Dear Friends,

This final letter I have been putting off for quite awhile now. Not knowing where to begin, or how to articulate a year of experiences and relationships so rich, so beautiful and so very real and present to me still in this very moment. To write this letter as if it were the close of a trip or a simple summary of a journey wouldn´t be enough. This last year is just a small piece of the journey of life, my lifelong search for the person God is calling me to be and the discovery and cultivation of the faith that was planted within me in the waters of baptism. Through the incredible people I met, their stories and the realities that I saw and learned about this year, my heart has been touched, my eyes opened and I have been changed for the better. But the most difficult part of this process of change is figuring out what that means for me in my new old context at home and how to live out that change in me in a way that lifts up and shines light upon the injustices in this broken yet beautiful world. I want to lift up the people I came to know and love and breathe life into their stories, making it as real to all of you as it is to me and so many others out there. I want this year to help me believe that I can make a difference, believe that love is stronger than fear and hate and therefore living a life of love can somehow bring about awareness and thus change.

Community. If I had to describe the experience of my year in one word it would be community. I learned more about what it means to live in community with one another, to share, depend on, and be depended on. To walk together and give freely of the gifts that we have been given, purely for the sake of giving and enriching the lives of others. In that giving, sharing and breaking of bread is where I came to see Christ in the faces of the other. In the children I worked and played with, in the adults that I sang in the choir with, in the young adults that I played volleyball with, in the students that I lived and ate with, in the faces of each Uruguayan that I drank mate with. It was incredible to be in a place where community is such a natural part of their culture, in the way of being of the people. It was so easy to share because that is what they just do. And there hasn´t been any other time in my life where I have been more vulnerable, or when I could have needed that community more. I learned that it makes more of a difference to listen to people´s stories, to give them a chance to speak and let their voices be heard. When I stepped away of my own ideas of what it meant to go and serve others, and the idea that I had to do something to help and just allowed myself to listen to what they were saying to me, only then did I begin to understand the idea of accompaniment and what it truly means to walk side by side with someone and to recognize that we are all going in the same direction.

Now as I sit at my home in Walla Walla WA, I find myself already overwhelmed with things to do. Our fast paced North American culture has me spinning three or four different plates at the same time. It has been a joy and blessing to share and reconnect with friends and family, return to my home church and so many of the other places that I have called home in the past twenty-three years. I am lucky to say that in spite of the difficult economic times I have found not one, but two jobs. I am working with the public schools part time as a para-educator in the dual language program at my alma matter, Edison Elementary School, and in the afternoons I work part time as the Supplemental Educational Services Coordinator where I am helping to organize the implementation of free tutoring for students in the public school system. Both jobs allow me to use my ability to communicate in Spanish. It is a privilege to be able to communicate directly with the children and families with which I am working. This journey, this adventure, this life, continues to unfold before me; each day allowing me to take another step forward creating moments, building relationships and constantly challenging what I know to be true. Each day I am being prepared for what is to come. Learning, listening and loving. I have traveled a great distance, yet it seems as if I have never left. I am changed by my wanderings. Yet I am very much the same.

Thank you for being a part of this adventure! I am very glad to be home and to have the opportunity to reconnect with friends and family. If you would like to get together to chat over a cup of coffee, or some mate, please email or call me! I would love to hear about what you have been doing this past year too, and I am more than happy to share some of my pictures and stories with you as well.

Many blessings to all of you.

Dear friends,

I had the privilege of spending a long weekend in Buenos Aires getting to see the sites where the other three volunteers are working. Every 90 days I have to leave the country to renew my tourist visa so they won't send me home or to prison! (prison might be an exaggeration :) Anyway, it's always a good excuse for a quick vacation or just a break from the normal and sometimes stressful routine.
I arrived in Buenos Aires with my program coordinator and I was glad that I was not alone. It is a HUGE city and figuring out the public transportation system is much easier with guidance from someone who really knows the ins and outs of it all. With very specific directions and a map of the train line and all of the stops, I hopped on a train for a 45 min ride to Jose C Paz, a province on the outskirts of the city, where I was met by my good friend and fellow volunteer Cristina. The train ride was nuts! I was jam packed in there as tightly as a can of sardines and the whole way I found myself literally nose to nose with this guy. Neither of us really knew where to look, and as fun as it might be to gaze deeply into the eyes of a strange man, I tried to look out the window while at the same time keeping a firm hold on my extremely large and awkward backpacking pack and simply tried to remain on my feet. The whole experience really reminded me of group building activities that we do on the challenge course... just how many people can you fit in one train car and how are you going to lean on one another to keep your balance during the bumpy ride. Next time I'll try it blindfolded to increase the level of difficulty!! Let's just say I am finding new and creative ways to keep up with my facilitator skills... When I finally arrived at my stop, I was thankful to be filing out of the crowded train and to regain at least a little bit of my personal bubble.
Cristina guided me through her stomping grounds and we arrived at her little one bedroom apartment tucked in nicely between the house of Rosy and Ernesto and the next door neighboring tire shop. We had just enough time for the grand tour before heading out to the community center in Barrio Providencia. It was the middle of a work week, so I got to see the project in action. I'm not sure what I was expecting... I had heard stories of Barrio Providencia and the poverty for which it is known, but hearing about it is different from seeing it which is also different from meeting and knowing the people who live within the neighborhood and attend the community center. We arrived a bit early and were greeted with smiles and kisses from lots of kids waiting for the center to open up. I was surprised at the amount of kids who were hanging around outside and even more so by their quick acceptance of me, a strange new person in their space. The community center had a unique feel, something that I have a tough time expressing in words, but it really embodied the spirit of community. There was a level of safety and trust that was evident to me by the way the kids behaved. There was an underlying sense of gratitude as they worked and played together and with the other volunteers.
In college I studied community development as it relates to recreation. We were always discussing different theories, what is community and how does one go about creating it within a space like Barrio Prividencia where there is poverty, injustice and fear of the other. I don't know exactly how it is that they went about building up the community center into the place that it is today, (and I'm not referring to the building or the physical resources which are far less than adequate, but they make due) but I do know that the space and time dedicated is essential to the lives of those kids and to the life of the neighborhood. This is what it's all about.

My long weekend in Buenos Aires was full of many more adventures, conversations and reflection. Since we only see each other once every 3 months or so, we had a lot of catching up to do. I also got to see the other sites where Cristina works, the Lutheran church and a home for the elderly as well as the sites where Chris and Rachel spend their days! Together with our coordinator and her family we shared a meal, some fine Argentine wine and lots and lots of good company! A big thank you to everyone who hosted me and guided me on the crazy train/bus system over the weekend. You all are amazing.

Well, that's a brief look at my latest adventure. There are so many stories that sometimes it's tough to pick and choose. I hope this update finds you well. Thinking of you as the month of may is quickly coming to a close!
With Love,
Kate

March, April, May... Oh my!

Hola!

Well, it looks like I have neglected my blog for a little over two months now and I can't believe how quickly time is going by. Not a whole lot has changed for me here except the weather! It's definitely the middle of fall and the cold has hit. We have still been having nice sunny days though.

March: The start of the school year and a new schedule kept me on my toes. It was back to school, uniforms (tunics and bows), the XO computers for each kid, homework, new supplies, clothes and shoes.

Both of my jobs picked up full speed ahead when the school year kicked off, especially because I work mainly helping with homework! After summer vacations and 7 months living and working in Spanish, I have gained a greater confidence in my ability to help and guide the kids in their homework. I am still challenged when I get the task of helping with chemistry, physics and Spanish literature. Not only do I have to remember all the way back to sophomore and junior year of high school, but I have to re-learn the vocabulary of atoms, gravity, force, weight, mass, and chemical equations all over again.
I think that one of the things that I have come to understand about teaching, tutoring, especially in a foreign language, is that you don't have to know everything to be able to help! You just have to know where to look and who to ask. Luckily I have been surrounded by people who have been more than willing to help me help others! I am encouraged daily by the many people who support me through my work here. A special thanks to Virginia in the study center and Viviana at the Hogar Amanecer, for accompanying me through the daily challenges!

April: The first week of April I was blessed with the visit of two friends from home. Marnie and Sarah came down to see what the heck living in Uruguay is all about for me this year. We adventured to the East of the country to a little beach town called Punto del Diablo, where we took in the white sand, surfing contests, and salty ocean waves. The sun got the best of us and we returned to Montevideo a little toastier than we would have liked, but the vacation was well worth it. I was glad to have friends to travel with and to do some of the touristy things that I don't really seem to have time to do in my regular schedule. Back in Montevideo, we made the rounds to the open street markets, eating hamburgers, Uruguayan style, from a cart on the street. They got to meet some of my friends and take in a tango show as good college kids do, standing at the bar sharing drinks with friends instead of paying to sit down at a table and eat expensive food! I was also really excited that they got to take in a traditional Uruguayan BBQ, or Asado, thanks to Rafa and German who were around to do the cooking! I wouldn't have traded their visit for anything. We slept very little, played hard, and laughed a lot... :)

May: And here we are in the second week of may already. I spent the last two weeks pretty under the weather with a cough and stuffy nose that just won't leave me alone!! Tea with lemon and honey have become my new best friend. I was going pretty hard before I got sick, with volleyball, choir, youth group and my new work schedule I wasn't resting quite as much as I should have been. My body decided to make me slow down by getting sick. Soooo, I have taken it pretty easy the last couple of weeks. No practice, a few days off of work and lots and lots of sleeping!

Visit from Nebraska: Last week a group of people from a Lutheran church in Nebraska came down to the Rio de la Plata, to get to know a little bit about the Lutheran Church here. It was nice to see people making an effort to connect in a real personal way with the people and the Church in South America. Often times money is the way that we from the North show our support to the global church community. Once in a while we send out human resources like me to work hands on with the social projects of the church, but as I found out, many of the people aren't really aware of just how much is going on around the world. It was nice to be a part of the conversation, a reminder that we are all in this together! Whether we are teaching english in the Barrio Borro, or if we are attending a weekly bible study in Nebraska, we are the body of Christ, doing His work in this world, and learning every day a little bit more to live in love!

Well, that is a quick attempt to bring you up to date on the last couple of months. I have also sent out a newsletter that tells some other stories and reflects on my adventures in March and April as well.
I'll try and do a better job this month of keeping my blog up to date!

Happy Mother's Day!

With Love,
Kate

I spent the last week in Buenos Aires Argentina for the halfway-done retreat! We went to a beautiful place in the south of the province of Buenos Aires called Sierra de la Ventana. Ventana means window, and it gets its name from the giant natural "window" that is carved out of the top of the mountain. We set up camp at a campground near the trailhead and on the first day we all made our way up to the window. It wasn't a long hike, 3 hours to the top, but it wasn't a switchback trail through the woods either. We found ourselves climbing up, over and around the giant boulders making our own winding paths between the markers as we made the ascent. It was a fun challenge that left me exhausted at the end of the day. The view from the window was beautiful and made the hike worth all the work.
The rest of the retreat we spent catching up and sharing experiences. It was fun to catch up and start thinking about things on the downhill slide. There is a lot to think about in terms of going into the second half of the year with gusto and also beginning to think about what I am going to do when I get home.
The most exciting part of our trip was most definitely the trip home. What we expected to be a 14 hour trip from sierra de la ventana back to montevideo turned into a good 27 hours of traveling (or not traveling) We spent the first 6 hours of our trip sitting in a stationary double decker bus. The wheel broke as we were pulling away from the terminal and we turned around and headed for the gas station. We sat there for 2 hours waiting, not knowing what had happened before the driver came up to our level to let us know that we now would have to wait 3 hours for the mechanic to arrive and fix the tire. Our departure time was 11pm, so the majority of the people slept through the wait, Cristina and I did not have such luck. To pass the time we tried to write a song. It is a work in progress, hopefully we can reach a finished product by the end of the year! We also spent a good amount of time in the gas station and we couldn't have made it as long as we did without our favorite cookies, the frutigran! We just about devoured an entire package ourselves, which is quite the accomplishment and probably has something to do with the fact that all of the volunteers have been experiencing a certain snugness to the clothing we brought with us. It's all a part of the experience! Once the bus actually got rolling we slept a bit, but the 6 hour delay made us miss our ferry boat. Bummer. More waiting. Oh well, the important thing is that we had a safe, fun, adventurous trip with the volunteers. We made it back safely... at 2 oclock in the morning, just in time for me to catch a few zzzzz's and getup for work early the next morning.
Oh the joys of traveling in South America!

Until next time! Miss you all.

-kate

CARNAVAL!

Many countries around the world have a Carnaval celebration somewhere between the months of January and March, depending on the year and the tradition of the particular country. It is a festival leading up to the season of Lent, based in the Roman Catholic tradition. Uruguay is known to have the longest Carnaval celebrations in the world, so even in spite of the popularity and fame of the Brazilian Carnaval that takes place right next door, the 80 day celebration in Uruguay is something to brag about. The celebrations here were kicked of with el desfile de las llamadas, or the parade of the calling. This is an all night parade with costumes, masks, huge flags, scantily clothed women, and lots of dancing. The whole thing can be heard from blocks away as the traditional afro-uruguyan condombe drumming moves the parade along in rhythm. It is a sight to see, but you have to be ready to squish in with crowds of people and push your way to a viewing spot. I went to the parade with a group of young adults and we caught glimpses here and there, but mainly stayed on the outside, talking, walking around the traditional barrio sur, and listening to the rhythms of the chico, repique and piano drums that make up the sounds of the condombe. At the beginning of the parade you see groups of drummers standing around a fire on the side of the road, warming up the inside of their drums while the rest of their groups put finishing touches on costumes, organize the giant flags and wait anxiously for their turn to go dancing down the street. Each condombe group generally consists of a group of drummers, followed by a group of ladies dancing, then leading the pack there is a young vibrant woman with the least amount of clothing, her male partner in crime, and two older couples, the women with large dresses and fans and the men always with a cane and top hat.

As the days of Carnaval continue, all over town at different parks, outdoor stages, and theaters, you can find Tablados where there are performances of traditional Murga, a musical group and style that is often referred to as opera, but I view more as a show choir, with singing, dancing, acting and of course you can't forget the vibrant and colorful costumes! While Argentinian murga has an emphasis on the dance, Uruguayan murga emphasizes the music and the lyrics. Often times comical, the lyrics are written to send social and political messages. In the past, murga was a form of subversive public expression against the dictatorship and other oppressive and unjust laws and political structures. I have been to two different tablados and seen four murgas perform. The statements are still political, and issues like war, justice, and the environment have all been popular topics. But it's not all seriousness either, there are fun and games weaved in there as well... I have also heard them talk about everything from the act of making love, to tourists! Obviously I can't catch every joke and play on words because as much as I would like to say it, I am not a native Spanish speaker, but the performance as a whole is well worth the 80 pesos, or 4 dollars it costs to go.

...and the fiesta continues! I'm sure I will have more to tell regarding Carnaval, and I hope to post some pictures as soon as I get a better internet connection.

Miss you all!

Kate

CARNAVAL!

A Week in Para(dise)guay,

Being that it is summer time down here, and just about everyone is taking vacations and time off of work, I decided to use some of my vacation time to head north to Paraguay to visit my friend Jessica/Busta Blatt who is currently working there as a Peace Corps volunteer. Although traveling can be a lot of work sometimes, this particular trip was extremely refreshing and comforting because it is the first time in 5 months since I have seen anyone I know from home. It was really great to be able to share stories and reflect with someone who is having a similar cultural/volunteer exchange experience as me. It is also just nice to be around someone who really knows you.
I flew into the international airport in Asuncion where Jessica was there to greet me as I walked off the plane. We made our way into the city center to a nice air conditioned hotel where we spent the evening catching up and telling stories and sharing bits and pieces of our experiences with each other. Throughout the week Jessica took me to a couple of different places in Paraguay, first was a small town called Guarambare where she spent the first three months of her peace corps training. I got to meet her host family and Brenda, one of her good friends from the program. We were welcomed in with open arms to their home and I had the chance to drink my first terere, or cold mate, Paraguayan style as well as eat some traditional foods like sopa (a corn meal/cheese bread like dish) and of course a Paraguayan asado (bbq). This is also where I had my first real encounter with the native language Guarani. Although pretty much everyone in Paraguay can speak spanish, the majority of people also speak the native language. It is pretty incredible that the language has survived and is still such a fundamental piece of the Paraguayan culture. My spanish is getting pretty good and I am fairly confident in my ability to navigate within the small, spanish speaking country of Uruguay, but this Guarani threw me for a loop. The majority of the people actually speak what they call Jopala, or a mixture of Spanish and Guarani, which obviously makes my ability to understand and follow conversations much more difficult. One word in Guarani that I learned while I was there that I won't forget is Shivivi, which means diarrhea. I think it has something to do with the week following my trip to paraguay...
Anyway, after meeting and spending a day with Jessica's first host family, we went South to Ayolas, which is practically on the border between Argentina and Paraguay, to Jessica's official placement site for the next two years. We spent some time with another host family of hers and we also explored the city, hung out with other peace corps volunteers, made mexican food (to spice up our lives a bit... spicy food doesn't really exist here), played some Paraguayan style volleyball, went for walks, took pictures, toured the dam, took a ride in the fire truck, drank terere, and just enjoyed each other's company.
We spent the last two days back in the country's capital, Asuncion, where I had the opportunity to meet a good amount of her other volunteer friends in the program. We went out to eat, walked around the giant Paraguayan open market, and even went to the movies. For me, one of the most valuable parts of my visit is being able to meet the people that she will be working and living with for the next year, as well as get an idea of what the places look, smell, taste, and feel like. Even though I am also living in South America, each country is distinct. There are different traditions, people, foods, and cultures. Now when Jessica writes in her blog and tells me stories, I have a way easier time relating to what she is sharing with me because I had a brief glance into her life during the week that I was with her.
It was truly a blessing to be able to share a week together during our time of service. I only hope that we will meet again soon; only this time in Uruguay!

This past week I had the opportunity to be completely covered in mud or "barro" from the top of my head all the way down to the tips of my toes; then I (along with over 100 other young adults) threw myself down the side of a hill on what I would call a home made water/mud slide. With nothing more than a swimsuit and shorts, the back of my legs and bum got all raspberried up as I went flying down the hill and sliding into the sugar cane forest and a giant group of sticky smelly, but beaming with excitement, young people. This was just one small piece of the week I spent at the annual assembly of the valdesian student movement. Apart from playing in the mud, we sat through meetings and sessions and discussed various parts of how the students function within the larger church. Elections were held, discussions were had, and the theme of mission was the main topic on which the guest speakers presented. It was fun to see the church in action, especially the young people. There was an energy flowing through the people as they took full advantage of the one time in the year that they get to see each other. The student movement is made up of youth groups from churches all across Argentina and Uruguay. I probably slept between 2 and 5 hours a night, but the tiredness was well worth experiencing "camp" south american style. Dinner every night was between 1030 and 1100... after which began a devotion, night games, campfire and singing. All of which could be followed by playing cards and staying up just to enjoy each other's company. I learned new things, like how to light a campfire with water, and games like giant large group chess, new ideas for devotions and lots of fun new camp songs... in spanish. My body and brain were exhausted after the long week, but it was really fun and I am glad that I am able to be a part of that community while I am here. This week I am trying to find a balance between rest and recovery while still working with the kids at the hogar and preparing for my week in Paraguay to visit Jessica/Busta! I am really excited about the coming weeks. Things are going so quickly, but I am enjoying every moment.