Asi es la vida

Asi es la vida


Asi es la vida. (Such is life). I heard this phrase many times throughout my first day at Hogar Ambrustar (the nursing home where I will be working for the next year) and thus found it an appropriate title for this new blog. During the first four days in Jose C. Paz, I have experienced and witnessed lots of “Asi es la vida” moments.


Some of the funnier “asi es la vida” moments have happened throughout the last few days as I have learned the ins and outs of my new home. My second night here I was unable to sleep and at 1:30 AM decided to heat up some milk to curb my growling stomach and hopefully get some sleep. I lit the stove and poured a large amount of milk into a small pan. I reached to grab the pan when the milk was heated and ended up spilling milk all over my already wet concrete floor (it was recently constructed and is still drying) , the wooden boards that my stove sits on, and my box of matches (thus ruining the matches). So at about 1:45 AM I was on the floor trying to clean up the milk I spilt with the one towel I had. They say there’s no use crying over spilt milk…so I laughed…and after all of that, I was finally able to fall asleep. Asi es la vida.


The next day I decided to explore the city on my own. I took a bus down town and arrived feeling pretty good about myself that I had taken the correct bus and got off at the plaza. My trip home was a little more eventful. I thought I had taken the right bus, and even asked the bus driver …I didn’t really understand his response so I just smiled and nodded and sat down. About 5 min into the trip I realized we were not going toward my house and I soon found myself on a dirt (mud) road in one of the barrios of Jose C. Paz. I asked the bus driver again if he passed by my house and again pretended to understand what he said. Eventually he told me to get off and catch another number to get home… I did understand him this time and was able to get back safely. Yet another humbling experience to let me know that I need to rely on others for something as simple as trying to get home. Asi es la vida.


Last night I again found myself unable to sleep and decided to eat some yogurt. I went to the refrigerator and pulled out my large bag of yogurt (yes, bag of yogurt) and had a sip (right out the bag!!) before going back to bed. I went to put the yogurt away and dropped the bag…all. over. the . floor. So yet again I found myself cleaning up a dairy product with the same rag as the milk off my already damp concrete floor. This time there were a few tears before the laughter. Asi es la vida.


I spent the majority of the weekend at the community center in Barrio Providencia, where I will be working for the next year. My first experiences with the community were filled with “asi es la vida” moments in the sense that what I was seeing and experiencing is reality for so many people. In reaction to these experiences, I say “asi es la vida” not with indifference but with a sense of reality and an urgency for change. My first experience with Barrio Providencia was on Friday evening through an intercambio project where kids from the local private school came to the barrio and ideally interacted and worked as a team with the kids from the barrio to organize the library in the community center. The key to this activity was to get youth of the same age with different backgrounds to work together and build commonalities. Omar (Rosy’s brother, also involved with Providencia) spoke to the youth about working together and building community before they got to work. When they finally started working, there was not much interaction between the two groups. Hopefully with time they will build community and learn that everyone has something to learn as well as something to teach. Asi es la vida.
Friday evening I returned with Omar to the community center to watch kids of all ages practice the Murga, a dance common in South America which exposes the injustices within society while carrying a sense of hope. I plan to go into more detail about this in my September newsletter, but WOW pretty much sums it up! The only instruments used in the dance are drums which carry a solid and loud beat that even I can clap to on rhythm. The dance has a beginning, middle, and end which includes singing, skits, and improv. I can’t wait to write more about this in the September newsletter. Anyways, it was awesome to watch the practice come together. Kids would show up at the door, grab a cookie to eat, and jump in to the dance. The community center is mostly run by young adults between the ages of 18 and 24. None of them are paid yet they give up a huge chunk of their time to make sure everything runs smoothly. Towards the end, one of the kids came over and grabbed my hand to join in. I was invited to express a reality through dance that I had never lived. It was surreal to watch a community of young people come together and dance a dance of justice and hope. Asi es la vida.


On Saturday I returned to the community center to help set up for el Dia del nino…a day reserved especially for kids. About 15 of us spent the next few hours hanging up decorations, filling balloons, setting up games, filling goodie bags, and getting the music ready. Kids from all directions started to show up once the music started blasting through the speakers. In the end there were about 150 kids and youth participating in the day’s activities. I have a TON of images from this day in my mind, but I’ll just share a few so you won’t have to read a whole novel. I worked the games throughout the day and was reminded of the fact that the kids in this neighborhood…although older than their years in many aspects, were still kids. They loved playing the various games and their excitement was contagious. After the games, we passed out cookies and milk. Many of the kids took handfuls of cookies and quickly inhaled what they had…this is when I was reminded that they face the reality of hunger every day and have developed a sense of survival. The milk that was not consumed was poured back into the pitchers for later use and the plastic cups were saved to be reused. A bit later I was asked by two girls to play tag. Through this I was reminded that we all play in the same language. A boy about 10 years old brought his sister to come and play with us; but before he let go of her hand he looked at me with solemn eyes and told me to take care of her. I was touched by the love and seriousness expressed from this young boy as he asked me to take care of his baby sister. Asi es la vida.


After a long and busy day at the community center, I went to a birthday party with Omar and his family. In Argentina, when a girl turns 15, the family throws a huge party complete with dinner, a DJ, fancy dresses, and dancing. Omar picked me up at 10pm and shortly after arriving dinner was served. People began to dance at about midnight and dessert was served at 4am. EVERYONE , young (2yrs old) and old (86 yrs. old) was dancing, conversing, eating, and enjoying the evening. I found myself judging the parents who were letting their kids stay up so late, and questioning why grandparents would want to stay up so late for a birthday party. I later reflected on how structured and time oriented our society can be and how liberating it must be to break the rules every once in while. Kids of all ages were dancing, and they had rhythm! Maybe that’s why most people who grow up in suburbia can’t dance…because bedtime was at 8pm, before dancing (if there was any dancing) got started. I don’t think either way is right or wrong, but what if we all took time to spend the whole night eating, conversing, dancing, laughing, and spending time with friends and family? I wonder if our (the US) society would be happier as a whole. Asi es la vida.


Ok, time to finish this up with the last “asi es la vida” moment. On Sunday the kids from the barrio were asked to dance the Muegra at two different locations. I sat next to the 10 year old boy I referred to two paragraphs above and we conversed throughout the ride. We talked about school, batman, airplanes, dancing, and work. This boy, like most 10 year old boys, was interested in everything from airplanes to batman yet as we passed on part of the city he exclaimed, “that’s where I work!” On the weekends him and his brother go with the family to pick up the “treasures” that others have thrown away and resell those treasures for income. This 10 year old lives two very different realities on a daily basis. Asi es la vida.

WHEW. I hope you got through all of that! I don’t have internet access and the closest internet café is about 10 min by bus, so bear with me on the communication side of things.

Thanks to everyone for the support and love!
Cristina