The downhill

i'm still smiling from reading what jackie and emily wrote. i couldn't say it better myself. through all the fun and laughs, through all the challenges and awkward moments, and through all the times I counted how many more days I had until I could go home (only once or twice :)) , we have become more than friends. we have become family. what an amazing experience. life is better with more ñaños.

i can also echo the sentiment that our time here is coming to an end. in mid-may it really set in. now we are full swing again with our retreat groups and will be that way until the end. i am beginning to realize what all the hype is about two year volunteer programs. it would be amazing to be able to spend another year here now that everything is clicking. así es la vida.

all is good here. valdivia is back in full swing as the kids have returned to school. I've fully realized why emily never stops talking about the kids. they energy and love is contagious. it's hard to imagine having to leave them, although i know they will be in good hands. yesterday we had a game day with the retreat group john carroll university and we had over 60 kids show up. they loved playing with the water balloons and getting piggy back rides from all the willing retreatants.

as the end is quickly appraoaching, i try to live even more in each moment, to relish the good people and amazing experiences i have already and continue to encounter. i ask that you all keep the people of durán and the whole rostro de cristo community in your prayers.

peace,
erin

home sweet home

I must apologize for neglecting to blog, but thanks to a Erin, Em and Kerry, there are still updates! So as much as I try to stop talking about how little time we have left, and my house gives me a lotta crap about that (sorry Em!), I am reminded by many a neighbor or coworker that August is slowly approaching. And this really scares me, for many reasons. Like Emily was saying, this community does feel like home, AJS feels like home, Duran feels like home. Coming back from my brother's wedding, it was hard to leave my home in the United States, but not that difficult because it felt like I was coming back to another home, a community that welcomed me back with open arms.
But I am also scared because I feel like we are not done yet, that there is still so much to do, so much more to develop. At the risk of sounding corny, I really do love and care very deeply for our Duran friends, and especially our housemates. We struggle in trying to etch out what exactly an intentional Christian community is, and I think that is a good and neccessary thing. But the tension can get rather high and I pray that the inevitable difficulties in community can only make us stronger and that we can learn to understand each other better.
I am scared because it sometimes feels like I have been here for 10 months and really haven't done a significant thing, that I have taken more personally from my worksites and relationships here than I could ever possibly give. For instance, getting the opportunity to drive Shalom around Duran all Saturday night until 8 AM on Sunday and hear them serenade mothers for el Dia de la Madre. All I did was drive around and chat with Clarita and the guys while they sang their hearts out and brought tears to these mothers' eyes.
It scares me that on some days it seems like all I do is fail, that our presence here does more harm than good. And then there are days like today when I went to the soup kitchen at AJS, and was humbled that Fannie and the women dedicated a mystery of the rosary to the RdC volunteers, both past and present. That they were actually praying for us blew me away and made me think that maybe all of our efforts are not in vain. Godbless those women and their generosity.
So today I pray for unity in the RdC community, for understanding and mostly in thanksgiving for the incredible time that I have had here and the times to come. Godbless.

Jack Attack

Welcome Home, Ñaña.

It all started as one of Juanito´s funny asides, "Hey guys, Javier from downstairs called me ñaño (brother) and I thought it would be nice if we called each other that..."

A few months later, the ñaño phenomenon has really caught on, we all find ourselves reffering to each other as such. I never really thought about it, what it actually meant to call each other brother and sister, until a member of our family went home...or back to the US rather.

When Jackie left for her brother´s wedding last week, we missed her. Not an hour went by without someone asking "what do you think Jackie´s doing right now?" Ok Ok, usually the answer was jogging, but in all seriousness, there was a noticeable void in our community. We were all anxiously awaiting her return last Monday. We wanted to hear all about what it was like to go back, and we wanted to get our hands on the goodies we knew she´d bring home for us :)

I sat down to make her a sign to welcome her back and as I wrote the words I found myself struggling over whether to write "welcome back" or "welcome home." I went with "home" because that´s what it´s starting to feel like. After nine months, it´s finally starting to feel like home. I never imagined it would take that long, and to be honest, after a while I let go of the notion that it was ever going to feel like home, and then, lo and behold, all it took was a wedding in Kansas City and a funny suggestion from Juanito to make me realize just how much like home this really is, and just how many more ñaños I now have.