Being and Butternut Squash

Sorry about the lapse in blogs. Since my last post I've traveled a tiny bit more (mid year retreat!) and things have pretty much settled down. I'm in charge of a space for english tutoring at my nonprofit and have been learning about creating websites. I've started an english conversation group with some young adults in my congregation and have really enjoyed speaking english with my friends. I was warned at Chicago orientation that there might come a point in the year where I stopped having words to describe my experience. I think I'm there now. And it's not that I'm overwhelmed with my reactions and emotions or anything, but rather that things have become more normal. Here I am, just making my way in the world.

One of my goals for my remaining months here is to learn how to cook Argentine foods. Empanadas, tartas, milanesa, dulce de leche, etc. So last week I was making a tarta de zapallo, aka butternut squash tart, and wasn't sure if I had enough butternut squash. "Bueno," I thought, "es lo que hay." This basically means, "it is what there is." It's a commonly used phrase at Compartiendo Un Sueño where we sometimes only have the essentials (crackers and jam) to serve for a snack. Chloe and I had been talking about spanish phrases that we might have to give up when we return to our home communities and how our brains are this weird mix of languages right now, so I started thinking about why I like this phrase.

Es comes from ser, "to be." Hay comes from haber, which more or less means "there is." If you remember from spanish class, there is another verb that also means roughly the same thing as these two, estar. That's three commonly used verbs that all refer to existence. And we didn't even include existir, to exist. What might that say about a culture's values?

Something we talk about as YAGMs in accompaniment in Argentina/Uruguay is ser vs hacer ("to be" vs "to do"). We come from a culture that puts a lot of emphasis on action and some days it is hard to remember that just being is enough. Showing up with a smile, sitting beside a stranger, or being a set of ears to listen is often what another needs. Of course there are days when more action is necessary, but it is comforting to remember that a lot of good can come from the simple act of being with someone.

Es lo que hay means getting by with what you have. It reminds me that I can wish and imagine and hope for all the best things, but something is existing in front of me. It is what it is. I might as well make the most of it.

I thought about going to the verduleria down the street and picking up another butternut squash for my recipe, but it turned out that lo que habia was plenty.