Quarterly Review 4

Quarterly Review 4

On the wall near the spirituality space 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.

Today marks one year since arrived in Andahuaylillas. A yearly review would be appropriate at this point, but I'm going to wait until the calendar year is over for that. For now, I want to stay focused on the quarter, on the last 3 months.

• Feeling appreciated at work
• Countdowns

Follow the jump to read my reflections.

Feeling appreciated at work

At the beginning of November, Pd. Eddy had one on one meetings with the entire staff of FyA 44. When the meetings were first announced, I realized one of the unique privileges of being a volunteer – closeness with Pd. Eddy. Besides occasionally seeing him at work, I see him most weeks for Thursday night mass and dinner. He's taken some of us out for pizza various times, and last month brought El Padrino (The Godfather) over for us to watch. Our relationship is not the formal boss-worker relationship that most of the staff has with him.

Our meeting was great. We started by talking about how this year went. In typical Jesuit fashion, he let me talk first. Then he told me about the positive feedback he'd received from the teachers I work with. “Entonces, ellos no quieren dejarte ir.” (In conclusion, they don't want to let you go.) That's always a wonderful thing to hear, but it's even nicer to hear when you feel like you're making it all up as you go along.

Eddy went on to tell me that he wanted me working in the high school next year. I'll be teaching some religion classes (but not all) and I'll be part of the team running the spiritual youth group, a project that will begin next school year. Given that I'm considering a career teaching high school, I'm excited for the opportunity to work with high school students. It will also be cool to start this youth group project up, because it means I'll probably have a lot of input and influence on how it continues even after I'm gone. Also, the need for a less formal space for spiritual/personal formation was something I had been thinking about and discussing with Hermana Rosario for the last month and a half, so it's cool to be invited into forming that space.

Two weeks ago I took advantage of a teacher's meeting to tell the rest of the teachers that I'd be leaving. I felt warm and humble when they responded by protesting that I should stay in Primaria. It is always nice to know that your work is seen and appreciated.

On Monday, Pd. Eddy broke the news to the students during formación, the once a week morning assembly. The kids were gratifyingly saddened to hear of my departure. And the 6^th graders (who will be in the secondary school next year) were excited to hear that they might have me as their teacher next year. For this last week I've been saying my goodbyes to each classroom, thanking the students and teachers for a wonderful year of growth and beautiful memories. I was touched and surprised on Wednesday when my 4^th graders (often my worst behaved classroom) made me a bunch of notes and snowflakes as gifts.

I'll miss working at Primaria. The teachers here are a good community to be a part of. And the kids are so sweet. I'll definitely miss being unable to enter classrooms due to the mass of waist high people giving me hugs. But I'm excited for next year. It will be a good way for me to grow. And to be honest, as much as I love the little kids, I'm a little tired of them.

Countdowns

There's been a lot of countdowns in progress lately.

• Countdown to New JVs' (Rachel and Lauren) arrival on November 28 (this countdown is over)
• Countdown to the last day of school on December 4
• Countdown to Victoria, Jacqueline, and Lucía's departure on December 7
• Countdown to First Communion on December 8
• Countdown to my family's arrival on the morning December 21 (17 days, people!)
• Countdown to Theresa's departure on the afternoon of December 21
• Countdown to my friend Kevin's arrival on January 3

A countdown is about anticipation. It may be good anticipation, it may be bad. Most of the countdowns are exciting, and I've been checking off each day with gusto. All this counting down at once means that we're entering a time of transition. We're transition from the 2015 community to the 2016 community. I'm transitioning out of my role as the elementary school religion teacher. The first communicants are transitioning into a new stage of their spiritual life. Biggest of all, I'm transitioning to being a 2^nd year JV.

So far this transition has mainly been planning for Rachel and Lauren's arrival and their In Country Orientation (ICO). Erin and I have taken the chance to reflect on the most important aspects of this experience, and how to present them to new comers. We've been reflecting on what we want to continue from the traditions of preview years, and what we want to change. It's important to think carefully about all this, because we have the opportunity to set the tone for the year in community.

A lot of the counting down is also toward the arrival of loved ones from home. It's been a full year since I've seen my family in the flesh. We skype every Sunday night, but it's obviously not as good as truly being together. My parents, my sister, and my friend are crossing thousands of miles, spending considerable amounts of money, and giving up vacation time/Christmas at home to come see me. It's an overwhelming feeling to know that I am so loved. And I haven't been this excited about a countdown in December since before I realized that Santa wasn't real.