Venezuela Mission -Letters from Maren
Maren Delaney grew up in Waconia, attended St. Joseph School and Waconia High School (01) and graduated from the College of St. Catherine in May of 2005 with a degree in photography and graphic design and a minor in theology. We are blessed that she decided to take some time off and volunteer in Venezuela for a year. Following are her letters and reflections on her time at Jesucristo Resucitado Parish.
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Maren and Venezuelan Children
San Felix - December 2005 |
March 23, 2006
Greetings!
I just got your email, my internet has not been working since my return to Venezuela. All I know is that some wires that connect the phone lines between the cities were stolen. Typical Venezuela!
My role in Venezuela is to serve as an English instructor, website manager, mission photographer, among other future possibilities.
A short-term goal is to put as much effort that is possible into teaching the people of Jesucristo Resucitado Parish basic English so that they may have more opportunities, professionally, academically, and/or conversationally.
My long-term goal here is to learn as much as I can about the culture and dilemmas that control Venezuelan society today. I hope that my experiences will ultimately influence my choices henceforth for the better.
March 26, 2006
My trip home was so brief. I spent my time visiting my family and friends and speaking at St. Joes and Waconia High School. The snow was definitely a change from the humid 90 degree weather that I am used to here in Venezuela. I was eager to return to the heat.
The altar boys were very excited to see me when I got back. There are about five that live in the neighborhood and they sit outside and wait for me to come out. I promised them disposable cameras, they were so excited to get a present. I had to explain to them that each camera only takes 27 photos. They started taking a bunch of photos right away, I think they are used to my digital camera. It will be interesting to see what we get from this.
Since my return, I have started teaching an English class on Saturdays for adults who are getting their G.E.D. I was pretty nervous for my first class, but everything went smoothly. I have been busy preparing what to say and teach for my next class. I think that I might learn more Spanish than they will English from this course.
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Dance at Camp Rojo |
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Cretin-Derham Hall students playing ball against
the "home team" - San Felix |
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At the River -
San Felix |
At the River - Sabana de Peidra, San Felix |
May 12, 2006
It's FINALLY raining!!!!! Yesterday was our first day of rain since mid February. It started out as just a sprinkle. Then within 5 minuted it started POURING LIKE CRAZY. The street gutters were overflowing and manholes were popping off and shooting out water. It was kinda scary though when ALL of the electricity went out. I was riding in my friend's very old truck. We couldn't see anything and it was actually raining IN the car. It didn't stop raining until this morning and we finally got our electricity back on. It's raining again now...that's good.
My family's visit went very well. It was very good to see them. We saw most of the sights here in Ciudad Guayana and just had a good time all around. My parents bought a grill for the house here, so I am very excited about that.
I'll be sure to update again soon...I am afraid that the electricity might go out again and I want to send this before it does! Crazy here.
Maren Delaney
July 6, 2006
Hey all...
We just got our internet service back! It was down for about 38 or 7 days.... My English class has been going GREAT. Since it began in March, about half of the class has dropped out. Instead of being discouraged, I am appreciative for the remaining students. I now know that they really do want to learn, and a smaller class is easier to teach, they have really surprised me with how much they are learning, I hear them speaking in English to each other when we are outside of class. We have really gotten to know each other better than I expected to. We are planning a trip to the Gran Sabana, Southeastern Venezuela at the end of the month. (They like me, they really like me!)......
July 11, 2006
Happy Tuesday,
This week has gone by very quickly. For me, it is almost the weekend...on Thursday I will travel by truck with Senor Antonio (a man who works at the church) into Caracas to pick up my friend, Grethe, at the airport. I told my English class that she's from Alaska and now they are expecting an Eskimo. They've been asking me many questions about her, today they asked what her house was made of and if her skin was even whiter than mine and if she speaks English. We will spend the weekend in Caracas together, we'll return on Monday and during the week she'll come to class with me and see what I've been up to.
I will soon have many stories to tell you all about, I am sure!
Maren
PS...I look forward to seeing the group from Waconia down here...who's coming? Everyone else, I'll see you when I return at the end of August!
October 5, 2006 (Maren's final update on returning to Waconia)
I left for San Felix, Venezuela last December with an insatiable curiosity to discover another place. I taught English classes, during which I learned as much (if not more) Spanish as my students learned English. I made lasting friendships that I will remember for the rest of my life. Never before had I felt as appreciated as I was there. I took advantage of opportunities that came my way and because of this I learned about a different way of life.
The US and Venezuela are two countries full of contradictions; rich and poor, tradition and modernity, religion and a constant changing view cast by society. Venezuelan life is full of culture and traditions, and yet, they admire the United States for our fashion, celebrities, ipods, money and other superficial obsessions. Why is it that they look to us and admire these things but at the same time we do not look to them and idealize their altruistic love for family and friends?
I learned that money really doesn’t buy happiness; it only creates a superficial substitute. This is true, however, easier said than done. A month after my return I have inevitably found myself subconsciously allowing the norms of our society that I had forsaken while in Venezuela to slip slowly back into my routine.
I plan to visit my friends in San Felix when possible to renew relationships and to remind myself what humility is.
The most important thing that I learned from my experience is that we must learn about fellow human beings rather than choose to ignore that they exist in the same world.
