I pulled this out of the archives on my computer because my Mom wants it posted here... It's encouraging to have such a strong fan base!
15 December 2008
Has anyone else realized it’s cold? It is. I realized when I opened an eyelid this morning to peer at my clock and I think my eyeball momentarily froze before I could bury it under the blankets again to thaw. I reached one brave finger out of my cocoon to turn the heater up and then quickly withdrew it to recover. When I finally sat up and ventured out of my bedroom (with all the blankets from the bed wrapped around me, I might add) into the rest of my apartment, I considered crawling into my refrigerator to try to warm up. Perhaps tucked between the spinach and eggs and salsa it would be a bit cozier. The thermometer on my counter stopped at 41 degrees, and nothing – and I mean nothing: no mud fight, no marathon, and certainly no herd of wild horses – would convince me to take a shower in my tiled bathroom today. I bet my feet would freeze solid to the bathtub and then what I predicament I would be in!
The dishes in my sink keep piling up because it’s not warm enough to stand in my kitchen and wash them. Yes, I know, warm water is still possible, but my FEET would be cold! At the moment those feet are in 2 pair of socks inside my running shoes and they’re numb. I kid you not – I cannot feel my toes!
I’ve begun burning candles not for ambiance or for their pleasant scent, but rather as a source for heat. All 28 of them. The smoke detector keeps going off, but the annoyance of it seems a minor price to pay for keeping my hands warm. And my Habana-steal coat that I purchased during the after-Christmas sales on Via del Corso last January is no longer just an outdoor outfit - I wear it all the time. If anybody were to break in during the night I think they might be surprised by the Eskimo that is buried under the 12 blankets on my bed – a woman in two pair of sweats, multiple socks, a t-shirt, thermal shirt, sweatshirt, and down vest, a hat, ear muffs and gloves might just be the perfect scare tactic for anyone coming to steal my non-existent TV, couch, and X-box. After this morning’s experience, I think I’ll break out the ski goggles too.
I’m waiting for my hair to start breaking off because it freezes. I wonder if my house plants are going to die. And I better invest in an ice scraper so I can scrape the ice off the inside of my windows so I can see out into the world for the rest of the week. The heat's been pumping all day and the temp has climbed a massive 10 degrees – this doesn’t look hopeful.
Of course, I could just go to my parents’ house and their woodstove… but somehow that doesn’t seem like half the arctic adventure! I've always said I want to visit Antarctica, I guess this is my practice round. In the meantime, I think I'll go back through all my Morocco pictures from last summer and try to remember how HOT it was on those trains... maybe that will do the trick to thaw my fingers.
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Friday, December 26, 2008
Sometimes when it rains, it pours...
This Christmas has been one for the Shulke family record of legendary Christmases:
There was the Christmas when we were crunched to a 48 hour barn clean-out time (entailing the removal of full-grown chickens out of stinky barns and preparing for tiny puff-balls into freshly sawdusted accommodations) after a particularly rainy stretch. We spent December 24th and 25th in rubber boots and coats, wielding shovels in the top floors and applying muscle power to remove the unusually heavy and odiferous material. When you grow up on a farm, I think you learn early on in life that things just don’t always go as we would prefer.
Of course, one of our favorite Christmases was the year we went to Hawaii – which was the year AFTER we spent our entire Christmas break building a barn that had burned down. While we were up to our knees in sticky mud (and digging out tools we dropped – YUCK!), or shimmying through the rafters that were covered in perpetual frost, or screwing down the steel roof and slicing our hands on the razor sharp edges, Mom had the brilliant idea to use the air miles we accumulated from the building material costs and fly us all to Hawaii the following year. Fifteen days of Christmas break spent in sunshine on the beach ― almost bliss!
There have been Christmases when we’ve had to tromp all over the country looking for animals that escaped their fences, and Christmases when we’ve been out of power and read Charles Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol” and played board games by candlelight. Some years friends or family long absent showed up at the Christmas feast and caught up on life and laughter, and one year we were all sick with the flu and spent the week feverishly lying on blankets on the floor with buckets at hand. Two years ago my Grandpa had a stroke and was in the hospital, so the usual Christmas shebang didn’t even occur.
This year, oddly enough, we were supposed to be in Rome. When I decided to not go back to school for my second year, obviously those plans got changed, but the traditional gathering was already scratched from the list since my Grandma had taken the opportunity to book a flight to Alaska to be with other family over the holidays. Instead of Italy, we’re here in Washington and we have snow! I’ve prayed for a white Christmas since I was about five years old. I think all those prayers have just been stockpiling up and they all dumped THIS year (hey, at least God answers prayers, right?!)!
The snow came in such extensive quantities that all seven Shulkes spent the afternoon of Christmas Eve shoveling my Grandma’s flat roof because the weight of the snow threatened the structural integrity of the building. The roof on one of our old barns started to collapse, so we moved the horses out of that barn into a more solid building. While we were on Grandma’s roof, we watched a neighbor’s hay barn collapse across the field. Just after dark, our neighbors called, asking if Dad could bring a tractor since a lean-to for four of their horses had partially caved with the horses inside. Several hours later, as Dad and the twins were coming in the house, the terrible sound of popping beams and crumbling timbers (imagine knocking down a Lincoln Log house with the sound multiplied by about 100) floated across the valley – our employee called to tell us that the barn the horses had been moved from had collapsed. During the night, a second barn collapsed. This morning while we were unwrapping presents, they called a third time to tell us the sawdust shed had also collapsed. After brunch, while walking home from touring the destruction sight, the now-familiar sound split the gentle drip of snow-melting-air and a cloud of dust rose from the other farm. We arrived to see a fourth barn also as flat as a pancake, with evidence of a forceful expulsion of dust and insulation. It’s been like living in a life-size Timber game!
As these events have been “pouring” on us today – and in fact, it feels like events over the last couple months have been dumping on a regular basis: the cancellation of our chicken contract and subsequent 2 months of no income, the nation-wide economic hardship in general, Mom’s preparation to reenter the job force, and the rapid changes in my grandparents’ independence and health due to the loss of Grandma’s drivers license – I can see my parents struggling to comprehend and deal with them. Perhaps most sickening is the fact that after 27 years of paying for insurance coverage on the barns monthly, at the beginning of December they ceased insuring the buildings. As Dad surveyed the first two barns that fell, he kept muttering, “I wish we’d kept the insurance…” With the coverage, they could have paid off their debts and the IRS’s cut, and been in the position to start over with something new without Mom having to go to work. From this vantage point, it’s easy to think that those insurance checks would have solved all the big stresses in my parents’ life.
Of course, Dad and Mom know that God is both sovereign AND good, and that His plans are for a future and a hope. They know that He has been in control of the falling snow, the contract getting cancelled, and Mom’s job application process. He’s even been in control of the integrity of the barns – I have no doubts that He has restrained the buildings from falling many times in the past! His grace and mercy are also abundant, and like the trials and tests that come our way, when those blessings rain down, they also seem to pour!
Despite being income-less, God has so clearly taken care of my family. Mom’s garden was a blooming success this year, and her hard work of canning and preserving the food has provided ample winter supplies. The freezers are stocked with home-grown beef and gifts from various fishing trips. Our drier stopped working, but all three Grandparents live close and have been generous with allowing my Mom to dry endless loads in their machines. Our heat source is a woodstove which is easily stocked from the forests on our property. Several people have sought my Dad out asking to buy hay, which “it just so happens” we have in abundance thanks to a good hay crop this summer. God’s hand of Providence has clearly been moving in the lives of the Shulke family!
And then there are the people. I’ve observed my parents go through several tough times related to the farm – a fatal accident the summer Mom was 8 months pregnant with the twins and the burning of our newest, nicest barn with 30,000 4-week old birds inside are two examples that come to mind. But every time they have faced hardships, hard decisions, or high stress, God brings people to them – through email or the phone or the mail – and encourages them. Today as we opened presents, my aunt and uncle had sent a sizeable gift card to a grocery store – Mom’s grocery shopping budget got a boost! Then from our neighbors we received an unexpected card with a generous gift. Although my folks didn’t want to shorten them by accepting it, the neighbors explained they simply wanted to bless our family in some way and felt this was better than any object wrapped in Christmas paper. I reminded my Mom that in the past she and Dad have had many opportunities to practically bless people around them and that the act of blessing people is in and of itself a blessing. Perhaps this was the time to graciously and thankfully receive a blessing and not shortchange the neighbors of THEIR blessing of giving.
On top of the prayers over the past weeks and the physical/material blessings that have dropped into our laps, we have also been blessed by the abundant outpour of sympathy from friends even today after my Mom sent out an email asking for prayer. Emails have literally flooded the inbox and the phone just keeps ringing as people demonstrate they are willing to join us in this time of questions and brainstorming and standing beside us with their prayers. There have even been a number of offers to physically come out to the farm and help clean up the rubbish with us… After cleaning up the charred remains of a 40x500 square foot barn six years ago, the offers are a HUGE encouragement to everyone’s spirits!
Now, as I sit here by the fire in the quiet house and reflect on today, I can’t help smiling: this Christmas has certainly been a little eventful. While I wouldn’t have minded a “normal” Christmas, I can’t help but think it would have been far less revealing of God’s grace and mercy. Perhaps it’s taken roofs collapsing and snow piling up all around me to realize just HOW good God is! Even though the downpours of life can feel overwhelming, I’m grateful that God frequently chooses to match the tears with the triumphs, the pain with the promises, and the stress with the sympathy. Today I’m particularly thankful for the paradoxes God works within – a virgin with a baby, God as a human, The King in a stable, death for life…
I hope you’ve had a Merry Christmas! Even though it’s unpopular, I’m praying if God can reveal Himself to you and touch your heart in a new way through pain and suffering and uncertainty, I hope He’ll do it.
There was the Christmas when we were crunched to a 48 hour barn clean-out time (entailing the removal of full-grown chickens out of stinky barns and preparing for tiny puff-balls into freshly sawdusted accommodations) after a particularly rainy stretch. We spent December 24th and 25th in rubber boots and coats, wielding shovels in the top floors and applying muscle power to remove the unusually heavy and odiferous material. When you grow up on a farm, I think you learn early on in life that things just don’t always go as we would prefer.
Of course, one of our favorite Christmases was the year we went to Hawaii – which was the year AFTER we spent our entire Christmas break building a barn that had burned down. While we were up to our knees in sticky mud (and digging out tools we dropped – YUCK!), or shimmying through the rafters that were covered in perpetual frost, or screwing down the steel roof and slicing our hands on the razor sharp edges, Mom had the brilliant idea to use the air miles we accumulated from the building material costs and fly us all to Hawaii the following year. Fifteen days of Christmas break spent in sunshine on the beach ― almost bliss!
There have been Christmases when we’ve had to tromp all over the country looking for animals that escaped their fences, and Christmases when we’ve been out of power and read Charles Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol” and played board games by candlelight. Some years friends or family long absent showed up at the Christmas feast and caught up on life and laughter, and one year we were all sick with the flu and spent the week feverishly lying on blankets on the floor with buckets at hand. Two years ago my Grandpa had a stroke and was in the hospital, so the usual Christmas shebang didn’t even occur.
This year, oddly enough, we were supposed to be in Rome. When I decided to not go back to school for my second year, obviously those plans got changed, but the traditional gathering was already scratched from the list since my Grandma had taken the opportunity to book a flight to Alaska to be with other family over the holidays. Instead of Italy, we’re here in Washington and we have snow! I’ve prayed for a white Christmas since I was about five years old. I think all those prayers have just been stockpiling up and they all dumped THIS year (hey, at least God answers prayers, right?!)!
The snow came in such extensive quantities that all seven Shulkes spent the afternoon of Christmas Eve shoveling my Grandma’s flat roof because the weight of the snow threatened the structural integrity of the building. The roof on one of our old barns started to collapse, so we moved the horses out of that barn into a more solid building. While we were on Grandma’s roof, we watched a neighbor’s hay barn collapse across the field. Just after dark, our neighbors called, asking if Dad could bring a tractor since a lean-to for four of their horses had partially caved with the horses inside. Several hours later, as Dad and the twins were coming in the house, the terrible sound of popping beams and crumbling timbers (imagine knocking down a Lincoln Log house with the sound multiplied by about 100) floated across the valley – our employee called to tell us that the barn the horses had been moved from had collapsed. During the night, a second barn collapsed. This morning while we were unwrapping presents, they called a third time to tell us the sawdust shed had also collapsed. After brunch, while walking home from touring the destruction sight, the now-familiar sound split the gentle drip of snow-melting-air and a cloud of dust rose from the other farm. We arrived to see a fourth barn also as flat as a pancake, with evidence of a forceful expulsion of dust and insulation. It’s been like living in a life-size Timber game!
As these events have been “pouring” on us today – and in fact, it feels like events over the last couple months have been dumping on a regular basis: the cancellation of our chicken contract and subsequent 2 months of no income, the nation-wide economic hardship in general, Mom’s preparation to reenter the job force, and the rapid changes in my grandparents’ independence and health due to the loss of Grandma’s drivers license – I can see my parents struggling to comprehend and deal with them. Perhaps most sickening is the fact that after 27 years of paying for insurance coverage on the barns monthly, at the beginning of December they ceased insuring the buildings. As Dad surveyed the first two barns that fell, he kept muttering, “I wish we’d kept the insurance…” With the coverage, they could have paid off their debts and the IRS’s cut, and been in the position to start over with something new without Mom having to go to work. From this vantage point, it’s easy to think that those insurance checks would have solved all the big stresses in my parents’ life.
Of course, Dad and Mom know that God is both sovereign AND good, and that His plans are for a future and a hope. They know that He has been in control of the falling snow, the contract getting cancelled, and Mom’s job application process. He’s even been in control of the integrity of the barns – I have no doubts that He has restrained the buildings from falling many times in the past! His grace and mercy are also abundant, and like the trials and tests that come our way, when those blessings rain down, they also seem to pour!
Despite being income-less, God has so clearly taken care of my family. Mom’s garden was a blooming success this year, and her hard work of canning and preserving the food has provided ample winter supplies. The freezers are stocked with home-grown beef and gifts from various fishing trips. Our drier stopped working, but all three Grandparents live close and have been generous with allowing my Mom to dry endless loads in their machines. Our heat source is a woodstove which is easily stocked from the forests on our property. Several people have sought my Dad out asking to buy hay, which “it just so happens” we have in abundance thanks to a good hay crop this summer. God’s hand of Providence has clearly been moving in the lives of the Shulke family!
And then there are the people. I’ve observed my parents go through several tough times related to the farm – a fatal accident the summer Mom was 8 months pregnant with the twins and the burning of our newest, nicest barn with 30,000 4-week old birds inside are two examples that come to mind. But every time they have faced hardships, hard decisions, or high stress, God brings people to them – through email or the phone or the mail – and encourages them. Today as we opened presents, my aunt and uncle had sent a sizeable gift card to a grocery store – Mom’s grocery shopping budget got a boost! Then from our neighbors we received an unexpected card with a generous gift. Although my folks didn’t want to shorten them by accepting it, the neighbors explained they simply wanted to bless our family in some way and felt this was better than any object wrapped in Christmas paper. I reminded my Mom that in the past she and Dad have had many opportunities to practically bless people around them and that the act of blessing people is in and of itself a blessing. Perhaps this was the time to graciously and thankfully receive a blessing and not shortchange the neighbors of THEIR blessing of giving.
On top of the prayers over the past weeks and the physical/material blessings that have dropped into our laps, we have also been blessed by the abundant outpour of sympathy from friends even today after my Mom sent out an email asking for prayer. Emails have literally flooded the inbox and the phone just keeps ringing as people demonstrate they are willing to join us in this time of questions and brainstorming and standing beside us with their prayers. There have even been a number of offers to physically come out to the farm and help clean up the rubbish with us… After cleaning up the charred remains of a 40x500 square foot barn six years ago, the offers are a HUGE encouragement to everyone’s spirits!
Now, as I sit here by the fire in the quiet house and reflect on today, I can’t help smiling: this Christmas has certainly been a little eventful. While I wouldn’t have minded a “normal” Christmas, I can’t help but think it would have been far less revealing of God’s grace and mercy. Perhaps it’s taken roofs collapsing and snow piling up all around me to realize just HOW good God is! Even though the downpours of life can feel overwhelming, I’m grateful that God frequently chooses to match the tears with the triumphs, the pain with the promises, and the stress with the sympathy. Today I’m particularly thankful for the paradoxes God works within – a virgin with a baby, God as a human, The King in a stable, death for life…
I hope you’ve had a Merry Christmas! Even though it’s unpopular, I’m praying if God can reveal Himself to you and touch your heart in a new way through pain and suffering and uncertainty, I hope He’ll do it.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
'Tis the season...
... for changes! Always changes in my life, it seems. In the past year and a half, I have lived on three different continents, moved across the Atlantic four times, started at two new schools, and spent a good 16 weeks essentially living out of a backpack. Sometimes I have to admit, I feel like a nomad... but after 19 years of living in the same house, same town, with the same people, I LIKE having things mixed up a bit!
And after being in my little apartment for five months, I suppose it's time to move on. Part of me really doesn't want to - I LOVE my little place! I LOVE my landlords, and I LOVE being so close to campus! - but my spirit (for there is no better word - an urge deep within my heart and mind and gut) compels me in a different direction. With all the changes in my family the past couple weeks, I've decided that I can serve them best and position myself in a primo character-development situation by moving in with my grandparents and commuting to school next semester. Not only does it save me rent - and looking at another 4+ years of school, every penny seems to count! - but it also allows me to be involved in their daily life, helping keep the house clean, stay on top of grocery lists, and hopefully keep their upstairs from becoming completely overridden by little, unwelcome "guests." I can cook a couple meals a week, sweep and mop and keep the bathrooms clean, and take phone messages and know what's in the fridge so it doesn't all go bad with relative ease while living with them, whereas for anyone to come in from the outside, it requires considerable more work on their part. And I won't be able to be QUITE as selfish living with two other people as I have been this semester... a trait I'd be happy to work on eradicating :-)
I've also been looking at what comes next after graduation this spring - classes at the local CC for nursing pre-reqs? Going to another CC? Moving to another state to get residency before launching into a nursing program? I spent some time today researching volunteer positions available around the world, and how much they cost. I'd love to jaunt off to another corner of the world for some of the summer, but is that practical? Is that wise? Oh the responsibilities!
But for the moment, I'm trying to not get carried away with the future options and possibilities, and instead focus on today. Today it's been snowing all day and I haven't left the house. We have a dwarf-ent tree in our living room that provides lots of "character" for the house. I've been playing my little heart out on the piano, composing music and practicing Beethoven and thumbing through Christmas carols while my Rome-Lentil-Soup cooks on the stovetop. It's cozy to be by the fire with the sounds of the family around me - for the moment, that's enough.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Love...
... is sacrifice. Lord, help me be willing to sacrifice myself in order to love people in a true imitation of your sacrifice to demonstrate love to me.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
4/5ths...
I just turned in my final portfolio for my Reading and Writing Methods class. Tuesday I turned in the final presentation for YA Lit, yesterday I turned in the final paper for African American Lit and gave the final presentation for Early American Lit. May I just say that I like being about to use "final" so many times in one sentence in connection with getting things accomplish? It's NICE!
I'll have one more test next week, and then it's easy sailin' until January 12th or so...! I think I could spend the first couple days just sleeping, and then a full day cleaning my house, because it's pretty much trashed at this point... Too many days of running in and out and not doing anything more than soaking dishes and throwing papers into piles... Not to mention the fact that for this last portfolio I went back through ALLLLLLL the papers from this class, which are now spread out ALLLLLLL over my living room floor... Oh, I suppose I could just burn those now, since I won't need them!!!
This week has seemed incredibly long, but it's good to know it's almost over. AND there's a chance of snow this weekend, which would just be quite exciting... I think I could enjoy sitting and watching the world turn white around me for awhile!
I'll have one more test next week, and then it's easy sailin' until January 12th or so...! I think I could spend the first couple days just sleeping, and then a full day cleaning my house, because it's pretty much trashed at this point... Too many days of running in and out and not doing anything more than soaking dishes and throwing papers into piles... Not to mention the fact that for this last portfolio I went back through ALLLLLLL the papers from this class, which are now spread out ALLLLLLL over my living room floor... Oh, I suppose I could just burn those now, since I won't need them!!!
This week has seemed incredibly long, but it's good to know it's almost over. AND there's a chance of snow this weekend, which would just be quite exciting... I think I could enjoy sitting and watching the world turn white around me for awhile!
Monday, November 24, 2008
Fires, freeways, and fried clutches...
From my perch under a quilt on my favorite chair at my parents' house, the fire blazing in the wood stove JUST beyond my toes glows a beautiful orangeish-pink colour. Since I've supposedly been working on homework all day but instead have found myself consistently allured by the information superhighway of the internet (oh the trials of living without regular access!), I thought I'd procrastinate a bit longer to post an update!
I was just up from my spot to pour myself a bowl of cereal (dinner tonight). You know when it's cold and your cheeks get rosy inside, even if it isn't all that warm? I'm in that scenario. I stole (er, borrowed) my sister's old middleschool soccer sweats and am wearing my old ratty soccer sweatshirt from my sophomore year, but my toes are still cold inside Max's socks (ALL the clothes I brought home with me are dirty and being washed! But since the drier at my parents' isn't working, we have to farm the wet laundry out to grandparents, which means at least a day turn around... So I'm scrounging!!!). Come to think of it, my fingers are a bit chilly too. I think I'll scootch in even closer to the fire!
What's new? I think I last wrote from the hotel at the VB tourney. Heather's team won their first game Saturday, and played in the championship game to screaming and excited fans. Unfortunately, the other team dominated in height, pounding power, and defensive digging, which earned them their rightful position as State champions. Heather and her team were happy to come home with a second place trophy, proud of their accomplishments over the season.
The week was pretty tame, I had a couple people over for various meals, did homework, yardwork, went running a couple times - all in all fairly tame. On Saturday, however, God was gracious enough to throw a little fun adventure into my path!
I was heading down into Portland to visit with one of my adopted-parent couples, but I had a deep-in-my-gut feeling that my car was acting poorly. Actually, it has been growling something terrible since I bought it, but I noticed dear little Poppy has been not picking up speed near as well as he once was. In fact, crossing the highway between my house and school has been tricky this last week because there is no light to stop the cross traffic... Speed is sometimes necessary in those circumstances!
Anyhow, when Poppy was maxed out at 55 MPH crossing the 205 bridge, I realized Poppy wasn't just feeling poorly, he was truly SICK! Not knowing how far I had until my exit, I stayed in the right lane and prayed fervently that I would be able to get off the freeway if I ceased being able to accelerate at all. God, in his providence, got me to my exit AND provided that the ramp off the freeway went DOWN rather than up - I have my doubts as to whether Poppy would have coasted uphill too well. I turtle-crawl-creeped into a 7/11 and called my "Dad" of the couple I was going to see. Being the protective father he is, I think he was out the door as I was explaining the problem!
[Editors note: I'd like to interject at this point that I was, at no point during this episode, at all distraught or upset once I was able to successfully get off the freeway and out of danger of being stranded on a 2 foot shoulder with my 4 foot wide car. I suppose since this is far from the first time I've been broke down on the side of the road, I've come to appreciate the random and suprising interjection into my life that these events create...]
I called AAA in a short time, also letting my parents also know what was going with a promise to update them when I had more info. I talked to Erin on the phone, she was very nice, and gave me a direct number to the AAA office she was working in. Or maybe it was Kelly, the other AAA person I talked to, who gave me that number. I don't remember now, but I do still have the number written on the back of my hand, so if you break down in the next few days and need a direct number, let me know! While we waited for the tow truck, my "Dad" and I got to catch up on life. Once Eric (with a "c") picked up my car and we converse about growing up in the same county, I got to go see my "Mom" for the little bit of time remaining for them to visit with me. They had previously scheduled a dinner date with another couple, and since they're leaving the country next week and won't be back for many months, they're making an effort to keep all their appointments!
Before they left their house (with me in it!), we decided that if someone in my family could come get me, that would be great, and if they couldn't, I'd stay the night (I had a bag of laundry with me, so I would have had clean clothes!) and go to church with them, and they'd take me to my apartment Sunday afternoon. Just after I'd talked to my Mom and found out she would be leaving in awhile to head down, my phone buzzed on top of the piano where I'd set it while I was playing away to my piano-deprived-heart's content. My friend Bryan, who lives in Jackson, Mississippi, was calling to say, "Dani! Guess what? I'm in Portland tonight!" To which I responded, "Bryan! That's great! Guess what? I'm in Portland tonight too!" He didn't have anything scheduled, and finding out that I was stranded and carless and unfed, he took me to a Thai restaurant and then delivered me home safe. So you see, dear reader, my misadventures with Poppy turned into fun adventures with Bryan and Thai food! And since I'd never had Thai food and it was REALLY GOOD, it made that much more of an impression!
So a begged a ride to church with my cousins yesterday, then a friend and almost-neighbor and the mother of one of the girls on Heather's VB club team came by to pick me up and take me as far as the club VB tryouts, where we watched Heather and her daughter play for awhile before Heather finished bringing me home to my parents, and here I've been since!
I'm a little at loose ends with what to do with myself. Well, not actually, because I've got plenty of school to do and several appointments and various friends I've been trying to connect with and haven't been able to thus far, but the very fact that I DON'T have a deadline weighing over my head means that I'm far too relaxed about actually buckling down and getting things done... Or at least that's been the trend over the weekend. It's going to change, though! Unfortunately, one of the down sides to being an English major is the fact that I don't always get to read the type of books I'd like to read and am, in fact, required to read books I DON'T want to read. The book I'm working through right now is a slavery ghost story and, quite frankly, has my scared out of my wits if I have to read it when I'm by myself at night! Since at my last check it was quite dark outside, I think I'm done reading that book until the sun comes up tomorrow! At least I'm back with other people (outside my imagination) to share the house with for this week of being on the farm!
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, friends! Be sure to squeeze lots of hugs into your festivities :-).
I was just up from my spot to pour myself a bowl of cereal (dinner tonight). You know when it's cold and your cheeks get rosy inside, even if it isn't all that warm? I'm in that scenario. I stole (er, borrowed) my sister's old middleschool soccer sweats and am wearing my old ratty soccer sweatshirt from my sophomore year, but my toes are still cold inside Max's socks (ALL the clothes I brought home with me are dirty and being washed! But since the drier at my parents' isn't working, we have to farm the wet laundry out to grandparents, which means at least a day turn around... So I'm scrounging!!!). Come to think of it, my fingers are a bit chilly too. I think I'll scootch in even closer to the fire!
What's new? I think I last wrote from the hotel at the VB tourney. Heather's team won their first game Saturday, and played in the championship game to screaming and excited fans. Unfortunately, the other team dominated in height, pounding power, and defensive digging, which earned them their rightful position as State champions. Heather and her team were happy to come home with a second place trophy, proud of their accomplishments over the season.
The week was pretty tame, I had a couple people over for various meals, did homework, yardwork, went running a couple times - all in all fairly tame. On Saturday, however, God was gracious enough to throw a little fun adventure into my path!
I was heading down into Portland to visit with one of my adopted-parent couples, but I had a deep-in-my-gut feeling that my car was acting poorly. Actually, it has been growling something terrible since I bought it, but I noticed dear little Poppy has been not picking up speed near as well as he once was. In fact, crossing the highway between my house and school has been tricky this last week because there is no light to stop the cross traffic... Speed is sometimes necessary in those circumstances!
Anyhow, when Poppy was maxed out at 55 MPH crossing the 205 bridge, I realized Poppy wasn't just feeling poorly, he was truly SICK! Not knowing how far I had until my exit, I stayed in the right lane and prayed fervently that I would be able to get off the freeway if I ceased being able to accelerate at all. God, in his providence, got me to my exit AND provided that the ramp off the freeway went DOWN rather than up - I have my doubts as to whether Poppy would have coasted uphill too well. I turtle-crawl-creeped into a 7/11 and called my "Dad" of the couple I was going to see. Being the protective father he is, I think he was out the door as I was explaining the problem!
[Editors note: I'd like to interject at this point that I was, at no point during this episode, at all distraught or upset once I was able to successfully get off the freeway and out of danger of being stranded on a 2 foot shoulder with my 4 foot wide car. I suppose since this is far from the first time I've been broke down on the side of the road, I've come to appreciate the random and suprising interjection into my life that these events create...]
I called AAA in a short time, also letting my parents also know what was going with a promise to update them when I had more info. I talked to Erin on the phone, she was very nice, and gave me a direct number to the AAA office she was working in. Or maybe it was Kelly, the other AAA person I talked to, who gave me that number. I don't remember now, but I do still have the number written on the back of my hand, so if you break down in the next few days and need a direct number, let me know! While we waited for the tow truck, my "Dad" and I got to catch up on life. Once Eric (with a "c") picked up my car and we converse about growing up in the same county, I got to go see my "Mom" for the little bit of time remaining for them to visit with me. They had previously scheduled a dinner date with another couple, and since they're leaving the country next week and won't be back for many months, they're making an effort to keep all their appointments!
Before they left their house (with me in it!), we decided that if someone in my family could come get me, that would be great, and if they couldn't, I'd stay the night (I had a bag of laundry with me, so I would have had clean clothes!) and go to church with them, and they'd take me to my apartment Sunday afternoon. Just after I'd talked to my Mom and found out she would be leaving in awhile to head down, my phone buzzed on top of the piano where I'd set it while I was playing away to my piano-deprived-heart's content. My friend Bryan, who lives in Jackson, Mississippi, was calling to say, "Dani! Guess what? I'm in Portland tonight!" To which I responded, "Bryan! That's great! Guess what? I'm in Portland tonight too!" He didn't have anything scheduled, and finding out that I was stranded and carless and unfed, he took me to a Thai restaurant and then delivered me home safe. So you see, dear reader, my misadventures with Poppy turned into fun adventures with Bryan and Thai food! And since I'd never had Thai food and it was REALLY GOOD, it made that much more of an impression!
So a begged a ride to church with my cousins yesterday, then a friend and almost-neighbor and the mother of one of the girls on Heather's VB club team came by to pick me up and take me as far as the club VB tryouts, where we watched Heather and her daughter play for awhile before Heather finished bringing me home to my parents, and here I've been since!
I'm a little at loose ends with what to do with myself. Well, not actually, because I've got plenty of school to do and several appointments and various friends I've been trying to connect with and haven't been able to thus far, but the very fact that I DON'T have a deadline weighing over my head means that I'm far too relaxed about actually buckling down and getting things done... Or at least that's been the trend over the weekend. It's going to change, though! Unfortunately, one of the down sides to being an English major is the fact that I don't always get to read the type of books I'd like to read and am, in fact, required to read books I DON'T want to read. The book I'm working through right now is a slavery ghost story and, quite frankly, has my scared out of my wits if I have to read it when I'm by myself at night! Since at my last check it was quite dark outside, I think I'm done reading that book until the sun comes up tomorrow! At least I'm back with other people (outside my imagination) to share the house with for this week of being on the farm!
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, friends! Be sure to squeeze lots of hugs into your festivities :-).
Saturday, November 15, 2008
state tourney
The sound of whistles and cheering and clapping hang in the air, as girls suspend in space to beat a white ball down the other side of a net in competition for the state volleyball championship. My sister's high school team has won their two Friday games, and are two wins away from being the best girls volleyball team in the 1A state competition. Heath is a senior and pretty excited about the prospect of realizing her volleyball dream.
It's been awhile since I stayed in a hotel, and it's fun to get to temporarily live in a nice room. The little details of having a different shower, different bed, more pillows, it's like a short vacation away from reality! I'm getting to spend quality time with my WHOLE family (minus Heath, of course, she's busy...), plus a cousin from Cali and a friend from Canada. He's keeping us entertained with stories about what is and isn't common in Canada... In our typically-American perspective, we wonder if automatic or manual cars are more popular, if everyone watches American college football, and what kind of commercials are on TV (not healthcare ones, he claims... Socialized countries, you see!).
I'm also enjoying being able to sit in the living room of my parent's suite, or lay on my bed and utilize the internet... Horray for internet NOT at a computer lab!
I'm going out for a walk with Mom, then lunch, then on to the afternoon game decked out in red and white and ready to scream!
Monday, November 10, 2008
Stopping in...
I'm sitting in my sister's bedroom in Denver, Colorado. I got to fly down yesterday AM and participate in the ever-popular college/young adult activity of "friend hopping." If you haven't heard about that sport, in involves texting a massive amount of people who live in a given location that you do not normally inhabit, and trying to figure out how and when to meet up with as many people as possible in a short time without a car. It's fun! I reunited with a bunch of Morocco friends and other old-time acquaintances. Great conversations, sights, and bonding moments.
Tomorrow is my hang-out-and-do-homework day here at Meg's apartment. We're hoping to see more friends tomorrow night, and then I'll head back home Wednesday morning. It's been a whirlwind, and I'm really tired, but it's also been nice to get away from the rain for a couple days. Although it's practically snowing here, so not MUCH different!
Hope you all had a good long weekend, and my personal thanks and appreciation and respect to all the Veterans!
Tomorrow is my hang-out-and-do-homework day here at Meg's apartment. We're hoping to see more friends tomorrow night, and then I'll head back home Wednesday morning. It's been a whirlwind, and I'm really tired, but it's also been nice to get away from the rain for a couple days. Although it's practically snowing here, so not MUCH different!
Hope you all had a good long weekend, and my personal thanks and appreciation and respect to all the Veterans!
Friday, November 07, 2008
Changes of the time
The fair weather of the fall and the glorious golden sunshine emphasizing brilliant autumn colors seems to have come to an end this week. Yesterday was grey, grey, grey, made further depressing by my realization that we have about another 100 days until we get to INCREASE the amount of light each day. It's those days or weeks that feel as though the sun has forgotten us that make me dread winter here. If I haven't mentioned it before, I dislike the rain of the NW! I know it makes everything green and lovely, but it's also depressing and disheartening. It's weeks like this past one that make me long for the sunshine and even the adventure of being abroad. At least rain in Italy seems glamorous and exciting!
Further changes have impressed themselves on my life this past week. Of course, there's the very public change of the end of the political campaign commercials (hallelujah!!!), and the monumental humanistic achievement of a non-pale skinned president, and the more personal change of my parent's occupation. Wednesday marked the end of their contract with Foster Farms, news that came as a shock, although not completely unanticipated. There is a possibility that Foster will reconsider contracting with our farm to grow birds in two barns, but the other four are not welcome.
Call me selfish and naive, but it's taken this event to cause the economic crisis to hit close to home. I've known there was problems, but it's only been just now that I can personally relate. The farm was my parent's sole income. Without that, the debts from the past couple years loom ominously, and I catch them looking at each other with resignation. It's like a huge question mark is looming in the middle of the living room. What to do? How to pay the bills? Where to invest energy in an effort to earn an income?
Question marks seem to be popping up a lot in my life. With the sign up of spring semester commencing next week, I should be able to clear up the uncertainty of whether or not my summer plans will include classes. But then what? Further education? If yes, Masters in Ed or Bachelors in Nursing? A job? Overseas service? Going on an adventure with my friend Carrie to a Spanish speaking country to teach English? So many options, so little idea of which to select. I find myself experiencing a tightening in my chest, butterflies in my stomach. I'm not big enough to handle this!
In my current post-paper-writing exhausted state at the moment, my optimistic outlook on the world is shaking considerably. I know in my head that God isn't surprised by the financial turmoil in the world and in my family. I know also that he is big enough to handle my life, and promises that ALL things will work together for good for those who love him, but my faith still wavers. Worst case scenario isn't death for me, it's the process of dying, or the living that has to occur before eternity with Jesus. I'm not trying to jump the gun here, believing these changes are going to leave me starving on the street, but I am realizing there may be circumstances or events I'd rather avoid. In the face of adversity and trials in my life, I don't want to pray, "Lord, get me out of this!" but rather "Lord, get me through this." I want these times of uncertainty and unknowing to grow my faith and dependence on the Lord, knowing that it's only because of the testing circumstances that will be accomplished. But I'm realizing in my own strength, I can't do this. God is going to have to give me the courage to continue through these changes.
Further changes have impressed themselves on my life this past week. Of course, there's the very public change of the end of the political campaign commercials (hallelujah!!!), and the monumental humanistic achievement of a non-pale skinned president, and the more personal change of my parent's occupation. Wednesday marked the end of their contract with Foster Farms, news that came as a shock, although not completely unanticipated. There is a possibility that Foster will reconsider contracting with our farm to grow birds in two barns, but the other four are not welcome.
Call me selfish and naive, but it's taken this event to cause the economic crisis to hit close to home. I've known there was problems, but it's only been just now that I can personally relate. The farm was my parent's sole income. Without that, the debts from the past couple years loom ominously, and I catch them looking at each other with resignation. It's like a huge question mark is looming in the middle of the living room. What to do? How to pay the bills? Where to invest energy in an effort to earn an income?
Question marks seem to be popping up a lot in my life. With the sign up of spring semester commencing next week, I should be able to clear up the uncertainty of whether or not my summer plans will include classes. But then what? Further education? If yes, Masters in Ed or Bachelors in Nursing? A job? Overseas service? Going on an adventure with my friend Carrie to a Spanish speaking country to teach English? So many options, so little idea of which to select. I find myself experiencing a tightening in my chest, butterflies in my stomach. I'm not big enough to handle this!
In my current post-paper-writing exhausted state at the moment, my optimistic outlook on the world is shaking considerably. I know in my head that God isn't surprised by the financial turmoil in the world and in my family. I know also that he is big enough to handle my life, and promises that ALL things will work together for good for those who love him, but my faith still wavers. Worst case scenario isn't death for me, it's the process of dying, or the living that has to occur before eternity with Jesus. I'm not trying to jump the gun here, believing these changes are going to leave me starving on the street, but I am realizing there may be circumstances or events I'd rather avoid. In the face of adversity and trials in my life, I don't want to pray, "Lord, get me out of this!" but rather "Lord, get me through this." I want these times of uncertainty and unknowing to grow my faith and dependence on the Lord, knowing that it's only because of the testing circumstances that will be accomplished. But I'm realizing in my own strength, I can't do this. God is going to have to give me the courage to continue through these changes.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Hitting on this subject AGAIN!
I LOVE knowing hospitable people! Yesterday I got ANOTHER three invites for dinner sometime from people in my new church, and I went to lunch at my cousin's place, and then I Carrie came over for our annual catch-up chat, and then I had bible study at these awesome poeople's house... It was a joy! Granted, I was in my church clothes all day, and didn't get a chance to go for a run, but it was still nice.
More discussion on slavery and sex trafficking and religious people's inconsistencies... Classes at a secular university can be so interesting at times! We also spent all most all of my Early American Lit class going over how to write a paper, and guess whose paper was used as an example of excellent transitions between paragraphs?! Which, I have to admit, is a HUGE blessing, because when I turned that stupid paper in I was STR-ESSED! The writing lab tore it apart and I thought I'd never have a shot at even getting a passing grade... Whew! I still don't have it back, this prof is notoriously late getting papers returned, but I figure if she used it as an example it can't be TOO terrible!
I just realized how dark it is and am moaning the fact that I won't get a run in today yet either - let this be a lesson to you, oh reader, to NOT DELAY on runs! I put it off this morning because, well, I just didn't want to run!
In other news, I have been greatly encouraged by this study on Delighting in the Lord that my Sunday night group does (and my Wednesday group too, actually - same leader). The chapter I was reading today was focusing on just spending time with the Lord. I so DO desire to find my satisfaction and purpose in life in who God is and what he's done for me, so this study has been timely in giving me ideas on how to get into the habit of turning to the Lord first in whatever circumstances - pain, joy, sorrow, frustration, etc. Although I didn't go running, I did get to spend a solid 10 minutes laying on my floor just chatting with my Heavenly-Daddy. How refreshing it is to just walk into his open arms and have a heart-to-heart! I mean, I know he already KNOWS everything that I'm thinking and feeling and wishing for and dreaming about and stressing over, but to acknowledge his presence and his ability to direct my steps and care for me along the way is so freeing! So go find a quiet spot (crawl into your closet, I do that sometimes!), set the time for 10 minutes, and just approach God as the loving, perfect, caring, patient, welcoming Dad that he is... And may your time refresh you!
More discussion on slavery and sex trafficking and religious people's inconsistencies... Classes at a secular university can be so interesting at times! We also spent all most all of my Early American Lit class going over how to write a paper, and guess whose paper was used as an example of excellent transitions between paragraphs?! Which, I have to admit, is a HUGE blessing, because when I turned that stupid paper in I was STR-ESSED! The writing lab tore it apart and I thought I'd never have a shot at even getting a passing grade... Whew! I still don't have it back, this prof is notoriously late getting papers returned, but I figure if she used it as an example it can't be TOO terrible!
I just realized how dark it is and am moaning the fact that I won't get a run in today yet either - let this be a lesson to you, oh reader, to NOT DELAY on runs! I put it off this morning because, well, I just didn't want to run!
In other news, I have been greatly encouraged by this study on Delighting in the Lord that my Sunday night group does (and my Wednesday group too, actually - same leader). The chapter I was reading today was focusing on just spending time with the Lord. I so DO desire to find my satisfaction and purpose in life in who God is and what he's done for me, so this study has been timely in giving me ideas on how to get into the habit of turning to the Lord first in whatever circumstances - pain, joy, sorrow, frustration, etc. Although I didn't go running, I did get to spend a solid 10 minutes laying on my floor just chatting with my Heavenly-Daddy. How refreshing it is to just walk into his open arms and have a heart-to-heart! I mean, I know he already KNOWS everything that I'm thinking and feeling and wishing for and dreaming about and stressing over, but to acknowledge his presence and his ability to direct my steps and care for me along the way is so freeing! So go find a quiet spot (crawl into your closet, I do that sometimes!), set the time for 10 minutes, and just approach God as the loving, perfect, caring, patient, welcoming Dad that he is... And may your time refresh you!
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Hamburger hands and heart
As I type, my hands feel like they're being poked by 378 needles. As usual on Fridays, today I worked in my landlord's yard. My bloody hands are evidence of all the rose bushed I got entangled in during my pruning.
I started a sermon series on Proverbs this afternoon. Mark Driscoll was discussing how God has given us believers a heart of flesh, that causes us to seek the Lord. On our own, we're like people with a hearts of stone. I was thinking of how flesh can experience pain - like my hands. Sometimes I don't like pain - especially the emotional type - but deep down I want to be like Jesus, and he certainly didn't shy away from experiencing pain, probably because pain and love seem to go hand-in-hand.
The series on Ruth I just finished challenged me. I aspire to be like Ruth - a woman who is growing in her faith in the Lord, who loves the people in her life and is committed to blessing them, a woman with great character and work ethic and trust in God's providence. It's been insightful to consider how Jesus is our "glorious Boaz" as Spurgeon penned - I've always loved the story of Ruth and Boaz, and seeing it jointly as both a great love story and ALSO an allegory of Jesus as our redeemer and His love for the church resounds a positive chord in my heart. As a bit of a hopeless romantic, I can't help thinking, "What an honor, a blessing, a priviledge, to be the recipient of such an overwhelming expression of boundless grace as part of the bride of Christ!"
In other news this week, the theme of hospitality popped like yet another daisy out of the snow. Anthony-from-Texas-who-I-met-in-Morocco was coming through the area, visiting his grandma, aunt and uncle before heading to a conference up North with his Dad. When depositing him at his family's home Wednesday, I received an invite to breakfast with the entourage on Thursday. Anthony had remarked, "My family doesn't know a stranger," yet I underestimated the sincerity of his comment... His aunt introduced herself to me as "Aunt Bonnie" and his uncle made me laugh so hard I had to blink back tears at the "misadventures of the wet nose in the chicken coop" story... Hearing from "Aunt Bonnie" about how she picked "Uncle Joe's" picture out of a yearbook months before she ever met him had me convinced that she's a true kindred spirit! Anyone with that much spunk and impetuousness MUST know what it's like to be a little on the crazy-free-spirited side! This has got to be one of my absolute favorite things about being back in the states and having various Christ-believing circles around... There are always storues to hear about God's faithfulness!
Speaking of Christian circles, my last subject for this meandering blog simply MUST be on the two guys I met at my new favorite coffee shop today. I promise, I wasn't TRYING to listen in on the conversation between the gentle, tatoo-sporting, latte-sipping duo, but I couldn't help hearing them talk about what the Lord has been doing in their life lately, and sharing with each other things they would desire prayer for. As I was leaving I stopped by to tell them I'd been encouraged to overhear their conversation. Several months ago I was really burdened to start praying for Christian men between the ages of 15 and 35, specifically asking that they would have wise Christian mentors to come alongside them and show them what it is to be a Man of God, a Tender Warrior. Issues of masculinity and femininity have always intruiged me. As I aspired to be a genuine, God-honoring woman, with a character reflective of Jesus Christ, I see a widespread need for Godly men as well. These two guys meeting and keeping each other accountable and talking felt like God's little encouraging-blessing to remind me and prompt me to keep praying for the men of my generation. That, and our 20 minute conversation was really just quite fun!
That's all for tonight. I pray that you would have "hamburger-hearts" - that God would instill hearts of flesh in you, drawing you closer to him.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Library musings
It's cold tonight as I sit in the library, typing away on one of 18 identical computer stations. I'm the only person at the computer lab, and the building is quietly humming semi-warm air through the vents. I've been wearing scarves for a couple weeks now, but it's only just recently become a necessary accessory!
I've been storing up treasured images of this season in my heart to come back to once the winter rains commence. I took a nap on my cot-bed this afternoon in a patch of sunshine. I went running this evening in pants and a long-sleeve t-shirt and hat, but rolled up the sleeves and took off the hat because, even though my fingers were frozen, I was warm. I guess that's what my friend Jessee used to call the "core body temperature." I try to take a second, long look at scenes of autumn splendor, the sun streaming in shafts through the large firs by "my" tree farm, the graceful arch of a golden tunnel when I was traipsing around the countryside Sunday, the whisps of smoke coming from the chimneys of old farm houses... I really dread the grey-gloom of the coming months, so I'm taking purposeful action to try to thwart the icky-ness of the winter! Of course, it's always worse in my head. In reality, even if it does rain here a lot, there ARE sun breaks. I remember my years at the JC, and sometimes even if it was misty and depressing in town, as I drove over the big hill between my parent's farm and civilization, I would round the corner and see piles upon piles of magnificent clouds in the sky, with sunshine coming through a hole and casting the whole scene in pale shades of winter-splendor! That's a beautiful thing about Washington - you learn to appreciate good cloud formations!
This week I've been blessed by hospitality. I dropped in on some farmers down here today that my parents know. Their house was built over 100 years ago, and they showed me all the beautiful nooks and crannies and sat at the kitchen table chatting. It was so fun to hear about their days farming chickens and vacations to Hawaii! My cousins had me over for dinner on Sunday afternoon, and then a young couple hosted a Bible Study at their house Sunday night. There is something beautiful and wonderful about being invited in to someone's home. I want my home to be like that!
Other than that, life is going as normal! Papers, reading, writing, classes, etc...
Oh, no, there is something else worth mentioning. I've been listening to Mark Driscoll's sermons as I go running, and may I just present that I hope IF I ever get married, my husband has spent some time under Mark's teachings? Wow! GREAT stuff for young people (and older people, I presume!) to hear. So men... and ladies... go find some Mark Driscoll! The series on Ruth has been especially good!
OK, getting kicked out of the library, both by the librarian and my desire for a real dinner...
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Currently Annoyed...
... at the oh-so-highschool-sounding girls sitting at the computer behind me in the computer lab. For the past 15 minutes every few seconds has been punctuated with high pitch giggles and gasps. Normally, I'm cool with high school kids. I like them, in fact, I want to spend the rest of my life in their classrooms, so I definitely like them! But... I wish they'd take their chatter out into the hall! I'm pretty sure they're freshmen, they were talking about how something was "so highschool!" I took a brief glance behind me and they're sporting perfectly straightened hair and bright colored shirts and skinny jeans. They seem to be completely unaware of the fact that they're the only conversation happening in the library - they are surrounded by people silently working at their computers, and they're carrying on like they're eating lunch in a cafeteria with about 500 people - ie: LOUDLY!
Saturday, October 11, 2008
While my Dad snores...
It's Saturday evening at the parentals' house. I drove up last night to hang with my little bro and sis while my folks had their monthly non-card-playing-Baptist-night-out (they play dominoes...) with a gang of sweethearts who they've been getting together with since they married 27 or some odd years ago. They were "the kids" back then, and they're "the kids" today. Some things never change, I suppose. I wonder what that makes me and my siblings, though, "the embryos"?
As it turned out, both Max and Liv deserted me to go to the football game - Olivia because she was having a sleep-over with a soccer friend, and Max with our buddy Paul who likes doing "manly" things with Max. For 11 year olds, they have amazingly advanced social lives! I ended up home alone, seeing as I went to all of about three football games during my entire highschool career and didn't see much of a need to break that record now. You might say I'm not much of a small-town sports gal.
But then again, you might say I am if you saw the way I clapped at a soccer game and volleyball tournament today. Or if you could somehow insert your sense of feeling into my nerves around my vocal chord and experience first hand the way they're scratching and screeching thanks to the serious amount of yelling I performed from the sidelines. Liv's soccer team tied 0-0 with a team they'd lost to twice this year, which feels like a victory! And Heath's VB team won the tournament at an annual invitational they go to every year.
It's sure fun to "get into" a game when your siblings are out playing their hearts out! Especially when you have siblings who are GOOD athletes and contribute mightily to their respective teams! Heck, by bearing my last name I'm practically a celebrity at the high school these days! A couple weeks ago I even walked into the gym to see a random dude wearing my shirt. I kid you not. HE WAS WEARING MY SHIRT!!! It had my last name and my soccer number on it, and it had a trademark sign of mine - tied knots up the sides - that I used to do on all my XL t-shirts to make them into "cute" tops. How he managed to squeeze into the thing I have no idea, not because I'm all that small, but because he wasn't a skinny, scrawny kid! Come to find out, Heath had supplied him and another guy with shirts emblazoned with our surname because they wanted to feel like "part of the team." Don't ask me how that leaped to my soccer (the sworn enemy of volleyball...) shirt, but whatever.
In other news, the weeks been a bit of an up-and-downer. It's been up because I've met some other Christians on campus, went to a Bible study, made cookies for and had mint tea in my 20th/21st century global lit class, and had great talks with my landlady while working in the yard yesterday. It was a downer because I turned in a paper I wasn't terribly happy about and made myself mad at me (how's THAT for alliteration?!?!) by skipping one class in order to try to repair the cracks the writing center pointed out in my paper-foundation that was due in the next class. How many times have I said, "I will NEVER be that student?" Well, never say never, I suppose!
But classes are classes, it's a grade, and I think a couple days and some re-aligning conversations with friends have gotten me straightened out. I praise the Lord for friends in this area (heck, even near this time zone!) that I can call or stop by and dump my guts out and have them gracefully, lovingly, mercifully, and honestly point out my complete lack of brains and grossly unbalanced priorities to help me get my life back onto a God-honoring track.
And speaking of God-honoring tracks, my latest running-boredom-beater is to listen to sermons on my shuffle. Mark Driscoll is a favorite, and listening to edifying, encouraging, and convicting sermons while getting a good cardio exercise feels like so much of a better use of my time... not to mention, I actually want to KEEP running so I can finish off the hour-long sermon! Or, at least keep walking or stretching or something. I'm glad the Lord saw fit to have the iPod invented during my lifetime!
I'm off to read "A River Runs Through It" with my pen in hand to annotate it for my Reading and Writing Methods class. Stay chill!
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
Crispy Apples and Leaves and Such
Fall is in the air! I can feel it when I walk out of my night class and clutch my jacket around me, I can smell it as I go running in the afternoons - rain and mold and grass cuttings mixed together, and I can taste it in the fruit and vegetables I've been enjoying courtesy of my Mom's generosity... I love fall! It used to be my favorite season of the year, until I realized it always proceeds the winter rains, and then I decided I liked spring better because it meant summer sunshine was coming! But sometimes I still forget that I've made up my mind to like spring, and I revert back to my fall-favoring habits.
There's just SO MUCH to love about fall! School starts up again, bringing new intellectual challenges, old friends and faces not seen since the spring (or longer, for Miss-University-Skip-About here). The garden produce hits an all-time high in production level, resulting in LOADS of corn on the cob (dreamy!), cucumbers, tomatoes, broccoli, green beans, peppers, squash, zucchini... need I continue?
And the colors - oh my, the colors!
The angle of the sun, slipping southward, seems to just give everything more of a golden glow. The green evergreens stand stately and unchanged, the maples and alders blush and shine in turn, and the blue of the sky stands in stark contrast to puffy white clouds lazily drifting across the sphere. I think in color, dream in color, and I love to LIVE in color! Which may also be why the dreaded grey of winter is depressing... but alas, I'll save that topic for another day!
Fall has a particular sound, too, which is delightful. It's the sound of geese honking on their annual trek south. It's the whistle of referees at youth sporting events, and the cheer of the fans. It's the crack of a gun somewhere in the wilderness when a hunter takes a shot at a bull elk. It's the laughter of kids in a playground, relishing their time outdoors, and the chattering of students in a classroom discussing post-colonial and post-modern commonalities.
I love fall! Shh, don't tell that to my spring-loving head, but I'm afraid my heart is enraptured with it. I enjoy pulling out all my "warm" clothes I haven't seen since the sun came out of hibernation several months ago, it's like having a whole new wardrobe. And fleece, the staple of a "comfy" outfit for lazing around doing homework in the chilly weather, is one of my favorite non-person friends. Really.
To sum up and conclude and finish off this rant on fall, my challenge to you, dear reader, is to let me know what YOUR favorite season is, and why... serious, I'm interested!
Library's closing, gotta run!
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Monday, September 29, 2008
In the land of the Pony Express
Dinner last night consisted of sitting in a famous Portland eatery (the name of which has escaped me at the moment) watching old and new friends down some chicken wings. The conversation had a slight lull, during which time Bri and I were looking at Kevin's photos ( http://www.flickr.com/photos/pattersonminx/ ) on his iphone. As I've noticed seems to be the case, once one iphone gets pulled out, other magically appear. Before I could blink - or flip open my old nokia flip-phone - four iphones had appeared on the table. Now, I realize I was with a group of artsy-fartsy photographer people (discussing iStock over dinner), which is, of course, the gang that Apple caters to, but good grief, when did I become so obsolete? Not only that, but the discussion soon turned to TV, internet, phone lines, all of which I had to admit I don't have. I think I might be the only person in the Western US without internet in my home! I got plenty of heckling about still using the Pony Express for communication and depending on telegraphs for news, but I present that radio is the modern convenience of this age! Despite the fact that, for me, I have to roll down my car window and put my finger on top of the broken off antenae in order to get any reception.
I went to the beach yesterday with Bri and our friend Nate (check out: http://nathanwatkinsphotography.com/services/ ). We met some guys from India who work for Nike, they asked us to pose in a "snap" with them. We also met some Chinese folks who also work for Nike. I wish I had a freer schedule - I'd love to just meet international folks and invite them over for dinner! The whole time in lived in Italy, I only went into one Italian family's home. Odd, isn't it? How many people come to the US and never get to go inside a USers home?
Which brings me to a conference I attended this last weekend with Bri. The nature of which might be considered a bit secure and confidential, but in general terms, it got me thinking about reaching out to people who are visiting us from other cultures. If they're going to come to the US with the opportunity to have an open view of it, I'd like them to get a positive impression! It's the least I can do while I'm here. And us USers don't always live up to the hospitality other countries offer - I'd like to see that change! Moroccans are SO hospitable! As followers of Jesus and learners of God - who is the BEST host there ever has been or will be - we should be beating everyone out there when it comes to hospitality, hands down!
Because I'm tired and home at my folks' (aka: the land of wifi), I'll upload a couple photos from recent times... Enjoy!
I went to the beach yesterday with Bri and our friend Nate (check out: http://nathanwatkinsphotography.com/services/ ). We met some guys from India who work for Nike, they asked us to pose in a "snap" with them. We also met some Chinese folks who also work for Nike. I wish I had a freer schedule - I'd love to just meet international folks and invite them over for dinner! The whole time in lived in Italy, I only went into one Italian family's home. Odd, isn't it? How many people come to the US and never get to go inside a USers home?
Which brings me to a conference I attended this last weekend with Bri. The nature of which might be considered a bit secure and confidential, but in general terms, it got me thinking about reaching out to people who are visiting us from other cultures. If they're going to come to the US with the opportunity to have an open view of it, I'd like them to get a positive impression! It's the least I can do while I'm here. And us USers don't always live up to the hospitality other countries offer - I'd like to see that change! Moroccans are SO hospitable! As followers of Jesus and learners of God - who is the BEST host there ever has been or will be - we should be beating everyone out there when it comes to hospitality, hands down!
Because I'm tired and home at my folks' (aka: the land of wifi), I'll upload a couple photos from recent times... Enjoy!
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Falling into fall...
Hi faithful fans!
Just a quick update here, because it's 9:15PM and I'm still at the library and I'm hungry and tired and have a headache... I've settled into my little apartment and am getting into the routine of school work again. It's been a bit of a hectic start, I've yet to actually BE at my apartment for more than 4 or 5 days since every weekend I've headed one direction or another, but hopefully after the next 2 weekends that will slow down some. It's a bit challenging to get used to studying and writing among the craziness of the family when I have the solitude of my own place during the week.
My landlords are fantastic, as is the location of my apartment, as is the apartment itself. I have SO much to be thankful for! God is good - and he's especially good to me!
My sister and I are hosting an "International Night" tomorrow night, inviting people to bring potluck foods from international locations, and requiring the donning of costumes. I'm not letting them in the door unless they can show me something foreign... or so I said on the email invite at least! For me, I'm wearing my jilaba and need to practice my tea-pouring skills!
Saturday will be a friend's wedding - they seem to be coming fast and furious this summer - and then Sunday is the b-day party for 3 of my siblings. Monday my beloved friend Bri arrives, and the week is going to be crazy with 2 essays and a presentation due, and leaving for Seattle next Thursday night after my night class... Ii-yi-yi! I'm tired just thinking about all that!
For now, though, I'm heading out and will be attempting to tackle the to-do list on my whiteboard before heading home tomorrow - lots of reading and writing and cleaning! Here I go!
Cheers!
Just a quick update here, because it's 9:15PM and I'm still at the library and I'm hungry and tired and have a headache... I've settled into my little apartment and am getting into the routine of school work again. It's been a bit of a hectic start, I've yet to actually BE at my apartment for more than 4 or 5 days since every weekend I've headed one direction or another, but hopefully after the next 2 weekends that will slow down some. It's a bit challenging to get used to studying and writing among the craziness of the family when I have the solitude of my own place during the week.
My landlords are fantastic, as is the location of my apartment, as is the apartment itself. I have SO much to be thankful for! God is good - and he's especially good to me!
My sister and I are hosting an "International Night" tomorrow night, inviting people to bring potluck foods from international locations, and requiring the donning of costumes. I'm not letting them in the door unless they can show me something foreign... or so I said on the email invite at least! For me, I'm wearing my jilaba and need to practice my tea-pouring skills!
Saturday will be a friend's wedding - they seem to be coming fast and furious this summer - and then Sunday is the b-day party for 3 of my siblings. Monday my beloved friend Bri arrives, and the week is going to be crazy with 2 essays and a presentation due, and leaving for Seattle next Thursday night after my night class... Ii-yi-yi! I'm tired just thinking about all that!
For now, though, I'm heading out and will be attempting to tackle the to-do list on my whiteboard before heading home tomorrow - lots of reading and writing and cleaning! Here I go!
Cheers!
Monday, September 01, 2008
Catchup Tleta
For the weekend we took off for a city between Fes and Tangier. We had a lovely dinner with a Moroccan family, then got up the next day and took off for some sightseeing in Tangier. We walked ALL over the city, then ended up at the beach to relax for a couple minutes. I got to haul around Eba, the little Moroccan girl who went with us, while she was napping. Thank goodness for scarves! I have to admit, I felt pretty "African" with her slung around me! The guys later told me they'd been planning how they were going to catch either her or me or both of us if I tripped going up or down the multitude of stairs and hills we traversed. They never needed to, though!
The train rides on our little jaunt turned out to be amusing. Once again we managed to miss out on AC trains (I think they're actually just an illusion), but since we were in second class, I just pushed open a door and sat myself in the doorway while we drove along. It was the most comfortable of any train ride I took, temperature-wise, because the cool breeze was in my face. It also was another very "Africa" moment, with my feet dangling off the train, waving to the shepherds and small towns we passed. It was also on these train rides that I decided I would, indeed, plan on going skydiving someday, since one of the guys regularly jumps out of airplanes for his job. Of course, I think he's the only one I'll ever consider going with, so if we never meet up again I won't, but with a track record of 1300 safe jumps, I'll risk it with him!
We also decided that sugar is not really all that sweet until the sugar factories hire one of the girls on the team to walk through the factory where the sugar is produced, and then her sweetness rubs off on all the sugar and the rest of the world can enjoy it...
When we got back to where we had to get off for our hotel, our team leader accidently directed a bunch of the crew to get off at the little stop on the outskirts of the city. So several of us eagerly obedient teammembers ended up having to walk a ways to get to the next station. I'll never forget the looks on the faces of the people still on the train when they realized we had gotten off and they were still stuck - I don't think sheer terror describes it, but something along those lines!
Once back in Fes we settled in for our last week of classes. We were able to slip in some time running around the medina (I gave a tour, thanks to my previous knowledge of the city), and even took an "adventure hike" out into the hills behind Fes. Our hike ended up turning into a lot more of a taxi ride with just a little hiking, but we met this guy who is building an organic-style resort. I might have to go back someday, just because he seemed pretty cool! And the views of the city couldn't be beat either.
We took the train back to Casa after classes finished up, were we began the painful process of wishing "adieu" to people. I hate goodbyes, and it was sad to have the gang slowly dissolve - I'd actually rather BE the one leaving, because then I can just rush off! As it was, I was the last person left in Casa because my bus up north didn't leave until 5 hours after the last flight out. I was able to fill my time with reading and journaling and rescuing some American guys with my cell phone and skype account at an internet cafe. They'd been stranded by Royal AirMaroc, so they had to communicate and get new flights and such. Speaking neither French or Arabic made their trial that much more difficult. My very LITTLE French and Arabic sure impressed them! (hahaha!)
After a 12 hour bus ride north, and refusing multiple coffee invites or snack invites or marriage proposals from the guy next to me (all in Arabic, so I can't be sure always what he was saying to me), I finally got into town. I had accidently left my lunch/dinner in the taxi I took to the bus station (I had been distracted by the taxi driver's invite to go home, get married, and come back to Morocco to live), so by the time I got into the house up north I was ready to break my 24 hour fast. Unfortunately everyone had the flu so food was the last thing on anyone's mind.
My friend T returned from his quick jaunt to Fes with the team he was with, so it was great to see him and catch up again. I'd spent a couple days in England over spring break visiting him, but being back in the original-meeting-place was great. Another few days building houses provided ample opportunity to practice my arabic and serve as a "translator" of sorts, before I caught a taxi with T and two of the boys on his team back out to the port to ride the overnight ferry to Malaga. After taking the ferry several times last year, I was better prepared with warm socks and clothes, which provided a much more comfortable night than my last experience. T directed us through the port and to the bus to get to the airport (WAYYYYY cheaper than a taxi - good to know how to do this!), and then we parted ways once Tom and the boys were checked in. I had a few hours to wait for my plane to Rome.
Once back in Rome I got back to L & J's and worked on repacking my stuff. I headed to the water park for the 4th of July with a gang of folks, had dinner with my roomies, and then almost overslept and missed my train to get to the airport for my flight to London. Fortunately L knocked on the door and I had all of 3 minutes to get out and down to the station hauling a backpack and my suitcase. I made it, though, and the rest of the flight was rather uneventful, other than being long. With layovers in both London AND Denver, it seemed slower than usual, but then again it's nice to break things up a bit. My folks were on hand in Portland to pick up my stinky, exhausted self and head straight home!
The train rides on our little jaunt turned out to be amusing. Once again we managed to miss out on AC trains (I think they're actually just an illusion), but since we were in second class, I just pushed open a door and sat myself in the doorway while we drove along. It was the most comfortable of any train ride I took, temperature-wise, because the cool breeze was in my face. It also was another very "Africa" moment, with my feet dangling off the train, waving to the shepherds and small towns we passed. It was also on these train rides that I decided I would, indeed, plan on going skydiving someday, since one of the guys regularly jumps out of airplanes for his job. Of course, I think he's the only one I'll ever consider going with, so if we never meet up again I won't, but with a track record of 1300 safe jumps, I'll risk it with him!
We also decided that sugar is not really all that sweet until the sugar factories hire one of the girls on the team to walk through the factory where the sugar is produced, and then her sweetness rubs off on all the sugar and the rest of the world can enjoy it...
When we got back to where we had to get off for our hotel, our team leader accidently directed a bunch of the crew to get off at the little stop on the outskirts of the city. So several of us eagerly obedient teammembers ended up having to walk a ways to get to the next station. I'll never forget the looks on the faces of the people still on the train when they realized we had gotten off and they were still stuck - I don't think sheer terror describes it, but something along those lines!
Once back in Fes we settled in for our last week of classes. We were able to slip in some time running around the medina (I gave a tour, thanks to my previous knowledge of the city), and even took an "adventure hike" out into the hills behind Fes. Our hike ended up turning into a lot more of a taxi ride with just a little hiking, but we met this guy who is building an organic-style resort. I might have to go back someday, just because he seemed pretty cool! And the views of the city couldn't be beat either.
We took the train back to Casa after classes finished up, were we began the painful process of wishing "adieu" to people. I hate goodbyes, and it was sad to have the gang slowly dissolve - I'd actually rather BE the one leaving, because then I can just rush off! As it was, I was the last person left in Casa because my bus up north didn't leave until 5 hours after the last flight out. I was able to fill my time with reading and journaling and rescuing some American guys with my cell phone and skype account at an internet cafe. They'd been stranded by Royal AirMaroc, so they had to communicate and get new flights and such. Speaking neither French or Arabic made their trial that much more difficult. My very LITTLE French and Arabic sure impressed them! (hahaha!)
After a 12 hour bus ride north, and refusing multiple coffee invites or snack invites or marriage proposals from the guy next to me (all in Arabic, so I can't be sure always what he was saying to me), I finally got into town. I had accidently left my lunch/dinner in the taxi I took to the bus station (I had been distracted by the taxi driver's invite to go home, get married, and come back to Morocco to live), so by the time I got into the house up north I was ready to break my 24 hour fast. Unfortunately everyone had the flu so food was the last thing on anyone's mind.
My friend T returned from his quick jaunt to Fes with the team he was with, so it was great to see him and catch up again. I'd spent a couple days in England over spring break visiting him, but being back in the original-meeting-place was great. Another few days building houses provided ample opportunity to practice my arabic and serve as a "translator" of sorts, before I caught a taxi with T and two of the boys on his team back out to the port to ride the overnight ferry to Malaga. After taking the ferry several times last year, I was better prepared with warm socks and clothes, which provided a much more comfortable night than my last experience. T directed us through the port and to the bus to get to the airport (WAYYYYY cheaper than a taxi - good to know how to do this!), and then we parted ways once Tom and the boys were checked in. I had a few hours to wait for my plane to Rome.
Once back in Rome I got back to L & J's and worked on repacking my stuff. I headed to the water park for the 4th of July with a gang of folks, had dinner with my roomies, and then almost overslept and missed my train to get to the airport for my flight to London. Fortunately L knocked on the door and I had all of 3 minutes to get out and down to the station hauling a backpack and my suitcase. I made it, though, and the rest of the flight was rather uneventful, other than being long. With layovers in both London AND Denver, it seemed slower than usual, but then again it's nice to break things up a bit. My folks were on hand in Portland to pick up my stinky, exhausted self and head straight home!
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Sunday, July 20, 2008
To Clarify...
... and aid in visualization:
After fielding some general questions concerning squatty potties, I realized a visual aid might be very helpful. Unfortunately, the one thing I did NOT take a picture of in Morocco was of a typical Moroccan toilet, but thanks to the beauty of google images, here's a picture someone else took of a typical Moroccan toilet.
I hope that helps, Jan!
After fielding some general questions concerning squatty potties, I realized a visual aid might be very helpful. Unfortunately, the one thing I did NOT take a picture of in Morocco was of a typical Moroccan toilet, but thanks to the beauty of google images, here's a picture someone else took of a typical Moroccan toilet.
I hope that helps, Jan!
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Catch up number "juuj" (2)
FYI, these are the Moroccan Arabic numbers, 1-10:
wahead (1)
juuj (2)
tleta (3)
rrba (4)
hkumsaa (5)
stah (6)
sahba (7)
toomineeah (8)
tsud (9)
asherah (10)
Where was I? The mosque in Casa, I think...
One thing I get really frustrated about in Morocco is the fact that I don't speak much Arabic, and I obviously look Western. Therefore, taxi drivers always try to rip you off! On our ride from the hotel to the mosque in a petit-taxi, the guy told us we owed him 40 dirhams. I only paid him 20. On the way back from the mosque, I didn't tell the driver we were going to a hotel, but instead told him to take us to the train station across the street from our hotel. He metered it (which is what they're SUPPOSED to do), and it was a 7 dirham ride. Now, OK, the difference between 20 dirhams and 7 dirhams isn't THAT much - not even 2 US dollars - but it's the IDEA behind it that ticks me off!
Anyhow, I practice saying, "Non! Tre cheri!" or "Pissah? La. Bzeff. Heshooma!" which basically means, "you're over charging me, you should fear not getting booted out of paradise if Allah takes note of this!" There is Moroccan sign language to go with several of those words, so if incorporate that into my rant, they're a little more likely to be charmed by my ability with Arabic and they'll lower the rate by a couple dirhams.
Alas, I fear I digress! (Actually, I just really like saying that phrase, so sometimes I let myself go on rabbit trails just so I can pull myself back to the subject at hand with that phrase!)
We took our train to Fes (HOT ride!), during which time we played things like "get to know you" questions and compared travel details with each other.
Once in Fes, we had a pretty laid back evening, only getting lost on the way to our hotel and then being dropped off at the wrong spot and walking back. We had a nice dinner, and then I joined a couple other young people - Lindsey, Hillary, Anthony, and Hunter - for a midnight walkabout. Monday morning saw us off to our little language school where we started the routine of language class and culture class. We also got introduced to the AMAZING French cafe called "So Sweet" which pretty much became our favorite place. The peach juice there was buonissimo! The crepes and chef salads weren't bad either!
We also met our host families Monday night. I was placed in a small, fairly poor family with a gal named Joanna. The Lord really knew what he was doing putting the two of us together! Joanna was a BLAST to be with, a great balance for my personality, and she didn't really seem to get phased by anything, not even the fact that we had no shower, no private sink, and only a glorified hole in the ground to take care of business in. Not to worry, Joanna had lived in Indonesia for 3 years and is well prepared to take on using a little scooper and a bucket to wash oneself... and let me tell you, it is AMAZING how good you feel after such a rustic "shower" when it's either that or nothing! And because it was so HOT (both in Fes and especially in the house we were staying in on the top floor with no windows... and no, we never really planned what we would do if there was a fire!), the cold water from the faucet in the squatty-potty room was just cool enough to be refreshing, but warm enough to not put your body into shock.
Our living accomodations were something else. We were put on "froshes," which are kind of like these couches that line the walls in a Moroccan room made for socializing, in a room off the main salon. In the main salon was the table for eating, the TV for watching, and the center for the bedroom, other salon, and kitchen. Our salon was the less private, it had windows that had no coverings into the main salon, and french doors that didn't shut. Literally, we were practically sleeping in the public family room! Our family included a Mom and a teenage son and daughter. They all slept on the froshes in the main salon, so to be modest (with a teenage son in the house!) Joanna and I slept in t-shirts and long pants. I cannot begin to describe how many nights I woke up SOAKED in sweat because our room was so hot and had no airflow! And then a misquito or two would hang out right around my ears all night... I had to take a couple DEEP breaths a couple times!
The huge blessing of the two weeks, though, was getting to hang out with the team of learners (21 total) either at the school, at the cafe's for lunch, or at our team leader's house, which was basically a riad in the middle of the medina. It was a NICE house, bought by an American intending to use it as a guest house, but for some reason that fell through. Nobody lives there full time now, but it's all restored and set up for people to come through and stay if they need to. It is HUGE, with 3 stories, various roofs, SIX bathrooms (with Western toilets!), and three showers. Several bedrooms, a nice kitchen, and a really cool open courtyard with a large skylight and windows opening in to the courtyard. It was always nice an cool in the house, so sometimes in the afternoons during the heat of the day we'd escape to that house.
Language school and culture class were facinating! Arabic language is a little difficult, of course, but it was such a fun challenge. It's the first time I've "studied" a language without having a school grade rest on it, which makes it a delightful process. And writing in Arabic script was just so thrilling! Culture class was really interesting too, especially because I've already spent time in Morocco. Learning about anthropological theories about how cultures work, and then being able to apply them to a series of memories and experiences I've had in Morocco - or Italy for that matter - made the learning part seem a lot more like a game.
The week passed quickly, and we made plans to get away during the weekend. Although it involved more HOT train rides, escaping our host families and being able to really spend quality and large quantities of time hanging out wiih the group resulted in a pleasurable experience. I'll have to fill you in on that a little later, though, as I'm having to backspace practically more than I write due to the fact that my brain keeps misfiring!
Stay tuned!
wahead (1)
juuj (2)
tleta (3)
rrba (4)
hkumsaa (5)
stah (6)
sahba (7)
toomineeah (8)
tsud (9)
asherah (10)
Where was I? The mosque in Casa, I think...
One thing I get really frustrated about in Morocco is the fact that I don't speak much Arabic, and I obviously look Western. Therefore, taxi drivers always try to rip you off! On our ride from the hotel to the mosque in a petit-taxi, the guy told us we owed him 40 dirhams. I only paid him 20. On the way back from the mosque, I didn't tell the driver we were going to a hotel, but instead told him to take us to the train station across the street from our hotel. He metered it (which is what they're SUPPOSED to do), and it was a 7 dirham ride. Now, OK, the difference between 20 dirhams and 7 dirhams isn't THAT much - not even 2 US dollars - but it's the IDEA behind it that ticks me off!
Anyhow, I practice saying, "Non! Tre cheri!" or "Pissah? La. Bzeff. Heshooma!" which basically means, "you're over charging me, you should fear not getting booted out of paradise if Allah takes note of this!" There is Moroccan sign language to go with several of those words, so if incorporate that into my rant, they're a little more likely to be charmed by my ability with Arabic and they'll lower the rate by a couple dirhams.
Alas, I fear I digress! (Actually, I just really like saying that phrase, so sometimes I let myself go on rabbit trails just so I can pull myself back to the subject at hand with that phrase!)
We took our train to Fes (HOT ride!), during which time we played things like "get to know you" questions and compared travel details with each other.
Once in Fes, we had a pretty laid back evening, only getting lost on the way to our hotel and then being dropped off at the wrong spot and walking back. We had a nice dinner, and then I joined a couple other young people - Lindsey, Hillary, Anthony, and Hunter - for a midnight walkabout. Monday morning saw us off to our little language school where we started the routine of language class and culture class. We also got introduced to the AMAZING French cafe called "So Sweet" which pretty much became our favorite place. The peach juice there was buonissimo! The crepes and chef salads weren't bad either!
We also met our host families Monday night. I was placed in a small, fairly poor family with a gal named Joanna. The Lord really knew what he was doing putting the two of us together! Joanna was a BLAST to be with, a great balance for my personality, and she didn't really seem to get phased by anything, not even the fact that we had no shower, no private sink, and only a glorified hole in the ground to take care of business in. Not to worry, Joanna had lived in Indonesia for 3 years and is well prepared to take on using a little scooper and a bucket to wash oneself... and let me tell you, it is AMAZING how good you feel after such a rustic "shower" when it's either that or nothing! And because it was so HOT (both in Fes and especially in the house we were staying in on the top floor with no windows... and no, we never really planned what we would do if there was a fire!), the cold water from the faucet in the squatty-potty room was just cool enough to be refreshing, but warm enough to not put your body into shock.
Our living accomodations were something else. We were put on "froshes," which are kind of like these couches that line the walls in a Moroccan room made for socializing, in a room off the main salon. In the main salon was the table for eating, the TV for watching, and the center for the bedroom, other salon, and kitchen. Our salon was the less private, it had windows that had no coverings into the main salon, and french doors that didn't shut. Literally, we were practically sleeping in the public family room! Our family included a Mom and a teenage son and daughter. They all slept on the froshes in the main salon, so to be modest (with a teenage son in the house!) Joanna and I slept in t-shirts and long pants. I cannot begin to describe how many nights I woke up SOAKED in sweat because our room was so hot and had no airflow! And then a misquito or two would hang out right around my ears all night... I had to take a couple DEEP breaths a couple times!
The huge blessing of the two weeks, though, was getting to hang out with the team of learners (21 total) either at the school, at the cafe's for lunch, or at our team leader's house, which was basically a riad in the middle of the medina. It was a NICE house, bought by an American intending to use it as a guest house, but for some reason that fell through. Nobody lives there full time now, but it's all restored and set up for people to come through and stay if they need to. It is HUGE, with 3 stories, various roofs, SIX bathrooms (with Western toilets!), and three showers. Several bedrooms, a nice kitchen, and a really cool open courtyard with a large skylight and windows opening in to the courtyard. It was always nice an cool in the house, so sometimes in the afternoons during the heat of the day we'd escape to that house.
Language school and culture class were facinating! Arabic language is a little difficult, of course, but it was such a fun challenge. It's the first time I've "studied" a language without having a school grade rest on it, which makes it a delightful process. And writing in Arabic script was just so thrilling! Culture class was really interesting too, especially because I've already spent time in Morocco. Learning about anthropological theories about how cultures work, and then being able to apply them to a series of memories and experiences I've had in Morocco - or Italy for that matter - made the learning part seem a lot more like a game.
The week passed quickly, and we made plans to get away during the weekend. Although it involved more HOT train rides, escaping our host families and being able to really spend quality and large quantities of time hanging out wiih the group resulted in a pleasurable experience. I'll have to fill you in on that a little later, though, as I'm having to backspace practically more than I write due to the fact that my brain keeps misfiring!
Stay tuned!
I've been tagged...
by my friend Hilary. Here goes:
What would you be if you were:
A Vegetable: Cucumbers. I love them! They're refreshing and pleasant.
An Animal: A dolphin. Social, friendly, smart, fun-loving ... basically everything I aspire to be!
A Fruit: cherimoyas (sp?) aka: "Custard Apple." They're my veryfavorite! But I also really could be a nectarine because I like the color and how they're just SOOOO tasty
A Color: raspberry color of pink/maroon.
A Household Object: a rocking chair. Rocking chairs are just SO COOL
Article of Clothing: The perfect pair of jeans
A Drink: cappuccino
A Famous Person: I wouldn't mind being Angelina Jolie. I mean... c'mon, life of adventure, working to make the world a better place, adorable kids, Brad Pitt... but I would have made a lot of different choices than her, I think.
A Film Character: Sydney Bristow <---- I'm sticking with Hilary's answer on this one. Sydney Bristow pretty much just rocks!
A Cartoon Character: OK, problem, I never watched cartoons... So I'll just go with "Belle," from Beauty and the Beast
A Car: A Toyota Tacoma. They're fun, what can I say?
A City: Prague. Bohemia to the core, safe, beautiful.
A Country: Northern Ireland. It's gorgeous! If only it didn't rain so much
A Mythical Creature: I'd go for a Unicorn
A Chocolate Bar: Andes Mints?
A Book: Green Eggs and Ham
A Sport: Soccer
A Word: dichotomy
One of Your Family Members: Olivia
What would you be if you were:
A Vegetable: Cucumbers. I love them! They're refreshing and pleasant.
An Animal: A dolphin. Social, friendly, smart, fun-loving ... basically everything I aspire to be!
A Fruit: cherimoyas (sp?) aka: "Custard Apple." They're my veryfavorite! But I also really could be a nectarine because I like the color and how they're just SOOOO tasty
A Color: raspberry color of pink/maroon.
A Household Object: a rocking chair. Rocking chairs are just SO COOL
Article of Clothing: The perfect pair of jeans
A Drink: cappuccino
A Famous Person: I wouldn't mind being Angelina Jolie. I mean... c'mon, life of adventure, working to make the world a better place, adorable kids, Brad Pitt... but I would have made a lot of different choices than her, I think.
A Film Character: Sydney Bristow <---- I'm sticking with Hilary's answer on this one. Sydney Bristow pretty much just rocks!
A Cartoon Character: OK, problem, I never watched cartoons... So I'll just go with "Belle," from Beauty and the Beast
A Car: A Toyota Tacoma. They're fun, what can I say?
A City: Prague. Bohemia to the core, safe, beautiful.
A Country: Northern Ireland. It's gorgeous! If only it didn't rain so much
A Mythical Creature: I'd go for a Unicorn
A Chocolate Bar: Andes Mints?
A Book: Green Eggs and Ham
A Sport: Soccer
A Word: dichotomy
One of Your Family Members: Olivia
Monday, July 14, 2008
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