The Last Few Months...

So maybe yesterday was a blessing in disguise.  I spent most of the day in bed with a fever, chills, and the aches.  It finally got bad enough last night that Chase and Jazzy (I owe you guys!)drove me to the hospital to get a blood test for Dengue Fever (which, thankfully, came back negative).  I feel a lot better today, but am still relegated to the house.  Anyway, the blessing: I now have no excuse for not writing a blog post with all this time on my hands.  I know what you're all thinking: his last blog was in November?!  Is he still alive?  Yes.  And I will try to give at least some clarity to the last several months filled with grillos, rain, retreat groups, and of course, black paint on Carnaval.

            I will start by going back to December (just for you, Taylor Swift).  I took an overnight bus with my housemates to Quito, the capital of Ecuador, where we stayed with some awesome volunteers at the Centro de Muchachos Trabajadores.  Muchachos is a foundation dedicated to working with street children and providing educational opportunities for the kids.  We also climbed Mt. Pinchincha, with spectacular views of the city and surrounding mountainside (see pics!).  It was an awesome trip, thanks Muchachos vols for your hospitality!

 

            The next weekend, I led my first retreat group here in Arbolito.  A big part of the Rostro de Cristo program is hosting high school and college groups that come down to Ecuador for a week to experience life here.  I was blessed to spend a week with 12 awesome students and 2 incredible leaders from Assumption College in Worcester, MA.  The goal of their time here, much like our goal as year-long volunteers, is not so much to complete any specific project but to enter into relationship and ''be'' with the people.  They got to spend time at neighbors' houses, Damien House hospital where I work, and after-school programs.  It was an awesome week for me, and I think it was an impactful week for the kids as well!

            After my group left, my family came to visit!  It was such a blessing to have my Mom, Dad, bro Dan, and his girlfriend Tracy here!  We took a trip to Puerto Lopez, a sleepy little surf town on the coast.  We checked out ''Isla de la Plata'', a mini-Galapogos, and did some snorkeling with some really old turtles.  We also got to do a little surfing on the last 2 days...no wetsuit, in December....it was a strange feeling for this kid from Wisconsin.  One of the coolest parts of having them here, though, was the opportunity for them to meet the patients at Damien House, the kids at our after-school program, and the many incredible neighbors who have welcomed me into their homes this year.  It was a special time for me to spend with my family, and I think my family really enjoyed getting to know Arbolito as well!

 

 

            A few weeks later, perhaps my favorite Ecuadorian holiday took place.  The name: Carnaval.  The purpose: Douse anyone within range with water and paint in the 3 or so days before Ash Wednesday and the start of Lent.  I found no other purpose for the holiday, but I fully participated (see picture). 

   

                               

The couple days off of work also allowed my housemate Chase and I to travel to the campo (country) with our neighbor Elyer to visit his family.  Elyer, the first medical student from his village of Santo Domingo, lives with his Aunt here in Arbolito while he takes classes.  Chase and I spent two days with his family in Santo Domingo, playing soccer and basketball, jumping into the river, walking through his farm to pick all kinds of fruits I had never heard the name of, and yes, drinking from a coconut.  It was a beautiful place!  Thanks to Elyer and his fam for their hospitality!

    

            Experiencing the Lenten season and Easter here in Arbolito was really cool.  Shortly after Christmas, 3 Italian priests were sent here to Duran and began celebrating mass in Arbolito.  Padre Juan Pablo has been the main priest here at our church in Artbolito, and he has injected a lot of life into the parish with his enthusiasm, and most notably, with his sense of humor.  The youth group is growing again, I've been helping with guitar lessons for the youngsters, and the people are responding to a priest who is taking a genuine interest in their barrio.  On Friday evenings during Lent, Padre Juan Pablo led the Via Cruces, a stations of the cross through the streets of Arbolito.  We would usually start at the Church with a handful of people, and by the end we might have 50 or 60 people, all carrying candles and walking together.  It was a powerful experience for me, and humbling to see the reverence the people of Ecuador hold for the solemnity of Jesus's passion.  These words, written by a former Rostro de Cristo volunteer, speak to that identification with the Passion of Christ.

            It is impossible to spend time in Duran, Ecuador without witnessing the joy that radiates from the people.  At first of course, what jumps out is the poverty, the heartache, the pain and sorrow.  It's hard to imagine finding hope in that setting.  But as you start to meet people and they allow you to enter their lives, their hope is contagious.  At the same time, their pain is very real, and every day can be a struggle just for survival.  For that reason the Passion of Christ is very relevant for them.  But just as real is the hope that it brings, for Christ conquered death!  He was condemned and crucified, something the people of Duran know all too well.  But he rose from the dead!  He has proven that good conquers evil, that life conquers death, that there is always hope in every circumstance.  Change may come slow, but it will come.  We may be poor, but have each other.  We may have a small house, and struggle to put bread on the table, but our family is united.  Life is hard, but God is always on our side.  Christ has risen, alleluia!!! Resucito! Aleluya!

            After our celebration of Easter, my second retreat group, from Xaverian Brothers High School, arrived for their week in Ecuador.  It was such a well-led group and I had an awesome week being with the kids.  Seeing my surroundings from 13 new perspectives was a refreshing change for me.  Thank you Xaverian Bros!

            Tomorrow is the return to school for many kids here in Ecuador after their vacations during the rainy season.  From roughly January through April, it rains.  A lot.  When it rains, all the creatures come out.  Snakes, rats, frogs, mosquitos, and, most notably, GRILLOS!  Grillos are like grasshoppers..harmless, unless they find your clothes, which they eat holes through.  The worst night of grillos, I remember looking up at the streetlight and thinking it looked exactly like the streetlight  back outside my house in Wisconsin when it was snowing.  But these weren't snowflakes, they were grillos.  Around that time, our guard also killed the biggest snake I have seen outside of a zoo with his machete.  Yikes.  I think it says a lot about our neighbors here; even though it rains, the streets flood, everything turns to mud, they keep on; they are resilient.  During the rainy season, with kids not in school, the attendance at Semillas de Mostaza, our after-school program, jumped up significantly.  For several weeks, we averaged more than 100 kids a day.  Fun, but absolute madness.  With 3 of us volunteers, Ricardo, and a handful of ''ayudantes'', we had our plates full.  Some days, all I could do was try to keep the kids in one spot to do a word search.  Needless to say, a couple of my activity plans that might have worked with smaller groups were a disaster with the numbers we had.  Even now, with our numbers back down a bit, I have days where behavior issues leave me exhausted and fed up.  I wonder if the kids are actually learning anything from my activities.  Basically, I wonder on days like those, if my efforts are worthwhile.  Reading ''Tattoos on the Heart'', by Fr. Greg Boyle, S.J., helped change my outlook a bit.  He wrote, ''All Jesus asks is 'where are you standing'? And after chilling defeat and soul-numbing failure, He asks again, 'Are you still standing there'?''  I have tried to begin to see my job not so much in terms of success and failure, but in terms of where my feet are.  Yes, I still try to plan good, educational activities.  But I am reminded that my biggest duty is to stand with these kids as a role model, friend, peer.  Someone who cares about them.  It's not easy.  It's something I will most likely struggle with  until my last day there.  But I know that standing with them is worthwhile.

            So, that is a little glimpse into the past few months.  I want to tell you all about Damien House and the work of Sr. Annie, it's founder, but I will save that for my next post.  Next week, I will be working for a morning or two at Casa Don Bosco, a Salesian-run shelter for street boys.  I will be accompanying two social workers as they visit the families of the boys who live and learn there.  It's something new for me, and exciting, so I'll keep you posted.  It's crazy to think, but we've been here in Ecuador for over 9 months now.  With a little over 3 months to go, I know our time here is rapidly coming to a close.  It will be a wild 3 months, with many retreat groups and preparations for the new year-long  Rostro de Cristo volunteers arriving in July (shout-out to the 3 vols coming from Creighton!).  I can't promise very quick Facebook responses, but know that you all will continue to be in my thoughts and prayers!  Thanks for all your love and support.  Cuidense mucho!

Cristobal

The kids at Semillas call me Nasuti, a defenseman on the local soccer team Emelec…any resemblance??

Playing a little guitar before Mass with two of my best friends and teachers down here, Frixon and Ricardo.