Our European Adventure

Hi guys!!!

Sorry I went AWOL for the summer, I've been teaching English Camps in Italy. And now that I'm here, I'm not sure exactly how to summarize the experience. I'll try to keep it brief:

My dear friend of 10 years, Ari, and I went to England for a few days before our week of orientation. While we were there we went to the British Museum and saw the Rosetta Stone, Egyptian hieroglyphs, and Greek statures. It was a good experience, but I'm not that into art objects and artifacts. My favorite by FAR was the National Gallery. There we explored the paintings of Van Gogh, Monet, Turner, Degas, Rembrandt, Seurat, and many, many others. (Ari and I had an art history class together in college and she majored in it, so I couldn't possibly have had better company!)

Orientation in San Remo (about a half our from the French boarder) was a lot of fun, meeting and playing camp games and activities with English speakers from England, Scotland, Australia, and New Zealand. It's amazing how we all speak the same language but how much we still have to translate what we are saying to each other. Slang, vocabulary, accents, and articulation all became huge topics of discussion. We learned that as US Americans, many of us turn our "t"s into "d"s...think about it: do you say "pretty" and "beautiful" or "pridy" and "beaudiful"? To give you an idea about vocab, in British English a "biscuit" is a "cookie" in American English, British "dummy" = American "pacifier", and British "pants" = American "underwear" (important difference, apparently). We learned songs and games and activities in a group of 150 college-aged kids. I know what you're thinking, and yes, it was awesome. :o)

After orientation, we spent one week each in Marcianise (Naples), Montecastello (Tuscany), and Pisa. We were then put on "hold" in Baiardo, which is a stone village in the mountains of San Remo where counselors are welcome to stay while waiting for more work to open up. (With hundreds of counselors in dozens of camps throughout Italy, everyone gets put in reserve sometime or another.) While staying in Baiardo, a group of us took trips out to see Monaco and Milan. Both very beautiful and incomprehensibly wealthy.

Next we were placed in a two-week camp near the Swiss boarder, and I absolutely fell in love with my family there. All of my homestays were incredible, but I think because I spent twice as long with this family and my "parents" were so young (31), I got very close to them. They also reminded me a lot of my family in upstate New York. I met all of their sisters, brothers, in-laws, parents' parents, and they own a restaurant right by the lake...it really felt like a little Trumansburg. Only you could see the Swiss Alps. :o) It was especially hard to say goodbye to them.

After that camp, Ari and I traveled to Milan, Venice, Florence, Cinque Terra, Nice (France), and then flew home from England. 22 hours after landing in SFO, I was back again to fly back to Honduras. There is soo much more I'd love to tell you about, like all the great conversations we had about faith and Jesus with coworkers and roommates in hostels, about how in Venice we wore Carnevale masks and ran through the streets at night pretending to be superheros, about the Uffizi and trying to go boho in Florence, about the INCREDIBLE pesto and seascapes in Cinque Terra, about hilarious Aussie roommates, about sleeping on row of metal chairs in Heathrow with armrests pressing in from all angles...but neither you nor I have the time for all that. And I still have to upload pictures.

So much for keeping in brief. Haha.

Thanks for reading! Ciao for now. :o)

An Abundance of Hope

The two boys who left Micah to return to the streets are both sincerely seeking help to be freed from their addictions: one is spending the weekend sobering up at his dad's house before returning to the Micah house, and the other is considering a drug rehabilitation program.

Just last Friday I was sitting on the ground with Marvincito's dirty head in my lap as he slept. It was one of the most maternal moments I've ever had (and I've had many, with three summers as a counselor and two classes of students). There's a lot I don't know about these boys: I don't know much about the families they come from or what family remains. I don't know their thoughts or feelings about the states of their lives. I don't know their desires for themselves or hopes for the future. But I know our Jehovah Rapha heals and restores, and I know the depth of the hope I harbor for them. It's moments like these, moments in which I am so clearly reminded that God is compassionate and at work in the lives of His children, that I have to stop and say thank you.

"The Lord is righteous in all his ways and loving toward all he has made." Psalm 145:17

Creere ("I will believe")

I heard this song in church the other week, and I've been finding a lot of encouragement and comfort in its words. I realize I didn't tell you guys, but a few weeks ago two of the Micah boys left to return to the streets. It's been hard to watch the power their addictions have over them. There's a lot more that is on my heart, but in spite of everything, faith, hope, and love endure.

"Creere"

Cuandos sientas desmayar
Y que ya no hay fuerzas para cotinuar
has pensado abandonar
ese sueno, ese anhelo que en tu alma esta

La mente dice no nada puendes hacer
Pero tu corzon no para de
Y la montana se encruentra frente a ti
mas ya se que al cruz haras si lo puedes creer

Creere, creere, creere oh

cuando parazca como si no puedas pelear mas
y se ve como so el camino llego a su final
cuando nadie to crea, cuando te cierren las puertas
por favor no te detengas porque debes continuar

La esperanza te hara mirar mas alla
Y la fe te dara fueza de creer que venceras
ahora es tiempo de ananzar y del pasado olvidar
Y celebrar lo que vendra juntos cantar

Y las palabra qu vendran intentando apagar
Elfuega que hay en ti las debes olvidar
Y el viento sopllara pero no to detendras
si dios esta a tu lado tu tienes todo lo necessario
Para levantarte yu creer

Porque Dios es el que nos da las fuerzas
confia confia confia confia canto conmigo si
creere yo creere

"I will believe"

When you feel like you're about to faint
And when you don't have the strength to continue
You have thought about abandoning
that dream, that desire that's in your soul

The mind says that there is nothing that you can do
but your heart doesn't stop
And you find the mountain in front of you
but I know that you will cross if you believe

I will believe, I will believe, I will believe

When it seems that you can no longer fight
and it looks as if though the path is about to end
when no one believes you, when the doors are closed
please don't stop because you must continue

The hope will make you look beyond
and faith will give you the strength to make you believe that you will win
now is the time to move forward and forget about the past
and celebrate what will come, together singing

And the words that will come trying to extinguish
The fire that's inside, you must forget them
And the wind will blow but you will not stop
If God is at your side, you will have everything necessary
To lift you up and believe

Because God is the one who gives us strength
Trust, trust, trust, sing with me
yes I will believe, I will believe

Listen to it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PTuvs-5Fo0

Near mutiny

Background: Students in the elementary are supposed to line up in boy and girl lines after recess and lunch for teachers to come and neatly collect them for class. A couple of my girl students like to fight over my left arm (which is the front of the girl's "line"), but seeing as how most of the fifth grade doesn't actually walk in lines (knowing they won't have to in sixth grade), both of my arms are usually occupied by these two girls. Over the last few weeks, more girls from my class have started to join in this race to me and my popular arms, and today things got a little ridiculous.

After lunch I had a swarm of girls flock to me with big grins, hands reaching out towards me from all sides. There were at least two or three girls trying to get ahold of each arm. One of the girls who feels closer to me (she usually stays after school to do homework, help me clean, and play games with me) reached for a leg, and another started for the other. I evaded the second girl, laughing and hopping unsteadily, towards the classroom. There was talk of carrying me down to the room. I realize I was entirely unprofessional in my demeanor, but I know I have their respect. I could have stopped the fun with a look, but I think I'm feeling more sentimental as summer is approaching. I'm trying to prepare my heart to say goodbye (to my students, to the Micah boys), and it's going to be rough.

Guatemala Semana Santa

Hi guys!!!

As you may or may not know, for Semana Santa (Holy Week) some friends and I went to Guatemala. It was absolutely fantastic: rich in culture, vibrant colors, and, let's say...a diversity of experiences. :o)

We took a bus from Tegucigalpa to San Salvador, El Salvador, then took a second from there to Guatemala City. We stayed the night at a hostel (Quetzalroo, owned by a Guatemalan and an Aussie couple), and the next day took off (by chicken bus) for Panajachel. Panajachel has an ENORMOUS lake surrounded by volcanoes, and the community has a very islandy/hippie feel to it. It was, by far, my favorite part of the trip. We took a boat to see other little towns across the lake, too. After a few days we headed over to Antigua for the sawdust carpets and Easter processionals. All gorgeous, but also crowded. Somewhere in the midst of the week we also went salsa dancing, I got left on a chicken bus by myself for a terrifying 5-10 minutes, and I developed a deep love for the national bird of Guatemala, the quetzal. (Quetzals symbolize freedom because they can't survive domestication.)

I put my pictures together in an album on facebook, which you can access here (even if you don't have a facebook account):

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2038178&id=65800756&l=3cf7cd822b

In closing, here is a quetzal for your enjoyment:

Micah 6:8

I'm not exactly sure where to begin. I mentioned street kid soccer in my last post, but I'm going to need to go into further detail.

Earlier in the year, I went to an outreach referred to as "street kid soccer," which is exactly what it sounds like: playing soccer with kids who live in the streets of Tegus. I didn't play because 1) I'm non-competitive by nature, 2) I value my life, and 3) I like talking with the others on the bleachers. A couple of weeks ago my friend Michelle asked if I wanted to go again with her, and I'm forever grateful she did. I met and made friends with Hannah, who was working as an intern with the Micah house for a couple of months. As we were talking, and she mentioned she would be leaving to go back to the States in a couple weeks, so I made it a point to go back to street kid soccer the next week. Hannah warmly welcomed me to visit her and the boys at the Micah house that night, and my experience there was (and continues to be) a huge eye-opener for me.

The Micah house is a group home for boys who were once street kids. Growing up in the streets of Tegus, many of these boys were once heavily addicted to glue to numb their hunger and pain. But now! Now these boys are learning about God's deep love for them, taking formal classes, and they are absolutely radiating joy and sweetness. It's unbelievable.

As I said, I wasn't sure exactly how I felt about street kid soccer. It's uncomfortable and sobering to look poverty and abandonment in the face, and it's so much harder when the faces are so, so young. But my experience at that Micah house gave me hope. Because many of these boys were once just the others, bleary-eyed, incoherent, and hurting. But they have been rescued from that. They are clearheaded and playful and affectionate and they understand that they are deeply loved.

This has changed my way of looking at things; to witness the radical difference in these boys' lives gives me tangible hope for those who are still hurting. I can go to street kid soccer with a clearer vision and prayer to our Lord who is mighty to save.

Visit www.micahcentral.org to learn more

Church and Firedancing

At the risk of contrasting two oddly symbolic events...

A couple weeks ago we had a four-day weekend (our spring break had a few days cut out because of our unexpected days off). Lots of people traveled, and I ended up sticking around Tegus. It turned out to be an incredibly relaxing weekend, which was just what I needed. We spent a day hanging out at a hotel's pool on a gorgeous, 90 degree afternoon. Swimming, reading, napping...oh, it was luxurious.





We also checked out the Basilica de Suyapa, which was beautiful. We actually sneaked out onto a ledge overlooking the city. Then we were told not to. (Oops.)










The second event happened just last Friday night. I went to street kid soccer, which is an outreach for homeless boys addicted to glue. I don't play because, honestly, I'm terrified of getting bulldozed. But I sit on the bleachers with some others and talk with Hondurans and gringos. I really enjoyed my conversations that night. Afterwords, some of us went to the farmer's market downtown. There was incredible, rich homemade food being sold at stands, and absolute mountains of produce. Cucumbers and peppers and tomatos and mangos and avocados and...I can't even describe it. Everything so fresh! Later that night, a couple friends and I stumbled upon some fire dancers. Unfortunately, there are more pictures that won't upload right now. But here's the best one:



*Lots of these pictures are thanks to my roommate :o)