Super Nativity Scene

The other day, I went to see a gigantic Nativity scene with my friend Emil. Actually, it's lots more than a Nativity scene, it has clay depictions of the stories of the Old Testament, and up until part way through Jesus' life. Then, there's also another scene that is a gigantic Honduran village. It is so detailed! I would have thought it would have like a little market, houses, a church, etc. But it also included the traditional things about Honduran culture that I never knew about. For example, it had a "Duende" - a midget that robs and tricks kids, the Honduran small-town version of the Ghost of Sleepy Hollow, parades with strange characters, and other things that are mildly disturbing. Emil explained each of the things to me, so I got to know a lot more about Honduran culture than before.
The Nativity/Bible scenes were amazingly detailed too. The first picture is of Noah and the Ark, there was on the wall behind it lightning flashing, and they had rain coming down on it too.

The next picture is of Jerusalem in the time of Jesus' birth. This is not just your average Nativity set!

Here's me with the Honduran village scene.

More Photos of Christmas!!

My Honduran family and I on Christmas Eve in their home.
Mi familia catracha y yo en la Navidad

The youth group sang a couple of Christmas songs at Christmas Eve service at church

Cantamos el grupo de jovenes en el culto de la Navidad en la Iglesia

Franklin and other neighborhood boys doing fireworks on Christmas Eve

Franklin y otros chavos haciendo cuetes

Mauri lighting a firework for me

Marui e yo haciendo cuetes
Me and Vivian... Would you ever have thought that I'd wear a COAT in Honduras?!

Mi amiga Vivian y yo

Christmas Outings!

The other day, the youth group at the church I attend here in Honduras went on an outing as our special Christmas event. we had dinnerat the food court in an expensive mall... I had a Quiznos sandwich! Yum! My friend Luisa had a sub sandwich for the first time at my recommendation. We looked in a bunch of stores, but they are all so expensive that none of us can buy anything at that mall. But it was fun to be in a foreign mall at Christams time!

Me and Luisa on the third level of the mall... there is a Christmas tree behind us too!

Me and my brother Franklin

Our crazy kitty Toti climbing in the Christmas tree!

El Salvador Trip Part Two - Wonderful People!

During my weekend in El Salvador, I stayed with my friend Elsy and her family. They are soooooo hospitable. Elsy and I went to a way cool water park, and to a wedding. I met quite a few of her friends from her mission agency, and also was able to talk with another missionary couple who I met like 4 years ago. It is always a blessing to visit Elsy and friends/family!
She spoke in church about her ministry to those of false religions in Asia, so I was able to hear about that. I think I have it so easy being in Latin America – I can wear the same type of clothes as at home, the food is pretty much familiar to me, I can already speak the language to a large extent, and the thought pattern of latinos isn’t terribly different from friends in the States. Also, there isn’t a whole lot of persecution among Christians in Mexico, I am going as a missionary and we are allowed freedom of religion. Elsy on the other hand must wear different and rather uncomfortable clothes, eat weird foods, learn an entirely different language that doesn’t even have a familiar alphabet, and adjust to a completely different manner of thinking. Where she is going, she must not let it be known that she’s a missionary – that’s illegal. And she would likely get deported if she were caught teaching the Bible! Wow!
It’s really been amazing to hear about her ministry and go through the whole support-raising process to leave for missions with her. She leaves in March!
Now I’m back in Tegus (Honduras) loving it here too!


Carolina, Rene, and Elsy

El Salvador Trip Part One - The Strike

This past weekend I went to El Salvador by bus to visit my friend Elsy there. En route, I had a very Central American experience… We got almost to the Honduras El Salvador border when the bus stopped for like an hour and we didn’t know why. They told us that there was a strike. The public transport busses (not what I was on) were protesting to the government about the $4 per gallon ridiculous gas prices, so they blocked the highway with their busses so no one could get in or out of Honduras to El Salvador or Nicaragua. Thankfully, we were stopped right by a nice hotel, and the hotel let us hang out in their patio area, and the bus line fed us lunch. There was a group of young people going to an Herbalife convention in El Salvador, and I hung out with them at the hotel. We walked down to the strike and sure enough, there were lots of busses parked all over, with the drivers napping in hammocks under the busses. We had left Tegus at 6am, and finally arrived in San Salvador at 10pm. It’s normally a 7 hour ride! But such is life in Central America, it was definitely a test of patience! Hehe!

I couldn't fit many of the busses in a picture all together, there were probably like 50 of them!

Me, with Samuel and Katy who were on the bus also.

Happy Day!!

Yes, I have arrived! Safe, sound, and SUPER happy!
Despite the snafu with the airlines the other day, I arrived at the same time that I had told everyone that I’d be here. Unfortunately, the guy who gives permission for Suyapa (my Honduran mom) and family to enter the secured area was gone and they wouldn’t let them in to help me with my 4 suitcases. So that was rather difficult to carry all those! Last night I went to the birthday party of Pipe (pee-pay) who lives behind us. All the little kids, most of whom I don’t recall ever meeting before, always want to play with me, and show me their pets – cats, dogs, parrot, and the smallest rooster I’ve ever seen! I LOOOVE being here!! I leave tomorrow for Friday through Monday in San Salvador El Salvador. Then on to Christmas time with the Honduran fam!

Whoa!

Ok, so I am writing again from Oregon... I almost had a tradgedy! Which I'm embarassed to admit! I got to PDX and was checking in, and the lady with Alaska Air told me that my ticket was for YESTERDAY evening!! I was soooo upset with myself for mistaking that date - sure enough, my e-ticket said december 12! Ahhh! But I now am extremely fond of Alaska Air, they rebooked my tickets for free, I have basically the same itinerary, only I'm leaving a half hour earlier from PDX (where I'm writing this now), and that's fine with me! AND, my flight to Seattle, my seat is in the 5th row, sounds like first class to me, but maybe not... AND they waived my extra baggage fee beause they felt sorry for me! God is good!!!!!

I'll be passing through Seattle and Miami and then will arrive Wednesday in Tegus. I'm sickened by the fact that I could've (and should've!!) spent one extra day in Tegus and I got the date wrong! Oh well, it all worked out as good or better as I would've thought!!

All I Want For Christmas...

Is for my luggage to not be overweight! Not really... Well, I don't want it to be overweight, but that's not my Christmas dream! haha!

I woke up this morning at 4:45 and couldn't go back to sleep. So I got out of bed at about 6am, and here I am. I soooo wanted to be able to sleep in, as I'll be flying through the night tonight. Ha! It seems like everytime I fly somewhere, I'm so excited that I can't sleep. Oh well, in 29 hours, I'll be greeted by the smiling faces of my honduran family in Tegus! Of course I have to go through leaving my real parents first, that will be sad. But we'll live, and they're coming to visit me in March! So, I'm off to Honduras TODAY, and then on to Mexico January 5th!

Next time I write in my blog will be from Tegus!!

Bakery Party!

Yay! I went to the Great Harvest Christmas party tonight. It was a blast to hang out with my former co-workers, and in a casual setting! We had some super excellent food, and good conversation. I won a Starbuck's gift card... hmm, I'll either have to use it all right now, or "re-gift" it to someone who will be in Starbuck's land for longer than 2.5 days! Wheeee! I'm leaving in 2.5 days! Ok, so here are a few pictures from the party.

Carter, Mike, Andrew, Julie and Lauren

Erin and I. We used to both work mornings together, some of our favorite customers used to call us partners in crime. Pretty good description...

Great Harvesters and spouses at the party!

Mmmmmmmmm, Packing

Mostly-used gift cards… Clothes that are too small, but might fit me if I just lose a few pounds… 8 pairs of gloves… Jeans with a hole in the knee… Punch cards for various stores… Coupons... A half used bottle of shampoo… Old Navy generic flip flops in 4 different colors…

All these things have one thing in common… That is that I’m trying to get rid of them. The too-small clothes and the gloves can go to the Union Gospel Mission, and I just sent my mostly-used gift cards to Apryl! Ha! I think I’ll donate my punch cards and random coupons to people at work. And my mom can use the shampoo… Already gave her my old socks… Yeah, I had this grandiose idea of taking X amount of things with me to Mexico. Well, 5 suitcases with a 50lb weight limit on each doesn’t go nearly as far as I’d like! I can FIT everything in suitcases, but they’ll WEIGH too much! Argh! So, if there’s any doubt as to whether or not I should take something, it doesn’t go.

Yes, it’s been a busy week. Last week I took LOTS of time to relax. This week I’m starting to wonder if I can finish my list of stuff to do before leaving (which, of course, includes visiting with or calling lots of friends!). But it will all come together. I remember a few months ago saying that I could be ready to leave with 2 days notice. Yeah, if I wanted to spend the next year stressed about loose ends back home, and spend a ton of money buying things in Mexico that I already have here! Two weeks was a good amount of time though, and I knew the date I’m leaving like a month ago. It’s certainly not enough time to get bored, but still enough time to get things done!
I’m off for another day of fun! 50% off sale at Mervyn’s, Internet, post office, fabric store, WinCo… I’m getting quite familiar with the South Commercial bus route! Hehe!

Responsibility

In the midst of the collage of randomness that has been my life for the past week, I have found myself laying on the living room floor each morning, in front of the fireplace, reading the Bible. It's a good place to find myself!
I'm on the last month of a "Bible in a year" schedule. Today's reading was Ezekiel 33. Here is an excerpt:

7 "Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. 8 When I say to the wicked, 'O wicked man, you will surely die,' and you do not speak out to dissuade him from his ways, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. 9 But if you do warn the wicked man to turn from his ways and he does not do so, he will die for his sin, but you will have saved yourself.

Does that strike anyone else the same way it does me?! I know that this passage is God speaking to Ezekiel about prophesying to Israel, but wow, does that apply to us now too?? I believe it does. I believe that the Lord at certain times lays it on the hearts of His children to speak to a non-believer, be it about salvation, sin, etc. And it's not an easy thing to carry out that task! But just read that passage again, it's pretty self-explanitory of God's command concerning obeying what He asks us to do.

Thanksgiving

My mom carving the turkey ~ Mi ma arreglando el pavo

Ahh, Thanksgiving. The day I possibly consume an entire block of cream cheese. This year was just as wonderful as ever, filled with food, naps, food, naps, and food. The Lanes and Anita came over to our home for Thanksgiving this year. My last holiday in the States for a while!!

Trenton playing with an olive ~ Mi sobrino adoptado Trenton poniendo una oliva en el dedo

Jobless!

I am no longer employed. Today was my last day at work! The week of Thanksgiving is always crazy at the bakery, and this week was no exception. Not bad crazy though, just really busy! Last night, we baked 511 DOZEN dinner rolls. Miranda, Jill, and I packaged 191 orders. Starting at about 10am today, I'd guess we had 5 or more customers being waited on or waiting to be waited on. I left at noon! I got the easy shift! My almost two years at Great Harvest were "great" (haha)! I'm glad I only had one holiday this year though, Christmas is pretty stressful. Although I'd MUCH rather do a Christmastime at GH than at a department store or somewhere! I will now proceed to spend the next 2.5 weeks sleeping, packing, sleeping, getting my bank/financial stuff in order, sleeping, cleaning, sleeping, and finishing packing. See a trend here?? hehehe! Oh yeah, and tomorrow I'll EAT lots too! It will be nice to have a 2.5 week vacation, followed by a 3 week trip to my favorite place on earth (thus far) Tegucigalpa Honduras!

Me with a rack of orders!

Jill bagging rolls

Bob, Erin, and Sarah making rolls

Bye Thunder-Chicken!

I saw my car drive away for the last time today... leaving only the huge grease stain on the street. haha! Hey, I had that car since I was 17! It served me well, even if we did have to replace pretty much the entire electrical system (over the course of 4 years), fix the driver side window, never have use of the rear defrost, and not use any part of the air system for the past 5 months (due to the dysfunction of the heater core!). I will miss it.
Today I leave the car, Wednesday I leave the job......
Two more days as a "Great Harvester."

Yes, It's True........

I'M LEAVING!!!!!
Yep, December 13th at 6pm I will see Oregon for quite possibly the last time for two years! That day, I will be going to Tegucigalpa with most of my luggage to stay for Christmas, ending up in Queretaro Mexico like the 5th of January!

I promise I will write more this weekend, but ever since I found a cheap ticket (sitting upstairs at work using the Sip wi-fi connection on my laptop), called the Delgados, got "permission" from little brother Ronald that December 13 is a good day to come, booked the ticket, excitedly twittered around the bakery, came home and twittered around some more, I'm kind of tired. And, seeing that I've been nastily sick for the better part of this week, I'm taking the liberty of going to bed. Just wanted to pass on the good news! hehe!

What Country Do I Live In Anyway?

Hey! I had the greatest weekend! It was great after my not-so-cool news of last wednesday. I'll leave eventually for Mexico, just not in the next month or anything. So here's the lowdown on me:

Friday Evening:
I went to Iglesia to help the 4-6 grade sunday school class with a food drive. It was pouring down rain, so I wasn't too much looking forward to it. Only 3 kids showed up, so me, the kids, and Nora (the sunday school teacher) set off in her van. We first went to houses/apartments of people we know from Iglesia. We started off at an apartment complex where the tenants are mostly hispanics. The kids were shy at first, and at the first house where they encountered an english speaker, they were like, "Uh, hi, we are um.... Yessica!!" So I came over and explained what we were doing - collecting canned and boxed foods to make Thanksgiving baskets for those who don't have enough food to eat. We went to more houses, including a few more people from the Iglesia. After the initial apartment complex, the kids got more bold, and would each go to separate houses to collect food, even the two who have a more difficult time with english. By the end of the evening, Nora was saying that she had to get back to the church for worship team practice, and the kids were like, we just want to finnish this block! And then they'd move on to the next block too! They were having such a good time even though it was so rainy. Nora says it's a good example of why Jesus said that we a supposed to become like children to serve Him!

It was quite a cultural experience as well, and I saw things that the kids did that I don't think non-latino kids would do, and how the english speaking people act that is rude in Mexican culture. At all the English speaking homes, people closed the door and left the kids outside when they went to look for canned foods in their pantrys. The kids were pretty surprised at that! At the hispanic homes, the occupants left the front door open while they went to get food, and made sure the kids weren't in the rain. The kids liked to run across peoples' lawns and flowerbeds, and knocked on windows if no one came to the door but they could hear that people were home! So I certainly learned a lot that night too - about cultural differences, and about being a servant and making serving fun!

Saturday Evening:
We had the Watoto Children's Choir from Uganda coming to our church for the Sunday morning service, and I got the privilige of hosting some of them in my home! My parents were gone this weekend, so we had a spare bed. Alyse (24), Gloria (8), Charity (8), and Dorothy (7) stayed at my home. We didn't get home until about 10pm, but we stayed up talking for about an hour. English is the second language for each of them - Luganda is their first. They are extremely polite, and the young girls call me "Auntie Jessica!" We prayed before we went to bed, and Gloria and Dorothy prayed in english, Alyse and Charity in Luganda, and me in spanish. It was cool to be able to share our languages with each other! They found it strange but cool that I can speak a language that they've never heard before! I fixed them Baleadas for breakfast - that is a flour tortilla with cheese, beans, and eggs in it - a traditional Honduran breakfast. There was cinnamon chip toast, apple sauce, and fruit salad also, just to make sure that they had enough to eat if beans for breakfast was too weird!

Charity, Alyse, Gloria, and Dorothy at my house

It was GREAT to see their concert at church! There were 18 kids and 4 adults in the concert, and it was just really cool, if Watoto comes to this area again, definitely go see them!!


Charity, Gloria, Me, and a Watoto boy at church after the concert

Sunday Afternoon:
After Watoto and then service at Iglesia, I headed out North to stop by Oscar & Lety's home in MacMinville. They'd asked me over for lunch before, but it's just so far away, I never went... We ended up in Lafayette at Lalo and Tania's home for dinner. I LOVE hanging out with people from Iglesia, they are just so hospitable and don't show frustration with me when I don't understand everything! I ended up going to 5 homes of people from Iglesia this weekend, counting those on Friday, the people who were home brought us in their homes while they gathered their canned goods.

Anyhow, all activities of this weekend were either Mexican or African, I LOVED every minute of it! How was I born white? haha! My parents wonder that too! What other country can you live in and be involved in 3 different cultures over the couse of 3 days!?

Nooooooooo!!!!

Today I got bad news. I can't leave ASAP for Mexico. I still have donors who have pledged support but not sent it in, and I guess they all need to have sent in money for me to count them as donors. So I need to talk with people to see if they really are going to support me, or if they aren't able to.

That was a big blow to find out that I can't leave the beginning of December. My last day at work is the day before Thanksgiving. I'm not sure now either how or if going to Honduras will fit into this anymore. So that is even sadder, I don't think I could handle having to tell people I'm not coming. My Salvadoran friends ask me every week when I'll be there, and if I can stay for a few weeks, etc. Fran keeps telling me he's ready right now to move out of his bedroom so I can stay there, and that he'll sleep in the hallway room if necesary so I can stay as long as possible. It's certainly nice to be loved! I was never planning on staying there too long for Christmas, maybe 3 weeks, and I'm not sure what will happen now, I'd have to get a round trip Portland to Tegus ticket which was not what I had planned.

My team leaders are leaving Mexico for the States the middle of January for a 2 month furlough, so if I'm not there by the time the leave, I may have to wait until they return. But that's not too likely, as some other team members could find someone to host me (the team leaders are the only ones who have an extra room for me to use). So the problem would just be me getting 4 suitcases on a bus from Mexico City to QRO, and I'm guessing that if I went on a weekend, Emil (honduran friend who lives in Mexico City) may be able to take two of my suitcases as his own and just be in QRO for day or two.

So that's where I'm at right now. Confused? Me too!! Please keep praying for me!

Police Raid

I was escorted out of church yesterday by police. So were many other church members. They didn't like that we were singing songs about God.

Weird you think? Did I mention that the "police" were three high school boys headed up by our mission president?!

So this month is prayer for the persecuted church month. For the beginning of the service (this is at Nazarene church not Iglesia) we had no hymnals, no cross, the buletin had no mention of any religious stuff, and our Bibles were taken away. We were not able to sing any songs that mentioned the LORD (we tried, that's why we were escorted out). Why in Oregon? Because a picture was being painted of how people in other countries go to church... except that they have real threat of being hauled off to prisons that are way worse than ours here. We had things REALLY comfortable yesterday, but it was a small demonstration of others around the world. We totally take for granted the fact that we are able to worship freely, read the Bible, teach our children the Word, and fellowship together. It would be SUPER hard to live in a country where we didn't have that freedom. In Mexico, we'll still have the freedom to do that. My friend Elsy, she will have it hard in Asia in a country where they are not allowed to proselytize. She's leaving for her country in January!

Anyhow, it's amazing what other believers go through to meet together and study the Word in countries where it's illegal. A good book about that is Safely Home, by Randy Alcorn. I just read it. It's a fiction book, based on true circumstances, about Chinese Christians and a non-believing UnitedStatesican who goes into the Chinese Christian community. I highly recommend it!

At Iglesia yesterday, even though the message wasn't specifically about persecution, the main point was "Fiel hasta la muerte." Faithful until death. How much are WE willing to suffer for Christ?

Sooooo......

The day is quickly arriving for my departure. I put in notice of my last day today at work - my last day is Nov. 23. Monday I will call International Teams and see if I have the okay to leave in December... !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yay!!

Ok, so I had a GRRREAT weekend! Friday (after a way not cool day at work) I went to Red Robin and had a super yummy Terryoki Chicken burger with Apryl and family and my parents. We all headed over to Cheryl's home (Apryl's sister) for some pie and movie, and of couse Apryl and I being silly.

So Sunday, after church, iglesia, and lunch, I headed back over Cheryl's where we (Apryl, her mom, Kevin (brother in law), Kyle (nephew), Cheryl, and I) carve pumpkins and had a good time. I LOVE carving pumpkins! It would've been better though had I not had to get up so early this morning for work... Blah. It was realy busy at work today, and we seemed a bit understaffed...
Apryl and I with our hollow pumpkins!

Anyhow, after work, I went to Cheryl's yet a third time to have lunch, and our friend Heather joined us this time with her 6 week old little daughter who I hadn't yet seen (ooo, we live in the same city and I hadn't seen the baby yet...)

So this weekend was a great time of hanging out. And that's pretty much all I did! haha! It was much needed though. So now, I won't see Apryl again until her and Steve come visit me in Mexico... Which you guys better do! hehe! It will make a good vacation... And they may be able to visit their sponsor child during that trip as well - hey free interpreter, you just have to pay to get me to Chiapas and I'm all over interpreting! haha! Or I can save up myself and go... But I'm glad I got to see Apryl one last time before leaving for Mexico!!
Apryl, Heather, and I.

We Got a Car! But More Importantly...

Wow, no mad comments from my last blog post. Whew...

So, yeah, Franklin just informed me that the fam is now the proud owner(s) of a car! And..... du du du..... it's an automatic!! Therefore, if for some reason the opportunity arose for me to use a vehicle, I wouldn't feel confined to the familiar, less confusing, less hilly west side of Tegus. That would be under the assumption that I would be allowed to drive it... Franklin was making plans for where we will go when I'm there, but I'm guessing that Papi going to work will take priority over me and the boys and whoever going wherever else. Delmer was going to have me drive Michelle's truck last year though when she was gone, but that was before we had the Bug at my Oregon house, and I REALLY didn't know much about stick shifts. Although I did consider taking it up to Santa Rosa, but it was facing in the opposite direction, and I didn't want to try to turn it around on the highway!

But now the bestest part........ (on a TOTALLY different subject...) APRYL IS COMING TO TOWN! In fact, as I write this she is probably leaving out of Chicago right about now. She gets home in a few hours. Or I guess I should say "gets HERE in a couple of hours." So yeah, I'm SUPER excited to be able to see her before I leave! AND maybe in Mexico when her and Steve come to visit...... hehe! More about this weekend later.........

Just Another Reason...

I have a bone to pick with the idiot gringos who appear on the news in airports across the country today. The ones who were vacationing in Canucn the past few weeks, who rode out the hurricane... I in no way wish I could experience a hurricane, and I'm sure their experiences were quite traumatizing. But seriously... On national news tonight, there were interviews with people still in Cancun, and those who just got home. Some of their comments: "I'm an American! Where was the United States when I was down there going through this thing?!" "We had no airconditioning, no electricity, no hot meals, and there were hundereds of us packed into the hotel lobby." (Sorry, not direct quotes because I don't have a photografic memory). I have to say this: "You, gringo, were not in YOUR country, you were being cared for as best as possible by the country you chose to vacation in. YOU have a home to come back to, one that will most likely look the same as it did last time you saw it - still will have the 90% of your possessions in it that you didn't take to Mexico with you. YOU have your two suitcases of clothes with you, the ones that you took on vacation with you. YOU got to stay in the hotel lobby for several nights before you got an airline ticket out of there. YOU had food, even though it may have been cold beans." What about the people who LIVE in carribean Mexico? The ones whose homes didn't withstand the hurricane like your hotel lobby did. I'm sorry, but blaming the Mexican or United States governments for not putting you up in a functioning 5 star hotel during this thing is completely unrealistic. In a situation like this YOUR personal comfort takes back seat to the SAFETY of yourself and others. No airconditioning in Cancun? Uncomfortable? Yes. But, um, you survived! I don't hear ANY of the vacationers giving a crap about those within a few miles of those who DIED beacuse of the hurricane, or those who lost everything they owned and have no where to turn now. I realize that the news can't interview everyone, although I'm not sure why they'd choose to show just the interviews that make gringos look completely self-centered and uncaring... I choose to believe that SOME of those gringo survivors DO care about those around them that suffered more than going without airconditioning (that they most likely never had in the first place...)

So, why do other countries have such a bad image of the United States? Why do they think we're completely materialistic and self-centered? Probably because they see those same kinds of interviews that I saw tonight. And because lots of us ARE completely materialistic and self-centered.

Back in the Game

Five days with absolutely no contact with the bakery whatsoever. Okay, the minute I wrote that, I knew it was an exaggeration - I called Sarah Thursday to tell her I was sick, and Ben gave me my schedule for this week on Saturday, via the phone. But I didn't GO INTO the bakery, something that I usually do on my day off, just can't get enough of it I guess. But five days - be they ever so unintentional, and ever so miserable - were a nice break. And, had I not been coughing up a lung, half passed out from lack of oxygen half the time, I'm sure I really would've enjoyed it! haha! So tomorrow I go back to normal daily life. The life that will be "normal" for the next five weeks! Then....??? I believe normal will cease to exist for me for maybe the next 50 years, or however long I keep kicking before I drop into a Willamette Valley nursing home. Yes, if I retire back to the States, I DO plan on that being here... Maybe language school will have a "normal." Four hours (shoot me now!!) of spanish classes a day... But then there's field trips, weekend jaunts to QRO, heading off the Mexico City or Guadalajara to see Chivas mutilate America (no, not as in the United States, it's a Mexican soccer team!), having Luisa at the house (?) etc. So maybe that won't be normal. Okay, I could possibly be jumping the gun on the whole "5 more weeks of normal" thing, I'm 90% sure that I'll no longer be working at the bakery after that, but it's highly possible that I could still not have a plane ticket in my hands by that point. Still $135 in monthly support left to go. And I honestly do not have the foggiest idea as to where that will come from. And it must be pledged before the end of November, or I'll be getting a round trip ticket from Portland to Tegus. I really don't want to come home after Christmas. I actually think that the excitement of going to Honduras may ease the harshness of leaving home for good.... or two years, or however long I'll be gone for. This mero minuto, I don't exactly feel any "harshness" coming with the thought of leaving home (Salem, Oregon, United States....) But I have actually had the scary thought that I might be sad to leave. Those thoughts usually come about 9pm on sunday nights on the way home from donuts of the gym after having played basket or volleyball with Iglesia... When Yessenia left for China, and I saw people crying, I got sad too and realized that I'll be bawling on my last day there. Alraaayyt.....
So I'm needing to get back in the swing of getting up at 4:30am. Fun.
Until next time...

My Best Pictures Ever!

Ok, so this will be a long post, but worth it, I hope. I was going to put my top ten favorite pictures on here, but I couldn't narrow it down that much, so here's my favorite 13. They're in chronological order.

1. The Ghetto You Never Knew
This was taken in 1984 by my mom, in the park across the street from our old house. It's me and Apryl. That blue house with the red van in front was my house, the house where we found a stabbed Native American on our porch, the house that was robbed to get my dad's Rugers, the house where the police caught a fugitive in my backyard when I was home alone one evening when I was 13...

2. The Three of Us

Andria, Danny, and I at my 4th birthday party, 1985. This was taken by my mom. You can't see our lovely orange carpet, but the brown thing kind of behind Andria is our stove... hehe!

3. Clyde the GlideMe and Andria with our idol Clyde Drexler! This was taken by my mom in the Lancaster Mall, maybe like 1991.

4. Cheeeeesy!Becky, Joel, Mike, Emily, and Me. I took this on the way home from camp the summer of 1998. We had apparently made our annual stop at the Tillamook Cheese Factory, as Mike seems to be enjoying some cheese curds...

5. S.A. Stonehenge I'm guessing this was taken by either Brook or Kelly as neither of them are in the picture, at Stonehenge in England, November of 1998. Me, James, Annie, Jenn, Andria, Beth, Bridget, Caleb, and Joey make up the Salem Academy rendition of the famous rocks.

6. Did the Bus Turn Off?!Too many people to name here, but this is our mission team to El Salvador when our bus "broke down," or I should say ran out of gas in San Salvador in 2000. I believe Elsy took this picture! Good times...

7. Four Guys in the... Tub??Micah, Michael, Sean, and Andrew in the "shower" in El Salvador, 2000. I took this picture when I heard lots of laughter coming from the shower. Don't worry, they all have shorts on! This particular shower was a small cement room with two 5-gallon buckets and a "paila" or "juacal" (depending on which country you're from!!) - a small bowl used in cement sinks in Central America - you use the paila to scoop water out of a bucket and wash yourself with. I LOVE Central America...

8. Jungle ChicksJoann, Rachel, Me, and Ruth canoeing on the Amazon just west of Manaus Brasil in 2002. Mr. Palm took this picture. Looks like in a movie, no?

9. It Just Doesn't Get Any Better Than This!Me, Austin, Evan, and Ben hauling leaves on a homemade tractor at PuraQueQuara Brasil, 2002. Joann took this picture of our daily life there at PQQ. A leisurely ride on a homemade tractor in a neatly kempt yard between the Amazon and the rainforest, not wearing shoes for days at a time, hopping into the river in the late afternoon to cool off, playing volleyball and salão until the electricity turns off at 9:30... yeah, life is good...

10. Pijama Party!Zenia, Paty, Alej, Alma, Me, Vivi, Luisa, Karlita, and Jeni one night at camp outside of Tegucigalpa Honduras, 2003. Michelle took this picture. Most of these girls are from my neighborhood in Tegus - Germania. Mis queridas...

11. Hermanitos VerdaderosBesides the fact that this is one of the few pictures I have that has all three of my brothers in it together, what I REALLY like about this is the facial expressions! You can totally tell their personalities from their expressions in this picture - Franklin is a happy, crazy, teasing guy; Ronald comes off as being shy, but really he is hilarious; and Ivan is cynical, but still has a sweet side. Teagen took this at Fran's 19th birhtday party in 2003.

12. The Cost of Good FriendsBeing dogpiled at 6:30am on your birthday! Dr. Huster took this on Joana's 21st birthday. Marlia, Katy, Me, P., and Ruth smothering the just-woken-up Joana.

13. Queen and Queenie (don't ask...) Apryl and I after her wedding in 2004! How many people can show 24 years of pictures and have the same friend in the first picture as in the last?! Yep, I'm blessed...

So, those are my favorites! I hope ya'll enjoyed them too!!

"LOST" Quote of the Week

Yes, for all two of you who read this and don't understand spanish, I decided (at least for now) to go with english blog titles.

Do you watch Lost? If you don't, I highly recommend borrowing season 1 on DVD, watching the whole thing this week, and sit down and hold on for next wednesday night. If you live in the States, I am pretty sure you personally know someone who has season 1 on DVD. Anyhow, it's excellent. But if you haven't been watching it from the beginning, it will probably seem lame. But they do tend to have some hilariously funny moments in the midst of the spooky weirdness. It usually comes from the mouth of 400 pound Hurley. (We can't figure out how they've been on the island for like 45 days and it looks like he's gained weight...)

"Yeah dude, dogs will eat anything. This one time, my dog, he broke into my piggy bank - I guess I put some smarties in there or something - and the next day he crapped out a-buck-thirty-five in nickels."


I had to go to the freakin' doctor today because I knew I am getting bronchitis. I possibly held out too long - this whole no medical insureance thing is not cool. But I got off, prescriptions and all, for right at $100. Could've been worse. I just wish I could go to the pharmacy and say "I have bronchitis, I need amoxicillin - 500mg, t.i.d., 10 days." The last two times I had bronchitis, I was in Honduras. The first time, I took meds given to me by the Simpson nurse in case of emergency. Then last year, I came home, opened one of the 60 or 70 boxes full of various medicines that were sitting in our living room, said, "Suyapa, can I have a bottle of this amoxicillin? I think I'm getting bronchitis." That was about the same time that Ivan found a huge bottle of liquid vitamin, and swallowed a spoonfull, proceeding to make gagging noises because of the sick flavor for the next ten minutes... Ahh, the big brother I sort-of never had...

Ya Basta Aprender!

Ugh. Why is this "learning" thing so hard? Learnig to be patient, learning lots of other life lessons... Why I am I SO close to being able to leave for Mexico, but still not able to go!? Almost every day, SOMEONE asks me when I'm leaving, and all I can do is give a blank stare and say "I don't know yet, maybe the beginning of December." I try to think of what more needs to happen (besides obtaining another $135 a month) before I can leave, and I'm completely drawing a blank. Plans are being made around me being in Mexico - my parents are looking to take time off work to go there in February, Luisa is going there the end of January or in February... What if I'm not there yet? I mean, obviously, my parents could just go vacation at the beach for a week or something, and visit me later, but half the reason Luisa is even going to Mexico is because I'm there... And, assuming I am there, I'll be in language school 4 hours a day anyway, but I guess that won't dent plans too much... as long as I'm THERE! Vivian is waiting to come to the States until her spring break now, because I'll be in Honduras when she was going to go visit her mom.. MAYBE! What if I can't go?! Maybe people just tell me "oh, I'm going to Mexico to visit you," or "I'm staying here 'cuz you're coming," just to make me feel loved (it works!!), and they really have other reasons. Maybe I read too much into it.

Well, apparently I have stuff to learn still before going to Mexico. Like emaybe getting an attitude adjustment. I'm really am glad that I've been here so far though, things I've learned the past few months would NOT have been fun to deal with in Mexico. And, I would've missed out on meeting my chavos from Iglesia. :-)

So the journey continues... Just no more after Thanksgiving, ok!???

Ya casi...

Alright guys, I'm officially only down $135 in monthly support before I can go to Mexico, that's not really too much, so hopefully that will come in soon! Soooooooooo looking forward to going!!

Por Que Aquel Mero Pais?

I just got an email from some missionaries in El Salvador, confirming what had been going through my mind off and on through the past week. I'd heard that the largest volcano in El Salvador blew last week, and wondered if it affected anyone I know. Thankfully - no, however that part of the country is the coffee producing part, and a large chunk of the coffee crop was lost. But... what we didn't hear in the news was that there were two sizeable earthquakes last week as well. AND that the floods/mudslides that were on the news as happening in Guatemala also are tearing up El Salvador. (Thankfully, I'm in frequent contact with my hondurans, they are fine! Just a little extra rain...) I heard from Elsy (my salvadoran friend) on monday, and she didn't mention any damage in her area, but that was before the largest earthquake. In 2001, when there were quakes there, her family slept outside for a long time for fear that their house may fall down. When I was there last summer, I saw that behind their home - where the pila (centralamerican sink, or the most wonderful invention ever made), outhouse, and shower are - there's a cement wall with a window-shape cut out of it that is like hanging off the edge of the drop off behind their home. I'm assuming that it is a wall of what used to be their neighbor's home. The land slides that are happening now are disturbing, especially knowing that my best-salvadoran-friend and family now live on the edge of that drop off.

Why is it always El Salvador getting slammed with natural disasters? I mean, there a lots of other places that get it too (like the southern US), but it seems like every year something bad happens that's weather related. They just had a huricane-ish thing (either tropical storm or cat 1 hurricane) pass through in May. The difference I saw in that country between going there in 2000 and then again in 2001 (post quake) was amazing. Last year, there was still a lot of damage that wasn't fixed from the quakes! I wonder if it will be even worse off this Christmas... or if I'll have a home to go to there?! Aren't I optimistic?? (<-- insert sarcasm here) But seriously, stuff like that just doesn't happen here. For one, my home most likely would've suffered minimal damage in a 6-6.5 quake, where thousands of homes on El Salvador were leveled in that! But come on, we're not in danger of floods (even though we've had them), hurricanes (when I was 14 we had cat 1 force winds), tornadoes (non-existant), blizzards (ha!), and our earthquakes have been minimal in comparison to our building standards. I guess there could be worse countries to have disasters happen in - like the Tsunami where hardly anyone is saved. El Salvador is probably the most Christian country I know of (if you're saying "oh no, the US is!" I hate to break it to you, but you're on crack.) The Lord works there. I'm guessing that more missionaries per-capita leave from El Salvador than from the US. It's really easy to find an evangelical church in pretty much any part of the country. There are some frustrating riffs between denominations there - more than I see here - and that's really lame. But people are hearing and accepting the gospel there. I know salvatrucha members (can I say that on the internet?!) who are saved and are now preachers! I know young adults who go to the north country (the bad part that Suyapa (for good reason) won't let me take a bus through) where the left-over sandinistas congregate, with just the clothes on their back and some Bibles, and they spread the gospel. It's Salvadorans who I've thought on occaision that I'd be embarrassed if they came to my home because they'd wonder why we only go to church once or twice a week. Maybe satan is trying to send a message for Salvadorans to quit taking the Word to the streets! Ha! They won't be deterred! They'll push forward despite the volcano/earthquake/flooding. I'm proud to know guanaco Christians! Now, I just wish I could go there everytime a disaster happens and help out...

Ruth and Krissia - girls from the earthquake ravaged Candelaria Cuscatlan in 2001

Bastante Para Contar de lo Bien Macizo

Ok, this may be a long one... I had a GREAT weekend!!

I'll start out with Friday night...
I left at 9pm (yeah, really late for me!!) to go to Iglesia, as we had a late-night prayer/fellowship at church. We had a wonderful time of praying for each other, expressing our thanks to God, sharing testimonies, and singing. And eating, of course. :-) It was really great to be in a close community of believers who love each other and love the Lord! Hearing people's stories of how they came to the Lord was really cool, I can't picture some of them how they said they used to be... We wrapped things up about 2:30am. Nora (who had already gone home) called and invited us all to her brother Noe's house for his birthday party. A 3am birthday party - that's a new one for me. I didn't end up going, but I heard it was fun!

Saturday morning, I passed at going to the Iglesias de Cristo de Oregon volleyball tournament, and went to Lincoln City for shopping with my parents. I was able to get some necesary items of clothing, mainly new jeans as I doubt I'll really be able to find long-enough pants in Mexico. I also hit a gold mine at Old Navy as far a Christmas gifts go - I got $3 shirts for my brothers and Vivian (they're new shirts, and not some cheapy kind, just on really big sale!) It was a good day, but I sure was tired that afternoon - my body is more used to gettig UP at 3am than going to bed then...

Sunday, I taught the 3&4th grade sunday school class at S.S. Nazarene - all boys in that class. It went pretty well, all things considered. I don't like to come across as an old nag teacher, but I can't say that the boys like to pay attention, especially since one of them just returned fromf being gone for a month!

After morning service, I went to Iglesia. Eliezar, a young guy who had come to the friday night thing, accepted the Lord yesterday! So that was really cool!!! I pray that it is not something done just to be done, but something that he will live out for the rest of his life.

We all went to Mixteca after church for some good home-cookin's Mexican-style.

I went home for like an hour, just barely enough time to see the first maybe 10 minutes to 49ers V. Cardinals at, yes, ESTADIO AZTECA Mexico City! Rad! I never knew that there were even 103,000 people in Mexico who gave a crap about American Football! I have a goal to go to Azteca sometime in the next two years or so - hopefully to see the Chivas MUTILATE America in Liga Mejicana soccer (America is a Mexican soccer team). Although I'd definitely jump at the chance to see NFL there too!! Anyhow, after the 49ers DEFENSE (!!!!!!!) scored two touchdowns in the first quarter (I left after that, assuming a win) the Cards came back to win.... not sure how that happened, but bummer.

Also in sports, I told Beto yesterday that I ALWAYS root for Brasil in all world soccer competitions, which didn't go over well - Mexico and Brasil were in the sub-17 world cup final yesterday - Mexico won.

So Sunday afternoon, I went to Hoover Elem. to play sports (we usually go to Bush park, but uh, not since it started raining...) As soon as I shut my car door, I realized my keys were sitting on the driver side seat, IN the locked car. I had my mom's car, and after a few minutes of trying to open the door or window, the guys who were working on that decided that I either needed to call my dad or a locksmith. The locksmith sounded pretty good right about then - my dad seems to flip out when stupid things like this happen. But I called anyway, and mom came and got the situacion under control. We played basketball, watched the kids play futbol, and had out regular 10 or so volleyball matchups! So fun! I didn't get to bed till late, so I'm going down for a nap...
If you read all this - wow, you have too much time on your hands!! But I suppose that means I do to, because I WROTE it! haha!

Una Prueba Loquita

10 years ago I was:
Starting high school.
Getting in trouble for having shorts that were more than 3 inches above my knees.
Unemployed.

5 years ago I was:
Mad that I couldn’t spend the next year in El Salvador
Starting my second year at Chemeketa
Working at a pizza restaurant.

1 year ago I was:
Living in Illinois
In classes after swearing I’d never be in “school” again
On a “leave of absence” from work

Yesterday I:
Worked at Great Harvest
Ate pizza
Read a good book

5 things I would do with 100 million dollars:
Pay off the house, and buy my parents a new one so I could keep this one for the future
Sell my car and the red car – buy my mom a new car, and get me a car for Mexico
Move to Mexico
Fix the bathroom ceiling in my Honduran home
Donate at least $90million to various causes and invest the rest

5 places I would run away to:
Tegucigalpa
Seattle
Paraguay
Ciudad Delgado (ES)
The place I used to run away to in Redding :-)

5 things I would never wear:
A bikini (we’re talking REAL bikini, not a modest two piece)
A Swastika
A beard
Blue eyeshadow (except if it were for a joke)
Toe socks (in public)

5 favorite TV shows:
Lost
CSI Miami
CSI
Arrested Development
Monk

5 bad habits:
Interrupting
Being bossy
Cracking my knucles
Drinking Diet Coke at all hours of the day or night
Talking to myself out loud in the car

5 biggest joys:
Taking comfort in the Lord
Taking a nap on a rainy day
Semi-late night talks with Honduran family members and friends
Dressing up all weird and visiting dorms on college campus with about 10 other girls
Reminiscing with Apryl

5 fictional characters I would date:
HAN SOLO!!!!!!!!!!
Indiana Jones (yes, I am obsessed with Harrison Ford in his younger years…)
Warrick (Gary Dourdan) on CSI
Rusty (yep, Brad Pitt) on Ocean’s 11/12
Linus (Matt Damon) on Ocean’s 11/12

Viene Mi Enana Para Visitar?!?! Vamos a Ver!!

I was just talking to my catracha friend Vivian today, and I have known for quite a while that she wanted to try to come the States to visit her mom on the East Coast. Her mom just got married (I think to a gringo) and now has some more money that before, and it looks like Vivi is able to get a visa to come the the States, and that her mom can pay for her to come... So... she is (I should say tentatively!) coming to the States in December!! She also said that her mom would let her come to OREGON to visit!! Now, the big questions are: Will I still be in Oregon then?! and Will Vivi really be able to come to Oregon?! I sure hope so (at least to that last one!) I have been thinking lately that I may just stick around here and not even plan on going to Mexico until January, go to Honduras for Christmas "en route" even though it's not at all en route. If that were the case, and Vivian comes to the States, I'd most likely be here when she comes - I think she goes back home before Christmas... I hope so or else I may not see her for a long time if things don't work out for me to be here and her to come here... Anyhow, it would be really superly awesomeness cool to host a good catracha friend! I am scared though about that, I am to the point with my Hondurans where I feel like they accept me as a member of their social class (lower-middle-ish to maybe lower class), and all that would go completely down the drain if Vivian came here and brought back pictures of my home. So that is scary for me... but I think that alot of my friends there know me well enough that knowing how we live wouldn't have too much of an influence on their thoughts about me... I hope. We'll cross that bridge IF we come to it!

By the way, I'm border-line not admitting to be any kind of fan of football in my state, BOTH Beavers and Ducks put up SHAMEFUL perfomances this weekend. But I haven't disowned my Beavers... yet...

Un Poco de Todo

Well, the huricane is passing, Houston fared well, other places didn't. All part of life I guess.

I had a good day here. Even working at the South store was not too bad! Oh! And this lady from Salamanca GTO Mexico came in with her daughter today, I met them like a year ago at the Downtown store, and I see the daughter every now and then, but the mom lives in Mexico. But when they came in they both recognized me, and I was in the lobby, and the mom came over and gave me a besito (traditional kiss on the cheek)! I think my coworkers were a bit weirded out, but I was happily surprised that she remembered me! I came home and trimmed all the bushes in the front yard. It was like low 70's and sunny today - probably not much of that left for this year. So I feel like I took full advantge of the weather - was outside for a few hours, AND did something productive! I didn't do anything exciting, but it's nice to be at home all afternoon in the nice weather.

Now there is football on tv. Oregon is loosing BIG TIME, and OSU will be playing in just a moment against ASU.

Tomorrow (and next sunday) I teach the 3rd and 4th grade sunday school class. As far as I can tell, it's all boys. Should be interesting.

So, basically, I don't have much to write today, but I felt like writing, so here!

Oh! And you know how they say that in the northern hemisphere (at least as far north as here) you are supposed to be able to balance a raw egg on the pointy part on a hard surface during the autumnal equinox? Well, my mom and I had kind of thought it was bull because we'd always done it on concrete, and kind of balanced it in the texture of the concrete. But we did it BOTH on the smooth wooden kitchen floor AND the tile countertop (no, not in the grout!)
Here:


Ok, in the time it took me to upload the stupid picture, ASU scored a touchdown. Blahhhhhh.

Mas Relajo

If you want a personal account of the badness going on in Houston, click here. (No, not MY personal account! I'm in Oregon!)
It is the online journal of the Boncimino family who lives there. It's been interesting to read the experiences of them, both in helping out with Katrina evacuees who came to Houston, and to hear what they are now going through. He has pictures on there too of madness from today (thursday afternooon).

It's been amazing to see the disasters of the past several weeks, it's stuff we expect to happen anywhere but in our country. And now it's stuff we expect to happen anywhere but the northwest. 'Cuz bad stuff only happens in far away places, and have no effect on the west coast - we're invincible. (<---Insert sarcasm here).

Mi Casa!

If you've ever wondered where I live in Tegus, here is a picture of the outside of my house! Well, mainly the enterance to the yard... our beautiful place behind the ficus trees! I'm assuming the picture was taken from the other side of the highway, we live ON the main highway that heads south out of town. At the bottom of the picture, if it were a little bigger, would be the highway. I like all the trees! Fran sent me this today, I'd always wished I'd had a picture of home, now I do!

Nuevo Diario

If you are reading this, and you are a spanish speaker, I have a new journal in spanish that you can visit. Click the "Mi Diario en Español" link on the right.

Si habla usted el español, fijese que ya tengo un diario en español que puede visitar si quiere. Haga clic en "Mi Diario en Español" enlace en la derecha. No voy a escribir lo mismo alli que en este diario en ingles, pero queria hacer un diario que pueden leer mis catrachos, guanacas, y hermanos de la iglesia. Disfrutelo!

Fin de Semana Muy Maquina

I had a great weekend! How often do I say that? haha! I went to Oktoberfest saturday, hung out with my Iglesia Sunday, and loafed around the house today. I needed to do some loafing.

I never cease to be blessed by my Iglesia. From trying not to appear grossed out when guys eating menudo* intentionally try to gross me out, to laughing for hours about my use of honduran words that they don't know, to hilarious "bloopers" that happen while playing volleyball, to knowing that people care about me and are rooting me on in my journey of preparation for Mexico. I love it!

So, it's been a good 3 days off work. Back to the old grind in 9 hours!

* Menudo is a soup that includes cow intestines, and, yesterday came with a hoof as well! But the guys eating that were pretty grossed out that I've eaten dog, monkey, and octopus legs. hehehe! I stuck with enchiladas al pastor (super good kind of pork) with mole - a sauce that I'd never had until about a month ago.

Oregonianos - Reciclamos Latas de Fresco

We are Oregonians. Summer starts when the weather gets warm, or the beginning of May - whichever comes first - and ends the end of September. Always. The weather has changed for the year, today it was sprinkly and cold. As I walked to the bus after work, I passed lots of people wearing shorts, or tank tops, or sandals, probably people wearing all of the above. Because we don't change to fall/winter clothes 'till the end of the month.

I didn't think I would see the weather change here in Oregon again, at least not for a few years. But it has happened, I am not in Mexico to see the rainy season come, or even in NorCal to see the californians don thier snow parkas because it dropped below 60 degrees over night. I am here watching Northwesterners slosh around in the rain in summer clothes. It's humorous! It's our culture! It's football, Oktoberfest, yellow and orange leaves, Friday Nite Flights at high school games, the leak in my driver's side window, lighting the pilot light in the fire place. I like it, for a while. For today. But I got spoiled by the dry, semi-warm winters in California, even though I miss the rain there. So... here I am in the wet and cold again, that I didn't think I'd see this year. But asi es. Maybe it will be the cold weather when I go to Mexico - December, January - maybe it will be getting hot again - March, April. Maybe I will be in the "cold season" in Central America for Christmas (although I can't imagine El Salvador EVER being cold, we'll see) or maybe I will be here hanging ice-sicle lights in the rain the day after Thanksgiving. Push through it!

Feliz dia de Independencia ayer para mis catrachos y guanacas, y hoy para los mejicanos!!

Futbol?! Hoy No!! Digo FOOTBALL!!

Well, I am not a latina. As much as I like soccer (foreign soccer, I'm not into U.S. soccer at all), I have to admit there's something about good old football that really floats my boat. I had a huge smile on my face today as I saw lots of people sporting orange and black (and unfortunatly some green and yellows) coming into work to grab snacks before heading south for the day. Yep, PAC10 opening day!! I feel sorry for those who actually need to travel south on I-5 this afternoon, like to get to California or somwhere... You can bet that the southboud lane - right about now too! - will be backed up close to Salem even. At least to go to Corvallis... Who wants to go to Eugene on a day like this?! haha!
So yeah, football is better than soccer (ouch! did I just say that?!?!?!) because I am actually a half-way decent football player, and I suck at soccer, although futbolito is a bit better for me. I understand all, or well many, of the rules of football, and am still in the dark about a lot of stuff when it comes to soccer. Don't get me wrong, this July I will be absolutely GLUED to the TV as I watch Brasil defeat the rest of the world in the Cup. But I'll also be glued to the TV (assuming I'm in Oregon...) to watch Oregon State MUTILATE Oregon in the Civil War. It's obvious that Beavers can wail on Ducks any given day, no? Haha!
Here's to Oregon State football, the 49ers, and the Seahawks (between which my loyalties are divided, although I was rooting for San Francisco when I was in Seahawk watching them and Seattle...)

No Somos Tan Desafortunados Aqui...

I was just talking with Emil, my catracho friend who now lives in Mexico City, on the internet. Before even greeting me (VERY strange for a latino) he asked, "Have you seen the news from Honduras?!" Yeah, that is the kind of thing that instills fear in me... Immediately I checked out the "La Tribuna" online newspaper, as Emil told me his family's point of view...

I knew that last week, gas prices rose to over $4 per gallon! Prices there on gas are usually quite a bit steeper than they are here (example: last summer it was about $2.70 for a gallon of diesel which most people use there, and unleaded here was like $1.98) Apparently, public transportation went on strike, and the roads closed down all around town due to protests on the gas prices. Emil's family lives in a nicer neighborhood, on the south west of Tegus, set back in residential areas away from the commercial and industrial areas. My family lives further south, on the outskirts of town, but our house is on the main highway south out of town... Litterally ON the highway, there's about 30-40 feet between our porch and the highway. Anyhow, I talked to Suyapa yesterday afternoon because it was her birthday, and she didn't mention anything about that. I guess lots of people didn't go to work or school today because there were protesters on a lot of the roads - taxi drivers, and others who wanted Pres. Maduro to do something about the high prices. It's an ugly situation.

I was surprised last Friday that things around here were a lot calmer than I would've expected... I drove past a gas station on Thursday afternoon, and it was $2.53 a gallon. The next day, it was $2.63. Stupidly, I waited 'till late afternoon to cash my work check, getting me to the gas station around 5pm, and gas at that same station was $2.73! Over the course of about 24 hours. I was at the furthest-south Commerical Arco, and it was jam packed, but they had things pretty well organized, I was happy to see.


Speaking of gas stations in Honduras, I remembered this picture of some friends in Michelle's truck at the Esso América station. jejeje!

Volver al Huracan

My heart isn't in the whole bread business lately, for like that past 2 months or so. I have almost put in for a week off a few times now, just so I can regroup, but I think that if I had a week off and just hung out here at home, I'd go insane. Yesterday made me wish that I could go to Houston for my week off. I've been in contact with this Houston family who is helping a lot at the AstroDome, and there is so much to do still there. And yesterday, I found out that two of the husbands from the Iglesia went to New Orleans to help out there. I was with Beto's (one of the guys that went) wife last night when he called her, and they were in the airport and it looked like something blew up in there. It was a huge disaster (no surprise there I guess). It would be nice to be able to take a week away and actually go do something constructive. 1,000 of the Louisinanians are coming to Oregon on Wednesdayish. It looks like they will all be in Portland, although I heard news that some may come down here too. We'll see. Anyhow, the wheels are still cranking in my head about going somewhere for several days, but it would have to be dirt cheap. I looked even at airfare to Chicago, as I'd LOVE to go visit Apryl (hey! call me if you read this!!!) but it's a bit steep for me, even though it's less than what I paid this time last year... I looked at Denver too - I've never visited Jess, and that would be nice! - but I think travelling is just to expensive. Airfares to both those cities are really not bad, but I must press on in the support-raising business and save toward Mexico! I know I will leave as soon as God finishes some stuff with me!

Cuando cuando?!

I will leave for Mexico when the Lord finishes the work that He has planned for the "United States" part of my life, which He has apparently not yet finished. But that's ok, because I would much rather go prepared in the way that the Lord wants me prepared than to go on my own strength. That would be unproductive. So yes, I do know when I will be leaving - when God has finished His work in this part of my life!

Nuestro Orgullo

Just so this post doesn't sound terribly apathetic, I want to say that the hurricane that just passes through New Orleans is truly a tradgedy. I pray that things are able to be straightened out from it eventually, even though it will take years.

That being said... Why do UnitedStatesicans continue to act invincible, and/or like our country has everything all figured out and that we should play God to all other nations? We've participated in wars in other countries, and assisted after terrorist attack around the world, but never thought that any of that would ever come here. Well, four years ago, that was proved false, although we've since forgotten that we aren't invincible. We see the Tsunami in south east asia, earthquakes in Japan, huricanes in Central America, and brag about how well we've built all our structures so that natural disasters don't affect us much. Ok, so look at New Orleans, now what do you say? Don't worry, in about a year, most of the country will revert to being prideful about our superoir structures and superior way of living, etc.

I'm not saying that we should immediately go help every needy country and use all our resources for that. Actually, I'm thinking we'd get a lot more international relief accomplished if we'd actually pay attention to what the needs of hurting countries REALLY are, instead of "helping" in the ways that WE THINK they should be helped.

But we continue to be incredibly prideful about our way of life and the way things opperate in the U.S. We won't admit that we don't have everything together, that there are things that the United States doesn't know how to deal with. If we have a problem, we'll get it fixed STAT. I almost wish that something would happen that would take the pride away.

Last night (I can't believe I'm admitting this) I was watching the crassly disgusting cartoon "South Park." As crass as it was, that particular episode hit a chord with me. It was about the kids going on a rain forest tour in Costa Rica. One of the little boys (the super fat one) kept saying stuff like, "It smells like butt out here!" "Ooh, look, there's people's underware hanging outside, hahaha!!" "Sick, the bathroom is a hole in the ground!" But that is sooo what people from here say or at least think. We're so rude. We're so selfish and greedy. I HATE that when I'm in another country, people know where I'm from without having to ask, because I'm tall, large, and light colored. I'm embarassed to be UnitedStatesican. That's sad, but true. But do YOU want to be associated with the gringo mission team in Pizza Hut in Tegus that started a food fight and left it for the Pizza Hut employees to clean up? Do YOU want your good friends' non-Christian dad to not like you anymore because other Christian gringos disrespected him and his culture?? And that now he associates gringo Christians with being mean, rude, and self-centered? These are only two experiences of mine from Honduras and El Salvador respectively, that I have had.

So, I think that it's good that we experience tragedies, maybe we will be more humbled. Or maybe it will just serve to give people more bragging rights because we can recover from disasters quickly. WE don't have earthquake damaged streets and buildings 4 and a half years after the earthquake. WE don't have people living in now-permenant evacuee camps 7 years after a huricane. WE make a big bajillion dollar monument where terrorists hit OUR country. Wow, there are some things to be proud of (insert sarcasm here).

Call me unpatriotic, or whatever you want, but I am glad to have been born in the U.S. But I will never cease to be totally embarassed by the image we portray to other countries.

Mi Niño

My beautiful new nephew, Carlitos Daniel, born on July 5. So, who says only children can't have nephews!? Karlita says I can! hehe! Now, I just have to wait to actually SEE Carlito in person until December...

Bendiciones de Lejos

God continues to provide. I prayed, like a year ago, that God would provide someone who could help me financially for Mexico by giving $5,000. I thought that was a huge request, but I believed God could and would provide, even a whole $5,000! He did. The car that I was given, it sold for $5,000. Stuff like that is cool!

So, yesterday, Marlia come to visit. She brought stuff for me from my Honduran family and the Fonsecas. Among the things that the Delgados sent were six small handmade purses. Six!? Wow, I'll never run out of little purses! Me and Marlia laughed! So today, I actually read the letter that Suyapa had sent, and she said that she sent me the purses to sell so I can raise money for Mexico. Wow! It's amazing how people who believe in me, believe in the ministry, and believe that this is all God's will, do all they can to help this come to pass! Mami can't send a check for me, but she was able to send some purses. And, I believe the purses were made by Carolina, a super-sweet lady from Germania church. It's just amazing to know that people, even outside my country, are behind me in this! Even though I'm going to MEXICO, the relationship between CentralAmericans and Mexicans is similar to that between UnitedStatesicans and the French. Except not as sarcastic. It's interesting to see both sides of that relationship as an outsider - I see Honduran & Salvadoran attitudes about Mexicans, and Mexican attitudes about CentralAmericans.

Anybody want to buy a purse?? They're made out of this sting/twine material that kind of reminds me of a plastic Safeway bag stretched into string. It's pretty cool material. The purses are very small, but cute!

Marlia and I talked, basically the entire time she was here, about stuff about Honduras. Her trip, her team, our mutual friends in Honduras. It was great to hear about my catracho buddies, and to continue to learn about Honduran culture, and interactions between them and us gringos.