Home Sweet Home

Bienvenidos a Lima!

The cool, humid breeze blew over my face today when I stepped outside the theological seminary we were receiving our lessons from today. The morning was a sunny one and the distant honks of cars mixed with birds twittering and passersby engaging in "castellan". I smelled a strong whiff of onions cooked in garlic powder with salt, pepper, and some chilies. My first thought, with the warm sun on my face, was:

"I'm home."

Which may be ironic considering I've spent a total of maybe 40 hours in this city.

Lima is a vibrant city. It's location on the coast means you can walk out to the desert beaches and watch the surfers search for some of the best waves. Palm trees line the streets where cars swerve in and out of traffic like street racers. The only guiding rule when it comes to driving here in Lima is simple: don't hit anything. Short of that, it's a fair game.

The Monastery of San Francisco from the outside

My first full day here was much like any other traveler's day: walk around the neighborhood, eat some local cuisine (pollo con braso, chicho morado, y ahi sauce for my sweet potato fries.) A bus tour occupied my afternoon where we swerved our way to the historical center of Lima. I caught views of the National Theater, Congress, Presidential Quarters, National Library, and the Monastery of San Francisco. We stopped to tour the three hundred and forty two year old monastery's choir, sacristy, and catacombs. Skulls and femur bones filled wells eight feet deep all throughout the underground lair; a sober reminder of the fragility of life. We finished our bus tour in the beautiful Miraflores viewing the coast of Peru.

I saw the ocean for the first time in my life.

My second full day, today in fact, we went to the seminary. It was sunny in the morning as we clambered on to the heavily-stickered public transport. It cost us "una china" - fifty cent piece. We met with a seminary professor and anthropologist to learn about the Andean culture. I came to understand that the Andean culture varies greatly and only advances in agriculture like irrigation, domestication of Alpaca or Llama, and horticulture influenced the trajectory of certain civilizations. The one in the mountains developed sooner because that's where those inventions matter most. I learned all of this in Spanish.

Lunch was an affair. A months-long dream came true: I ate Cuy for lunch. I rattled off as much as I could to keep up with my spanish-speaking mentors.

The afternoon focused on currency. We took lessons on recognizing counterfeit Soles, and general tips on utilizing our money to the best of our abilities. This lesson came to a head when the four of us (Myself, Shaina, Jenny and Jed) visited a local market to purchase some fruit. I won't say the amount of money we spent. Suffice to say the exchange rate is strongly in favor of the American dollar. The clouds overhead threatened rain so we returned to our hotel in Magdalena del Mar to rest before dinner.

These past two days have been focused on understanding this new world I inhabit. My new guides are perhaps the sweetest and most patient humans I know. Jenny Valles is a sweetheart who I would never want to see angry. Her laugh is infectious and sense of mirth alleviates any tension there could be. Her husband, Jed, carries the patient sensibilities of a pastor. Their knowledge of the city and culture of Peru has enlightened me endlessly and I don't doubt for a minute that I'll be leaning on them for support a few times this year.

My partner in crime: Shaina

Alas there's my partner in crime: Shaina Miller. We've been friends since the first day we met. She and I share similar personality traits: outgoing, thoughtful, caring. What's wonderful is we have completely different interests. I like to say she's a musical girl, I'm a concert guy. She's a wine girl, I'm a beer guy (but she's a beer girl if she wants to be.) I could tell you about her hobbies, music preferences, education, movie taste, dietary concerns, and other general knowledge. However I want to boil it down to one simple thought: I'm incredibly grateful she's here. I'd be lost without her and (I like to think) she'd be a little lost without me.


We've spent the last two days seeing the bright sides of the city and country at large. We've been learning about the culture of the indigenous people. We've tried countless new foods and drinks. It's been a delightful past couple days, but I'm curious to learn about the darker side of life here.

Jed said something incredibly insightful during this morning's devotional. He said: "We don't expect you to join the seminary and live to serve the church after this. We don't expect you to master the bible while you're here. We hope you learn to open your eyes to the great darkness there is in the world so you can see the bright light that comes after." I couldn't be more excited.


 - Daniel Pappas -

P.S. Here's a photo of my site coordinator and her husband. They're wonderful people and I feel beyond blessed to have them as my bosses/mentors/faux-parents.


Photo links:
http://img.timeinc.net/time/photoessays/2010/travel_lima/san_fran_church.jpg

Presbyterian Mission at the United Nations

Greetings all!


I write to you all from the beautiful Stony Point Center in New York. Out here the leaves are green, the Hudson river is blue, and the weather is a balmy 85 degrees on a hot day. Nothing like home whatsoever.

This is my home for Orientation. It's beautiful!

Orientation (or training as I like to call it) has been going on for the past seven days and it's managed to encompass all manner of subjects. Here's a short breakdown:

Monday - arrival/travel day
Tuesday - Cultural Competency (Recognizing Privilege and the lack thereof)
Wednesday - Sexual Misconduct, Setting Healthy Boundaries, What Advocacy Work is
Thursday - DAY AWAY! Everyone go out and see stuff! (more on that in a second.)
Friday - The Presbyterian/YAV Theology of Mission
Saturday - How to tell people (mostly via social media) about your experience
Sunday - Commissioning ceremonies, relax

While I could write pages about what I've learned and how my eyes have been opened to see a system that's already fairly broken I want to focus on just one day.

THURSDAY - VISIT THE PRESBYTERIAN MISSION AT THE UNITED NATIONS

So imagine you have 193 friends together and you all decide to get lunch. Everyone debates and argues over what to eat, but at the end of the day you still have to vote on what to eat. If two-thirds of you agree on somewhere to eat then you're going there. Then, if such event happens, you vote on how you're going to get their, who's car you're going to take, who's going to call ahead, etc. It's gridlock diplomacy. But that's the best way to metaphorize how the UN functions.



I learned this from our two hosts at the offices right across from the UN Building in New York. Presbyterians have worked alongside the UN almost from the get-go. What we do is meet with UN delegations and talk to them about issues important to our church and convince them to help us out. Sounds simple enough right?

Except being there... Life is crazy. We attended a vigil to recognize the 500th day that 219 young women in Nigeria were kidnapped by Boko Haram. An Imam, Cantor, parishioner, and city councilwoman all spoke in this red-velvet lined chapel about an issue I had not known about.

For more info read: Wall Street Journal - Chibok Women interview


We had to duck out early (I was dying a slow death from hunger and feared my stomach rumbles would interrupt the service) to grab food and meet with some hosts.

Three different people: A Middle Eastern Policymaker for the UN, an NGO Food Justice Advocate, and a Middle East Foreign Analyst all sat in a room with twenty 20-something presbyterians and discussed how they arrived to where they are today. Stories of starting as a volunteer and seeking a more meaningful impact through direct work with the UN or with other NGO's brought them here. I was a little disappointed that they had little to say about how their faith influenced the work they did, but when all you do is try to make justice in the world I imagine it can be hard to step back and focus on your spirituality.

After that we took a short tour around the area before hopping on a schoolbus to sit through two hours of traffic to make it back to beautiful Stony Point.

THE LESSON

It's rewarding to know the church I grew up in has been an international figure and done so in what feels like an appropriate manner. We believe it is best to walk WITH people in Mission instead of just telling them what to do. Our work at the United Nations centers around bringing awareness to others and spreading the word. It's a comfort to see that a volunteer year can lead you to unexpected places. I couldn't say if that's a life I'm leaning towards, but I know the option exists. That's more than enough for me.

Meet the 2015-16 Young Adult Volunteer Class!

Before

So you know how big weight loss programs show the before and after? Right. Same deal here.

I want to write a post real quickly that highlights my expectations and thoughts about this upcoming year so that, months later, I can look back and realize how wrong they were.

Language: I'm jumping headfirst into a language that I speak conversationally. I'm barely fluent in Spanish and know enough to get through a conversation at a bar or over dinner. Ask me about politics and I will struggle a bit. That's okay though! Basically, I expect to dive into the spanish language and start speaking as much as humanly possible. My reading comprehension is much better (now that I've been practicing). My listening is going to need work and my writing is going to take up a good portion of my time. Suffice to say: I'm going to be asking people to repeat what they said and missing a ton of accent marks on my letters.

Culture: This one's a little tricky. I've generally found that reading about a culture and experiencing it are two completely different things. I'll be in the northern part so I'm exposed to more Quechua. I expect to encounter more of the traditional Quechuan culture, but also the Peruvian world. Weddings are a big, big deal. Funerals too. The family stays together well after the children are adult-age. Sports are common throughout and most people walk or take taxis everywhere. In fact, buses are common to travel long distances.

A traditional Pisco Sour

Food: This one I'm most excited for. Peru has been known to some of the most diverse cuisine in the world! Peruvian dishes include Anticuchos, Alpaca, Ceviche, and my personal interest: Cuy. Peru is home to the almighty Potato (Americans worship that plan in its many forms.) I love eating and trying new things so I can't say how excited I am to see a new palate. Now, I will be in the northern part so I'm much less likely to eat Alpaca or ceviche (since I am not even close to the coast or the mountains). I can tell you I can't wait to try a Pisco sour. 

Weather: I gotta admit: I'm also super stoked for this one. Generally throughout Peru the highs are like 85 degrees (Farenheit of course). The lows are like mid-60's? That's the kind of weather Californians won't stop bragging about to me. It's paradise. The seasons up north are rainy and less-rainy. So, I'm bringing a rain jacket. Here's my (rather narrow minded) assumption: being closer to the rainforest makes me assume it will be way more humid there. I don't think I'll be bringing any winter jackets with me on this trip.

Home sweet home for the next eleven months of my life.

Church: This one is the most comforting to me. We all worship for the same reasons: to give thanks, remind ourselves of the power of God, ask for prayers. Some denominations confess their sins and feel relieved, others have to work for their forgiveness. Either way we're all worshipping together. I'm excited to be worshipping in Spanish. I'm hoping to hear more spanish melodies and flamenco-influenced music (another assumption is that flamenco is a huge thing all over the Latin world. I could be wrong.) I'll admit, I'm not entirely sure what denomination my host family is. I assumed they are Presbyterian since they're hosting a Presbyterian but that's a pretty big assumption. Either way, I'm okay with that. They are choosing to host me, so I abide by their rules.

Daily Living: This one is the most up in the air. It's also the one I'm least concerned with. I trust myself, my site coordinator (the lovely Jenny Valles, more on her later), and my host family to help us all reach homeostasis this year. I don't honestly know if there is internet at the house (something I was warned is not always common). I don't know (or assume) their will be air conditioning. Both of those things I've lived without so it doesn't matter too much to me. I read that breakfast is usually small, lunch is a packed meal (nothing big), and dinner is the big meal. Okay! I'm in! I read that eating out is uncommon during the weekdays, but on the weekends the whole family will get together and eat a meal. My main concern now is working out. I'm sure I can figure it all out, I'm just curious how that's going to change. I workout like 5 or 6 times a week so there will be a major adjustment regarding my physical activity.

I can't wait to eat one of these rascals

These are all things that I spend my nights googling to research and discover. I read books about life there constantly and prepare myself as best I can. Thankfully I know I can adapt and figure it out. None of these things are deal breakers. I'm going to love it in Peru. That's my major assumption. One I know will come true. So in roughly four weeks when I've moved in with my host family and settled in to work I can look back and laugh at how wrong I was.

For all of you interested in visiting the country here are some helpful websites I used during my research:
Moyobamba Home Site
National Geographic - Top 10 things to Eat in Peru
Wikipedia Moyobamba Page
      ^ (Cause what college research would be complete without a Wikipedia search)
Lonely Planet Moyobamba Peru Guide
The CIA's factbook on the country of Peru

 - Daniel Pappas -

The 4th of July

Some people go on trips to find themselves. Some people choose to leave their comfortable place of residence and venture out to see what the world has in store for them. My generation is not the first one to pursue a life abroad.

I started my six weeks backpacking trip in Europe about three weeks ago. Which means, I'm writing this at 3:30 a.m. in Prague from a hostel while I wait to board a train to Budapest.

I've been on two backpacking trips before. One I went to Madrid, Paris, Berlin, and Cologne with my best friend brother. The second trip I visited Greece, Israel, and Pisa. Both of these trips changed my life in ways I don't think I'll be able to fully express. They initiated an unmooring. Whatever sense of permanence I created for myself at home slowly dissipated as I came to realize the world was out my front door.

Now I still call Dallas my home and I look forward to returning from this six week trip. My sense of self might have changed but I'm strongly rooted in my sense of identity. I mean, I've spent countless hours exploring "who I am" and pondering other existential questions. I'm not quite through, but I feel that I know who I am and what I want from this world.

Some people go on trips to find themselves. I already know who I am. So why did I go on this trip? What is there to learn about myself?

The world is at your fingertips.
      - I don't mean the internet. Simply that he world is out there and parts of it are accessible. The wonders of the world aren't meant to be enjoyed in the pages of coffee table books. I know, I used to marvel at those pages.

Who I am now is significantly different and particularly similar to who I was in the past.
      - It's a cop out. The answer is too vague. I've been working to delineate the exact changes and I can graph them out for you or make some bad illustration. That's not the point. That's a post for later.



The point (and I have one here) is no matter how developed or underdeveloped your sense of self is travel helps. Travel outside of your city, zip code, state, country, continent. It pushes you in ways you didn't expect and will make you grasp at truths you didn't before. You will come to accept a reality that's different from the one before as sunrise is different from sunset. Life changes. Travelling can help you make sense of it. (Provided you aren't running away from change.)

Educating The Youth of America

So, I wanted to share a short homily I prepared for my old high school. I did it to share my experience. I also did it because my little sister begged me to. She thought it would make me cool. I'm not so sure. It's a brief summary from my previous blog post, but I think it sounds better live.

Parish Homily

Stewardship and Stew Bear

So when I was five years old all the way through ten years old the Director of Christian Education Miatta Wilson would lend out a stuffed bear.

From what I recall the bear was made of a green fabric stitched together by hand with a small amount of cotton inside and buttons for eyes. He came in a fabric bag with exercise sheets that talked about stewardship and giving back and helping others. He had the coarse feeling of being made from hand or bought in a Dollar store, but maybe that was the mileage and not the years speaking. His name was Stew Bear.

But, so every Sunday during Lent one kid from the church would get chosen at random to take Stew Bear home with us. What we were supposed to do is go perform acts of service with Stew Bear, document them, and share them with the other kids the following Sunday when we all got back together.

Me being me, I completely missed the point and assumed Stew Bear was a popular guy who's time was only so valuable. He went to soccer games. He went to my imaginary moon. He hung out with my sisters some too, but Stew Bear was my bro and bros are never far apart. (My mother is a saint for having dealt with nine year old me.)

The lesson for us kids was simple: Stewardship means helping others and Lent is the christian time to dedicate ourselves daily anew to it. It took me awhile to learn that. I always thought service was a number of hours I had to complete each trimester of school in order to graduate high school. For me, mandatory service made my experience disheartening. How could I give back when I felt so upset that I had no choice? Maybe it's my personality type, but making me do something only upsets me. It makes me want to do the opposite.

When I think of service I remember the lesson from Jesus
Matthew 5: 7
"You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye."
Bible Gateway

I found it my prerogative to clean up my act and the world closest to me before I truly dedicated myself to helping out the world at large. Now that was in high school so my perspective was a bit limited.
Regardless of what needs to happen first service is primary in Jesus' teachings. Jesus lived as a servant, even when people told him not to. He honored servants. He loved those who helped others. (Well, he loved everyone, but he had a fondness for servants too.)

I don't think of it as my obligation. I think of it as my privilege to serve others through my talents. Money hasn't always been my strong suit and 10% of what I make can roughly be anywhere from $5 to fifty cents. My time and my hard work are the best ways I can give back right now. I intend to use them as much as possible through my YAV year of service.

I am beyond excited to be going to Peru to serve others. It's an opportunity I think more people could benefit from. I expect (and hope) that it will shape who I am as a person drastically. I hope more than anything to be beneficial. I look forward to obstacles and roadblocks. I just gotta get there first.

Stew Bear, wherever you are, I hope you read this. I'd love for you to come visit me sometime. We can hang out like we used to. Send me your email address so I can send you some pics!

 - Daniel Pappas - 

The Beginning

"Little by little, one travels far." - J.R.R. Tolkien

The idea of leaving the country was always a foreign one (ha ha!) to me until I was sixteen years old. The prospect of flying outside of my home in Texas seemed too expensive or I was too young. In hindsight it does seem very dangerous to let a sixteen year old American boy travel to another country unsupervised for a few weeks in the summertime. Regardless, I hosted a German foreign exchange student my junior year of high school who, in turn, took me back with him to Europe.

Madrid, Berlin, Paris, and Munich. Four cities over four weeks. Madrid was a dream city for me; something I'd always read about in textbooks was now suddenly available to me. I had my first sip of alcohol in Madrid. I ate real Spanish tapas. I bartered for food in Spanish markets. I gave directions in fluent Spanish (I was mistaken for a Spaniard, a high compliment.) That experience changed my life!

When I came back home all I could think about was where I would go next. I couldn't predict it, but my next trip took me to the Mediterranean Sea. Greece, Israel, Italy. Athens, Mykonos, Santorini, Delphi, Jerusalem, Haifa, Qum'ran, Pisa, and Florence (to name a few.) I had been blessed to see this side of the world.

When I came home from that second trip I knew I wanted to live in a foreign country. Maybe not for my whole life, but at least for a year. Thus the search for YAV began.

To me I wanted three things out of college:

1. To live far away from my family on my own for awhile

2. To see the world as much as I can

3. To mature into a politically active and socially responsible citizen

(My parents couldn't comment because they were out accepting the parents of the year award then.)

My older sister served as a Young Adult Volunteer in New Orleans. She wanted me to go nationally and live somewhere cool she could visit. She even helped me gain insight from former YAV's as well as potential site leaders. She was my single most helpful resource in learning about the YAV experience.

It did irk me to follow in my sister's footsteps, but by no means are our experiences comparable.

What it boils down to is this: YAV is a good chance to live abroad for a year, serve other people, and mature as a politically conscious world citizen through the church I grew up in. 

Thus it is with great pleasure I get to say that I will be serving as a Young Adult Volunteer in Moyobamba, Peru this upcoming year. Thus begins the next new adventure in my life. 

Keep your eyes open as I update this blog for the next couple months and explain my new world around me. Feel free to comment or message me! I look forward to the next big thing!