Summer 2008

Well this summer came and went extremely fast. Time spent with family, friends, and working… all in all it turned out to be a pretty great summer. As soon as I returned home from Georgia this summer I started working with Orillia Parks and Recreation Day Camps as an inclusion worker, which is working with special needs kids that come to camp. It was a really rewarding job to have this Summer, I enjoyed it a lot although some weeks could be really tiring and stressful. Later in July, Kyle was able to come up to Ontario and spend time with my friends, family and getting to experience various activities around home…Here’s a few photos from my Summer to browse through. Hope you all had great summers! Enjoy!

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Georgia

First off, I want to start by saying that I had an absolutely amazing time filled with unforgettable memories. I will try and recapture some of my favourites starting at the beginning....

After a "minor" delay in Toronto of just over 3 hours, i was finally on the plane flying to Atlanta. When we landed, I began walking to the baggage terminal, thinking that like every other airport I had been to, it would be close by. I noticed trains along the way heading to the baggage terminal, but I've always enjoyed walking and avoid trains, or escalators, etc whenever possible so I continued walking for what turned out to be over a mile walk before seeing Kyle waiting for me in the baggage area... haha**Warning, if you ever want your flight to go smoothly, stay clear of flying with me!

We did several really fun things throughout the week, such as going to the Fox, which is a really beautiful theatre that was built in the 1920's and has been maintained exactly as it was first created, to watch Atonement....

...Spending the day at Stone Mountain, walking around a plantation museum (which was soooo cool) a 4D show, paddle boats (we got to wear the radest looking life jackets haha), and taking a gondola (i think thats what you would call it) up to the top of stone mountain before coming down in time to spread out a blanket, cook some pasta for dinner and watch the lazer show. I had never been to one before, so it was really awesome to get to see that too...

...Making homemake cinnamon icecream.. yum.. at Kyle's grandparents house...

...Visiting a Gone With The Wind Museum (i was so excited!) and seeing all the old books, posters, set designs, costumes... i really really love museums, history and experiencing things that make you step back in time, which the fox, the plantation and this museum were for me...

...Then getting to float down the Chattahoochee River with Kyle on innertubes...and going out to a really nice restaurant on the river with Kyle's parents called Canoe, which had really delicious muscles : ) yum...

...And my favourite- getting to relearn how to fish with Kyle in the creek behind his house... being so excited to catch a little fish, only to let it get away with the hook stuck in its mouth : ( haha...

But over everything I got to do and experience with Kyle and his family, I really just enjoyed meeting so many different people that are important in his life. Im also super thankful that i got to meet Erin and Carly, even if only for a few hours super late at night, or just getting to spend a day. For Carly's sake i am trying to make this post as short and concise as possible : ) and include lots of pictures... so i'll wrap up by saying that I really had an amazing time, thankyou to everyone I met for being so welcoming and easy to talk to, I cannot wait to return and see you all again!

Graduation

I am not sure exactly what to say about this particular event, however it seemed like something I could not just pass by without at the very least, giving it some spotlight. Our final class once getting back to school was Theology, which turned out to be one of my favourites from the whole year. Although often intense with the amount of readings, and assignments within the short 2 weeks it took to complete this modular class, it was a huge learning and growing experience, one that I have found continuing in my life even as i have moved on and returned home.
Even if it was a little strange finding ourselves graduating after one year amongst students who were graduating after completing their 4 year degrees, it seemed to be a fitting end to all the hard work we had put into this year. So many experiences and changes occurred in each of our lives, many that cannot even begin to be documented like this, but a few I have attempted to share with all of you through my posts this year. It was definitely a bittersweet end to our year, excitement about returning home and moving on to other things God had in store for each of us, but also sad to leave friends that had become extremely close in such a short amount of time.
And so in the midst of finishing up our final course, graduation, and packing we tried to get as much fun into our final days together at Prairie. A few of us girls packed into Janelle's van to head to her house in Calgary for an extra day together before I flew home monday morning, and the others headed off in their own directions. Since I was the only one leaving most of my things in storage over the summer, the rest of the girls had to somehow pack all all their belongings into this van, which was an interesting challenge in its self.
Four of us, Hannah, Kelsey, Julie and myself packed into the back seat of the van while Janelle and her sister sat up front. We had stuff crammed into every possible location we could think of... including the middle seats. Sitting in the back we could not even look over all the stuff to be able to see the front window : S. All in all it was a fantastic end to a fantastic year... and if nothing else at least we came out looking a little more intelligent...

Perfect Pandemonium

** Unfortunately I did not take any pictures during this part of the trip, however I know who to ask for a few pictures, and i'll post them here asap.

Many of you have already hear this ridiculous story of my journey back to Alberta from Guatemala… but I thought I would still write it out for those of you who have yet to hear, and also because it turned out to be a huge life experience for me- one that is certainly worth posting.

A few hours before landing in Calgary I recounted all that had been happening throughout this extended trip home on a barf bag compliments of Continental Airlines. It seemed fitting at the time. These are the words penned that day:


I have been sitting on what I hope to be my final plane seat for this trip, for about half an hour now, pen in hand and ready to recount everything over the past few days. I cannot think of where to begin. Did it start the moment I got out of bed? Or was it while waiting for the bus driver to show up? I cannot remember anymore, but somewhere there was a feeling, a strange feeling. One of excitement but also complete loss of control. I feel like I am 11 years old again, standing on the edge of that 50 foot cliff, waiting for dad to check and make sure the water below is deep enough for me to run and jump. Part of me was desperately wanting to jump, to feel the rush of the water as it engulfed me, but the other part of me was terrified, needing every aspect of what was about to happen next to be planned out perfectly. I have often felt the clash of these two traits within me, and here I was again. I had been packed for at least a week now waiting for this day, this moment. But the bus driver was supposed to be here an hour ago, and with each minute it was becoming more and more likely that we were going to miss our flight. When he finally arrived around 6am, we loaded as fast as possible, eager to be on our way. It wasn’t 10 minutes into the trip that we hit a huge traffic jam going all the way into the city. Nothing was working out according to plan. We finally arrived at the airport check-in with time to make it through customs, but as we began to check in the computer system crashed and but the time it had rebooted itself the plane was ready to take off and leave us stuck in Guatemala City. The airline tried to tell us that the only next available flight out of the country was 15 days away and that we would have to wait. Sometime around here I became completely exhausted and couldn’t handle all this insanity and fell asleep for a few hours amongst the luggage. When I woke up the interns were giving us the news. They had miraculously ‘found’ a flight tomorrow at 7am, so we would be staying at a hostel until then. That day passed slowly… everyone falling in and out of sleep, and being forced to find crazy things to do before falling fatally ill with boredom.

And so, much like the day before we again woke up early to be at the airport for 5am. We made it smoothly through check-in, and customs, and boarding the plane. The plane began taxing to the runway and started takeoff when we came to a violent halt. The pilot came on over the speakers telling us that the left engine didn’t seem to be working, a minor detail, and that we would have to go back and get a mechanic to take a look at it. Around 3 hours later we were preparing to take off once again, but sitting pretty close to that left engine I could hear it didn’t sound so great… we had a bit of a hard time clearing the mountains as the plane took off this time, but other then that, and the horrible noise we made it all the way to Miami, 5 hours late. It was here that our group began to get separated. Some headed to Dallas on a later flight and ended up sleeping the night in the airport, while a group of us made our way to the nearest Burger King, coupons in hand, before spending the night at the Crown Plaza in town. With 20 dollars to spend for each group of two we quickly turned it into a contest of who could spend the most of that money without going over… 2 triple bacon whoppers, biggie sized, and pie later Jang and I came out on top with the win… $19.95. I only made it through about 2 bites before Julie had to come in and save me, but the victory was mine!

At the Crown Plaza, Julie, Hannah and I ended up sharing a room… after a few minutes of jumping on beds, checking out all the bathroom freebies and finding the country station on the radio we decided to go check out the pool. A few hours later we came back to the room and I was able to talk to Kyle, who had made it back to school the day before. It wasn’t long into the conversation that Julie came rushing out of the bathroom with the news that our toilet was overflowing, and apparently it was my fault. This led to a hilarious endeavor of trying to find a plunger and figuring out how we could fix it since the cleaning staff had left for the night. The next morning we were again up early and heading to the airport… leaving a comfy bed, and a wet bathroom floor behind us. Our flight from Dallas to Calgary that was to take place later on today had already been cancelled and so instead of flying to Dallas we were placed on a flight to Houston with a connecting flight with Continental to Calgary. We made it through smoothly and everything seemed to be going according to plan for the first time this trip. All we needed to worry about now was getting from Gate A to Gate E in the 10 minutes there was between when we landed and when the next plane was about to take off. There was no way I was missing this next plane, I had had just about enough adventure for 3 days. As soon as I got off that plane we declared an every man for himself and started running towards the gate… a few of us hopping on a shuttle that moved slower then an old woman walking beside the tracks, walker and all. First stop I could get off I did and ran through the airport, only to find we had to go through customs again. I looked at the clock on the wall. 4 minutes until my plane takes off. Crap. I threw my shoes into a bin, and hurriedly walked through the scanner while a big security man laughed at me and asked me what I was in such a rush for. “Slow down girl!” he actually said to me. I didn’t have time to explain I just grabbed my bag and shoes and began running barefoot through the airport, needing to make it to gate E7. Of course that would happen to be at the furthest possible end of the airport. I made it there, panting, in time to see that the sign said the flight to Calgary had been moved to C23. You’ve got to be kidding me. I looked at the clock again, 1 minute. I was going to have to run faster then I ever had before if I was going to make it, and even then the boarding was probably already closed, but I didn’t have time to think, I just turned back around and took off running. I kept thinking of how badly I wanted to see Kyle and I was so close, I was not going to miss this flight, I had to get on that plane. I saw people from our group running towards me and just pointed at them to follow me, act now, explain later. I collapsed at the desk, saw the closed sign flashing on the monitor over head, looked out the window and saw the plane, and was barely able to make out the words, ‘can I get on that plane?’ She didn’t even look up at me, just said, its closed. I shut my eyes trying to control tears of frustration as I clenched my fists. ‘You don’t understand. I’ve got to be on that flight. I can’t wait another day, I need to be on that flight.’ She told me there was nothing she could do and pointed me to the guest services desk across the hall. I looked at the plane, so close. Maybe if I rushed the door… nope that man standing next to it looked pretty huge, I don’t think I could take him. I started walking over to the counter to see what flight we would be on next. I hear a horn honking down the hall and looked to see a bunch of friends being driven in one of those carts through the airport. That lady driving was a mad woman! She was honking that horn, speeding down the hall making people literally jump out of their way. They came to a halt in front of me and I quickly told them the final verdict. We all headed over to change our tickets. We were in the middle of canceling this flight and getting booked on a later one when the lady from the other desk tapped me on the shoulder and told us that our baggage had somehow made it onto that plane, so we had to be on it. I didn’t even think, just grabbed my stuff, rushed passed that big man at the door- haha showed you- and onto that plane. I’m a little scared to say that we have finally made it back- there is still a few hours left in this flight and as I’ve seen this trip, just about anything can happen… but I feel extremely excited about the possibility of finally seeing Kyle in a few hours after 3 long months… uh oh now I’m nervous haha.

I have learned so much throughout these past few days, and this entire trip in general. Faith when things are not going anywhere according to plan, and they don’t seem to make any logical sense, that for me is the hardest thing to do. To completely trust even when everything I thought was following Gods will is falling apart in every direction. Plan A, B and C have failed and I find myself left, helpless, vulnerable and confused. When in situations like this one though, I have found myself open to a very different way of trusting God, and letting go of all my plans- throwing that agenda out the window and just letting Him take me for this amazing exciting adventure. I am never disappointed when I trust in Him, and although everything on this trip seemed to be not working out the way it should, I was exactly the finale I needed before going home, and the adventure I was supposed to follow. Sorry that post was a long one… I often start writing and have a hard time remembering to stop. But it is a lesson and adventure that needed to be logged. Thanks for keeping me in your prayers throughout that trip home : )

Loma de la Cruz, El Salvador

Where to even begin? It has been 4 days since leaving Loma de la Cruz, Jucuapa, and this is really the first time I have sat down to think about everything that happened there. But here I go, letting thoughts and feelings flow as they come…


About ten minutes left, someone had said. The seemingly long drive from San Salvador, the capital of El Salvador, was reaching its end as our microbus drove down a bumpy dirt road through the jungle heading towards a small village outside the town of Jucuapa called Loma de la Cruz. The van was quiet, everyone immersed in his or her thoughts while taking everything in. I was busy doing likewise. I was excited, I knew I had to be- this is what I had been looking forward to for our whole trip. Two weeks in the middle of nowhere, engaging in a small community, doing manual labour, hanging out with the kids, and maybe even getting some English classes in there. What was there not to be excited for- not to mention the fact that we would be sleeping in hammocks every night? I was pumped, and I knew that this is exactly where God wanted me to be, yet thoughts of longing to be home with my family were overpowering at the moment. I had just talked to mom the day before, and Jordyn, my youngest sister, was really sick. I had known she had been not feeling well over the past month, but it wasn’t until then I found out that this was bad. I knew it was going to be an ongoing battle for me to be able to focus on where God had placed me in each moment and not have my thoughts and mind back home.
As we drove over the final hill, we saw the school to the left, and a road with houses scattered down it. We turned right and pulled up in front of a small little house hidden amongst the trees and bushes. We all jumped out, grabbed our bags and ran over, ready to inspect each room. But that didn’t take too long, we all stopped as soon as the door was opened-there was only one room. Around back was the bathroom, a cement hole in the ground surrounded by three brick walls and a sheet to cover the door, and a shower, a wall, large pila filled with water and a bucket to dump the water over your head. This place was going to be awesome.
The first few days went by, relatively in similar routine, wake-up after multiple people have tried their hand at getting me up (apparently I am a really deep sleeper…), eat breakfast, head to work, then later in the afternoon partake in different activities people invited us to. Many of the families (there are 30 families total within this village) wanted to teach us how to make something new (papousas, tamales, atoll, cashews), or have us try a different kind of fruit, the names of which I will never be able to remember. It was a lot of fun, and I was thoroughly enjoying getting to know the people, feeling so welcomed by everyone. It was somewhere around this time that English classes started taking place on our front porch every night. I’m not even sure how this happened, but it did. Shayla and I started out teaching a small group of about six aging from around 13 to 21 years old. By the end of the first night, the faces I had just seen for the first time seemed to be faces I had seen all my life. I found out rather quickly this place had a way of pulling your heart in fast and making you feel as if you had been there a lifetime. I looked forward to these night classes each night, even though dirty from working all day, and drained from the heat, this time meant a lot to both Shayla and I. It had been one of our goals in going there that we didn’t want to feel separated from the town, spending a lot of time in our house and for it to be an off-bounds type of a place. This class opened up the perfect opportunity for the people to feel welcome coming to our house, and I think we were both able to engage in these individual’s lives in a way we would never have been able to do otherwise. As a few nights passed, more people began coming out, and Shayla took the older group, while I hung out with the younger group. I remember in the midst of one of these classes, just looking into the eyes of all these kids, hungry to learn, excited to just be close to you, I was for the first time awestruck with where God had brought me. How did I get here?
So many times over this past year I have found myself stopping to ask this question. So many things I never could’ve planned for, so many things I couldn’t have even begun to dream. A year ago I would never have envisioned myself sitting on the dirty front porch of a house in a tiny village in the middle of the jungle somewhere in El Salvador, gazing into the eyes of these children calling me ‘enseñar’. Even a month ago, a week ago I never could’ve known. But God knew. That simple fact has continued to blow me away time and time again. No matter how much I feel the need to plan things out, or make sure I am ‘ready for the future’, no matter what I do, He always has a way of bringing me right back around to where He wants me. I can run, I can try and hide beneath a thousand carefully laid out plans recorded in my trusty black agenda, and yet it all seems so empty, so meaningless. It wasn’t until the beginning of this year that I began truly understanding the power of faith and jumping out, tossing away my own agenda and submitting to whatever plans God had for me (read Hebrews 11). And so, for the thousandth, no millionth time this year I found myself again in this place, a moment in time I ever could’ve planned to be in for myself, and I felt so at peace, this was exactly where I was meant to be.
Practicum for me was so many things, and I know that as time moves on more things will uncover themselves, and I will continue going through life tangled in these moments of unpredictable peacefulness. I am so thankful for this continual reminder that He has everything in control and that He above all else knows the path set before me. As I continue my journey down this path, and prepare for returning home, I am able to finally reflect back on time spent in Loma de la Cruz, right down to the final glance out the back of the van window, a mental picture of people I had grown so close to standing in the middle of the dirt road, understanding His faithfulness, and then turning to face the road ahead, buckling in for whatever it is He has planned next.

Practicum Begins

Tomorrow morning we are leaving to head for Panajachel. We are spending a week there, the first days being a Spiritual Retreat, and the last few days are times for classes, and hanging out with each other, preparing ourselves for the craziness of Practicum in El Salvador. In El Salvador, my team, Los Ochos, will be staying in a town called Juequapa. It will be the first time this village hosts missionaries, so we are super excited, but also nervous. Our actions and the impressions we leave will shape their mindset on future groups. Since we, the students, are in charge of ALL the planning, it has been a lot of work getting everything arranged, but so far so good. We will be staying in a small hut back in the jungle, sleeping in hammocks out on the porch, and eating beans 3 times a day! : ) haha. They have us building a wall for them at their local school, and installing new toilets in the bathroom. Also we are running a four day kid's day camp which i am really looking forward to. Today marks the last time i will have access to a computer for the next few weeks until we return from El Salvador, so I'm sorry, I'll be behind in posts for a while, but I will try and give a full update when I return. Please keep us in your prayers as we begin this new adventure!

Teaching English

During weekend ministries in Patzun, Janelle and I had the opportunity to teach two English classes at the school Alpha y Omega on Fridays and Monday. These kids were so much fun, and had an honest desire to learn. I loved this experience. In this class, over the 3 weeks we talk simple phrases, greetings, jobs, time, foods, etc. For the last class we did a scavenger hunt in English with the kids, which they loved. Not only did they have to find the objects, they had to decipher what each word meant. Then at the end of the class, they surprised us with cards they had made for each of us. It was so hard to leave, I really enjoyed my time teaching.
Our first class had 5 students, ages 15-18. Evelyn, Karen, Gladis, Hosea-Luis & Mary (not in photo).

Our second class had 6 students, ages 14-16. Claudia, Ingrid, Ruth, Rosa, Kevin, & Domingo.