Random Stories

January 14, 2008

Yeeehaaaaa...William, one of the twins

Oh man, what a day (Sunday). The ever time changing pickup came early this morning, so I almost missed my ride to the Mass, so that was a good start. Once getting there though, I spent time before hand taking pictures of all the broke up parts for the grant application. After, I met with the Padre who had brought in a sub for that Mass, he came out of his little room where he lives in PJs and squinty eyes and a crackly voice and I couldn’t help but crack up. I hope I didn’t catch whatever he has, however, he did gift me a sweet agenda book when all I had to write on was some ripped up pieces of paper. Apparently someone gifted the parish some nice leather bound ones that I am now mooching on….sweeeeeet….haha. Anyways, I met with some a municipal committee that he hooked me up with to help out with the grant, so that’s all good.
After I went to the soccer game at 12, that was fun, although they are still getting on me for not being able to play…however the biggest size I’ve come across here is 11. The search continues.
Then the marathon of meetings continued starting with the medical group, then the ADESCO, and ending with the Water Committee. My Spanish was suffering by the end needless to say, I was in need of some serious good music. That seems to the remedy for burned out brains.
Today (Monday), I made some more documents for random Church groups and then a grant request for the streets here with Don Mauricio. I got to meet up with the Mayor later and set up a date for our meeting, and then later a meeting in town with municipal ADESCO. Then the bus left me so I got walk back in the dark, fun stuff. It was actually kind of fun, the moon was out and all.


Let’s see, oh yes, I continue to botch my Spanish in quite a funny way during the nights. Haha, so I was at the dinner table outside with the three teenage girls (well one is 20) joking around after dinner one night, when I was going to begin a joke with “I am going to leave my brush here to…..” (it was a hair joke) and in Spanish I said “Voy a dejar mi peine aquí para…” For some reason my brain threw in peine for brush, which is actually comb. But they don’t use it at all, and all they heard was ‘pene’…..or penis. HA. As soon as I said it I realized my mistake, but all three went crazy laughing, but I played it ignorant… that is easier forgiven than slip ups :) Oh well, you win some you lose some, and then some days it rains. I’m used to awkward situations by now in this country.


Oh yeah! I saw the coolest thing during lunch, I don’t think I’ve mentioned this yet. But, one of the dogs had attacked a little chicken that was running and we thought he had killed it. Don Raul grabbed it and they started to pour water down its throat until they got some response and with a little bit of patting it came back a little bit. Then the kids put it under a tin barrel thing and started banging on the barrel… eventually it came back more and more. The next day it was running around and having a good time…. Craziness.

Reviving the Chicken

I finished the book on Simón Bolívar a few days ago, haha, I would say he’s the most successful general for losing as many times as he did. He stuck in there though and now he’s one of the most popular, if not the most popular, historical figures in Panama and below. He did have some interesting predictions about the US as well….although…. none of them were positive haha. Now I’ve started the Brothers Karamazov, but to be honest I am somewhat intimidated by its supposed content and size. I say that because Crime and Punishment was a doosy back in the day and people hail this as Dostoevsky’s greatest work. Anyways, we’ll see in about 700 pages.
So, I just finished listening to Dr. Scott Hahn’s (one of the leading apologetic writers of our day) conversion story, wow…(without internet I am becoming quite familiar with the contents of my computer haha). What a nerd though….he makes ole Francis Beckwith, ex-president of the Evangelical Theologian Society, look like a neophyte convert. I’ve heard of people reading their way into Catholicism, but that’s insanity. Although, he did used to be a Presbyterian pastor ;) much love much love. But his story is amazing in that he did it amidst an environment of theologians, and after founding anti-catholic groups etc. Then years later all those people involved with that, and with him, had come to ‘want in’…as he calls it, or become Catholic. I highly suggest his story to anyone bored (or interested) enough to listen to it. You can get it offline, or if not, I’ll send it to you. (this guy’s family recently had to buy a new house to fit all of his books…ha!)

Knocking the sense back into it

Calling all Catholics (that would be a good book title)….reeeeeeadddddd about your faith, primarily in the Bible, secondarily about those who came before us (esp their apologetics), and thirdly about what the Magisterium has laid out for us based on these two. Its good stuff and like triangulating your position on a map. The first point is the most important, and gives you the basic sense of where you are, but to find the exact position, you need two other points, other than that one, to be in accordance with you, as to be ever accurate of where you are and where you should be.


Holla back Archbishop Fulton Sheen:


“Not 100 in the United States hate the Roman Catholic Church, but millions hate what they mistakenly think the Roman Catholic Church is.”


January 17, 2008


Babies, Babies, Babies. Man, they are just in a whole different world here. Of course, the only thing I really have to compare to this is primarily the infancy of Elija, and a little bit of Jonah, but still it is light and day here and there. I know you are asking …how? (especially Cari :) Well, mainly I guess what strikes me is the fact that you have to be quiet while they are sleeping. I mean, the twins next door, around like 6 months or something, I mean they sleep out in the hammocks during the day with two crazy kids running around being kids, and a little tienda right beside them. They chill on a mattress on the ground when they aren’t eating or sleeping in the hammock. At night or during the day while they are napping, they have the radio blasting… and the kids… sounds asleep. I mean, I would bump into a table or something at Cari and Hagar’s and I mean, my life was almost taken right then for fear of waking up a kid. Anyways, it’s a funny parallel. Although, I’ve yet to see like in Spain the ladies with kids out at parks at 2am and sometimes with strollers. HHmm…. Well I don’t like in the city though, so I guess it’s possible here too.


I’m pumping through The Brothers Karamazov right now, trying to get as far as possible before it’s length and philosophy set its will against me. It’s actually going quickly, although also thick at some points. The atheist arguments are actually a lot of new ones that are sometimes hard to assimilate, but it’s all good so far. My favorite comment so far was from the atheist kid, “At the second or third lesson the boy suddenly grinned. “What’s that for?” asked Grigory, looking at him threateningly from under his spectacles. “Oh, nothing. God created light on the first day, and the sun, moon, and stars on the fourth day (Genesis 1:3-5, 14-19). Where did the light come from on the first day?” It reminds me of a story of a non-denominational Christian who told a friend of mine that the dinosaurs skeletons were put on earth to test the faith of Christians…..or the look on the face of my counterpart’s wife when after some show that had dinosaurs, she looked at me and said, “you know they say those things used to exist, but I don’t know how!” An array of actions showing the difficulty in knowing how to interpret Scripture in compliance with science. If my knowledge serves me right, I think it was a Jesuit that came up with the Big Bang theory :) but don’t hold me to that haha.


Also, this note if for John, I finished listening to all the podcasts of the adult ed classes at PoP. Not too shabby there guy.


Oh yeah, so here’s a quick story for you….to bring up the wife of the counterpart again. She was sitting beside her seeming brand new refrigerator and after a commercial on the tele, she started telling me a story. See, they have these little bullion packets for chicken and beef that they use ALL the time in cooking here. Apparently in the past, they had some contest raffle thing by this company where you had to send it these packets, and they would draw one out every once in a while (I think 10 in total), and the prize was like 7 appliances. The lady came on one day while the wife was watching and said it was amazing that all the winners had been from the department of La Paz. At that point, she told me that she got down off her chair, on her knees, and prayed that she knew God had the power to do whatever he wanted, and that if it was his will (haha), that she knew he could help one of his children with this prize. In that moment, she lifted her head, saw the name come out of the bag on one of the 4 channels of their television, and what do ya know….. they called her name. She told me she just sat there and cried for a while on the floor. She didn’t keep them all, but the fridge still stands as a reminder for her. Most people can’t afford the energy bill for the stoves and stuff. Craziness eh?
That story is almost as good as the fact that every time I bite down on something super hard in dishes with meat, they are like… ahhh no problem, its just the bones from the grinder from when we ground the meat. Oh well…. When all my teeth fall out I’m sure that fact will make me feel better. :)


Finally, I would just like to announce that there is a man in my community, who looks just like Speedy Gonzalez. I don’t say that in a mean way, but I mean, really. He’s got the hat and garb and mustache and all, but he does need the red scarf.


An excerpt of a chapter long argument on Church jurisdiction in Russia, that was in reality really going on at the time:


“Yes, but you know, in reality it is so now,” said the elder suddenly, and all turned to him at once. “If it were not for the Church of Christ there would be nothing to restrain the criminal from evil doing, no real chastisement for it afterwards; none, that is, but the mechanical punishment spoken of just now, which in the majority of cases only embitters the heart; and not the real punishment, the only effectual one, the only deterrent and softening one, which lies in the recognition of sin by conscience.”


Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov, p. 66 (part 2 chap 5…. This position is later challenged by the atheist kid)