My 4th and 5th Day

My fourth and fifth days were hectic, and challenging. In my fourth day, I met up with Frances, Alexa, and Ann in the morning, and Gail’s hired driver, Africano, picked us all up, and then dropped us off at La Libertad, the second CRHF building that Gail had opened just awhile ago. We played with kids, and Frances and them brought a small mango plant to teach them stuff about mangos.

I finished my day very early. I had only worked for a couple hours or so. I spend the majority of the time talking to Francela, a staff member at CRHF and my translator for the next couple of weeks. We went over my survey and interview questions for correction, and then I practiced my survey and interview on her. She said that she could understand almost everything, and that the questions were good. Not much else there…. afterwards, I just sat around, watching the girls work with the kids. In the afternoon, I went out searching for a basketball court, but couldn’t find any. Therefore, I just dribbled around, did some basketball training exercises (the ones you do when you don’t have a basket), and then short sprints, and then some pushups. I packed a bunch of heavy books in my backpack (organic chemistry book, my high school yearbook, some past binders with important information from my past church, and lots of paper), so that I can use my backpack as a weight to lift around. It seemed like it was around 20 pounds. Gotta stay in shape in these next weeks, especially since it feels so strange not playing basketball virtually everyday now, like I used to during summer session I.

My fifth day was exciting…. but also difficult. In the morning, Africano picked us up like always (always… hahahaha and it’s been only two days). I separated with the girls in the morning… I went to the old clinic, and the girls went to the new clinic (called La Libertad). First, I went upstairs to the education center, and then I interacted with the adults and the kids. I couldn’t speak Spanish well, so I think the kids were laughing at me, because I just said “Si” and smiled whenever the staff members gave me some instructions. I eventually caught on though…. And realized that they wanted me to teach the kids English in the future weeks. I said sure. Later, I played with the kids…. They made me play with a dradle, but I broke it. Then, I fixed it back up. What a relief.

Then, I went downstairs at about 11:00 am, and then talked to the doctor at the clinic, about the situations of the clinic, as well as the survey and interview questions. I said that I will pretty much be working here for the next 7-8 weeks, and she seemed very welcoming. She and I conversed in half-English, half-Spanish, so that we both could understand one another. We took about an hour. I am supposed to shadow her tomorrow. I learned what the clinic has to offer (medication-wise, health-care wise, etc.). “Tommorow, I will begin my research study, finally!” This is what I thought to myself. Hopefully, all goes well.

During the afternoon, the little boys kept taking sticks, pretend they’re guns, and point them at me, saying “Chino, chino!” which I think means “Chinese, Chinese.” Obviously, I was the only Chinese person there. I felt like a minority. I tried playing with the boys and girls. Meanwhile, Gail was inside the room, having an important meeting. Gail always has important meetings, so I’m not surprised. Afterwards, we all drove home. In the car ride, the old woman sitting in the shotgun seat asked Gail who the oriental young man was. Gail said that he was me (Tony). Oriental. What a weird and funny adjective to describe someone…. I think that’s a first.

Later something was brought up something that I felt was the most intense and interesting aspect of the day. They said that during the morning hours at La Libertad, when I wasn’t there, she saw some Christian missionaries who kinda angered her. She said that they were rude in the polite way. She got into an argument with one of the men. She said that the people made the kids play with balloon swords, and took the kids away from the girls. The missionaries claimed that the conditions of the city don’t need to be improved, as long as the kids and the people know about Jesus. I knew immediately that this pissed our team off. I was a Christian. I wanted to say something, but couldn’t. I couldn’t find the right words. I didn’t ever want to sacrifice my values for the sake of pleasing people, but I also didn’t want to offend them. But I also didn’t want to stay quiet. Wow, what a dilemma. Damn it, I thought to myself. I’ve been struggling with this whole religion v.s. tolerance/open-mindedness debate in my mind for at least half a decade, and now this summer, I gonna have to face this again. But this might be a good thing. At least this will challenge me, and give me the opportunity to learn how to handle situations such as this in the future. Liberal? Conservative? Anti-this, pro-that? Evangelical? Non-evangelical?