Just a few pre-departure updates for your reading pleasure!
-I have met (and possibly surpassed) my minimum fundraising goal; thank you to everyone who has helped me out on that front! I appreciate every single gift given to me, and since it's in giving that we receive, keep a weather eye on your mailbox in September if you helped me out! Also, because of this, I've taken down the book list post; if you're interested in buying books, you can shoot an email and I'll send you a list.
-I don't really have anything new to report on about training or my placement, other than it's being just around the corner! I leave for pre-departure orientation in Chicago on August 19th, and I fly from O'Hare (be still my heart...) to Buenos Aires on the 27th, arriving on the morning of the 28th. I'll have a week or so of orientation in Buenos Aires; it'll be early September when I actually arrive in Bariloche after a 24 hour bus ride from BA (again, be still my heart...). I assume I'll be plunging headfirst into work once I get there, but we'll see.
-If you know me, and you want to hang out one more time before I leave, you should probably call/email/facebook me NOW. I've only got a few weeks left, and one of them has been swallowed up by a road trip, so my hang-out time is a little limited - reservations are recommended!
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Placement Info
Well, I've finally got some details to share about where I'll be and what I'll be doing for the next year! I've been placed in Bariloche, a city of about 100,000 in southern Argentina. It's up in the mountains and has a reputation for great skiing and hiking. The city mascot is, no joke, a St. Bernard with the little wooden keg around its neck. As for what I'll be doing, I am going to be working with a Lutheran church in Bariloche. The church has a mission in a poor neighborhood on the outskirts of the city, and so far, it looks like much of my work will be done through the mission - helping elderly members of the community with chores and with getting basic necessities, giving homework help and playtime to children, and so on. I'm also going to be helping with the youth at the church; my impression of the job is that they have a youth minister, and that I'll be assisting him/her in some of his/her duties. That said, I'm the first YAGM volunteer assigned to this particular location, so I suspect that there could very well be changes in what I do as my time there goes on.
It also seems that I will be in Bariloche on my own; there wasn't any mention of other volunteers (YAGM or otherwise) working with the church, so I'll very much be thrust into the community. It definitely won't be like Ghana, where I lived with a hundred other white, English-speaking Westerners. I'll also have my own dwelling while there; the church has a student residence attached to it, and I'll have my own room within it. I'm curious how the student residence is set up - is it just a bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen meant for one person? A dorm-style building with individual bedrooms but shared bath and kitchen? A little house? I am glad, though, that I'll have my own sort of room and set-up rather than living with a host family. While I've no doubt that the host family experience is incredible, I frankly feel more comfortable with the thought of having my own space that does not involve intruding into another established family's routine and way of life. Of course, a YAGM year isn't exactly about comfort, either, but I think my position in Bariloche will stretch me plenty well as is.
I will say that I was a little surprised by my placement. I'd figured that I'd end up in Buenos Aires or Montevideo, just by virtue of the fact that a pretty solid number of past YAGMs have ended up there. I really didn't expect to end up in Patagonia, but I'm definitely not upset with my placement. In fact, I'm excited - it's a part of the world that very few Americans get to see, let alone live in, and the sort of work associated with the position is really in line with what sort of things I'd hoped to be doing, and is good ministry preparation to boot. Of course, I own about 2 articles of clothing suited to life in a cold climate, so I'll be doing some shopping before I go, but this is shaping up to be an incredible adventure!
It also seems that I will be in Bariloche on my own; there wasn't any mention of other volunteers (YAGM or otherwise) working with the church, so I'll very much be thrust into the community. It definitely won't be like Ghana, where I lived with a hundred other white, English-speaking Westerners. I'll also have my own dwelling while there; the church has a student residence attached to it, and I'll have my own room within it. I'm curious how the student residence is set up - is it just a bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen meant for one person? A dorm-style building with individual bedrooms but shared bath and kitchen? A little house? I am glad, though, that I'll have my own sort of room and set-up rather than living with a host family. While I've no doubt that the host family experience is incredible, I frankly feel more comfortable with the thought of having my own space that does not involve intruding into another established family's routine and way of life. Of course, a YAGM year isn't exactly about comfort, either, but I think my position in Bariloche will stretch me plenty well as is.
I will say that I was a little surprised by my placement. I'd figured that I'd end up in Buenos Aires or Montevideo, just by virtue of the fact that a pretty solid number of past YAGMs have ended up there. I really didn't expect to end up in Patagonia, but I'm definitely not upset with my placement. In fact, I'm excited - it's a part of the world that very few Americans get to see, let alone live in, and the sort of work associated with the position is really in line with what sort of things I'd hoped to be doing, and is good ministry preparation to boot. Of course, I own about 2 articles of clothing suited to life in a cold climate, so I'll be doing some shopping before I go, but this is shaping up to be an incredible adventure!
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