Moment of joy #7… on adjustment

How do you know that you are adjusted to a new place? When you do a victory fist pump for an errand that once caused you stress and now seems like second nature.

When I first moved to Bogota, grocery shopping was a challenge. Where were the best places to buy? What prices are reasonable? What is that thing and should I eat it? Should I go to a variety of little shops or get everything in one place? What was once second nature (heading to WINCO) now was a chore… for about a month. Then we found our groove and shopping for food is as normal here as it was in Oregon.

There are other things that take longer to adjust to. For us lately, it has been the ability to navigate the health care system. Ed is going in for bimaxillary (2 jaw) surgery next week and in preparation for this procedure, there are a lot of little steps we must take in order to be ready.

I come from a culture of convenience. One stop shopping is the norm. Have you been to target? or Wal mart? or Fred Meyer? You can get clothing, food, hygiene items, electronics, and even dog food all without leaving the door. Or take hospitals and doctors offices. You can get your blood test done, see a specialist with only a quick appointment, or get you prescriptions sent directly from the office to the pharmacy.

Colombia is different. We go to one office for photographs and molds. Then to another office across the street to take a blood test. Our orthodontist is a 15 minute bus ride away. And the clinic where the surgery takes place is somewhere else.

At first this “running around” frustrated me. I didn’t always know where to go, what to ask, and how to make sure the results got where they needed to be. It was hard work and different from what I was used to in the States.

We had a moment a few months ago where Ed needed a blood test so we went after school. We arrived to the clinic after being lost on the same block for 20 minutes in the afternoon. I went to the receptionist and explained what we needed. She looked at me confused and asked if we were there to pick up results. I said, no we haven’t done the test yet. She then looks at me like I am the dumbest person in the world and tells me “blood tests are only in the morning”. Apparently that was common knowledge to everyone but us. We left and made plans to return the following morning- which we did with success.

Living in a new place there are so many little things that don’t always come easy when you are from the outside. I have decided though, to try to look at the big picture and not to let frustration overwhelm me. By having one place to give blood samples one clinic can serve 100s of doctors without the doctors having to purchase the supplies needed for the occasional blood test. By having photos and molds constructed in one office, they can have higher quality equipment that is used on a frequent basis rather than an individual office hoping they can afford the tools they need. Even the clinic our surgery will be in is specialized in the equipment that the doctor needs for this particular type of surgery.

So although this means more running around for us the patient, the doctors are able to have exactly what they need and provide the best care possible. What’s different is not always wrong. There is logic and a system. From the outside the system is confusing and frustrating, but in reality it does work!

And this week when we went back to the clinic for more tests we knew to go in the morning and it was a 10 minute process! *first pump*

How I blog when living cross-culturally

Last week when I was putting together the highlights of summer camp I realized how I was portraying this event. For the most part it is “oh look, a bunch of kids having fun!” You, as most of the readers, dont know the kids and it looks like life in Colombia is “super awesome” from the smiling faces, sunny skies and fun activities.

Well, here is where I am honest: this is not the complete picture. Sure, we did a lot of fun things at camp with some great smiley children, but there were many other layers- cultural clashes and inner struggles that happen when mixing North American and Colombian cultures. I was thrown into a mix of students, parents, an co-workers with different world-views and understandings of life.

I am not complaining- this is the life I have chosen to live! But I do have to be careful how I write. Very careful. The internet is not a private place. In fact anyone can see what is written and that can cause trouble for everyone involved. As much as I would like to rant about the challenges, my frustrations with culture and conflicts with people, it can’t happen publically without certain people being targeted in an offensive way. And that’s not right or fair.

Culture Stress

I am in the early stages of understanding the culture of Bogota. I have lived here less than a year. I may be able to speak the language and develop good friendships, but I am in no way able to navigate the cultural differences with wisdom or understanding. Bringing my “honest” rants in a public forum is not healthy or a good idea.

As I learn more, I understand more. As I understand more, the frustrations no longer seem important or necessary. If I were to publish these observations and frustrations pre-maturely, I would be hurting more than helping- which is contrary to why God has placed me here to do.

Real People

As everyone knows, people are not perfect. They have strengths and they have weaknesses. In my public writing it is important for me to build relationships with others, not tear others down. I am called to love others as Jesus loved us. That means I cannot let my sin get in the way of what He is doing. I choose to work on relationships in private with those it affects rather than write it for the world to see.

So for now I remain publically silent of the deeper issues of living in Bogota. I talk with my husband and co-workers. I write emails to close friends. But these inner struggles don’t come out in the public because they are not mature enough to be safe.

I look at the purpose of this blog: to communicate our ministry with supporters, friends and family. This is not a place to rant and rave. This is not a place to uglify or objectify. This is the shallow side. Unfortunately this means that missionary-ese is spoken and some of the real stories stay publically hidden. If you want to see more, to understand more, to dig deeper, please just email me privately. I am happy to be real with you on a one-to-one basis!

The truth is I long for a ministry of complete transparency, however, because broken people like myself are involved. It cant be here in a blog. I am still working on coming to terms with this. I know that as I mature and grow and seek more of the Lord,He will guide my writings, my postings and my ministry.

May in Pre-kinder

For our last unit of the year, we focus on a healthy life. We talk about nutrition and hygiene.

I decided to use “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” as the basis of our talks on food and healthy eating. Through this book we review the life cycle of a butterfly, learned the names of fruits, practiced our counting and most of all talked about what foods helped the caterpillar versus what made him sick. We spent over 2 weeks on this book and by the end almost every one of my students had it memorized! As a final activity, we made fruit kebobs with the fruits from the story. Each student helped cut the fruit, then assembled their own skewer for a snack. With lots of sharp points, it was well supervised :)

 

  

Each week I have words we focus on through our lessons. I make “flash cards” to have in the front of the classroom. Since my students don’t know how to read yet, it is a good introduction to what words look like and a great reminder for me to use them over and over.

One sunny afternoon I decided to let the students play outside instead of having free time inside. At one point I turn around and see my ENTIRE class (well, those that weren’t in time out) on one slide, laughing and having a good time. I ran and grabbed my camera to capture this sweet moment.

May also means mother’s day, so each of my students made a special card to give to their mom. They were able to practice writing, and drawing meaningful pictures.

 

I am sad to only have 11 more days with these sweet munchkins, but am so proud to see how much growth has happened in such a short time- in their friendships, ability to speak/understand English, and most of all in their little heart’s love of God.