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

“We're all we've got”

I'll keep things intentionally vague here, because it's about some else's illness and I know many people don't like that information to be shared with others, especially strangers on the internet. In June, one of our community members was very sick. When the usual antibiotics didn't seem to help, they went back to the clinic to find out that they needed a surgery to fix what was wrong. It was a complicated weekend of going around Cusco to different doctors, calling all our support people on the cellphone and JVC on skype, and spending lots of time waiting around in the clinic. After the surgery, they stayed 3 nights in the hospital. The three of us who were healthy each took a night to stay with them. From the moment the sick person left the house to go to Cusco, to the moment they returned home, we made sure they always had someone with them.

Another community mate related a conversation she'd had with someone in the States about the whole weekend. “They were really impressed that we all took turns accompanying even though we aren't family but I told them 'we're all we've got here.'”

I think that that weekend of stress and phone calls and insurance hassles and surgery was one of our finest moments as a community. It's true, “we're all we've got here.” There are plenty of support people and friends around town. The Jesuits and Hermana Rosario gave us all the help they could (including hooking us up with their preferred doctor), but when it came down to it, our community of (then) 4 JVs was as close to family as we had. Our community is pretty healthy, but every community has their tensions. We put those aside for that weekend.

That weekend was an extreme example of why JVC sends us out in communities, and not on our own. Because when the shit hits the fan, you need people who will have your back, and your community is all you've got.

Flourishing in a clearly defined role

My job description was complicated at the start of this year. LINK? I was a student teacher in high school, and the sub-coordinator of the school's pastoral work. As I've written before, sharing the classroom with Hermana Vilma was difficult for many reasons. Since Rachel left, and I've stepped in to help fill that need in Primaria, my role at FyA 44 overall has been much more clearly defined.

I teach Religion to 1^st, 2^nd, and 4^th graders at Primaria. In Secundaria I am a student counselor, meeting one on one with any student who wants to discuss anything they want. Some kids come to me with questions about the end of the world, because they saw videos on youtube about Revelations and they want to make sure they're on the right side of things. Others come because they aren't doing well in a class and want help with self-motivation and self-discipline. Some students just need to tell someone about the terrible things that happen to them at home. And some students come because they're bored in class and want a break. I welcome them all into the chapel, and do my best to help.

And sometimes, I see little successes. A 7^th grader came every week for a month for help managing his homework load. At the start of the month he had no agenda book, and usually did no homework because he was too intimidated by all the assignments. I had him get a new agenda and write his homework in it. I showed him how to prioritize tasks and climb that mountain of homework one assignment at a time. And by the end of the month he was getting his homework done most days.

A 10^th grader who has a lot of trouble with her mother comes often to talk. I always thank her for her trust and for sharing with me, and she always says “No, thank you, Profe, for listening.” I wish I could do more for her, and the other students who've shared similar home troubles, but at least she knows that I will always listen, that I care, and that I see value in her.

Having these roles more clearly defined has made it easier for me to both. Because I don't teach Religion in Secundaria, I have time every week to meet with any student in any class who wants to talk. And because the classes I teach in Primaria are fully in my control, I am doing a better job of planning and running lessons.

Of course, there was also the FyA Mini-Congreso LINK last month. I won't repeat what I said in my original post, but it was another example of flourishing in a clearly defined role, of (mostly) having the confidence and ability to make moves and serve students. I've got a lot to learn about teaching, but I'm not brand new to it anymore.

Marking Moments

There's been a lot of big moments this quarter. Think back to the “All the Time?” LINK post I wrote after attending a 5 year old's funeral. Or look at the pictures from the dances at the school's anniversary. Or come back tomorrow and watch Padre Calilo and Hermana Rosario waltz around the Jesuit Residence. Lauren had a birthday somewhere in there too.* And this quarter started off with the celebration of San Pedro, San Pablo.

Most days are normal. Most weeks follow the same cycle. But every now and then big Moments come along and take charge of the schedule. These can be Moments we look forward to every year (like Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving), or once in a lifetime moments (like deaths, weddings, and births). But whatever the Moment, it has to be marked.

It's a privilege to Mark Moments when you are a guest in a culture. That Erin, Lauren, and I all put on traditional Peruvian costumes this quarter and danced is a testament to the open heartedness of the people we live around. Every Moment we Marked, from birthdays to the school's anniversary, to the burial of that little boy, was a Moment of fullness, a Moment of God's presence.

Moments worth Marking.

*And I never posted about it. Sorry, Lauren!