i don't have any new pictures, and i apologize for that. i know pictures are really great. i'll work on that in the near future.
i currently am in sincelejo, a bit bored. as this first month is supposed to be consisting of living in sincelejo and visiting zambrano, i am supposed to be getting a broader sense of the work being done on the coast, as well as learning about the coastal culture more. however, mostly i just feel bored. i haven't been given things to do here, really, but ricardo also doesn't want me going to zambrano much at this point. we're having a chat about it today, and i have high hopes that our countering views will understand each other a bit more and we'll move forward so that i'm not so bored and he feels good about what i'm doing, as well.
so, in some ways, there's really not much to say, but i thought i should blog because 1) its been a week, and 2) i'm bored.
over the weekend i was in baranquilla, the largest city on the coast, about a 5 hour bus ride away from sincelejo. i enrolled in what is called the "school for peace". the school for peace is a program within mencoldes, the development agency of the colombian mennonite church, based out of bogota. basically, its a space mencoldes has created to bring church and organizational leaders together to create networks and develop thought. there are five locations in the country where it is being done, and its just starting on the coast, so we only have 4 workshops during the whole year. the first one was this weekend, and i attended. it was really good to meet a lot of people, the majority of them mennonite, and create networks that will become useful in the future, i think. it was also nice to get out of sincelejo. the guest speaker was actually someone i knew from bogota, so it was fun to hang out with him and spend some time with bogotans, who have a much differnet worldview than those i am meeting here.
i stayed with a mennonite family and it was great getting to know them. excessively generous people, i was overwhelmed with their hospitality, especially amidst their clearly evident economic difficulties (no one in the family working or making any sort of income). it was a blessing to share with them. the only downside was that i was unable to see the city, which i had been looking forward to, because i was with the family during all free time. next time, i guess.
on sunday i attended their small, mennonite congregation, which was an interesting experience. really didn't feel much more "mennonite" or "anabaptist" than the other congregations i have visited here on the coast, but then it just brings into question again in my mind, what does it mean to be mennonite anyway. every mennonite i met last weekend was facinated to know that i was born and raised mennonite, that my anscestors were mennonite. its not part of their history in the same way, which is true for the majority of mennonites around the world. and yet, we minority seems to claim what defines being mennonite. the conflict for me comes when i don't think i, as the minority, should be defining what mennonite means, and yet i realize that if there aren't some key elements, someone else's "mennonite" doesn't identify with me at all, and quite frankly, i don't want to identify with it without some basics. i guess thats true of all of us, but what does it mean to be a global church therefore? i so wish i was going to mennonite world conference...these are thoughts. i would be thrilled to hear reflexions from any of you.
i'll write more later. doesn't seem like there's much to say. im missing you all a lot lately. when i'm busy i don't think about other places i could or would be if i weren't here, but when i'm so bored...i think i miss you all more. it is lovely to hear from you, as always. keep in touch. i miss you and love you all...