the journey begins

dearest friends,

a quick update from xela - our time in language school is drawing to a close and I've managed to post some pictures of my time here on my picasa page - http://picasaweb.google.com/erin.ramsey.1. feel free to browse at your leisure!

also, as you might have heard, ex-president Zelaya has made a return to Honduras and has been hiding out in the Brazilian embassy for the past few days. needless to say, the timing is less than ideal for us, as we should have actually begun our journey to the Farm today to arrive on October 1st. we're holding tight and waiting for the final go-ahead... praying for an end to any political violence and for a real peaceful and just solution to the current issues in the country. please keep me and my fellow volunteers in your prayers these days as we make the long journey to the farm, and pray for the people of Honduras, especially the poor who are often so deeply affected and unable to be heard during these difficult times.

much peace to you!
Erin

"you and english have had 22 good years..."

My dearest family, friends y bienhechores,

Feliz dia de independencia from mountain town Xela! As I write this morning, I sit high perched on the roof of my host family's terazza, overlooking the sleepy city. Last night's rain cleared away much of the ever-present fog that hugs the mountains, and it seems I can see for miles today... the bright-colored rooftops of family homes, t-shirts and sheets and underwear of all shapes and sizes hanging on laundry lines drying in the gentle wind, children playing in the streets below. It is simultaneously difficult, nerve-wracking and SO exciting to think that I've been here for over a month now, and that just two weeks from tomorrow my fellow newbie vols and I will be pulling up to our new home for the next TWO-PLUS years - La Finca del Niño. While I am really, really excited to get to Honduras and begin the "real" work we've signed ourselves away to, my time in Xela has been filled with grace and I've been so grateful for this time to work on my Spanish, drink plenty of hot chocolate and get to know my community before we begin our life on the Farm.

So... where to begin? Since I last wrote, I switched teachers at my language school, Juan Sisay, and I have been SO HAPPY. My new teacher's name is Willberth - he is 28, studying for the bar exam, practically fluent in English, and absolutely hilarious. I LOVE him. We've worked through countless verb tenses, new vocabulary and object pronouns, and we spend a great portion of each class in "carcajadas" of laughter as he tries to explain to me the dozens of sexual innuendos I unintentionally stumble through on a daily basis. My favorite part of our time together, though, has unquestionably been the countless challenging, thought-provoking topics we always seem to end up spenging hours talking about. Abortion. Gay rights. Women's rights. Machismo. Religion and culture and politics and how inseparably intertwined they can be. This country and the human rights abuses it has committed against its own people. MY country and the human rights abuses it has committed against the people here. And globalization and food production and the disparity between rich and poor and who suffers at whose expense... just to name a few. Needless to say, trying to discuss all this and more in a language I still feel so far from having a real grasp on has been... well... humbling. But... ando aprendiendo. I'm learning. And, poco a poco, I'm improving, even when it's sometimes hard to see the progress on a daily basis.

Outside of class, there have been a lot of "firsts" and plenty of tiny triumphs this past month. My first time eating street food and not getting sick. My first time climbing an active volcano (several of my friends and I climbed Volcan Pacaya, one of three active volcanoes in Guatemala, a few weeks ago... at the top we somewhat-unsuccessfully attempted to roast marshmallows over pools of hot lava. It was beautiful and epic and HARD.) My first encounter with the Guatemalan police department - my debit card was unfortunately cloned about two weeks ago, and although all is well now, it certainly provided for some great real-world Spanish practice as I navigated my way through the Guatemalan legal system to file a police report. And my first time celebrating a holiday like a Guatemalteca - last night I rang in Guatemala's 188th birthday and "dia de independencia" by laughing, jumping, singing and successfully avoiding being pick-pocketed amisdt a crowd of thousands of REALLY happy Guatemaltecos at the city's giant block party and independence day concert. Surrounded by many of my new community members and our language school teachers... with Bob Marley music playing between bands and a "Chuckie" doll crowdsurfing above dark Guatemalteco heads (?!?)... I couldn't help but laugh to myself and think how bizarre and beautiful this life it, how strange and sacred and sacramental...

And there have been SO many little graces, too. Like successfully taking charge of a group of a dozen pre-schoolers and six containers of play-doh during an afternoon at Nuevos Horizontes, the domestic violence shelter where I've been volunteering. Or the smell of fresh bread baking at the panderia I pass on my daily walk to school. The warmth of a mug of hot tea in my hands, lovingly prepared by my host mom. The feeling of strong Xela sun on my face as I walk to the market in the afternoons. Tiny children who wander up and down the giant stone aisles of the cathedral during mass, shyly playing hide-and-go-seek with the strange light-eyed gringos who occupy two whole pews. And most of all, the arrival of the last three members of our volunteer class - Alisha, Kristina and Francesca. Por fin, we're all together - todos juntos - and beginning to come to know this incredible, thoughtful, totally unique and absolutely hilarious group of people has been a blessing of blessings. They are laughter and joy and bread for my days...

And you are, too. Know how much I love you and miss you all, and just how often you are carried to heaven in my prayers. My communication will be much more limited once I leave the city and arrive at my new home in Honduras, but please know that you are with me always as my bread for the journey, even though we are separated by years and miles and bad internet connections :) Please do keep my fellow volunteers and I in your prayers these weeks, especially as we make the long journey from Xela to the Farm and arrive to begin our work on October 1st. I can't even begin to imagine the whirlwind of emotions that will be this time of transition, but I KNOW that this is exactly where I am called to be, and I am so grateful to be here, doing this work, supported by all of you. So thank you. I love you. I miss you. And I will see you in the Eucharist.

much peace and joy to you,
Erin