A smattering of photos...

The All Souls Procession in Tucson (aka Day of the Dead)

The greenhouse out at the Community Food Bank farm

Cabbage seedlings in the greenhouse

Papa turkey at the farm. We didn't eat him, but we did eat two of his friends :(

The site of the farm Thanksgiving celebration. We cooked the turkeys in that adobe oven.

The Thanksgiving celebration at the YAVs' house. So much good food!!!

Christmas decorations in downtown Tucson

One great reason why people live in Tucson is now becoming apparent to me. Here are the forecasts for this coming week: Today - high of 79. Tomorrow, 77. Tuesday, 73. Wednesday and Thursday, 75. I'm thinking about going for a run in a t-shirt later today...

21st anniversary of the Jesuit martyrs of El Salvador

On November 16th, 1989, six Jesuits at the University of Central America (UCA), their housekeeper, and her daughter, were brutally murdered by the right-wing army of El Salvador. These Jesuits had gained attention (notoriety?) for speaking out against the repressive regime of the Salvadoran government, and were killed in order to silence them. Of course, their story inspired countless more people to fight for justice, and their story still continues to move people today. This event has special meaning for our house because our house is named after one of the Jesuits who was killed, Ignacio Ellacuría. Also, Erin spent a semester in El Salvador in college, and I spent three weeks there as well. If you're interested in learning more about the story, here are a couple resources.


Here's a reflection John Dear wrote last year for the 20th anniversary. My house read this out loud on the 21st anniversary on Tuesday.


The following video explores the Jesuits and what we can learn from their lives. Erin knows the main speaker from her time in El Salvador.

Ft. Huachuca Protest

Last Sunday my housemates and I protested at Ft. Huachuca, a military base about an hour outside of Tucson. The purpose of the protest was to call attention to the fort's role in writing manuals on how to torture people that were used at the School of the Americas in Georgia to train, most notoriously, military personnel from Latin America. The protest also called for an end to torture everywhere. About 100 people were protesting with us, and there were two smaller groups of counter-demonstrators: a group of motorcyclists that would ride by with American flags and another group with signs and American flags.

Our side of the protest

The entrance to the fort was barricaded with orange and white barricades

Counter-demonstrators on motorcycles

My feelings on the act of protesting are mixed. Generally speaking, I feel that it is good to speak up for what one believes in, but that protesting usually, usually, doesn't bring about significant changes. Since this was my first real protest, it was interesting to see. My attention was attracted to the counter-demonstrators, who waved lots of American flags and "Support our Troops" signs and said things to us, like, "The military is the reason you can protest!" I kept thinking to myself that maybe we should have brought some of those signs and American flags ourselves. After all, I think men and women in the US military are doing a very brave thing, and I am proud of many things about the US. Maybe our protest against torture was misunderstood by our counter-demonstrators as a sweeping denunciation of every person in the US military, I don't know. In any case, it was a strange contrast: we holding signs saying "end torture" and others holding the American flag. Why are these things on opposite sides?

Garden

Our booful garden.

Today my housemates and I finally broke ground on a garden in our backyard. We don't really have a front yard, so maybe it's our front yard, too. I don't know. Anyway, there is now about a six by three foot section of fertile soil that's maybe six inches deep. And we worked hard to get it! The only way we could dig the dirt was to use a pickaxe. (Okay, so maybe a really sharp shovel would have worked, but really, I'm convinced the pickaxe was the most effective method.) After breaking up enough of the cement-like soil, we added in some soil and manure and voila! We have soil ready for planting. We put in five flowers (not sure what kind) and I'll get some seeds from the food bank next week.

Why my legs hurt today

Yesterday we at Casa Nacho joined some of the Mennonite volunteers and their friends and some of the Presbyterian volunteers on a seven-hour, 10.8 mile hike up to the top of Mt. Wrightson and back. I had an absolute blast, and it was definitely worth it even though it probably put me back a week on my knee recovery. I was having trouble loading images on to this blog for some reason, so instead of doing that I posted them to this link. I hope that works.

We're at the library right now, about to head to a wine & cheese event that we've been invited to put on for some other Catholic volunteers in Tucson, I believe. Free food and drinks means we're going for sure!

Jeff

Ben's Bells and Brian Lopez

If you visited our house and just listened to what we talked about, you might assume that there was a fifth Jesuit Volunteer living with us by the name of Brian Lopez. Not quite true. Though my housemates love to talk about him, and are facebook friends with him, Brian is actually a local musician that Jen, Kaitlyn, and Erin discovered two weeks ago. They came home from a concert in a trance. I don't think I'm exaggerating because I think one of them actually said, "I'm in a trance." They showed me some of his music, and it's pretty good. Kind of ethereal and mellow, with a hypnotic beat. Reminds me of both Radiohead and Coldplay a little. So, lucky for me, I will voluntarily go along with them when we - as I'm sure we will - see him in more concerts here in Tucson.

Brian in his band Mostly Bears

On a different note, yesterday was Erin's birthday! She turned 22, and as something fun to do, plus as our community event, we volunteered for a couple hours at Ben's Bells, a local nonprofit that specializes in the power of intentional kindness. Here's how it works. Volunteers spend hours creating colorfully decorated clay bells, and then employees hide thousands of them around the city a few times a year. The bells are not for sale. They can only be found, and if you find one you're supposed to take it home and it reminds you of the importance of being kind. Some might write this off as superficial, but I loved it, and it's obvious that lots of others in Tucson think so, too. As it says on the website, there is a "therapeutic effect of working with clay" and it just makes me feel good to know that a company devoted to nothing more than kindness can survive and flourish in today's world.

The finished bells. Volunteers shape and paint the clay parts on top.

Other volunteers (we didn't get to) form the clay beads

We finished half-painted clay beads. Here's Kaitlyn working on one.

And here's Jen. Someday someone will find these bells!

By the way, in case you're interested, here are links to Kaitlyn's and Jen's blogs. Happy Sunday!

Community

Home.

Casa Nacho!

Living room, decorated thanks to thrift stores.

There. Just thought you might want to see what our house looks like. Uff, it hasn't been an easy weekend for me. The week was great, but now it appears that I am in one of those "funks" I fall into ever so often. I feel tired and sluggish, wanting to do something with my day, but I just wander aimlessly around the house, cleaning the dishes, sweeping my room, looking at a book but thinking about something else. I'm also irritable. Of my housemates, Jen, Erin, and Kaitlyn, I can honestly say that they're considerate, not messy, helpful, reliable - in other words, great housemates. But just the very act of living with people means you have to, well, live with them. Day in and day out. Mornings, evenings, and weekends. Sometimes (like today) it's a challenge just to make peace with myself, so of course it will sometimes be difficult to also share space with three other individuals who have completely separate - though not always dissimilar - life experiences, values, and viewpoints on the world.

In fact, I'm a little surprised at how easily we have managed our house business so far. What seems to make sense to each one of us, separately, luckily seems to make sense for the other three. The bread has mold? Then it's no good. We should throw it out. Now, I'm sure there is a rational person somewhere who would argue that one should cut out the mold and save the rest of the bread. Then a disagreement might arise. But so far, not in our house. We have no moldy bread eaters. Yet we do have differences, and quirks, and individual tastes. I may not understand why it's a terrible idea to put dirty clothes belonging to two different people in the same load of wash, but then again I'm the one who spent $13 out of my stipend on a bag of coffee so that I could have it before work, even though it's provided, for free, at work. I have my reasons. And what might just be my golden rule for a peaceful year is if I assume that she, too, has hers.

The Outdoors Post

I figure it's time I talked a little bit about the great outdoors here in Tucson. Coming from the temperate Pacific Northwest, I was a little shocked to arrive in a place as dry and hot as Tucson. Erin and I landed in the airport after dark, when the mountains and the sky were equally black. Hard to believe from the airplane window that the air temperature was over 90 degrees. When we walked outside, it was hot, certainly, but it wasn't as unpleasant as I had imagined; especially (as I learned later) because the sun wasn't also burning our skin. It was kind of like a low-temperature sauna. As I felt the moisture leaving my skin, I was thrilled to see my first real desert plants. They were saguaros, the tall, straight, noble kind with upward pointing arms. And these cacti weren't here for the tourists, but were placed inconspicuously in the dirt between parking lot curbs where one might see shrubs or small maples in Oregon.

The heat has been constantly annoying over the past few weeks, but I've learned to live with it, or rather, to hide from it, in air-conditioned buildings and buses. The desert plants, on the other hand, have been much more pleasant. Last weekend our house decided to explore the Desert Museum just west of downtown.

Saguaro [suh-WAH-roh] in the distance

It was a nice change, for one, to just get away from the city, but it was also nice to learn a little about some of the flora and fauna here. Saguaro, for example, only grow an inch or two per year. So the saguaro in the picture is likely close to a hundred years old. And the purple growths on the cactus in the picture below are actually a fruit that is harvested and served in local cafes as prickly pear lemonade.

Prickly pears on a nopal cactus

We also gained a valuable lesson in the dangers of leaving the trail. Erin, hoping to get her picture taken by a giant saguaro, had not taken two steps off the path when she came up short, due to a spine lying on the ground that had punctured her sandal. Luckily, her foot was okay.

Wear thick boots!

The desert plants do have a certain beauty, but this weekend we explored another region of Tucson with a more temperate clime - the top of Mt. Lemmon. This mountain is just to the north of the city, and is accessible by car all the way to the top. Vista points near the summit are impressive.

Kaitlyn, Jen, and Erin on Mt. Lemmon

We stopped in Summerhaven, a little town at the top. It felt like I was back in the Pacific Northwest! Deciduous trees, quiet streams, and - best of all - a cool 70 degree temperature greeted us. We explored a gift shop and considered buying crepes, but eventually decided to take a short hike.

Tucson? Or Forest Park?

We got lost on the hike, so just went back the way we came after a mile or two. As we drove back down the mountain, the rich green trees gave way to pale green saguaros, and eventually we hit the dry basin where the city lies. But now I know that if I ever feel homesick or am just sick of the heat, an island oasis of green trees exists only a few thousand feet above my head.

It feels like this past week just flew by in an instant, and that it was yesterday, not last weekend, when I was last in this library typing an update. Time flies when you're busy, I guess. I found myself struggling this week to remember what day it was. I think that's because I'm getting so used to my weekday routine that the days just kind of blur together. This week did have its highlights, however:

Tuesday morning I was at a farmer's market in that the food bank runs weekly right out in front of the building. It's a great resource for people who qualify for low-income or senior food vouchers, because they can pick up their vouchers in the warehouse and then use them to get local, healthy produce just out the door.

Some of the seasonal produce: lots of squash and cucumbers

It also was a nice break from working inside the office on a computer (although it's air-conditioned inside...). One thing I appreciate about the food bank is that the employees think it's important to know at least a little bit about all aspects of the organization. So even though my primary role is not with the farmer's markets, I was encouraged to help out with it and learn. My supervisor, for example, recommended I also accompany a truck driver when he or she takes food boxes out to rural areas. These trips usually take an entire day, which would mean a day that I wouldn't be learning about food stamps, but I would be learning about another program (food boxes) that perhaps I could recommend to folks who aren't eligible for food stamps, say. Also, on Wednesday, we had an all-staff meeting that included singing "Happy Birthday" to everyone who has a birthday in August, and a "sharing" time, where anyone could make an announcement about something personal or work-related. What I'm trying to say is that the food bank is a really friendly place.

Last night my casamates and I went to an outdoor showing of the movie MASH in a downtown park. There were maybe a hundred people in outdoor seating, popcorn was provided, and the whole event was free, donations welcome. Movies are shown weekly for about four months in the fall and spring. Cinema La Placita, as it's called, is in its 11th year. Cool!

The Catalina mountains, viewed from the northwest.

Today my boss took me and another co-worker on a field trip, you might say. Our trip took us all the way around the other side of the Catalina mountains (pictured) and so it was a great opportunity for me to get outside of the city. We went to a meeting of women who have formed a group with the purpose of supporting and educating each other regarding child-rearing and community involvement. They were interested in the possibility of starting a farmer's market in their area, and they had some questions about food stamps to which I was able to respond with at least a partial answer. Again, it was nice to do something other than type on the computer and answer phone calls. I hope I can keep up this balance of being in the office and out of the office through the year!

There is talk in the house of going hiking this weekend! I'll let you know how it goes.

Jeff

One week in...

Hey everyone!

We inhabitants of Casa Nacho have successfully completed our first week in Tucson! Here are some of my highlights:

1. The food bank. It's a really great place. I work with people who care about what they do more than getting the paycheck. My boss is a former community organizer, is from Peru, and has a lot of great experience and wisdom. And the food bank has a garden!

A view of the demonstration Nuestra Tierra garden at the food bank. They sell this produce at farmer's markets!

2. Harvesting cucumbers, peppers, and watermelon early in the morning at a local farm managed by the food bank, and then selling this produce later at a farmer's market. The farm I was at is just outside of Tucson, and a lot bigger than the garden in the picture above.

3. Going out last night with my housemates to the "place to be" in Tucson: 4th ave. We met up with some young teachers doing a Catholic teaching program kind of like Teach For America. New friends!

4. Taking turns cooking and enjoying pretty good meals on a tight budget. This first week we had: couscous and roasted squash, veggie stir-fry, some delicious pasta, and a chard-potato frittata.

5. Relaxing in our air-conditioned house, reading the Poisonwood Bible, or playing cards with Jen, Erin, and Kaitlyn. It's starting to feel more like home now :)

Picture!

Me, Kaitlyn, Erin, and Jen

This is us! Casa Ignacio Ellacuría, or just Nacho for short. As you can tell, we're in a library (Kate, I'll get a real library card as soon as I have proof of residence!), because our house doesn't have any internet access. So, I'll post a picture of the house later. By the way, our house's address is 1030 Unit B N. 13th Ave Tucson AZ 85705. That's a little different from what we were told earlier, so if you're going to send anything, make sure you get it right! Our house is, in a word, great. I was not expecting that our support community, including former JVs and friends of JVs, would not only furnish our house with beds and furniture, but stock our kitchen with cooking equipment, fill the closets with sheets and towels, install a washer and dryer, give us artwork to decorate with, and even plan activities for us during our first weekend here! Needless to say, I feel welcome in Tucson.

Cecelia, a former JV, drove us to our respective agencies yesterday, so I got to see the food bank! It's enormous, with about 100 on staff, and they had a shopping cart full of food for our house! I'm excited to start work there on Monday.

I'll post more later! Have a great day,

Jeff

New adventure, same blog

Hey all you loyal blog-followers (aka Mom and Dad),

So I'm changing the focus of this blog. Any post written before this one is about my trip to Bolivia and Peru a few months ago. Any post written after this one is about my year as a Jesuit Volunteer in Arizona. The reason I'm not changing the whole blog is to make things (I hope) less confusing.

I want to say a big thank you to everyone who has supported me in one way or another so that I could go on this learning adventure. Many of you donated to my fundraising page. Thanks to you, I was able to exceed my fundraising goal. Your generosity astounded me. Mom and Dad, thanks for a great going-away party, and for being willing to help me with random errands these last few days. Other family and friends, thanks for taking the time to see me in person or send me a note to wish me well. It means a lot to know I have a supportive community here.

I'm at the Portland airport about to fly to orientation with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps in California. Oh, Portland. I'll miss your rain and your green trees. Five days from now I'll be in Arizona, specifically Tucson ("TOO-sawn"), walking into my new home for the year. My computer's dictionary offers this helpful tidbit about Tucson: "a city in southeastern Arizona, population 486,699. Its desert climate makes it a tourist resort." So that's where I'm headed. A touristy desert, haha.

Talk to you later,
Jeff

38 hours to go

At least, that's the estimate I came up with for travel time between the time I leave Jay's house in La Paz and the time I arrive at my (parents') house in Hillsboro. With enough reading material, music on my iPod, and money for food and coffee, it shouldn't be too bad.

I also have my first post-congress speaking engagement confirmed: this Friday at a Presbytery of the Cascades meeting in Portland. Jeff Harvey and I will talk about our experience at the congress for about ten minutes, and also sit by an informational booth in case people want to learn more. He and I skyped yesterday to try and brainstorm ideas of what we're going to say, but weren't able to come up with much. I think one obstacle (for me, at least) is that it's difficult for me to imagine which stories, ideas and reflections, of the many I have about the congress, would be most interesting to someone from the US who is hearing about it for the first time. I might try out some possible stories and ideas on willing family members and friends before Friday.

It's funny how my excitement about being in Bolivia keeps changing on this trip. A week ago I felt worn-out and did not have much desire to see anything new. I only wanted to hang out with my friends and wait out the remaining days until coming home. Last night, however, my perspective shifted and I didn't want to leave. There are several things I love about Latin American culture, but I know that I also just love traveling: being in new places and coming into contact with new cultures provides so many growing and stretching experiences for me, and it's often a lot of fun. However, I also know that with the right perspective, the US, Oregon, even Hillsboro can provide these growing experiences as well, and that there are still plenty of "foreign" aspects of these places. G. K. Chesterton: "The whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land; it is at last to set foot on one's own country as a foreign land." As I return to the US, I'm sure this will happen to some degree. Aspects of US culture will jump out at me that used to remain unnoticed in the background. This is often termed "reverse culture shock," and lasted for a couple days when I returned from Central America in January 2009.

So, family and friends, know that I'll be doing a lot of mental processing the first couple of days. The initial "How was your trip?" question is fine, but a couple days later having a longer conversation would be great. In fact, if I could ask a favor, it would be to have conversations with you where we talk about my trip and both try to come to a better understanding of it, including the congress, US-Bolivian cultural differences, etc. These conversations would help me "put the pieces together" of all the various memories and experiences I've had here into a coherent whole. Also, it would help to feel understood by the people I'm closest to and would help me reconnect with you.

And that's that! I'll soon be off on my La Paz-Santa Cruz-Lima-Miami-San Francisco-Portland route. I very much look forward to seeing you all and enjoying the beautiful Pacific northwest during spring. See you soon!

A little R&R

Right now I am back in Cochabamba, Bolivia, where I spent five days earlier, staying with my friend Katie and her housemates. Katie (and three others in the house) teach in an American school here in Cochabamba, where all the classes are given in English. Cochabamba is a bigger city than I expected; it's the third largest in Bolivia and more people live here than in Portland. The city is surrounded by beautiful green hills that often have fog rolling over them even when it's sunny.

Since everyone in the house works during the day, I end up having the house (and the computer) to myself. It's nice to be able to rest and relax, which is mostly what I did at MCC in Santa Cruz, too, but it's also a little boring. Yesterday and I went and explored the city a little, and I will probably do the same today. Katie and everyone else are really too busy to show me around very much; they have lots of responsibilities with their church as well. Though I'm a little antsy here, I don't really have much of an urge to go exploring. I think I'm kind of "traveled-out," not because I miss home so much as I'm tired of uprooting myself every week.

Maybe it's good that I'm resting now, because when I get home, I'll already have stuff on my plate. I just confirmed to speak for five to ten minutes at a Presbytery meeting in Portland on March 12th about my experience at the congress, which will be only one of six presentations I agreed to schedule and give about the congress once I returned. In addition, in the US I will still be doing interviews with site coordinators for PC(USA)'s Young Adult Volunteer program and the Jesuit Volunteer Corps. Depending on where I get accepted (I'm already in for YAV) and what positions are available, I will also make my final decision later this month about where I'll spend a year of my life starting this summer. Which will be, by the way, somewhere in the US. The YAV program has international sites, but I decided not to pursue one of those.

Take care everyone, and I'll see you in a week!

I ate the Pounder!

That was on a man's T-shirt today at our work site. One way or another this gluttonous declaration made the journey from a New York hamburger joint to Santa Cruz and ended up on a Bolivian construction worker applying the final touches to a new pre-school funded by American churches. This school is the work placement for Arelis, a volunteer with the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) in Bolivia (the same thing my friend Allyn is doing). Arelis had convinced Allyn and I to come help the workers and teachers prepare the school for its scheduled opening on Monday, which I am very doubtful it will be ready for. Our help turned out to be six hours using a machete and sharp shovel to remove a 10 x 30 ft patch of weeds which the director's husband later questioned if it even needed to be removed. Errgh. In any case, it was probably good for me to do some hard labor since I can't remember the last time I actually did manual work, but it was not fun to get sunburnt.


So yeah, I'm in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, which is apparently the largest city in Bolivia due to a recent boom in the local natural gas industry, but it certainly doesn't look it. Buildings in La Paz are taller, and the central plaza in Santa Cruz is not huge, but rather small and friendly. The city lies in the jungle, so it is very warm and humid here. My jeans get sticky after walking around in them all day, ick. After arriving here on last Friday, I have seen the zoological gardens (they have real toucans!) seen Allyn, met her friends Arelis and Corrie, and seen some real in-the-flesh Mennonite colonists. The colonists are white, wear overalls and polyester dresses, speak in low German, and pretty much keep to themselves. They are quite surprising to see walking around the streets in the sea of dark Bolivian faces! Anyway, I am staying at MCC's small campus here, which is quiet, peaceful, clean, and cheap. Photo: Corrie, Arelis, me and Allyn

During my free time here I have been spending quite a bit of time preparing for my year as a Jesuit Volunteer or Young Adult Volunteer which would start this August. I have, at this point, sent in my applications to JVC, JVC Northwest, and Presbyterian Church (USA) YAV and have done interviews with two of them. My job now is to learn about the various work placements and community experiences that each program offers and select one that fits me well. Just so you know, there is a possibility that I will be volunteering in another country, but lately I have been mostly looking at US placements, possibly working with immigrants and refugees, which would still allow me to connect to international issues. Over the past few days I have spent hours doing informational interviews with site coordinators, reading about site placements online, and reading about current volunteers' experiences on their blogs. After hearing from several of my friends who are doing a similar program this year, I have learned that not every program meets their volunteers' needs well, and not every site is a good match for its volunteer, so I'm willing to put in this time if it will help me end up in a program and placement that works well for me. Photo: section of peaceful MCC campus

As always, some of the best times on this trip have been with other people. Here in Santa Cruz I've been able to spend time with Allyn, who is just a great and really cool person. Allyn went on Whitworth's 2008 Central America Study Program, which, in case you don't know, is pretty much my favorite thing in the world. Also, she grew up in Ecuador until she was seven, which is pretty cool. I've also had the chance to meet some of the other volunteers here, and some MCC workers as well. A few days after I got here I met a couple from Harrisonburg, Virginia (fancy that, Uncle Clark!) who came because the wife was going to give a seminar on trauma and peace-making. She is a professor at Eastern Mennonite University, I believe. I learned that the two of them were MCC workers for three years in El Salvador in the early '80s, then a couple years in Nicaragua, and then for ten years in Guatemala. Wow!

However, my time in Santa Cruz has come to an end. Tomorrow I will catch a flight back to the mountainous and cooler (temperature-wise) Cochabamba, spend a week there and do more interviews, and then take a bus to La Paz, where I fly out in a little over a week. I'm already thinking about what it's going to be like when I return, and I know that one thing I will miss will be spending time with friends that are not only fun but also inspire and motivate me. Luckily, however, it might actually be easier to see these friends in the United States! I know of at least two that will be in Portland when I get back, and more are in Seattle where I might go during spring break. It will be great to see family, and also good to connect with more friends stateside.

Okay compadres, thanks for reading and have a great day.

I finally quote Nouwen!

As some of you now, I brought with me the book Gracias by the Dutch priest Henri Nouwen, which is a journal of his reflections as he traveled for six months through Bolivia and Peru in 1980-81 trying to decide if God was calling him to live in that part of the world. I LOVE this book because he describes and analyzes the places he visits from not only political, social, and economic perspectives, but from a spiritual perspective as well, which I think is often overlooked by many. Anyway, I find his writing on these countries penetrating and true, and I would like to share some thoughts on it. Here is a quote from my friend Anna, who is serving for a year in Peru through the Presbyterian Church (USA)'s Young Adult Volunteer program, of her thoughts on a passage from him:

The other day a new found friend asked me whether I felt uncomfortable walking around the city because of the unwanted attention. I told her that for me, uncomfortable was just the new comfortable. The truth is, in just one year of living here, I won’t manage to blend in – I look different, I sound different, and I have different cultural norms. The beauty of this, however, is that it’s okay. The common bind of humanity is far greater than our differences. In the words of Dutch priest Henri Nouwen, “it is good to be and especially to be one of many. What counts are not the special and unique accomplishments in life that make me different from others, but the basic experiences of sadness and joy, pain and healing, which make me a part of humanity.” He wrote these words while living Peru. Here in Peru, I, too, have found people with whom I can laugh, tell secrets, contemplate the state of the world and of God, and share dreams.

These words, both Nouwen's and Anna's, resonated deeply with me the first time I read them. I seem to always go through a period at the start of a journey in a new place where "sticking out" bothers me, and I want to fit in. After a while, though, I learn to ignore the stares and accept my "difference." Of course, it is possible to recognize in any country, including one's own, that "what counts" are the parts of ourselves that we share with all human beings, but it is easier to recognize this when you are in a foreign setting where a common culture is absent and those deeper threads of humanity are the only things that you share with the people around you. I think back to an interview with the lead singer of the group Rupa and the April Fishes who said, when talking about patients she saw in the hospital, that she recognized the similarities she shared with them: "we all bleed, we all grieve, we all cry [paraphrased]." Though people appear very different in other parts of the world, everyone shares some basic human traits.

Short blog post today. Tomorrow morning I am off to the airport after a last-minute change of plans to try to get a ticket to Santa Cruz, Bolivia. A cousin of one of Katie's housemates is also going there on her way to Argentina, which provoked my decision. I will stay there for a few days, see my friend Allyn (who was at the congress) and then come back through Cochabamba to La Paz.

Also: my pictures have captions, now! Click on the link under "About Me" on the right.

Hostels can be lame

I started this post ranting about some loud English-speakers in my hostel who seem to have an exaggerated preference for the f word, but found myself unable to pinpoint exactly why I had a problem with them. They seem to be following the typical hostel schedule: stay in a place for a couple of days where you meet some people from other countries, drink together and go out dancing at some clubs. I often like to consider myself an "enlightened" traveler because I am staying here longer, speak Spanish, went to a congress, etc., but the truth is that I have participated in the hostelling itinerary while I've been here as well. And you know what? It can be fun. So what was it that bugged me so much about this group? Maybe that I see a little of myself in them and am reminded that I'm not as "enlightened" as I would like to be. Or maybe, since I've been living down here for a month now, I'm just tired of the temporal, superficial hostel lifestyle. Or maybe I just don't like the f word.

Anyway, the hostel that I'm at is actually a pretty good one. My friend Mesha and I stayed at the other one in its chain in Cuzco (Peru) and had a great time with the exceptionally helpful staff, so I feel good about staying here. It just opened last year, has reasonable (though not cheap) prices, great location, free coffee and internet, and a good amount of people. It is incredibly easy to meet people staying in hostels. I call it the principle of accelerated intimacy. Because all the travelers are in an unfamiliar place, have at least some feelings of uncertainty and are generally interested in meeting other people, it is really easy to bond and find yourself eating dinner and chatting with someone you met a few hours ago. Because these relationships sometimes only last for a few hours, however, they can be tiring as well.

Having dropped off my friend Mesha at the airport tonight for flight home, I have tomorrow to myself. On the agenda: write, read, figure out how to "liberate" my cell phone so that I can use it in Bolivia. Say hello to Oregon for me, Mesha!

On another note, my dad asked whether the title of this blog refers to the book I am reading by Henri Nouwen, which is of his travels through Bolivia and Peru in the early 1980s. The answer is yes, though I decided, which I now regret, to leave the book in Bolivia, so I won't be referencing it for a few more days. My plan, though, is to incorporate passages from the book in this blog. The book is called "Gracias."

Speaking of books, I am currently halfway through Paulo Coelho's "The Alchemist," recommended to me by my friend David. I am reading it in Spanish, which yes I am proud of. Today I picked up "The Open Veins of Latin America" (in English) by the Uruguayan author Eduardo Galeano which I am looking forward to digging into.

Here's my blog!

To everyone who may be interested, I did decide to finally make a blog. Here it is, and I will add more posts later to fill you in on where I've been and what I've seen. Tomorrow morning I leave for Cuzco, which has been receiving heavy rains and is the site where trapped tourists from Machu Picchu are headed, so it should be interesting, at the least. I will also meet my friend Mesha in Cuzco on Sunday. Because of the rains, our plans there are somewhat uncertain.

In other news, I received an invitation to interview with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps! I will be interviewing with them on Monday morning, which means I will probably be talking from an internet shop on Skype, hoping really hard that my connection does not cut out.

I have a 10 and a half hour bus ride to look forward tomorrow, and a JVC discernment packet to read. Take care, and I'll talk to you later.