Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to All.
I hope that you are all able to enjoy this holiday season spending it with your loved ones.
I am currently sweating and drinking a gin and tonic it is 85 and hot. It is weird to be here in South America being so hot. It has made me realize and appreciate how important family and friends are. I will be very busy for the next couple of weeks and then i am leaving soon, so it is weird to think about all that has happened and all that i still have left to do. I hope that everyone has time to relax and enjoy their respective companies.
Much Love and Merry Chistmas, Feliz Navidad, Joyeux Noel

Summer cometh

Just wanted to share this picture of Chilean summer from my front door. It is fun watching the kids enjoy themselves, it brings me back to when i was a kid. As for me, just got done retaking the GRE and did better so that is something that i am thankful for (more so that I don't have to take it again). Now, we have two more days left of school, so we will have all of the end of the year parties and farewells. It is weird to think that it is going to be the last time that i am going to see almost all of them. It is interesting to think about the mutual affect that we have had on each other. I believe that through this interaction we have helped each other grow. I am doing very well and just trying to enjoy the time I have left here. I hope you are all well.

Being Noticed

A couple of days ago I was sitting on the bus, when i was taken a back by this experience: A 50 year oldish blind Chilean man made his way onto the bus and sat directly facing me. It was interesting to see the lack of human contact. Chilean society, sadly like most, do not converse or talk on public transportation so all that is present is tension. The tension between wanting to be alone and wanting to be known. This old man, who, I believe had passed most of his life without being known, so he did something very peculiar. I watched the man play with a sticker for about 5 minutes trying to separate the back from the sticker. I thought at first that he was simply enjoying the differences in the textures. Yet, after he triumphed he took the sticker, about the size of my palm and placed in on the window. The sticker ended up being a advertisement for Lucky Strike cigarettes, which was made an interesting juxtaposition against how much life it gave him. His ear to ear smile portrayed the sense of accomplishment that he had in being able to perfectly apply the sticker to the window. I think that this image shows a prime example of our need to be known, our constant search of acceptance and place. This man had no idea of what he was putting up but he did know that HE was the one putting it there. It only mattered to the man that he had made a difference, that he or something that he did was being noticed.

I know that this is something that i struggle with the horrible paradox of wanting to be alone and to be known at the same time. Being alone is easier, one is risking less, there is no need to pass through the darkness of our souls if we are willing to simply live alone. But to be known, we must first know ourselves, we must pass through the darkness of our own sins, faults and follies to find out what we are. At this finding of this sacred place, one where we have transcended our fears, we are able to find our soul. Then after finding this we have the ability to find others. We have been given grace and talents by God, it is time for us to use them. We must try and take the time to notice this gestures, to look to help and acknowledge the presence of God in each of us.
I challenge each of you during the upcoming holiday season to challenge yourself to make yourselves known, being it simply placing stickers or sharing souls, make yourself known.

The months of November is already half way over. Due to the break neck speed and full days of events.
So far in the month of November, i have had two medical test for a stomach issue that i have been having. (Don't worry they say i am going to be fine.) Just need to take better care of myself. Currently in the proccess of finishing my applications. I took my GRE the 6th, but i will be retaking them next month.

Last week was filled with events with people from Notre Dame. There is a decently large group of people who have come down to give an award and also to discuss options for studying at Notre Dame. With them, and many members of the congregation, we went to the Alameda (Chilean White House) for an award ceremony. It was very interesting to say the least. The discourses on the transition to Democracy of Chile were very impressive and educational. Then after we were invited to a post award cocktail and it was fun to be able to meet some very important people i.e. the current vice-president of Chile and so ex-presidents.

Last weekend we had several jornadas (little religious retreats) for kinder and pre-k. The pictures up are of them. Then on Saturday spent the day with another retreat for the first year confirmation kids. That jornada went very well and all of the kids seemed very excited to be there which makes my job much easier and more enjoyable.

Sorry i am going to keep this short. Have much to do. But there is a little bit of insight into what i have been doing. I love you all.

We are well into October and the weather is turning for the best.
I had a bad spoout of pneumonia earlier this month that left me tired and lazy. It was interesting for it was the first time in my life that i was told that i had to go home and could not be at work. (Something that rarely, if ever, happens at Power Painting). So, basically spent the weekend in bed and just recouperated for a while. It gave me a bit of time to reflect and organize what i am doing, have done and plan to do.

About a week and a bit ago we finished raising money and then build a "Mediaqua" (house) for a young pregnant woman, 19 years old, that did not have a house to start a family. It was a great experience for the kids to be able to take the time out of their normal daily lives and help people in a way that was absolutely foreign for them. We had a group of about 8 kids both days that it took in constructing the Mediagua at school and then also at the final destination.

Currently i am in the process of finishing off the school year, so we have all of the end of the year planning and projects. These include; final exams and grades for my classes, Confirmation that is tomorrow, and then the mission trip planning that will evenutally take place in the beginning of January.

During all of this I have been trying to find time to study for the GRE and finish up the application process for going back to school to get my Masters in International affairs. I am going to apply to Notre Dame, Boston College, Georgetown and then the last i am deciding between Marquette and Catholic University in DC.

This has been a fun and exciting process, but at the same time humbling. I have great hopes for my future and what i want to do, but at the same time the application process is making me realize that my experience here is coming to and end. Especially because the last couple of months here are basically a sprint to the end of the year, Christmas season and then the mission trip in Pichilemu.

Retreat in El Quisco

Spent last weekend at the beach with Padre Mike at the retreat house in El Quisco. El Quisco is a little town that is located a bit south of Valparaiso on the Pacific coast of Chile. It was a wonderful opportunity to rest and relax and just to take advantage of a little time off after the hectic weeks that preceded with fiestas Patrias and my birthday. The highlights of the weekend would be the great conversations that we had and the time that was spent simply reflecting and reading, all the while being serenaded by the crashing waves coming off the coast.
The time there was great to be able to recharge my batteries and just to be able to take a moment to reflect on what I am doing here and the experiences that have occurred. I marked, during my time there, the medicinal attributes of water and how that just the sound of crashing waves causes you to simply to get lost in your own thoughts and reflections. It is interesting that the tumulus sounds of crashing waves allows one to relax, but the drone of everyday life causes one to get lost. It is something that is all too common today, especially for my generation, that our lives are just filled with noise. In our current society of texting, surfing, non-stop music and television we are encouraged to become addicted to entertainment. We want everything to be instant and we cannot bear the crying sound of silence. The silence can be all to piercing, it makes us take a look at our own feelings of solitude and loneliness. Yet, instead of trying to grow, to ask the difficult questions, and to improve our faith we simply flick on the TV/computer/cell phone and look for a simple entertainment.
I can see all to clearly the prominent problems that will be bourn by our society. A society of a thousand friends on online social networks but at the cost of direct human relations and the sharing of sentiments. A society where the only time we see tears, is in a corny Smiley or hug/embrace at the end of a letter. I know that I fit the stereotype and spend too much time on this type of entertainment, but I am trying to better about experiencing true friendships, and to know myself. I hope that all of you are able to take time out of your day to show love to those who you love. Also, that you are able to make time for yourself, to be, to reflect, and to grow.
I pray that you are all able to take time for what is truly important in life.

The last few weeks have been spent in celebration.
During the last two weeks i celebrated my 24th birthday (man just writing that makes me feel older), and Fiestas Patrias.
I will talk about my birthday celebrations in this post and the following will be about fiestas Patrias.

This year is probably the most i have celebrated my birthday. There were several different types of celebrations

1st we had a karaoke night with the members of the pastoral team. It was fun and it has become a custom for the members of Pastoral (Campus Ministry) to go out on each others Birthdays. As per custom, i went up to sing a song. Joe and I did a wonderful rendition of one of The Backstreet Boys classic hits.

Then next day i went to the Chile vs. Venezuela soccer game with Joe and a Chilean buddy, Alvaro. The game was fun to see and luckily the game ended in a tie otherwise i am pretty sure there would have been rioting. Plus the game was highlighted by a constant downpour that left all of the fans slightly aggravated. Most of the fans were pretty soaked and could be in a better humor. Yet, this experience was rather colorful and interesting because it was the first time i had come into contact with truly angry Chilean soccer fans. Again, very happy that Chile at least came out with a tie.

Wednesday during school i received a nice present from the 1st and 2nd graders that i teach English. They, with the aid of the assistants, sang happy birthday to me in English and then i received a Chilean flag made out of separate cards written by the students. It was pretty cute. I will not post the picture because it might be too cute for the internet.

Then for my birthday itself we had a nice communal dinner at home with the 5 gringos (americans, or our program) Father Mike, Padre Erwin and Oliver. It was a nice meal, with Brian making Chicken Cordon Bleu and Apple pie. So that was very nice. It was a very relaxing and quiet event. Which was nice considering the next week after was anything but.

So my birthday was celebrated on several occasion and by several different people. I thank you all for the birthday wishes that you sent and hope that you are all well.