit. (Kame and I didn't drink at all when we were out which felt really good.) We stayed for like 15 minutes at the house, then we left to go get food. Kame, one of his friends and I went to a taco stand and we had WONDERFUL steak tacos. We took the friend back home, and then Kame took me home at like 3am. It was very fun, and I enjoy his company very much. He's a lot like me in many ways. His going from one place to another with different groups of friends is like me, and he was a missionary too. He will be finishing his thesis for law school this month, so he's excited about that. He's been really good to us as far as trying to help Mike and me get out, and better our living situation. (He invites Mike to play soccer with his friends most Sundays.)
This morning, I got up at 8:45 to get on the bus at 9:30 to make sure to be at church by 10:30am. I prayed the rosary on the bus. Each "hail mary" was dedicated to a family member or friend that I am grateful for. It was quite the beautiful experience because it helped me to think of all of you by name, and remind myself of how fortunate I am to have so many wonderful people in my life. (I am trying to pray the rosary 46 days in a row until Dec. 12...the feast day of la Virgen de Guadalupe. So, I'm not doing that well, but today, I did it. I have a little sticker to put on the crown of Mary with each rosary that I pray to keep track. ) I got to church with 20 minutes to spare before I had to be there, so I thought I'd browse some used clothese that this sweet little girl was selling in front of her house like 2 blocks from the church. The interaction I had with her was wonderful. I found like 5 things, and we just talked. I asked her if she could watch the clothes for me while I went to mass. After mass, she tried to give me a top that she had picked out. The total price for my 5 items was 35 pesos which is less than 3 dollars. Just a 20 minute walk from there, the woman I bought stuff from before charged me like 40 pesos per item. It seems ridiculous that the buisiness of the family is to sell items of clothing for less than 40 cents a pop. How can they possibly eat with that kind of income?
I sang with the choir from San Marcos' church for Sunday mass for the first time. Afterwards, the drector's mom who is also in the choir, told me that she'll let me use her guitar while I'm here!! Lugging the other one (that belongs to a Christian church near the clinic) back and forth when they didn't need it was very inconvenient. Also, when I went to her house to pick it up, the three of us chatted for awhile about the choir. The director studied music in college, but doesn't know anything about how to teach harmonies or warm-ups or to help voice coach. So...there are many ways that they would like me to help out with that! I feel so happy and fufulled singing with that group of women. Another woman joined when I did and I am getting to know her a little. Her name is Fabiola, she's 30 years old and has a 13 year old, 9 year old, and 5 year old. She and her husband just separated 3 weeks ago because he was abusive, so she is trying to raise the kids by herself now, and joined the choir to try to have some sort of peace. Fabiola's mom won the raffle at mass today, so that was really exciting. They're going to use the winnings to buy medicine for 3 sick grandchildren. Anyways, Fabiola could really use prayers right now. I give her really big hugs, and I know that it means a lot. I can see us becoming friends. I invited her to do this pilgrimage from the parish to downtown Monterrey to a Guadalupe cathedral on Nov 15th. We will begin walking at 11:30pm and go until about 6am when we'll have mass. I guess we'll take the bus home afterward, but imagine the majority of the people will have to walk home. Mike and I are doing this pilgrimage and Fabiola is going to try to come with too.
After mass and my time with the women from choir, I got on the bus with my new guitar, my purse, and a bag full of clothes that I had bought. I got a lot of looks carrying the guitar....or maybe it jsut seemed like more looks than normal. I got home and cooked a vegetable noodle soup with Paula (it was our cooking date) and it was wonderful! Then I tried on my new purchases and discovered problems with each thing, except the sweet pair of jean knee shorts (someone had cut a pair of jeans and turned them into these wonderful shorts). One of the tops is a maturnity shirt and 2 dresses were awful fitting on top, so I'm going to see what I can do about turning them into skirts and take the belly in on the maturnity shirt (I certainly won't be needing that anytime soon!). All in all, it was fun, and now I have to get down to business. I wanted to write a blog, and I have a "to do" list for tonight. We will have choir 3 times this week (2 rehearsals and another wedding on Saturday...this time at the cathedral downtown). Thursday we will presenting our program on visiting terminally ill patients to the board of directors of the Fundacion that controls the clinic. Sor Beatriz has been sick since Thursday, especially because of the stress from the presentation.
So...Paula reminded me of something from our orientation while I was telling her about my day today. Meg had described the stages of being in mission (ie the roller coaster). Paula told me that I am in the "I am mexican, I understand the culture, I fit in here" stage...which is funny. Obviously I have a lot more to learn, but it feels refreshing to have expereinces where I kinda know what I'm doing here.
Friday we went to a workshop downtown on teenage pregancy for November's theme of Women's Reproductive Health month. There were 2 speakers. The first gave lots of stats about pregnancies in Mexico and in the world in general, and all about the consequenes. It was done in the light that education is necessary, and we all have responsability to help make this better. The second person was a motivational speaker basically encouraging people to take more responsability for our lives and how we approach relationships and work. He was very funny, and it was very theurapeutic to laugh. Linda, Laura, Paula, and I went to a mexican restaurant for lunch after the workshop. I took the metro and buses back to Fomerrey 35 for choir rehearsal at 4pm, stopped to use the bathroom at the clinic, and went home. I chilled out which was much needed.
Saturday: Slept in, made a big breakfast of french toast, grilled ham, eggs with onions, and yogurt! Then I read for awhile (I'm reading "The Poisonwood Bible" which is a story of a baptist preacher that went with his family to Africa and tried to impose a lot of things on the people there. It is a neat story to read that helps me to examine my attitudes that I bring here. It's like a "what not to do" book. ) I went to Fomerrey 35 to sing with the choir at a wedding and afterwards I went over to Isabel and Franciso's house. They are the adopted grandparents that I especially enjoy. Their grandson nextdoor was celebrating his 24th bday. I have now met all of their kids, and many of their grandkids. We had coffee and toast (I am drinking coffee more often and would even venture to say that I like it as long at it has a lot of sugar and milk/cream in it). Isabel has a sewing machine, so I'm supposed to bring a couple pairs of pants that I have that are too long that she's going to help me hem. It always brightens my day to visit them. I took the bus home about 6:30pm. Kame (he's the son of Dra. Granados- the one I used to think was named Camo in a previous blog entry) and I had planned on seeing a play this weekend, and he sent me a couple of messages about setting something up. So, when I got home, I called him and we decided to go to various things that he had been invited to rather than go to the play. First we went to a Chinese Restaurant for one bday party. I met another Andrea and we talked the whole time we were at the restaurant. She's a law student with Kame, and she spoke english very very well, but we mostly spoke in spanish...(it feels like I'm getting better at Spanish, thank God!) Then, Kame and I went to a bar which was a lot like the Backer (which was hands-down my favorite bar in South Bend for those who don't know) except it was huge! There was karaoke, and it was a mix of 80s, 90s music and stuff that is popular now in english and spanish, and salsa too. So, I didn't know anyone except for Kame and he kept pushing me into the group of girls, and that was awkward for me. It was fun overall, though. Kame and I danced Salsa until we were both dripping sweat and I was dizzy from so much spinning and dipping, and I kinda met some of the girls. We stayed until like 1:30am. Then, I was hungry! We went to the house of another friend of Kame's which was in a gated community...very fancy. Those friends had just gotten home from being out and obviously had been drinking quite a bit. (Kame and I didn't drink at all when we were out which felt really good.) We stayed for like 15 minutes at the house, then we left to go get food. Kame, one of his friends and I went to a taco stand and we had WONDERFUL steak tacos. We took the friend back home, and then Kame took me home at like 3am. It was very fun, and I enjoy his company very much. He's a lot like me in many ways. His going from one place to another with different groups of friends is like me, and he was a missionary too. He will be finishing his thesis for law school this month, so he's excited about that. He's been really good to us as far as trying to help Mike and me get out, and better our living situation. (He invites Mike to play soccer with his friends most Sundays.)
This morning, I got up at 8:45 to get on the bus at 9:30 to make sure to be at church by 10:30am. I prayed the rosary on the bus. Each "hail mary" was dedicated to a family member or friend that I am grateful for. It was quite the beautiful experience because it helped me to think of all of you by name, and remind myself of how fortunate I am to have so many wonderful people in my life. (I am trying to pray the rosary 46 days in a row until Dec. 12...the feast day of la Virgen de Guadalupe. So, I'm not doing that well, but today, I did it. I have a little sticker to put on the crown of Mary with each rosary that I pray to keep track. ) I got to church with 20 minutes to spare before I had to be there, so I thought I'd browse some used clothese that this sweet little girl was selling in front of her house like 2 blocks from the church. The interaction I had with her was wonderful. I found like 5 things, and we just talked. I asked her if she could watch the clothes for me while I went to mass. After mass, she tried to give me a top that she had picked out. The total price for my 5 items was 35 pesos which is less than 3 dollars. Just a 20 minute walk from there, the woman I bought stuff from before charged me like 40 pesos per item. It seems ridiculous that the buisiness of the family is to sell items of clothing for less than 40 cents a pop. How can they possibly eat with that kind of income?
I sang with the choir from San Marcos' church for Sunday mass for the first time. Afterwards, the drector's mom who is also in the choir, told me that she'll let me use her guitar while I'm here!! Lugging the other one (that belongs to a Christian church near the clinic) back and forth when they didn't need it was very inconvenient. Also, when I went to her house to pick it up, the three of us chatted for awhile about the choir. The director studied music in college, but doesn't know anything about how to teach harmonies or warm-ups or to help voice coach. So...there are many ways that they would like me to help out with that! I feel so happy and fufulled singing with that group of women. Another woman joined when I did and I am getting to know her a little. Her name is Fabiola, she's 30 years old and has a 13 year old, 9 year old, and 5 year old. She and her husband just separated 3 weeks ago because he was abusive, so she is trying to raise the kids by herself now, and joined the choir to try to have some sort of peace. Fabiola's mom won the raffle at mass today, so that was really exciting. They're going to use the winnings to buy medicine for 3 sick grandchildren. Anyways, Fabiola could really use prayers right now. I give her really big hugs, and I know that it means a lot. I can see us becoming friends. I invited her to do this pilgrimage from the parish to downtown Monterrey to a Guadalupe cathedral on Nov 15th. We will begin walking at 11:30pm and go until about 6am when we'll have mass. I guess we'll take the bus home afterward, but imagine the majority of the people will have to walk home. Mike and I are doing this pilgrimage and Fabiola is going to try to come with too.
After mass and my time with the women from choir, I got on the bus with my new guitar, my purse, and a bag full of clothes that I had bought. I got a lot of looks carrying the guitar....or maybe it jsut seemed like more looks than normal. I got home and cooked a vegetable noodle soup with Paula (it was our cooking date) and it was wonderful! Then I tried on my new purchases and discovered problems with each thing, except the sweet pair of jean knee shorts (someone had cut a pair of jeans and turned them into these wonderful shorts). One of the tops is a maturnity shirt and 2 dresses were awful fitting on top, so I'm going to see what I can do about turning them into skirts and take the belly in on the maturnity shirt (I certainly won't be needing that anytime soon!). All in all, it was fun, and now I have to get down to business. I wanted to write a blog, and I have a "to do" list for tonight. We will have choir 3 times this week (2 rehearsals and another wedding on Saturday...this time at the cathedral downtown). Thursday we will presenting our program on visiting terminally ill patients to the board of directors of the Fundacion that controls the clinic. Sor Beatriz has been sick since Thursday, especially because of the stress from the presentation.
So...Paula reminded me of something from our orientation while I was telling her about my day today. Meg had described the stages of being in mission (ie the roller coaster). Paula told me that I am in the "I am mexican, I understand the culture, I fit in here" stage...which is funny. Obviously I have a lot more to learn, but it feels refreshing to have expereinces where I kinda know what I'm doing here.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
I forgot to mention that as of October 24th, we have been in Monterrey for 2 months. It has not been easy, but I am getting glimpses more often that we are progressing.
Last night, we had our first "community prayer night" at the Sister's house in their chapel. Mike picked a portion of the encyclical of Pope Benedict from June. It was an opportunity to reflect on experiences that each of us have had feeling isolated from others, and also times when we have shared faith with others who are important to us. We reflected on what we would like to bring to this community from the good experiences we have had with others in our lives. Also, what is preventing us from sharing ourselves with each other as much as we would like to. I felt good about it overall, and waz filled with GOZO or JOY. Mike and I read Lisa (missionary in Mexico City)'s blog and we had a lot of fun hearing about her experiences. We watched "the cruel truth" and I stayed up too late putsing around.
I got up this morning feeling tired, but I was determined to be happy. We got to the clinic where it was fun to greet the employees. Dr. Julio was there. He's my favorite doctor and it makes my day when he's still there when we get there in the morning because he works the night shift. Sor Beatriz told Mike and me to talk to patients in the waiting room of the clinic. We absolutely ahte doing this because it is so awkward to walk up to random people when they can't escape from us and our spanish...normally Sor suggests that we can go to to do this and we choose not to, but this morning, it was more like an order. So, we did it and it wasn't horrible, but it was hard for both of us. If we had something in particular to talk to them about (ie. clinic publicity with a brochure or something) it would be totally fine. Julio and I are going to get together on Wednesday to do something fun, so I'm looking forward to whatever that will be. Then, we had a meeting with the Legion de Maria of San Rafael where we dispersed to do more home visits. The other missionaries all went with the same Legionarion to visit the same patients as last Tuesday, but my person wasn't there, so I got to go with someone new to visit patients who hadn't been visited before by us. We visited 4 houses. In the last one, the man wasn't home, so we spent time with only 3, but it was so rewarding! The first stop was with a very sweet couple. The woman was diabetic and had a prosthetic leg. The husband collects cardboard and bottles to bring income, and he told me that his wife has never had to work because he takes care of her. They were both in their seventies, and had one of their sons and his family living with them.
In the second house, there was an 86 year old man who couldn't talk because he had cancer in his throat nor could he hear. So he stays at home a lot in a sort of depressed state all the time and sleeps all day. It was challenging because his daughter was talking to us, but she wasn't necessarily including him in the conversation because of his challenges in hearing and talking. I tried a few things with him to include him. I knelt down at his feet to touch them because he had bare feet and it was chilly outside today, so I thought they might be cold. They weren't, but when I held his foot, he rolled up his pantleg to show me how he has bandages on his knees where he puts ointment for pain and then applies bandages so the ointment doesn't soil his pants. I was kneeling at his feet holding his leg, and he smiled at me, and made some talking noises. Later, I sat next to him, touching his shoulder and I tried to tell him that my grandpas have both died and I would want him to be a grandpa figure to me. He couldn't hear me, and his daughter tried to tell him, but still he couldn't understand. He can't read, so although his eyes are good, I can't write something to communicate either. He held my hand and I couldn't help but think how he has so much that he would still be able to do with his hands, etc. I don't know how it started, but he showed me how he could stand, and we started doing exerices. I touched my shoulders, waist, and knees, and he did the same. It seemed as though he hadn't moved like this in a long time. We did several other exercies, and he would smile at me like he appreciated so much that I would be doing these things with him. I would love to visit him weekly and bring different activities that we could do together. I asked his daughter if he had any hobbies or anything he could do with his hands, but no. We could do different movements for a little while, and maybe he would be interested in drawing or playing dominoes or various activities. I really would like to serve him in this way. We said a prayer together and he stood again to pray with us. He gave me a big hug before we left, and I just had such a good feeling about how we could work together and enjoy each other's company. I was so excited that I forgot my purse at their house, so we had to go back for it.
The third visit was to see a woman who had a stroke about 5 years ago and her whole right side is paralyzed. As soon as we walked in, there was a strong odor of urine. She lives in a separate little room and although her son, daughter-in-law and their kids live nearby, it seems like she does not get the attention she needs. She changes her own diapers and although she was amazingly happy, I felt for her in the situation she's in. It was cold in the room, and she didn't have very warm of clothes on. She asked me how she looked to me, and I had to answer that she looked good, "con animo," and while it was true, I want more for her so much. She needs to be included in something.
On my walk back to the clinic, I passed the house of Lorenzo and his wife (I forget her name). Their house has a mixture of different kinds of chicken fense in the front and they have a big piece of plastic sign covering the roof to protect from the rain. They come to the grupo de la tercera edad where we go on Thursday mornings when we are at the clinic. Lorenzo cares for his wife who is in a wheelchair. They were robbed not too long ago, so he collects cardboard boxes and cans to sell for their income. They have invited us numerous times to their house for parties for people in their family or to just come eat with them. Linda and Paula had had supper with them on Friday, but we haven't all had a chance to see where they live before. Lorenzo showed me their house and the backyard which was full of plants, they had a hen, and a few little blue birds. Lorenzo offered that I could take a plant with me. I think he sells them. It was about 1pm by this time, so he offered that I could have lunch there too. They had bought some cornflakes, and they had eggs from the hen, so they offered those to me. He kept saying how he wants to invite us over for an asado (to grill meat). I continue to be humbled by the generosity of these people because this is obviously a very expensive invitation for people who live off a salary of selling cardboard boxes that others have put in the garbage. I felt so comfortable there with them.
I got back to the clinic and had lunch that I had packed...tortillas, mole, and refried beans. I spent a little time with Laura Vega who was obviously upset. She is trying to go to school full time for physical therapy while working full time as a social worker at the clinic...she just found out that tomorrow she has to be at her school from 8am-8pm without eating doing practicum. Also, she will work at the clinic Satuday from 9am-1pm and will have to return from 8pm-8am to get her hours in. She has class 4-5 days a week and works 6 days a week. She is such a wonderful woman and she has had such a hard life so far. I think I wrote about her before, but she is 32, has had cancer and was abused by her husband during her cancer treatments in Minnesota. She is still technically married, but left the US and now can't come back until her green card expires in 2011 because it was stolen, and lots of other details...She has so many good ideas, but feels like her creativity is cramped in the clinic. She had been working in Tampamolon for 5 years where she had an environment in which she could flourish. I really appreciate her, and I wish I could do more to help her have a better experience right now.
Today was Alejandro (one of the choffers)'s birthday, so we had a cake and sang to him. It was such a great day for me, but everyone else is really stressed out. Mike got chewed out by Sor for going with Alejandro to the main hospital to run an errand with him without asking her permission. Paula is supposed to translate a medical document by tomorrow for Dra. Granados, but she couldn't finish at the clinic today by the time that we were to leave and it didn't work to email it to herself...so now she is redoing the whole thing at the cyber cafe. Linda is stressed trying to get details ready for her trip to San Antonio. Sor Beatriz is feeling pressure to get all the kinks (and there are going to be major ones) ironed out for our project and she has other things bothering her. I just know that she and Sor Angeles seem very busy and stressed, and so that adds quite a bit of tension on top.
Tomorrow we have our final class of 3 on tanotologia (study of dying) at the main hospital downtown. We leave the house at 7:45am and have class until noon. After the other two classes, we have gotten to go home early, but tomorrow we are going to go to the clinic afterwards because the doctor might want to talk with us, but probably not. So we will probably end up just sitting there. I don't want to protest because the Sorrs are so stressed out, but I really don't like being at the clinic when there is not something particular that we are supposed to be doing there.
I talked with Tere Manon today on the phone, and I was positive with her, but we agreed on a couple things that need to change around here. First, we need to have separate projects so we are not all 4 together all the time. The gameplan is to find a balance between being at the clinic and being part of other projects. She emailed Mike and me a list of other service groups in Monterrey that we might be able to collaborate with. Second, we should not be in a 9-5 schedule for this type of work. We need more freedom to do our own things, but it is also necessary that we are gentle and gradual with these changes. It is wonderful that we do have such good relationships with the Sorrs, but we cannot be with the two of them all the time with them controlling every detail of how we live. I would like to work with more of the Sisters of the Incarnate Word who have different ministries here in Monterrey.
I have about 2 hours of reading in spanish about euthanasia in preparation for tomorrow's class, and I have to write up a diagnosis about the vists I made today and in what ways the clinic might be able to serve them yet tonight. Thank God we have a washing machine. It makes life a lot easier, especially when we have so many other things to worry about.
We are in a dance, trying out what will work, adjusting expectations, and being optimistic. God is with us through it all. Thanks for being part of this journey with me.
Last night, we had our first "community prayer night" at the Sister's house in their chapel. Mike picked a portion of the encyclical of Pope Benedict from June. It was an opportunity to reflect on experiences that each of us have had feeling isolated from others, and also times when we have shared faith with others who are important to us. We reflected on what we would like to bring to this community from the good experiences we have had with others in our lives. Also, what is preventing us from sharing ourselves with each other as much as we would like to. I felt good about it overall, and waz filled with GOZO or JOY. Mike and I read Lisa (missionary in Mexico City)'s blog and we had a lot of fun hearing about her experiences. We watched "the cruel truth" and I stayed up too late putsing around.
I got up this morning feeling tired, but I was determined to be happy. We got to the clinic where it was fun to greet the employees. Dr. Julio was there. He's my favorite doctor and it makes my day when he's still there when we get there in the morning because he works the night shift. Sor Beatriz told Mike and me to talk to patients in the waiting room of the clinic. We absolutely ahte doing this because it is so awkward to walk up to random people when they can't escape from us and our spanish...normally Sor suggests that we can go to to do this and we choose not to, but this morning, it was more like an order. So, we did it and it wasn't horrible, but it was hard for both of us. If we had something in particular to talk to them about (ie. clinic publicity with a brochure or something) it would be totally fine. Julio and I are going to get together on Wednesday to do something fun, so I'm looking forward to whatever that will be. Then, we had a meeting with the Legion de Maria of San Rafael where we dispersed to do more home visits. The other missionaries all went with the same Legionarion to visit the same patients as last Tuesday, but my person wasn't there, so I got to go with someone new to visit patients who hadn't been visited before by us. We visited 4 houses. In the last one, the man wasn't home, so we spent time with only 3, but it was so rewarding! The first stop was with a very sweet couple. The woman was diabetic and had a prosthetic leg. The husband collects cardboard and bottles to bring income, and he told me that his wife has never had to work because he takes care of her. They were both in their seventies, and had one of their sons and his family living with them.
In the second house, there was an 86 year old man who couldn't talk because he had cancer in his throat nor could he hear. So he stays at home a lot in a sort of depressed state all the time and sleeps all day. It was challenging because his daughter was talking to us, but she wasn't necessarily including him in the conversation because of his challenges in hearing and talking. I tried a few things with him to include him. I knelt down at his feet to touch them because he had bare feet and it was chilly outside today, so I thought they might be cold. They weren't, but when I held his foot, he rolled up his pantleg to show me how he has bandages on his knees where he puts ointment for pain and then applies bandages so the ointment doesn't soil his pants. I was kneeling at his feet holding his leg, and he smiled at me, and made some talking noises. Later, I sat next to him, touching his shoulder and I tried to tell him that my grandpas have both died and I would want him to be a grandpa figure to me. He couldn't hear me, and his daughter tried to tell him, but still he couldn't understand. He can't read, so although his eyes are good, I can't write something to communicate either. He held my hand and I couldn't help but think how he has so much that he would still be able to do with his hands, etc. I don't know how it started, but he showed me how he could stand, and we started doing exerices. I touched my shoulders, waist, and knees, and he did the same. It seemed as though he hadn't moved like this in a long time. We did several other exercies, and he would smile at me like he appreciated so much that I would be doing these things with him. I would love to visit him weekly and bring different activities that we could do together. I asked his daughter if he had any hobbies or anything he could do with his hands, but no. We could do different movements for a little while, and maybe he would be interested in drawing or playing dominoes or various activities. I really would like to serve him in this way. We said a prayer together and he stood again to pray with us. He gave me a big hug before we left, and I just had such a good feeling about how we could work together and enjoy each other's company. I was so excited that I forgot my purse at their house, so we had to go back for it.
The third visit was to see a woman who had a stroke about 5 years ago and her whole right side is paralyzed. As soon as we walked in, there was a strong odor of urine. She lives in a separate little room and although her son, daughter-in-law and their kids live nearby, it seems like she does not get the attention she needs. She changes her own diapers and although she was amazingly happy, I felt for her in the situation she's in. It was cold in the room, and she didn't have very warm of clothes on. She asked me how she looked to me, and I had to answer that she looked good, "con animo," and while it was true, I want more for her so much. She needs to be included in something.
On my walk back to the clinic, I passed the house of Lorenzo and his wife (I forget her name). Their house has a mixture of different kinds of chicken fense in the front and they have a big piece of plastic sign covering the roof to protect from the rain. They come to the grupo de la tercera edad where we go on Thursday mornings when we are at the clinic. Lorenzo cares for his wife who is in a wheelchair. They were robbed not too long ago, so he collects cardboard boxes and cans to sell for their income. They have invited us numerous times to their house for parties for people in their family or to just come eat with them. Linda and Paula had had supper with them on Friday, but we haven't all had a chance to see where they live before. Lorenzo showed me their house and the backyard which was full of plants, they had a hen, and a few little blue birds. Lorenzo offered that I could take a plant with me. I think he sells them. It was about 1pm by this time, so he offered that I could have lunch there too. They had bought some cornflakes, and they had eggs from the hen, so they offered those to me. He kept saying how he wants to invite us over for an asado (to grill meat). I continue to be humbled by the generosity of these people because this is obviously a very expensive invitation for people who live off a salary of selling cardboard boxes that others have put in the garbage. I felt so comfortable there with them.
I got back to the clinic and had lunch that I had packed...tortillas, mole, and refried beans. I spent a little time with Laura Vega who was obviously upset. She is trying to go to school full time for physical therapy while working full time as a social worker at the clinic...she just found out that tomorrow she has to be at her school from 8am-8pm without eating doing practicum. Also, she will work at the clinic Satuday from 9am-1pm and will have to return from 8pm-8am to get her hours in. She has class 4-5 days a week and works 6 days a week. She is such a wonderful woman and she has had such a hard life so far. I think I wrote about her before, but she is 32, has had cancer and was abused by her husband during her cancer treatments in Minnesota. She is still technically married, but left the US and now can't come back until her green card expires in 2011 because it was stolen, and lots of other details...She has so many good ideas, but feels like her creativity is cramped in the clinic. She had been working in Tampamolon for 5 years where she had an environment in which she could flourish. I really appreciate her, and I wish I could do more to help her have a better experience right now.
Today was Alejandro (one of the choffers)'s birthday, so we had a cake and sang to him. It was such a great day for me, but everyone else is really stressed out. Mike got chewed out by Sor for going with Alejandro to the main hospital to run an errand with him without asking her permission. Paula is supposed to translate a medical document by tomorrow for Dra. Granados, but she couldn't finish at the clinic today by the time that we were to leave and it didn't work to email it to herself...so now she is redoing the whole thing at the cyber cafe. Linda is stressed trying to get details ready for her trip to San Antonio. Sor Beatriz is feeling pressure to get all the kinks (and there are going to be major ones) ironed out for our project and she has other things bothering her. I just know that she and Sor Angeles seem very busy and stressed, and so that adds quite a bit of tension on top.
Tomorrow we have our final class of 3 on tanotologia (study of dying) at the main hospital downtown. We leave the house at 7:45am and have class until noon. After the other two classes, we have gotten to go home early, but tomorrow we are going to go to the clinic afterwards because the doctor might want to talk with us, but probably not. So we will probably end up just sitting there. I don't want to protest because the Sorrs are so stressed out, but I really don't like being at the clinic when there is not something particular that we are supposed to be doing there.
I talked with Tere Manon today on the phone, and I was positive with her, but we agreed on a couple things that need to change around here. First, we need to have separate projects so we are not all 4 together all the time. The gameplan is to find a balance between being at the clinic and being part of other projects. She emailed Mike and me a list of other service groups in Monterrey that we might be able to collaborate with. Second, we should not be in a 9-5 schedule for this type of work. We need more freedom to do our own things, but it is also necessary that we are gentle and gradual with these changes. It is wonderful that we do have such good relationships with the Sorrs, but we cannot be with the two of them all the time with them controlling every detail of how we live. I would like to work with more of the Sisters of the Incarnate Word who have different ministries here in Monterrey.
I have about 2 hours of reading in spanish about euthanasia in preparation for tomorrow's class, and I have to write up a diagnosis about the vists I made today and in what ways the clinic might be able to serve them yet tonight. Thank God we have a washing machine. It makes life a lot easier, especially when we have so many other things to worry about.
We are in a dance, trying out what will work, adjusting expectations, and being optimistic. God is with us through it all. Thanks for being part of this journey with me.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
So this morning, we went to a different church for mass. It was a bizarre mass in general...it was much more "high church" than the places we normally go, also the people were much wealthier than our normal crowd. The choir was really good too, and sang in harmony. I found myself not wanting to put money in the collection there because I wanted to save it to put into the basket at our poorer neighborhood church. The homily struck me though... The blind man wanted to see...more than just physically and so Jesus gave that to him. "Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!" Jesus responds to him, but only because Bartimaeus first wanted and asked for the insight that he lacked. The priest described how our God doesn't force us into anything. If the lives that we live are sinful and we want our lives to be that way, God does not force us to change our ways. God works with us to change in the ways we want to change for the better. This week, I have thought a lot about what it would mean for me to be a sister, and it has kinda been haunting me because I have a strong desire to be a mom and wife someday too. The homily helped me to understand better that it's okay for me not to know right now which of these vocations (of marriage or of vowed religious life) is going to fit me best. God will not force me to choose one or the other. If God puts the right man in my life, I trust that that will be the way that I can grow individually, with him, and with God the most effectively. If the man that can allow me to keep growing in the right ways does not come into my life, I am okay with that too. Living as an ordained religious is very appealing for many reasons. I see how I would be able to live abroad and love and care about others in a way similar to how I'm living right now, among poor people. I feel very close to Christ when I am around people with few possessions. I am learning more and more what it means that Jesus loved us even enough to die for us. I'm going to back up to last Saturday and go through the week because it was a very interesting and tiring week.
My interactions with Hermana Mica (Sister of the Holy Cross) and the Saint Mary's Crew were amazing. SMC arrived in Monterrey Saturday when I was at a celebration for the day of the doctors with the director of our clinic (the 4 of us missionaries all went). They had a buffet with baby goat, and all kinds of traditional and fancy mexican foods and lots of beverages...we were there all afternoon and all crashed when we got home at 9:30pm. Kame (Dr. Granados' 22 year old son) offered to take Mike and me out to the bars with his friends and him, but I couldn't stay awake for the life of me. So we went to sleep early, and the next morning, I called Mica's house. The girls were going to mass with another Sister, and so Mica told me to be there about 1pm to meet youth at the parish, go to lunch with them, and participate in a young women's group. So Mike and I took the bus to mass at San Rafael (the church that's 2 blocks away from the clinic where we work.) We saw many of the people who have been working with us from the parish on our hospice project. We visited the clinic and walked around the neighborhood a bit, browsed in the market, and visited with a few people that we know from the area. I felt really good about being present there on our free time. I think it's really important for trust-building that we are around that area more than just 9-5 Monday through Friday. Also, I love being there. All week people kept coming up to us saying that they saw us at mass...we kinda stick out since we are white and tall compared to everyone else in the church.
After mass, I took the metro to Guadalupe all by myself. I asked directions and found the church that the SMC girls were at. It was SO great to see them and to meet the new Music Ministry Sister. Also, I was so excited to see Esperanza and Areli. These 2 women were living with Mica discerning whether to be Sisters 3 years ago when I visited. Now they are learning intensive english so they can go to the novitiate which is now at Saint Mary's. I can't get enough of them...! Mallory brought a bag of stuff from home for me that my mom and Cesar each contributed to....art supplies, chocolate, blank cards, some clothes, my student id so I can get discount fare for the bus. So exciting! I spent the day with SMC until like 9pm when I had to go home... The "club de amigas" is a group for women older than 18 that get together at 5pm every other Sunday and talk about different themes. I loved the group and I would like to be part of it. One of the girls kept joking that I have "the face" to be a Sister of the Holy Cross. I liked it, and it got me to start thinking about it again. Sor Beatriz called me when I was waiting for the metro and she was surprised that I was alone. I was totally fine and safe, but she was very worried and doesn’t want us to be out alone at night....Here I had had the experience that I desperately needed to do something on my own, and I was being reprimanded for it....that was hard. I understand her concerns and I am very conscious of safety. It's just that I was safe and really happy.
Monday we had Sr. Tere Maya and Sr. Rosaleen Harold (both Sisters of the Incarnate Word) from the general council that were visiting the Monterrey mission to see how all the Sisters and missionaries were doing. They are wonderful sisters. Tere Maya is the sister that Mike calls Sister Badass because she says things how they are and she is insightful. We ended up discussing the community situation with them, as well as the situation with our job and house, pretty much they just wanted to hear all the truth. We ended up getting out a lot of concerns about the community and it was really good... they think we need to build a foundation with trust within our group before we can do an effective job at the clinic...and that we can be more creative in our community outreach. Tere Maya gave me permission to not have to act like I'm 50 to fit into the community. She said...you can be 50 when you actually are, but for now, just enjoy being yourself, and be creative with your gifts...God, I needed to hear that she actually understood how hard this has been for us. They said that they will give us some sort of answer to how they can support us by the 27th of October, before Linda leaves for San Antonio for her doctor’s appointments. We might have a retreat facilitated by one of the other Sisters in order to facilitate trust-building, etc, or something else....I was filled with hope, and things have actually gotten better within us since that. Linda and Paula have asked more questions about things that Mike and I do, and seem to be trying pretty hard. That night, Mike, Paula and I made cards for the missionaries in Peru with my new art supplies. Sr. Rosaleen told us that she is going to Peru next so she would be happy to deliver them.
Tuesday we met with two groups from San Rafael the Legion de Maria and the group of women who bring Communion to homebound people to do our first round of home visits. It was wonderful. Then, in the afternoon, Laura Vega (social worker) and I sold a bunch of waffles as a fundraiser for the clinic. That was pretty sweet.
Wednesday, we met with the Legion de Maria and Eucharistic Ministers again to talk about the visits from the day before. It was really long, but good. Then, Mike and I went downtown to try to meet up with the SMC girls. I had one digit wrong for Hermana Mica's cell phone though so we ended up just spending lots of time exploring. I bought some handmade jewelry, we ate at a chinese buffet, and Mike got his hair cut by a really flaming man...it was a good day.
Thursday we had a normal morning, an afternoon meeting with the Legion de Maria from San Marcos chapel. We prayed the rosary with them and got some names and addresses of sick people that they know. Then, Mike and I went to Guadalupe to see SMC. We arrived a little late for mass, but it was still good. We had spaghetti with the crew and ended up getting home about midnight. It takes a good hour- hour and a half each way. It was worth it, but was really tired.
Friday was the day of the doctors. We stopped in to the Clinic Fomerrey 109 on the way to work to greet the staff that works there like we do sometimes. My friend Dr. Julio was there. He had just finished 5 days in a row of working the night shift at our clinic. It had been like a month since we had seen each other. He gave me his phone number because I still don't have ours memorized. We are going to try to do something fun together this week. I really want to get to know him better. He gets me. Also, Mike is great and all, but I need friends other than him. For lunch, we had a potluck where everyone brought a different ingredient for tostadas. We brought lots of cheese. We had some really delightful mango cake for the doctors too. After work, Laura, Mike, and I went to an expo where there were lots of different booths from Latin American countries. I bought some more handmade jewelry and got a chain for my Incarnate Word cross. It was in the South of the city where we hadn't been before. It was very fun, and we came home and crashed.
Saturday, we slept in till about 9am, I swept and scrubbed the bathroom, my bedroom, and the steps. I picked up my room a lot, pounded nails into the wall to hang up my painting that I got from the clinic like a month ago. It was wonderful to have a relaxing day to catch up. Reuben, who is the maintenance man invited us to his house for supper. So Mike and I walked about an hour to his house. They served us gringas de trompo and de bistec (tacos with pork and with beef), and another type of tacos de bistec and mole and rice and beer. It was a ton of food and with beer, I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to eat for a week. Reuben’s 2 kids were sweet (10 and 16 yrs old). The 10 year old showed us her jewelry that she makes, played dominoes with us, showed us a movie of her brother’s graduation from primary school, etc. Reuben and his wife sell food from their house Thursday through Sunday in addition to Reuben’s 6 days that he works at the clinic. It was really good to be there with his family, but the walk home with overfull bellies was more than unpleasant. We came home, drank a lot of water, and crashed.
I slept until 10:30am (thank goodness we gained an hour last night), and then had a grapefruit, and the 4 of us went to mass with the Sisters. I shaved my legs this afternoon and realized that I am whiter than I have been in a long time. Today it's sunny, but it's still pretty socially inappropriate to wear shorts here.
We have home phone and Mike and I share a cell phone, so if you'd like either of these numbers, let me know. I uploaded more pictures, so check out the link to see more if you'd like. I'm sorry that it's been so long since I've written. I appreciate all the prayers. Love, Andrea
My interactions with Hermana Mica (Sister of the Holy Cross) and the Saint Mary's Crew were amazing. SMC arrived in Monterrey Saturday when I was at a celebration for the day of the doctors with the director of our clinic (the 4 of us missionaries all went). They had a buffet with baby goat, and all kinds of traditional and fancy mexican foods and lots of beverages...we were there all afternoon and all crashed when we got home at 9:30pm. Kame (Dr. Granados' 22 year old son) offered to take Mike and me out to the bars with his friends and him, but I couldn't stay awake for the life of me. So we went to sleep early, and the next morning, I called Mica's house. The girls were going to mass with another Sister, and so Mica told me to be there about 1pm to meet youth at the parish, go to lunch with them, and participate in a young women's group. So Mike and I took the bus to mass at San Rafael (the church that's 2 blocks away from the clinic where we work.) We saw many of the people who have been working with us from the parish on our hospice project. We visited the clinic and walked around the neighborhood a bit, browsed in the market, and visited with a few people that we know from the area. I felt really good about being present there on our free time. I think it's really important for trust-building that we are around that area more than just 9-5 Monday through Friday. Also, I love being there. All week people kept coming up to us saying that they saw us at mass...we kinda stick out since we are white and tall compared to everyone else in the church.
After mass, I took the metro to Guadalupe all by myself. I asked directions and found the church that the SMC girls were at. It was SO great to see them and to meet the new Music Ministry Sister. Also, I was so excited to see Esperanza and Areli. These 2 women were living with Mica discerning whether to be Sisters 3 years ago when I visited. Now they are learning intensive english so they can go to the novitiate which is now at Saint Mary's. I can't get enough of them...! Mallory brought a bag of stuff from home for me that my mom and Cesar each contributed to....art supplies, chocolate, blank cards, some clothes, my student id so I can get discount fare for the bus. So exciting! I spent the day with SMC until like 9pm when I had to go home... The "club de amigas" is a group for women older than 18 that get together at 5pm every other Sunday and talk about different themes. I loved the group and I would like to be part of it. One of the girls kept joking that I have "the face" to be a Sister of the Holy Cross. I liked it, and it got me to start thinking about it again. Sor Beatriz called me when I was waiting for the metro and she was surprised that I was alone. I was totally fine and safe, but she was very worried and doesn’t want us to be out alone at night....Here I had had the experience that I desperately needed to do something on my own, and I was being reprimanded for it....that was hard. I understand her concerns and I am very conscious of safety. It's just that I was safe and really happy.
Monday we had Sr. Tere Maya and Sr. Rosaleen Harold (both Sisters of the Incarnate Word) from the general council that were visiting the Monterrey mission to see how all the Sisters and missionaries were doing. They are wonderful sisters. Tere Maya is the sister that Mike calls Sister Badass because she says things how they are and she is insightful. We ended up discussing the community situation with them, as well as the situation with our job and house, pretty much they just wanted to hear all the truth. We ended up getting out a lot of concerns about the community and it was really good... they think we need to build a foundation with trust within our group before we can do an effective job at the clinic...and that we can be more creative in our community outreach. Tere Maya gave me permission to not have to act like I'm 50 to fit into the community. She said...you can be 50 when you actually are, but for now, just enjoy being yourself, and be creative with your gifts...God, I needed to hear that she actually understood how hard this has been for us. They said that they will give us some sort of answer to how they can support us by the 27th of October, before Linda leaves for San Antonio for her doctor’s appointments. We might have a retreat facilitated by one of the other Sisters in order to facilitate trust-building, etc, or something else....I was filled with hope, and things have actually gotten better within us since that. Linda and Paula have asked more questions about things that Mike and I do, and seem to be trying pretty hard. That night, Mike, Paula and I made cards for the missionaries in Peru with my new art supplies. Sr. Rosaleen told us that she is going to Peru next so she would be happy to deliver them.
Tuesday we met with two groups from San Rafael the Legion de Maria and the group of women who bring Communion to homebound people to do our first round of home visits. It was wonderful. Then, in the afternoon, Laura Vega (social worker) and I sold a bunch of waffles as a fundraiser for the clinic. That was pretty sweet.
Wednesday, we met with the Legion de Maria and Eucharistic Ministers again to talk about the visits from the day before. It was really long, but good. Then, Mike and I went downtown to try to meet up with the SMC girls. I had one digit wrong for Hermana Mica's cell phone though so we ended up just spending lots of time exploring. I bought some handmade jewelry, we ate at a chinese buffet, and Mike got his hair cut by a really flaming man...it was a good day.
Thursday we had a normal morning, an afternoon meeting with the Legion de Maria from San Marcos chapel. We prayed the rosary with them and got some names and addresses of sick people that they know. Then, Mike and I went to Guadalupe to see SMC. We arrived a little late for mass, but it was still good. We had spaghetti with the crew and ended up getting home about midnight. It takes a good hour- hour and a half each way. It was worth it, but was really tired.
Friday was the day of the doctors. We stopped in to the Clinic Fomerrey 109 on the way to work to greet the staff that works there like we do sometimes. My friend Dr. Julio was there. He had just finished 5 days in a row of working the night shift at our clinic. It had been like a month since we had seen each other. He gave me his phone number because I still don't have ours memorized. We are going to try to do something fun together this week. I really want to get to know him better. He gets me. Also, Mike is great and all, but I need friends other than him. For lunch, we had a potluck where everyone brought a different ingredient for tostadas. We brought lots of cheese. We had some really delightful mango cake for the doctors too. After work, Laura, Mike, and I went to an expo where there were lots of different booths from Latin American countries. I bought some more handmade jewelry and got a chain for my Incarnate Word cross. It was in the South of the city where we hadn't been before. It was very fun, and we came home and crashed.
Saturday, we slept in till about 9am, I swept and scrubbed the bathroom, my bedroom, and the steps. I picked up my room a lot, pounded nails into the wall to hang up my painting that I got from the clinic like a month ago. It was wonderful to have a relaxing day to catch up. Reuben, who is the maintenance man invited us to his house for supper. So Mike and I walked about an hour to his house. They served us gringas de trompo and de bistec (tacos with pork and with beef), and another type of tacos de bistec and mole and rice and beer. It was a ton of food and with beer, I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to eat for a week. Reuben’s 2 kids were sweet (10 and 16 yrs old). The 10 year old showed us her jewelry that she makes, played dominoes with us, showed us a movie of her brother’s graduation from primary school, etc. Reuben and his wife sell food from their house Thursday through Sunday in addition to Reuben’s 6 days that he works at the clinic. It was really good to be there with his family, but the walk home with overfull bellies was more than unpleasant. We came home, drank a lot of water, and crashed.
I slept until 10:30am (thank goodness we gained an hour last night), and then had a grapefruit, and the 4 of us went to mass with the Sisters. I shaved my legs this afternoon and realized that I am whiter than I have been in a long time. Today it's sunny, but it's still pretty socially inappropriate to wear shorts here.
We have home phone and Mike and I share a cell phone, so if you'd like either of these numbers, let me know. I uploaded more pictures, so check out the link to see more if you'd like. I'm sorry that it's been so long since I've written. I appreciate all the prayers. Love, Andrea
Thursday, October 1, 2009
So I know the last blog was kind of a downer...Tere Manon has been here since Tuesday. Tuesday, Dra. Granados, the two Sores (Sisters), and Tere had a meeting with us to tell us that it is necessary that we work to become a community. Tere then met with each of us individually the past couple days. Things are starting to get better. Last night, Mike and I did something very fun...
So on Wednesdays, the movie theater that is about a 20 minute walk from our house has tickets for 35 pesos (approx. $2.70). So Mike and I saw Rescate del Metro 123 with Denzel Washington and John Travolta. Last Wednesday we saw Time Traveler's Wife. There were several funny moments. First, I decided that I wanted popcorn, so we got a popcorn. I asked for salt, and the cachier gave me a very strange look as though I was asking for maple syrup or something crazy. Then, we went to the butter pump where Mike put a LOT of butter on our popcorn. It started oozing out the bottom and made a big puddle. We were laughing hysterically. Then, I decided to buy M&Ms because the Reeces taste really bad here and I am craving chocolate, and they were buy one get one free. I found the movie very funny. I think I just needed some good laughter therapy. After the movie, we rode the escalator up and down because we forgot where we were going, and the walk home was funny as well. We had decided to get out and have some fun, and we did just that. I felt awful from all the butter popcorn when I was in my bed last night, and woke up very sleepy this morning. Today, we left at 8:15am for the clinic, and I got lots of hugs from all the old people en el grupo de la tercera edad. Thursdays are my favorite days here because of them. This sweet lady bought us a hot milky drink, and it was really yummy. I love observing all the crafts that the women bring with them. I am going to start a needlepoint tortilla cloth like they make. I bought the circle and needle. One of the ladies in the group sells the fabric and string, so I will buy those from her next week. Mike and I went home from the clinic early today to have individual time to talk with Tere, and it was good to be at home alone for a while. I find myself craving some along time these days. I just posted our new address and Iam working on uploading photos on a picasa web album. When I figure it out, I will post a link. We now hae wireless internet in our house, so I can skype talk and email everyday. Tonight, Tere is making supper for all of us, and I am looking forward to moving forward with creating a positive community. Tere says that it is not an option for us to be in Tampamolon right now. I still feel like this is our homebase, but that only God knows what is to come. Thanks for all of the supportive messages after my last blog entry. Love, Andrea
So on Wednesdays, the movie theater that is about a 20 minute walk from our house has tickets for 35 pesos (approx. $2.70). So Mike and I saw Rescate del Metro 123 with Denzel Washington and John Travolta. Last Wednesday we saw Time Traveler's Wife. There were several funny moments. First, I decided that I wanted popcorn, so we got a popcorn. I asked for salt, and the cachier gave me a very strange look as though I was asking for maple syrup or something crazy. Then, we went to the butter pump where Mike put a LOT of butter on our popcorn. It started oozing out the bottom and made a big puddle. We were laughing hysterically. Then, I decided to buy M&Ms because the Reeces taste really bad here and I am craving chocolate, and they were buy one get one free. I found the movie very funny. I think I just needed some good laughter therapy. After the movie, we rode the escalator up and down because we forgot where we were going, and the walk home was funny as well. We had decided to get out and have some fun, and we did just that. I felt awful from all the butter popcorn when I was in my bed last night, and woke up very sleepy this morning. Today, we left at 8:15am for the clinic, and I got lots of hugs from all the old people en el grupo de la tercera edad. Thursdays are my favorite days here because of them. This sweet lady bought us a hot milky drink, and it was really yummy. I love observing all the crafts that the women bring with them. I am going to start a needlepoint tortilla cloth like they make. I bought the circle and needle. One of the ladies in the group sells the fabric and string, so I will buy those from her next week. Mike and I went home from the clinic early today to have individual time to talk with Tere, and it was good to be at home alone for a while. I find myself craving some along time these days. I just posted our new address and Iam working on uploading photos on a picasa web album. When I figure it out, I will post a link. We now hae wireless internet in our house, so I can skype talk and email everyday. Tonight, Tere is making supper for all of us, and I am looking forward to moving forward with creating a positive community. Tere says that it is not an option for us to be in Tampamolon right now. I still feel like this is our homebase, but that only God knows what is to come. Thanks for all of the supportive messages after my last blog entry. Love, Andrea
Thursday, September 24, 2009
I have been censoring my blog entries to exclude a lot of the drama going on within our house, but this has been the most challenging part of my experience so far. I want to present this as rationally as possible, and I’m sharing because it has escalated to a point in which something needs to change, and I am working out what the best option will be. When I entered this program, I was expecting to live in conditions of poverty similar to the people we would be serving. Also, I was led to believe that all the people who would be living in our house would have the intention of living together in a community that cares about each member, and is interested in growing as a group in our faith and love for each other. I have loved more these past 2 months than I ever would have imagined I could. However, it backfired, and our house has a feud going on where there is harboring of animosity for the others, and I have never experienced a situation so unhealthy to live in. In my last blog, I already commented on how fancy our house is. The need to wash our clothes by hand and boil water had been the two parts of our routine that were simple, but this week we got a water dispenser, and we are getting a brand new washing machine soon. Also, a phone line and wireless internet will be part of our lives soon. I feel that it is very hard to relate to those around us when we have so much more than they do. Mainly, I was just looking forward to a difference from what we are used to at home.
In some ways, I know that I am growing immensely because I am being challenged to love people who do not necessarily want to be loved. I understand more fiercely than ever how amazing Jesus was to be able to love perfectly when it was not at all accepted. I also realize that I’m interested in conflict resolution as a potential career avenue. I miss that part of being an RA. I really value the ability to reason through conflict, and being here, I realize that just because people are adults, does not mean that they have learned to communicate effectively. I feel like that’s one of the most important skills people need to develop. If I stay in Monterrey, I have come to a point mentally where I can move forward to help myself be a healthier and happier person. However, another possibility keeps coming to the surface.
Fernando Ferrara, the big cheese of the Foundation that is supporting us keeps pointing Mike and me in the direction of moving to Huasteca. He has suggested that we could work on 2 projects: further develop the cooperative that the indigenous women have to sell their crafts, and help get the lead out of the water that people are to drink there. Also, there is the possibility of enhancing their bottle recycling program. The benefits to being there are numerous. It is the experience I had dreamed of in living simply. When I was there, I finally got a chance to interact with people, and began to have an exchange of experiences. There is a small town feel where people know each other and are open to share. It would be a chance to escape being part of the parade of “missioneros” that comes into the clinic everyday and tries to talk to the same few people while cramping each other’s space. I honestly think that having 4 missionaries trying to do the same thing in the same little place is way too many, especially when there are such strong personalities. We have made a plan to try to change the structure of our days at the clinic to begin doing things separately, but still…I think what happened in Santa Fe, Mexico City last year was better, because with 2 people, they can support each other, but there are enough resources to go around as far as people go. Then, after the initial year, it’s okay to add 2 more, because 2 are already settled. Maybe that experience was more challenging than I see it, but all I know is that I find myself not talking to people because one of the others has already gotten to them first….it sounds so childish, and it IS! Yet, we seem to have a big sharing problem.
So there are also benefits to staying in Monterrey. It would be a really good thing if things could actually get better in our house, because it would be such a big challenge. It would mean that we wouldn’t have to start from square 1 again regarding living arrangements. I have my own space and I have already super-cleaned my room, and put pictures up, etc. It is an easy place to stay in touch with everyone and is convenient for visitors. I am already getting attached to many people who work with us, especially with the Sisters. The people who are supporting us in the clinic have been bending over backwards to help us in any way they can. It would be exciting to be part of creating the program to visit homebound people in their homes, and connect the parish and clinic. Also, I like the doctors that I have begun to get to know, and I have the opportunity to shadow them in the clinic. We have nothing to worry about as far as getting food here…and we have hot and running water, transportation to work every day, and easy access to buses to go wherever once we put the effort in to figuring out the routes. Also, there are brigades that go out from the clinics to Zwazwa for a day every 15 days (and I’m hoping to go on my first one this Saturday), and to Huasteca every few months for a weekend every few months. I could try to figure out a creative way to be helpful in the brigades to justify my being there. Also, I think I would be laughed out of Huasteca with as much stuff as I have accumulated already, so that’s a perk for staying in Monterrey.
So, these are incomplete thoughts about that. Tere Manon, the director of the program is coming next week to visit us and try to figure out what’s going to happen. My goal is to figure out which of the challenges I am being called to at this point because I know either has potential, but either will also be hard. Please keep me in prayer as I try to work out what the best option is. I feel like a year is really a short time to be here, especially since Linda and Paula keep reminding us that they’re here “for the long haul” which means 2 years compared to the 1 that Mike and I committed to. I am practicing challenging myself to recognize that I can control how I feel and how I deal with situations. This is not easy though.
Today, we had a pretty good day. We began at the clinic with reading the gospel, and also a reflection on being present to people. Then, we got to spend a few hours with the elderly group that meets on Thursday mornings. I relate well with them, and I am looking forward to visiting them in their homes. Most of the women bring some craft that they are making, and the men like to play dominoes and some very confusing card game. Someone always brings food for us to try. Today we had homemade gorditas and a tasty drink made of corn, milk, sugar, and cinnamon. The Mexican government had a program called DIF that gives a box of nutritional supplements especially designed for senior citizens, and so they were handing them out for a portion of the time today, and it was interesting to visit with the people who do that as a job. In the afternoon, Mike and I went with several people from the clinic to the big hospital to run errands and we ended up having lunch at Pollo Loco. I like the taste, but I always feel sick afterwards. It has been really chilly here the past few days, and has gotten to about 16 degrees Celsius at night, and we are waiting for blankets still….brrr…and all the clothes I brought make sense for someone out in the country…not in a stylish city like Monterrey…and if it gets much colder, I’m going to have to go shopping…oh Andrea…
Still hanging on and loving all of you at home. Thanks for keeping up with me as you can and telling me what’s going on in your lives as well. Andrea Michelle
In some ways, I know that I am growing immensely because I am being challenged to love people who do not necessarily want to be loved. I understand more fiercely than ever how amazing Jesus was to be able to love perfectly when it was not at all accepted. I also realize that I’m interested in conflict resolution as a potential career avenue. I miss that part of being an RA. I really value the ability to reason through conflict, and being here, I realize that just because people are adults, does not mean that they have learned to communicate effectively. I feel like that’s one of the most important skills people need to develop. If I stay in Monterrey, I have come to a point mentally where I can move forward to help myself be a healthier and happier person. However, another possibility keeps coming to the surface.
Fernando Ferrara, the big cheese of the Foundation that is supporting us keeps pointing Mike and me in the direction of moving to Huasteca. He has suggested that we could work on 2 projects: further develop the cooperative that the indigenous women have to sell their crafts, and help get the lead out of the water that people are to drink there. Also, there is the possibility of enhancing their bottle recycling program. The benefits to being there are numerous. It is the experience I had dreamed of in living simply. When I was there, I finally got a chance to interact with people, and began to have an exchange of experiences. There is a small town feel where people know each other and are open to share. It would be a chance to escape being part of the parade of “missioneros” that comes into the clinic everyday and tries to talk to the same few people while cramping each other’s space. I honestly think that having 4 missionaries trying to do the same thing in the same little place is way too many, especially when there are such strong personalities. We have made a plan to try to change the structure of our days at the clinic to begin doing things separately, but still…I think what happened in Santa Fe, Mexico City last year was better, because with 2 people, they can support each other, but there are enough resources to go around as far as people go. Then, after the initial year, it’s okay to add 2 more, because 2 are already settled. Maybe that experience was more challenging than I see it, but all I know is that I find myself not talking to people because one of the others has already gotten to them first….it sounds so childish, and it IS! Yet, we seem to have a big sharing problem.
So there are also benefits to staying in Monterrey. It would be a really good thing if things could actually get better in our house, because it would be such a big challenge. It would mean that we wouldn’t have to start from square 1 again regarding living arrangements. I have my own space and I have already super-cleaned my room, and put pictures up, etc. It is an easy place to stay in touch with everyone and is convenient for visitors. I am already getting attached to many people who work with us, especially with the Sisters. The people who are supporting us in the clinic have been bending over backwards to help us in any way they can. It would be exciting to be part of creating the program to visit homebound people in their homes, and connect the parish and clinic. Also, I like the doctors that I have begun to get to know, and I have the opportunity to shadow them in the clinic. We have nothing to worry about as far as getting food here…and we have hot and running water, transportation to work every day, and easy access to buses to go wherever once we put the effort in to figuring out the routes. Also, there are brigades that go out from the clinics to Zwazwa for a day every 15 days (and I’m hoping to go on my first one this Saturday), and to Huasteca every few months for a weekend every few months. I could try to figure out a creative way to be helpful in the brigades to justify my being there. Also, I think I would be laughed out of Huasteca with as much stuff as I have accumulated already, so that’s a perk for staying in Monterrey.
So, these are incomplete thoughts about that. Tere Manon, the director of the program is coming next week to visit us and try to figure out what’s going to happen. My goal is to figure out which of the challenges I am being called to at this point because I know either has potential, but either will also be hard. Please keep me in prayer as I try to work out what the best option is. I feel like a year is really a short time to be here, especially since Linda and Paula keep reminding us that they’re here “for the long haul” which means 2 years compared to the 1 that Mike and I committed to. I am practicing challenging myself to recognize that I can control how I feel and how I deal with situations. This is not easy though.
Today, we had a pretty good day. We began at the clinic with reading the gospel, and also a reflection on being present to people. Then, we got to spend a few hours with the elderly group that meets on Thursday mornings. I relate well with them, and I am looking forward to visiting them in their homes. Most of the women bring some craft that they are making, and the men like to play dominoes and some very confusing card game. Someone always brings food for us to try. Today we had homemade gorditas and a tasty drink made of corn, milk, sugar, and cinnamon. The Mexican government had a program called DIF that gives a box of nutritional supplements especially designed for senior citizens, and so they were handing them out for a portion of the time today, and it was interesting to visit with the people who do that as a job. In the afternoon, Mike and I went with several people from the clinic to the big hospital to run errands and we ended up having lunch at Pollo Loco. I like the taste, but I always feel sick afterwards. It has been really chilly here the past few days, and has gotten to about 16 degrees Celsius at night, and we are waiting for blankets still….brrr…and all the clothes I brought make sense for someone out in the country…not in a stylish city like Monterrey…and if it gets much colder, I’m going to have to go shopping…oh Andrea…
Still hanging on and loving all of you at home. Thanks for keeping up with me as you can and telling me what’s going on in your lives as well. Andrea Michelle
I have been censoring my blog entries to exclude a lot of the drama going on within our house, but this has been the most challenging part of my experience so far. I want to present this as rationally as possible, and I’m sharing because it has escalated to a point in which something needs to change, and I am working out what the best option will be. When I entered this program, I was expecting to live in conditions of poverty similar to the people we would be serving. Also, I was led to believe that all the people who would be living in our house would have the intention of living together in a community that cares about each member, and is interested in growing as a group in our faith and love for each other. I have loved more these past 2 months than I ever would have imagined I could. However, it backfired, and our house has a feud going on where there is harboring of animosity for the others, and I have never experienced a situation so unhealthy to live in. In my last blog, I already commented on how fancy our house is. The need to wash our clothes by hand and boil water had been the two parts of our routine that were simple, but this week we got a water dispenser, and we are getting a brand new washing machine soon. Also, a phone line and wireless internet will be part of our lives soon. I feel that it is very hard to relate to those around us when we have so much more than they do. Mainly, I was just looking forward to a difference from what we are used to at home.
In some ways, I know that I am growing immensely because I am being challenged to love people who do not necessarily want to be loved. I understand more fiercely than ever how amazing Jesus was to be able to love perfectly when it was not at all accepted. I also realize that I’m interested in conflict resolution as a potential career avenue. I miss that part of being an RA. I really value the ability to reason through conflict, and being here, I realize that just because people are adults, does not mean that they have learned to communicate effectively. I feel like that’s one of the most important skills people need to develop. If I stay in Monterrey, I have come to a point mentally where I can move forward to help myself be a healthier and happier person. However, another possibility keeps coming to the surface.
Fernando Ferrara, the big cheese of the Foundation that is supporting us keeps pointing Mike and me in the direction of moving to Huasteca. He has suggested that we could work on 2 projects: further develop the cooperative that the indigenous women have to sell their crafts, and help get the lead out of the water that people are to drink there. Also, there is the possibility of enhancing their bottle recycling program. The benefits to being there are numerous. It is the experience I had dreamed of in living simply. When I was there, I finally got a chance to interact with people, and began to have an exchange of experiences. There is a small town feel where people know each other and are open to share. It would be a chance to escape being part of the parade of “missioneros” that comes into the clinic everyday and tries to talk to the same few people while cramping each other’s space. I honestly think that having 4 missionaries trying to do the same thing in the same little place is way too many, especially when there are such strong personalities. We have made a plan to try to change the structure of our days at the clinic to begin doing things separately, but still…I think what happened in Santa Fe, Mexico City last year was better, because with 2 people, they can support each other, but there are enough resources to go around as far as people go. Then, after the initial year, it’s okay to add 2 more, because 2 are already settled. Maybe that experience was more challenging than I see it, but all I know is that I find myself not talking to people because one of the others has already gotten to them first….it sounds so childish, and it IS! Yet, we seem to have a big sharing problem.
So there are also benefits to staying in Monterrey. It would be a really good thing if things could actually get better in our house, because it would be such a big challenge. It would mean that we wouldn’t have to start from square 1 again regarding living arrangements. I have my own space and I have already super-cleaned my room, and put pictures up, etc. It is an easy place to stay in touch with everyone and is convenient for visitors. I am already getting attached to many people who work with us, especially with the Sisters. The people who are supporting us in the clinic have been bending over backwards to help us in any way they can. It would be exciting to be part of creating the program to visit homebound people in their homes, and connect the parish and clinic. Also, I like the doctors that I have begun to get to know, and I have the opportunity to shadow them in the clinic. We have nothing to worry about as far as getting food here…and we have hot and running water, transportation to work every day, and easy access to buses to go wherever once we put the effort in to figuring out the routes. Also, there are brigades that go out from the clinics to Zwazwa for a day every 15 days (and I’m hoping to go on my first one this Saturday), and to Huasteca every few months for a weekend every few months. I could try to figure out a creative way to be helpful in the brigades to justify my being there. Also, I think I would be laughed out of Huasteca with as much stuff as I have accumulated already, so that’s a perk for staying in Monterrey.
So, these are incomplete thoughts about that. Tere Manon, the director of the program is coming next week to visit us and try to figure out what’s going to happen. My goal is to figure out which of the challenges I am being called to at this point because I know either has potential, but either will also be hard. Please keep me in prayer as I try to work out what the best option is. I feel like a year is really a short time to be here, especially since Linda and Paula keep reminding us that they’re here “for the long haul” which means 2 years compared to the 1 that Mike and I committed to. I am practicing challenging myself to recognize that I can control how I feel and how I deal with situations. This is not easy though.
Today, we had a pretty good day. We began at the clinic with reading the gospel, and also a reflection on being present to people. Then, we got to spend a few hours with the elderly group that meets on Thursday mornings. I relate well with them, and I am looking forward to visiting them in their homes. Most of the women bring some craft that they are making, and the men like to play dominoes and some very confusing card game. Someone always brings food for us to try. Today we had homemade gorditas and a tasty drink made of corn, milk, sugar, and cinnamon. The Mexican government had a program called DIF that gives a box of nutritional supplements especially designed for senior citizens, and so they were handing them out for a portion of the time today, and it was interesting to visit with the people who do that as a job. In the afternoon, Mike and I went with several people from the clinic to the big hospital to run errands and we ended up having lunch at Pollo Loco. I like the taste, but I always feel sick afterwards. It has been really chilly here the past few days, and has gotten to about 16 degrees Celsius at night, and we are waiting for blankets still….brrr…and all the clothes I brought make sense for someone out in the country…not in a stylish city like Monterrey…and if it gets much colder, I’m going to have to go shopping…oh Andrea…
Still hanging on and loving all of you at home. Thanks for keeping up with me as you can and telling me what’s going on in your lives as well. Andrea Michelle
In some ways, I know that I am growing immensely because I am being challenged to love people who do not necessarily want to be loved. I understand more fiercely than ever how amazing Jesus was to be able to love perfectly when it was not at all accepted. I also realize that I’m interested in conflict resolution as a potential career avenue. I miss that part of being an RA. I really value the ability to reason through conflict, and being here, I realize that just because people are adults, does not mean that they have learned to communicate effectively. I feel like that’s one of the most important skills people need to develop. If I stay in Monterrey, I have come to a point mentally where I can move forward to help myself be a healthier and happier person. However, another possibility keeps coming to the surface.
Fernando Ferrara, the big cheese of the Foundation that is supporting us keeps pointing Mike and me in the direction of moving to Huasteca. He has suggested that we could work on 2 projects: further develop the cooperative that the indigenous women have to sell their crafts, and help get the lead out of the water that people are to drink there. Also, there is the possibility of enhancing their bottle recycling program. The benefits to being there are numerous. It is the experience I had dreamed of in living simply. When I was there, I finally got a chance to interact with people, and began to have an exchange of experiences. There is a small town feel where people know each other and are open to share. It would be a chance to escape being part of the parade of “missioneros” that comes into the clinic everyday and tries to talk to the same few people while cramping each other’s space. I honestly think that having 4 missionaries trying to do the same thing in the same little place is way too many, especially when there are such strong personalities. We have made a plan to try to change the structure of our days at the clinic to begin doing things separately, but still…I think what happened in Santa Fe, Mexico City last year was better, because with 2 people, they can support each other, but there are enough resources to go around as far as people go. Then, after the initial year, it’s okay to add 2 more, because 2 are already settled. Maybe that experience was more challenging than I see it, but all I know is that I find myself not talking to people because one of the others has already gotten to them first….it sounds so childish, and it IS! Yet, we seem to have a big sharing problem.
So there are also benefits to staying in Monterrey. It would be a really good thing if things could actually get better in our house, because it would be such a big challenge. It would mean that we wouldn’t have to start from square 1 again regarding living arrangements. I have my own space and I have already super-cleaned my room, and put pictures up, etc. It is an easy place to stay in touch with everyone and is convenient for visitors. I am already getting attached to many people who work with us, especially with the Sisters. The people who are supporting us in the clinic have been bending over backwards to help us in any way they can. It would be exciting to be part of creating the program to visit homebound people in their homes, and connect the parish and clinic. Also, I like the doctors that I have begun to get to know, and I have the opportunity to shadow them in the clinic. We have nothing to worry about as far as getting food here…and we have hot and running water, transportation to work every day, and easy access to buses to go wherever once we put the effort in to figuring out the routes. Also, there are brigades that go out from the clinics to Zwazwa for a day every 15 days (and I’m hoping to go on my first one this Saturday), and to Huasteca every few months for a weekend every few months. I could try to figure out a creative way to be helpful in the brigades to justify my being there. Also, I think I would be laughed out of Huasteca with as much stuff as I have accumulated already, so that’s a perk for staying in Monterrey.
So, these are incomplete thoughts about that. Tere Manon, the director of the program is coming next week to visit us and try to figure out what’s going to happen. My goal is to figure out which of the challenges I am being called to at this point because I know either has potential, but either will also be hard. Please keep me in prayer as I try to work out what the best option is. I feel like a year is really a short time to be here, especially since Linda and Paula keep reminding us that they’re here “for the long haul” which means 2 years compared to the 1 that Mike and I committed to. I am practicing challenging myself to recognize that I can control how I feel and how I deal with situations. This is not easy though.
Today, we had a pretty good day. We began at the clinic with reading the gospel, and also a reflection on being present to people. Then, we got to spend a few hours with the elderly group that meets on Thursday mornings. I relate well with them, and I am looking forward to visiting them in their homes. Most of the women bring some craft that they are making, and the men like to play dominoes and some very confusing card game. Someone always brings food for us to try. Today we had homemade gorditas and a tasty drink made of corn, milk, sugar, and cinnamon. The Mexican government had a program called DIF that gives a box of nutritional supplements especially designed for senior citizens, and so they were handing them out for a portion of the time today, and it was interesting to visit with the people who do that as a job. In the afternoon, Mike and I went with several people from the clinic to the big hospital to run errands and we ended up having lunch at Pollo Loco. I like the taste, but I always feel sick afterwards. It has been really chilly here the past few days, and has gotten to about 16 degrees Celsius at night, and we are waiting for blankets still….brrr…and all the clothes I brought make sense for someone out in the country…not in a stylish city like Monterrey…and if it gets much colder, I’m going to have to go shopping…oh Andrea…
Still hanging on and loving all of you at home. Thanks for keeping up with me as you can and telling me what’s going on in your lives as well. Andrea Michelle
Sunday, September 20, 2009
So when push comes to shove, I would rather talk or journal than write on this blog. Since I decided to make it though, I feel obligated to write on it every once in awhile, especially since it allows me to share my experience with those who care about me back at home. The past couple weeks have been more of an emotional roller coaster than I have ever experienced before. I know that it is a good thing that I’m here, and I am recognize that the challenges are God’s way to help me grow. That doesn’t make the challenges any less.
We are in our new house now as of the first week in September. It is in the same block as a couple of Sisters of the Incarnate Word that are amazing. Sor (Sister)Beatriz and Sor Angeles both work at the clinic that we are at. Both are nurses and have done a lot to make us feel at home here in Monterrey. Sor Beatriz has been our main contact for moving forward at the clinic, and we fondly call her “Mama.” Sor Angeles is our “tia” or aunt. The house is pretty fancy for what we were expecting. It is two-story with a bathroom, kitchen, and dining/living room on the first floor, and we have 3 bedrooms upstairs. Mike and I each have our own rooms and share a bathroom and Linda and Paula share the master bedroom that has a bathroom and walk-out terrace. Here’s to living simply… We do wash our clothes by hand which is interesting! Yesterday I bought scotch tape so I put up pictures on my walls, which actually makes my room feel like home.
This past week, Mike and I went on a trip to Huasteca in the state of San Luis Potosi from Monday through Thursday to live with indigenous families. There were 10 of us total that did the 7 hour drive each way. Most of the group had participated in a weekend workshop on non-violence with Carl Kline who is an activist in South Dakota and Mathai who is from India and has worked with many people who knew Gandhi. It was the best 4 days that I had had since being here. It was my first time bathing outside with a bucket of water and cup, and even though everything was harder and took more time, I loved being there. I learned how to make tortillas by hand and we had a traditional danza where the Teneek people did their type of folk dancing…very fun! Also, Mike and his host family killed a deer, so I got to try very fresh venison. I felt like the trip was what I was hoping for in the whole missionary experience. It was very hard to come back to the city life of Monterrey after enjoying Huasteca so much.
Friday we went back to work at the clinic and I actually had a really good day—probably the best day since being there. In the morning, Mike and I talked with Laura Vega (a wonderful social worker that had been working at the clinic in Huasteca for the last 4 years, but decided to go back to school for physical therapy so is working full time at our clinic, Fommerey 35, while she also goes to school full-time. She has been working a lot to help us set up our game plan at the clinic and in her time off, she has even helped us to figure out the bus system a little, and has offered to help us figure out the city and do whatever she can to help. She’s 31 but I feel like we’re peers….a very good person to know here.) Then I visited with Laura Dwarte (She is a middle-aged nurse who is in charge of taking care of the details for Brigades. Every couple weeks, a team of doctors and nurses spends a Saturday at Zuazua which is another clinic in the Fundacion. Also, they send medical brigades out to 2 clinics that are in Huasteca about every few months. The clinics are always staffed with general doctors, but the brigades are made up of specialty docs that are willing to take care of people in poorer areas.) Talking with Laura reminded me that Monterrey is our home base, but that we aren’t really stuck here. I will probably have opportunities to get back to Huasteca and spend time with those people who I really loved there, so I don’t need to worry that I’m in the wrong place for mission. Laura gave me some apple juice and some sweet bread that is typical of Monterrey too, and I had been too sleepy to pack a lunch because I was wiped out after the trip, so I really appreciated her generosity. I can actually understand and participate in conversations in Spanish now, which is really exciting. After I left Laura’s office, I went in search of my fellow missionaries. Paula and Mike were in the auditorium listening to a group of nursing students from UdeM (University of Monterrey) give a presentation to the community about hypertension. After the talk, they gave water bottles and fruit cups…I’m kind of a sucker for free food. Anyone who knows me enough to read this already knows that. After the presentation, I went toward the bathroom, but ran into Dr. Julio who I had met a couple weeks ago at a baby shower for one of the nurses at the clinic. He is 25, and works as a general physician at the clinic. When I met him, he told me that he works 8pm-8am, so I assumed that I wouldn’t see him at the clinic again, but we got along really well from the beginning. He plans on specializing in dermatology at a school in Spain after working a year at this clinic. (To become a doctor in Mexico, right after high school there are 6 years for med school followed by a required year of social service which is common to any major. So…there is no undergraduate degree with pre-med requirements like I had to do, so they can actually finish med school at a decent time in their lives.) Dr. Julio told me that he had been working the day shift all week and since I wasn’t there with Linda and Paula, he thought I had gone home. It was nice that he noticed. I think he’d be a great friend, too. He has offered that I can shadow him anytime when he’d working over in the clinic since he knows that I am hoping to have some clinical experiences during this year.
Then Linda, Paula, Mike, and I had some time with Laura Vega to talk about the goals of the program that we are putting together to implement at the clinic. The goal of the program is to create a team to serve people with disabilities and terminal illnesses that are pretty much homebound. The idea is that we as missionaries work together with nurses and doctors to serve these members of the community that currently are not receiving all the care they need. We have spent a lot of our time at the clinic reading about how to do hospice care in order to visit sick people in their homes like a pastoral minister would. We are working with the local parish that already has la Legion de Maria which sends volunteers out to people’s homes to help them clean and just listen to them. The idea is to build on this service by providing pastoral and medical care too. I am honestly getting tired of the planning for this program because it seems like busywork and it doesn’t seem to move forward. I want to go with a volunteer on their visits and just start spending time with the old folks. I’m not much of a planner by nature. That’s how I feel about that.
Antioco, one of the accountants who works at the clinic drove us home and he is such a hoot. He wanted to know how to say happy birthday in English, and it was a wonderful opportunity to actually laugh out loud. Mike says I cannot do justice to the moment by writing about it. He is a jokester, and it was just we needed at the moment.
Later that night, Mike and I decided to make a birthday cake for Linda, so Mike ran to the grocery store to get a cake mix and frosting, and we made a cake while she was at the ciber café. It was a big hit. Her birthday was September 16th when we were gone. It was good to do something for her.
Yesterday afternoon, Mike and I went grocery shopping for the house, and then prepared a wonderful spaghetti supper, we went to mass with Sor Angeles, and then invited her over for supper. It was awesome to have company because we all sat down to eat together for the first time since being in our house. We played one round of uno which was also very fun.
I have had to learn a lot about myself in order to be a helpful member in community. I have had to adjust my expectations a lot. Also, many things I have “known” about getting along with others has taken on a whole new meaning for me.
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things which I cannot change, the strength to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.
Please keep us in prayer. I miss and love you all. We are going to have wireless internet in our house sometime in the relatively near future, so hopefully I can talk myself into writing on this more often. I also have wonderful pictures that I will get up soon somehow. Please write me too. Love, Andrea Michelle
We are in our new house now as of the first week in September. It is in the same block as a couple of Sisters of the Incarnate Word that are amazing. Sor (Sister)Beatriz and Sor Angeles both work at the clinic that we are at. Both are nurses and have done a lot to make us feel at home here in Monterrey. Sor Beatriz has been our main contact for moving forward at the clinic, and we fondly call her “Mama.” Sor Angeles is our “tia” or aunt. The house is pretty fancy for what we were expecting. It is two-story with a bathroom, kitchen, and dining/living room on the first floor, and we have 3 bedrooms upstairs. Mike and I each have our own rooms and share a bathroom and Linda and Paula share the master bedroom that has a bathroom and walk-out terrace. Here’s to living simply… We do wash our clothes by hand which is interesting! Yesterday I bought scotch tape so I put up pictures on my walls, which actually makes my room feel like home.
This past week, Mike and I went on a trip to Huasteca in the state of San Luis Potosi from Monday through Thursday to live with indigenous families. There were 10 of us total that did the 7 hour drive each way. Most of the group had participated in a weekend workshop on non-violence with Carl Kline who is an activist in South Dakota and Mathai who is from India and has worked with many people who knew Gandhi. It was the best 4 days that I had had since being here. It was my first time bathing outside with a bucket of water and cup, and even though everything was harder and took more time, I loved being there. I learned how to make tortillas by hand and we had a traditional danza where the Teneek people did their type of folk dancing…very fun! Also, Mike and his host family killed a deer, so I got to try very fresh venison. I felt like the trip was what I was hoping for in the whole missionary experience. It was very hard to come back to the city life of Monterrey after enjoying Huasteca so much.
Friday we went back to work at the clinic and I actually had a really good day—probably the best day since being there. In the morning, Mike and I talked with Laura Vega (a wonderful social worker that had been working at the clinic in Huasteca for the last 4 years, but decided to go back to school for physical therapy so is working full time at our clinic, Fommerey 35, while she also goes to school full-time. She has been working a lot to help us set up our game plan at the clinic and in her time off, she has even helped us to figure out the bus system a little, and has offered to help us figure out the city and do whatever she can to help. She’s 31 but I feel like we’re peers….a very good person to know here.) Then I visited with Laura Dwarte (She is a middle-aged nurse who is in charge of taking care of the details for Brigades. Every couple weeks, a team of doctors and nurses spends a Saturday at Zuazua which is another clinic in the Fundacion. Also, they send medical brigades out to 2 clinics that are in Huasteca about every few months. The clinics are always staffed with general doctors, but the brigades are made up of specialty docs that are willing to take care of people in poorer areas.) Talking with Laura reminded me that Monterrey is our home base, but that we aren’t really stuck here. I will probably have opportunities to get back to Huasteca and spend time with those people who I really loved there, so I don’t need to worry that I’m in the wrong place for mission. Laura gave me some apple juice and some sweet bread that is typical of Monterrey too, and I had been too sleepy to pack a lunch because I was wiped out after the trip, so I really appreciated her generosity. I can actually understand and participate in conversations in Spanish now, which is really exciting. After I left Laura’s office, I went in search of my fellow missionaries. Paula and Mike were in the auditorium listening to a group of nursing students from UdeM (University of Monterrey) give a presentation to the community about hypertension. After the talk, they gave water bottles and fruit cups…I’m kind of a sucker for free food. Anyone who knows me enough to read this already knows that. After the presentation, I went toward the bathroom, but ran into Dr. Julio who I had met a couple weeks ago at a baby shower for one of the nurses at the clinic. He is 25, and works as a general physician at the clinic. When I met him, he told me that he works 8pm-8am, so I assumed that I wouldn’t see him at the clinic again, but we got along really well from the beginning. He plans on specializing in dermatology at a school in Spain after working a year at this clinic. (To become a doctor in Mexico, right after high school there are 6 years for med school followed by a required year of social service which is common to any major. So…there is no undergraduate degree with pre-med requirements like I had to do, so they can actually finish med school at a decent time in their lives.) Dr. Julio told me that he had been working the day shift all week and since I wasn’t there with Linda and Paula, he thought I had gone home. It was nice that he noticed. I think he’d be a great friend, too. He has offered that I can shadow him anytime when he’d working over in the clinic since he knows that I am hoping to have some clinical experiences during this year.
Then Linda, Paula, Mike, and I had some time with Laura Vega to talk about the goals of the program that we are putting together to implement at the clinic. The goal of the program is to create a team to serve people with disabilities and terminal illnesses that are pretty much homebound. The idea is that we as missionaries work together with nurses and doctors to serve these members of the community that currently are not receiving all the care they need. We have spent a lot of our time at the clinic reading about how to do hospice care in order to visit sick people in their homes like a pastoral minister would. We are working with the local parish that already has la Legion de Maria which sends volunteers out to people’s homes to help them clean and just listen to them. The idea is to build on this service by providing pastoral and medical care too. I am honestly getting tired of the planning for this program because it seems like busywork and it doesn’t seem to move forward. I want to go with a volunteer on their visits and just start spending time with the old folks. I’m not much of a planner by nature. That’s how I feel about that.
Antioco, one of the accountants who works at the clinic drove us home and he is such a hoot. He wanted to know how to say happy birthday in English, and it was a wonderful opportunity to actually laugh out loud. Mike says I cannot do justice to the moment by writing about it. He is a jokester, and it was just we needed at the moment.
Later that night, Mike and I decided to make a birthday cake for Linda, so Mike ran to the grocery store to get a cake mix and frosting, and we made a cake while she was at the ciber café. It was a big hit. Her birthday was September 16th when we were gone. It was good to do something for her.
Yesterday afternoon, Mike and I went grocery shopping for the house, and then prepared a wonderful spaghetti supper, we went to mass with Sor Angeles, and then invited her over for supper. It was awesome to have company because we all sat down to eat together for the first time since being in our house. We played one round of uno which was also very fun.
I have had to learn a lot about myself in order to be a helpful member in community. I have had to adjust my expectations a lot. Also, many things I have “known” about getting along with others has taken on a whole new meaning for me.
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things which I cannot change, the strength to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.
Please keep us in prayer. I miss and love you all. We are going to have wireless internet in our house sometime in the relatively near future, so hopefully I can talk myself into writing on this more often. I also have wonderful pictures that I will get up soon somehow. Please write me too. Love, Andrea Michelle
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
This has been my first opportunity to write! I am safe and all is well. I am very tired and get a headache each day from all the spanish. Mike and I are having a hard time with the language, but Linda and Paula seem to be doing great! We have been at the main clinic (Fomorrey 35)yesterday and today. We are staying at the Colegio Mexicano now, but we saw the house that they are intending for us to live in. It is nicer than I expected, and it is 6 houses away from two Sisters. We are looking forward to living there. We have had lunch at the clinic both days and went to the grocery store to get fruits and veggies and some other food, basic supplies, so last night was the first supper that we prepared together...a spinach salad and a fruit salad. Lisa and Melissa rode the bus with us from San Antonio to Monterrey and stayed 2 nights with us before leaving for Mexico City this morning. I received an email from the Sister of the Holy Cross (Hermana Mica) that is in Monterrey too. She is excited to meet up with me, and I am excited for the opportunity to get together too. Today we were given a cell phone for the 4 of us to use to be in contact with our contact people at the clinic, but not to use for anything else yet. I ahve been wanting to get on to be in touch, but just couldn´t until now. Once we are in our new house, we will have a cyber cafe a few blocks away that costs 1 dollar per hour, but we won´t be able to use internet at the clinic very much. It seems like we will be doing some hospice care in people´s homes. They want us to start a new program that they have been doing research for. Noone has gotten sick yet...(knock on wood), and we have hot water, and Culligan style machines for drinking water where we are staying. I have mixed emotions. It is challenging to be here, I feel awkward with the new people, but they are very welcoming, and I know it just takes time and patience.
Tonight when we got home, I took a little nap, then made scrambled eggs with onion, fried bread and avolcado for supper. I hand washed my clothes...Paula taught me how she does it...and then the four of us walked around the track behind the school for awhile. I felt like doing cartwheels..that's always a good sign that I'm feeling good about where I am. (The last time that happened was when I was in Ireland) We found a limon tree and ate a bunch of them...tasted kind of like oranges though. I'm excited to be back on the internet. It is a simple life and a quiet life...should be good for me. I'm looking forward to Friday: we were invited to the 23rd birthday party of the son of our main contact person...his name is Camo...I'm writing that here because I can't remember it for the life of me. It will be at a salsa bar...so I can't wait to meet some more people our age and go out dancing. My biggest challenge is being patient with myself. I appreciate your support and I hope to hear from you!
Tonight when we got home, I took a little nap, then made scrambled eggs with onion, fried bread and avolcado for supper. I hand washed my clothes...Paula taught me how she does it...and then the four of us walked around the track behind the school for awhile. I felt like doing cartwheels..that's always a good sign that I'm feeling good about where I am. (The last time that happened was when I was in Ireland) We found a limon tree and ate a bunch of them...tasted kind of like oranges though. I'm excited to be back on the internet. It is a simple life and a quiet life...should be good for me. I'm looking forward to Friday: we were invited to the 23rd birthday party of the son of our main contact person...his name is Camo...I'm writing that here because I can't remember it for the life of me. It will be at a salsa bar...so I can't wait to meet some more people our age and go out dancing. My biggest challenge is being patient with myself. I appreciate your support and I hope to hear from you!
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
I have been tired all the time recently, but when I lay down at night, I have had a hard time falling asleep. Two nights ago, my mind was filled with excitement of potentially going to VCOM (Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine) and then, I couldn't stop thinking that I might become a Sister. I am always very torn whenever I get thinking about that. I loved spending time at the convent at Saint Mary's and on Saturday, we had lunch with the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word at their retirement center, and I was in heaven. Maybe I just like hanging out with older women who have done incredible things with their lives.
The past couple days, I have been incredibly homesick for Nicaragua. I looked at flights from Monterrey to Nicaragua today, and have been communicating as much as possible with Omar, Cole, and the 3 Saint Mary's girls who we sent to the island for the summer. I keep listening to the island music and looking at my pictures.
There is so much I can write, and I think the only way that I will want to write on this thing is if I don't edit what I write. So...it may be all over the place. I apologize in advance. I appreciate your care and support.
The past couple days, I have been incredibly homesick for Nicaragua. I looked at flights from Monterrey to Nicaragua today, and have been communicating as much as possible with Omar, Cole, and the 3 Saint Mary's girls who we sent to the island for the summer. I keep listening to the island music and looking at my pictures.
There is so much I can write, and I think the only way that I will want to write on this thing is if I don't edit what I write. So...it may be all over the place. I apologize in advance. I appreciate your care and support.
I received a little coaching from Jenn, a fellow missionary on how to make blogs, so tengo ganas a continue working on it. (Tener ganas is a spanish phrase which has no equivalent in english, but means something like...to feel like doing). My tactic is to look at the blogs of the others who are far more dedicated to it than I am, and use their ideas (like me in art classes). It is hard to believe that we have been here for over 2 weeks. I don't even know how to begin. I guess I should make an outline about what would be the most helpful for people to know...1)What the point of this blog is 2) Where I am now 3) Who I'm with 4)What we're doing 5)Why I'm here in the first place 6)Where I'm going and what I might be doing there. So, we'll start with 1.
1) I will be gone for at least 1 year, maybe 2, and in order to maintain some relationship with those of you at home (ie. Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, California, Indiana....or the other homes I have), I need to deliberately share about what I'm going through so you can care about me. In turn, I am also interested in what is going on in your lives, but I will have limited access to internet, so writing personal emails won't always be possible. So, this is an invitation to share in this journey with me and to share in that dialog, by commenting or emailing me. I realize this is impersonal, but I will do my best with it. I do love and care about you, so that is why I am making this a priority.
2)I am in San Antonio, TX for 3 weeks. We arrived August 2nd, and will leave for Monterrey, MX on Monday. It's been a roller coaster already. Sometimes I am very excited to just go down and live it out, and sometimes I wonder what the heck I am doing here. It's been really busy, but it is an adjustment for me to be in the same place, doing the same basic thing for 3 weeks. For anyone who knows me, I am used to packing as much as possible into my days, so this has been a slowdown already.
3)There are 8 of us beginning to be Incarnate Word Missionarires this year. I will give slight introductions to each of them. There will be 3 others going to Monterrey, Mexico with me. Two will be going to Santa Fe, Mexico City, and 2 will be going to Chimbote, Peru.
Chimbote, Peru
Marcelle: A registered nurse from Dallas, TX. She's in her eraly 30s and has great one-liners. She is an RN, and I apprecite getting to know her poco a poco.
Jenn: My roommate during orientation. She just graduated from SLU and is very excited about feminist theology, and has done traveling in Latin America. Originally from Iowa, but considers Saint Lewis home.
Santa Fe, Mexico
Melissa: Just graduated from Loyola, Chicago where she studied social work. She has loaned me some books during orientation, and she loves kids.
Lisa: She has a wonderful smile, and bubbly personality. She went to De Paul, Chicago and studied advertising. She is working very hard on her spanish, and although she struggles, she is still willing to participate in our Spanish-speaking suppers.
Monterrey, MX
Linda: In her early 50s, a bubbly, go-getter who is originally from New Mexico, but has lived in San Antonio for the past 30 years. She is always surprising us with new life adventures she has had. She has been wanting to do service abroad for a long time, so she is very excited for this opportunity, and we are thrilled that she will be with us.
Paula: In her early 30s, she hails from England, although she has spent some time living in New York City. She is a gentle spirit, and surprised me with her experience doing belly dancing. Her spanish is great, and she is already helping me to continue learning new words and phrases.
Mike: He is 24, graduate of Mizzou, but spent the last year doing the Jesuit Volunteer Service in a clinic in Cleveland. He is currently applying to med school, and has agreed to be the stand-in boyfriend to scare off any men who are being inappropriate with us in Mexico. His sense of humor has taken a bit to get used to, but I relate well to him.
4)What we're doing: this is the topic that could go on for a long time. I am changing plan mid-way through this posting. I am done with background for now, because I want to share how I am actually feeling about being here....
This post is long enough, so I will start a new one. Thanks for your love and support!
1) I will be gone for at least 1 year, maybe 2, and in order to maintain some relationship with those of you at home (ie. Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, California, Indiana....or the other homes I have), I need to deliberately share about what I'm going through so you can care about me. In turn, I am also interested in what is going on in your lives, but I will have limited access to internet, so writing personal emails won't always be possible. So, this is an invitation to share in this journey with me and to share in that dialog, by commenting or emailing me. I realize this is impersonal, but I will do my best with it. I do love and care about you, so that is why I am making this a priority.
2)I am in San Antonio, TX for 3 weeks. We arrived August 2nd, and will leave for Monterrey, MX on Monday. It's been a roller coaster already. Sometimes I am very excited to just go down and live it out, and sometimes I wonder what the heck I am doing here. It's been really busy, but it is an adjustment for me to be in the same place, doing the same basic thing for 3 weeks. For anyone who knows me, I am used to packing as much as possible into my days, so this has been a slowdown already.
3)There are 8 of us beginning to be Incarnate Word Missionarires this year. I will give slight introductions to each of them. There will be 3 others going to Monterrey, Mexico with me. Two will be going to Santa Fe, Mexico City, and 2 will be going to Chimbote, Peru.
Chimbote, Peru
Marcelle: A registered nurse from Dallas, TX. She's in her eraly 30s and has great one-liners. She is an RN, and I apprecite getting to know her poco a poco.
Jenn: My roommate during orientation. She just graduated from SLU and is very excited about feminist theology, and has done traveling in Latin America. Originally from Iowa, but considers Saint Lewis home.
Santa Fe, Mexico
Melissa: Just graduated from Loyola, Chicago where she studied social work. She has loaned me some books during orientation, and she loves kids.
Lisa: She has a wonderful smile, and bubbly personality. She went to De Paul, Chicago and studied advertising. She is working very hard on her spanish, and although she struggles, she is still willing to participate in our Spanish-speaking suppers.
Monterrey, MX
Linda: In her early 50s, a bubbly, go-getter who is originally from New Mexico, but has lived in San Antonio for the past 30 years. She is always surprising us with new life adventures she has had. She has been wanting to do service abroad for a long time, so she is very excited for this opportunity, and we are thrilled that she will be with us.
Paula: In her early 30s, she hails from England, although she has spent some time living in New York City. She is a gentle spirit, and surprised me with her experience doing belly dancing. Her spanish is great, and she is already helping me to continue learning new words and phrases.
Mike: He is 24, graduate of Mizzou, but spent the last year doing the Jesuit Volunteer Service in a clinic in Cleveland. He is currently applying to med school, and has agreed to be the stand-in boyfriend to scare off any men who are being inappropriate with us in Mexico. His sense of humor has taken a bit to get used to, but I relate well to him.
4)What we're doing: this is the topic that could go on for a long time. I am changing plan mid-way through this posting. I am done with background for now, because I want to share how I am actually feeling about being here....
This post is long enough, so I will start a new one. Thanks for your love and support!
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