familiarity

this past weekend i was reminded of beauty and safety in familiarity. things are starting to feel more like "home" here in kansas city (well, not home, just more familiar i suppose), but a visit from a friend took me back to a place of joy and comfort.

my dear friend elena, who is currently a youth pastor in "nearby" newton, kansas (about 2.5 hours), drove over to kansas city to pass the weekend with me. what did we do? nothing much. just the usual - played tennis, tried to decipher life, and embraced fall in every way possible.

after she left saturday night to go back to newton i found myself to be extremely content and happy. not that she had left, of course. but that i had been reminded of how good it feels to be around someone who knows you, who you can be yourself around, and who is just familiar. i'm sure that my new housemates, coworkers, and friends, will one day become more of that for me, but for now, it was such a delight to have such a dear friend to simply pass a few hours with talking and contemplating life with.

here are a few photos from our weekend:

city tour

today i got an official tour of kansas city.
kansas city, missouri, that is.
a woman from rainbow mennonite is an official city tour guide, and she offered to take us newbies out for a spin to see the sights of kansas city missouri.

kansas city is known for 3 things...
1. fountains (on the list of cities in the world with the most fountains, kc is #2...rome is #1)
2. BBQ - i did try some official KC BBQ, pretty good stuff
3. Jazz - i have yet to head to 18th and vine to check out the famous jazz, but i hope to soon!

CLICK HERE to see the pictures i took on our tour!

"i'm sorry ma'am"

Me: "Hi, this is Natalie from Catholic Charities. I'm calling about a client of mine who has some medical bills that are quite large and we thought should be covered by you (Blue Cross Blue Shield)."
BCBS: "Yes, ma'am, what is your name?"
Me: "Natalie."
BCBS: "I'm sorry ma'am, but I don't see your name here on the list of people authorized to discuss this account."
Me: "Yes, I know, but I am the policy holder's case manager and am trying to help them figure this whole situation out."
BCBS: "I'm sorry ma'am, but I am not able to discuss this account with you. is the policy holder there with you?"
Me: "No, he is not. But I was wondering if there is a form you could fax me for him to fill out giving me permission, or if you would have a Karenni interpreter available so he could verbally give his consent."
BCBS: "I'm sorry ma'am, but he would have to call himself to request that paper to be sent to his address."
Me: "Well how is he supposed to do that when he doesn't speak any English? Can't you just send it to the address listed on the account so it would go to him anyways?"
BCBS: "I'm sorry ma'am, we can't do that. he's going to have to call himself."
Me: "But he doesn't speak English."
BCBS: "I'm sorry ma'am, but he's going to have to call in and give me permission to speak with you about the account."
Me: "Well how is he supposed to do that when he doesn't speak English?"
BCBS: "Well we offer translators."
Me: "Great! Do you have a Karenni interpreter?"
BCBS: "I'm sorry, Korean?"
Me: "No, Karenni. K-a-r-e-n-n-i"
BCBS: "I'm sorry ma'am, but we do not"
Me: "Well then I don't understand. You won't speak to me unless the policy holder calls to request a release of information form or if he calls and verbally gives consent. But you do not offer services of interpretation for him to do that. So HOW is he supposed to do that?"
....silence.....
Me: "I just don't get it."
.....silence....
BCBS: "Well he could have a friend or someone call in on his behalf and request those things."
Me: "That's exactly what I'm doing right now."
BCBS: "i'm sorry ma'am but he is going to have to do that."
Me: "But you just said he could have someone with him call for him!"
BCBS: "Um....."
Me: "Couldn't I just call and pretend to be an interpreter or friend of his to request these things?"
BCBS: "No ma'am, it has to be him."
Me: "But how are you going to know?!"
BCBS: "He needs to call in himself."
Me: "Well then you need to provide a Karenni interpreter"
BCBS: "Um, let me ask my supervisor...."
....doodly dinging music plays as I'm on hold.....
BCBS: "I'm sorry for your wait ma'am thank you for holding. My supervisor says that we can provide a Karenni interpreter."

. . . FINALLY!

antioch park

Friday i happened across a beautiful thing ... Antioch Park. Situated in a little nook about 5 miles from my house, this park is full of lakes, paths, trees, and big open spaces. It is lovely. I spent a large portion of my afternoons both Saturday and Sunday at Antioch Park, trying to embrace fall, relaxing, enjoying nature, and reading. It was a delight!

Here a few pictures i took of the two (yes, only 2) trees i found that were not green i the park. autumn is struggling out here in kansas....but these two trees were at least beautiful!






x

tough day on the job

today was rough...

this morning i picked up a client and drove her to her doctor's appointment. as i walked in the door i was pleasantly surprised by a table in the waiting room covered in puzzle pieces....puzzle pieces with shades of burnt oranges, browns, yellows, and bright reds....oh the colors of autumn. after the client went back for her appointment i read magazines for a little while. half an hour later, and still waiting, i was bored. so i sat down at the puzzle table and started to work on piecing together a scene of a barn set amongst fall beauty. i believe the puzzle was entitled "autumn splendor". half an hour later of this endeavor and i thought to myself: "wow. i have such a rough job. i get to sit and do puzzles all morning!" what a delight.


p.s. happy anniversary to my lovely parents! i thought of the colors of your bridesmaids' dresses, mom, as i put together the puzzle of reds, oranges, and yellows ;)

"thats what it's all about"

9 days on the job, and i still have no idea what's going on.

today i tried to help someone pay a bill. but when we walked in the accounting office there was a big sign that said "NO CASH ACCEPTED." oops. that's all we had! i asked the woman behind the desk where i could get a money order, and she told me to go to the bank, or some other fancy place to get it.

as we turned around to leave, two ladies said to us "go to the grocery store right around the corner, they only charge 39cents and the banks charge four bucks or more!" so we did.

when we came back to pay the bill the ladies were still there. i thanked them profusely for their assistance, and they said "that's what it's all about. people helping people."

isn't that the truth.

stories

today i had the honor of listening to a man tell his story. . .

i had attempted to research the history of bhutan and nepal online, but nothing i read compared to what i heard from the bhutanese man who welcomed me into his home. as i sipped on traditional Bhutanese tea that his wife prepared, i listened as this gentleman embarked on his story of life in Bhutan, the history of Bhutan, life in refugee camps, and resettling in the United States.

A basic history (as i know it...) - in about the mid 1800s there was a large migration of people from Nepal to Bhutan (Bhutan was looking for workers, much like migrant farmworkers here in the U.S.). In 1989 (i think?) the ruling government of Bhutan decided that they were going to make everyone living in Bhutan like them (in terms of speech, dress, etc.). In essence, what followed was an ethnic cleansing. And needless to say, thousands of people who were (dating back to the 1800s) Nepali (but who had lived their whole lives in Bhutan) were forced out of the country. If they did not leave, they risked imprisonment, torture, and often death. These people fled to Nepal, and after much hardship refugee camps were set up in Nepal. It would be 17 years until other nations would offer the option of resettlement.

I urge you to read this brief article from CNN that discusses the history of the Nepali people in Bhutan, and the resettlement of the refugees. A small glimpse of this article from March 25, 2008:

Bhutanese refugees began arriving in the United States on Tuesday,
the first wave of what the United Nations describes
as one of the world's largest resettlement efforts.

The U.S. has offered to resettle 60,000 of the estimated
107,000 Bhutanese refugees of Nepalese origin now
living in seven U.N. camps in southeastern Nepal --
their home for the past 17 years. Six other nations --
Australia, Canada, Norway, Netherlands, New Zealand and Denmark --
have offered to resettle 10,000 each.

At the end of his story (that included much more personal stories than what i can share online), I sat, amazed. Somewhat speechless for a little while. I was amazed at what he and his family had gone through. I was amazed at where he had ended up. I was amazed by his willingness to open his home to me and share his story with me. And I was, and am, grateful for the context that he offered me, someone who (i must admit) didn't even know Bhutan existed, as I now work daily with refugees from Bhutan who share much of his same story.

the fruits (and vegetables) of our labor

so my blog somehow jumped from mexico to kansas. but there was some time between those two large changes (thank goodness). for about 2 months after i returned home from mexico, before i headed out here to kck, i was blessed by time spent at home. there is just something about home...words just can't describe it. (though i'll try:) comfort. joy. familiarity. family.

my time was filled with all sorts of adventures... including a schmucker family of 5 trip to cancun, friends' wedding in goshen, a trip to indy to visit friends, time at the lake with the yoder family, working a bit at schmucker's, watching the food network :), cleaning out mom's pantry, and just plain relaxing and enjoying home. and i was reminded very much in those two months how blessed i am to have such a wonderful family. why i keep moving so far away from them i cannot answer....

one of my favorite things i did whilst home was learn to CAN with my mama! oh, it was supposed to be this small event where we just canned a little bit so i'd learn the general idea. but no, it got way out of hand. we canned, pizza sauce, spaghetti sauce, tomatoes, tomato juice, strawberry jam, applesauce, and maybe that was all? the fruits and vegetables of our labor are now proudly displayed in my new kitchen and mom's "new" pantry. love it!

tomatoes, tomatoes, everywhere!

three generations of schmucker women getting their apple on

yum yum in my tum tum!

the empty pantry and the full living room! oh the joy of the process...

and the FINISHED PRODUCT!!!! so beautiful:

a new twist on communion

Today was world communion Sunday.
I went to church a block down the street, at Rainbow Mennonite Church.

The pastor preached about the idea that all across the world today thousands, or millions, or who-knows-how-many people are participating in communion. They may call it by different names, they may use different types of breads or cups, they may have different beliefs about the event, but in the end, are we not all celebrating the same thing? My thoughts took this sermon a step further: Christianity, and religion for that matter, has so many different faces to it, different ideas, different beliefs, different practices, but are we not all getting at the same thing?

As a group from this church is preparing to embark on a Service and Learning Trip to Guatemala next week, the church decided to do something new (at least to me) for communion. For our "bread" in communion, we partook of corn tortillas. We were encouraged to remember that corn is such an essential staple, the "grain of life" for so many people across the globe, particularly in Latin America. I appreciated this subtle twist that encouraged me to think about those partaking in communion, and practicing religion, in different ways around our world.

cambia, todo cambia....

my soul is saddened.
it has taken awhile to get to this point, but it still is hard to do.
i suppose it is time though, that i change my blog.

despite the mexican flag hanging over my head, the mexican scarves i tie around my neck, the zapatista posters on my walls, and the pictures of friends and family in mexico watching me as i type this, sometimes it feels that the past year never even happened.

perhaps i am dramatic (some would argue this is a certainty, not a "perhaps"), but it almost makes it feel even more like my year in mexico never happened by changing my blog from "learning adventures in mexico" to its new title. but i am in a new place. doing new things. making new memories. and i suppose it's time to let you all know about it.

SO, after a long cyber-silence, welcome to my NEW blog, about my life in MVS (Mennonite Voluntary Service) in Kansas City, Kansas. Who knows if I'll have anything exciting to share, but the space is here, so we shall see!