Volunteering and traveling in Argentina to proclaim God's great love, and hopefully not getting sick along the way.

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Wednesday, September 29, 2010

This week en los institutos

Primero, fuimos al instituto por los ninos. I asked for us to walk instead of to take a taxi because I wanted to save us some money (y me encanta caminar!). The walk was quite pleasant except for one part: I had a horrible attitude.

Back up--Monday, as previously stated, is our day off. However, we were asked quite late in the evening to finish making these juguetes we in the States like to call Jacob's ladder. I'll just say this, great toy, next to IMPOSSIBLE to make. Especially within a few hours. Especially when we decided before hand to walk instead of take a taxi which means we will have to wake up earlier than normal.

We tried. We also didn't have very good glue, or very strong ribbon. I joked by saying it's like making bricks without straw. Too far? Possibly. The point is, we finally finished making these toys very late and were a little on edge the whole time. We ended up having to start over with some of them and they still wouldn't function properly. Argh!

So in the morning, when we tried to explain the problems we had, it was decided to just leave them home and we would play futbol with the boys instead. I could live with that, but I was sad that we had put so much work into them, only to see it lead to nada. To use a favorite German phrase, "Kaput!"

Thus, I was super frustrated. Frustrated that had I known we were going to finish these toys on our own that I could have been working on them all week, not a few hours the night before. Frustrated that we had to use time on our day off to do so (I am very protective of my Sabbaths!). Frustrated that I didn't get a, "Thanks for trying," or, "Nice effort."

There were a couple other little things not worth mentioning.

I prayed rather angrily about all of this. I knew in my heart of hearts that in the grand scheme of the history of Sharayah, this was nothing. I know that some of my frustration comes as a result of cultural shock and communication differences that I'm just not used to. I apologized to God for being a bad word. Then I felt bad for thinking of that word, but thought it was the only way I could really describe myself in the moment.

I just needed help and lots of it. Again, I'm thankful God gives us emotions, but I so need His grace to practice self-control.

It was about the time we started playing futbol that the boys stole my heart and all was better again. We only had three boys with us: Rodrigo uno y Rodrigo dos, y Chechu. We had a blast, playing Americans v. Argentinians, adultos v. ninos, and other mixes. Afterward, we talked about our favorite sports and drank some Coca-Cola.

The most beautiful moment came when Javi passed the ball to me (the verb of choice for passing is sacar) and I had a chilena! That is, a bicycle kick (over my head) to score a goal. Que lindo, no?! Oh, it was a great moment, particularly because the boys started to respect me afterward. Hopefully this will help our friendships progress! I am praying that this be the case!

My only sadness by the end of our time was that Nahuel wasn't there. He had to work on some school work instead. Bummer.

Despues, hoy, fuimos al institutos por las chicas (que estan embarasada o que tiene ninos). If you thought Tuesday's miscommunication was bad...

Oye vey. I had the understanding that this time Sarah and I would be making food for the group (hence yesterday's blog). However, as we let into the house the two other women who help at the institute, I noticed they had a large torta en sus manos. In addition, we had the impression that these women would be bringing the supplies for this week's handcraft. All they had was the cake. What to do?

I won't go into these details, but again, on the walk to the institute, I just couldn't believe that this was happening otra vez! I couldn't help but think that it's very clear I will need to be guarding my heart with these situations. I need, so desperately, to trust that the miscommunication is not just to me; that my identity is not in whether or not an event goes well or not; that others are not going to meet my criteria of communication needs. I can do my best to explain what I need, but I can not expect changes right away (if at all). All in all, very humbling.

We had a good time again with the young ladies. Not as many were there, but it meant more time for me to play with a certain adorable baby, so how could I complain?

One thing though. A girl entered the institute today with her parents. They went into the main office for a meeting and in about 15 minutes, the parents left. The director then came to present the young one who was to be joining the group for "a little while." You could see sadness in her face, and I felt great pain for her. What must it be like to be in her shoes!! Que triste! Join me in prayer for Clara.

I don't know what else to say right now, as I'm quite tired and just needing some time with the Lord. Chau.

2 comments:

  1. I'm proud of u for trying!! And reminded of ur aunt mel's funny story about the word embarasada. Hang in there choriada ;)

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