Saturday, October 7, 2017

First month in La Plata


el limonero de las estaciones

Saludos desde Argentina!

October already! While many of you are planning your Halloween costumes and consuming everything pumpkin spice, we just had la primera semana de primavera, or the first week of spring. This is a season of new life and today as I walked through La Plata, the city I now call home, I noticed the fuller, greener trees that line the streets. There are new beginnings and fresh perspectives growing internally as well; I am delighted to have arrived during a season that fits so metaphorically well.

The first two weeks I spent in Argentina was in the capital city of Buenos Aires, housed in the retreat center and main office building of the Iglesia Evangelica Luterna Unida (IELU). Inside these walls we were warmly welcomed and showered with hospitality which made the transition easier. Myself and the six other volunteers from all over the United States were able to have our first experiences in this unknown country together. We practiced riding public transportation, shopping, and even asking people for directions (I did not understand the replies but their hand movements were very helpful). Furthermore, this was a time to bond as a group of volunteers, center ourselves spiritually, and learn some of the rich history and context for where we will serve. We left with tons of emotions but feeling connected to each other and a little more confident in ourselves for the year ahead.

A lot of that confidence seemed to disappear as I rode the 2 hour bus ride to La Plata, replaced by nervousness and uncertainty. However, as we all shared pizza together that first night, I realized I had nothing to fear from my housemates except the rapid speed of their conversations. I live in a student residence called a hogar which houses 5 other girls, 3 guys, 2 cats, and a dog named Mora or Pancha depending who you ask. I feel very lucky to be in this place where I can share meals, beer, and conversation with young people that are no longer just housemates but friends.

During the first night, I was having a conversation with my friend Nico in the spacious backyard of the hogar. Nico speaks English so we are able to have conversations that are more thorough than any I typically have (my Spanish level is improving daily but is still truly basic). He showed me a bush that is on the edge of the yard called a limonero de las cuatro estaciones which translates to a four seasons lemon tree. While the fruit, which is available all year, looks like a mandarin and smells like a mandarin, the taste is more sour than a lemon.

What a perfect metaphor for expectations, I thought. Because I may want to come into this place with absolutely no expectations but that is just not the reality. The human brain will see something and try to identify, classify and compare it to prior experiences and knowledge. No matter how open-minded we are, if we will see something that looks like an orange it will be called an orange until proven differently. There will be situations where I may think I understand but I will need to remember that I do not know what is under the surface or the contextual background. Perhaps it is instinctual to categorize and simplify but, at best, it dulls and subdues fine distinctions and, at worst, it is completely inaccurate and sour. Instead of a juicy orange you get the harsh bite of a lemon.

Yet as I have been settling into my life here, I realize that I should let go some expectations of myself as well. When preparing my suitcases for the year, I packed health magazines, running shoes, books of Spanish literature; all objects to assist me in my ambitious goals of transformation. I planned to exercise every day, eat only salads, and practice Spanish for 2 hours daily so by the end of the year I would be completely fluent.

Fantastic goals? Sí. Realistic? Not so much.

Somehow I believed that being in a new place would so completely change my personality; I could be that driven individual who wakes up at 5am for morning runs and study for hours on end. While I can adopt some of these habits with time and patience, I am still a person who chooses ice cream over exercise, siesta over studying, and late night conversation over sleep. I can try to adopt some healthy lifestyle changes but only gradually and with forgiveness, instead of negativity when I falter.

Because if I do not learn perfect Spanish this year, that does not mean I should only speak English; it means I keep speaking no matter how poor it sounds and keep listening when I do not understand. If I do not have the perfect body or eat the healthiest, that does not mean I should stay in my room in seclusion; it means trying to incorporate healthy choices without denying the sweet things in life, without any negative self talk.

I need to embrace the person who I am right now in order to actively live in the moment. Lose the expectations of myself for the future and even strip away strict images of my identity I hold close. Love the person who I am currently and set her free to love others. I need to not worry about my ideal self of the future but instead thrive right here, right now.

Abrazos y Besos,

Joy
The mates in Olivos, Buenos Aires

San Timoteo to the left and the hogar in the back right
The view from my window
Seriously watching the birds on the roof patio with Pilar's cat Charley
 (a week after this photo he killed one so maybe I should not have encouraged this behavior)




2 comments:

  1. I love the limonero metaphor for expectations! Thanks for sharing, Joy!

    ReplyDelete
  2. rick and judy have srrived, albeit late. will have you in our dinner prayer every day, so you can count on "a wink and a nod" at dinnertime each day. love you. r&j

    ReplyDelete

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