The elections in Uruguay are going to take place on the 25th of October. This giant flag was made by political party called the Frente Amplio. I have been getting lessons on Uruguyan politics from Claudio, one of the teachers I work with in the tutoring center at La Obra and from some of the students in the young adult group. It is an exciting time to be in Uruguay.

 

This weekend Uruguay celebrated el dia del Patrimonio, which is a cultural celebration that recognizes many historical events and people that have contributed to the development of the country, its people, and their traditions. People come from all over the country to the capital, Montevideo, to visit museums, theatres, government buildings and other historical places that are all open to the public for free. Luckily this weekend happened to be my weekend off and I had the opportunity to go and explore the city with a couple of the other volunteers.

We toured some of the older buildings, went down to the Mercado del Puerto, or the Port Market and watched a very colorful and musical parade that was a sort of preview for the month of Carnival to come. It was exciting to get a better grasp on the city and learn a little bit more about the beautiful place where I am living.

I can’t believe a week has already gone by since my last post! I have been staying busy with work and the continual challenge of creating a home and life here in this place. In general it has been a good week…

On Tuesday I went to my first choir rehearsal at the Valdense church and I loved it! I got thrown into the alto section because of how small it is, but the women in that section were really nice and helped me figure everything out. Right now they are preparing for a big competition in October and they were pretty excited to have some extra voices joining them for that too.

On Wednesday I went with the kids from La Obra to a kid’s theatre show at one of the main stages in downtown Montevideo, Teatro Solis near Plaza Independencia. This was the first time I had been to the main tourist center and it was fun to be able to be there and experience it with the locals. The show itself wasn’t that exciting for me, but it was interesting to see how they mixed in political influences in with the music and the overall message. From a really young age they are encouraged to develop a sort of patriotism and sense of pride for their country and nationality. It could have something to do with the fact that the big presidential election is coming up here the first weekend in October, but I have noticed that in general, people from Uruguay are very proud to be Uruguayan. I wish I had brought my camera with me! It was beautiful and I could see the ocean from the plaza. Oh well, there’s always next time.

Yesterday, Sunday, I went with the kids from El Hogar to learn about el trato buen trato… or a campaign against violence towards kids and adolescents. The kids learned about the campaign and then we went out into the park with cards or the contracts, stickers and candies. The kids went up to different people asking them to sign an agreement to promote positive and healthy interactions with kids. Once the people signed the agreement, the kids handed them a sticker and a candy as a sign of commitment to the contract. After that we spent some time just enjoying the beautiful weather in the park. The boys found a soccer ball and jumped right into a game and Lucia and I sent the girls on a scavenger hunt.

That brings me to the ideas around gender roles here which have really become evident to me in the past couple of days. Friday, for example, was the meeting of all the staff members here at the hogar. They get together every couple of weeks to update how things are going in the house and talk about specific issues with specific kids. As they were discussing certain objectives for Maria, one of the girls, who is becoming a young lady, they talked about how they needed to try and get her to play less like a boy and less with the boys. Her tomboy-like habits are something that they hope to change and are trying to change. It was hard not to say anything in that moment about how good physical activity can be for the development of young girls. I wrote my final research paper for my recreation degree on the physiological and psychological benefits of physical activity and sport for young women. Needless to say, I have my opinions about the idea that girls shouldn’t play soccer because soccer is for boys. I wonder what they think when I go out to the soccer field in the morning to run!

It’s not like that in the whole country though… there are people and places who different ideas regarding gender roles in this society and are doing things to try and reinforce new ways of thinking. For example, at the La Obra, they have a workshop where they teach hair cutting and styling, cosmetology and doing nails. Boys and girls participate in this workshop and I was told that it is set up that way with the intention of breaking some of the gender stereotypes that are so ingrained in the culture and society here.

Well, that brings me to today, the 21st of September, which just so happens to be the first day of spring here. It is a holiday from school for the kids and a good reason to celebrate, so I have been invited to a BBQ tonight with some of the kids from the young adult group. Should be fun!

This past week has been a whirlwind of emotion! Everyday I am learning something new about this place, the people here and even myself. I wish I had more time to tell you everything. I´ve been at my new home for just over a week now and am getting used to the new faces and names of the people I will be surrounded with for the coming year. There are 30 kids living in this home with me... thank goodness I have my own room! It can get pretty crazy around here, especially when its rainy and around meal times when all the kids are crammed into the dining room. Most of them have some pretty tough stories of their lives before coming to live in this place. I have had quite a bit of experience working with kids, but this is something completely different. Thank goodness there are such wonderful "educadores" or educators that are here loving these kids day in and day out. There are about 12 folks that rotate on a regular basis through the house and there are always at least 3 of them around at a time. Right now I am working on establishing myself in the house as a person of authority, but also a person of fun. It is a tough balance to achieve with these kids, but I think with time things will get better. Once I feel more comfortable being able to discipline and instrucut in spanish, then I will be helping to lead different workshops with the kids to provide an alternitive to the television and computers! I will live here all the time, but I only am technically working 3 days a week.
I also work 2 days a week at La obra ecumenica Barrio Borro, which is a project of the state that functions kind of like and all day afterschool program with different workshops for the kids that come, including the tutoring center where I will be helping teach english to high school aged kids as well as music and physical education sessions that I will be helping with too. My first two days there went really well. Since the kids don´t live at this place, it has a little bit different feel to it than the hogar where I live. I think it will be fun to experience them both and perhaps I will be able to share new ideas between the two places. The idea of me working in these two places was intentional. The program wanted to build a bridge between the two organizations and their first step is me!
On my two days off, which happen to be monday and tuesday, I haven´t figured out exactly what I want to do yet, but there is a choir at one of the churches in town that practices on tuesdays that I might join and I am looking to see if I can´t find some kind of dance lesson on mondays. Other than that there is a group of young adults that get together on thursday eveinings and I plan on trying to integrate myself into that group as well. And I still have plenty of exploring to do in and around the city. After all, I have only been here a little over a week!

Oh my dear friends! I can’t say it’s not what I had expected it to be so far because I didn’t come into this program with a whole lot of expectations. The reasons behind why I made the decision to apply for this opportunity are disjointed and jumbled, yet it all seems to make perfect sense. Since arriving here in Argentina I feel welcomed, safe, and at peace with the idea that I am going to be here for a year. I was greeted at the airport by Kate and David. They are the country coordinators for the young adult program. In addition to taking on the responsibility of our individual projects, they are also the permanent missionaries for the Lutheran Church in South America, so they do a fair amount of traveling between Argentina, Uruguay, Bolivia, Peru and Chile. They also spend a portion of the year in the US on home assignment where they report in with the global mission office in Chicago and share their stories with different congregations and synods across the states. Basically what I am trying to say is that they are amazing, wonderful people who are taking very good care of me and the four other volunteers here. They make us feel at home! They have two kids, Emily and Matthew and it has been fun getting to know their family.
Much of our orientation in Chicago and here in Buenos Aires has been focused on preparing us emotionally and spiritually for some of the things we are going to encounter over the next year. We have spent quite a bit of time learning about some of the recent history of Argentina, specifically the dirty war which took place from 1976-1983. There was a military take over of the democratic government and over 30,000 people were disappeared during that time period. We had the opportunity to visit one of the government buildings that once served as a concentration camp. We also met with the mothers of the disappeared. This is a group of the mothers who began to march during the time around the plaza de mayo in search of justice. They are an organization that exists and is still today fighting for justice and for the memories of their children to live. I only share this because I feel like already my perspectives and my world view is being opened up to the daily struggles that are the realities of people in this place.
We have also learned a little bit about the tradition of the Lutheran Church here in Argentina and Uruguay which has an important connection with the history of these two countries as well. Knowing that we are going to meet and work with people, young and old, in the midst of this story, so it is important that we have an idea of what that story is before we can walk with them and meet them where they are.
I am excited to say that we have had plenty of fun during our orientation as well. We have eaten good food, great ice cream and tasted some fine wine! Last night we had the chance to go see a tango show in downtown Buenos Aires which was an experience in itself. It was fun to take a night to relax and see how people have fun here in Argentina. It really is a beautiful place!
Again I am going to leave this open ended… I have so much more to share and a week hasn’t even passed yet! But an open end only means the story will continue. Until next time, take care! Oh, and if you have any questions please do ask… I would love to share everything but I just have to pick and choose.