Walking to Baranquilla

Before we left for vacation, we finished reading the 2nd chapter book for this school year. As the kids walked in on Tuesday and spotted the new book (Robin Hood!) they squealed with delight. "Let us see it", they pleaded. They eagerly looked through, reading chapter headings, exclaiming over pictures. We worked on some background the first day, talking about the history of the times of Robin Hood, sharing what they knew about legends. Apparently Colombia has a much richer oral tradition of legends than in the States. Between 3 girls, in the space of about 5 minutes, they came up with a list of 15 legends. They were amazed when I confessed I had no idea who "Patasola" was. "She's from Baranquilla", they explained, "and she only has one leg". I explained to them how legends, since they begin as stories that are told from person to person, don't always travel as far as stories that are in print and that the distance from Baranquilla, Colombia to Pennsylvania, USA is really far. "How long would it take to get there?" one of them asks. "One day traveling by plane, about 7 hours flying" I say. "No, what if you were walking?" I explained that the Panama canal and unsafe conditions made that impossible, but estimated it would probably take 9 months to walk it if you could walk. They were suitably impressed. Their disappointment was vocal when class ended for lunch time and we hadn't started reading the story. The next day, they didn't want to stop when they got to the end of the chapter.

I LOVE how excited they've gotten about reading. They told me the other week that reading the book was their favorite part of Spanish class. Seeing as this is the same group of students who at the beginning of the year whined, "we're reading a book AGAIN" after a couple of weeks of class, I find it even more encouraging. They still struggle with comprehension. Fluency is still a challenge. Their writing still lacks punctuation and capitalization and spelling is capricious. But, they are learning to love to read. They are finding adventures in books. And that, I think, is one of the most important parts of becoming an independent reader and learner.

Letting go. . .

My first graders have a teacher again. Two teachers, to be exact. Rae Ann (my new house mate too!) will be with them full time, and Claudia, a girl we met at the YWAM retreat, will be with them til lunch every day. I'm so happy for the kids, to finally have some stability. I'm happy for me, to be able to focus on my responsiblities as academic director and not be so divided anymore. But, letting go is hard! I've spent so much time with the first graders over the last 3 months. I have been the most consistent teacher for them, and they see me as their authority and love and respect me. They need to start to see Rae Ann and Claudia that way too. So, instead of sitting with them at breakfast and lunch, as I've been doing, I leave them with Rae Ann and Claudia. The kids come up to me, "can I use the bathroom?" "He said.... She did....". I say, "there are 2 teachers sitting at your table, go talk to them. Or, sitting across the room, I hear something or see something that should really be corrected. "back off", I tell myself. "Let them take care of it. They need to establish themselves as the authorities, and the kids need to see them that way". How many times will I need to say that to myself before the urge to step in goes away?

A country girl at heart

I grew up with a field of hay behind my house, where we'd go exploring every summer, and come back to search ourselves for ticks and wash ourselves in cold water to avoid poison ivy. To one side of my house, was a strip of scrubby woods. We had our "town" there, houses defined only to those who knew, a currency of black walnuts. In front of our house was the pasture with a few cows where we sledded every winter, the red barn where Ronald, who my little brother idolized, showed us that if you hold a chicken upside down and swing it gently, it falls asleep.

Now I live in a giant city. I love it- the hustle and bustle of a crowd. Being able to walk out my front door, get my hair cut, buy boots, eat a snack on the street, purchase a USB memory stick, and get back to my house in 2 hours without ever getting on a bus, much less driving a car. I love the different feel in different neighborhoods, knowing what section of the city to go to to buy textbooks, appliances, shoes, housewares. . .

But last week, I went on vacation. I went to Boyacá, an agricultural department of Colombia. And I remembered how much I love the countryside. I realized how sometimes my soul longs for empty, wild spaces. How I rest, and worship, and find peace in the stillness of God's creation. Sometimes, here in all the busyness, the never ceasing doing and action, I find it impossible to rest. I can be still. I can take a nap. I can do things to relax- read a book, watch a movie, draw a picture. But so often, I don't truly rest when doing those things. I worry that I am procrastinating. I think about what I should be doing instead.

Of course, part of the reason I could rest is I was on vacaation. There was no internet, and thus no emails I should really be responding too. No computer, so no work on Luz y Vida things that could really be accomplished. No need to house clean or grocery shop, or the myriad of other things that fill my mind at home.

But part of it is the place- the beauty of it, and God's grandeur reflected in it. In a world where you can look at this

sudenly the tyranny of the urgent is just less urgent. God speaks to me in his creation, reminds me of my smallness, his greatness, the perspective of eternity. I can look, I can listen, I can worship, I can rest.

So, now that I've realized this, how do I look for this, moments of rest for my soul and reflection, in the midst of a busy city?

Stories from a different world

We picked her up along the side of the road of a picturesque village nestled in the Andes. Ana María* was headed into town for a dentist appointment and buses don't pass through very frequently. Almost as soon as she got in the car she shared started to share her story, "I got married when I was 15 years old". "Wait a minute", says Claudia, "you got married, or they married you off?" She was married off- she was caught holding hands with a boy, and her mother basically told her her reputation was ruined. "I cried, I asked them not to make me, I didn't love that boy", she told us. "when I got married, I didn't know anything about sex".

It wasn't a happy marriage either. He abused her. They had 6 children- 4 girls and 2 boys. "he wanted sons" she said, "so we kept having babies".

They're not together anymore. She moved with her kids to Bogotá, looking for a better life, for awhile, but has moved back to her quiet country town. Her kids all sound like they are doing well- studying, working as professionals. The youngest is in 7th grade. And Ana María- she's full of life, ideas for the future. "I want to run for the town coucil. I want to encourage tourism here". She tells us all about the paramo, a local high-altitude treeless habitat, about a waterfall and local legends. She has the knowledge and personality to reach her goals, I think.

*******

Don Felipe sits eating lunch with us. The talk has drifted back to improving tourism in the area, a recurring theme for the week. "And it's so much safer now, there are no guerillas in the area. 5 years ago it was different" He tells of a relative who was kidnapped by the guerilla, than it turns out he has his own story, "they didn't kidnap me. But they sent me a message once that I had to appear before them. I prayed about it, should I go, or not go? In the end, I decided to go. My whole church was praying for me. When I got there, no one was there. I waited over an hour, and then they finally showed up. They told me I had to pay them 40,000,000 pesos (about $20,000). I talked to them- told them what I owned, how my kids were in school. It jsut wasn't possible. They know, they have it all there in a computer. I told them how I agreed the government wasn't doing it's job, raising taxes and not changing the situation in the country**. In the end, they dropped the price down to 2,500,000 (about $1,250). That was really God's grace, they don't do that for everybody."

* Names have been changed in these stories to protect privacy.

**while guerilla groups use unethical means, some of the reasons behind what they're doing are supposedly to help the poor, which partially explains participation. For a great child's eye view of how people get swept into involvement with guerillas and para-military despite their desires, watch the movie Los Colores de La Montaña- The colors of the Mountain. Another good resource for understanding the complications of living in an area with active guerrilla and/or paramilitary and understanding what causes Colmbia's large number of internally displaced refugees is The Dispossesed by Alfredo Molano.