as of yet, only rodrigo´s grandpa has called me a ´gringa´ ...
let me tell you guys... meals are on a whole different time table down here.... last night we walked around the corner to a little taco/gringa shop at 11:00pm. both rodrigo and his mom didn´t bat an eye at the time, although i kept wondering how my indigestion would work at that time of the night... hmmmm....
what is a gringa?? (besides a north american chiquita??) well, for those of you familiar with kebabs where you shave meat off of a huge chunck of rotisserating meat... it´s that, just in a taco, mexican style... very, very rico!! you put pineapple, onion, guacamole, and other stuff on it and eat it taco style.
while rodrigo and i ate gringas, his mom consumed three `tacos de cabeza´ and one ´taco de seso´ ... cabeza=head and seso=brain.... yep... very impressed with the variety of tacos available... (other interesting items that come in tacos are eyes and stomach...). i tried the `cabeza´ and it really didn´t taste that bad... i´m more curious to know though where all that head meat comes from.... guess it´s better to use ALL parts of the critter than to waste...
as for indigestion... well, i slept like a rock last night.... no complaints... (thank the lord that my stomach has been in fairly good condition!! kari-i´m hoping i don´t experience the wrath of montezuma as you and ryan did a few years ago... yikes!)
11.8.05
10.8.05
buenos dias de mexico, amigos!!
i wish i could describe what an incredible day yesterday was... but it´s hard to put it all into words until i process it all .... mi caballero and i celebrated 8 months of getting to know each other... it was a beautiful evening of qualtity time together... muy muy romantico!! :) muchas gracias, amore mio!
i also had the opportunity to see my friend mo'pete who is teaching in the durango area... she is such a stitch and it was great to sit in a cafe and near fountains and just talk, talk, talk.... mo´pete, it was great to catch up with you!!! you are a riot! hope you survived the evening with brent! hahahaha
mo´pete and i walked all around downtown.... you guys should see the colors of the buildings... and the way people just sit in the plaza, relaxing, taking siestas, and just being part of a community.... often i felt like i was walking the cobblestone streets of europe... and being in a southern mediterranean atmosphere.... so far i´m not getting hassled, so that is a good thing....
it´s weird... in a way this place is a combination of so many places i have visited.... there are scenes, buildings, people, smells, sounds, animals, etc that look familiar from my travels in europe, bosnia, afghanistan, malaysia, china.... and for the first time in a long time, i get the chance to just sit and soak it all in.... so many of my other trips have been agenda and purpose driven... God is blessing me with time to sit, rest, reflect, grow, and of course, get my grad school readings done!!! hahahahahahahah
i wish i could describe what an incredible day yesterday was... but it´s hard to put it all into words until i process it all .... mi caballero and i celebrated 8 months of getting to know each other... it was a beautiful evening of qualtity time together... muy muy romantico!! :) muchas gracias, amore mio!
i also had the opportunity to see my friend mo'pete who is teaching in the durango area... she is such a stitch and it was great to sit in a cafe and near fountains and just talk, talk, talk.... mo´pete, it was great to catch up with you!!! you are a riot! hope you survived the evening with brent! hahahaha
mo´pete and i walked all around downtown.... you guys should see the colors of the buildings... and the way people just sit in the plaza, relaxing, taking siestas, and just being part of a community.... often i felt like i was walking the cobblestone streets of europe... and being in a southern mediterranean atmosphere.... so far i´m not getting hassled, so that is a good thing....
it´s weird... in a way this place is a combination of so many places i have visited.... there are scenes, buildings, people, smells, sounds, animals, etc that look familiar from my travels in europe, bosnia, afghanistan, malaysia, china.... and for the first time in a long time, i get the chance to just sit and soak it all in.... so many of my other trips have been agenda and purpose driven... God is blessing me with time to sit, rest, reflect, grow, and of course, get my grad school readings done!!! hahahahahahahah
8.8.05
mexico....
buenos dias de mexico!!!
what an incredible place this is.... am having a grand time here..... will try to keep you all posted in the next few days of what´s going on.... the biggest surprise??? it definitely feels like home... sam´s club, office max, walmart, home depot, mc d´s, kfc..... weird... the other thing is that hearing spanish 24-7 doesn´t seem to bother me as holland has definitely prepared me for it....
as for my caballero.... it´s good to be with him!!! :)
adios muchachos!!
what an incredible place this is.... am having a grand time here..... will try to keep you all posted in the next few days of what´s going on.... the biggest surprise??? it definitely feels like home... sam´s club, office max, walmart, home depot, mc d´s, kfc..... weird... the other thing is that hearing spanish 24-7 doesn´t seem to bother me as holland has definitely prepared me for it....
as for my caballero.... it´s good to be with him!!! :)
adios muchachos!!
2.8.05
31.7.05
luke 10:25-37
"teacher, what shall i do to inherit eternal life?" (luke 10:25)
"you shall love the lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself" (luke 10:27)
"and who is my neighbor?" (luke 10:29)
jesus replies by telling the story of the samaritan who despite cultural and ethnic barriers, assists a man who was robbed, beaten, and left on the side of the road. a priest and a levite, men from his own ethnic background, passed him by. but the samaritan, a man who had no business interacting with a jew, stopped to take care of the beaten man. he touched him, cleaned him, lifted him onto his own beast, put him in an inn, and paid for him....
who are our neighbors? are we stopping by the side of the road to touch, clean, lift, and pay for someone other than for people of our own kind? are we crossing cultural and ethnic barriers to love your neighbor as yourself?
the message at church this morning was powerful.... since childhood i've been familiar with this story, but wow, did it ever have an impact on me this morning.... i've been struggling with explaining why i've chosen the MA that i have... because it seems vague, too big, idealistic.... and yet, these verses in luke are my heartbeat.... i've chosen to pursue a MA in sustainable development and social justice because i've been commanded "to love the lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself." what other reason than to equip yourself to do this even more so. our God is a God of Justice! this next step in my life is tied to obedience - obedience to follow God's command. open my eyes, lord, to see people the way you see them, may i not be held back by cultural differences, poverty, pain, or status... may YOU be glorified!
"you shall love the lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself" (luke 10:27)
"and who is my neighbor?" (luke 10:29)
jesus replies by telling the story of the samaritan who despite cultural and ethnic barriers, assists a man who was robbed, beaten, and left on the side of the road. a priest and a levite, men from his own ethnic background, passed him by. but the samaritan, a man who had no business interacting with a jew, stopped to take care of the beaten man. he touched him, cleaned him, lifted him onto his own beast, put him in an inn, and paid for him....
who are our neighbors? are we stopping by the side of the road to touch, clean, lift, and pay for someone other than for people of our own kind? are we crossing cultural and ethnic barriers to love your neighbor as yourself?
the message at church this morning was powerful.... since childhood i've been familiar with this story, but wow, did it ever have an impact on me this morning.... i've been struggling with explaining why i've chosen the MA that i have... because it seems vague, too big, idealistic.... and yet, these verses in luke are my heartbeat.... i've chosen to pursue a MA in sustainable development and social justice because i've been commanded "to love the lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself." what other reason than to equip yourself to do this even more so. our God is a God of Justice! this next step in my life is tied to obedience - obedience to follow God's command. open my eyes, lord, to see people the way you see them, may i not be held back by cultural differences, poverty, pain, or status... may YOU be glorified!
26.7.05
separation....
"To feel loss and longing, you have to feel intimacy. What you miss the most about someone who isn't there is their presence in the physical world - touching them, smelling them. You miss their skin, their hair, the way they made you feel. That's what you want back."
~ bruce springsteen
it's been only 3 days since my caballero left... but it seems like an eternity. may the LORD give us HIS strength, joy, and patience as we are apart for at least a year. i miss him terribly... the saving grace is an upcoming trip to mexico to see him for two weeks.... then i pack my own bags and move to vermont.... life can be so twisted sometimes.... just when you come to grips with finally feeling at home in a place or with someone, it changes.... and yes, i know.... it's good to change... helps prevent being to comfortable or becoming stagnant.... but wow..... it's hard and it hurts...
...in terms of moving.... you would think that i would be used to this by now.... in the last 10 years, i have lived in 8 different houses - one of which was in sweden for a year. in the last 3 years i've been in approx. 16 countries.... yet it's only been in the last year that i have finally felt at home... somewhat settled in my own home in the woods.... and now it's time to pack up and move again, time to transition...
i have this weird thing going on in my mind.... sometimes i think that it's wrong for me to long for a place to be home.... to be settled down and to have a family... part of me is terrified that if i become too comfortable in location, i will miss out on the blessings the LORD has in store for me. i think it's a personal thing i struggle with.... it's not that the LORD would not bless me if i settled... but i think, i've been stretched by a lifetime of transition and crosscultural moves in order to be mobile... there is a reason for all of it.... and HE will make that abundantly clear in HIS time. i admire friends and family who know where home is... and who are not stagnant. settling is not wrong... if the LORD should ever give me that blessing of 'being home,' then may i be ever ready to go when HE says it's time to go. may i never be tied to a place - instead, may my heart be tied to the LORD JESUS CHRIST and the call to see HIS glory proclaimed throughout the earth.
despite transitions and separations, HE is faithful! (remember that, caballero de mi vida!)
~ bruce springsteen
it's been only 3 days since my caballero left... but it seems like an eternity. may the LORD give us HIS strength, joy, and patience as we are apart for at least a year. i miss him terribly... the saving grace is an upcoming trip to mexico to see him for two weeks.... then i pack my own bags and move to vermont.... life can be so twisted sometimes.... just when you come to grips with finally feeling at home in a place or with someone, it changes.... and yes, i know.... it's good to change... helps prevent being to comfortable or becoming stagnant.... but wow..... it's hard and it hurts...
...in terms of moving.... you would think that i would be used to this by now.... in the last 10 years, i have lived in 8 different houses - one of which was in sweden for a year. in the last 3 years i've been in approx. 16 countries.... yet it's only been in the last year that i have finally felt at home... somewhat settled in my own home in the woods.... and now it's time to pack up and move again, time to transition...
i have this weird thing going on in my mind.... sometimes i think that it's wrong for me to long for a place to be home.... to be settled down and to have a family... part of me is terrified that if i become too comfortable in location, i will miss out on the blessings the LORD has in store for me. i think it's a personal thing i struggle with.... it's not that the LORD would not bless me if i settled... but i think, i've been stretched by a lifetime of transition and crosscultural moves in order to be mobile... there is a reason for all of it.... and HE will make that abundantly clear in HIS time. i admire friends and family who know where home is... and who are not stagnant. settling is not wrong... if the LORD should ever give me that blessing of 'being home,' then may i be ever ready to go when HE says it's time to go. may i never be tied to a place - instead, may my heart be tied to the LORD JESUS CHRIST and the call to see HIS glory proclaimed throughout the earth.
despite transitions and separations, HE is faithful! (remember that, caballero de mi vida!)
18.7.05
south manitou island
"The Chippewa Indians legend tells us of the mother bear, Mishe Mokwa, who fled a great forest fire in Wisconsin with her two cubs. Mishe Mokwa reached the Michigan shore and climbed a steep bluff to await her cubs. The cubs, exhausted by their long swim, never reached land. The mother bear waited day after day to no avail. Finally she died. The Great Spirit Manitou marked her resting place with the Sleeping Bear Dunes and raised North and South Manitou Islands from the spot where the cubs perished."
eight adventurous souls crossed the waters to south manitou island on the july 4th weekend to camp, hike, and play. smi is approximately 17 miles out into lake michigan and part of the sleeping bear dunes national park.
it was my third time back to smi and it's still as beautiful as ever! after weathering a rough thunderstorm in the early morning, several of us hiked 8.5 miles across the island, up the dunes, down the dunes, and back around along the shore line. If you ever have the chance to camp/hike there, do it (and don't forget to invite me along!!)
eight adventurous souls crossed the waters to south manitou island on the july 4th weekend to camp, hike, and play. smi is approximately 17 miles out into lake michigan and part of the sleeping bear dunes national park.
it was my third time back to smi and it's still as beautiful as ever! after weathering a rough thunderstorm in the early morning, several of us hiked 8.5 miles across the island, up the dunes, down the dunes, and back around along the shore line. If you ever have the chance to camp/hike there, do it (and don't forget to invite me along!!)
holsbybrunn
in preparation for my upcoming stint in a grad program out in vermont, i've been experiencing these flashbacks from the last school i attended http://www.holsby.org. it's crazy to think of all the eclectic personalities that were called to sweden that year.... many of us having no idea why in the world - sweden. and yet, when i think about the relationships formed, the support, encouragement and friendship still experienced over the last three years, i realize that each of us was called on purpose and that in years to come it will continue to be evident why we spent a year in the woods of sweden, studying the WORD, digging deeper, being refined in sometimes blazing fires, and building a network of folks from around the world. by far it wasn't always a mountain top experience, yet, may the lessons (in and out of the classroom) continue to take root in our hearts and minds. may we continue to worship the One and Only, and may His glory be all that matters.
15.7.05
poor pip
strudel and pip went off to the vet today... after their usual check ups and shots, the vet discovered a very loose tooth in pip's mouth. poor kitty... one of his fangs was about ready to fall out.... now we know the source of that foul smell wafting from his mouth.... ugh! the good vet pulled an inch long tooth from my kitty and now pip has a somewhat crooked smile. (that is if cats can smile).
he's definitely a happier kitty; i on the other hand feel like such a terrible owner... how could i not tell that his tooth was loose.... ahhh... if only cats could talk.
if you own a cat, go home and check his/her teeth!
he's definitely a happier kitty; i on the other hand feel like such a terrible owner... how could i not tell that his tooth was loose.... ahhh... if only cats could talk.
if you own a cat, go home and check his/her teeth!
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