Yesterday I received a worrisome email from my father filled with questions about how my time here in Uruguay relates to my education and my future, and how I'm going to validate the amount of money spent on my education. He posed some pretty big questions, some that I thought were a bit far-out to be considering now (such as what job I'll have the day I graduate), but nevertheless, could only benefit me to ponder. Entonces, I'll take it question by question.
Disclaimer to my dad: I believe that these questions are referring to my Uruguay trip, but as you know, I also went to a 10-day prayer evangelism conference in Buenos Aires, Argentina, spent a few days there before and after with some friends, visited an Argentine family I met in a church there, returned to Uruguay, and went back to BA to visit them again, thus totaling about 26 days in Argentina. While the conference was unrelated to my trip to Uruguay, it was a perfect compliment to my time here, so when I talk about experiences and lessons, it will encompass both countries. More of a disclaimer: Feel free to hold me to these hopes and plans of mine, but I'm not promising that any of them will happen. Life is a mystery and my path is unknown to me. I can only speculate what it might hold, and looking at where I am, my desires, and where I've been, this is the best I can come up with.
What did this experience do for you?
My understanding of the Spanish language mushroomed. My writing skills have improved by writing only in Spanish in my journal for the trip and also through communicating with friends here over the internet. I hear Spanish all the time and have a ton of Spanish music now that I've been listening to endlessly. I read the newspaper when I can and also read my Bible in Spanish. I've been writing down many new words I've learned and up to this point, I'm at 371. Granted, not all of them are in my working vocabulary, but there are also a lot of words that I didn't write down because now I use them so often, it seems pointless to define them. If it was just learning the language better, then I'd rank my experience here as a 9 out of 10. Todavia, es dificil para conjugar los verbos muy rapido, pero eso es algo que puedo practicar facilmente con mis amigos en mi universidad. Bueno?
I am also leaving this country with a new love/frustration (not hate) view of men here. Love them because they're very attractive, they can dance, they are protective, and they are very affectionate. I am frustrated with them because they honk/yell/whistle/stare at me when I'm running or just out on the street, many of them go to whore houses to lose their virginity at age 14 or 15 to "become a man," and they clearly show interest in certain unavailable girls but deny it later to their faces when confronted about it. But lucky for these guys, I also met some incredible men here whose impressions on me were so strong and positive that they more than cancelled out the negativity and I now can respect and cherish these men.
I'm leaving in awe at the hard work people invest in their jobs and studies, which I hope and believe will continue to shape a hard work ethic for me.
My experiences here taught me to believe in the power of the Holy Spirit and to make room for it to work in me and through me. Really. One thing that is so different about Christianity from other religions is that we believe that when a person becomes a Christian, God sends the Holy Spirit to live inside of them and be their guide and their strength. I was terrified that once I arrived at the evangelism conference, someone would load us up with salvation pamphlets and New Testaments in Spanish, send us out to the streets, and take tallies at the end of every day of how many we distributed and count success in that manner. But that was so far from what actually happened. How about for the first 2 days, the group, made up of people from America, Canada, South Africa, England, and Argentina got together to worship God, to hear testimonies and receive prayer from "born-again" prisoners (specially released that day to come and share with us), and to listen to some pastors and other people speak who encouraged us to "move our tent stakes" to make room for what God can and will do. We prayed for each other, we repented of sins, we got out of the way so that God had room to work. And man, how He did work!!! Short digression, I must tell Alejandro's story. I met a man, about 45 years old, in a plaza in downtown Buenos Aires at 6:45am. I was standing by a stone wall with about 7 people from the conference one morning and one girl was playing a guitar and we were singing some worship songs. It was still quite dark outside and so there weren't many people on the street yet. Some people looked at us as they walked past and others hurried by on their way to work. Alejandro looked, slowed down almost to as stop, which was just enough time for my friend Abby to say "Hola." Without hesitating, I walked over to him and started talking, not really sure what to say or why I went. After talking for several minutes, he joined our group and listened to the songs. We found out that he was a Christian, married with kids, and was on his way to look for a job because he had, just minutes ago, been turned away from one business he went to. We prayed that God would help him find a job that week, and we believed it. After sharing with us what joy it brought him to meet us, we told him we'd be out there the same time for the next 3 mornings while we stayed in the particular hotel and then we parted ways. Two days later, Alejandro returned with such joy on his face. He had to catch a bus at 4:30am to meet us out there at 6:30, but he was glad to do it because of the story he wanted to share. Alejandro got a job! Just later that day after we prayed for him….he was hired at a place where he will make significantly more money than his previous job! He also told us about how on the bus ride home, he started talking to a man who told him many of his problems and Alejandro, joyful as all get-out from just getting his prayer answered and being hired, shared his testimony with this man and led him to the Lord! Alejandro shared many things with us, and he returned again the next morning for the final time there, and we got him the phone number and address of the awesome church we were working with that was in a town near his, and he was so excited to be able to go there and bring his family! While Alejandro is sharing his story and ours, we are sharing his. Bryony, the girl who was playing the guitar that morning, and I got up to share his story in front of the church we were working with…the church that Alejandro planned to attend. This story is a motivation for me, and hopefully can be for you as well, if you'll move your tent stakes further, mas allá, to make room for God to work. This is just one story. There were many, many more. But I would like to think that those should be shared over a cup of coffee rather than in a blog. What did this experience do for me? It increased my faith. It repaired it, strengthened it, molded it. And for that, I will forever be thankful!
The last thing that I'll briefly touch on is perhaps the most dangerous thing that this experience gave me: it gave me friends and family down here. It gave me a reason to return. I remember that when I was booking my plane ticket back in March, I decided that I wanted to come down here for 2 1/2 months because I wanted time for real relationships to form. I can't even begin to explain how thankful I am for the people I met, the strangers who helped me get off at the right bus stop, the Santacruz family that let me live with them in Uruguay, the Salamone family that let me stay with them 2 different times in Argentina, my friends who took me out dancing, the incredible hospitality I received, the bilingual people who still let me speak Spanish to them even though English would have been faster, the Clarks for connecting me to the Santacruz family, the people who prayed for me. Then there's Ana, my sister, teacher, preacher, gourmet chef, fashion consultant, dance instructor, translator, guide, ambassador. I'd return just to see her. I have lots of reasons to return, and I probably will. I want to study abroad in Buenos Aires. I would love to live here…as in the Rio de la Plata region (name of a river that separates Uruguay and Argentina, thus I am referring to both countries). Don't worry, I won't make any hasty, reckless decisions. Oh wait, *remembers title of blog*, ok, I won't make any reckless decisions per se, but I probably will make some with reckless abandon. :) Que vida la mia!
How are you thinking about incorporating whatever you learned into your UNC education?
For starters, I'm hoping to get an A in my next Spanish class, which is Spanish 300, grammar. I haven't made an A in Spanish since my first introductory class my sophomore year of high school. I'll hopefully rock the conversation class (if I can get into it). Next semester I am taking a class for my Social and Economic Justice minor that is an introduction to Global Issues. I hope that I'll be able to incorporate what I've seen and learned about poverty and the socialist government here into what I learn in that class. I'm sure I'll be able to pull out a few examples from my experiences to include in papers. I've already seen improvement in my photography through the 2048 pictures I've taken. Almost half of those were taken for two fantastic organizations, Juventud para Cristo and CAIF (which educates children and adults on child sexual abuse)…which I can add to a photojournalism portfolio in the future. I'm sure I'll benefit more educationally from my experiences here than I can even begin to fathom, but this speculation is only of the horizon in the distance. Once I get there, there will surely be more to see and experience.
Also, I think my experiences in South America will greatly affect my time at UNC, education aside. After hearing the testimony of some prisoners down here and getting to go to a church service at a prison, I'll be getting involved through a ministry in my church in the Durham prison probably helping out with a Bible study they have there. I also will hopefully work more with the Hispanic community in Carrboro, a little town within walking distance from campus. There are a ton of ways to volunteer in that area. And I have faith that my strengthened faith will impact students on my campus as well in various ways. UNC prides itself on being more than just a superb liberal arts education, but rather a unique, diverse, and rich experience for each student who is willing. And that's what I have to offer next year, along with every other student. Our experiences, what we've learned, and how we'll let it change us and others.
Have you thought about having a job the day you graduate from UNC?
What would you say if I said that I wanted to marry right out of college and take care of the house and have babies? Relax, okay! That's not my dream. While I'd love to be married, make babies and adopt them, and share house responsibilities with an amazing husband, that's not what I see on the horizon. Maybe the next one, or the next, but surely not this one. I actually hope to not work the day I graduate, but rather spend time with my family and friends. But in all seriousness, the day or week after, I would love to think that I'd be working for Newsweek or The New Internationalist, but I'll need more experience beforehand. I can see myself working for a local newspaper or in publicity or something for the University. I think that I could easily work as a wedding photographer by then. I'm not sure that's something I'd want to continue as a career, but it could be fun for awhile. But I may go to grad school. Who knows though. If I do, I'd probably take a year off, during which time I'd like to return to Uruguay or Argentina and teach English in a private institution. I've already asked around and found out that, as a native speaker, I could easily land a job doing just that and make enough money to live off of and pay rent. While that probably wouldn't help me too much in saving money for when (if) I return to the US (or perhaps it will if we're in a depression by then, but hopefully not), it would pay for the cost of living where I am, thus being self-sufficient and not needing to ask my family for help. Let's pretend I stay in the US. I'll work as a translator somewhere. With the words "UNC graduate" and "bilingual" on a job application, it shouldn't be too hard to get hired somewhere. And once again, if we're in some horrid depression (which hopefully we won't be with a Democrat in office…please excuse my political comment. I just wanted to put an Obama plug in this. I actually am fully aware that it is not actually the president's fault for causing a depression or recession, unless they started a war *cough*, nor is it their responsibility to pull us out of one since the economy has its natural "ebb and flow" cycle)and jobs are impossible to come by, I'll just come here and get a job. Actually, what would be way ideal is being employed for the US but living in the Rio de la Plata region, thus making the salary of an American but living as an Argentine or Uruguayan. Omigosh, I sound so ridiculous saying that. Seriously! But I mean, it'd be like working for the US Embassy or something, which once again, I haven't ruled out.
Oh yeah, one final job proposition. I also have considered going to Seminary School for grad school. Or if not that, or even after that, I could work as a missionary. Did you know you get paid for that? I mean, if you do it through an established organization or church, they fund your time as a missionary. I'm talking salary. Crazy huh? Get paid to plant churches or do whatever missionaries do.
If it costs you $12-14 grand to be there each year, what path do you take that validates the cost of tuition/room/board?
My path is priceless. Isn't that not what you were looking to hear, haha. I think the bigger question, the question that you're actually wondering, is "What will you do with your life to validate all the money and time spent raising you?" It's a good question. Raising a child is expensive and what a "bajon" (bummer) it would be for her to continue taking and taking and not giving back to society when she is an adult? One part of reality is that I do need to give back financially to my country (and thus my parents' social security), but do note that I already have. Remember how much stuff I've bought over the years? All the things I've spent my money on? I've been giving back financially. The other part of reality is that the path I hope to take probably won't have much relevance in the validation of the cost of my college education, but will be a test to validate the energy, time, and love poured into me by my family, friends, teachers, and various Christian ministries. And the test or question of ultimate validation is whether or not I live my life walking humbly with my God and as a poured out offering of love for my family, friends, neighbors, strangers, and enemies.
After 4 years at around $50K, what's your job when you graduate?
See answer to the third question.
Now to anyone, especially my Dad, feel free to call me out if any of this is unrealistic or entirely illogical. I know I'm not the best at being a realist since I'm not yet jaded by the world, but I gave it my best shot.
