Getting ORIENTED at ORIENTATION

Hello from Buenos Aires!

First off, please excuse the spelling errors that are bound to happen in my posts from here on out...having spell check in Spanish is not very helpful!! Wow, where to begin. Well I recently finished up 2 weeks of orientation in Chicago and Buenos Aires. I don´t want to bore you, so I´ll try to sum up what has now become a bit of a blur in my mind.

I left for Chicago 2 weeks ago to reunite with 50 other people in the YAGM program. We were quite the sight at the airport, each struggling to carry what we believed would be necessities for a year in a foregin country (I wonder if our perception on what is a "necessity" will change by next july!). After a long bus ride through traffic, we arrived at the U. of Chicago and walked with our luggage through the POURING RAIN. As I was grumbling inside my head I began to realize that this is what the next year would be like...that I would be challenged to give up control of schedule, time, comfort, communication, safety, transportation, and experiences; and learn to live in the unknown.

Our week in Chicago was spent learning about the program, discussing fears, hopes, and expectations, and relaxing as we prepared for this new journey. We got a bit of a taste of the challenges of public transportation, the need to be aware of your surroundings, and the importance of community when experiencing the unknown. On the following Thursday, 50 of us when our seperate ways to S. Africa, Malaysia, UK, Mexico, Hungry, Slovokia, Palestine, and ARGENTINA!

I am one of five who is in Argentina and Uruguay this year. The flight was about 13 hours to Buenos Aires. It went smoothly and was relatively painless (apart from cramped legs!). About an hour in, I noticed a boy about 4 years old staring at me with big brown eyes I smiled at him and he promptly reached over and took my hand. We stayed like that for a minute before he started talking about aliens, movies, and grandma´s house. Who knew that something so simple coming from someone so young would give me comfort as well as lots of laughs for the next 13 hours.

We landed in Buenos Aires at about 9:30 in the morning. Kate and David (the country coordinators for Argentina as well as the regoinal reps for the ELCA in S. America) met us at the airport and helped us strategically get our luggage into the 2 small cars we used to get the the seminary where we would stay for the next week. Once at the seminary, we unpacked and settled in a bit before the start of "in country" orientation. The seminary we stayed at is called ISADET and trains pastors for 7 different denominations of Christianity.

That afternoon we made our way to the Plaza de Mayo, a famous plaza in the center of Buenos Aires. The subway was closed due to protests, so we had to take a bus into the city. It was at this point that I realized that I really was in another country. I forgot what it feels like to be the odd one out , and standing on that bus, the many pairs of eyes that I precieved were looking at the 5 of us, reminded me that I was no longer in "Kansas" and that much like the rest of the world, many people view the US (and people from the US) negatively and that because I blatently stand out as a US citizen, I would need to get used to all of the negative stereotypes that I would now display-covering up the individual inside. I think everyone should need to experience this feeling at one point or another. Anyways, the Plaza de Mayo is famous for the Madres y Abuelas who march there every Thursday in the afternoon. The women who march each week have been marching there for years in response to the dictatorship, leaving over 30,000 people "disappeared". When people started to disappear, a group of mothers and grandmothers marched around the plaza each Thursday with pictures of their kids (many between the ages of 18 and 30) who were taken from their home and never seen again. As I watched these brave women walk around the plaza, I reflected on the painful events that have led them to form this community. Through their sorrow and loss, they are now a powerful political group in Argentina and continue to march each week not only in rememberance of their lost ones, but also in support of various causes.

Later in the week, we visited a clandestina (or what we might call a prison or concentration camp) from the dictatorship. Out of the 5,000 people who passed through this camp, 4,800 people disappeard. Many were given sedatives and droped from planes into the ocean, others I imagine, were tortured to death. Pregnant women were kept alive until they had their babies so that army officials interested in adoption could quickly recieve their new baby. Throughout the year I hope to learn more about the role of the United States in the dictatorship. Many countries in S. and Central America have experienced violent dictatorships, many of which were connected to the actions of the US government. In the spirit of capitalism and globalization, many lives were lost and many families were torn apart. I hope we (as a global community) can look back at history and learn for the future in order to prevent such tradgedy.

WHEW. Well, to wrap this up, I am now in Jose C. Paz, the providence where I will be living for the next year. I am living in an in-law apartment behind the house of Rosy and Ernesto, a wonderful couple who are very involved in the community center where I will be working. Rosy and her family helped to start the community center and all of them have been involved every since. The differences between poverty and wealth in this providence is blatent. I will write more later about my experience so far, as for now, I have to get going!

Love,

Cristina