Class Update...

So today was reckoning day.

Last week, if you remember from my post, I got very upset with my class for not doing their homework and flipped out on them.

Today, I had my class line up outside and get there homework out in order to enter class. As it turned out only about half my class did their homework. So they spent the hour doing work around the high school for the discipline officer.

The other half of the class that did their work was suprisingly interactive and engaged. We got through a ton of material and it was by far the most rewarding class I've taught so far.

Some highlights:

When discussing indirect (sales) tax, I told them about how powerful a weapon this can be for government to discourage a type of activity.

So we talked about taxing petrol (gas) and how if one city taxes it at 10%, you go to the neighboring city that isn't taxing gas and pay less money. I then asked what happens if the country taxes gas at a high amount and it doesn't make sense to drive to Chile to get gas, what are you going to do?

Their response:

PROTEST!!!!

Kill the President!

Steal the gas!

My response:

No, you can't protest, you can't kill the president, you can't steal. Think about what economic decisions you would make.

Their response:

Ohhhhhh...not use gas!!! (they got the concept and talked about switching to natural gas which is somewhat popular with taxi drivers)

My question:

What things should we not tax?

Their response:

BEER!!!!!!

My response:

Ok, no tax on beer. Who's happy? (most of the class cheers) What are the benefits of cheap beer? What about the negatives?

They eventually realized that the negatives of the population being drunk were real, and had real costs to the public (cancer, fights, car accidents, bad moral decisions, domestic violence, family problems, etc.) So then they wanted to ban beer!!

Weekly Update

Lots of happenings again this week.

Monday: I had an interesting experience emailing a hostile guy about a story (the names have been removed to protect the guilty):

Me:
Mr. Blank
We're trying to track down some more information you wrote about in your blog. Are you available for a phone interview this afternoon? If so, what number can you be reached at?
Thank you in advance for your time,
Ryan

Blank:
Mr. Thomas,
By email.

Me:
In your blog entry, _______, you wrote: "_________." We called the Bishop but they flatly denied this was true. Your link goes to a blog titled, "_________" which links to CNA's article on the same topic. Neither of these support your statement. Can you share where you got the information about Bishop ____ urging _______? Why did you link a story that has nothing to do with your claim?

Blank:
Ah, of course. Agency, not Service. You are with Bermudez's outfit. He wrote a nasty thing about me that included a falsehood among many idiocies. But, it is Lent and I am working on forgiveness. In the event, the link was to a different article - trying to get used to a new laptop here and am consistently hitting the wrong keys. The link is corrected so thanks.

Me:
I'm sorry that you and Alejandro Bermudez have a personal conflict. As a news service, we work in the field of reporting, it is my hope that our exchange can be professional, and I hope that whatever past you and Mr. Bermudez have can be reconciled.

I've contacted _____, who hosted the event, and a recording of the event shows the attached link misrepresents Bishop _______words. He did not address the issue of _____at all during his prepared speech, and only mentioned in the Q&A that on the general subject _____. So while the words are correct, it was totally taken out of context.

In light of the denial by the diocese of ____ and the recorded tape, do you think that it's responsible to use the rumor blog sphere as a reference point? Also, are you planning on amending your blog with the correct information?

Do you believe that a Bishop that asks people, in general, to be engaged in the public sphere by _____is stepping outside of "ecclesiastical jurisdiction?"

Blank:
Sir -when you drop your accusatory tone, I will consider replying to you. Needless to say, anyone in the employ of your agency should be careful about throwing around worries about what is and is not responsible journalism.

Me:
Thank you for your time and thoughtful responses. I believe I have sufficient information to complete the story.

Lenten Blessings,
Ryan

Tuesday:
I went to school to teach and found that most of my students had not done their homework. I was upset to say the least, so I gave them a pop quiz. Later on during the class I got really upset because I was trying to have them do a group activity, but one kid was reading a book for another class. So, that's when I snapped. Game's over kids. Get back in your seats. For the first time in a really long time, I got really, really upset and let them know it.

These kids, for the most part, come from a very wealthy background where they're used to having servants in the house cooking and doing EVERYTHING for them. So homework is not something they get very much of in Peru. Also, Peruvian teachers have much more informal buddy/buddy relationships with their students, which I think underminds authority.

So, needless-to-say I'm fighting multiple currents. I chewed them out for their disrespect, for wasting my time and their time, for telling them about all the Peruvians that I've met that would die to be in this class and school. We'll see how much of an impact it has next week.

Wednesday:
I received an email from 8 doctors and health workers in Uganda that wrote a letter in support of Pope Benedict's comments on condoms in Africa, I also worked on a story about one of them who was in Uganda in 1980 when the outbreak occured and they didn't know how to treat it. Very moving story about this guy.

I also met with my American students that I'm teaching Catechesis to. I love these two, they're twins and they're 16 years old. They have very little background in scripture and Catholic Teaching, so we're starting from scratch. Every week I see so much growth! They're asking tough questions and really giving much more thoughtful answers! Very rewarding to be a part of their journey.

Thursday:
Man, Thursday was a busy day! I wrote about 5 articles including one about Notre Dame students launching a response to Fr. Jenkins invitation to President Obama. It was neat to talk to them and learn about how this group came to be as well as hear what students had to say about the situation. They were late interviewed on Fox News about their work.

Friday:
Today I wrote a few articles and learned that I may be traveling to New York City in May to meet with the Associated Press for a business deal. More to come on that later.

This week I also meet Cardinal Pell of Australia. He's a very tall and humble man. I transcribed an interview he gave to our Agency today, and it was very interesting to be writing what he said and really carefully listening to his words. Lots of wisdom in this man!

On a lighter note, Hillary Clinton was in Mexico this week. She stopped at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe and left a bouquet of white flowers “on behalf of the American people.” Which was a very nice gesture, but then preceding to say, "that's a nice painting (of the Virgin of Guadalupe), who painted it?" Msgr. Monroy looked at her for a moment in disbelief and said, "God."

For those of you that don't know the history, the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe was miraculously imprinted by Mary on the tilma, or cloak, of St. Juan Diego in 1531. The image has numerous unexplainable phenomena, such as the appearance on Mary’s eyes of those present in the room when the tilma was opened and the image’s lack of decay.

Probably something the Secretary of State should be informed of before arriving to the Basilica. Luckily, she covered herself by saying "you have a marvelous virgin!” Oh Hillary!

The Pope, AIDS, Condoms, and the Truth...

I had the chance to interview two leading AIDS researchers, and email one in Uganda this week. Needless-to-say, I got quite an education on what's going on in Africa. Luckily, the conversation was recorded, so I was able to go back and listen to it a few times.

It's hard to say what was most interesting about the interview. The Director of Harvard's AIDS Prevention Research Facility gave me a surprising lesson on human nature. Explaining how condoms act a lot like sunscreen. You put on sunscreen, and instead of staying out in the sun of an hour, you may stay two hours, or all day. So this added protection actually increases your risk tolerance and you're willing to do things you wouldn't otherwise do, which is one of the big problems with saying that condoms are the solution to the AIDS epidemic in Africa.

My interview can be found here:
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=15445

A UC Doctor also spoke with me on his research. He has a fascinating story that I hope to write about this week. He was doing a research project for the United Nations trying to prove that condoms work in preventing AIDS in Africa (and he was a big supporter himself at the time), but after seeing the ineffectiveness, he had to be honest intellectually and change his view. Surprisingly, the UN NEVER published the report.

Both of these doctors site the multi-billion dollar AIDS industry in Africa (and liberal sexual revolution ideology) as the biggest resistors to the answer: fidelity and monagomy. Since there's no money in this behavioral change approach (that has been found to reduce infections in Uganda by 2/3), big corporations and governments are against it.

Hopefully, with your help and the courage of these researchers, we can begin to spread the truth, because based on how the Pope was attacked, they're not interested in the truth either...

Sunday Night Reflections

Today I spent most the day doing my taxes, looking up information, and adding up all those things that you don't even get to take a deduction on. In the end, I'm getting money back. So in celebration, I decided to walk down the street to my new favorite place: Creeps and Waffles. It's a Columbian restuarant that employs only head-of-the-household women. They train them very well and teach them all aspects of the business. Not only is the place immaculate, but friendly, and quite formal. Their specialties are homemade ice cream, as well as using only native grown foods of Peru. So I took the 5 minute walk down to the restuarant and found a nice little table outside to have a cafe and ice cream.

It was strange tonight, because I think it's beginning to get cool, almost like a little bit of "Fall" in the air. Logically, it makes sense that Fall is coming, but it is very weird to think that Fall comes in March/April.

Tonight I brought a notebook and a pen. My task was to begin to write my life story. Sounds like something strange, but as part of my spiritual meditations, my spiritual director encouraged me to begin to write my life story down, just the events, no feelings. At first, it was hard to think about my first memories, but as I began to write, I remembered more and more. It was almost like the walls to my memory were crumbling.

For some reason I have been resistant to writing my story, perhaps it was because there were things I didn't want to remember, maybe it was because I don't enjoy writing that much, or maybe it was because I like to remain a mystery, even to myself. Whatever the cause, it was an eye-opening experience.

I reflected upon the first time I learned how to ride a bike, my first love (Lindy), stupid things that I said when I was 5 (like when I announced to my pre-k class that when I become President, I'm going to bomb Mexico and make it the 51st US State, only to make a Mexican boy in my class cry). These memories and reflections don't seem like anything material, but as I think that we are always adapting, and our earliest memories are the foundation of who we are today. If we don't remember these, if we do understand them, then how are we to grow as human beings?

I also reflected upon how much I love Peruvian desserts...

Benedict: God is Love

8. We have thus come to an initial, albeit still somewhat generic response to the two questions raised earlier. Fundamentally, “love” is a single reality, but with different dimensions; at different times, one or other dimension may emerge more clearly. Yet when the two dimensions are totally cut off from one another, the result is a caricature or at least an impoverished form of love. And we have also seen, synthetically, that biblical faith does not set up a parallel universe, or one opposed to that primordial human phenomenon which is love, but rather accepts the whole man; it intervenes in his search for love in order to purify it and to reveal new dimensions of it. This newness of biblical faith is shown chiefly in two elements which deserve to be highlighted: the image of God and the image of man.

The newness of biblical faith

9. First, the world of the Bible presents us with a new image of God. In surrounding cultures, the image of God and of the gods ultimately remained unclear and contradictory. In the development of biblical faith, however, the content of the prayer fundamental to Israel, the Shema, became increasingly clear and unequivocal: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord” (Dt 6:4). There is only one God, the Creator of heaven and earth, who is thus the God of all. Two facts are significant about this statement: all other gods are not God, and the universe in which we live has its source in God and was created by him. Certainly, the notion of creation is found elsewhere, yet only here does it become absolutely clear that it is not one god among many, but the one true God himself who is the source of all that exists; the whole world comes into existence by the power of his creative Word. Consequently, his creation is dear to him, for it was willed by him and “made” by him. The second important element now emerges: this God loves man. The divine power that Aristotle at the height of Greek philosophy sought to grasp through reflection, is indeed for every being an object of desire and of love —and as the object of love this divinity moves the world[6]—but in itself it lacks nothing and does not love: it is solely the object of love. The one God in whom Israel believes, on the other hand, loves with a personal love. His love, moreover, is an elective love: among all the nations he chooses Israel and loves her—but he does so precisely with a view to healing the whole human race. God loves, and his love may certainly be called eros, yet it is also totally agape.[7]

The Prophets, particularly Hosea and Ezekiel, described God's passion for his people using boldly erotic images. God's relationship with Israel is described using the metaphors of betrothal and marriage; idolatry is thus adultery and prostitution. Here we find a specific reference—as we have seen—to the fertility cults and their abuse of eros, but also a description of the relationship of fidelity between Israel and her God. The history of the love-relationship between God and Israel consists, at the deepest level, in the fact that he gives her the Torah, thereby opening Israel's eyes to man's true nature and showing her the path leading to true humanism. It consists in the fact that man, through a life of fidelity to the one God, comes to experience himself as loved by God, and discovers joy in truth and in righteousness—a joy in God which becomes his essential happiness: “Whom do I have in heaven but you? And there is nothing upon earth that I desire besides you ... for me it is good to be near God” (Ps 73 [72]:25, 28).

St. Patty's Day and other ramblings...

My co-worker, Walter, and I enjoy a large American burger and a Peruvian beer at an American style bar in Lima.

My friend Charlie bringing a delicious mocha at my favorite cafe.

Another favorite delicious drink of mine, the chocolate helado.

Some quick reflections:

As my Spanish gets better and I get a little more courage to go out and about, I’m learning quite a bit about what the life of an average Peruvian is like. What I’ve learned has really opened my eyes to what it’s like to actually suffer and sacrifice.

My friend Charlie:
He’s 23 years old, has a high school education, knows some broken English, is engaged to a woman that is carrying his first child. Charlie wakes up every morning at 5 am, showers, presses his clothes, eats breakfast with his wife and then catches a series of 3 microbuses to work. His trip takes him about 90 minutes in the morning. He arrives at a small café where he’s worked for the last 3 months and prepares the kitchen and shop for the busiest time of the day: lunch.

Recently, Charlie got a promotion and is managing the wait staff: 1 or 2 people on a given day and now gets to wear a black tie which he’s really proud of and irons daily. At lunch, he usually will make special trips to deliver food for his loyal customers, runs around serving as many as 30 clients at once, and will provide back up support when the kitchen gets swamped. It’s a long day, and he’s usually closing up shop at 10pm, a 13 hour day, working 6 days a week, for a salary that was recently increased to about $300 per month.

On his days off, I thought he would be able to spend them with his pregnant fiancé, but in fact she has to work on those days. So the only time they actually get to see each other is between 11:30 pm and 1 am, and then when they wake up at 5 until he leaves at 8:30 am. It must be a tough life, but he didn’t tell me that. Instead, he works away, always wearing the biggest smile when I see him, “Ryan, my friend. Que tal?

This is a pretty story of the average Peruvian, it makes me sad, but then I realize that he is really happy. It’s almost the case of not knowing what else is out there. Many of the waiters and waitresses don’t know anything about the United States or Europe except for the occasional movie they watch, but I find that many of the movies and songs they like are not current pop culture, but rather, movies and music from 10+ years ago.

I’m sure I’ll have more on this as time goes on…

Pope Benedict: God is Love

7. By their own inner logic, these initial, somewhat philosophical reflections on the essence of love have now brought us to the threshold of biblical faith. We began by asking whether the different, or even opposed, meanings of the word “love” point to some profound underlying unity, or whether on the contrary they must remain unconnected, one alongside the other. More significantly, though, we questioned whether the message of love proclaimed to us by the Bible and the Church's Tradition has some points of contact with the common human experience of love, or whether it is opposed to that experience. This in turn led us to consider two fundamental words: eros, as a term to indicate “worldly” love and agape, referring to love grounded in and shaped by faith. The two notions are often contrasted as “ascending” love and “descending” love. There are other, similar classifications, such as the distinction between possessive love and oblative love (amor concupiscentiae – amor benevolentiae), to which is sometimes also added love that seeks its own advantage.

In philosophical and theological debate, these distinctions have often been radicalized to the point of establishing a clear antithesis between them: descending, oblative love—agape—would be typically Christian, while on the other hand ascending, possessive or covetous love —eros—would be typical of non-Christian, and particularly Greek culture. Were this antithesis to be taken to extremes, the essence of Christianity would be detached from the vital relations fundamental to human existence, and would become a world apart, admirable perhaps, but decisively cut off from the complex fabric of human life. Yet eros and agape—ascending love and descending love—can never be completely separated. The more the two, in their different aspects, find a proper unity in the one reality of love, the more the true nature of love in general is realized. Even if eros is at first mainly covetous and ascending, a fascination for the great promise of happiness, in drawing near to the other, it is less and less concerned with itself, increasingly seeks the happiness of the other, is concerned more and more with the beloved, bestows itself and wants to “be there for” the other. The element of agape thus enters into this love, for otherwise eros is impoverished and even loses its own nature. On the other hand, man cannot live by oblative, descending love alone. He cannot always give, he must also receive. Anyone who wishes to give love must also receive love as a gift. Certainly, as the Lord tells us, one can become a source from which rivers of living water flow (cf. Jn 7:37-38). Yet to become such a source, one must constantly drink anew from the original source, which is Jesus Christ, from whose pierced heart flows the love of God (cf. Jn 19:34).

In the account of Jacob's ladder, the Fathers of the Church saw this inseparable connection between ascending and descending love, between eros which seeks God and agape which passes on the gift received, symbolized in various ways. In that biblical passage we read how the Patriarch Jacob saw in a dream, above the stone which was his pillow, a ladder reaching up to heaven, on which the angels of God were ascending and descending (cf. Gen 28:12; Jn 1:51). A particularly striking interpretation of this vision is presented by Pope Gregory the Great in his Pastoral Rule. He tells us that the good pastor must be rooted in contemplation. Only in this way will he be able to take upon himself the needs of others and make them his own: “per pietatis viscera in se infirmitatem caeterorum transferat”.[4] Saint Gregory speaks in this context of Saint Paul, who was borne aloft to the most exalted mysteries of God, and hence, having descended once more, he was able to become all things to all men (cf. 2 Cor 12:2-4; 1 Cor 9:22). He also points to the example of Moses, who entered the tabernacle time and again, remaining in dialogue with God, so that when he emerged he could be at the service of his people. “Within [the tent] he is borne aloft through contemplation, while without he is completely engaged in helping those who suffer: intus in contemplationem rapitur, foris infirmantium negotiis urgetur.”[5]

Weekend Update!

Again, it's been too long since my last post. I suppose that happens when you're working a lot and just don't have the energy to write at the end of the day.

I've had another crazy, crazy busy week. I worked on two articles. The first one hit the big time!

Here's the background: http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=15311

Here's the story:
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=15325

This story led to the legislators pulling the bill because we exposed what they were really trying to do. Glenn Beck, who has a great show on Fox News, also had a guest on that quoted the story. One for the good guys...

Also worked on this story:
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=15376

But our weekend editor, who I had never met before, didn't understand this wasn't supposed to be a general news story, but more of an investigative report and edited it down a lot. He removed the important link of Clinton trying to redifine the term "embryo" as a tactical move like he had done in the past with his famous line, "it depends on what the definition of 'is' is," "I didn't inhale," and "I didn't have sex with that woman." I made the case in my original article that he was trying to do the same thing again, but this guy didn't get it. So it's just a boring article now.

Oh, and school is good. These kids are crazy, but good.

My Spanish is also coming along. I have a new tactic that's working well. I've been going to restaurants and cafes by myself and making friends with the wait staff. Since waiters are generally in the lower class (at least at the cheaper places I go to), they don't usually know much English, which helps me a) not to feel stupid when I try to speak Spanish and b) helps me to make new friends because I think they feel bad for this poor lost gringo!

Next week is a big week for us. We have a meeting for our Catholic Mobile which would allow us to produce an application for the iPhone and other mobile type technologies. I also have my second Economics Class, which will be big to see how much they understood the homework I gave them. I'll be teaching Catechesis on St. Patty's Day (to an Irish family no less) and trying to raise a little money on the side!

Benedict on Love

7. By their own inner logic, these initial, somewhat philosophical reflections on the essence of love have now brought us to the threshold of biblical faith. We began by asking whether the different, or even opposed, meanings of the word “love” point to some profound underlying unity, or whether on the contrary they must remain unconnected, one alongside the other. More significantly, though, we questioned whether the message of love proclaimed to us by the Bible and the Church's Tradition has some points of contact with the common human experience of love, or whether it is opposed to that experience. This in turn led us to consider two fundamental words: eros, as a term to indicate “worldly” love and agape, referring to love grounded in and shaped by faith. The two notions are often contrasted as “ascending” love and “descending” love. There are other, similar classifications, such as the distinction between possessive love and oblative love (amor concupiscentiae – amor benevolentiae), to which is sometimes also added love that seeks its own advantage.

In philosophical and theological debate, these distinctions have often been radicalized to the point of establishing a clear antithesis between them: descending, oblative love—agape—would be typically Christian, while on the other hand ascending, possessive or covetous love —eros—would be typical of non-Christian, and particularly Greek culture. Were this antithesis to be taken to extremes, the essence of Christianity would be detached from the vital relations fundamental to human existence, and would become a world apart, admirable perhaps, but decisively cut off from the complex fabric of human life. Yet eros and agape—ascending love and descending love—can never be completely separated. The more the two, in their different aspects, find a proper unity in the one reality of love, the more the true nature of love in general is realized. Even if eros is at first mainly covetous and ascending, a fascination for the great promise of happiness, in drawing near to the other, it is less and less concerned with itself, increasingly seeks the happiness of the other, is concerned more and more with the beloved, bestows itself and wants to “be there for” the other. The element of agape thus enters into this love, for otherwise eros is impoverished and even loses its own nature. On the other hand, man cannot live by oblative, descending love alone. He cannot always give, he must also receive. Anyone who wishes to give love must also receive love as a gift. Certainly, as the Lord tells us, one can become a source from which rivers of living water flow (cf. Jn 7:37-38). Yet to become such a source, one must constantly drink anew from the original source, which is Jesus Christ, from whose pierced heart flows the love of God (cf. Jn 19:34).

In the account of Jacob's ladder, the Fathers of the Church saw this inseparable connection between ascending and descending love, between eros which seeks God and agape which passes on the gift received, symbolized in various ways. In that biblical passage we read how the Patriarch Jacob saw in a dream, above the stone which was his pillow, a ladder reaching up to heaven, on which the angels of God were ascending and descending (cf. Gen 28:12; Jn 1:51). A particularly striking interpretation of this vision is presented by Pope Gregory the Great in his Pastoral Rule. He tells us that the good pastor must be rooted in contemplation. Only in this way will he be able to take upon himself the needs of others and make them his own: “per pietatis viscera in se infirmitatem caeterorum transferat”.[4] Saint Gregory speaks in this context of Saint Paul, who was borne aloft to the most exalted mysteries of God, and hence, having descended once more, he was able to become all things to all men (cf. 2 Cor 12:2-4; 1 Cor 9:22). He also points to the example of Moses, who entered the tabernacle time and again, remaining in dialogue with God, so that when he emerged he could be at the service of his people. “Within [the tent] he is borne aloft through contemplation, while without he is completely engaged in helping those who suffer: intus in contemplationem rapitur, foris infirmantium negotiis urgetur.”[5]

A little reminder...

That I'm in the third world:

• Gunshots woke me up the other night
• It began to rain and our alarm went off for 20 minutes, at 3 am...
• I bought a delicious bowl of fruit, yogurt, honey, and granola at the gym ($1.50), tried to pay with $/.50 ($17) and they didn't have change...so irritated and embarrased. Luckily, I had $2 which they accepted
• I couldn't find any hand soap (like the pump) at the grocery store...and I looked for 20 min

That's all for now. Back to work preparing my lesson plans...