This Week Behind Me

One thing is for sure. Life here is different. But good. Though in different ways. Obviously. So, in what ways is it different, you ask? What have I been doing, you ask? Well, it’s a long story, I respond. It’s ok, I’ve got time, says you. And so it begins…

I have now met with all the groups Operation Reconciliation works with on a regular basis. One is a group of about 25 school teachers, one contains 15-ish high school students, and the third consists of 10 unwed mothers from a teenage mother’s home here. The way that Operation Reconciliation (OR) works is to go to the sight of a group once per week for a meeting. There is a small amount of curriculum in the form of handouts and exercises/homework. They go through a series of character traits, one per week, which are important to a whole and successful life. Each group has the same trait each week, though the discussions are obviously different because of the different personalities in the groups.

I am learning a lot about how they do things here, and it is pretty encouraging. Even though this country is, in many ways more morally loose than the U.S. we are still able to go into public schools here and teach about character and at least a little about God. We still have to be a bit careful about religion, but there is a lot of freedom. Identity was last week’s character trait, and Humility was this week’s. Teaching about identity focused on who we are created to be by God, learning to find our purpose and meaning in life in Him as our maker. The direction for discussing humility has been to show that we all have things we need help with. We can’t live alone or be perfect. We need to humble ourselves and confess our sins or problems to others, to get help to overcome. I have been encouraged by how open the people here are, willing to share and be open about their struggles.

I think I am beginning to understand how the buses work here. Of course, now that I say that I will likely get lost again tomorrow, but still. However, if I may put it delicately, everything I now know I learned the hard way. What I mean by this is that I have been lost in the city because of taking the wrong bus; I have had to walk and had to take a taxi twice because I didn’t know what bus to take… Even when using the Transmillennial, supposedly simple, I have been late for a meeting because I didn’t realize that the bus I needed didn’t start operating until an hour later. Oops. Oh well, every day I keep learning more about the buses here, so by the time I leave I should have figured out how to get a ride to the moon. I will be sure to bring you back a piece of cheese as a souvenir, don’t worry.

Or, you could just come with me. I am sure we can fit at least 60 people in a 20 seat bus! That is about how it feels during the busy times here, you wave down a bus, and step onto the bottom step to get in as the bus takes off. Holding on for dear life to the handrail, you realize that you can’t even get far enough into the bus to pay the driver. You cannot, in fact move any farther than the first step. Every seat is full and the two foot wide isle is packed. You look anxiously at the back of the bus, hoping that it has a back exit door. No such luck. That means that every person in the bus has to go past you to get out. A couple people finally do get off, giving you a spot to move to, or else a couple more get on, forcing you in between that suited businessman with the earbuds and the old lady with the shopping bag. You can’t move. The handrail on the ceiling is pretty useless since even the jerky stars and stops can’t knock you down-you are too tightly entrenched between other passengers. Each time someone needs to get off the bus, they push you into the face of the mother with her baby sitting in the seat beside you as they go by. There is only room for two people beside each other in the aisle, but there are already three and this other one is passing you one way or the other. Add to that picture the necessity of figuring out where exactly you need to get off, and you have a fair idea of what it is like to ride the bus here. Lots of fun!

When I can I prefer to commute on the bicycle I am borrowing, which is another experience in itself. I will not go into any detail right now, but let’s just say that Chris Shute and I would be extremely cautious and sedate drivers here!

One huge difference here that would have killed me is the job situation. It is extremely rare for a high school student to have a job, something I had a lot of and enjoyed immensely. In fact, most college students don’t either, and many adults have trouble finding work. Jobs are rare here, and there are lots of things people do on their own to make money. I am always seeing something new that some guy has thought up to get tips. Of course, there are at just about every intersection a couple people selling snacks or newspapers, but there are lots of other options. In most grocery stores the “baggers” aren’t employed by the store. They bag groceries and often carry them to the car, earning only tips. On busy streets where parking is scarce a man will often stand all day and help stop traffic and direct a driver in and out of a small parking space. Again, all he earns are the tips. Some of the most creative I’ve seen yet are the men who get tips from bus drivers. They will stand for hours on a street corner with a notebook. They record times of when different buses pass them. Then, as a bus passes they will give the driver hand signals to tell him how far apart he is from the other bus(es) belonging to his company. I guess they care about knowing this, for whenever a bus stops near where the timer guy is working he will hop on for a second and the bus driver gives him a little money. Crazy times.

This week will be busy. We have all our regular groups, but we are also going to two new ones. They are at the same school where we went last Monday. We have two groups of 20 students to discuss sexual freedom. I would appreciate prayers for these times especially, as I am doing most of the talking. It is a bit difficult to talk about this topic to begin with and I am trying to do it is Spanish which makes it even harder. Pray for my vocabulary, for the student’s comprehension, and most of all for receptive hearts. This is such an important topic for this culture, where things like masturbation and pornography are common and things like virginity are rare. We really want to impress on these young people that they were made for a purpose and it is so much higher and better than what they see in the movies. Pray that they will have the courage to stand up and be different.

I would covet prayer for my relationship with God, too. For those of you who read the first blog entry, you may remember that I tend to get distracted by new surroundings. I have some goals for my walk with God, but need to follow through and make sure they happen. It is super important that I stay close to Him so my light can shine brighter.

This is the front of the school where we went last week. It, along with most buildings here, has a fence and a gate with a guard.














A few of the kids in the group















This is during an activity we did. The guy in the red t-shirt is Francisco, the main man in most of the stuff we do here















It was pretty weird getting mobbed by a bunch of elementary schoolers at this other school. I guess I do stand out a bit here, huh? Behind me is my best friend here, Hugo Fernando. He is pretty awesome and has taught me a lot about the culture.