Up with the Christmas Decorations, Up with the Temperature

So.... Can it be that Thanksgiving is passed and Christmas is on its way? It must be the case as we lit the first Advent candle at mass on Sunday, but I think maybe it´s all one big trick, because the weather´s only getting hotter, and my little mind doesn´t understand. On Thursday I helped hang up Christmas decorations at the dispensario, which actually did increase my excitement for the coming of Christmas. Now we just need to have a snowflake making party at our house and start decorating our casa.

Now that we´re beginning to tackle our 5th month in Ecuador, I´ve got my routine and my work and my neighbors and my housemates and, well, life in Ecuador, and I´m living it. And now that we´re into it a bit, I´m accustomed to a lot of things that used to seem like such chores. I´m learning more Spanish, though there are still daily language frustrations. With an increase in understanding of Spanish comes a deeper understanding of who my neighbors are and how they live. Their situations are becoming a little more real to me, and I´m giving more and more of my heart to this place and these people. Our neighbor Wellington told the retreat group a few days ago that he loves everything about Ecuador. The only thing he doesn´t like is having to say goodbye to the volunteers every year. It´s tough knowing that as soon as we build these relationships we´ll be leaving, but there´s a reason for it.

Ok, so here it is, what I´m learning in Ecuador:
-how to fend for myself -how to think about how my decisions will affect others with every little choice I make -often failing to be selfless but still learning to remind myself to be -Spanish -some cooking skills -what it feels like to be winged by a live turkey on the bus -the joy of warm bread in the morning -to be thankful for a shower whether it´s long and hot or short and cold -that there´s no such thing as a quick run to the corner store -the quirks of my housemates -that "dame-ing la mano" (the sign of peace) at Comunidad de Base really makes me happy -the absurdity of life sometimes -patience (again and again and again) -how to push myself and give more than I thought I could -how to think of the other first even if, again, I often fail to do so -the joy of relationships and conversations -what´s really important and what´s not -that hearing little Rosita try to pronounce "Jennifer" brings me joy -How funny occassional hilarious miscommunications as we gringos try to communicate can be (I just want to order a pizza!) -that kids charging me with open arms and huge smiles ALWAYS makes me smile too, no matter how I was feeling before that moment -that I really like using the word chuzo -that my neighbor Walter knows some darn funny riddles -that I need to remind myself over and over that it´s all a journey, it´s all poco a poco.

There are many reasons to be joyful and thankful and many reasons to celebrate. There are also plenty of things to be sad about and angry about. But we´ve got one common hope, and there´s reason to continue. Siga no mas.
Jenny

For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, "YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF."Gal 5:13-14

Some photos of the volunteers!

Finally some pictures of these fabulous people....without further ado the Rostro de Cristo volunteer class of 2006-2007.

Sam, Dan and Kevin (aka the Jefe) at a rare, but delicious dinner out!

Mike, Alberto, and Ricardo trying to look tough and Kareliz making sure that they don't succeed.

The Arbolito volunteers (past and present) give Jorge Ricardo a lift for his birthday.

Sam, Dan, Mara and Mike checking out the view of Cuenca on our recent trip to the sierra.

Katie and Alison in the wee morning hours in Cuenca!

Don't worry many many more photos to come!

En el amor de Dios!

- Meredith

Reflection on Love and this week´s Gospel

My housemate Mara, in moments of stress, when anger or frustration could get the better of her, sings one word over and over to bring her back: "Love, love, love!" Be it the sweltering heat, parasites, relentless noise, frustrations with Spanish, or the inevitable difficulties that result when you put 11 very different people together in Duran, Ecuador for one year, her song reminds me of how I should be living, and the reason that I am here. It always seems a bit cliché and cheesy to say that love is the answer to all. As if we haven't heard before that love is the cure for the world's ills, is a release from our inherent selfishness, and is the key for living in true life-giving relationships. Since I was a tiny, pigtailed, overall wearing girl, the tall order of loving God with all my heart, soul, and mind fell on dull ears as I would think "yeah, yeah, yeah, I didn't punch my brother today, I loved… check!" But now more than ever, I'm seeing not only the simplicity of this message but also the immense, fully unattainable call we have as humans to heed the Gospel today- to love with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind, and with all our strength. As I begin my fourth month here in Duran, I am increasingly aware of the enormous difficulties and profound freedom that come with this call. It is at once my greatest source of life and my greatest frustration.

In Oscar Romero's The Violence of Love, this extreme challenge and call to love as our one responsibility on Earth is the thread that holds each of his words together. Indeed, the love Romero calls for is violent. It is one "which left Christ nailed to a cross, the violence that we must each do to ourselves to overcome our selfishness and such cruel inequalities among us. The violence we preach is the violence of love, of brotherhood, the violence that wills to beat weapons into sickles for work." Thus, loving with all of our being must involve a recognition that we willingly or unwillingly participate in the oppression and destruction that occurs all over the world and therefore calls for a conversion of each of our hearts. This conversion will then lead to engagement and action within the world against injustice. Romero stresses that we cannot separate this call to love, found in today's Scripture, from the historical reality that it is revealed in: war, abuse, hatred, corruption, and greed, all present a harsh environment from which we must love.

And I haven't figured out how to do that yet, how to fully engage in this liberation process; and I wonder if I ever will. So I start by looking for the little things; recognizing that God is the Love that we find and live every day, pure agape. Using the words "God" and "Love" interchangeably has provided a richer dimension to my faith, a much needed renewal of my personal prayer life, and a clearer way of seeing the Kingdom all around me. When I sit for an hour with Mercedes, a blind Hansen's Disease patient, and try to grasp onto any word she speaks so that I can understand and respond in broken Spanish, I get frustrated but find myself eventually just sitting in simple silence holding her hand and I feel love. I feel God. When I return from work and walk down the dirt road to my house and meet Freddy who runs outside to ask me how my day was because I looked tired when I went off that morning, I see it. When I pass by a father sitting outside of his cane home picking lice out of his daughter's hair, its clear. When I have a conversation on the bus with my friend Jefferson as we drive across the river, away from the shacks and plethora of dogs in Duran to the skyscrapers and McMansions of the Puntilla and parts of Guayaquil, I know that the presence is there. And when I'm with my 4 housemates, cleaning the floors of our forever dusty house, reminiscing about college, and laughing together, I see God in my midst. God/Love is in all conversation and community but it is only through a certain lens that we can see it. And though many times I am oblivious or closed off to the recognition of the hallowed ground which I walk on every day, those moments that rock me and prove to me the existence of Love are what drive me to continue to live with meaning.

There are no limits to God's love, so who are we to put limits on ours? At the end of this week's Gospel, an enthusiastic scribe expresses his agreement with Jesus that loving with all one's heart and loving one's neighbor as oneself is worth more than any ritual or burnt offering. Jesus responds, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." Indeed, the Kingdom of God is here on earth and when we break free from our egos, our judgments, and our personal attachments, it's as clear and tangible as the burning hot Ecuadorian sun. Our call this week certainly is a tough one; but it is the only one we have. As I continue searching and learning from the people of South America , I pray that I can better sharpen my lens of love so that all that is blurry with my limited view can be better magnified through God.

La Paz,
Alison