links & likes

If you're interested in staying up-to-date with the latest happenings at Mosoj Yan, you should check out the newly updated facebook page and blog [links below]! Also, the most recent posts are blurbs about the mosaic project I'm doing with the girls right now, so they're worth a look.

The Mosoj Yan Facebook Page

The Mosoj Yan Blog

You know you're on month four of HNGR when...

To give you a summary of how things have been lately (and in lieu of a recent email thread that was going between the HNGR women):

You know you're on month four of HNGR when... 

Your host tías (aunts) introduce you to someone as their niece and the person actually believes you're related, despite the blue eyes, pale skin, and freckles.

You start losing patience dealing with all the conflict between the girls at Albergue.

You get frustrated with  English more than with Spanish, for the way it limits your ability to express yourself.

You know it's going to be really hard to leave in just 2.5 months.

Someone tells you they love you.

One of the girls decides you are the culprit for all her problems, and gives you the silent treatment for two days.

You finally give up and agree with your tías that, yes, the reason that you don't want to eat 3,000 calories a day is because you do not want to get fat, and not just because your body does not have the capacity to eat so much.

When you're the only staff member on duty on a Saturday, you lose your temper at the girls, because they lie and don't take your authority seriously.

You're so busy doing things like interviews, teaching, HNGR homework, research, and peeling carrots that there's hardly any time to breathe.

Your to-do list is so long that you almost feel like you're back at Wheaton (though my hand has yet to revert to its notepad form).

You have to say goodbye to other people, but you're the one staying and they're the ones going.

Instant coffee actually seems pretty normal.

¿Por dónde vamos a ir?

"Where are we going to go?"

This is the question I am asked at the start of almost every walk we go on. My usual response is, "donde quieren" (wherever you want).

We pick a "theme" for the walk (of what we'll focus on taking pictures of), I point out things I think we should photograph, I give some hints about good composition, I rejoice with them over the beauty of the photos they've taken... and occasionally we have some "classroom time" to do more formal photo critiques.

Am I really teaching? Or am I just "facilitating?" Am I doing too little? I'm not really sure of the answers to these questions, but I do know that they are learning, that they are expressing themselves, and that it is freeing for them to walk and take pictures... So is that enough?

I've been learning a lot about myself through my time here. I've been learning that I don't want to be a teacher. Or a counselor. And I'm okay with that... but then how do I keep going? How do I stay motivated? I am feeling more than ever before the need to rely on the Lord's strength to get me through my days. And that is such a valuable lesson. I'm glad I'm here and I'm glad I'm doing what I'm doing, but I am impatient as well, to get onto things that I think I may be better equipped for, and that I may enjoy a bit more.

In other news, I made it to Cusco and back last week, and yesterday did a 12 hour hike up into the mountains that surround Cochabamba. Outdoors and friends are always a good respite from the cotidiano of life, though generally such things are few and far between, and who knows how many more chances I'll get like these ones.

Pray that the Lord's strength would continue to guide me through my days, and that I would find support and community in these next three months, wherever I may go.