Monday, September 17, 2012
Thursday, September 13, 2012
One Year
A year ago I was in a pretty bad place, emotionally. I thought today would be more difficult. It's amazing how God and time work together to heal and improve the physical, emotional, and spiritual areas of our lives.
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.
Phil 4:6
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.
Phil 4:6
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Re-entry
During my re-entry retreat with my fellow SALTers we did an exercise which asked us to write down on note cards six things we learned or traits we acquired or lifestyle changes we adopted while in our host culture that we would like to maintain/keep going back into our home cultures.
Here's my list:
1. Sign language
2. Spanish language
3. Spirit of sharing (generosity)
4. Perseverance
5. Gift of presence
6. Acknowledging everyone in a room ALWAYS
*7. No schedule
#3. People never eat something in front of you without offering you some of what they have. During recess one time, I bought myself a pack of cookies and decided to save them for later. When I was in my office I was just about to pull them out to indulge when my coworker walked in and sat down at her desk. Knowing the unwritten rule of sharing several ideas came to me, one of which was to wait until she left again to eat them. Another was to offer her some. The third idea won me over however: I slipped the cookies into my pocket quietly, excused myself from the office, then quickly headed into an empty room a couple doors away. As I ate the cookies I thought about how selfish I was being, to not share even one cookie with my coworker.
Obviously I had/still have room for growth in this area (although I did get much better as my SALT year went on) so this aspect of the culture HAD to be on my list.
#5. People are always around. No one lives on their own. There are always vendors in the street, children playing, people sitting outside their houses on plastic lawn chairs. There aren't enough rooms in the house to really be alone, since most rooms are shared. My family's house was one floor, with one living area. There was someone home practically all the time. I found it frustrating to not have my own space at first but later grew to enjoy the comfort of the presence of other people, even if we weren't actively engaged with each other.
#6. Whenever you walk into a building (bank, grocery store, small convenience store, church, house, etc) you should immediately greet everyone who is there. A general 'Buenas' (good morning/afternoon) will do in a public place, but certainly don't expect to slip into somewhere quietly. Even on buses and in taxis (taxi drivers will often pick up other passengers en route to your destination) as people board they will greet the driver and/or other passengers. I've tried doing this here in the states, saying 'Good morning' to fellow students when I enter class, or walking into the grocery store, but I mostly get weird looks.
I felt I needed to include a small explanation for those three, but hopefully the other characteristics/cultural norms/etc speak for themselves.
The most difficult part of the whole reflection exercise came when the leaders said, 'OK, now out of these six items* please eliminate two of them. It is highly unlikely that you will be able to keep all six with you as you return home.' Ugh. Tough decision. The even more difficult part was when they said 'Now that you've narrowed it down to four, please pick two more cards to get rid of.'
Whaaaaaaaat.
I can't remember now which ones I chose, but today I would choose the spirit of sharing and having no schedule. I hate it when life gets too busy to enjoy it and it is a great challenge to my character to put others before myself and be generous with them (by sharing or giving). My constant prayer is to let go of what I have (knowing that it's not mine to begin with) in order to share with others. This is especially important to me because my income is dependent on the generosity of others! Why should I be stingy when I expect others to be generous?
*I'm ambitious so I had written down seven things.
Here's my list:
1. Sign language
2. Spanish language
3. Spirit of sharing (generosity)
4. Perseverance
5. Gift of presence
6. Acknowledging everyone in a room ALWAYS
*7. No schedule
#3. People never eat something in front of you without offering you some of what they have. During recess one time, I bought myself a pack of cookies and decided to save them for later. When I was in my office I was just about to pull them out to indulge when my coworker walked in and sat down at her desk. Knowing the unwritten rule of sharing several ideas came to me, one of which was to wait until she left again to eat them. Another was to offer her some. The third idea won me over however: I slipped the cookies into my pocket quietly, excused myself from the office, then quickly headed into an empty room a couple doors away. As I ate the cookies I thought about how selfish I was being, to not share even one cookie with my coworker.
Obviously I had/still have room for growth in this area (although I did get much better as my SALT year went on) so this aspect of the culture HAD to be on my list.
#5. People are always around. No one lives on their own. There are always vendors in the street, children playing, people sitting outside their houses on plastic lawn chairs. There aren't enough rooms in the house to really be alone, since most rooms are shared. My family's house was one floor, with one living area. There was someone home practically all the time. I found it frustrating to not have my own space at first but later grew to enjoy the comfort of the presence of other people, even if we weren't actively engaged with each other.
#6. Whenever you walk into a building (bank, grocery store, small convenience store, church, house, etc) you should immediately greet everyone who is there. A general 'Buenas' (good morning/afternoon) will do in a public place, but certainly don't expect to slip into somewhere quietly. Even on buses and in taxis (taxi drivers will often pick up other passengers en route to your destination) as people board they will greet the driver and/or other passengers. I've tried doing this here in the states, saying 'Good morning' to fellow students when I enter class, or walking into the grocery store, but I mostly get weird looks.
I felt I needed to include a small explanation for those three, but hopefully the other characteristics/cultural norms/etc speak for themselves.
The most difficult part of the whole reflection exercise came when the leaders said, 'OK, now out of these six items* please eliminate two of them. It is highly unlikely that you will be able to keep all six with you as you return home.' Ugh. Tough decision. The even more difficult part was when they said 'Now that you've narrowed it down to four, please pick two more cards to get rid of.'
Whaaaaaaaat.
I can't remember now which ones I chose, but today I would choose the spirit of sharing and having no schedule. I hate it when life gets too busy to enjoy it and it is a great challenge to my character to put others before myself and be generous with them (by sharing or giving). My constant prayer is to let go of what I have (knowing that it's not mine to begin with) in order to share with others. This is especially important to me because my income is dependent on the generosity of others! Why should I be stingy when I expect others to be generous?
*I'm ambitious so I had written down seven things.
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