The view from Arbolito

Buenas Tardes!

I am finally getting to the blog and my apologies for not writing sooner. I have been very caught up in my own reflections which usually get funneled to my personal blog. But as I tell my Nuevo Mundo students "No quiero excusas!" (I don't want excuses) so here I go.

I am living in Arbolito with 5 other fabulous volunteers and their dedication to this life teaches me daily. If there is one thing I could say about Johanna, Katie, Sam, Adam and Mike it is that they all work very hard. I admire Katie's hard work a lot because both of her job placements as well as her heart are in Arbolito. She knows more than all of us combined (though Johanna is a close second!) She is leading the charge to meeting the neighbors, something that has been a bit more challenging than past years, but certainly as important.

I got to sit and talk with the mom of one of my most rambunctious students last night and it was definitely a great idea. I could see that she had a lot on her plate as the mother of three boys and this peek into his life will help me be a bit more understanding the next time he pops out of his seat without permission. This is a blessing I am not sure I would receive in another job in another place. Would I be able to sit in my student's house and chat with their parents in the U.S.? Would I be invited? Or scolded if I didn't come soon enough? The welcome of the Arbolito neighbors is very warm...in fact as we strive to meet new faces in town the welcome is downright hot!

The best part of living in Arbolito, for me, is my community in the house. We were at a wedding this past weekend and it struck us how much like a family we are. We decided that is because we don't always agree. But it seems that after every fight there is more capacity to love each other than before. Funny how that works. We've been here two months and I am already confusing people by referring to Katie as my hermana and Mike as my ñaño. We struggle, we have different opinions and desires and ways of thinking and being, yet we come together to pray, to eat, and to serve. There is only one person we can credit this to and that is Christ.

I think that we have been doing a fabulous job of keeping Jesus as the center. We are a house of people who think that Jesus was onto something. Someone who put the poor first and lived simply with his friends might have an idea of how to love people as we want to learn how to love. We are figuring out that God is not so much a noun as he is a verb of how to be in relationship and we strive to "God" each other and people around us every day. We are learning that He is in control and that sometimes the only thing and the best thing we can do is look to Him. We're not sure if solidarity is attainable, but we know which direction to go to grow closer to it. Hopefully whether we're walking in Arbolito, crossing the street in Guayaquil or riding the bus over the bridge we are going in the direciton of love.

And that's the view from Arbolito. More to come soon!
Besos-
Meredith