Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Desert Sojourn
This morning the Tucson house leaves for a five day retreat in Cascabel. This is a community that exceeds what most people think of when they hear the word "rural." It takes about half an hour on a dirt road to get there, they grow most of their own food, live largely off the grid and you won't find anyone else around there for miles and miles. We will be completing a sojourn in which we hike up to some secluded spot, pitch a tent and then sit there for three days or so. It's a chance to clear the noise out of our heads and to see what thoughts are there when there are no other distractions to be found. I'm bringing granola bars, water, bagels, a jar of peanut butter and some trail mix, but nothing that will take a lot of time to prepare. I'll also take a Bible and a journal to reflect and record thoughts. In the past people have had a whole variety of experiences on this trip, from extreme boredom, to deep revelations about oneself or one's calling. I'll write about my experience when we return on Sunday. Cheers until then.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Shaving!?
It has been quite a while since my last blog update, so I think for this one I'm just going to give an overview of what's been happening over the past month or so. The major event was taking a trip back to northern VA around Christmas time. What an awesome time to spend with friends and family and to visit with my girlfriend, Bethany, for much of it. One thing I really like about my group of friends from high school is that whenever we see each other after long periods of time it always seems like we are able to pick up where we left off. This happens despite major changes in each of our lives.
December 23rd marked the first time I had shaved since leaving for Tucson at the end of August. As I looked in the mirror I couldn't help feeling like a sheepdog after a trip to the groomer, who looks like half its body has disappeared. It was a sad moment, but also a very refreshing moment. Tippy, my old dog, used to dread taking baths. She would whimper and look pathetic during it, but she was so invigorated afterwards that she would jump in the air and turn circles and then sprint laps around the yard. Of course the next thing she'd do was to rub her face and body in the dirt as quickly as possible, but I, fortunately, had no such urge.
Work at Community Home Repair has been going well. I tend to go in cycles between loving every part of work and not feeling motivated to drag my bike eleven miles along the path every morning and afternoon. I have noticed that I have started gaining a little bit more independence at work recently. This feels very good, but at the same time takes quite a bit more energy. There are some new volunteers hanging out at CHRPA for the winter. Older Menonite couples drive RVs down from their home states (usually colder, northern states) and park them in the CHRPA parking lot for the winter. They are snowbirds, but instead of coming to Tucson to play shuffleboard, they are fixing houses. I can only hope to be so energetic and giving by the time I retire. Last week I went to a job with one of those couples, Ted and Eleanor, way out in the middle of nowhere. This mobile home was from 1970 and had busted aluminum wiring (which has been illegal for a couple decades now), no hot water, a leaky roof, no working toilet, no plumbing under the bathroom sink, and a material kind of like cardboard and particle board mixed for shower walls. Needless to say there was plenty of work to do. I was put in charge of the bathroom and installed the sink, replumbed under it, fixed the toilet and the leaky shower. It can be tough to work with a mobile home that is that old.
Over the past month I have completed my grad school applications to U. of Maryland, Georgia, and Florida. I'm not entirely sure what career path I want to pursue, but know that I want to combine my interests in biology and helping marginalized members of our society. There are programs at each of these schools that take a cross-discipline approach to conservation and sustainability. It would be sweet to be able to facilitate some kind of service learning about nature and sustainability for underprivileged youth. Who knows though? A lot could change.
I have also recently been reading a lot more than before. I just finished The Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne and am starting in on a book called Suburban Nation and another called The Motorcycle Diaries. Claiborne's book had some crucial ideas that I need to explore further. I'd love to post some thoughts about them soon and see what reactions come from them. Sorry this post wasn't exactly the most insightful thing ever written, but I think it will at least give people some sort of context for future posts since it's been so long since I last wrote. Thanks for sticking with me.
December 23rd marked the first time I had shaved since leaving for Tucson at the end of August. As I looked in the mirror I couldn't help feeling like a sheepdog after a trip to the groomer, who looks like half its body has disappeared. It was a sad moment, but also a very refreshing moment. Tippy, my old dog, used to dread taking baths. She would whimper and look pathetic during it, but she was so invigorated afterwards that she would jump in the air and turn circles and then sprint laps around the yard. Of course the next thing she'd do was to rub her face and body in the dirt as quickly as possible, but I, fortunately, had no such urge.
Work at Community Home Repair has been going well. I tend to go in cycles between loving every part of work and not feeling motivated to drag my bike eleven miles along the path every morning and afternoon. I have noticed that I have started gaining a little bit more independence at work recently. This feels very good, but at the same time takes quite a bit more energy. There are some new volunteers hanging out at CHRPA for the winter. Older Menonite couples drive RVs down from their home states (usually colder, northern states) and park them in the CHRPA parking lot for the winter. They are snowbirds, but instead of coming to Tucson to play shuffleboard, they are fixing houses. I can only hope to be so energetic and giving by the time I retire. Last week I went to a job with one of those couples, Ted and Eleanor, way out in the middle of nowhere. This mobile home was from 1970 and had busted aluminum wiring (which has been illegal for a couple decades now), no hot water, a leaky roof, no working toilet, no plumbing under the bathroom sink, and a material kind of like cardboard and particle board mixed for shower walls. Needless to say there was plenty of work to do. I was put in charge of the bathroom and installed the sink, replumbed under it, fixed the toilet and the leaky shower. It can be tough to work with a mobile home that is that old.
Over the past month I have completed my grad school applications to U. of Maryland, Georgia, and Florida. I'm not entirely sure what career path I want to pursue, but know that I want to combine my interests in biology and helping marginalized members of our society. There are programs at each of these schools that take a cross-discipline approach to conservation and sustainability. It would be sweet to be able to facilitate some kind of service learning about nature and sustainability for underprivileged youth. Who knows though? A lot could change.
I have also recently been reading a lot more than before. I just finished The Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne and am starting in on a book called Suburban Nation and another called The Motorcycle Diaries. Claiborne's book had some crucial ideas that I need to explore further. I'd love to post some thoughts about them soon and see what reactions come from them. Sorry this post wasn't exactly the most insightful thing ever written, but I think it will at least give people some sort of context for future posts since it's been so long since I last wrote. Thanks for sticking with me.
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Creating Change?
I've been introduced to a new idea that is challenging and I feel like I should write out a couple thoughts to explore it further. An idea that I've talked about a lot in this blog and in my newsletters is that of my own privilege. I've been blessed with access to all life's necessities and more, which makes it much easier for me to take a year without making any real money to volunteer and experiment with living in community. It's obvious from our house and from meeting the national YAVs that we are largely a caucasian group of people. A book that we are reading as a house suggests that white people have traditionally had access to higher social status and can more easily live intentional and alternative lifestyles than can other groups who have traditionally been held back from achieving social status. In one passage the book describes an interaction between a white person who is being self righteous about eating organic, vegetarian foods and a black person who says something like "when I was growing up the only choice we had was organic, vegetarian food!" This in itself is a challenging idea, but I think it has some good merit in partially explaining why a lot of intentional, simple lifestyle communities are made up of mostly white people. But this isn't the idea I'm thinking about here.
No More Deaths (NMD) is a humanitarian aid group in Tucson that gives medical aid to migrants who have gotten stranded in the desert and are in trouble. They also push for immigration policy changes. NMD is another organization made up almost entirely of white faces and in my opinion their work saves lives and is necessary. A friend of mine brought up the issue that the organization is composed mainly of white members and explained how he thought it was arrogant for us to think that we could speak for this group of people without representation from that group. There are no migrants that are members of NMD as far as I know. But the point he was making was that we cannot expect to make any real change for people in a completely different demographic.
I can see his point, but have a few things to say to shine some light on the other side of the issue. The first point is that I don't think NMD actively discourages migrants or Hispanics from joining. Maybe it's really intimidating for someone to walk into a room of white people and to feel connected with and welcomed by that group. But how do you change that? I really don't think there should be a membership quota to fill in order to feel like they can do the work they want to do. I also don't think recruiting members based on race is a good thing, since it still singles them out based on their race. Also, it's obvious that people in my demographic have a tremendous amount of privilege, but what are we to do with that privilege? I might be wrong, but it seems like I can use that privilege in a way that fights marginalization in society or I can use it to advance myself. I don't feel guilty for whatever privilege I've been born in to, because there's nothing I could do about that and because it gives me a responsibility to use it in a way that helps resist marginalization. But at the same time I do think that my friend has a point that the groups that are trying to create change would be stronger if they included, or were led by, people in the group that is being marginalized. Any thoughts on the issue?
No More Deaths (NMD) is a humanitarian aid group in Tucson that gives medical aid to migrants who have gotten stranded in the desert and are in trouble. They also push for immigration policy changes. NMD is another organization made up almost entirely of white faces and in my opinion their work saves lives and is necessary. A friend of mine brought up the issue that the organization is composed mainly of white members and explained how he thought it was arrogant for us to think that we could speak for this group of people without representation from that group. There are no migrants that are members of NMD as far as I know. But the point he was making was that we cannot expect to make any real change for people in a completely different demographic.
I can see his point, but have a few things to say to shine some light on the other side of the issue. The first point is that I don't think NMD actively discourages migrants or Hispanics from joining. Maybe it's really intimidating for someone to walk into a room of white people and to feel connected with and welcomed by that group. But how do you change that? I really don't think there should be a membership quota to fill in order to feel like they can do the work they want to do. I also don't think recruiting members based on race is a good thing, since it still singles them out based on their race. Also, it's obvious that people in my demographic have a tremendous amount of privilege, but what are we to do with that privilege? I might be wrong, but it seems like I can use that privilege in a way that fights marginalization in society or I can use it to advance myself. I don't feel guilty for whatever privilege I've been born in to, because there's nothing I could do about that and because it gives me a responsibility to use it in a way that helps resist marginalization. But at the same time I do think that my friend has a point that the groups that are trying to create change would be stronger if they included, or were led by, people in the group that is being marginalized. Any thoughts on the issue?
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Cascabel, AZ
This past weekend we were able to go on a retreat to the town of Cascabel, which is about an hour and a half's drive east from Tucson. Cascabel has a great story behind it and the people in the town are extremely unique. To get into town one must drive on miles of dirt road and a four-wheel-drive is a requirement if you're going to live there. The focus of the community is to live ecologically friendly and simple lives. The first woman we met, Barbara, built her house out of recycled materials and is a self proclaimed hippie who moved to the community in the '60s. She now sells pottery to make a living and heats her house with wood-burning stoves. We also met a man, named Daniel, who lives in a sweet tent for a good portion of his time and facilitates hermitages for people who want to get away from the noise in their heads and find God in nature.
It seems like a perfect place to clear one's head and find God in the stillness; the canyon is gorgeous. This weekend was the first time that I've seen large trees in the desert: Sycamores, Cottonwoods and popplers. It was so strange to see the white bark and vibrant fall leaves of a Sycamore tree in the canyon contrasting against the background of jagged cliffs and Saguaro cacti. It also just so happens that the only time it has really rained since we came to Tucson was this weekend... the entire time. The three guys and Brandon slept under a tarp that was strung up between some tree branches and managed to stay fairly dry, despite Nature's attempts. We only got kind of wet on the second night when the rain was blowing in from the side. I woke up at some hour of the night to discover a moat flowing around our sleeping area; luckily we built up a mound of dirt around us before going to sleep.
On the last day we were there we helped run a Christmas Festival that the community puts on every year. Local vendors come to this festival and sell their pottery, art, jewelery, leather etc. and tons of people from the surrounding area come to check out the festivities. As I sat on the grass listening to some local folk music as people perused the tents, children ran around in the dry river basin and I ate chili made by the local fire department I was struck by how much I felt like I was part of a story from Lake Woebegone. Garrison Keillor always focuses on the community feel of his imaginary small town and I definitely felt that in Cascabel. These people are pretty isolated from urban life and have given up many conveniences and luxuries that we have, but they have a wonderful community and seem to be living fulfilling lives. How cool would it be to have a YAV house in Cascabel!?
It seems like a perfect place to clear one's head and find God in the stillness; the canyon is gorgeous. This weekend was the first time that I've seen large trees in the desert: Sycamores, Cottonwoods and popplers. It was so strange to see the white bark and vibrant fall leaves of a Sycamore tree in the canyon contrasting against the background of jagged cliffs and Saguaro cacti. It also just so happens that the only time it has really rained since we came to Tucson was this weekend... the entire time. The three guys and Brandon slept under a tarp that was strung up between some tree branches and managed to stay fairly dry, despite Nature's attempts. We only got kind of wet on the second night when the rain was blowing in from the side. I woke up at some hour of the night to discover a moat flowing around our sleeping area; luckily we built up a mound of dirt around us before going to sleep.
On the last day we were there we helped run a Christmas Festival that the community puts on every year. Local vendors come to this festival and sell their pottery, art, jewelery, leather etc. and tons of people from the surrounding area come to check out the festivities. As I sat on the grass listening to some local folk music as people perused the tents, children ran around in the dry river basin and I ate chili made by the local fire department I was struck by how much I felt like I was part of a story from Lake Woebegone. Garrison Keillor always focuses on the community feel of his imaginary small town and I definitely felt that in Cascabel. These people are pretty isolated from urban life and have given up many conveniences and luxuries that we have, but they have a wonderful community and seem to be living fulfilling lives. How cool would it be to have a YAV house in Cascabel!?
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
I pulled this out of a client's toilet
Well, the title pretty much says the story, but this is a plant that we pulled out of the hole in the floor under a client's toilet. Who knows how it got there. Maybe someone had way too much Shredded Wheat? Just another day in the adventurous life of a CHRPA volunteer!
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Our crazy house...
Man, it's been quite a while since the last time I posted anything on this blog! On one of my recent entries I said that I was excited about getting into a routine and getting familiar with it so I can focus on deepening my experiences. I've definitely gotten into a routine, but may need to back off a bit on the number of things I have in that routine. So much has happened since the last time I updated this blog, and it will take multiple entries to get all those thoughts and experiences in writing, so I'll just focus on a couple interesting things that have happened recently.
One of the focuses of our house is to live a lifestyle that limits our impact on the environment as much as possible. The animals around us must have picked up on the fact that we're an environmentally-friendly house, because they are making frequent visits. First we noticed several small, furry friends scurrying around our floors at night. After much discussion and lamenting, we concluded that our little friends must die. We tried to think of ways that were humane, but killing mice is pretty much inherently dirty work. We set up mouse traps with peanut butter as the bait and caught five of the little guys over the next few days. Each morning before breakfast we'd check the traps and whenever we found that one of our visitors had taken the bait, he/she had his/her eyes wide open, gazing upward as if to say, "et tu, YAVs?" It's okay, though. They had to go.
Another animal experience happened in those same few days. I came home and walked in my room to find a Cactus Wren (the state bird of Arizona) perched above my chamber door. Perched, and sat, and nothing more. He asked if my soul was in pain over the mice we had tempted and slain. Then he looked at me and said "nevermore."
Actually he was just hopping around the floor, looking for a window or door. I'm not sure how he got in, but it was strange to have so many animal visitors in our house during this time.
Another interesting experience happened just today when I decided to try and wash my clothes by hand. There is a concrete wash basin in our backyard and it was a struggle to figure out how to get the clothes clean and rinsed without losing all the water in the basin from the drain. I ended up plugging the drain by duct taping an old bike inner tube to the drain and elevating the other end to keep the water from flowing out. I used Oasis detergent, which is biodegradable and filled up a bucket from the outside spicket to transfer wash and rinse water to the basin. It took forever to get my clothes clean and I now have a great respect for the people who have to do this all the time.
These are just a couple interesting and humorous things that have happened very recently, but I plan on writing about all the other things and thoughts that have happened in the past month shortly. I have started thinking about plans for next year, have attended a couple protest events, have continued to learn about home repair (especially involving furnaces) and got the chance to attend a cultural event in Tucson known as the Day of the Dead procession. What a crazy month! I'm looking forwarding to getting my thoughts out to you soon.
One of the focuses of our house is to live a lifestyle that limits our impact on the environment as much as possible. The animals around us must have picked up on the fact that we're an environmentally-friendly house, because they are making frequent visits. First we noticed several small, furry friends scurrying around our floors at night. After much discussion and lamenting, we concluded that our little friends must die. We tried to think of ways that were humane, but killing mice is pretty much inherently dirty work. We set up mouse traps with peanut butter as the bait and caught five of the little guys over the next few days. Each morning before breakfast we'd check the traps and whenever we found that one of our visitors had taken the bait, he/she had his/her eyes wide open, gazing upward as if to say, "et tu, YAVs?" It's okay, though. They had to go.
Another animal experience happened in those same few days. I came home and walked in my room to find a Cactus Wren (the state bird of Arizona) perched above my chamber door. Perched, and sat, and nothing more. He asked if my soul was in pain over the mice we had tempted and slain. Then he looked at me and said "nevermore."
Actually he was just hopping around the floor, looking for a window or door. I'm not sure how he got in, but it was strange to have so many animal visitors in our house during this time.
Another interesting experience happened just today when I decided to try and wash my clothes by hand. There is a concrete wash basin in our backyard and it was a struggle to figure out how to get the clothes clean and rinsed without losing all the water in the basin from the drain. I ended up plugging the drain by duct taping an old bike inner tube to the drain and elevating the other end to keep the water from flowing out. I used Oasis detergent, which is biodegradable and filled up a bucket from the outside spicket to transfer wash and rinse water to the basin. It took forever to get my clothes clean and I now have a great respect for the people who have to do this all the time.
These are just a couple interesting and humorous things that have happened very recently, but I plan on writing about all the other things and thoughts that have happened in the past month shortly. I have started thinking about plans for next year, have attended a couple protest events, have continued to learn about home repair (especially involving furnaces) and got the chance to attend a cultural event in Tucson known as the Day of the Dead procession. What a crazy month! I'm looking forwarding to getting my thoughts out to you soon.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Tempus Fugit!
Maybe my five years of Latin did come in handy after all. "Tempus Fugit!" translates to "Time Flies!" even though the ancient Romans did not use punctuation. It might sound cliche (though maybe cliches are used so often because they tend to be true) but it seems like time has absolutely flown in Tucson so far. It has almost been two months already! That means that I will have to start looking into opportunities for next year. My goal is to not let my search for future opportunities get in the way of being present here and now. It's just crazy how early applications for grad schools or seminaries or whatever have to be submitted. One great thing about getting settled is that I now have a routine that I know well. To me this is a good thing, not because it limits spontaneity, but because I can concentrate on the specific tasks at hand and go deeper in the meaning I find during the year. It is now much easier to find time to grow in relationship with coworkers or housemates and it's easier to find the space to develop certain disciplines, which will help in discerning meaning and direction during this year.
One of these disciplines is finding time to read. I am currently reading "The Call," by Os Guinness and a book that describes the twelve marks of the New Monasticism movement in a collection of essays written by people who have lived in and reflected upon these intentional communities. I'm challenged by a lot of the radical ideas presented in these books about what it means to be a disciple of Christ, and I need time to reflect and consider these ideas. No doubt several blog entries in the future will be devoted to considering some of these ideas. It's kind of weird but hearing some of these ideas has made me want to learn more about history. Maybe this is because understanding why things the way they are is more important to me now.
Anyway the point is that time is flying by and I'm feeling like we just got here. In other news I was able to get up to Ohio over the weekend for my cousin, Kirsten's, wedding. It was a wonderful time seeing and celebrating with family that I don't get to see that often. Also a cause for celebration, I found out that Brenna is recovering very well from her car accident and is going to be fine. Today I went around to various jobs with Kristy, a CHRPA worker who started shortly before I started working. This was really the first time when I wasn't just a helper and had to make the decisions on how to make the repairs. As nerve racking as this can be, I feel like it's a necessary step in becoming the T-Rex of repairmen. Only when I have to figure things out on my own will I really grow to the point where I'm confident in my job. This was an exciting step and I hope I'll get the chance to practice more often from now on.
One of these disciplines is finding time to read. I am currently reading "The Call," by Os Guinness and a book that describes the twelve marks of the New Monasticism movement in a collection of essays written by people who have lived in and reflected upon these intentional communities. I'm challenged by a lot of the radical ideas presented in these books about what it means to be a disciple of Christ, and I need time to reflect and consider these ideas. No doubt several blog entries in the future will be devoted to considering some of these ideas. It's kind of weird but hearing some of these ideas has made me want to learn more about history. Maybe this is because understanding why things the way they are is more important to me now.
Anyway the point is that time is flying by and I'm feeling like we just got here. In other news I was able to get up to Ohio over the weekend for my cousin, Kirsten's, wedding. It was a wonderful time seeing and celebrating with family that I don't get to see that often. Also a cause for celebration, I found out that Brenna is recovering very well from her car accident and is going to be fine. Today I went around to various jobs with Kristy, a CHRPA worker who started shortly before I started working. This was really the first time when I wasn't just a helper and had to make the decisions on how to make the repairs. As nerve racking as this can be, I feel like it's a necessary step in becoming the T-Rex of repairmen. Only when I have to figure things out on my own will I really grow to the point where I'm confident in my job. This was an exciting step and I hope I'll get the chance to practice more often from now on.
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