I'm Alive

Hello All!

First of all, I would like to say how sorry I am for how long it's been since I wrote last. Many things have happened but it's always felt hard to think of what to say in a blog post. Anyway, the last month or two have been very good. I have settled in pretty well and I am generally very happy about where I am and what I am doing. 

Work at Alto Refugio continues to be very good. Usually I am either upstairs with the kids, helping in the kitchen/food storage room, running around town with Beto, one of the leaders, to pick up food donations, or working at a bed-and-breakfast that Alto Refugio owns to support its work. Playing with the kids in the daycare can be meaningful work that I enjoy a lot. While it is usually exhausting and the kids can be straight-up annoying, I know that we are showing love to children that often don't receive much love elsewhere and often have very tough home environments. I used to not have much patience for the children of the employees who are sometimes the only kids we have because I thought that they were well off and didn't need my "help." But I've realized that their home lives are often just as difficult as the others. Very few of the kids we work with have fathers, so just having an older male figure in their lives can be very special for them.

Working in the kitchen is fun because you get to work with the three older ladies who always joke around and teach you how to say things like "you're an old, ugly monkey" in Guarani. Going around on errands with Beto is always exciting and scary as he is a huge fan of the Trans-Chaco rally and tries to bring these driving styles to the streets of Asuncion like a real Paraguayan. I go to the Bed-and-Breakfast once a week and do yard work or painting or things like that. That can be fun working outside, being with the young family that lives there, and swimming in the pool before going home (this will be even nicer when its 105 degrees every day this summer.) Plus, the wife, who's a German Mennonite sometimes makes Zwiebach. 

My favorite parts of work, though, are when I can get to know the patients that come in when we're eating during meal times times or sitting in on the daily devotionals that David usually leads. Hearing about their lives is often very eye-opening for me and their kindness in spite of their difficulties is always inspiring. I also am often inspired by the way David and others engage the people in songs and prayers and messages during the devotionals. They have found a way of worship and spiritual input that is very life- and hope-giving to the people, and I like that a lot. 

Our coworkers are also generally great, and it has been very fun getting to know all of them well. I also feel so lucky to have Austin working there too, although we are usually doing different things.

Now... on to home, social, and church life. Sorry this is getting long...

During the week after work, there usually isn't too much going on, so I spend quite a bit of time just doing whatever my family is doing. I have gotten to know most of the people in my family pretty well and I like them a lot. A common activity that I enjoy is just sitting outside, drinking Tereré, and talking. What has gotten old sometimes, as I mentioned last time is the TV which is on a lot of the time. I like watching things like soccer and the news (when it's not just about ghost sightings...don't ask me why those are on national news), and I can even tolerate the Soap Operas because they're set in scenic areas of Mexico, but the risqué dancing shows just about make me gag and everyone takes them so seriously.

Also, birthday parties (including mine back in October) are fun as family and friends come over, they make a bunch of meat, and just have a good time. We've somehow had like 5 birthday parties in our family, so it's kind of a regular thing. In fact, just yesterday we had one for my older brother, and it was a great time even though a storm left us in the dark and the rain forced the ginormous grill to be moved inside the house to prepare the meat. It was quite a scene. Here was the conversation: me, worried about the possibility of a dozen people being knocked out by carbon-monoxide poisoning: "won't there be too much smoke?" Brother: "smoke or no smoke: we need our Asado!" We all lived, and it was actually more fun because there wasn't electricity for the TV - ha!

I have done some things with from friends from church during the week. I have had a few guitar lessons from Javier and in return I have taught him some cello. Fransisco has taught me some electric bass, and there has been a choir class led by someone at church that I have been to a few times. Also several people run a few times a week in the Jardín Botánico and I join them sometimes. Us four volunteers used to have spanish lessons twice a week, but then they stopped because the teacher thought we were good to go. Now we might find some people to tutor us one-on-one as there will be a lot of teachers and students out of school for the summer with a lot of time on their hands. Us four also sometimes do stuff like walk through the park or down to the river and talk. When there is nothing else going on I read, listen to podcasts, or practice guitar (Javier fixed up an old guitar my family had that we found my 1-year-old brother jumping on one day.)

The weekends are usually more occupied with social and church events. We spend more time with other youth from church on the weekend. We usually just sit and talk and drink tereré (seeing a pattern?) or occasionally play games, like Dutch Blitz which we have taught people. On Saturday, us volunteers usually find something to do in the day. We've gone to the market to eat chinese food, gone to an art museum, and done stuff around home. Saturday night is a youth church service, which usually is some loud rock music and a speaker. After this we usually hang out with youth people and eat hamburgers at a Hamburguesaría across the street. On Sunday, there is a church service for everyone in the morning, a soccer game in the park in the early afternoon for a bunch of guys from the church and neighborhood, small youth group at 5, and volleyball at 7. I have been involved in the worship service a few times when I played cello on some of the slower, quieter songs. The combination of rock band and cello isn't ideal, but it can work for some things. My sisters and other people from church often walk around the park on Sunday as well. There are tons of people in the park on Sunday, along with Guarani people selling hand crafts, and Churro vendors (so delicious). Sundays are usually very fun days and great for getting to know other people from church.

Special things that have happened section:

A long time ago Austin and I went with David and Judy Schmidt to beautiful Lucero and Tres Palmas in the interior of the country to visit their son, Anton and his family that live there. Tres Palmas is a Mennonite Colony (3000 people?) and Lucero is a Mennonite village a little ways away which just consists of a street with 20 houses on it. Anton is the Doctor and Pastor for the area. We spent this fun weekend getting to know his family and playing with his kids, who are my third cousins. Their family, like all good Mennonites in Paraguay, knows a ton of languages - English, Low German, High German, Spanish, and whatever they speak in the Philippines, as the mom, Faith is from there. And maybe Guaraní.

On the way back from this trip, we stopped in at the Mennonite Hospital Km. 81, which was started by David's dad, John Schmidt. It was originally created as a leprosy hospital that treated lepers so much better than was the norm back then. Now it deals with a lot of things, but it is still known for the quality it offers. It is on a beautiful large property with housing for the volunteers, doctors and some patients, the hospital, fruit and nut groves, pastures for cattle, etc. When we got there, another one of my dad's second cousins, the grounds keeper was butchering the weekly cow.

A few weeks ago, we also went to David and Judy's 60th and 65th birthday party. They had a lot of people over and we ate a lot of food. The next day on Saturday, they took us to the wedding of Jonathan Schmidt and Helena Arrechea (I think that was her name). Jonathan Schmidt is the son of Wesley and Esther Schmidt, who also live in Asuncion, and a nephew of David and Judy. It was a very nice outdoor wedding on land adjacent to the Rio Paraguay. There was a very fancy reception and meal, which left us very full and wondering who is rolling in the dough. It was also fun to meet even more second cousins of my dad.

Also a few weeks ago, I heard that Isaiah and Allison Goertz were coming to Asuncion from their small town of Yuty where they are serving as Peace Corps Volunteers. Isaiah and Allison used to go to our church in Goshen and Allison was one of the leaders of our middle school youth group. We went together to a Korean Restaurant in Mercado Cuatro (a crazy bustling place full of an odd assortment of items all at an awesome, contraband price) and walked around the market. It was so fun to meet up with people that I had known before coming here and compare notes about our experiences, the culture, etc. Sometime this year I am going to try to make it to their town to see what they are up to, meet their friends, and get out of the city a bit. There are busses that can take you to most places in the country for pretty cheap.

So that's about all I can think of right now. We've definitely had some great times and learned a lot. There are times when our work does not seem too meaningful, such as when we are just helping watch a few kids or sweeping a patio that is not that dirty, but there are other times where it feels like we are responding to a great need that is in Paraguay. At times it also feels like we don't know that many people that well when we should after 2.5 months. But we have made many great friendships with more people than I sometimes remember. Likewise, it sometimes feels like our Spanish is great and sometimes it feels like it sucks. I suppose all of these conflicting emotions and views are bound to be present in an experience like this, and it can still be a great experience in spite of them, but living through them can be tough.

In these couple weeks we have two visitors from Mennonite Mission Network. First, Linda Shelly is visiting for a bit as she is traveling all around South America connecting with MMN's partners. We spent some time with her today and will eat dinner with her tomorrow at Paul and Hildi Amstutz's house. Next, Dani Klotz will come and spend some time with our team. She is the Radical Journey intern this year and she is in charge of our team. It has and will be great to see these two people and talk about our experiences, hear their suggestions, etc.

Also, in the next week or so we might have to leave the country and come back in to be legal with our Visas, which were only for 3 months. We might try to visit the Yguazu Falls on the Argentina side, but we'll see.

Thanks to everyone who has read this far and to everyone who has supported me in this experience. I really appreciate it! I hope all is well in the US, and feel free to contact me.

Bendiciones,
Benjamin

Here is an assortment of pictures to give you an idea of what we see everyday. 

Our work, Alto Refugio:

Most of my family and some friends at my house for my birthday:

A church service:

Some of the youth in the church. This is our small group that gets together every sunday to talk and do bible studies.

Sunset over the Rio Paraguay:

Some of the beautiful land around Km. 81:

And here are some fricken awesome trees:

(The first one is all one tree, and the third is not my picture but it's the tree we're enjoying right now)

40 pounds of beef later...

Hello from Paraguay!

I apologize that I am writing this three weeks after arriving in Paraguay. Things have been kind of busy and I have just focussed on things going on here. Things have been really great! There have been many very fun and exciting times meeting many great people, learning to live in a very different culture/style of life, improving our spanish, and traveling around to see different parts of the city. There have also been difficult moments, where the language barrier makes communication very difficult, where the slow pace of life and people's interest in their cell phones and TV makes moments of boredom, and just plain exhaustion from so much newness. But the good times are always soon to follow and my positive outlook returns.

After our long overnight flight, on which we woke up to the sun coming up over the Chaco, Alfred and Edulia Klaasan, the pastors at our church, picked us up at the airport. Obtaining visas and going through customs was strangely easy; they asked no questions and didn't really search our things. We spent part of the day at Alfred and Edulia's house, and they introduced us to our neighborhood and host families. All four of us volunteers live in the same neighborhood within five blocks or so. I got placed with a great family named the Alderete Perez's. Living at our house are our parents, five of their seven children, their grandma that has severe dementia, and sometimes their aunt. Needless to say it is always a happenin' place, especially since there are usually cousins, aunts and uncles, other siblings, and friends over at our house as well. The ages of my siblings are something like 1, 14, 20, 22, 24, 26, 35. This means that my 1-year-old brother has a niece that is some 16 years older than him.

The first week we mostly just got introduced to the neighborhood (we are between the huge, beautiful botanical park and the Rio Paraguay), church (there are three services every weekend plus several youth activities), the city of Asuncion, and Tereré (the national drink). We went around the city with various youth from church to introduce us to different parts of town and the bus system. This was fun as we got to know some awesome youth that we get to spend the next year with and got to see different parts of the city. We went to downtown a few times, San Lorenzo, a huge market, and to the "Shoppings" (yes it's a noun here). This last one was a popular place for people to take us, I think because they wanted to show us the one place that is clean and sparkly and that resembles corporal America. We trudged along to the various Shoppings to make them happy.

The most fun things that I remember from the first week were walking and playing soccer in the botanical park, going to the Paraguay/Argentina game with my family, and sitting and drinking Tereré with family and friends. The church services are very different than what I am used to but I can respect them and learn from them. I have to keep remembering that churches have to respond to the local culture and situations, and so in a place as different as Paraguay, the theological focuses and worship styles are bound to be different. Church and the youth events are also great social settings where we can meet and converse with new people.

In our second full week here we started our work assignments. Austin and I were both placed in Alto Refugio, an organization that works on holistically helping people with HIV/AIDS. It is run by David Schmidt who is related to both Austin and me. Hannah and Brittni both work at the school that is connected to our church. At Alto Refugio, we have worked in areas such as child care, the kitchen, and cleaning. In child care, we watch the children of HIV/AIDS patients while they go across the street to the hospital for treatments or just want a break. The kitchen provides meals to AIDS patients and gives out bags of food staples. Alto Refugio also has days where it gives out clothing, has self-support group meetings, has a dentist because other dentists are too expensive or don't allow AIDS patients, has cots for them to rest, and has devotionals during the day. It is a very good organization that really helps a lot of people that are struggling and need a place to turn and get support. I am very glad that we can participate in its work. It is also fun to get to know the Schmidt's. They had us over the other night for a big meal and also had some of their children and grandchildren. It was a great time.

After three weeks, communication in Spanish has become much easier, although I can still only understand and communicate fairly simple things. Listening to others conversations is still usually very hard because they talk so fast and use Jopará, a mixture of Spanish and Guaraní, the indigenous language that everyone is fluent in. I have tried to learn some, but I usually just forget everything I learn because everything sounds like Korean and looks like this: "Mba'échapa." That means "what's up."

The food is sometimes hard to like because mostly everything is either an animal or wheat product. There are definitely foods that are really good, but my family jokes that if there isn't meat on the table, they won't eat it. This is tough for a former semi-vegitarian. 

Thanks for reading and for all of your support! I hope everything is going well in the US as well.

Benjamin

P.S. Sorry there are no pictures - transferring them wasn't working. I'll try to post some later.

Last day in Chicago

Hello everyone!

Today was our last day in Chicago for orientation. The Paraguay team was here at the church alone basically all day as all the others began their travels this morning. We head out tomorrow morning to catch our early afternoon flight.

Last week we had a lot of sessions by various Mennonite Mission Network staff and others from the area. Some of the most interesting sessions for me were about White Privilege and Racism, the different streams or focuses of Christianity (social justice, evangelism, contemplation, etc.), living cross culturally, poverty, and sustainable living. It was good to talk about all of these things, as we will face many questions and issues in the next year that will relate to these topics. We also had several sessions on more specific topics like finances and Paraguayan culture.

Every day we were introduced to various spiritual practices that we can choose to explore more in the coming year. On Saturday, we took three hours to do a mini silent retreat. Many of us walked around the neighborhood and the Garfield Park Conservatory. Last week, we also took time to hear every person tell their personal story, including their faith story. It was great to hear about each person's past and how they have come to their personal beliefs. It was also good to think about these things for myself while preparing my own story. 

In our free time, our group of eight participants often played card games like Rook, Dutch Blitz, or Scum. We also played and sang music together a few times. On Saturday, we went to the lake to swim and play frisbee, and then spent some time at the Chicago Jazz Festival in Millennium Park. Last night, we had a closing meal at a Greek restaurant in Greek Town to celebrate our time together and send each other off.

It was a great ten days as we learned quite a bit to prepare us for the year ahead and made great friends with everyone that was here. It was sad to see all of the others leave today, but I'm excited about our team going to Paraguay and the fact that we're leaving tomorrow.

¡Hasta Luego!

Orientation has begun

Hello everyone, and thank you for taking the time to read this blog! I really appreciate your interest and support! I will try to write fairly regularly in the coming year to keep you all informed about my experience in Paraguay. 

Today was our first full day of orientation here in Chicago. There are eight youth and three Mennonite Mission Network staff staying at Chicago Community Mennonite Church in Garfield Park. It has been great to meet all of these people that I will be spending the next ten days with. Everyone is very nice and fun and I think we will have a great time together for orientation.

So far we have been introduced to Garfield Park, practiced getting to know new neighborhoods by being given directions to a random neighborhood that we were to then explore (we went to Paseo Boricua, a neighborhood of mostly Puerto Ricans), and talked about Enneagram, a system for learning about personality types. Later in the week we will focus on faith and spirituality things, team building, serving inter-culturally, and more specific things to prep us for leaving for Paraguay.

I'll try to post once more before we leave to let you know how this week went.

Thanks for reading!

Ben