That´s right. I´ll be home for just a bit, arriving tomorrow around noon and leaving around 4 on January 3rd. I can´t wait to be there and spend time with my friends and family, more than anything, really. But just for fun, here´s a list of some other things I´m looking forward to:
1. Oklahoma Joe´s
2. A friend´s wedding
3. Jacob´s Well (which, for all that it means to me, could be a list all its own, including the following 2 items)
4. Lunch Bunch
5. Sunday Night Jam
6. POC
7. Cigars with the boys
8. A moment´s quiet, without the honking of buses and their accompany fumes, the barking of dogs, cockadoodledoodling of roosters, screams of children, blaring reggaton, or the tv. just peace and quiet, particularly in the following two situations:
9. A walk all by myself on my favorite trail at Shawnee Mission Park
10. A trail run at Swope with an old friend
11. Some possible late night escapades with the good ol´ bike gang
12. The Hot Club of Cowtown Dec. 30th at Knuckleheads
13. Christmas (duh)
14. Real beer
15. Real cheese
16. Plaza lights
17. Lavender Lace Tea
18. Broomball (let´s make it happen people)
19. You Say Tomato
20. McCoy´s
21. Being cold
And on and on. In the interest of tying up my last loose ends, I´m gonna leave this at 21 and finish up before I head out! If you have anything to add to the list, put it down der in the comments section. Love you guys!
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Monday, December 14, 2009
Retreat, Antigua, Tow, Christmas, Futbol
Lots to report on here from a full weekend.
We had a staff prayer retreat in Antigua last friday. We kicked the day off with some breakfast. From L to the back and then up the right side: Giselle (Admistration and Accounting), Me, Gaby (Paralegal), Bea (Paralegal), Joanna (Australian Social Work Fellow), Luis (Lawyer), Name Withheld, Marisol (kind of hidden, Office Manager and Maid), Delmi (Social Worker), Jessica (Lawyer, Director of the Legal Department, my boss), Alejandra (Guatemalan Legal Intern), Silvia (Guatemalan Legal Intern). Not pictured: Pablo (Field Office Director), Alex (Church Relations Intern), Miriam (Director of Social Work), Alejandro (Guatemalan Legal Intern).
Luis took a holy nap during quiet time.
We played a game that put us all in ridiculous positions that made me and Alejandra laugh a whole lot.
See?
Later, my car broke down and I had to tow it back to the city. Good thing I have free roadside assistance!
Putting up some Christmas decorations with the family. If I´m an adoptive son of Candy (right), then Joanna is my sister-in-law. That´s my "cousin" in the middle.
Our maid Emma. This was a rare moment of animated laughter. Great.
The family. Victor, Candy, Me, Joanna, Victor Jr.
This Coca Cola water tower looking thing is right in the middle of the legal district. Out of place and beautiful. I´ll get a better shot later on.
We went to a semi-final soccer game yesterday. Our team, Municipal, is called the Rojos (Reds). I came with Joanna, Victor, and Alex (not pictured).
Gameplay.
There was a kind of absurd amount of fireworks, smoke bombs, and of course, shouting.
I´m shocked.
People were happy about the win.
We had a staff prayer retreat in Antigua last friday. We kicked the day off with some breakfast. From L to the back and then up the right side: Giselle (Admistration and Accounting), Me, Gaby (Paralegal), Bea (Paralegal), Joanna (Australian Social Work Fellow), Luis (Lawyer), Name Withheld, Marisol (kind of hidden, Office Manager and Maid), Delmi (Social Worker), Jessica (Lawyer, Director of the Legal Department, my boss), Alejandra (Guatemalan Legal Intern), Silvia (Guatemalan Legal Intern). Not pictured: Pablo (Field Office Director), Alex (Church Relations Intern), Miriam (Director of Social Work), Alejandro (Guatemalan Legal Intern).
Luis took a holy nap during quiet time.
We played a game that put us all in ridiculous positions that made me and Alejandra laugh a whole lot.
See?
Later, my car broke down and I had to tow it back to the city. Good thing I have free roadside assistance!
Putting up some Christmas decorations with the family. If I´m an adoptive son of Candy (right), then Joanna is my sister-in-law. That´s my "cousin" in the middle.
Our maid Emma. This was a rare moment of animated laughter. Great.
The family. Victor, Candy, Me, Joanna, Victor Jr.
This Coca Cola water tower looking thing is right in the middle of the legal district. Out of place and beautiful. I´ll get a better shot later on.
We went to a semi-final soccer game yesterday. Our team, Municipal, is called the Rojos (Reds). I came with Joanna, Victor, and Alex (not pictured).
Gameplay.
There was a kind of absurd amount of fireworks, smoke bombs, and of course, shouting.
I´m shocked.People were happy about the win.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Frustrations and Hilarious Latin Americanness
When you live in the developing world, you begin to notice some big differences - or at least some idiosynrancies that stick out like a sore thumb to American eyes. For example:
Yesterday, the biggest intersection in this, the capital city, was shut down in order to make the world´s longest pizza chain in the world. First of all, you need to understand that when an intersection that big is shut down here, there´s no going around the block, and there´s no u-turning to backtrack and find a way around. Almost all of the streets here are one-way, and there doesn´t tend to be much of a grid to the system. I ended up going 2 miles out of the way the other direction, weaving my way to the airport, and going a back way to the road that comes out on the other side of the world´s longest pizza chain. I found out today that there was no pizza-making actually happening at the event. Nope, they were taping pizzas in delivery boxes together. Something to be proud of indeed.
On a similar note, the only road that goes into my town directly from the city was basically shut down the other day for a Christmas parade. This meant that for most people going into the town (who had no warning or signage to help them out) ended up turning a 20 minute drive into a two hour drive. Bummer. I, fortunately, had some foreknowledge and turned the curse into a blessing - taking yet another backway that loops way out over the top of the mountain the town sits on, around the bend, and down a long road into town. This way turns out be pretty naturey, lacking the smog and smells and noise of most of the rest of this continent (or at least it´s major cities). It also turned out to be the same road I ran up last Wednesday on an hour and a half excursion beyond the city limits. In my half running-half walking it turns out (based on my car´s odometer) that I covered about 9 miles that day. Not bad.
Finally, yesterday there happened to be some kind of revival happening in the streets just a few blocks from my house. I don´t think noise ordinances exist here, and if they do, I´m absolutely certain they're not enforced. Trying to get some Sunday afternoon R & R in my room, I was distracted by the very loud Merengue worship music and some preacher screaming at me (and everyone else within 2 or 3 miles) about Jesus. As much as I love Jesus, I don´t much love anyone screaming at people about him - much less telling people about him when it comes from a desire to "win" souls, rather than as an overflow of our love for friends, family, neighbors, and enemies. I made another blessing out of this cursed yelling and headed uphill to the only green space in my gated community with my guitar, where I was somehow able to get above the all the noise and actually commune with our Lord. How ironic.
And that´s just the kind of lesson you learn in a place like this - feeling far from home and culturally disoriented (because I know that if I grew up here probably all of the above would not really phase me), I can either get frustrated and grumpy (which I´ve done plenty of), or I can adjust and make the most of things. I´m learning to do the latter more and more. Forget how you thought it would be, forget your plan, forget wishing it was different, forget what it´s like at home - and make the most of it. I can´t imagine how potent those lessons may be by the time I´ve been here for 6 more months and begin transitioning home. I´m sure I´ll feel some cultural dizzyness there too.
Yesterday, the biggest intersection in this, the capital city, was shut down in order to make the world´s longest pizza chain in the world. First of all, you need to understand that when an intersection that big is shut down here, there´s no going around the block, and there´s no u-turning to backtrack and find a way around. Almost all of the streets here are one-way, and there doesn´t tend to be much of a grid to the system. I ended up going 2 miles out of the way the other direction, weaving my way to the airport, and going a back way to the road that comes out on the other side of the world´s longest pizza chain. I found out today that there was no pizza-making actually happening at the event. Nope, they were taping pizzas in delivery boxes together. Something to be proud of indeed.
On a similar note, the only road that goes into my town directly from the city was basically shut down the other day for a Christmas parade. This meant that for most people going into the town (who had no warning or signage to help them out) ended up turning a 20 minute drive into a two hour drive. Bummer. I, fortunately, had some foreknowledge and turned the curse into a blessing - taking yet another backway that loops way out over the top of the mountain the town sits on, around the bend, and down a long road into town. This way turns out be pretty naturey, lacking the smog and smells and noise of most of the rest of this continent (or at least it´s major cities). It also turned out to be the same road I ran up last Wednesday on an hour and a half excursion beyond the city limits. In my half running-half walking it turns out (based on my car´s odometer) that I covered about 9 miles that day. Not bad.
Finally, yesterday there happened to be some kind of revival happening in the streets just a few blocks from my house. I don´t think noise ordinances exist here, and if they do, I´m absolutely certain they're not enforced. Trying to get some Sunday afternoon R & R in my room, I was distracted by the very loud Merengue worship music and some preacher screaming at me (and everyone else within 2 or 3 miles) about Jesus. As much as I love Jesus, I don´t much love anyone screaming at people about him - much less telling people about him when it comes from a desire to "win" souls, rather than as an overflow of our love for friends, family, neighbors, and enemies. I made another blessing out of this cursed yelling and headed uphill to the only green space in my gated community with my guitar, where I was somehow able to get above the all the noise and actually commune with our Lord. How ironic.
And that´s just the kind of lesson you learn in a place like this - feeling far from home and culturally disoriented (because I know that if I grew up here probably all of the above would not really phase me), I can either get frustrated and grumpy (which I´ve done plenty of), or I can adjust and make the most of things. I´m learning to do the latter more and more. Forget how you thought it would be, forget your plan, forget wishing it was different, forget what it´s like at home - and make the most of it. I can´t imagine how potent those lessons may be by the time I´ve been here for 6 more months and begin transitioning home. I´m sure I´ll feel some cultural dizzyness there too.
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