May 30, 2009

• Poverty Experiment, part 3

  (If you haven’t read, parts 1 and 2 are the first 16 days of a month long experiment to live off of $2.50 a day, like half the world population does every day of their lives.)

  Day 17: i slept outside last night. the weather was perfect, and i just like to hear the sounds of open space around me. but i wonder how it would be if i HAD to sleep outside.

  After biking home from work, i stopped at the university to rest and sit in the middle of the football field. you can see the stars better. i was in the middle of a delightful cartwheel when the campus police came over and asked me what i was doing. “Cartwheels” i said with a dizzy grin. He smiled and said “well, go on then.”

    “We think sometimes that poverty is only being hungry, naked, and homeless. the poverty of being unwanted, unloved, and uncared for is the greatest poverty. We must start in our own homes to remedy this kind of poverty” –Mother Teresa

  Day 18 (Memorial day): We went out to eat to celebrate my Dad’s birthday. i felt like i had to eat everything because there was all this food on the table NOW and it won’t be there later…and it is just going to get wasted…i waddled rather than walked out of Johnny Carinos. ugggg.

  The novelty wears off. the extra pushes of the pedal on my bike makes my legs ache. i get home after work and see all this beautiful food n the table and i want to eat it. i don’t WANT rice and beans anymore. and i don’t feel like cooking anything else. and it grates against you. “Why can’t you just be normal?” and “What’s the point of giving up all these things?” and “It is not like you will ever really feel what it’s like to be impoverished.” because i won’t. my family will never let me starve. this little doing without things is like gnats. they don’t hurt, they just irritate you.

  Bitter. i can see how i’d get bitter really fast if i were not choosing to do this. seeing everyone else HAVE while i HAVE NOT. why? is this fair? i am working as hard for my $2 a day as they are working for their $20 an hour. in fact–i am working HARDER than most of them. All of this–just because of where i was born? because of who my parents are? What does that have to do with me?

  “It is poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish.” –Mother Teresa

  Day 19: For lunch i made spinach salad and bean tortillas for my family. i was so happy to have enough extra this week to be able to share. sharing made me feel…empowered. Like i COULD do something–that i could give something after all. and in return, the natives gave me red raspberry Ritters ice cream.

  I wanted to take the youth center girls to the University of Indianapolis before i returned to Brasil–but it is $5 each. my friend inspired me to write the lady in charge and ask if they could donate some passes. through e-mail, i found out they didn’t donate, but the lady would give me a discount ($2 each) and then personally buy FOR US the first 10 passes. So 8 girls and i piled in the old gray van and went to U of I. fur free.

  Day 20: the natives didn’t have any milk to trade with today, so i put applesauce on my granola for breakfast. it wasn’t too bad, but wasn’t so good either.

  Today was my last day at Carsons. Life is running too fast for me to catch. my friend Joyce stopped by, and knew of my experiment, as well as my love for Chic-Fil-A lemonade (only the bestest in the world!) and got me a nice big cup of lemonade. The kindness of people throughout this experiment has been overwhelming. or maybe it just helps me to see it better.

  Anna and i drove to Chicago and it was one in the morning when we realized we didn’t have any more money for the next toll booth. i opened my wallet (which i haven’t done in over 20 days) and found $4 in there. i can’t remember when i could have put it there…it covered the tolls perfectly. Anna got mad at how much it costs now and asked the booth lady why. “Mayor Daley, Ma’am” was her answer. Anna had choice words for Mayor Daley.

  Day 21: We are at Jesus People USA (www.jpusa.org) with Carina. it is community living, and many people would call it a hippy commune, and they really love Jesus. You live and work there for free, and they love having visitors. i’m a frequent visitor. i got really excited about the unlimited cranberry juice. several trips to the bathroom later, i remembered that moderation is a good thing.

  I feel like every time i go there i re-find a piece of myself. The piece that gets lost in busyness. the piece of me that sits down, meets new people, asks “What’s your story?” and then LISTENS.

  

  Nikki–Carina’s roommate who makes things out of whatever is around–like orange peels and tea bags and campbells soup labels.

  

  Phil–who writes poetry like psalms and train hops to different cities so he can wander around them praying for the city.

   

  Micah–who grew up in JPUSA and is now ready to see everything else. he might come to Brasil and ride down the Amazon on cargo boats with me. and he has the best mother. yeah.

  Day 22: I got home from Chicago and hopped on my bike to chase the sunset. i wonder if i can go fast enough one day. i found some lonely railroad tracks and watched the day end. it is the simple things that matter. it is where we find the Beauty. and then i did some more cartwheels.

  Day 23: Yea for fresh strawberries from our garden! they make granola taste SO much better!

  i’ve been given so many meals this week (and JPUSA is free) that my grocery list for this week–my LAST week–is pretty short. turns out…i have enough money in my budget (30 days=$75) to pay for my part of the gas for our Chicago trip. and that makes me happy. because otherwise it felt like cheating.

  What would Jesus do about poverty? (Ash Barker from “Make Poverty Personal”)

  * Give fish (like general relief, as Jesus did with direct healing and feeding)

  * Teach how to fish (like educating and training, as Jesus did the disciples and all who stayed to listen)

  * Ask why there are no fish (like protest and advocacy, as Jesus did turning over the temple changers)

  * Model a new way to fish (like incarnational modeling, as Jesus did in becoming a man and living in solidarity with us)

  * See a new way to fish, owned by the people (like facilitating transformation, as Jesus did in bringing the new covenant–a movment that can live on in us even after He returned to heaven.)

  • 3:46 pm
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