It's obvious moving to Latin America that a North American will encounter conflicts with Tasks v. Relationships and the way we view Time. Most of the time I can change my perspective and approach the situation Peruvian-style. Today was not one of those times.
We're in the middle of planning a conference for children's ministry leaders and have spent the week delivering packets of invitations for our key contacts to distribute. I felt worn out and really in need of a Saturday. And although meeting with these key contacts was the highlight of my work-week, I was disappointed that one of them would be "stopping by" on Saturday.
Expected to be here at 10am, I wasn't surprised when he rang the bell at 12:45. We had had a lively morning: the house was obviously less-than-perfect, cooking and left-overs all over the kitchen, the kids were in their underwear just out of the bath and sitting with lunch on the table, Michaela was ready to nurse and quite tired, and we were in the middle of plans for the afternoon.
So I muster my relational energy to speak professionally in Spanish with household chaos going on and find (once again not to my surprise) that the "stopping by" to pick up some things in fact would turn into an hour long visit (really, a 3 hour long visit that was cut to an hour due to all of the above!). For every sentence out of his mouth there were three tasks that I had been interrupted from, screaming for my attention. By the time the meeting had ended I was completely exasperated.
I know that in Peru, the fact that you came is more important than what time you came.
I know that our key contacts are involved with our ministry on a volunteer basis, using
their free time on Saturdays to serve with us.
I know that spending time with people shows that you value them.
But my internal mechanisms still fight against these cultural norms.
I want appointments that are on-time and efficiently brief.
I want a clear division between work life and personal life, for each to be protected from the other.
My drive is to accomplish tasks and be productive.
Although nothing was abnormal about today, some days I just fail to be as "Peruvian" as I need to be. Days like today I feel like a fish out of water.
