Speaking The Same Language?

I’m getting used to the people’s accent and manner of speaking, which is very soft and quick.  Their sense of hearing is very good.  At the office, I often hear our secretary speaking in a low volume and then hear the accountant at the opposite end of the office respond to him.  It is amazing, really.  I am slowly adjusting to their accent, speed and low volume with which folks speak here. 

And though I am fluent in Spanish, some of the local colloquialisms leave me feeling like I am listening to a foreign language.  For example:  A trash can I know as “basurero” in Spanish, but here it is commonly called a “tacho.”  A “partida” which to me means “a leaving” here means “a certificate.”  There are many such instances where I listen and then have to ask someone what a word means in the context of our conversation.  Following, I share with you a funny lost-in-translation instance that happened to me recently at the office. 

One day, our receptionist/office clerk was standing by my desk waiting to talk with Anna, our office manager and financial officer, and said, “I need to speak with Anna because I have to go to the Banco de la Nacion (Bank of the Nation).  I have to send Domi menudo.” FYI, Domi is a missionary in a very small town located in one of the most remote areas of the jungle.  It takes 2 days travel via the Amazon and Napo rivers.  So, when I heard the word “menudo” my mind went all over the place.  First, I started craving menudo, a Mexican soup commonly eaten at breakfast.  Second, I thought, where do they sell menudo here, (Peruvian cuisine is very different than the Mexican one.) and why is she saying she is going to the BANK to get MENUDO? Lastly, my thought was how would she package menudo so it doesn’t spill and spoil?  Of course, all these thoughts ran through my mind in a matter of seconds and then she added, “because Domi has a hard time getting change in that town.  AHA! Then the light bulb went on in my head, and I realized that when she said “menudo” she meant CHANGE!  Now that made sense as to why she needed to go to the bank. I am always amazed at how we can speak the same language and yet not understand each other. 

There is much more to share from here, but I will save it for my next blog.  I continue to pray for you and humbly ask for your prayerful support for all missionaries.  Thank you.  God bless you. 

Co-Workers:

Getting to Know Iquitos

I am living at the missionary house.  It is a center with many rooms where missionaries receive hospitality during their stay here in Iquitos.  Missionaries come for meetings and/or for some much-needed R&R.  It is great to welcome them “home” and spend a bit of time chatting with them about their mission and getting to know them better.  Our missionaries come from various countries, including Mexico, Spain, Colombia, India, USA, Poland and from here in Peru.  The diversity, yet unity of purpose…to make Christ known to all…is wonderful to experience and be a part of!

In the past few months, I have gotten to know Iquitos better.  I have been pleasantly surprised to learn that a new Mall, which can rival a regular mall in the USA, recently opened here.  It is a bit far from where I live, but one Sunday afternoon, three sisters and I ventured out to see what this mall was like.  We were pleasantly surprised to learn it was air-conditioned, had a food court, beautiful decorations, escalators, and many nice shops.  We walked around for a while then stopped at the food court and had supper.  Then we returned to the missionary house, i.e. my home. 

 

Iquitos has many stores and therefore it is not hard to find what one needs, though the quality may not always be what one is used to back home.  It has some nice restaurants as well. 

As the days go by, I am becoming more acclimated to this hot and very humid weather.  My fan is my constant companion as is my repellent as many mosquitos, ants, chiggers, small biting flies, etc. inhabit this area of the country.  The vegetation is beautiful and very diverse.  I am seeing plants I had never seen before and many diverse birds.  It is beautiful to behold nature here!

In March we celebrated St. Joseph’s Day, which is a huge feast for us as St. Joseph is the patron of our vicariate.  My coworkers, along with the staff of the Office of Catholic Education and the Office for Peace and Justice (both belonging to the vicariate and whose offices are located on this property) to pray, eat and enjoy time together to celebrate our patron saint.  

The Vicariate

Greetings from the city of Iquitos located in the Amazonian region of Peru. In my February blog (yikes, where has time gone?) I shared my arrival Lima and here in Iquitos where I am working and living.  This is my mission post.  I am working as an administrative assistant in the offices of the Vicariate of San Jose del Amazonas. At present I am learning about what projects we have received donations from, what it takes to monitor a project, and how to compile all the necessary documents to write up a final report for each project. I am also learning how to issue official copies and make corrections to the information found in Baptismal and Wedding certificates.

I am learning more each day about the day-to-day workings of our vicariate.  Our vicariate encompasses an area of the Amazon Jungle region of 155,000 sq. kilometers (59,845.8346 square miles) of land.  It is a very large vicariate with 16 other mission posts on the banks of the Amazon and Napo rivers.  We are a total of 72 missionaries (a bishop, priests, two deacons, brothers, sisters, and lay people) but this is not near enough to meet the needs of the faithful in our vicariate.  

 

I have learned that the needs of our vicariate are many.  We depend solely on the donation of charitable and ecclesiastical organizations to sustain us. In many of the parishes throughout the vicariate Sunday collections average the equivalent of $14.00 per week.  Since our priests are few (14 total), many villages do not have a resident priest but rather have a trained parish agent who conducts worship services focusing on the Sunday readings.  Communion in these worship services are rare and only if a priest happened to celebrate Mass there the week before and was able to leave consecrated hosts.  I learned that consecrated hosts will not last for more than a week due to the high heat and humidity and the lack of facilities to store the hosts.  In the communities where there is no resident priest, the faithful often get to celebrate Mass once or twice a year when a priest visits their community. 

 

Each mission post has anywhere from 30-80 scattered communities in their region, which they visit throughout the year. Most visitations are done by boat, walking, or motorcylces.  These visitations, called “caserias,” are done throughout the year with the hope of getting to visit all the communities in their post at least once a year.  The needs of the native people of Amazonia are many and many look to the church for assistance. Many of the needs have been brought about by the destruction of their land due to deforestation and contamination of the river water they depend on for day-to-day living.

 

My ministry/work has to do, not so much working WITH the native population, but rather working FOR the native population. What I mean is that the job of our office is to make sure that missionaries out at the mission posts have what they need to best serve the folks they minister too.  

Arrival In Peru

 

On February 13th at midnight, I arrived at the Lima airport, tired but grateful for a safe journey.  I was also very excited to begin my new mission and adventure in Peru. 

I was met at the airport by Eduardo, a friend of Fr. Cesar, the Vicar General.  After claiming all my luggage and clearing Customs, Eduardo drove me through the empty streets of Lima (it was about 1:30 a.m.) and shared details about the various neighborhoods we were passing as well as several landmarks.   This was a good start to my mission.  We were met by Sr. Maria Christina, a Sister of Divine Providence, who hosted me and Veronica (an Argentinian Lay Missionary who arrived earlier that evening).  The accommodations were comfortable.  The sisters provided delicious and nutritious meals for us during our stay.  They were very accommodating to our needs as well.  We could not have had better hosts to make us feel so welcome and comfortable during our one week stay in Lima.

During this week, we traveled 10 hours overnight by bus to the northern city of Trujillo where we both needed to present legal documents at Interpol to obtain documents we would need to present to immigration when we arrived in Iquitos. While in Trujillo, we were hosted by a missionary couple, friends of Bishop Jose, our bishop of the Vicariate of San Jose de las Amazonas.  We remained there for two days and since we finished all of our business with Interpol, we were treated to a tour of several sites in Trujillo like the Cathedral, Main Plaza, walking, shopping and restaurant district.  We were treated to lunch and although I am fluent in Spanish, reading the menu made me realize I was truly in a foreign country as some of the foods had names I did not recognize and needed our host to describe what each item meant.  Example:  Aguacates (avocados) are called "palta" here in Peru.  

That evening we boarded the bus back to Lima.  I needed to get a translation from a certified translator, so I rode a taxi for about 45 minutes.  Although traffic was thick, I enjoyed having the opportunity to see more of the city.  We then flew on to Iquitos on martes, February 20th.  We were greeted at the airport by Anna Borkowska, the Economist/Office Manager of the Vicariate, whom I will be working with during my mission.  The cocophony of noises from traffic, especially the many "motokars" (motorcycles retrofitted with a two to three person seat in the back and a canopy to ward off the sunshine)  was overwhelming.  

We arrived at the Vicariate complex, where I am now living, to find a nice, large bedroom with a private bathroom, all clean and prepared for my stay.  I was also introduced to my future co-workers and two permanent Canadian lay missionaries who are in charge of maintaining the complex and welcoming missionaries of the vicariate when they come for some much needed rest and/or to pick up supplies for their mission outposts.  Other priests, sisters, lay missionaries from other vicariates and diocese are also hosted during their visit to Iquitos.  I was pleasantly surprised to know that meals are cooked for us daily.  

The most wonderful surprise for me was that Mass is celebrated in our chapel each morning by visiting priests. What more could I ask for? God has been good to me first by calling me to this mission, then by providing a comfortable place to live, good food to eat, great company, and above all, daily Eucharist and the blessed sacrament in our chapel!  My new mission and adventure is off to a good and blessed start!  

Here I Go Again

Here I go again!  I will soon depart from my hometown, El Paso, TX, to the Vicariate of San Jose de las Amazonas in Iquitos, Peru.  I will be on mission for three years as I lend administrative support in the offices of the vicariate.  I look forward to serving my brothers and sisters in Christ as I share my love of God, my Catholic faith, and the Gospel.  I also look forward to sharing my gift of being bilingual (Spanish/English) as I work alongside others to advance the vicariate’s mission to better the lives of the people it serves. Please keep me in your prayers as I answer God’s call to mission once again!  Be assured that you will be in my prayers as well.