Life is chaotic (at least for now)

Here we are, we’ve arrived in a new place with new jobs and a new home.  It feels like it has taken a while to get to this point but we have a long way to go yet before we’re settled.

Just a few months ago I was living in a city which has more or less been home for 14 years.  That is incredible to think about.   Before that I hadn’t lived anywhere for more than 6 years and had moved 8 times by the time I was 16.  So after 14 years in one city (a couple different housing situations) I felt pretty rooted.

Just a few months ago I was working a job which was a work in progress but where I felt very competent and trusted.  I could participate actively within my organization and could build bridges to other similar programs to collaborate on new ideas.  It wasn’t necessarily an easy job but I felt like I knew how to get somewhere.

Just a few months ago our kids had a routine, a great babysitter, a great day care, strong friendships, and favorite spots to go (library, parks, and the back yard).

Just a few months ago our home was an easy place to host guests.  I could cooks, clean, and wash clothing and feel on top of things (not that I always did feel that way).

Now here we are and we are glad to be but I just want to describe a little what this part of the transition feels like.

We’ve lived in this city for two and a half weeks.  I know a few people and a few places.  I don’t feel rooted yet, this doesn’t feel like home yet.  It makes it hard to relax and rest.

We are stepping into a role that is very new.  I don’t feel competent in this job (yet).  I cannot communicate very well in Spanish which makes everything from using email, the phone, or talking to coworkers hard.  I don’t feel like I know how to move forward.

Our kids don’t have a good routine yet.  They are stretched at a preschool that uses Spanish only (that’s the teachers and the students), they don’t know their babysitter well, they don’t have a lot of spaces that they are comfortable in. They are incredibly resilient but they are tired and it is harder to parent with tired and tightly wound kids (true anywhere in the world).

Our home is becoming a place to host guests!  Still, I don’t know how to cook very well here.  I’m not sure what groceries I can or can’t find so we end up shopping often and sticking to pretty basic meals.  It’s hard work to keep up with cleaning even with the extra help we get from the woman who watches the kids twice a week.  I’m grateful we could host twice (both from our team which made it a lot easier).  Most days we’re too tired to think about hosting.

This is life now.  It won’t always feel this hard to do “life.”  Right now it is.  We’re thankful for all those we keep reminding us to have grace for ourselves (most other people are readily extending it to us).  Keep us in your prayers.

-R

Silas's 5 fun new things in Managua (not in any particular order)

1.Geckos.  Fast little guys who are there and then they're not. I sat down this evening waiting to see one, and when I followed it outside and threw a flash (thanks Dad!) I was lucky to discover a second as well.



















2.  Horses and carts.  A regular sight around town.  And Silas is thrilled every time.

3. Riding bikes and trikes (Thanks to our predecessors who left these behind!).  It's nice to have a little park just across the street.











4. Swings. Also found in the park. There are actually a surprising number of swing sets given the size of the park.












5. Amaranta, our dear tortuga. Silas learned the hard way that she is not a toy.  After being lifted, carried, dropped, etc. she decided it was time to bite.  The other day when Lia was holding her, the turtle peed on my shoe.  Apparently, we're new at this.

Lia's 5 fun new things in Managua (not in any particular order)

1. Bananas. Bought from the folks who walk up and down the street with carts of fresh fruits.

2. Gates (which are everywhere). Because "they're fancy." Here's the "fanciest one" we found on our walk from our house to the MCC office. I should mention that here Lia and Silas are snacking on a leftover tortilla.  The kids love to echo the lady who walks calling out, "Tor-TIII-yeeh!"

3. "Tortuga," probably the first Spanish word our kids picked up here.  Amaranta is an old turtle and the kids are nuts about her. (I hope she can survive us.)

4. School. She's so positive about this, it amazes me. "Sometimes I don't understand, but I just clap along when they sing or whatever."

5. Our house. After all these months on the move, it is nice to have a place to settle in and call home, even if it doesn't feel that way right away for all of us.  Here's Lia and Silas making a train, still in their pajamas.

We'll see if we can get Silas's five choices up soon.

A few ups and downs of Week #1

This week has been crazy, juggling our own adjustment, the kids' adjustment, and trying to learn a new job in a new place. And trying to find something to make to eat in the evening.  The MCC staff have been wonderful, supportive, and flexible with our family in all of this. The kids have done about as well as anyone could hope.  Our trial run with a baby sitter (kind lady, Spanish-speaker) went well. Today's trial run with school also went well (it took a little for the kids to let go, but eventually they were ok).  All of this is overwhelming for them, but Lia seems to (most) always see the bright side when she talks about things and Silas does his own thing, finding ways to use his energy and humor.

We had an additional challenge yesterday with a urinary tract infection with Silas.  We ended up going in to find a doctor at the Baptist Hospital: an unplanned part of our orientation.  He's doing well now, but we realize how we need to be even more intentional than we thought we were being about hydrating everyone in the family.

Here's a pair of pictures from this morning.  Silas being ornery in picture #1, and then our better shot in #2.  After that, Silas jumped on Lia in a wild hug, and they toppled over together and Silas clunked his head on the ground. Ouch and Sigh.  And then we went off for the first day at school. Which, like I said, went about as well as we could have hoped in the circumstances.

First visit to Parque Luis Alfonso

Parque Luis Alfonso is Managua's big children's park.  It gets its name from a boy who supported the Sandinista revolution in the 1970s and was killed by Somoza's national guard. The park includes several playground areas, different athletic fields and courts, some small rides for children and a splash park. Very nice place.

Silas climbs.

Instead of gravel or mulch, this area has volcanic rock.  Don't trip. (Lia learned the hard way.)

 Best part of our new "Rainbow Park" - the splash park area!

 Soft serve at "Nice Cream" in the park.

 Lia cuts and pastes; Silas joins us in the living room and enters a second stage of his nap time.

The front patio

 Apparently gates are for climbing and jumping off. 

 Close-up of the flowers from the last picture

Lia and Silas's room. They were putting socks on hands and feet to go "scuba diving."

The transition to Managua

I'm writing from Managua now.  There has been so much that has happened in the past month and a half that has not been documented or discussed on this blog, but here's a quick recap.

Many great times with family, including Cousins Caleb and Baby "Merryberry"

A special get-together with Good family and friends.  Here's a special 4-generation shot of mothers and daughters.

Visiting Grandma (Great-Grandma) and the chickens as well.

 Grammy and Grampop let the kids play with their time-tested toys in the basement.

 New fun with a tag-along bike approach.  Here's Grandpa's action shot.

 Cousins playing football. These pictures aren't entirely in order.

Many days (weeks!)  spent in this room for Orientation and the Leadership Seminar. Lots of amazing people make up the organization and work that is MCC (employees, service workers, (inter)national staff, volunteers, partners, etc.)

Sharing gifts with grandparents on the evening before the flight.

Lia's very special locket with Grandmas and Grandpas inside.  Silas might be searching through the grass for his similar keychain locket that he was throwing in the air.

We enjoyed getting some exercise at this escalator where the "up" side was out of service.  We rode down and climbed up an innumerable amount of times. 

I wasn't sure how the kids would feel about the airplane.  It turned out that it was a thrill for them.  So were all the other ways of moving during the day including the moving sidewalks and shuttle trains (and again, the escalators).

And finally one from Managua today.  Today included lots of unpacking and organizing, our first visit to meet the good people at the MCC office, a grocery run, a potential-school visit, swings and playground activity, and reuniting with toys and books that have been packed away over the last month.  Here's today's solution (a new tradition?) to life without a dishwasher. Thanks to Immanuel Mennonite Church potlucks for training them well!

 

Starting with "Why?"

Last year at the beginning of our school year at THMS our administrators encouraged us to begin our work by considering why we do our work.  This reminder was inspired in part by a recent book and Ted Talk by Simon Sinek. The gist of his message is that a clear sense of vision and purpose leads to quality decisions, products, projects, efforts, etc.

Being raised so closely to the work of Mennonite Central Committee, it is easy for me to take for granted the "why" of this work.  My family hosted international exchange volunteers, filled countless health care kits and school kits, went to relief sales and thrift shops, and so on. In some ways, the "why" could easily be: This is just what we do.  But as Rebekah and I take on a new role, working in for MCC in Managua, Nicaragua, I think it seems like a worthy moment to try to name why we are doing what we are doing.

MCC has identified areas of focus: Relief, Development, and Peace.  These interconnected efforts emerge from MCC's work around the globe since it began nearly a century ago in 1920.  What began as a relief effort to support hungry Mennonites and others in Ukraine and Russia has come to be an organization that responds to needs at various levels.  After disaster relief or violence, we must ask how can we "build back better" and prevent future disasters or conflicts? With MCC staff around the globe, how can we share those stories through advocacy offices in Washington, D.C., Winnipeg, or at the UN? Rather than beginning MCC programs that may inadvertently have a neocolonialist nature, how can we support partner organizations as local initiatives pursuing their dreams for the health and welfare of their communities? How can MCC support the life and fellowship of Anabaptist-related churches around the world through this shared journey?  

These questions and many more stem from a theological tradition that takes seriously the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth:

He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." (Luke 4:17-19)

"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. (Matthew 5:44-45)

Out of the diversity of the Anabaptist movement in the 1500s comes this often-quoted writing from Menno Simons (whose name the Mennonite Church uses):

"For true evangelical faith is of such a nature that it cannot lie dormant; but manifests itself in all righteousness and works of love; it dies unto flesh and blood; destroys all forbidden lusts and desires; cordially seeks, serves, and fears God; clothes the naked; feeds the hungry; consoles the afflicted; shelters the miserable; aids and consoles all the oppressed; returns good for evil; serves those that injure it; prays for those that persecute it; teaches, admonishes and reproves with the Word of the Lord; seeks that which is lost; binds up that which is wounded; heals that which is diseased and saves that which is sound."

What does that action look like in a world that is maligned by oppressive systems?  How can we work in a world bound by crippling capitalism, power imbalances, theologies rooted in the myth of redemptive violence, racist and discriminatory structures, and environmental degradation?  Another quote comes to mind, suggesting that we (in both a North American and a global sense) cannot break free alone.  This comes from an Aboriginal activist from Australia named Lilla Watson:

If you have come here to help me, you are wasting your time.
But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.

I'm excited to work alongside MCC's partners and to hear their needs and dreams and to work together in that direction.  I'm excited to be part of a global organization that not only sends service workers from North America, but from many different countries to many other countries.  I'm excited to be in a position to share the stories of new friends in Nicaragua to friends in the United States, bringing our world closer together in a small way. And I'm excited to step into this next chapter together with my family. I am hopeful that this journey will be a healthy (not always easy) learning experience that stretches us in our love for each other and our neighbors.