tres meses pasado

Almost three months ago I first walked the streets of Buenos Aires on a chilly grey day. I observed the many foreign signs marking stores, restaurants, street ads, and bus stops and wondered how I would navigate the city for the next four months with my little knowledge of the language. I began meeting people, first my fellow STMs Matt and Amanda, then Jen and Jer at the Aeropuerto in Buenos Aires, others living at the church- our new home, then the Forcattos, Jason, Dave, church goers, all who have become a part of my community and life here over the course of time.
I remember going to Retiro for the first time meeting Word Made Flesh friends and sitting on the station floor or outside with those selling papers sharing Mate (timidly for myself) for the first time. I remember meeting Mary and her family of 5 for the first time, she was timid as were her children as they interacted with me. Now when I see Mary at various gatherings she is not reluctant to hand off her one year old son to me, which I beleive reveals a closer and more bonded level of friendships, she trusts me with her children, and her children call me by name when they want me to play with them.
I can look back and vividly remember first helping with tutoring at the chuch for Apoyo Escolar and our first time teaching english to kids in Bajo Flores at the Methodist church. "How am I going to relate to these people? How will I pass two hours sitting here while conversation in spanish flies above my head? How am I going to teach these kids english?" are frequent thoughts that ran through my head.
We're more than half way through our time here and time is only flying rapidly by as December approaches. The streets have their familiarity to them, even the signs scattered about have become the norm for me to look at. I can navigate the subte and colectivos (transportation here) with ease- though often with the help of the Guia (guide booklet).People who were just acquantances have become friends and have brought a sense of familial community, especially within our Word Made Flesh community.
Community has been a major and quite influential aspect of life here. And my previous perception and romanticized outlook on community has been rocked, for the better mind you. It presents its many frustrations, frustrations that I have had to take to God and in turn ask for strength and love, I have had to choose love. We bare our naked inner selves even when we don't mean to. But community, I have experienced, always reveals in the forefront a redemptive beauty, beauty of individuals coming together, learning from one another, and doing life together.
The other day we ran into a friend who frequently attends Sunday service and afterwards enjoys a free meal with other men in the Comedor, an escape from life on the streets. We joined him as he sat on Montes De Oca Ave. and shared mate and conversation with him. While sitting with him one of the girls who usually comes to Apoyo Escolar for after-school tutoring passed by and ran up to us for a brief greeting. Other times I have run into kids from Apoyo Escolar when going to the store or walking the streets in Barracas. These are experienced when being a part of community.
Today when at Retiro I found that time went by too quickly. I enjoyed playing Uno and jacks using rocks, drinking mate (voluntarily), and attempting at conversation with the mother of the 5-month old baby I was holding. I don't mind so much sitting on a dirty train station floor sharing mate with friends with conversations in spanish buzzing by above my head. I don't mind so much exhausting myself playing with little kids; dirty hands grabbing for my attention, soiled bottoms sitting on my lap, taking hits from uncontrolled play. I don't mind dancing with my new, and in that moment smiling and laughing, friends in the train station to the music being played from a nearby kiosco. While the community at Retiro is often chaotic and brings the unexpected it brings also an unmatched beauty, being in relationship with these differing individuals. I came here to give of myself, to desperately hope to be God's light in ministry, and I'm finding that these individuals are giving to me more than they might know.
Many aspects of life here, some that I have already mentioned and some unmentioned ones that grind me daily, could deter me from having an enjoyable experience, the spoiled westerner that I am. And certainly many things have taken practice in getting used to. I have been stretched and challenged, pulled out of my comfort zone and adapted to a different way of life. But the more I experience the absence of luxuries and comforts the more I am able to bear, the more perspective I gain, the more I am able to see God, find beauty, learn tolerance, and experience growth as I kick my pride to the curb.