New Volunteers

Last week we welcomed two new volunteers to work with the Jesuits in Quispicanchi. Fernando and Clara are two Spaniards who have come with VOLPA, the same program that sent Lucía, Martha, and Victor last year. They will also be here for a year, working in Ocongate.

Fernando and Clara stayed in the Mountain House for a few days to get used to the altitude. They were wonderful guests, and very kind people. They were able to participate in Monday night's mass, and even prepared a few Spanish tortillas (basically potato omelets).

We welcome Fernando and Clara into our extended community and wish them the best in their service. Strange to think that they are just starting, and I am closing in on the finish.

Noted with Translation - Library Edition

Silent Geniuses Studying

Strike

It's been a frustrating day at FyA 44. The teachers didn't come. They decided to participate in a regional teacher's strike because they want a pay raise. That's not frustrating, I'm the son of a teacher and a community organizer, I was taught that people have the right to strike. What's frustrating is that the administration didn't cancel classes. So I came to work today to find that all the support staff subbing, and nothing getting done. It was an authoritarian move to insist on classes without teachers,  and it shows a basic lack of respect for the support staff (half of whom are unpaid volunteers). 

Had I known all of this would happen, I would have stayed home in solidarity with the strikers.

First Communion in Catcca

Besides being the director of FyA 44, Pd. Eddy is also the parish priest in Catcca, a town about an hour up the mountains from Andahuaylillas. Recently he asked the FyA 44 pastoral team to come up to Catcca with him and prepare some 6^th graders for first communion.

Students bringing their patron Saint, Virgen de las Merced, into the church.
Yes, the ribbons decorating the pews are made of toilet paper. 

We (Hna. Vilma, Mafer, Karla, and I) gave a 2 day intensive first communion course on two Fridays. The students from Catcca were very participatory and caught on quickly. We also gave two students who participate in pastoral activities the opportunity to help with the classes. Of course those two students jumped in because it meant missing most of their classes on Friday. I think everyone involved really enjoyed the experience.

Altarpiece in Catcca

Monday the 25^th, the students received their first communion at their school's anniversary mass. A few were also baptized during the mass. Welcome little brothers and sisters! We wish you long lives of joy in the Gospel.

Love You

The old wisdom says that “absence makes the heart grow fonder.” I don't know if that is true in my case, but I know that absence has made my friends and me more honest. Something beautiful has been happening in my correspondence with different friends. We've been telling each other we love each other.

This isn't something any of us decided to start, it just kind of happened. I don't think we love each other any more than we did two years ago, I think we're just more honest. Whether its a result of being far apart, or just maturing and increased security in our relationships, we are unafraid to tell each other a frighteningly big truth.  

Noted with Translation - Grandmotherly Advice

Not my grandmother's kind of advice, but apparently this is how the crass and pessimistic gradmothers roll.

My grandmother used to say, "Do you ever wonder why before sex, each person helps the other take off their clothes, and after sex each one gets themselves dressed? Well my child, this shows that in lafe no one wants to help you when you are fucked, and if they help you it's because they want to fuck you... Understand?"

First snow

It rained last night, which was much needed after one of the mountains spent the last five days burning. And on the top of Mt Qoriorko you can just make out some snow. One neighbor said to me "this must be nothing to you." 

It certainly isn't much, but it sure is pretty. 

Sabbath

I came into contact with Orthodox Jewish culture at Brandeis University. Senior year two friends of mine shared an apartment with two Orthodox Jews. From sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday they celebrated Shabbat – the sabbath. They did no work. They met with other Jews for special dinners. They went to temple services.

A lot of their practices seemed crazy to me. They taped all the light switches in the apartment to the “on” position because flipping a light switch fell under the category of work. On days when they hosted lunch on Saturday, they would turn the oven on Friday afternoon and leave it running all night Friday and all day Saturday so that they could reheat the food they had prepared without doing the work of turning the oven on or off. To me that seemed excessive and wasteful of energy – the opposite of the good stewardship of the Earth that God commands in Genesis. But such was their understanding of sabbath restrictions.

But wastefulness wasn't the only thing I saw in their sabbath observance. I saw great beauty as well. Phones were shut off on the Sabbath. No calls, texts, or emails interrupted the peace of the day. They always celebrated the sabbath in community, dining and praying with other Jews. Sometimes they invited goys like their roommates to come share in the sabbath meal.

Orthodox Jews and Catholics worship the same God. Yet we Catholics are terrible at celebrating the sabbath. I can criticize my friends' roommates for aspects of their celebration of the sabbath, but who am I to talk trash when I don't even have a sabbath celebration? And let's not pretend that going to mass on Sunday counts as the sabbath. The sabbath is a weekly day of rest, not a weekly hour of prayer.

Jairus

“Lord I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but say the word and my soul shall be healed.”

This awkwardly phrased line from the new English mass translation* comes from the account of the healing of the daughter of the centurion Jairus. Jairus, though a Roman, was a patron of the Jewish synagogue in Capernaum (which was where Jesus based his operations). Indeed, Luke's gospel tells that the people “strongly urged” Jesus to go help Jairus when his slave was ill. He must have been special – it's not everyday that an occupied people urge their leaders to go help the occupiers.

When Jesus was near Jairus's home, Jairus sent out his servants with the message “Lord...I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof. Therefore, I did not consider myself worthy to come to you...say the word and my servant shall be healed.”

Jesus “was amazed at him.” He told the crowd “not even in Israel have I found such faith.” When the messengers return to Jairus's house, the slave is in good health.

There's a lot to dig into in this passage. We could discuss the faith of a non-Jew. We could admire Jairus's concern for his slave, and criticize him for owning slaves. We could appreciate the role that the Jews play and the respect they clearly have for Jairus. We could reflect on the line “Jesus...was amazed at him” and realize that even Jesus could be surprised.

I want to focus on Jairus's famous line.

Belleza por Todos Lados - Carved Door

From the Domiincan Convent in Lima

Helping Students Succeed

Last week in Quarterly Review 7, I talked about flourishing in my clearly defined role at FyA 44. O I feel I'm doing at teaching my elementary school students. What follows is just an example of what it means to be a better teacher.

Most classes here are done in a class-specific notebook. All the assignments are pasted in there, grades are based on notebooks. Last year, I collected notebooks once per term. I spent a week grading all the notebooks and use those grades to determine students' grades for the trimester. If a student didn't hand in their notebook, they were so out of luck and failed for the term.

This year, I knew I could do better. So with the end of the trimester in sight, here's what I did. At the end of August I collected notebooks and graded all the work. The first week of September I returned students their notebooks and brought extra copies of all the handouts from the term. That week the lesson plan was simple: go through your notebook and improve your work.

Last week, I collected notebooks once again. Most students had improved their work. They had put in the effort needed to pull their grades up at least a letter. So when they get report cards in a few weeks, no one will fail because I didn't give them multiple chances to succeed. Students will have earned better grades. It took a little more effort on my part, but I believe that effort was worth it.

Dance Video

Here's a video of the dance that we presented the Festival of Folkloric Dances honoring the 21st anniversary of FyA 44. The audio is pretty low for the first 5 or 6 minutes, but that's what happens when people are filming on their cellphones. Enjoy.

(If you're looking for me, I'm the big white guy.)

Belleza por Todos Lados - Stream

Quarterly Review 7 - Video

It helps, now and then, to step back

and take the long view.

-Prayer Honoring Pd. Oscar Romero

With the Quarterly Review Video, my aim is to give you the long view in a short time. This quarter I wanted to use a song that is well known here in Peru, a song that captures the sound of Peruvians partying.

Ráfaga is an Argentine group, but they're all over the radio these days in Cusco. So their biggest hit, “Una Cerveza” (A Beer) is the perfect choice. The lyrics (which you can find after the jump) are about “dedicating [one]self to alcohol” after a lover walks away. Yet the music is clearly joyful. That's what a lot of Andean music is like – sad topics sung happily. There is great joy inside the tears. There is hope inside the sorrow. There's fun to be had even when life is painful.

Don't worry dear readers, I haven't recently had my heart broken by a faithless lover. But I am having fun despite the pains that I have shared in. I'm not dedicating myself to alcohol, but if we're celebrating, I'm down to share una cerveza.

Quarterly Review 7

On the wall on the second floor of our home is a post it with a quote from Pedro Arrupe, SJ. It reads “una experiencia no reflexionada es una experiencia no vivida” - “an experience that is not reflected upon is an experience that is not lived.” Part of my nightly prayer involves review and reflection on the day, but a broader perspective can reveal themes that are missed. Sometimes we need to step back from examining the trees that make up the days and take in the forest of our lives. So every three months I'm stepping back, looking around, and mulling it all over.

Sunday I completed 21 months of service with JVC. This has been a busy quarter. There've been some big changes at home and at work, and lots of high emotional moments, from the deaths in June to the celebration of FyA 44's anniversary. I've had my last visitor from home and started work on grad school applications. Here are the themes that I see:

• “We're all we've got”
• Flourishing in a clearly defined role
• Marking Moments

Retreat (Finally!)

Part of the JVC commitment is making 4 retreats a year. JVC staff comes to Peru to run one of those retreats, and the other 3 are left up to the JVs to figure out. We have tried to go on retreat twice this year, and both times we were prevented from retreating by illness. Well, the third time is the charm.

Belleza por Todos Lados - Tiled Floor

Belleza por Todos Lados - Pretty Pillar

Noted with Translation - Bread v. Food

From the cafeteria at FyA 20

The first panel says: Don't throw food or bread on the floor.
The second panel says: Don't play with the food.

This raises two important questions:

1. If bread isn't food, what is it?
2. Can I play with my bread?

FyA 44 Anniversary - Kermés

Today marks 21 months to the day since Erin and I arrived in Peru. Please keep us in your prayers as we enter our last quarter and prepare to say our goodbyes to here and our hellos to home in a few months. And keep an eye out for Quarterly Review stuff later this week!

The last event for the week of anniversary celebration is the Kermés, a fundraiser fair. It includes lots of food, a dads' soccer tournament, a moms' volleyball tournament, a used book sale, a huge BINGO game, and the tómbula. A tómbula is like a raffle where everyone wins. There are a limited number of exciting prizes, and hundred of mediocre prizes. Hermana Rosario is in charge of the tómbula, and the volunteers are her staff for the day. It's a hugely popular part of the Kermés. We opened at 9AM and took an hour break for lunch. By 2PM we had sold all 2249 prizes. At S/.5 per ticket, that means we raised over S/.11,000. Not bad for 4 hours of work.

The tómbula team - ready for sales.

At some point in the next few weeks the total raised by the Kermés will be officially announced. This event is a key source of funds for the school. The new library that was opened on Thursday, part of the funding for that came from last year's Kermés. It's an even that brings the whole school community together to raise money to support the work we do for our students. I think it's a prime example of the 'popular education' pillar of the Fe y Alegría movement.  

FyA 44 Anniversary - Festival de Danza Folkóricas

The Festival of Folkloric Dances is the highlight of FyA 44's anniversary celebrations. Every afternoon for the two weeks before the festival the school is open late as teachers and students spend hours practicing. The festival itself, as you may remember, lasts for hours. It's scheduled to start at two o'clock, and opens by 3. Then it lasts for at least 4 hours of dance after dance after dance. Parents, students, and staff all participate.

FyA 44 Anniversary - Mass

The FyA logo has been marked onto the side of the mountain using white clay, which can only mean one thing: it's the school's anniversary week!

Musical Mass in Urcos

As regular readers may know, we celebrate a small house mass almost every Monday evening with the religious and volunteers of the area. Participants include Pd. Calilo, Hna, Rosario, the 6 practicantes (student teachers), María (the Spaniard who works at the parish play room), and the JVs. Hosting duties are shared on a basic rotation, and the host always prepares a dinner to follow mass. It's a good tradition celebrating spirituality and social justice in a simple way and in a communal context.*

But sometimes, there are special guests. And if you have special guests, you have to throw a party. And if you have to throw a party, there should be bountiful libations. And if you need bountiful libations, you should go to the Jesuit Residence (because Jesuits have a very liberal interpretation of poverty). So last week, when we had the four members of Siembra and Juan José Chukisengo in town, Monday night mass was held on Wednesday night at the JesRes in Urcos.

Having musical guests at mass at the JesRes means special music provided for mass. Siembra and Chukisengo took turns singing/playing. Pd. Antonio said the mass, which is a treat because he obviously enjoys doing it. After mass ended, Pd. Calilo put everyone to work. Soon plates of food were being passed around, empty glasses were handed out, and enough different alcohols to suit everyone's preferences were pulled out of the chest in the corner. After almost an hour of eating and talking, the plates were cleared and the music began.

This wasn't a sit down and listen type of concert. It was a sing along, request songs, and get up and dance kind of concert. Really, concert isn't the right word for it, though I don't actually know what word I would use instead. What do you call it when there's no audience because everyone is doing music together, though the most talented musicians are obviously doing the most music? If you have an answer, leave it in the comments.

Pd. Calilo loves music, loves dancing, and loves being the center of attention. So of course he danced. He waltzed with Hna. Rosario, he danced marinero (a coastal dance) with one of the women from Siembra, and waltzed again with one of the practicantes. Chukisengo, who comes from the classical world, jumped right in with Siembra. It was a simple matter of asking for the key of the song, and off they all went. María, who sings with a band at bars in Cusco sometimes, sang some American music (she mostly sings American rock). Pd. Calilo and Chukisengo wanted to play some music for the three Americans in the room, only to be stymied by the age gap between them and us. But there was also singing in French and Italian, as well as beloved songs from Spain. The list on my iPod called “Songs to Look Up” grew substantially.

It was almost midnight when the party finally ended. The wise move was to go to bed as soon as you got home, because the next day was the anniversary of FyA 44. But the energy brought by a good time takes awhile to dissipate, so I didn't fall asleep for awhile. These kinds of nights are some of my favorite memories from being part of the extended Jesuit community in Quispicanchi.

*See what I did there?