Misiones 2014: Somos de Querelema

(Mission 2014: We are Querelema).  I have just gotten back from the 2014 Verano Misiones trip with Colegio Andacollo.  Each summer, the colegio does this Mission trip, in cycles of three years in each community.  2014 was the second year in Paredones, and the theme for the Mission trip was faith shared.  All of the events and prayers and retreats that we did revolved around this theme.  For the past 10 days, a group of 40 high schoolers and 10 adults, including the pastor from the local parish, were in the small, poor, and beautiful area of Paredones.  Paredones is about 4 hours southwest of Santiago, and consists of many other smaller communities--three of which the 50 of us were divided among.  So, we stayed in a boarding school in the town of Paredones, and then during the days we took a bus to three of the outlying communities and spent our Mission time there.  I was assigned to Querelema, which is the smallest both in community-size and people-wise.  There were 13 of us in Querelema, including myself.  The other two communities were Quillay and Calvario.

Querelema at sunset

Each morning we would get up, have breakfast and morning prayer, do chores, and then pile into a bus (that was meant for 30 people) that would then drop us all off at the three different communities.  We would normally arrive in Querelema around 11am, at the Sede (community center).  We then split off into three groups and walked to visit all of the houses in Querelema, to pray and talk with them; we normally walked for 3ish hours each day.  Lunch was then at 2pm, and one of the ladies in Querelema, who lived across from the Sede let us use her house for lunch each day.  In the afternoon then there were different events--Colonias (activities for kids 11 years and younger), Jovenes (a retreat for teenagers) and then Adultos (a retreat for adults).  We also had a party for the Reyes Magos (Three Kings) on Sunday, a Encuentro and Mass with the three communities hosted in Querelema on Wednesday (as part of the theme), a Via Cruces on Friday (Stations of the Cross and Mass), a Fogata on Saturday (a bonfire and show), and then a Mass and Despedida on Sunday (a goodbye party).  We were normally picked up by the bus each night around 8:30ish and taken back to the school in Paredones.  They were looonng days!!  In the evenings, there was once (small meal), evening prayer, and then bedtime.  

A game with some of the jovenes

Vía Cruces

Fogata

Fogata

Fogata

To be honest, when we arrived on Saturday morning to Querelema and all broke off into the three groups to visit the houses, I was pretty overwhelmed.  I just couldn't quite imagine how a group of high schoolers would be welcomed into these people's homes to pray.  But we were welcomed like long-lost friends-- the majority of high schoolers had done this Mission trip last year and the people not only remembered them but had been anxiously awaiting our return.  They opened their homes and their hearts in a way that surprised and moved me.  Each morning around 11am, they would be waiting for us to come by and visit, normally with a cold Coke and homemade bread waiting, or fresh vegetables that they had picked from their garden.  They would always make time to stop whatever chores or work they were doing to spend time with us, to share stories and show us their lives and pray with us.  And also come to the events in the evenings--everyone mentioned how much of a difference our time there meant for their community as a way to intentionally spend time together. 

The people of Querelema were wonderful and the vast majority of them participated in all of our events.  They also really loved teaching me new words, mostly Chilean slang. There were a group of three tías (aunts), including Tía Purdi in the picture below, who loved teaching me curse words, they called me Miss Vero (pronounced meees).  So each morning, or when they came to the Sede in the afternoon, I would have to greet them by cussing them out--they thought is was the absolute funniest thing that they had ever heard.  By the end of the week the tías in the community would greet me with huge hugs and lots of kisses, referring to me as there ninita (little girl).  

Tía Purdi and Me

Community members having a jam session before the Fogata

Flavia at Colonias

Aladino at Colonias

Fogata

Diego and Alan (teen from Querelma)

The Querelema teens messing with Victor

 Post-lunch game with Querelema teens

 Post-lunch game with Querelema teens

In my unbiased opinion of course, I think that the group of 10 high schoolers, 3 who graduated in Nov., 5 who will be seniors this year, and 2 who will be juniors, that I was with were the cream of the crop.  From the very beginning of the trip to the last day as we were unloading the bus in Santiago, they were intentional about this experience; they were passionate and self-motivated each day throughout the many activities, and they were considerate when it came to visiting the tías in their houses or including the kids in games.  They also were really good about helping me with feeling included in conversations and helping me to follow the conversations--the country Chilean spanish is hard to understand.  The first day we started a list entitled "Palabras Nuevas para Vero" (New Words for Vero).  It became a game of sorts where each day I would keep track of the new words that I had learned that day or I would write words in English that I wanted to know in Spanish and throughout each day they would all quiz me to help me practice.  

Edith, Coni, and Me

Cata and Coni

Figue (Diego) and Me

Yanin and Me

Coni and Peluca (Raul)

Me and Anais

Me, Coni, and Tomas

Moises (we had lunch at his house everyday)  and Lalo (Eduardo)

The Querelema group was also incredibly musically talented--the vast majority of the 10 of them could play at least one instrument or sing--and more often than not, on the bus rides in the morning, walking in between houses, breaks after lunch, or waiting for the bus in the evening, a mini-concert would break out.  If I was ever looking for them, I would just follow the music!  

Music performance at the Fogata

It was surprisingly difficult for me to say goodbye to the Querelema community on Sunday night, almost as difficult as it was for them.  I am very excited to be heading back there next year-- and I promised the tias that I would come back having practiced all my new curse words.  I am also really happy to have made friends with the high schoolers and excited to see them all when school is back in session in March.  It will be nice to have familiar faces who are happy to see me!  I am now back in Santiago for a while before I leave on my summer vacation in three weeks.  The other parts of January and February will be spent teaching swim lessons and hopefully doing a lot of planning for the upcoming school year and hiking slash spending time in new parts of the city/country.

Some of the Andacollo staff visited during Colonias one day. My head is blocked a bit by Oliver (in green)

La Navidad en el Verano (Christmas in Summer)

 

 

I just celebrated my first Christmas away from the United States, away from snow and cold, and away from my family and my friends.  To say that it was strange is an understatement.  To me, it never really felt like Christmas, or at least the Christmas that I normally have... Regardless, Christmas came to Chile.  I had a Christmas Retreat with the staff of Andacollo on the 23rd.  I gave a presentation to everyone on the theme of Jesus being born poor for the poor.  I was super super nervous beforehand but I think that it went pretty well--and the best part is that it is done!

 

 

I had a rather laid-back Christmas Eve; chatted with the fam, slept in, etc. I went to mass at the parish

at 9 that night.  It was a lovely mass and the church was full of parishioners.  I was invited to the Alvarado house afterwards to celebrate with them.  We had drinks and dinner together, and two of the Haitian seminarians joined us as well.  Anais was so soo excited to open her presents that she could barely wait until midnight (as per her mother's rule) to arrive.  So she scarfed down her dinner while the rest of us had barely begun.  So while the rest of us were eating and talking, Anais was shouting over everyone to tell and then show her mom and I her new presents. 

 

 

I gave her headbands and my mom mailed the game Uno for her as well.  So after dinner, while drinks and conversation flowed, Anais, Luciano, and I played numerous games of Uno.  Icemick and Jacquy also joined in a few games.  Victor's mom and sister/brother-in-law showed up around 3 in the morning, but I was only able to make it for an hour more before I had to cry off and head home.

 

Christmas morning, I woke up and opened my Christmas presents that my mom had sent.  Victor and the rest of my "family" picked me up to head over for an asado (bbq) at Nana's house.  I stayed for a few hours, with lots of food and more Uno games, before Victor dropped me off at the event on my side of town with the Congregation.  The other ex-pat priests, brothers, and nuns and I had a very lovely dinner and conversation.  It was overall a very lovely summertime Christmas.

 

I am headed off on the Misiones trip to Paradones, Chile on January 3rd with Andacollo.  I am sure that there will be some great adventures that occur that I will share with all of you.  Until then...

Colegio Nuestra Señora de Andacollo

So the school year has come to an end here in Santiago.  Summertime is officially upon us.  And I am finally getting around to putting up pictures of the colegio.

The Congregation of Holy Cross runs two colegios down here, St. George's College and Colegio Nuestra Señora de Andacollo.  Andacollo has kindergarten through 12th grade, two courses of each grade.  

Front of the colegio

The rush to class after the final bell

Recreo (recess.)  

(on days when the smog isn't too bad, you can make out the Andes in the background)

Monday morning assembly

My classroom

My 4th graders

My other 4th graders

The Church

Now that the school year is ended, I have spent this week in preparation for the Misiones trip in the beginning of January.  A group of 35 high schoolers from the colegio and 10 adults will be heading to Paredones, which is a poor community in the country about 4 hours southwest of Santiago, for 10 days doing mission work with the people who live there.  More info on that soon!  But right now, we are planning the trip and getting to know one another.  I am very excited for the trip!

The Gift of Anais

 

 

It has been a while since I have posted a blog and so I thought it would be a good time to take some time and reflect and then share one of those reflections.  And the first thing that came to my mind is Anais.  Anais is a seven year old adorable/beautiful/spunky/center of attention/patient/generous/won't let me sit there in peace/singer-dancer little girl. And of everyone that I have met down here, I think Anais is the one who has helped me, taught me, and reminded me of all the places where I can find the face of Jesus.

 

That top picture is the first gift that she ever gave me.  It was the first time I met her and her family, and I went over to their house after mass.  I was a little nervous because they spoke no English, I was not confident with my Spanish skills, and this was my first time really spending time with a Chilean family, and yet there I was sitting in their living room while Janette and Victor put together once for us to eat.  Anais was so excited to have me there--she was bouncing all over the place; showing me her Monster High markers, her Violetta notebook, her beading jewelry kit, and her favorite little plastic dog.  (She loves dogs but doesn't have one).  We sat there and made jewelry for each other and for her little perrito before the food was ready.  At the end of the night, Anais gave me that little toy with its brand new collar.  I, a little stunned, took her favorite toy and could not find the words to explain what it meant to me and how I would treasure it forever.  The perrito now sits on my dresser and every time that I come into or leave my room I see it.  It reminds me of generosity, of kindness, and of Anais' beautiful approach to the world.  

I normally see Anais at school every day.  Sometimes I will catch her eating lunch, but normally it is later in the afternoon during a recreo when she is sitting in the steps close to the gym holding court with her friends.  She will give me a regal wave and shout "Vero" and I am summoned over.  The other little first graders are always in awe as I sit down and she tells me about something she learned that day or shows me a new toy she has found.  She never fails to brighten my day.

She likes to have me do her hair the way I have my hair done for that day--the timing is never right, either we are in the car or in the middle of the consecration at mass or the bell has run for class--but I quickly braid/ponytail/twist/bun her chin-length hair.  And then I will hear her explain to everyone she sees for the rest of the day that her hair was done by Vero, who is a gringa, and now she and I are gemelas (twins).  I like giving her little presents: a princess notepad, the vegetarian stew, Halloween hair ties, street chalk, cookies I baked, because of the manner in which she receives them.  You would think I was giving her the moon by the way her entire face lights up, the shy smile that creeps up, then the hug and besito she bestows upon me, and the super-accented English "thank you" she says. 

She also gives me presents.  She painted my face during mass once with the face paint she snuck into church.  She gave me a glow-in-the-dark bracelet that she won in a competition at school.  She gave me a friendship contract that she created so that we would always be friends.  She gave me a cardboard house that she made for her favorite perrito that she gave to me in the end of August.  She also gave me Spanish lessons, where she would explain something slowly so that I could understand or where she created worksheets with important vocabulary words or where she would repeat some word I didn't know over and over again umtil I could say it correctly or where she would explain some word that I didn't know so I would understand what was going on.  She gave me a place in the choir on Sunday evenings with her and her dad, and then she gave me singing lessons (more often than not in the middle of mass) so that I would know the songs.  She gave me a friendship continually reminds me that I am loved in the new place. 

The gift of Anais is something that leaves me breathless with gratitude at being on the recieiving end of such love.  She has reminded me, and continues to remind me, of what it means to be a child of God and how to love, accept, and treat the people who come into our lives.

 

(Anais make quick work of 3 donuts :))

Welcome to the Hotel Patagonia

So I spent the weekend in Mendoza, Argentina.  Mary Jeanne's and my work visas are still in the process of being approved and our tourist visas expire later this coming week, so we needed to leave the country of Chile and reenter it.  I don't totally understand how it works, but by reentering Chile our tourist visas renewed and so we now have another 90 days to work with.  (Also, I really was slacking on the whole taking picture thing over there, so I apologize).

We took an overnight bus late on Friday from Santiago, Chile to Mendoza, Argentina.  It takes over 7 hours to get there, including going through customs.  The bus seats about 40 people, and all of the seats recline so that you are semi-laying down...We arrived at the border around 2 in the morning, and we all had to unload, get our passports stamped, pay the reciprocity fee, and then our luggage was checked by the customs guys.  Mary Jeanne and I arrived in Mendoza around 5 in the morning on Saturday, and so we hung around the bus terminal until the sun rose and we could head to the hostel. 

Mendoza is a wonderful small town, situated against the Andes in a high plains desert (so much like Colorado, I felt right at home!)  It is known for its wine and olive oil, and is a bit of a tourist hub.  The city is centered around Plaza Independencia, and then there are four other smaller plazas surrounding that main one.  Our hostel was just a few blocks away from Plaza Independencia, so we spent the majority of the time walking around, window shopping, eating lunch, and hanging out in the shade of Parque San Martin.  Parque San Martin is 393 hectares and has over 300 different types of plants and trees.

 Parque San Martin entrance

 

In the afternoon, Mary Jeanne scheduled us for a horseback riding evening.  The company picked us up from our hostel and took us to the site where all the horses were.  Joining us was also a group of Australians, two Argentinian couples, a couple from New Zealand, and two ladies who were also from the USA. We got all loaded up on our horses, and were off with two gauchos (traditional Argentinian term for cowboys), named Diego and Nico (short for Nicolas). 

 Our horses underneath the beautiful sky

 

We took off, and headed back into the Andes, for about two hours.  As you can see, it was a perfect day for a horseback ride!  I quickly got the hang of saying "vamos" (let's go) and "pare" (stop), and very much enjoyed the incredible landscape surrounding us.  The gauchos took us up to the top of a ridge where we could see into Chile but it was so windy that the horses got really restless and we were not able to be up there for more than 30 seconds.  (I asked Nico later about the wind, and he explained that it is called "zonda" and it comes from Chile and builds up so much coming over the Andes that it is very strong coming into Mendoza.  The winds can be very dangerous, and so we had to eat dinner inside.) 

 Vamos!

 

At the end of the ride, we came to a campsite tucked into the mountains where an asado was prepared for us. We were all happy to get off the horses and spent a few minutes stretching and walking around.   Dinner (meat and potatoes grilled) and the wine were delicious. I sat next to the couple from New Zealand.  They are making their way around the world, literally, they have travelled through Asia, Australia, and most of South America so far, and are headed next to Brazil, then Europe, and finally the USA.  They both had such interesting stories and it was fun to get to know them.  After dinner, a fire was made and Diego, one of the gauchos, took a bottle of wine and a guitar and began to sing us traditional Argentinian songs.  After a while, (I think thanks to a little/lot of liquid courage) he began to take requests...One of his particular favorites was "Hotel California" but he insisted that when we all sing along that we change the words to "Hotel Patagonia".  It was a wonderful evening, and the wind finally calmed down so I could go out and look at the stars and full moon. 

 

Back at the hostel, I took a shower--which was desperately needed, since I was totally caked with dust, and headed to bed.  We shared our room with three French guys (who all elected not to wear any clothes while sleeping...such a surprise in the morning!)  We had breakfast, checked out, and headed to mass, then had a quick lunch before we had to catch the bus back to Santiago.

 

 Leaving Mendoza

 

On the bus ride back, we encountered a little bit of a problem at the border of Chile and Argentina...you have to go up and through the Andes, the border station for Chile is called Los Libertadores and is about 11,000 feet above sea level.  Well, so we left Mendoza and it was 80 degrees and at the pass it was freezing cold and snowing!  Buses were not allowed to pass, so we had to wait for over three hours in the bus, on the border, until it stopped snowing and the winds died down.  Three. Hours.

 Springtime snow at Los Libertadores

 

But, the weather did clear and soon enough we were on our way.  Mary Jeanne and I made it home in time to catch the metro home and then we both fell asleep immediately upon entering the house.  It was a wonderful, very short, vacation.  I hope to be able to spend a little more time next time I am there.

 

brazos!