A Distant Land

Less than 2 weeks to go!!!

2010-04-28T08:02:00.000-07:00

These are my last days serving in Southeast Asia. I have 1 and half weeks to go. The past month has been eventful. April started out with my friend Fitri's wedding on Easter day. I was invited to attend the wedding ceremony which usually is only open to family and close friends so it was an honor. I spent a few days with teammates in the west part of our providence...an 8 hour drive on more holes than road:0 We had a great, refreshing time together. It was good for me to visually see how large a providence this is (though I only saw a small portion of it in our 8 hrs of driving) and the vast number of our target people who need to hear the good news and who I need to be fervently praying over. Last week I finished english classes in the public school and had my first of 2 farewell parties last Saturday. So goodbyes are being said, packing has begun, and I have one more farewell gathering next week with the students from the English center. Pray for me...as I say goodbyes that my friends would have ears to hear and eyes to see the One who is the only hope of life, the One who was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities, Jesus who has brought us peace with God through his precious blood (Isaiah 53:5).

Fitri's Wedding Ceremony
Trip to the West...beautiful!!!

Farewell Party

Friends!

2010-02-28T19:18:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures from my trip 2 weeks ago, visiting with friends from my fellowship in the states. I traveled with some of them to another providence on the island. It was a great time getting to know them and I returned home deeply encouraged by them and refreshed in the Word.

IBC friends:)
Visiting a Japanese Fort
We had a few little followers who enjoyed shutting all the doors behind us
I was giving thanks to God for not having any scorpions this large in my house (yet:)...that's my shoe next to it so you can see this is no ordinary scorpion!
Taking a tour of the farm...hangin with the goats!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas?

2009-12-09T22:37:00.000-08:00

Perhaps it's not beginning to look a lot like Christmas in the Tropics and in a country where few celebrate Christmas, but in our home the excitement of Christmas is growing! My roommate and I have decorated our little home, songs of the promised Lamb of God echo through the rooms, and we are brainstorming ways to share the story of the promised Messiah with our friends and neighbors. It's a great excuse to bake something yummy to take to our neighbors and visit with each of them. We are preparing for an Open House Winter event with our students from the English Center in a little over a week and beginning to share the story of the true meaning of Christmas in classes. May many hear of the hope that has come to us and find rest for their souls in the Messiah this Christmas season. Merry Christmas!

Our little Christmas tree...we made all the decorations except the cute little red ornaments.
Our scrapbook paper doves...adorable!
My bamboo nativity a worker/tentmaker on another island made
Our over sized stockings

Life goes on...with or without electricity

2009-10-24T05:54:00.000-07:00

What a month it's been thus far! I had been planning for a while to take a few vacation days earlier this month for a little refreshing time with a few friends...and that I did! It was great to see a few friends from the North part of the island, even if it was only for a few short days. I went home with more liveliness to face the long days and weeks ahead. I say they were long because I came home to continual power outages almost every day since then. God is truly gracious to have given me a few refreshing days of rest before heading into a month of long hot evenings and nights which were often not so restful. So my roommate and I have found ourselves cooking, eating, talking, and playing card games many evenings this month gathered around our portable emergency light (what a blessing its been to us) and candles scattered around the house. Feeling as though some length of time has passed we look at the clock...only to find its not even 8pm! I went out of town this week for 3 days and I wasn't home for more than 3 minutes when the power went out again, to which my roommate says, "you know, the power hasn't gone out one time since you left." To this I am certain...God is working all things, even power outages, for my good...for my sanctification! While electricity and life here is ever changing, its a delight to put my hope in Him who is unchanging.

What's new?

2009-08-07T23:34:00.001-07:00

What's happening this month? We are opening an English center for university students and teachers in 2 weeks. It has been our hope to begin this new project and as a joint team effort we have been working since Feb/March to begin courses by August. In May we had a soft opening to see what kind of response we would get and the turn out was great. Many university students and teachers showed interest in joining our English courses. We are so excited to see what great things the Father will do through this new project.
Ramadan, fasting month, also begins this month and ends mid-September. This is a time when the majority religion here will begin fasting from the first call to prayer at 4am to the last call to prayer at 6pm for 1 month. Last year during this time I was talking with a teacher asking her many questions about why she fast. That particular day she told me she was fasting, but it was after the fasting month had ended. She said, "I'm fasting b/c my daughter wants to begin university studies soon and so I want her to get into a good school." She fast with the expectation of reward...if I'm good enough, God will give me what I want. The answer often given as to why people here fast for 1 month is, "to pay off the bad things I've done from the past year." It's works based....if I'm good enough, God will except me. But even that is not true for many. They often say, "I hope I'll be forgiven." I've never met anyone here who has said, "I am forgiven", only "I hope." While this month is a very sad sight to watch and hear many people outwardly trying to show everyone else evidence of their fasting, it is a wonderful opportunity to share the truth. May many find the narrow road that leads to life everlasting.

2009-07-14T20:26:00.000-07:00

Like many things I am behind in keeping you updated...please forgive me. I spent a few weeks out of town after the school semester ended in early June. It was a much needed time away for me, but I am now ready to start the new school semester and to see how the Father works in the months to come. I am still very uncertain what the next months will look like as I am still searching for new schools to work with this semester. I have 10 months ahead of me to live among these people and I give praise that the days ahead rest in the hands of the One who is able to do abundantly more than I can ask or imagine.

These pictures are from a village trip with a group that came to work with us last week. Thanks to Rebecca A. for the photos.

The Big Celebration

2009-04-30T07:21:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday afternoon I had my national friends over to the house for a cultural birthday celebration. The bday tradition here is that the bday person treats his/her friends. When I first heard that tradition last year after moving here I thought, "well that's no fun!" It makes a lot more sense to me now. It's your opportunity once a year to treat your friends. In this culture its not custom to pay for a friends meal unless you are the one who gives the invitation. So for your bday, its your cultural opportunity to treat and/or serve your friends. I spent a few days inviting via text message and personal visits to the schools to make sure all the women from my english classes were invited to my home for the party. Its so difficult here to know how many will truly come, as out of cultural politeness they tell you they will come. So I planned to expect as many as I had invited to be on the safe side. Its a good thing I did. The first guest arrived EARLY...that was unexpected! Within a few short minutes the house was quickly filling with guest. Our helper thankfully agreed to help me for the party and stayed busy in the kitchen cooking away...I am so grateful for her! I felt like a chicken with his head cut off rushing back and forth to the door to welcome each guest and trying to chat with groups of people in between running to the door for more guest. At least 20 or more people came and filled up our little house. Each guest greeted me with a gift which I opened after the party was over (its a cultural thing to open gifts after the guest have gone home) and recieved some nice and interesting gifts:) In the end it was an enjoyable time with friends and the fact that they hung around to chat for a while after eating was a good sign that they enjoyed it as well.

Heritage

2009-04-24T02:23:00.000-07:00

My grandmother, at age 95, left this earth last Saturday evening. I'm rejoicing that she has joined her risen Savior. I was reflecting on my relationship with my grandmother and what I've learned from her over the years. What I remember most about my grandmother was sitting at her kitchen table listening to her and my grandfather read the Word of God and pray together early in the morning before they started their day. The year before I began elementary school my mom was starting to work again, so I spent the day with my grandparents while she was at work. You don't usually look at a 4 or 5 year old and think they will remember much a few years down the road, but God has sustained precious memories of my time with my grandparents from that year. Now, 20 years later, I love to see how God has used those earlier examples of godliness in His followers to shape my own life as a follower of Jesus. What a sweet heritage to see generations of faithful followers of Jesus and what a treasure it must have been for her to live to see children and grandchildren believing in Jesus and seeking to walk in righteousness.

"Grandchildren are the crown of the aged, and the glory of children is their fathers." Pr 17:6

Dancing, Music, and New English words???

2009-04-07T22:20:00.000-07:00

Last Friday I went to a youth exchange program where they performed various cultural dances and songs. It was a fun event and a good chance to meet a few new faces. And its always fun to hear awkward phrases in English...oh, and to learn new English words from nationals, like "Photoization" - meaning, I'm not really sure???

Apparently this is "Photoization"Here comes the bride, all dressed in Gold?
Valerie trying on the L peoples traditional bridal headpiece

A short Trip

2009-03-18T08:08:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of the month, my roomie, Valerie, and I went to Singapore for a 3 day trip to do some of her visa work . We had a spare day while we were waiting for the visa to be processed so we had a fun day of shopping at the malls and grocery store. Oh, the glorious sight of cheese, real milk, and lots of sandwich meat! I truly sat there staring at the different kinds of cheeses debating if I should buy a block and eat it all within the next 24 hours that remained before heading back. And then I realized the challenges one might face when overloaded with dairy products. I thought it best to follow my mind telling me "NO its a bad idea" over my stomach telling me "YES, we love cheese...eat cheese". Its amazing the spiritual battles you can face in the grocery store! After a little early morning shopping we had some lunch at Subway (it was wonderful) and headed out of town to the zoo. We had lots of fun riding the subway and bus, watching people drive in an orderly way, and not being stared or yelled at for a whole day...what a pleasant experience. We took our time at the zoo and went to the night safari later that evening. It was a lovely day despite some rain in the evening. A lot of walking, but it was relaxing not having an agenda for a day.Val next to this super big snake...which I believe can be found in our country!

A new year in the PacRim

2009-01-26T02:22:00.000-08:00

I'm now settled into my new home with my friend Valerie from the states who arrived about 2 weeks ago. Our little home is just the right size for us girls and my cat Caster is making sure we know he is the man of the house taking over my living room chair and everything else. We had a fun adventure a couple days ago pushing water out the house as the rainy season has pointed out some leaks. As we ran around to find things to catch the water from pouring in the back door, the electricity just had to go out. Well, that's life here...no surprise to me, but perhaps to Valerie. We'll just hope for no more flash floods until we can get our roof fixed. That is a big request to ask in the peak of rainy season...but we'll ask anyway! Val and I also had some durian (other wise known as stinky fruit) the other day. The people here love it. There is nothing appealing about durian...it smells like garbage, it feels like soggy bread from the garbage, it taste like garbage, and it lingers with you for hours afterward. We threw the leftovers next to the road and even the rats wouldn't eat! Perhaps its wise not to eat what the rats are unwilling to eat.

Catching some of the water coming into the house from the roof
Watching the yard floodDurian
not so thrilled about this nasty durian in my mouth

Home for Christmas

2008-12-25T19:23:00.000-08:00

I'm home in the states for Christmas and my sister Leah's wedding and thoroughly enjoying the holiday foods. I spent last week in bed recovering from a virus I picked up before leaving for the states. That wasn't so fun, but I was grateful to have access to a dr when I returned to the states. Trust worthy health care...what a nice thing to have! I'm doing better now and excited to enjoy american food. Well, Christmas day has come and gone and now the wedding activities begin. It should be fun and then its back to the PacRim for me. I guess I should start loading up on some after Christmas things before I head back:) 50% off CANDY!

The gift of TURKEY

2008-11-10T23:04:00.000-08:00

We just celebrated an early Thanksgiving with a few national friends...and we had Turkey! I haven't seen a turkey in a year, minus the turkey sandwich meat I had at Subway last June, while visiting Thailand. A real Turkey. I am a lover of turkey meat so living where it can only be found one time a year (maybe) in the capital city makes that time of year all the more thrilling. A friend recently went to the capital and while there she was shopping for some Thanksgiving supplies for us to make some special things from home for our celebration. To all our disappointment they didn't have a single thing we were wanting....but they had Turkey! How exciting! God gave us that turkey! And some how between us all we put together a lovely Thanksgiving meal. I even made home made pumpkin bread and pie for the first time and it was tasty. Now I understand why someone thought to sell pumpkin in a can. Try cutting up a big pumpkin with an dull knife sometime! You might have a greater appreciation for some of those little conveniences....I do:)

Idul Fitri

2008-10-02T03:29:00.000-07:00

This week our people are celebrating Idul Fitri as their month of fasting has ended. People have time off of work to go to their hometown to visit family or stay home and welcome family, neighbors, and friends into their homes. They are all such wonderful hostess as my friends and I visited their homes. Almost a dozen different cookies and various local snacks are laid out on a table for all their visiting guest, drinks are served, and often the special foods of Idul Fitri are ready in the kitchen to feed all who visit. The first day of Idul Fitri my friends and I visited some students/friends in an area on the outskirts of town. Their families were so hospitable to us and they never let you leave empty handed. Today I visited my neighbors and had every kind of snack I think is available in this country. I visited 3 homes and each home offered us (no escaping the offer) at least 10 different snacks and a drink. Needless to say, I learned after the first days visit with friends not to eat lunch before going to visit people during Idul Fitri. I've never had so many carbs in one hour. Of course they didn't let us leave empty handed either, filling bags of various snacks for us to take home. The hospitality of our people puts me to shame...they are my teachers in many ways.

Celebration...Asian Style!

2008-08-03T01:50:00.000-07:00

I attended a Khitanan (circumcision) celebration...the after party! Well, it was a interesting cultural gathering. This was the celebration for the son of my friends house helper, Wati. A circumcision celebration is about as festive as the weddings here. They go all out...turning a lower class neighborhood gang (alley) into a festive hall with tent coverings, tables of spicy food and dessert, a hundred chairs filled with people eating and socializing, a stage with live music, and of course with an unnecessary amount of volume coming from the speakers. We Americans often get promoted to the seat of honor at such events whether we want it or not. Today this meant sitting in the greeting room with the family...and eventually becoming greeters to all the guest that came by. They love to touch the white people:) Part of our gift to the family was to sing a song together...we sang "Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee." Its exciting to sing praises to our God among the lost...though we did have an interesting time with the man at the keyboard insisting on playing along with us. That wasn't so pretty! These events are about a 6+ hour deal so we headed home after a couple hours. With the noise, heat, humidity, and crowds of people continually coming in, a person reaches his/her limit. So it was another long, yet interesting day.

My househelper, Ijah and I (Ijah - middle)

Preparing food in the back..good thing I ate before I watched them make it!

Culture and Art

2008-07-21T02:04:00.001-07:00

Some friends took me to a store nearby that sells clothing, crafts, and art of our people. It was amazing to see the details of some of the art and clothing that were all hand made.I like this picture...I look fierce!

All beaded art (design is the symbol of the L people - ship that is believed to carry them through life's journey)Hand carving of symbol of the L peopleWomens traditional dress (hand weaved tops) that are usually worn at weddings and other special eventsMens traditional dress (I really like the painted mustache on the man...it makes me laugh)dolls that are wearing the traditional clothing of the L people's

4th of July...Celebrated on July 7th

2008-07-20T20:08:00.000-07:00

We celebrated the 4th of July a few days later after we returned from our 2 week trip. Fireworks make fun pictures! We had some guest in town for a couple days and some other friends from the city join the party. We had a lot of fun and entertained the neighborhood too...they don't see fireworks too often around here.

Elephants...I love Elephants!

2008-06-22T06:32:00.000-07:00

I'm presently spending a couple of weeks in a neighboring country for a big meeting. I've been able to reconnect with a lot of friends and I've met lots of new people over the past week. I was thrilled to spend my free day, last Friday, riding Elephants with some of my friends. We drove about half an hour out of town to a village area where there was a lovely Elephant Village. We set out on a hour tour through the river, forest, and a little village side view. I rode on Lucy the elephant...she was was pleasant though she did occasionally throw back a little elephant spit with her trunk. I learned to move quickly from the path of the spit when her trunk came back for some bananas. I can't say the same for my friend who rode with me. We had a lot of fun and took a lot of pictures. Here are a few for your enjoyment.

Through the river we go

my new friend Kristen and I
A small village along the journey
Lucy the Elephant

Ladies Night Out

2008-05-19T21:11:00.000-07:00

I spent the evening with some close friends from the kost (dorm) before I made my move last week. We went for woodburned pizza! No it wasn't burned...it was delicious and probably the best pizza I've had in this country. The Chicken BBQ pizza is my favorite...people say that's weird, but it's wonderful! It was my last night out with my kost friends before I moved. Well we had fun hanging out and sharing pizza together. My national friend was going picture crazy...they love taking of pictures!

Dago Pakar

2008-05-11T23:11:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was an adventurous day! I joined some friends from language school and a couple of our teachers on a journey to Dago Pakar which is a local forest area. I know now not to judge the distance of a "walk" from my English friends who are regular hikers. We walked up through the kampungs (clusters or villages of small homes) and then made it to a shocking amount of stairs that led to the top of the hill. By shocking I mean shocking! My English friends are bad guessers. They said "oh about 200 steps"...more like 400 steps! My heart was racing so fast half way up the hill I thought I might faint and plummet down the 200 steps I already climbed. Needless to say...my legs are in much pain today. Well, we finally came to Dago Pakar and it was certainly worth the hike. What a beautiful forest! We journeyed through the forest trails and came to the Goa Japang which are caves that were made by the Japanese years ago. We walked through one of the caves with only two small flash lights...unhelpful when there are six people. To top off our day in the forest we saw several monkeys swinging around in the trees on the mountain side. Well it was a 3 hour hike, but I had a wonderful time exploring!

Some of my friends and language teachers

Picture of the Dago Pakar valley from the mountain side

walking the trails in the forest
inside the cave

B-Day!

2008-04-22T03:38:00.000-07:00

Well, another year of my life has passed by and life moves by so quickly. Not being with family or close friends makes those special days not feel so special when your the only one celebrating. Don't go feeling sorry for me or anything. My bday actually turned out to be pretty nice. It started out a little depressing, though I didn't want to admit it to anyone. I went out to use the internet after class almost cried reading ecards from family and friends. Then I went over to a little bread store and bought myself a birthday cake. I would have loved to make one, but I don't have a kitchen or oven at my place to cook in, I didn't feel like going to anyones home to make one, and really I just wasn't in the mood to make it! Sad when you have to buy one for yourself, but who cares...I wanted cake! So I found the cutest little personal size cake that had some weird icing bears on the top of it, probably because it was for a small child. Anyway, I didn't care what it looked like...it said "Happy Birthday" and was a cake so I bought it. When I got home a national friend was waiting for me. She knew it was my bday and wanted to celebrate with me so we went to the movie store and then to a nearby restaurant where I ate my first duck. Yes, birthday duck and very tasty. And suprisingly I didn't get sick from it the next day. Oh ya and to top off the excitement, I dropped my little cake on the floor trying to take a picture of it....the story of my life. No worries...I still ate it. However, the icing bears didn't make it! So my bday celebration turned out to be a unique one and certainly memorable.

Oh this is me excited about my birthday donuts...very yummy!

This is my little bday cake after it fell on the floor...the bears didn't make it . One 's missing a head and the other is missing his eye. Poor bears!

One more to go

2008-04-10T20:49:00.000-07:00

Well, unit 2 of language is over and now I have one more unit of studies in language school. This will give me a basic covering of language before getting started with teaching. Oh, I still have so much to learn. Beyond that, life is going by so quickly here. Being a FL girl makes climate adjustment no problem at all. Some of my US friends are having a hard time physically knowing what time of year it is...those 4 season people! Summer clothes year round is great for me...however here my problem is that i have to wear long sleeve, fall and winter clothes for hot summer weather. That's not so enjoyable on the really hot days. Well, it looks like the rainy season is ending and dry season is just around the corner. That means "hot" becomes "really really hot"! Well, I'm relaxing this week before starting unit 3 next Tuesday...Doing a little shopping and meeting up with friends. I need to go now, but will write soon.

Speechless

2008-03-31T00:12:00.000-07:00

I have never been so humbled...or maybe just embarrassed...to not be able to say something as simple as "I'm going to the store." That's just basic and the past week I can't get anything out. You know there's something wrong with you when you can't even speak or think in English anymore. Today only got worse. You know it's bad when the teacher, who is never critical, gives you this blank look and points out how many simple words you miss spelled in your writing, in front of the class. I wanted to go home and cry...but at this point I think crying would have been to difficult. Perhaps laughing uncontrollably would be more likely to happen.
Today we were learning how to respond in sympathy to people when there has been a death. I couldn't even make the right facial expression when I said it. I was smiling and somewhat laughing. What kind of sick person am I? I need to go home and pray for forgiveness. Let's hope the rest of the week won't look like it did today.

Pesta!

2008-03-16T04:43:00.000-07:00

We had a party the other night at my dorm. One of the girls graduated from college so we celebrated together with a volcano of yellow rice with all the fixins...literally. It was so cute! Also, here's a picture of the girls from the dorm. It was an eventful night and I learned a little about the culture.

The disappointing story

2008-03-14T21:00:00.000-07:00

My korean friend wanted some sate from down the road and I am a fan of sate so I wanted to go as well, though not as enthusiastic as her because of the rain. Well, we set out in the rain down the road and took public transportation further down the road to where she wanted to get sate from. So while we are there she wants to bargain for some fresh fruit...which she got a steal on buying it off a guy that makes juice. How funny...buying off the juice guy! So we finally get to the sate place and wait a few minutes while they make it on the grill...we ordered 20, but their small. So we are all excited and go to find a public transportation van to head home and the usual ones weren't coming. My friend says..."what about taking the blue one." They are different colors for different parts of the city and routes. I had not seem many of them around before and wasn't familiar with this one so I told her to ask where he was going. She said something to him and responded back and she got on so I followed. I assumed that she asked if he went to our street....assumed! So he drives up one or two blocks and does a u-y in the street and heads the other way! Keep in mind it was raining the whole time we were out. So we get off and cross the busy road again and jump on the correct van and head to our street. Of course there were some weird guys on the van and that's always uncomfortable. We walk up the hill back toward our dorm stop at a small store across the road for my friend to buy something. Oh, by this point the bottom 5 inches of my pants are filled with water. She pays and reaches down to collect her bags and says to me...."where's the sate?" My response...laughter. I knew right then what she had done. In the process of jumping from van to van she left the bag of sate on one of them. I was laughing more because I had walked around for a least half an hour in the rain with water all over my pants only to come home empty handed. And to top it off, neither of us had anything to eat for dinner so we had to buy some pasta from the little store and had a very sad meal of buttered noodles with cheese...and some weird fish cake stuff that she loves. Oh, my friend is so embarrassed by that story, but it makes me laugh every time.

Back to school

2008-03-08T23:15:00.000-08:00

I just returned from visiting with friends on the other island and really enjoyed my time with them. It's always refreshing to be with them. Now school is back in session and I begin another unit of language tomorrow. Yesterday I went to a friends home and we had breakfast for dinner...you have no idea how exciting that was for me. Umm...Pancakes! My travels last week were safe, though interesting. That's a story for another day. I think the internet might cut me off so I'll have to share in more details later.

Still Going

2008-02-11T23:51:00.000-08:00

This weeks language classes is going smoother than last week. Of course, I could say differently tomorrow. Today we learned about bargaining, telling your family tree, etc. What a combination for one day. Though helpful information to know. Yesterday, we had fake conversations with other classmates on the phone. That was pretty humorous and there's nothing more humbling that butchering a simple "is this the right number" conversation. Well, I laugh at myself often. What else is there to do. I also have found that your life is boring when you find computer card games an excitement in your day. That's my life! The days are long and there's only so much interaction I can handle or carry on when my vocab is limited. Well, talk to you soon. Hopefully I'll have some pictures to post soon.

The Race Begins

2008-02-03T23:46:00.000-08:00

Today I began language classes...4 hours a day, 5 days a week seems scary now. I felt a little like the test dumby most of the time as I was often picked to answer questions first...and usually had no idea what I was being asked. I have to say that learning numbers 1-1 million is a little much for a one hour sitting. Our teachers are great and very understanding when we are a little slow to pick things up. Well, I've been in country 3 weeks now and have thankfully only been lost 1 time, and missed my stop on the public transportation 3 times. That's pretty good! Walking around here is a real exercise. It's a nice little uphill walk to my house from the main road and by the time I get home from going to the grocery store down the hill I'm ready for a nap.
Well...I'm enjoying life here and adjusting to the weather and food. So far so good with adjusting to the food. It's very spicy, but good. Well, here are a few more pictures from the area where I will be permanently living in a few months. I don' t have pictures to post of my place now, but I'll try to post some soon.

A Whole New World

2008-01-21T23:07:00.000-08:00

It is a very different world here and life can be a little overwhelming some days. Just going down to the market can be enough excitement for one day. It has been a long time since I have updated my blog...that is mainly due to a lack of internet access and moving around for the past 2 weeks. Last week I visited to city where I will permanently be living these next 2 years, but now I am on another island to learn the language and study the culture. The country sights on the way here were beautiful and I enjoyed going to the beach last week with my friends. Going to the beach here is very different from going to the beach at home. May times you will take a small boat over to a small island where you can snorkel and see the coral reefs. The reefs are beautifully colored and a there are so many interesting fish to see. A clown fish tried to touch my hand a couple times while I was swimming. I think he was just a curious as I was of him. I visited a small village last week and spent time with my friends meeting some of their national friends. Time is going by quickly and I have so much to learn in my short 3 months of language training before returning to the other island to work. Pictures are taking too long to post so I will send them another time. I miss my family and friends at home very much and look forward to hearing from many of you.

Leaf Diving

2007-12-01T14:02:00.000-08:00

Take away television and what do you get? Leaf Diving! Well, we have learned be to creative with our spare time. It looks fun, but do not be deceived...it's a little painful. I have discovered that the large pile of leaves do not really make hitting the ground any softer. The soreness remained for a couple days.

That's me raking leaves with a broom. You use what you've got.

This is the first leaf diver...and no she was not laughing. I was, but not her. What I would pay to go back and have a video of this one.

Ya, that's me. Funny to watch...but painful!

After the fatal fall...laughing, yet in pain.

In other news...I can officially drive Internationally. All you need is 15 dollars and a form and there you go. Scary isn't it! Watch out left side drivers!

Another Week Gone By

2007-11-12T18:53:00.000-08:00

The sunset is lovely here so I will let you enjoy it as well. The fall is going by fast and winter is coming quickly and very chilly. I am missing the smells and taste of the season, but when I was out studying at a coffee shop last week I had a holiday coffee drink and let me tell ya...it was like drinking Andy's mints out of a cup. It was a highlight of the day.
I began my immunization shots last week...fun times. Pretty nerve racking with a nurse on each side holding needles and others sitting by watching. You get two shots at a time...One in each arm and then they pull out round two of the shots. Not really the most enjoyable way, but it gets it over quicker and helps speed things along. So far I only have one battle wound on my arm from what appears to be where the nurse went shot happy. I'll let them see the results of last week tomorrow when I go for round two of immunizations. Dispite my battle wound...they really do a great job. It takes skill to be synchronized with another person in giving shots.

Finally Here!

2007-10-30T18:30:00.000-07:00

One week has passed and time is going by so quickly. I really like this side of the states...even though driving the winding roads in the dark takes some getting use to and some faith that I won't hit any dear in between here and Walmart. Crazy...so when I arrived last Tuesday I checked in and began moving my things in and to my suprise found that a good friend from college is my roommate. We never thought we would be seeing so much of each other. The personalities of all those living in our quad are so similar it amazes me. We really enjoy each others company and make for an entertaining group when you get us going with some board games. However, we've discovered that UPWORDS is waaaay to challenging for our minds. Sad...I know! I was up before the sun this morning and the sights are beautiful here! The building where I am living overlooks a lake that is surrounded by the changing fall trees. Oh, I wish you could enjoy it with me. I really am enjoying my time here even though the numerous task fill up the days. These past days have been a real blessing to have the fellowship of other like minded friends. I am so encouraged by them daily. I miss you all and look forward to hearing from many of you and spending the holidays with all my family.

Pictures from Home

2007-10-20T07:41:00.000-07:00

I took some pictures of some favorite sights in Lakeland. I was taking pictures at Lake Morton of the swans and ducks when I came upon a dead one, scattered about. No...I did not take a picture of it! Anyway, enjoy the sights. I leave on Monday for Virgina so I have been packing, but it accured to me that most of the things I need for the next two months are still in boxes in my closet. When I move last May the moving date was moved up a day at the last minute so my family and I rushed to pack everything and threw it in the truck. Of course when I returned home I found that I had no idea what was in what boxes and there was no room to unpack everything. So I only unpacked what I needed for the summer months and now...I am having a scavenger hunt to see what I can find in the rest of my boxes before Monday. Exciting...I know. Well I better get back to packing. I will write again after I arrive in Virgina.

Visiting Family

2007-10-15T20:22:00.001-07:00

Leaving In One Week

2007-10-15T10:51:00.000-07:00

Hello family and friends,
I am packing up and heading out! My two month training begins next week in Virginia and time with family has come and gone. I was able to see all my family over the past month and visited my friends in Louisville one last time. I am looking forward to my time in Virginia and building new friendships.
To all of my friends in Louisville, thank you for all your support over the past months and weeks. You all have been such a blessing to me over the years and I am so thankful for the time I have had to grow with you. Thank you all for your prayer support. I cannot express to you how grateful I am for your partnership.
To my family, thank you for all your support, care, generosity, and prayers. My time at home visiting with you has been a blessing, in more ways than you know. I have enjoyed the last month of visiting with my siblings and am grateful for each of you. I love you and will miss you all very much, but look forward to the ways we will grow as a family over the next few years.