In our SALT orientation they told us three keys to having a positive cross cultural experience. I didn't check my notes, but they were something like this.

1. Low expectations.
2. Ability to laugh at yourself.
3. Ability to fail. Repeatedly.

Now, the low expectations one was a little funny because in an earlier session they had said something to the effect of "you get what you expect" in your experience. But I knew what they meant. Anyway, I had an experience this week that reminded me of these principles.

So, everyone knows that in Latin America the whole concept of time is completely different. For example, I went to my cousin's high school graduation party, which I described to my US family as "prom for the whole family:" (Not that it was necessarily more family friendly, just that all the family was there). Anyway, they told me we were going to eat dinner at the party, and that the party started at 8:00 p.m. At 9:30 p.m. I left in one of the first vehicles over to the party. At 10:45 p.m. the rest of the family started to show up. After some party festivities, we finally got our meal. . . around 1:00 a.m. I left the party with one of the first vehicles going home, at 5:00 a.m.

This is pretty much the quintessential story about time in Latin America. Of course, other things like church and work tend to start more or less on time (like they would at home), but I feel like I'm getting a grip on the time issue.

Church is one of my main social activities, and some weekends I'm there for three services. After the Sunday evening service, I stayed and talked for a while with a friend. In talking, we planned to hang out again on Tuesday at 6:30. She lives at the church, so I planned to walk over there and we'd go from there. Now, I'm culturally experienced, and I know that 6:30 doesn't really mean 6:30, it really means like 7:00 or 7:30. So, I decide to play it safe and leave my house around 6:30, ensuring that I'd show up around 15 minutes late. If anything, that's early, and not late, right?

Wrong. When I show up, I found out that my friend had just left minutes before, after having waited for me out front for 15 minutes. It led to a small fiasco of deciding if I should track her down or just go home, wondering if I gave the wrong impression in making plans to hang out and maybe she thought I was making some sort of move. In the end, a time when I was hoping to make a good friend just felt like a big failure in cross-cultural understanding.

The point isn't that you should expect things to start on time in Latin America, nor is it that you should expect things to start late. The point is that you shouldn't expect to know. As soon as you think you know what's going on in a new culture, you'll get thrown for a loop. I think this is what they mean when they say it's important to have low expectations (and not that you should expect to have a crappy experience or something like that).

Of course, I also had to laugh at myself and accept another failure at cross-cultural understanding.

Last post I talked a little about how I think it's time we look out for the human rights of all people before our "national security." That may sounds a bit idealistic. In the real world, you might say, a nation has to look out for itself first. I think it's important to recognize that to some degree our national security is tied to other people's human rights. Let me explain a little.

Like I said, I think that the "national security" excuse gets used to defend the big economic interests, and this tends to make people angry. Lets take 9/11 as an example. It was a terrible day, and of course I believe that what bin Laden and crew did was wrong. I also believe that 9/11 provided us with a unique opportunity for self-reflection, to think about why someone would do this, to take the log out of our own eye, so to speak.

Osama bin Laden said, "The Muslims have a right to attack America in reprisal. The September 11 attacks were not targeted at women and children. The real targets were America's icons of military and economic power."

Now, there are two options. 1). You can declare bin Laden to be crazy, you can look at the fact that he claims to have a right to kill men, women and children, and you can disregard everything he says. You can declare Islam to be an evil and violent religion, and therefore decide there is no rational, diplomatic solution.

When someone is angry with you (and especially when they are using violent means to express their anger), it’s hard to seriously consider if he or she is right. But in any normal personal relationship, if you want to work through heated differences, you sometimes have to bite the bullet and think about what the other person has to say about you. This brings us to the next option. . .

2). You can ask why bin Laden says “attack American in reprisal.” In reprisal for what? Does he say it is for being a free nation or a Christian nation or a democratic nation? Why does he link economic and military dominance? Why is he upset, and what is he trying to make us see?

Walter Wink says that we are actually saved by our enemies because they show us aspects of ourselves we would never see otherwise. Of course, these issues are very complex; and, this is a blog and not a book, so I can only throw out some things with no pretense of being thorough. (Most of this comes from Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer’s book, Is Religion Killing Us?)

So why do people hate us, and what are our enemies trying to tell us? I don’t know it all, but I think it has to do with our policies in the Middle East, along with other places, which put oil above all else. It has to do with economic sanctions against Iraq that (according to the UN) killed 1.5 million Iraqis by 1999. Part of it is that, as Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer says, “Corporate-led globalization is bitterly resented by many. It benefits a relatively small segment of humanity, undermines indigenous cultures, erodes democracy, destroys the environment, and is imposed by violence linked to U.S. militarization.” It’s partly because in the U.S. we remember the terrorist actions of September 11, 2001, but not the ones of September 11, 1973 when the CIA orchestrated a coup to overthrow the democratically elected government of president Salvador Allende in Chile and installed a brutal military dictatorship with thousands killed or simply disappeared, death squads, secret police, etc. And that is just one example of hundreds.

All of this to say, a lot of the world sees us as a violent, terrorist state. When we look at this, we see a couple of things. First of all, it’s ridiculous to think we could declare a military “war on terror,” as if more repression would make this go away. Second is the thought that started this post: by ceasing to put our “security” above all else, we will help to address the root cause of some of the international backlash against us. This, in turn, will actually make us more secure.

So, in relation to #5 on my "Things I'm thankful for in Bolivia" list, I came home the other day, and found one of the Democratic debates being broadcast on CNN. I was pretty excited, so I grabbed a pack of Oreos and sat down for the whole two hours. For the most part I liked what I heard, but there were a few things that disturbed me. In particular was one question, which was "When there's a conflict of interests, which is more important human rights or national security?" The question was referring to when a government is abusive to it's people but we're afraid that putting pressure on said government could put us in danger. Or at least that was my understanding of it.

I understand that there are sometimes a conflict of interests in "rights" and security. For example, schools that install metal detectors and require students to carry see-through backpacks take away some of the "right" to privacy. In exchange, they prevent the students from packing heat.

However, I have a lot of problems with saying that our national security is more important than any one's human rights. I think this has been a major problem with the US foreign policy in Latin America for the past 60 years. What happens seems to be that our "national security" starts to mean "our financial security" or "security for the interests of our transnational corporations." And in these cases we aren't talking about the "right to privacy." It means the right to free elections, the right to express political dissent, the right to choose your own future, the right to eat and feed your kids, the right to not be tortured, etc.

So, unfortunately, the United States has racked up a fair amount of human rights abuses (directly or indirectly) defending economic interests in the name of "national security." If you say that national security is more important than human rights, I have a hard time seeing how that doesn't mean, "Keeping the abundance of American citizens is more important than making sure everyone is treated fairly." Consequently, to the rest of the world this sounds a lot like, "We're better than you." I think they have reasons to interpret our foreign policy that way.

Now, I think some people would say that the it is the President of the United States, and his or her job is to protect the US from all enemies, both foreign and domestic. Therefore, national security is #1. Here's what I would say to them, for what it's worth. This is an age of globalization. Whether this is good or bad, positive or negative, and what "globalization" entirely means, I don't know. Globalization, and my role in it, is a little too big for me to understand completely. Nonetheless, it's happening. The world is getting smaller, and I think we are starting to see how absolutely connected and interdependent we really are. It's time for us to have a foreign policy that acknowledges this. There is no longer "us" and "them," "our security" vs. "their human rights." On the contrary, it's time for "our security" to mean "the security of the whole world."

More thoughts on this to come. . .

So, despite what it feels like, I cognitively know that it's Thanksgiving today. Last night we ate a "Thanksgiving meal" including (but not limited to) chicken, mashed potatoes, mixed veggies, and three kinds of pie (apple, mango, pumpkin). I followed the Thanksgiving tradition of eating way too much. Unfortunately, instead of laying out on the couch for a day of resting, football and family, I went home to bed, got up early and went to work all day.

But still, it's a good opportunity to think about what Thanksgiving really is, beyond the traditions. So I'll mention just a few random things I am thankful for in Bolivia.

1. The kids at Talita Cumi. Of course, I wonder about how much I'm accomplishing, I wonder how useful I am to the home, and I wonder how much these kids even need my service. But everyday around 1:00, as I'm laying down to take a little siesta, there are three kids begging me to come into their room and tell them the story of Pepe (aka my translation of "The Boy Who Cried 'Wolf'). I'm tired and exhausted, and I've told them the same story every day for the past several weeks. But it's totally worth it.

2. My host family. When I read the description about my host family, I found out I had two parents, two brothers, and two sisters. What the description didn't tell me was that I also had an amazing extended family. Uncles, aunts, cousins, nephews, nieces, the whole nine yards. What's cool is that I feel like family even with these people. For example, this past weekend I went back to Camiri for a cousin's high school graduation. However, the only person from my immediate family that came was my sister, but I only was with her for a few hours during the whole weekend. The rest of the time I was with my huge Bolivian extended family. And it was awesome. (Of course, my immediate family is incredible, too. Perhaps a Cast of Characters family edition to come. . .)

3. Good books. The MCC library here is awesome, in addition to books I brought from home and books I borrow from Chris and Wendy. I have all the reading my heart desires, and it continues to fill me with new thoughts, insights, understandings, and mostly questions about the world.

4. The Story Times crew. One of the suggestions at orientation in order to stay positive was to have a little phrase you continually repeat to yourself. The example: "In story times I look for a rainbow." Trevor and I thought this was hilarious, and started joking about it with a few people. Now there's a small group of us that e-mail each other random stories, thoughts, and questions from our experience under the title "Stormy Times." It's a great outlet to process things about my experience that not many other people would understand. I'm not sure if any of them are reading now, but this is my shout out to them.

5. A few random luxuries. For example, when my host family turns on the window unit a/c during a hot afternoon, finding A&W cream soda at the grocery store, putting in one of my movies, or catching MNF or Scrubs on TV. I didn't come to Bolivia to live a North American life transplanted a few thousand miles south, so I don't want these things all the time. But every once in a while, it's a nice refreshment.

I've been thinking a lot about the Bible and the Old Testament. As it turns out, it is all very complicated. The fact is that the Bible is not neat and doesn't fit into the interpretations that I want it to.

For example, here in Latin America, you can still see, 500 years later, the effects of a group of people felt like God had given them a "promised land," so to speak. Therefore, the original inhabitants were considered inferior, brutally treated, killed, and/or forced to convert to Christianity. Of course, I reject the idea that God actually sanctioned the destruction of life in Latin America, but sometimes it seems to be a pretty direct analogy to the Israelites entering the land of Canaan. What do I do about that? If you're looking for answers, I'm sorry to report that I don't have any right now.

However, I have also been thinking a lot about Jesus. As it turns out, he's amazing. Having grown up always hearing the stories about Jesus, I don't always grasp how shocking he really is. But when I look at the worldview of the Old Testament and then at Jesus, I wonder where he came up with this stuff. The thing is, not only were his teachings uncommon, he basically invented a new worldview. At the time, there are all these God-given rules about what is clean and what is unclean and who can worship and who can't, etc. The hierarchical structure of society and religion was very clear. I think of the the prayer of Jewish men at the time where they thanked God they were not a Gentile, a slave, or a woman. They were born with a privileged status, socially and spiritually, and everyone seemed to accept that life was like that.

So then you have Jesus, and for some reason he has all these completely new ways of life and religion. He tells a Jewish man that he needs to be "born again," he tells a rich man he needs to give away all his money, he treats women as equals, he tells people it isn't where you worship but how that is important, he breaks rules about the sabbath, he touches unclean people, and he teaches people to love and pray for their enemies (of course people had always prayed for their enemies. . . to be destroyed). Again, these teachings are not just a minority voice, they are unprecedented. He changes the world so much that a few years later a Jewish man (Paul) proclaims, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." Incredible.

Again, growing up with these ideas, they may not seem so shocking. However, looking through the eyes of the OT and history at the time, I can't help but be amazed and the arrival of these new ideas.

Due to my present beliefs and experiences in Latin America, the OT definitely makes me uncomfortable at times. On the other hand, Jesus continues to blow my mind. Sometimes, I think that focusing on the divinity of Jesus too much may actually make us less impressed with him. Because honestly, if I'm only thinking of Jesus as this all-powerful deity, then his accomplishments are par for the course. But thinking about Jesus as a normal human, struggling through life, laughing, crying, sleeping, pooping, etc., then looking at what he did, I think, "Wow, this man must have been the Son of God!"

I do not have a ton of pet peeves about Bolivian life. However, one thing that has bothered me since I've been here is that Bolivians believe that every sickness is directly caused by "the cold." Now, "the cold" can take on many forms. Of course, it is when there are large and/or frequent changes in temperature in a small amount of time. Other common manifestations of "the cold" that cause sickness are:

1. Sleeping with a fan on or leaving your window open at night.
2. Drinking anything cold, especially if you are hot.
3. Having damp or wet clothes.
4. Eating ice cream.

Now, you can see how some of these might have adverse affects on your health, but here they cause every possible sickness including fever, ear infections, or parasites. The weekend I was in Camiri, I went swimming in a pool where the water was "shady" at best. But hey, it's Bolivia, so I jumped in. I got some water in my ear, and it never came out. Two days later, I had a fever and a sore throat. I waited it out a few days, and when it didn't get better I went to the doctor who confirmed it was an infection. That led to this conversation I had with my host mom this morning over breakfast (translated as literally as possible).

Host Mom: So, you have a pretty bad infection? It must be because of all the changes in temperature going to Camiri and coming back and with the rain lately.
Me: I think it is because I went swimming in that pool.
HM: Yeah, jumping into that cold water and all.
Me: Well, water got into my ear and it never came out, so I think that's what caused it to get infected.
HM: Right, and when you got out of the water you didn't change into dry clothes until we got back to the house.
Me: Yes, but I think it had more to do with the water being dirty, and when it got in my ear it produced the infection.
HM: Hmm. . . oh, and you ate ice cream that night!
Host mom then shakes her head as if to say, "You just did everything wrong."

Sometimes, you just can't try to change a person's mind. (Luckily, the doctor prescribed some antibiotics for me, and not a hot shower and a cup of tea.)

First of all, I want to thank everyone who gave me any kind of response to my last post. I was encouraged by all of them, even the ones that challenged me (politely).

On a completely unrelated topic, I worked a weekend at Talita Cumi in October. For the extra days I worked, I got two extra days off. I decided to take a Thursday and Friday off(back on the 11-12 of October) and make it a (TGI) long weekend. I have an old friend from the Latin American Studies Program who is working for Peace Corps up in Concepción, a town on the Jesuit Mission circuit in the province of Santa Cruz. Consequently, there was also an Orchid Festival in Concepción that weekend, so it worked out nicely.

Basically, all of this is to say, there's pictures.

On a side note, if it seems weird to have a name for a town which translates to "Conception" (referring to the Immaculate Conception), let me give you some examples of other names I've seen (beyond, of course, the fact that I'm living in "Holy Cross").

Heart of Jesus Swimming Pool and Sauna
King David Gymnasium
Baby Jesus Pharmacy
Divine Baby Jesus Pharmacy (apparently better than just the regular Baby Jesus Pharmacy. I mean, if I had to choose between the two, I'd choose divinity).

I've seen others I can't remember now, but those are just some examples.
I guess, in Latin America, it just works.

A little over two and a half years ago, I studied in Costa Rica for a semester. It was the most difficult and eye opening times of my life. I was bombarded with new ideas and information about the world everyday, and it was a struggle to keep up with it all. During this time, I read an opinion article about Bush's 2006 budget proposal that summed it up with three things:

1. Huge tax cuts for the wealthy.
2. Major increases for the Defense and Homeland Security Departments
3. Significant cuts in domestic spending.

This greatly disturbed me, and I decided to sent the article along with some questions to my friends back at school. I tried to pose some questions such as:

1. In the world there is already such a great disparity between the rich and the poor, and millions of poor people are losing out (to put it mildly) in our current system. How, then, do we handle the fact that the Bush administration seems to favor the rich? How does this match up with the Biblical priorities, which seem to favor looking out for the poor and the oppressed (or things like the OT Year of Jubilee)?

2. As Christians, we sometimes make a "pro-life" (anti-abortion) stance the only thing that matters for our votes. But are not social programs also "pro-life"? What are the moral implications when we cut funding for things that support life?

3. Is it possible that the war in Iraq is economically motivated? If the war really is motivated by "freedom and democracy," aren't there better ways we can spend $400 billion that would better promote freedom, democracy and life?

I had hoped simply to make people think, to raise some questions. These are tough issues about which people tend to feel strongly, but I was completely unprepared for the reaction I received. I got an anonymous response from someone who called himself "the detective." It was someone who really "knew his stuff" and wanted to "put me in my place." It was the most vicious and hateful response ever directed at me personally. Thanks to the "Reply to All" function, all of my friends got to read it. I think the goal was to personally and publicly humiliate me, and I certainly was embarrassed. (I can send it to you if you want, but I figured it wasn't appropriate for my blog). I am well aware that I was the butt of many jokes while I was away that semester.

I wasn't sure what to say, so I thanked him for the response and told him I'd consider his opinions, although the actual information in his e-mail was not new to me. I did consider his opinions, and for a long time his hurtful response kept me from sharing my thoughts with other people.

Two and a half years later, however, I still firmly believe these are important questions to think about, and ones that are not easily answered. In case there's another "detective," I should say that I do understand "basic" economics and the "trickle-down" theory that is used to explain big tax cuts, but I do not feel like that adequately addresses the problem. My own thoughts on these things are complicated, so I won't share them all. But, I will share just a few general things.

1. If there's one thing I've learned in the past three years it is that the world's problems are complex (obviously). What this means is that intelligent, compassionate people sometimes have different ideas on how to go about fixing these problems. In Costa Rica, it was often summed up, "Experts disagree." I believe that deep down "the detective" probably cares about some of the same things I do.

2. Sometimes, the answer to the question is not as important as the question itself. I know that might sound like something from your advanced English class in high school, but what I mean is that not answering the question right away and admitting we're not sure gives us a little humility and the ability to share ideas and listen to other people who think differently than we do.

As far as the specific questions above, I do have a lot more thoughts, and hopefully in some postings soon to come I will start to share some of them.

It's a little late, but I added some photos from our trips to Santiago de Chiquitos and Cochabamba that we took in September.

It's been a little while since I've posted. After a couple of months, you start to settle into the mundane routine of things. I'm not saying that's bad. In fact, it's pretty cool that I can describe life in another culture as "mundane." I feel like I'm actually integrating myself into the Bolivian life. Still, I'd better not slack off on the blog. Now that I have my spot of "Featured Blogs" I don't want to let up.

Anyway, back on to the subject of integration in the Bolivian life, my family took a vacation to Camiri this weekend, and I got to go with them. All but my host brother Diego went on the trip. Friday was a holiday (All Saints Day), so there was talk of leaving at 10:00 a.m. We actually left house at 3:00 p.m. and after a stop at the bank, the gas station, the cemetery, and going back to the house to pick up what we forgot, we left Santa Cruz around 4:15 p.m. Luckily, thanks to all my experience with Abernathy family vacations, I felt right at home.

So, we took off for Camiri, and every time the car got up some speed it started to swerve violently. This made me concerned, not only because my life was in danger, but because I am "a good Mennonite" and oppose all violent actions.

Despite, leaving late, fearing for my life every few minutes, and spending 10 hours (round trip) in a car with the classic bickering adolescents, we made it safely to Camiri and back. My host dad grew up there, so it was really cool to see him reminisce about old childhood memories.

Also, my sister is studying tourism, so she had to make a little tourist packet for the area. This was cool, because it meant we got to go see some other small towns in the area. Now that I have a camera, pictures will come soon.

It was an incredible weekend, and I often had to step back and wonder at the fact that I was taking a family vacation with Bolivians. International life is a mystery.