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Gary’s Blog From Sabbatical
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) - May 10, 2010 in Pastor Message - (15) Comments
During Pastor Gary’s sabbatical, he will keep TLC updated on his work. Keep checking in to read about Gary’s most recent adventure.
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.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) - June 07, 2010
I have never blogged before so if I don’t sound very “bloggish” please excuse me. I am almost a week into my sabbatical and much of the first week was spent with my extended family at my sister and brother-in-law’s 50th wedding anniversary in Hot Springs, AR. They had it there because that was where they went on their honeymoom 50 years ago. I was twelve at the time of their wedding, too old to be a ring bearer and too young to be a groomsman, so, all I could do was see how much mischief I could get into with the grooms young brother who was about my age. We tried to pick up with the mischief where we left off at the wedding. But even there, with our attention on family matters, we couldn’t help but notice the neighbors. The young woman cleaning the hotel rooms had a very Latino look to her and I
wanted to ask her to tell me her story, where she came from and how it was going for her. I took my bicycle along and did a couple of morning rides. On one of them I passed two men who looked very much like the characters in the movie “El Norte.” They were standing beside the road with lunch boxes, obviously waiting for someone who needed some strong arms and backs to come by and give them work. I am passing my neighbors all the time just as you are, often without giving them a thought. I hope that by the time my sabbatical is over, I will be much more attentive to my neighbors, and to our Lord’s command to love them. I leave for Garden City tomorrow where I will be spending time with Tony Mendez, pastor of Iglesia Luterana de la resurreccion, and visiting UMMAM, (The United Methodist Mexican-American Ministries). I look forward to just being with them, watching what they do, and the people they love and care for. I look forward to gaining enough proficiency in Spanish that the staccato of unintelligible sounds that are nothing but noise to me now, can begin to impart to me the thoughts and ideas, hopes and fears of the neighbors who surround me. I am almost finished with the book, “They Are Us” by Bouman and Deffenbaugh, and have started reading “Open Veins of Latin America” by Eduardo Galeano, a history of the interaction between the Europeans and the Native Americans over the past five centuries. This book was presented to President Barack Obama by Latin American Leaders when they met with him. I would recommend both books to anyone who is interested in some good reading material for the summer. vaya con dios and hasta luego.
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) - June 10, 2010
I suspect that many of us have some very strong stereotypes of the people who are immigrating up from Mexico. One of the challenges we have is to look beyond those stereotypes and recognize these neighbors from south of the border for the unique and different individuals that they are. For instance, would any of you have thought that some of the immigrants from Mexico are white Mennonites who speak German?
It is true. Google “Mennonites in Mexico” for the full story. Back in the 20s, a large group of Mennonites moved from Canada to Northern Mexico where they were given land by the Mexican government on the condition that they produce much coveted queso, or cheese. It is estimated that 80,000 Mennonites live in several large colonies in northern Mexico maintaining their Mennonite faith and German language and culture. However, population pressures are growing, at least partly due to their aversion to birth control and some of them are immigrating north to the rural areas around Garden City. The United Methodist Mexican American Ministries in Garden City recently added a staff member who is bilingual in English and Low German so that he/she can act as a translator for the Mennonites, (especially women and children) who come to their clinic and speak nothing but German. Most of the men are bilingual German and Spanish but many of the women are not. White, German speaking Mennonites in Mexico migrating to the United States??? Who would have thought it?
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) - June 19, 2010
I returned from Omaha on Thursday the 17th of June after a delightful week with Iglesia Cristo Rey ELCA located in the Latino part of south Omaha. It all began with worship on Sunday morning, June 13th. There were children in worship there, lots and lots of children. Of the approximately 70 who worshipped, at least half of them had to be young children, and most of the rest were young adults (at least compared to me) who were the parents of all those children. It was noisy, chaotic and delightful. I gave the children’s message in English and then the children were dismissed to the fellowship hall for children’s time while Pastor Liz gave the regular sermon in Spanish. The children then returned for the prayers, the meal the the sending. They followed the classic lutheran form of worship with the gathering, the word, the meal and the sending, but the music was by a small band, with song leaders and melodies that were different but upbeat and very singable. They shared the peace with great energy and at some point during the peace, a couple of kids began wandering around the church with offering plates, collecting from people in a random manner. I think they got to everyone eventually, and then returned to the chancel with the offerings. It appeared disorganized by the standards of Trinity, but it got done and the children were key players in their stewardship, something we could learn from.
The congregation has a tradition going back many years of having a program called, “Project Embrace” during the month of June which is basically and all day Vacation Bible School program. I taught two hours of Bible Stories on Tuesday,
Wednesday and Thursday on the theme of “who is my neighbor”.
Tuesday was the Good Samaritan, Wednesday was the Rich Man and Lazarus and Thursday was Jesus on the cross between the two criminals. It was a good week and the kids learned the stories. We had trouble finding a good place for play and recreation as that kind of space was lacking in the church and around the church. We had some really interesting lunches that included “poor man’s tacos (tacos made with mashed potatoes instead of meat or other fillings) and spaghetti pizza. Teenagers from the church were helpers and they really pitched in and worked. It was moving to see how much was accomplished given the limited resources and the problems posed by the facilities and setting. As the week went by and I had dinner at the home of the president of the congregation on Monday night and got to know the kids and their parents and their stories, the thought kept coming back to me that these people are valuable resources to our church and our country. Again and again I heard people telling stories of overcoming obstacles and bringing amazing drive and desire to bear on matters of survival and making a life for themselves and their families. These people are not liabilities to our country, but assets that should be valued. The situation regarding immigration documentation and status is a complex one that I am far from understanding. However, I believe that a starting point is to understand that for the vast majority of our Latino neighbors who live together with us in the USA, they are valuable assets that we need to work to preserve and utilize.
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) - June 21, 2010
Two hours of Bible study a day! Wow! Your experience sounds challenging and yet extremely uplifting and renewing. Hope you all are enjoying Savannah this week!
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) - June 30, 2010
It has been a while since I updated my blog. The main reason for that is that from June 20th through the 26th my family and I were doing some vacationing together in Savannah, Georgia. It was a 40th anniversary trip and celebration that we had been planning since our 40th anniversary back on August 9th of 2009. We had a great time in spite of the blazing heat. I am now in Washington DC at the end of our time here. On Sunday I worshiped at “Luther Place” a congregation located about 7-8 blocks from the White House that has a vibrant ministry to a very diverse population in downtown Washington DC. Once again I discovered how small is the Lutheran world when I spotted an old friend from Wilson, KS who I had known from my days in Great Bend. He and his wife were visiting their daughter who lives in DC and when in town, they always made a point of worshiping at Luther Place. Following the service, we walked to the White House and spent the rest of the day sight seeing in downtown Washington DC, viewing the WWII memorial, the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial and a number of other sights.
On Monday, I met with Eric Sigmon of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services. He had a great deal of specific data about a lot of things that I had been hearing about. The most helpful data was hard figures on the various categories of people seeking to gain visas to live in the USA, and how long it took them to go through the process, even when they were good candidates for residency. We then visited the offices of Senator Brownback and Senator Roberts. We were met by staffers and not by the senators themselves which I had anticipated. I was really looking for information from them on the Senators’ views on the immigration question and asked each of them if the senator for whom they worked thought there were problems with our present immigration policy and if so, what they were. I also asked them what their vision or goal was for immigration reform. I must confess that I learned nothing of significance from either of them other than that it was highly unlikely that any sort of immigration reform bill would be considered before the November Elections. Neither of the staffers seemed to be able to tell me of any particular goals or specific steps that their bosses would like to see taken with respect to the immigration question I’m not sure what to make of this.
They may very well have been expecting me to bend their ear about my opinions and not expected to be asked questions about their position on the issue. And, I did share with them my thoughts such as they are at this time; partially formed and still looking for a lot of information. I’m not sure if these staffers weren’t aware of their Senator’s stances on Immigration, or, if their senators really haven’t developed clear positions on the immigration question, or if they just didn’t want to say anything about it???? I came away wondering if by and large, lawmakers are more reactive than proactive. In other words, they react to proposals that come before them, when someone brings them to their attention more so than proactively developing a position on a question, or at least, on this question. I also realize that Senator Brownback is running for governor and does not anticipate being in Washington beyond the fall, so, he probably has his mind on other things.
However, I got names and email addresses and hope to strike up an email conversation with them that might lead to more information. On the side, I discovered that the staffer in Senator Brownback’s Office is from Onaga, Kansas and is probably a shirt-tail relative of mine. I grew up with her grandparents and mother so that was good. The other thing that Linda and I have noted as we move around the Washington DC area is how often we, namely Caucasions, are in the minority. And this isn’t just downtown Washington DC, but in the Applebees and Mad Greek restaurants, in the malls and shops of the suburbs where our hotel is. Our neighbors are indeed colorful in more ways than one. And so, how do we go about living out that great commandment of our Lord, to love our neighbors as ourselves???? I think we have a lot to learn.
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) - July 10, 2010
It has been ten day since I added to this blog. During that time we celebrated the 4th of July with family, and traveled to Taos, NM where we are spending a week, thanks to Jeff and Christie Needham. On the way out, we stopped off and visited Kathi Holt who lives in a 120 year old hotel in Cimarron, KS and runs simulation training events for social work students at KU and for other groups as well. The simulation events are designed to enable the participants to gain some measure of understanding for the situations faced by immigrants from Latin America. She highlighted a theme that I have heard repeatedly. The theme is that if we are going to love our neighbors who are from Latin America, we need to get beyond stereotypes and appreciate them as individuals. It isn’t just addressing issues faced by Latinos such as immigration, but it is recognizing and appreciating each person as an individual and recognizing that there are profound differences of values, outlooks and perspectives among any given race or ethnic group including Hispanics. They deserve to be viewed as more than just a member of a racial or ethnic group, but to be listened to and learned about and appreciated for the unique individuals that they each are.
We stopped at Bent’s Fort in Southeastern Colorado. Bent’s Fort is built on the Arkansas River, the river that formed the border between Mexico in the southwest and French territory to the north of the river until the US acquired it in the Louisiana Purchase. During the early 1800s, it was an incredible mix of languages and people with Spanish, French, English and several Indian languages being spoken there. It also served as a reminder of how the land we claim as our own with such passion, seems to have changed hands any number of times. There were the turf battles between Indian Nations that preceded the arrival of any Europeans. Then, Spain/Mexico took the lands of the southwest from the Indians while the French and Americans did the same further north and east. Then, with the California Gold Rush going on, General Kearney led a military force to take New Mexico, Arizona and California from Mexico for the USA. The first governor of the territory of New Mexico, an American named Charles Bent was killed by Mexican and Indian peoples who protested his authority. Looking back as far as I can see, (The Taos Pueblo has been there, continuously inhabited for over 1000 years) people have always been dealing with immigrants moving and spoiling the neighborhood. The Indians of the Spanish, the Mexicans of the Americans, and now the Americans of the Latinos and other groups. I guess what goes around comes around. Maybe a good starting point is the confession the the Earth is the Lord’s and everything in it, and we need to be careful about claiming for ourselves the sole right to determine who is allowed to live on and use God’s good earth.
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) - July 14, 2010
Thanks for your commentary as you travel. That is a perspective that we need to remember—we Anglos never had “legal papers” that were issued by the Native tribes. Studying American history can be revelatory. I’m sure you are enjoying Taos and I’m glad Linda is having a sabbitical from church as well.
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) - July 16, 2010
Gary. Just catching up on your blog. Thanks for taking the time to share your experiences with us. Imagration is such a hot topic at this time but you know a few years ago at the WELCA Triennial in Philadelphia Pa is where I became interested, Actually there were 2 women from Africa(can’t remember what country) detained in Canada. Didn’t get to here from them. Glad to hear that youy & Linda are also getting some down time. Last day of VNS tonight. I think we all had a great time.
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) - July 16, 2010
This morning, I thought I would just toss out a few things that I have occurred, or, that I have learned thus far on my Sabbatical. Drawing on my growing understanding of Spanish I have been coining phrases or names for various things. I quickly dubbed Washington DC as the “Ciudad de edificio grande” (city of big buildings). When it comes to Spanish, I am a “Cuerno Verde” (green horn). And, certain people are a “Dolor en el cuello” (pain in the neck), a phrase that many of you might find useful from time to time. I learned the Native American term for a vegetarian from our guide at the Taos Pueblo. It is, “A poor hunter.” On a more serious note, I have gotten back into the habit of reading scripture every day just fore the sake of reading scripture and not because I have to prepare a sermon or a Bible study. It is refreshing. I am slowly becoming conscious of how for many many years, I have always been rushing through whatever I was doing at the moment in order to get to that which still needs to be done. I am rediscovering how fulfilling it is to take the time necessary to focus and enjoy what I am doing at the moment rather than chomping at the bit to push on to what else needs to be addressed. Linda and I have discovered that being together, biking, exploring the history and attractions of Washington DC and the Southwest has been a great joy. For instance, she read a biography of Kit Carson which is intricately entwined with the relations between the neighbors of his era, the Indians, Mexicans, French, Americans, Mountain Men and others. And, with the theme of neighbors in mind, I have been keenly aware of the tensions between neighbors that have existed since the dawn of time. Even my scripture reading for this morning (The book of Micah) describes the tensions between Israel, Judah, the Assyrians and others. In Washington DC it was the Colonists and the Indians, the Americans, French and British with their various indian allies. It was the white immigrants and the slaves; anti-slaver and pro-slavery, puritans, protestants, catholics and on and on. Loving the neighbor is the second half of the great commandment for a very good reason. History and experience shows us that it does not come naturally to fearful, self-serving, competitive, prejudiced, sinful human beings like us.
Espero tienen un buen dia (I hope you have a good day).
God bless.
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) - August 01, 2010
It is early Sunday morning in Mexico City. Linda and I are going to try and negotiate the infamous Mexico City Metro and attend church at the Lutheran Center on the west side of Mexico City. Worship is at 10:30 so we have some time before we need to leave. It was an adventure getting here from the airport. Of course, customs involves waiting in line and then waiting in line some more. We then signed up with a taxi service at a counter in the airport but when we got out to the curb, found that they had severely overbooked and had to wait almost an hour until a taxi was available. That meant, we got to our hotel quite late at night and they had given away our room. That turned out to be a good thing since they moved us into a much nicer room for the same price and we had one night in the Queen Elizabeth Suite.
We are within just a couple of blocks of the heart of Mexico City. The first thing I noticed is that we have a great many neighbors living in this city. The streets are teeming, chaotic, noisy, filled with poeple and vehicles and people hawking every imaginable kind of trinket or ware. We have also found that most of the people, even around the hotel do not speak English very well if at all. I think we are getting a taste for what it is like for non-English speaking people from this area to come to the US. My Spanish is very limited, but, thank God for what I do know because we would be having a much tougher time of it if I didn’t know what I know. We visited Zokalo square, the incredible national cathedral in the square and the palace yesterday. That cathedral is incredible. They began working on it in 1537 and spent almost 100 years building on it. One side of it, like many other buildings in the city are sinking into the soft soil upon which they were built, so the older the building, the more they resemble the leaning tower of Pisa. There is a very old church right next to our hotel which, in contrast to the hotel, leans out over the street to a very noticeable degree.
I do have internet so I have been able to follow the growing debate over immigration reform in the states. I will comment more on that in my next blog. Adios y vaya con dios.
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) - August 04, 2010
Wednesday, August 04, 2010
Mexico City is awesome. We are staying right down town, two blocks from the main square called Zocalo. It is not a very touristy hotel, not much English spoken, and what is spoken is not very good. But it is nice, clean, and really feels like Mexico. This downtown area is just packed with people of all kinds, everything from well heeled gentlemanly looking men and women in suits and dresses to beggars and everything in between There are just swarms of people crowded in the streets and around the Cathedral in Zocalo square. The streets are crammed with cars, motorbikes and bicycles and Linda and I have panic attacks by the dozen as we watch the traffic from our fourth floor window. Two solid lanes of traffic in a one way street below our window and suddenly here comes a Bicycle down the middle of the street, between the two rows of traffic going against the traffic. And then, we see a motorscooter coming the other way also between the two rows of traffic and not in a traffic lane. Somehow they dodged each other and the speeding cars although I don’t know how. We spent almost four hours on what is called a Turibus yesterday as it crept its way through a city wide traffic jam for miles, with everyone ignoring signs, traffic lights and rules of the road in order to slip across a jammed up intersection or gain a momentary advantage on another car playing chicken with the horn honking wildly. While waiting for the Turibus at one of the major intersections in Mexico
City which is designed as a huge roundabout, we would watch as traffic from one direction came charging, not around the right side of the roundabout at you would expect, but around both sides of the roundabout with cars peeling off and weaving their way through the intersection and making wild turns onto the cross street. Every once in a while a car would get cut off by the change of the light and would end up stopped in the lee side of the roundabout while a horde of cars like an old cattle stampede thundered around it, seemingly missing it by inches. Yes, we have been fascinated by the traffic. And yet, as Linda has pointed out several times, we don’t see cars with dents and dings like one would expect in this situation.
Another thing there is a lot of is noise. We almost have to have a window open during the day and even at night, but the road noise, sirens, hooting and hollering goes on pretty much 24-7. One especially annoying sound is that of organ grinders, playing portable, poor quality organs on the sidewalk. There is one who seemingly spends all day and most of the night under our window in the hotel. They are just like an old fashioned American Organ Grinder except without the monkey. He cranks out that awful off-tune music all day and much of the night while holding out a hat for money. It is the same melody over and over and absolutely drives us nuts. I have been tempted to offer him a hundred pesos if he would just take his crank organ and go home and leave us without that annoying noise.
As I said in my previous blog, we are two blocks from an immense Church called the national Cathedral. The Spaniards began building it in 1537, just 15 years after the defeat of the Aztecs, building it squarely on top of the old temples and pyramids of the conquered Aztec city. They built on it for nearly 100 years and it is truly awesome, although it has sunk nearly 30 feet into the soft soil upon which it was built, and leans a bit like the leaning tower of Pisa. It is still in use and there was a crowd celebrating mass as we walked through it. Around the temple is as colorful a scene as one can find anywhere. There are hundreds of vendors selling cloth, clothes, art work, food, trinkets, hats, etc. They are shouting loudly and harshly to anyone who can hear over the din, advertising their wares and prices. There are also Indians dancing traditional Indian dances. There are shamans “smudging” people with incense, waving clouds of smoke over individuals with leaves, supposedly to cleanse them. There are fortune tellers dressed like the grim reaper only in shiny silver and black clothes and with the face carefully hidden behind a black mask. The crowds are mostly Latin Americans. Linda and I have commented that we really thought we would encounter more Americans and Europeans in this area, but they seem fairly scarce, or perhaps their numbers are just lost in the immense crowds of Mexicans.
We have had a few unpleasant surprises with the food. The first few places we tried just had Spanish language menus and the waiters spoke little or no English. My Spanish is improving rapidly, but at least initially, we had a hard time figuring out what some of the dishes were and a harder time eating some of the dishes we ordered. Linda got a salad at one place that had something in it that she swore were fish eyes, and she still nearly gags when she thinks about it. However, by now we have found a couple of restaurants that we really like. Probably our favorite is a restaurant recommended by my niece Traci Carl called Café Tocuba. They have Tamales that are just wonderful.
We continue to have many adventures traveling. In order to get to church on Sunday, we took the Metro (the Mexico City Subway System) to a bus stop from which we took a bus to what we thought was the vicinity of the church. Signage was hard to interpret, my Spanish was not up to asking or understanding directions and it was a real adventure finding our way to and through the subway stations. The trains were absolutely packed like sardines and that too was an adventure. At the train station where we got off, my instructions were to take a bus from in front of a pharmacy outside the metro terminal. When we emerged, we discovered that there were fifty buses and had no idea which one to take. A helpful woman finally understood what we were looking for and escorted us to the proper bus. After we got off on Paseo De Las Palmas, the street where the church was located, we discovered that we were at the 500 block and the church was at the 1900 block. We took off walking, almost running and discovered that that part of Mexico City has the longest blocks in the world. Each one had to be nearly a quarter of a mile long. We were sweaty messes when we got to church, and arrived just in time for the offering and communion. Fortunately, they had some great refreshments afterwards and a farewell for a recently ordained Mexican American Pastor who had been working at the church. Also, fortunately, some kind members drove us back to the metro station from which we did better returning by way of the metro.
Then, yesterday, we took the famed Turibus to the Angel of Independence Plaza, and from there we walked to see the National Museum of Anthropology. It was overwhelming. We spent 4-5 hours there and finally gave up before we had gotten through it all due to information overload and sore feet. We stopped to see the Castillo de Chapultapec (Castle of Chapultapec)and then hiked back down to catch our turibus which was to take us on a tour of the rest of the city. We boarded the bus a little before six and didn’t get home until almost nine. It crept its way through the worst traffic I have ever seen. Plus, it rained on us, off and on the entire way. Since we were on the upper deck of the bus exposed to the weather, we huddled under our umbrella. About half way through the trip, a stern looking bus worker came back and told me I had to put down the umbrella. No explanation why. I guess he just wanted us to get wet. Who knows? However, we really enjoyed everything we saw, even if it left us tired, wet, and cold. And yes, in spite of the heat from which our family and friends are suffering back in Kansas, we are experiencing highs in the 70s and overnight lows in the 50s. Linda generally dons a jacket when we head out in the morning. Also, we are in the rainy season and it has been raining most late afternoons and early evenings. One evening we had a rather severe storm with hail, heavy rain and strong winds that brought at least one tree limb down in the next block.
We also did a day long trip to see the pyramids at Teotihuacan. They are probably the most famous pyramids in the Americas. They are huge, one of them called the pyramid of the sun and the other the pyramid of the moon. They are surrounded by other extensive ruins and they are truly breathtaking. We climbed to the top of the Pyramid of the Sun and our legs are still sore from the climb and descent. The progressive civilization that produced them dated back to before the time of Christ, and the pyramids themselves were built in the first couple of centuries after the birth of Christ. That city existed until the 7th or 8th centuries I believe.
Then, today, we toured the ruins of the Great Temple of the Aztecs that was standing at the time that Cortez and his allies conquered the Aztecs in 1520-22. There were actually seven different temples built over nearly two hundred years, one on top of another, each bigger and higher than the last. The Aztec people were all about war, and they ritually killed captive enemy by cutting the heart out of their victims while it was still beating. There is also evidence that they practiced self mutilation and even auto-sacrifice. They were truly gruesome. There is evidence that the people of Teotihuacan also sacrificed people in their temples but did not have the practice of cutting out beating hearts.
I have been overwhelmed by the amazing civilizations that have flourished here in the past. They were so colorful, so sophisticated in terms of social structure, warfare, science, literature, astronomy and the arts. We suspect that many people think of the people of Latin America as a pretty homogenous group. They are dark skinned, catholic, speak Spanish and eat Tamales. But there is great diversity among the people of Latin America dating back to the dozens of civilizations that predated the arrival of the Spanish, amazing and advanced civilizations for their day. And then, after the arrival of the Spanish, many of the Indian Cultures survived in some form and on top of that there were the Spaniards, the Creoles and the Mestizos. Our neighbors from the south have a rich history and culture. They remember their ancestors with pride and it shapes who they are today. They are an interesting and delightful people who enrich any of us who take time to get acquainted with who they are now and where they came from.
There are some lessons we might do well to take to heart. We learned while at Teotihuacan that the key reason that great and prosperous civilization fell was because they mistreated their neighbors. Archeologists have found that about the time of the end of that civilization, there had been a great fire. But, when they excavated further, they discovered that only the homes of the rich and powerful were burned, leading them to theorize that the lower class who had suffered at the hands of the rulers and the elite, and surrounding tribes who had been beaten in battle, forced to pay tribute and possibly render up members of their community for sacrifice, had turned against the rulers of Teotihuacan and did them in.
It is also true that Cortez alone could not have defeated Moctezuma and the Aztecs with his little army, However, as he moved against the Aztecs, there were thousands of other Indians who jumped at the opportunity to rebel against the Aztecs and take revenge against a power that had run roughshod over them and mistreated them for as long as they could remember. The Aztecs might have survived if they had treated their neighbors less harshly, cut out fewer of their neighbors’ hearts, and not inspired their neighbors to turn against them and side with the Spanish Invaders.
It left me thinking that we might do well to take a few lessons from the history of our neighbors and not deal too harshly with them. People carry grudges, and memories of kindnesses for a long, long time. I continue to work on my Spanish. I think Linda must be embarrassed by me carrying my Spanish dictionary along everywhere I go and stopping to look up words I don’t know. Linda is always waiting for me to catch up in the museums as I am constantly stopping to look up unknown words on the plaques. Every time I can make myself understood, or understand someone else feels like a minor (or major) victory. However, as I walk along listening to the chatter around me unable to understand a word of it, I am reminded of how much farther I have to do. Dios sea con ustedes (God be with you all)
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) - August 05, 2010
Gary:I am so enjoying your blog. Today was a very good day for me when I ooened my e-mail & saw you had written on yourblog & an e-mail from Nicholas one of my Va grandsons telling me about the week he is spending at Smith Mountain Lake,in Va or Pa not sure. Anyway Mexico sounds very exciting. To navigate around the town may be daunting but exhilarating at the same time. I thank-you for the wonderful history lesson & a lot of food for thought. I am a little envious of your visit to the pyramids. I once spent the whole day exploring Moorish ruins in Portugal. I can’t wait to hear all about your adventures when you & Lindfa get home.
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) - August 07, 2010
Yesterday was a memorable day in Mexico city for the Teskes. We booked a Taxi for 9 a.m. so we could get the airport where Linda would catch her flight back to the USA and IU would catch a bus to Cuernavaca. My watch stopped overnight and when we discovered that it was running almost an hour late, we had 30 minutes to make it down and grab the taxi. Somehow, we did get downstairs by 9, got checked out and the taxi took just ten minutes to get us to the airport, so we need not have rushed like we did.
Linda went to get her boarding pass and check her suitcase and found out that her flight was delayed and she would only land with about 40 minutes to claim her baggage, get through customs (in Dallas Forth Worth) and make her connecting flight. The airline personnel thought she could do it, but we didn’t. So, Linda went back and changed to a later flight out of Dallas. We hung around the airport until 12:30 before she went on into the international terminal. I found the bus and we left for Cuernavaca about 1:30. When I left the terminal, the departure board still listed Linda’s flight as leaving at 1:12. The airline personnel at the counter had told her it wouldn’t be until 1:45. She actually didn’t get out until almost 3 p.m. Arrived in Dallas during thunderstorms and had her connecting flight (that she probably wouldn’t have made anyway) cancelled due to the storms. She called me to tell me should be spending the night in the airport about 7 or so. Then, about 10 called back to say that they had gotten her on a late flight out of Dallas and she would still be getting in tonight although late.
My bus trip was fabulous. It went up over some pretty high mountains and they were beautiful. I arrived in Cuernavaca about 3, and caught a taxi to my host family’s house arriving there about 3:45. I am fighting a touch of diarrhea but managed to make the bus trip with no trips to the “bano” and no accidents. My host family is Pedro, an aging carpenter with a bad heart. His wife Reyna who is a ball of energy, and their son Victor who is a teacher and a really good one.
I have a simple but very adequate room in the upstairs part of their house. We are speaking nothing but Spanish. They really struggle to find words and accompanying gestures to get their messages across. Reyna has been hosting language students from Cetlalic for 23 years, so, she is good. They know to speak slowly, they correct my pronunciation, and are very patient with me as I attempt to remember words and verb forms in order to communicate. I think this is going to be great.
I asked about taking a walk after cena (dinner) and they told me to go ahead. It is a neighborhood (barrio) of small simple stores and various types and sizes of houses. They have no worries about security or safety in this area. As I walked around a few blocks, there was a band practicing in a local Charismatic Church, a soccer field full of kids playing soccer (even had a game going on the basketball court), lots of little one room stores with soda and snacks on the shelves (they reminded me of trade stores in PNG). I would look down what looked like an alley full of trash and then notice that it was more of an elongated courtyard with multiple dwellings along the sides. They looked rather dirty and dingy, but don’t know what they looked like inside so I might be surprised if I get a chance to enter one (although I doubt it). I must admit that I was a bit anxious before arriving, but, I think it is going to be good.
August 7, 2010
This is a totally different experience than in Mexico City. I am in the middle of what I pictured the residential areas of Mexico to be like. The home is comfortable and has everything I need, but not fancy. Cuernavaca is a city with hills that would put San Francisco to shame let alone Lawrence. Houses are somehow stuck into the sides of mountains and I don’t know why they don’t slide down, but they don’t. It is crowded with courtyards walled off from neighbors, lots of rock and rubble and trash all over the place. If a house has a front courtyard and the one I am staying at does, it has a heavy gate in the front with a little door in the gate through which people can enter and exit. People of all ages including young children are constantly walking up and down the narrow streets, in small groups, alone, men and women, children, chatting and laughing and going about their business. Everything looks kind of unkempt and dirty, but in the mdst of it all, people maintain small gardens around their houses with flowers and even fruit trees growing in this rocky, mountainous soil. It is clear to me that there is a strong sense of community among the people here. Victor and I took the bus to the center of the city today and visited the cathedral of the town, again, a very old, huge, elaborate cathedral filled with art and magnificence. We also visited the old home of Cortez when he lived for a time in Cuernavaca. There is centuries of history everywhere you look. The bus ride was bumpy and on the narrow streets, one can’t imagine how a bus can navigate through cars parked here and there, on the wrong sides of streets, but they do.
The have trash pickup here and today I got to see it from the front of my host families house. A regular old garbage truck just like the one that comes by our house on Tuesdays came crawling up the street while out in front, one of the workers ran on ahead ringing a bell. When people heard the bell, they ran for their trash and brought it to the truck. Linda commented in Mexico City that she didn’t see the skinny stray dogs like we used to see everywhere in Papua New Guinea, but they have them here. Dogs roam the streets with many of them looking pretty malnourished and in tough shape. As I was watching the trash truck drive by, I noticed a pickup with Arizona license plates go by. So many families have ties to someone in the US. The daughter in law of my host lives in Chicago and she is visiting her family this summer. They have been in Chicago for well over ten years but she speaks hardly any English. Her teenage son who was with her speaks perfect, idiomatic, USA Teenager English. Meeting him, one would never dream that Spanish is obviously spoken in his home and that at the drop of a hat, he can speak Spanish just as fluently.
Tomorrow the formal classes and program begins and I am looking forward to it. It seems to me that we have some very nice neighbors down in this part of the continent that we share.
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) - August 13, 2010
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Wow, the week has really flown by. The schedule is really intense. After a fairly quiet Saturday, we had some orientation on Sunday and went to work on Monday. They daily schedule is get up at 6:30, eat at 7:30, catch the bus at 8 for the wild ride across town to a fountain which is our landmark for getting off. It is a twenty minute ride that would fit right in at Worlds of Fun with steep twisting curves down into a deep valley, and then climbing back out and through town. Through town it turns into a great big game of chicken between the bus and any other vehicle that gets in it’s way. We have about a 15 minute walk up a rather steep street to the school called CETLALIC, and classes begin at 9. We work solid, with only two 10 minute and one 20 minute break until 2. Then it is back down the hill, catch the bus back to our host family for a quick meal, a bit of conversation and then it is back to catch the bus at 4 or 4:15 for the 5 p.m. session which runs until about 6:30. Then it is back home on the bus for an evening cup of tea and conversation and then homework until lights out. Last night I was up till midnight and the night before 11:30 with my “Tarea” or homework. However, the instructor is great and while fluency is but a faint speck on the horizon, I am definitely improving.
The evening sessions are sessions with members of the base Christian community movement which began here in Cuernavaca back in the sixties. It was a movement among lay people, encouraged by then bishop Sergio Mendez Arceo in which small group Bible Study transformed people’s lives and inspired them to work to alleviate poverty and human suffering, to promote human rights and fair treatment for all. They tell some amazing stories about lives being turned around and about people with very few resources, organizing themselves against incredible odds to help others to stand up for themselves and help themselves and others. They stress the need for community, local community that provides mutual support, accountability, and power. They contend that the word of God, if listened to honestly, can’t fail to inspire people to be outraged at neighbors who are being mistreated and who are suffering. They believe that the word of God transforms lives and moves people to take action to change the world for the better. One of the leaders of this movement which is ongoing is a Sister Ogostina. Tonight she told about taking a trip to another part of Mexico, Chiapas to visit the poverty there which was even worse than here. She stayed with the people and ate hardly anything because they had hardly anything to eat. When she came back, she wanted to do something to help them. However, she had no way of traveling to Chiapas, no money to send, so, she decided to organize a program for the poor and hungry children in Cuernavaca. It involved over 30 children and their families providing a weekly meal, teaching and mentoring. She told about several of those children who have grown up and gone on to prosper. These are really inspiring stories.
We visited a woman who ekes out a living making pottery in a little patched together house and workshop. I have pictures of her place. It is built right beside and indeed even cross a rather polluted stream that the local people are trying to clean up. I won’t lie, it was dirty, and smelly and rather unpleasant. But as I walked away, I looked back and saw flowers blooming beautifully out of the side of her property. It was a powerful picture of our neighbors in Cuernavaca. Yes, there is poverty and need, but the people are amazingly resilient and are not sitting around passively hoping for someone to rescue them. Everywhere I look, people are battling away to make things better. They work long hours caring for their families and doing whatever they have to do to make enough to live on. And all over the place, in the midst of brown, gray and dirt, there is beauty blooming like those flowers.
Friday, August 13, 2010
We had another moving evening with dynamic Ogostina tonight. She led us in a time of reflection on the story about the road to Emmaeus and it was powerful. Ogostina asked what it meant that Jesus Christ disappeared right after revealing himself to the disciples in the breaking of the bread in Emmaeus. After various answers, she volunteered that he disappeared to emphasize that he was now present within the two disciples. She then stated that it is just like when we take communion. There is Christ in our hand in the form of the host and the wine. But then we eat and we drink and the host has disappeared, and Christ is within us. I don’t know if I will ever view communion quite the same. What a powerful idea to contemplate as we leave the Lord’s table. Jesus was there, in the breaking of the bread, but now he is gone. And, where has he gone? Away? No, but he is within me. It was a Grace Moment and a gift of insight, not from someone with a doctor of theology degree, but from a woman who is struggling daily (Luchar is the word they use) to live a life, not spoiled by poverty and injustice but transformed by the power and presence of Jesus Christ, believing that in so doing, she can help change the world for the good. .
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) - August 20, 2010
It has been a very busy, full, exhausting week. However, I also think that it has been very productive. we spent a lot of time listening to and speaking Spanish in a variety of settings. We had an evaluation of the program today and it was overwhelmingly positive. The teachers really have been good, even Francisco. One individual thought that our schedule was too full with the hours spent in travel getting back and forth on the bus and there may be some truth in that. However, I’m not so sure that some of the frustrations we have endured in travel, lost laundry and lack of control of our environment doesn’t help us appreciate what many of the people here go through every day.
I have been so touched by the members of the Base Christian Communities (Comunidades Eclesiales de Base, or CEBs) and their outlook on life. I believe that this is the first time that I have traveled into a country where proverty was a serious issue that I haven’t had people asking me for money. The people in the Base Christian Communities want us to attend their meetings and hear their story so they can tell us and show us how they are dealing with the serious needs growing out of poverty and oppression through their Christ-Centered, Bible Centered base Christian Communities. The group we attended tonight included all ages including children. We began by talking with the children about the issues they face as they go back to school, and about a new initiative to have healthier foods in school. They then read through a reading from Isaiah and Matthew and everyone shared what they thought these readings said about the issues in their lives, in the community and in their schools, even the children spoke up. And what they are saying to us isn’t, send us money so we can continue to do this. They are saying, this works and we think that you should go back and take this approach to tacking issues of human suffering, human need and human rights in your communities. These people think they have something to teach us, and I suspect they are right.
Yesterday I met a woman and her son of about 7 or 8 at the market here in Cuernvaca. We were getting ready to leave the market and walk to the center of the town before catching a bus back to our host family. We weren’t sure of the way and were trying to get directions from our leader when this young boy tapped on my arm and asked if we needed help getting somewhere. He and his mother said that they were going to the Central Plaza of the town and offered to lead us there. On the way I discovered that they had been living in Liberal and Dodge City Kansas for either the past 12 or past 20 years (not sure). The boy had been born in Dodge so he was and is a US Citizen. She had been deported two months ago and they are now living with her mother in Cuernavaca. I didn’t get a chance to find out the details of her story. She said she had no criminal record and had never been charged with any crime. She indicated that somehow, when her oldest son turned 21, they had discovered their lack of documentation. He must have been required to register somewhere for something when he turned 21, anyway, that was when they were discovered and deported. Her son, a US citizen, now cannot live in his own country unless he leaves his mother behind, something an 8 year old boy is not likely to do. So, we have a US Citizen who cannot live in his homeland without becoming an orphan (his father is not in the picture). It seems to me that there is something a bit strange and a bit wrong about that.