¨Señor me has mirado los ojos, sonriendo has dicho mi nombre,
en la arena he dejado mi barca, junto a ti buscare otro mar.´´
Lord When You Came to the Seashore.
These are the lyrics to one of the first songs we sang as a community with the pobladores of Titicaco at our first mass held at the Municipilidad with Padre Francisco just as the sun had come up around 5:30 am. A song I remember as my mom's favorite church song and one whose chorus I looked forward to in the states so many times because it meant singing in Spanish. I think all the times I sang it on the hill with my fellow badgers, I teared up because it reminded me of home. This time though, it was different. Completely in spanish this time, I let the words sing to me. I remembered the song my dad played in the background of a slideshow he made for me before I left (He Knows My Name- Francesca Battistelli) and then I remembered a quote that resonated with me during my discernment of post-graduate service “You can't cross the ocean until you lose sight of the shore.” Without a doubt, in this life I find myself dipping my feet into the unknown (i.e. going to the mountains with a group of 15 year olds, not knowing a single one of their names for some “thing” called Mes de Mision). But, like when you finally jump into that pool of cold water and swim around a bit, your body grows accustomed. I'm definitely still in that process poco a poco, day by day with every day being a new adventure. When I feel like, my mom always says, “me ahogo en un vaso de agua,” I don't. I've only left my boat on the shore to look for another sea.
This Mes de Mision I found a little pueblo of another sea in the people of Titicaco. In their smiles, their sometimes batman sounding “buenos dias,” in the “chanchito chanchito chanchito!” I heard on our street that one time (shoutout to Johnny!), in their tattered feet who have probably walked more miles on their camino to their chacras since they began walking than I will ever walk in my lifetime, in the piedras campanas at the top of a cerro, in the espinas (cactus spikes) ridden trek to visit the duendes and in the corazones agradecidos y generosos that I encountered. In Señora Dami, I saw an insurmountable strength and unwavering compassion in her effortlessly prepared delicious platos at every almuerzo to her adorable laugh. In Kevin (pictured above), I saw a 3 year old whose spirit surpassed his actual age by decades. Following his mom and older brother around all day, he worked as they did. When he fell asleep in my arms during our clausura for the kids who attended our categuesis afternoon classes, I couldn't let him go. I was DJ and was supposed to lead the kids in more Zumba routines. I loved watching the girls get creative and dance their way to the end of every zumba song. For a little while, Kevin was a toddler, cradled in loving arms sleeping so soundly the music did not even phase him in the slightest. For a moment he rested and I wanted to give him all the peace in my heart to last him for the rest of his hard labor filled, humble life. I accompanied the group that walked him and his brother Bryan home one day and waited un ratito as Bryan gave us all leftover pancakes to share amongst ourselves with a gracias. He didnt have to give us anything or even say anything but he did anyway. Its this small act of compassion that I hope the participants of this Mes de Mision, Promocion San Pedro Claver, take with them. Its significance. Its valor (value).
The majority of our work the entire month of January, proposed by the alcalde of Ticaco, was cleaning the caminos/paths to the many chacras of Ticaco. By the end of the month my group wondered what the point of cleaning it was if the little rocks were just going to roll down the mountain or hill and ensuciar (dirty) the camino all over again. More than anything this month it was those questions, those responses, that pushed me to my limits. It took a lot of patience to take a step back and realize “yes I know why we're doing this, but its not as obvious to them as it is to me, so helloo Christie...teach them.” Ticaco is home to many ancianos/elderly who walk to their chacras daily (up mountains on extremely rocky paths). One misstep could lead to far worse than what would happen if you or I tripped on these rocks. The important lesson here was that TODAY no one would trip and most likely for the rest of the week....because of OUR efforts, OUR pallas (shovels), OUR rastrillos (rakes), OUR manos (hands), we did that.
On the days when I stopped mandando (kindly commanding) completely, I stopped talking and just watched to see if maybe MAYBE my kids would work on their own. Justo, it was these days where one of my kids on the walk back, asked me that incredibly discernment ridden question that is difficult to answer in just one sentence, “Why are you in Peru?--what brought you here?” Sure there were difficult moments and moments where life brought trials that very much brought me to where I am today, but there were also many moments of pure happiness (that me and my friend Caro like to call God-incidences) that put me on this path whether it be my experiences as a teacher or the moments where my faith grew for the better. The question was one of those blessings in disguise just as making new friends and zumba-ing the days and nights away with them was too.
As much as I supposedly yelled at my group to quit the flojera (laziness) and “TRABAJA!,” we SHARED moments of joy and we LIVED through the moments of homesickness, sunburns, ice cold showers, skipping showers, car-sickness, cleaning caminos, shoveling a collapsed concrete wall in Tarata, teaching categuesis classes and eating lentejas. Those moments changed us. They brought us to our lema/motto, “Con esfuerzo y voluntad todo se puede lograr.”
“With strength and a willingness everything can be attained”
But what else made all this possible?
“us”
“eachother”
WE did it.
Together.
Juntos para “amar y servir” (#MiguelPro)
We may be apart now but the journey doesn't end here, this experience is something we are going to talk about for the rest of our lives...
I was blessed to be a part of it, to give of myself to the people of Ticaco and to share with this Promocion just what it means to “amar y servir,” Gracias a Promo SPC, Grupo 3, all the acesores, Api, Profe Carlos and JVC, I wouldn't have wanted to begin my JVC journey any other way.
This post marks just almost 3 months here in Peru.
To all those reading out there, you're spectacular and thank you so much for your support.
Para todos leeando esto, tu eres spectacular y te agradezco muchisimo por tu apoyo.
Con Corazon <3
To Love and To Serve. Juntos. Siguimos. buscando otro mar.
