Learning To Learn

In between teaching English classes one day, I made my way into the teacher’s area and sat down at a wooden desk that was way too small for me.  Seizing the tranquility of the mid-morning, I cracked open a book I set out to read during my time here in Guatemala.  The title of the book was “Encountering Development: The Making and Unmaking of the Third World”.  For anyone who might be interested, the book mostly explores the impact of development on most of the world’s population since WWII (It has not been a good thing).  I was sure that this book would help me learn why the public school I am volunteering at still does not have electricity, or why we sometimes spend the first hour of school sweeping mud and water out of the classrooms.   

What?

As I made my way through the introduction of my book, clouds gathered over the school.  Eventually there was not a sufficient amount of light coming through the windows.  This caused me to struggle with my reading, and since I could not turn on a light, I was forced to put down the book.  However, it was not long before I was learning again.

Since I have arrived here in Guatemala I have been asked a lot of questions.  People want to learn, so they ask questions.  Some of the questions make me uncomfortable, but most are appropriate.  Meanwhile, I go off and shut myself in a room to learn from a book.  Sounds kind of ridiculous.  Don’t get me wrong; there is absolutely nothing wrong with learning from books.  However, there is something wrong with the mindset that says I have more to learn from a book than from the person sitting directly across from me.

Unable to continue reading, I got up from the wooden desk that was way too small for me and began asking questions to the teachers sitting around me.  “What is it going to take to get electricity?”  “Who will pay for it?”  “Do you have a girlfriend/boyfriend/spouse?”  I had to be cautious not to be too selfish with their time.  After all, they are getting paid to teach students in a rural village, not a gringo who somehow ended up volunteering in a remote Guatemalan village.

Mealtime however, offers up a perfect opportunity for learning.  I love mealtime where I am staying because most of the time the whole family is present.  Sitting around the table, there is so much to learn including, but not limited to: education, agriculture, nursing, cooking, Kaqchikel, and Spanish.

I cannot wait to take this desire to learn back to the U.S.  What are you doing for dinner this July?   

 

Be Ready

While attending a church service the other day, I kept pouring over a handmade banner that said “Be Ready”.  Such a phrase could be interpreted a number of ways.  Where I was sitting this phrase obviously referred to Christ’s second coming.  Christ’s second coming is an extremely controversial issue.  Churches have split over it and many people have been labeled crazy for believing in it.  While I don’t have the theological background to cause a schism, I am just enough of a Jesus freak to be labeled crazy.

My initial reaction to seeing the banner that read “Be Ready” was one of disdain.  “Just what Guatemalans need”, I thought, “more fatalistic thinking.”  However, as my eyes struggled to peel away from the banner, the words “Be” and “Ready” moved into my mind and settled in for good.  Eventually, these words were breeding thoughts that God would use to teach me.             

Over the past couple of weeks, I have been working to complete a task that is not going how I thought it would.  This forced me to reevaluate my actions.  “What should I be doing differently?” is the question I kept asking myself.  Upon seeing the words “Be Ready” I realized that I was asking the wrong question.  We live in a world that will frustrate us.  What are we to do then?  Do we curl up and die.   No. We get ourselves ready.  We love, we worship, and we pray.  We follow the passions God has placed in our heart and we seek justice, knowing that justice may never come during our lifetime. 

If Christ were to return tomorrow, what would he find me doing?

Loving.  Loving.  Loving.  

  

6/5/09

Happy Birthday Mom!

I realize it has been a while since my last post.  Perhaps a brief update is needed:

I have been teaching English at a public school in a village located about 45 minutes from where I am staying in San Juan Comalapa.  School only lasts from 7:30 to 12:30, so my afternoons have been free to conduct interviews.  After finally conducting an interview with the local Evangelical pastor, I learned that his church consists of only 24 people.  Of these 24 people, 10 are children and the rest are mostly women.  Of the few men, not a single one had migrated to the U.S.  Soon, it was either time to reevaluate, or get really sick.  I got really sick . . . twice.

Now that I am on the mend (and 10 pounds lighter) I think it is time to do some reevaluating.  The question that I must begin with is “What am I learning?” 

In the following posts, I will explore particular themes.  These themes make up part of what I am learning while here in Guatemala.  They focus heavily on my faith and are therefore very personal.

As always I welcome feedback of any kind.