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Getting ready to go teach English
On my way to the school in Carorita, Venezuela Okay, so I'm actually writing this after the fact, but I realized in my entries that I never really finished describing the trip, and even some of my entries were rather sparse. So, I hope some of this will fill in the gaps, if my memory doesn't fail me!
It rained almost the whole time, with a clear day or two to start and breaks here and there. It wasn't Venezuela's rainy season, but evidently it decided to rain anyway. So, some of our construction projects were put on hold, but we worked around the weather.
There were a few parts to our mission trip. One is construction work, which included pouring gravel in a path made far too muddy by the rain, building a greenhouse at the mission house, pouring cement onto the driveway of the mission house (we made two trenches, put large rocks in them that we gathered, and poured concrete over top) because the driveway was basically washing away. Another large component was the medical clinic. Carorita has a medical clinic, but it is manned by Francisco, the minister at the Methodist mission house (and not a licensed physician). We brought a nurse and doctor
School in Carorita
The fourth grade room where I taught a little English. with us, and usually one of us would help and Mary Al or Francisco would translate. People came all over the area for medical assistance, hitching rides or walking large distances. We also ran a Vacation Bible School. It was great working with the local kids, singing, doing crafts, skits, etc. The kids were also fun to spend time with outside of VBS. They frequently would hang around the mission house, and we'd play softball, soccer, and marbles with them with much frequency. They were the hardest to say goodbye to. Another aspect of the whole thing was spending time with the local youth. They have weekly meetings at the mission house (the local population is largely Catholic, but the community recognizes the global and universal Church, so the youth would come to the meetings at the Methodist mission house without either sect/denomination thinking anything of it), and we were invited to attend a few, share our worship songs and stories of faith, and be attentive as they did the same. We also experienced some cultural exchanges with the youth after the meetings and at a couple fiestas-- sharing music, dancing, and other forms of culture present to each of
School lunch
Some of my fourth grade "students" us.
There were also some other projects/exchanges that occurred. I informally taught English one day at the local grade school (to a bunch of fourth graders). We were split up each day for the various projects, and we were invited to experience field work with the local farmers. So, one morning, I went with a group of us and some local guys to break up a field of soil for planting lettuce. It was quite hard work! I couldn't imagine doing it day in, day out, but the local guys didn't think much of it. Evidently, they're stronger than I am! We also went with the local youth to a town league baseball game. The biggest thing, though, I think was learning from each other, sharing in the universal church, and sharing God's love with one another. I mean, the talks over Liberation Theology, various Church and Christian ideology as experienced in Latin America, culture and cultural difference, politics, language, daily experiences, and all those things really meant a lot to me. Granted, there was a language barrier-- though my few semesters of Spanish did pay off, really, especially with the kids-- but there were some English speakers and
at least a few translators. But to share that kind of love and exchange ideas-- that is the way you learn and grow and understand.
Some other observations/experiences:
--Food varied (the mission house was used to Americans visiting and had suited the meals to our taste), but the best meals (to me, and seemingly most local) were the black beans with rice and the arepas (flatbread-like/pancake-shaped food that was usually split open like a pita and stuffed with any variety of food).
--It was far colder than I expected it to be, especially at night. We all slept in bunk beds-- the girls all in one big room-- and by the end, we'd scooted all the bunks together in pairs to keep warm. We really got to know each other well ;-)
--The scenery was beautiful. The Andes are such a wonderful place, and it was amazing to wake up to such a view every morning.
--My Spanish improved as we went along, and it was cool to have help from native speakers. The little kids were so helpful, too, which was best of all. One particular girl, Jessica, was so patient and helpful and
always willing to teach us a new phrase or proper pronunciation.
Okay, since it's taken me a few months to write this down, I'm sure there are important and poignant details that I'm leaving out. But, it was a wonderful experience, and I learned so much-- culturally, socially, religiously, linguistically, and in other ways, too. I'm glad I went and hope I get a chance to go back to South America sometime.
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