Hello all! It is hard to believe that I am already halfway through my initial time in Spanish school.
This week has been fairly routine. I have enjoyed learning more Spanish and getting to know my host family better.
My pace in school felt a lot slower this week. I think that is probably natural when learning a language intensively and I somewhat expected it. I would describe the process of learning a language with a power/regression model (see picture below if you are unfamiliar with power/regression curves). What I mean by this is that I learned a ton my first week because I started from scratch. But I therefore went into this second week with much more knowledge, and hence, my pace was slower because there is less to learn. This was somewhat of a struggle for me this week because I felt that I didn’t learn enough. However, I think I need to trust the process and be patient. I will continue learning little by little.
What has been most exciting for me this week is that I can now have deeper-than-surface-level conversations. I was able to share more about Hebron USA and why I care to learn Spanish in the first place. I was able to share more about Adventure Education - not just that I like kayaking and backpacking, but about how it is a catalyst for growth, such as by helping us to overcome our fears and learn to trust. I was able to share about Abby’s work with Bridges to Prosperity - about the struggles of rural isolation. I was able to share more about my future aspirations.
This ability to have deeper conversations has also revealed more of the brokenness of the systems in Mexico. Here are some statistics that my teacher Victor gave me this week:
-In 2012, $80 (about $4 USD) could buy 50 kg of tortillas in Mexico
-In 2018, $80 can only buy 6 kg of tortillas
-In the US, the average person has to work for 4 minutes in order to buy 1 liter of gas
-In Mexico, the average person has to work for 4 hours in order to buy 1 liter of gas
I have learned more about the struggles for medical care, particularly in Chiapas. Ricardo and Mariana shared about the struggles to pay for the treatment necessary for their family. This is even a greater struggle in the more rural areas of Chiapas.
When I wrote an essay about Chiapas this month, I came across a study from some researchers from Harvard. They described the problem of poverty in Chiapas to be a fractal (see picture below if you are unfamiliar with the concept of fractals). While the wealthiest entity in Mexico (Mexico City) is wealthier than the poorest (Chiapas) by a factor of 6, the difference within Chiapas between the wealthiest municipality (Tuxtla Gutiérrez, followed by San Cristóbal) and the poorest (some of the rural villages) is by a factor greater than 8. Even within these towns and villages, the same pattern is found (https://growthlab.cid.harvard.edu/files/growthlab/files/cid_wp_300_english.pdf?m=1478633092).
But I love what Shane Claiborne writes in The Irresistible Revolution:
I’ll never forget one businessman I met who, upon hearing about my trip to Calcutta [to work with Mother Theresa] said “Wow, that’s a terrible place that makes you come home and say, ‘God bless America.’” I gently replied to him, “Actually, Calcutta is a beautiful place that makes you come home and say ‘God bless Calcutta.’” He just sort of stared at me blankly (80).
Because just as we have talked about the brokenness of Chiapas, we have talked about its beauty. The beauty that is evident when people are forced to rely on each other and the beauty of the dependence and inter-relatedness that this creates. There is a precious sense of community in Chiapas (particularly in the villages) that is much rarer - not impossible to find, but rarer - in the United States.
And the people I encounter here put a face to the issue of poverty in Chiapas. Entering right into it removes the distance that we so often create from injustice.
My favorite moment this week was during my run on Monday in the park below La Iglesia de Guadalupe. There were some young kids playing fútbol (that is, soccer) in the park and I asked if I could join them. They welcomed me and we played together for awhile. One of the kids knew how to say “Thank You” in English and he thanked me at the end for playing with them. It was precious for me because it was my first experience with play in San Cristóbal. It is extremely common for me to play in the streets with kids while in the villages, but this was my first time playing in the city.
It was also an answer to prayer. That morning during my Selah time, I was reflecting upon something that one of my professors had said a few months ago. He said that he loves to walk alongside his students, but also to walk behind them sometimes and give them a gentle shove when they need it. I prayed that God would not only walk alongside me during my time here, but also give me a shove when I need it, a shove to go love people in different and challenging ways. That shove came during my run.
Another fun thing that happened this week is that I taught Mariana how to make cheesecake today. She wanted to make a special dessert, and I suggested cheesecake. She had never made it before. I translated the recipe and had to convert all of the measurements into metric.
Hence, it has been an exciting week. I am now headed to church for La Sociedad de Jovenes. Tomorrow, I plan to go the main service.
Please continue praying for the people of Chiapas and for my time here. Please pray particularly for those struggling with medical needs. Specifically, pray for Ricardo’s aunt; I believe she has/had kidney problems. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers!
This week has been fairly routine. I have enjoyed learning more Spanish and getting to know my host family better.
My pace in school felt a lot slower this week. I think that is probably natural when learning a language intensively and I somewhat expected it. I would describe the process of learning a language with a power/regression model (see picture below if you are unfamiliar with power/regression curves). What I mean by this is that I learned a ton my first week because I started from scratch. But I therefore went into this second week with much more knowledge, and hence, my pace was slower because there is less to learn. This was somewhat of a struggle for me this week because I felt that I didn’t learn enough. However, I think I need to trust the process and be patient. I will continue learning little by little.
What has been most exciting for me this week is that I can now have deeper-than-surface-level conversations. I was able to share more about Hebron USA and why I care to learn Spanish in the first place. I was able to share more about Adventure Education - not just that I like kayaking and backpacking, but about how it is a catalyst for growth, such as by helping us to overcome our fears and learn to trust. I was able to share about Abby’s work with Bridges to Prosperity - about the struggles of rural isolation. I was able to share more about my future aspirations.
This ability to have deeper conversations has also revealed more of the brokenness of the systems in Mexico. Here are some statistics that my teacher Victor gave me this week:
-In 2012, $80 (about $4 USD) could buy 50 kg of tortillas in Mexico
-In 2018, $80 can only buy 6 kg of tortillas
-In the US, the average person has to work for 4 minutes in order to buy 1 liter of gas
-In Mexico, the average person has to work for 4 hours in order to buy 1 liter of gas
I have learned more about the struggles for medical care, particularly in Chiapas. Ricardo and Mariana shared about the struggles to pay for the treatment necessary for their family. This is even a greater struggle in the more rural areas of Chiapas.
When I wrote an essay about Chiapas this month, I came across a study from some researchers from Harvard. They described the problem of poverty in Chiapas to be a fractal (see picture below if you are unfamiliar with the concept of fractals). While the wealthiest entity in Mexico (Mexico City) is wealthier than the poorest (Chiapas) by a factor of 6, the difference within Chiapas between the wealthiest municipality (Tuxtla Gutiérrez, followed by San Cristóbal) and the poorest (some of the rural villages) is by a factor greater than 8. Even within these towns and villages, the same pattern is found (https://growthlab.cid.harvard.edu/files/growthlab/files/cid_wp_300_english.pdf?m=1478633092).
But I love what Shane Claiborne writes in The Irresistible Revolution:
I’ll never forget one businessman I met who, upon hearing about my trip to Calcutta [to work with Mother Theresa] said “Wow, that’s a terrible place that makes you come home and say, ‘God bless America.’” I gently replied to him, “Actually, Calcutta is a beautiful place that makes you come home and say ‘God bless Calcutta.’” He just sort of stared at me blankly (80).
Because just as we have talked about the brokenness of Chiapas, we have talked about its beauty. The beauty that is evident when people are forced to rely on each other and the beauty of the dependence and inter-relatedness that this creates. There is a precious sense of community in Chiapas (particularly in the villages) that is much rarer - not impossible to find, but rarer - in the United States.
And the people I encounter here put a face to the issue of poverty in Chiapas. Entering right into it removes the distance that we so often create from injustice.
My favorite moment this week was during my run on Monday in the park below La Iglesia de Guadalupe. There were some young kids playing fútbol (that is, soccer) in the park and I asked if I could join them. They welcomed me and we played together for awhile. One of the kids knew how to say “Thank You” in English and he thanked me at the end for playing with them. It was precious for me because it was my first experience with play in San Cristóbal. It is extremely common for me to play in the streets with kids while in the villages, but this was my first time playing in the city.
It was also an answer to prayer. That morning during my Selah time, I was reflecting upon something that one of my professors had said a few months ago. He said that he loves to walk alongside his students, but also to walk behind them sometimes and give them a gentle shove when they need it. I prayed that God would not only walk alongside me during my time here, but also give me a shove when I need it, a shove to go love people in different and challenging ways. That shove came during my run.
Another fun thing that happened this week is that I taught Mariana how to make cheesecake today. She wanted to make a special dessert, and I suggested cheesecake. She had never made it before. I translated the recipe and had to convert all of the measurements into metric.
Hence, it has been an exciting week. I am now headed to church for La Sociedad de Jovenes. Tomorrow, I plan to go the main service.
Please continue praying for the people of Chiapas and for my time here. Please pray particularly for those struggling with medical needs. Specifically, pray for Ricardo’s aunt; I believe she has/had kidney problems. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers!
Instituto Jovel was taking pictures for their Facebook page and they took one of me with Sergio; so, this is what I do for six hours a day
Sunset over San Cristóbal from La Iglesia de Guadalupe; unfortunately, the trees are kind of blocking the view
A power/regression curve; in my analogy, time spent learning Spanish is on the x-axis and fluency in Spanish is on the y-axis
There are a lot of Volkswagens in San Cristóbal; my dad made a collage of them
Me making Vanilla Oreo Cheesecake
The finished cheesecake!
The Sierpinski Triange (an example of a fractal); after infinite iterations, there are an infinite amount of triangles
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