Friday, January 25, 2013

Day 19: Good News! I Failed!

by Annie Pierpoint

I’m sure, dear readers, that you have been anxiously awaiting news of the potholes. I am pleased to report that I have been an epic failure at re-paving the roadways of the Dominican Republic. I will leave them just as I found them – ragged, dangerous, and full of trash.

The Annie from January 7th would react to this news with much weeping and gnashing of teeth. She would declare the whole trip a failure because she hadn’t achieved this ridiculous goal and many others. I have not fed all the children, rid the government of all its corruption, memorized every Spanish word, or started a sex-positive feminist revolution. Go figure.

There was no sex-positive revolution in this
Roman Catholic catechism textbook ...
So what have I been up to? What are the deep, poetic conclusions to tie up with a pretty bow and save for future sermons? I dunno. I mean, I’ve been talking to my boyfriend over Skype a lot, which to a perfectionist like me means I’ve been ignoring the Dominican people and not practicing my Spanish. But as Andrew sweetly and gently reminded me, our nightly check-ins afforded me an opportunity to process my experiences. He observed that I have “allowed real transformation” in myself, and ended with: “I don’t know how you would have been able to do anything more than what you have done.”

Be still, my little perfectionist overachiever heart – I think I’ll keep him.

But I digress. The deep, poetic conclusion I’ve reached (with the help of others) is that over the last three weeks I have taken a first step. It’s been more like a first date, actually. My initial interactions with the Dominican Republic were awkward, but we both approached the table with open hearts and we got to know each other a little bit. I would definitely go on a second date.

In other words, beloved Episcopop readers, my grand achievement is that I let in as much of the Dominican Republic as my little heart could handle. And—miracle of miracles—I set aside my own agenda for a little while and listened. As soon as I quit griping about potholes and my privilege, I met wonderful people. I started wondering how I could serve them.

I didn’t master every word of Spanish, resolve socio-economic inequality, start a revolution, or build a hospital. Rather, I have utterly failed to meet my own expectations. Thanks be to God!

1 comment:

  1. gosh annie lol. I think you met and exceeded your expectations despite the odds. You had a plan in mind, found the opportunity, you were going to do whatever you needed to do financially to get there and God met and exceeded your desire, you took the chance, jumped through proverbial hops, got your ass to DR and now you're making it back. You're right where you need to be it sounds like. You're not finished yet :)

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