Well this is Saturday October 8 ... time to add a few more thoughts to the blog.
Last Wednesday, I returned from a 5 day trip to the jesuit Missions in eastern Bolivia. These missions were little churches founded by the jesuits in the 18th century, right before the Pope put the ol' kabosh on the Jesuits. The churches stood for 250 years or so, until they were rebuilt by a guy named Hans Roth in the later 20th century.
These churches now radiate a spirit and history of the early Society and a hope for the church in Latin America. We laerned a lot on this trip, but unfortunately all we have to show are pictures. Some of the links to other people's sites can give a better picture of what we saw.
For me, I ahve 2 weeks left of spanish classes here at the Maryknoll Language Institute. After a week in the misisons, I feel a little rusty in spanish, but that should pass in time (I hope). Maybe the last two weeks will give me that last shot int he arm. After that, I am headed for Peru. One major site I am looking forward to is Machu Picchu. If you type that in to Google or into Altavista pictures, you can see what I mean.
Well, here are a few thougfhts about my present situation. As of mid-October, I am in the town of Cochambamba, Bolivia. Cochbamba is a smaller city down the mountains from La Paz, a mere 8,000 feet, but still high. I usually find myself breathing for extra air once or twice a day here. The air is always clear and crisp. There is no humidity to speak of, and the temps range from a chilly 50 degrees at night to a high of maybe 80 in the afternoon. Very pleasant. They call it the city of eternal springtime. Indeed it is the place where folks come on holiday from chilly La Paz and from tropical, humid Santa Cruz where I was last week.
On September 1, I arrived at the airport and was taken to the Jesuit community only two blocks away from the Maryknoll language school where we study. The community is called Comunidad Alberto Hurtado, after a famous Chilean Jesuit who is to be canonized this October 23 of this year, by the way. The community has three priests living here, most of whom are teachers at the local university and also work in Jesuit apostolates. There are also 6 or so scholastics who live here: guys studying for the priesthood. Myself and Tom, another American Jesuit, bring the house to about 12 people.
It´s very comfortable here, and very simple. The house itself looks more like a rustic Florida motel. Rooms open up onto a central garden and there are no screens or storm doors or anything. The floors are all tiles and the walls are either brick or plaster. Dust is everywhere (cause it never rains) and bugs, pets, birds, and critters are ever present. It´s not unhealthy, but I do seem to have a family of rats living under my bedroom floor. They keep me up at night and bother the heck out of me during the day. There is hot water in the showers, but not in any of the sinks. The house is very airy and open all the time. You can´t go from room to room without going outside. My room is stark, you could call it a cell, really. Since I didn´t bring a lot of clothes, there isn´t much to fill it up. I have a few books and of course all the Spanish material that the school gave me.
Cochbamba is right now on the same time zone as New York: eastern time. That changes though when the US goes back to standard time. Then we will be an hour earlier here than in New York. Here in the community, our daily routine is pretty simple. The first thing in the morning is Mass at 7:00 am. One of the rooms is a chapel where all 12 of us can fit pretty well. After Mass is breakfast (desayuno) which is toast or cereal or a small sandwich, which we make for ourselves if we want it. Coffee too. If we boil the ¨dirty¨water from the tap, it is OK to drink. So there is hot water on the table in a thermos. Since our classes at the language school start right at 8:00 am, Tom and I have to wolf down a piece of toast and then run to class, ready or not.
The next meal during the day is at 1:00 pm and that is the main meal for folks in Latin America. It is called “almuerzo” and is served like a grand dinner usually: soup, veggies, meat, rice, bread, and a fine dessert. The community has a woman come in to cook and to do the guys´ laundry each day, since everybody works outside the house or goes to school. Since my Spanish classes end at 11:30, I come home usually about 12:30 for the midday meal. And after that, of course is siesta. The whole city basically shuts down and everybody takes the famous Latin American nap for an hour or so. About 2:00 pm, works starts up again. For me, I start my homework, sometimes at school or here in the house. But every night I have “tarea” ... homework in the evning. Then, long about 7:30, guys collect in the dining room again for a final meal, also on your own, which is called “la cena”. It´s lighter, sometimes leftovers, sometimes take-out, sometimes people skip it. But after that, guys usually head for the TV room or read or go to bed. I turn in no later than 10 at night, usually trying to figure out conjugations. Or I go star gazing.
But Spanish is always going on around me … of course, I am in Bolivia. And that is helpful. Morning noon and night. The only channel on TV in English is CNN, although they do have MTV and VH1 in Englsih with subtitles. American movies play on HBO with Spanish subtitles. The Simpsons are dubbed over in Spanish. So, it´s hard to understand Homer. Speaking is OK, because the guys in the house allow for my mistakes, but in school it is trying. Listening is harder than speaking because everywhere people speak with harder vocabulary and with greater speed than I am capabale of handling (right now at least). That will surely get better with time.
Last week, the school arranged a trip to the famous Jesuit missions of the Chiquitos east of Santa Cruz. There are about 6 little country mission chapels that have been established by Jesuits in the 1700s, and they still exist as churches. If you want to see a little website about these missions, go to
http://www.comunidadandina.org/ingles/tourism/greatest/i_misiones.htm .
At night before bed, I read a bit more about two sites I am anxious to see in Peru: the ancient Inca ruins of Machu Picchu (which is just northwest of a city called Cuzco) and the city of Lima itself. Lima is large, busy, and dirty, but it is the central hub for a lot of ministry that Jesuits do in the city and around the area. Since I entered the Society, I have heard so much about our work in Peru, but now I´ll hopefully be able to visit and help out if I can.
That is the latest from >Bolivia. Remember always that God is good and brings us countless opportunities for grace and growth ... if we only would see.
Peace to all who read this. And in your free time, drop me a line at
Fairbanks@jesuits.netPatrick
