July 15, 2015

Saying goodbye to our new friends

The people of Miraluz gave us parting gifts to remember them by

Today was our last day in Miraluz :-(  We finished as much as we could of the final touches and then we had a closing/goodbye celebration.  I completely did not expect to get as emotional as I did because of how short a time we spent there.  But I did - I guess that just means that the community stole my heart with their kind and generous hospitality.  I feel so very grateful that I was given this opportunity because it has completely solidified that I feel called to something in this capacity.  It was completely needed and I will continue to be thankful for this opportunity.  After lunch, we headed out to the Masaya Volcano.  It was gorgeous!  Being able to walk right up to the mouth of an active volcano is pretty thrilling.  And of course, who could ever get sick of a gorgeous 360° view.  I also managed to get a decent hike in.  I might have considered going further if it wasn't for the fact that my back hurt.  But I still got some great pictures nonetheless (at least I hope so).  We had another delicious dinner (fish!) and after that we sat around the campfire singing songs and talking about our experiences and what we will take away from this trip.  I know that my life has been changed from helping the people of Miraluz and will always remember this trip :-)

Our group standing at the mouth.  We could only stand there for 5 minutes.

The mouth of Masaya Volcano!

Enjoying the view!

July 14, 2015

Almost finished!

Claudine, with one of the boys from the community, sitting on the seats for the latrine

 The last 2 days have been filled with mostly working on the school BUT, we are (pretty much) done!  All we have to do tomorrow is wet the cement so that it becomes extra fortified.  I'm so excited that this project is close to finishing because that means it's that much closer to being able to house students who will be able to complete their education.  It's such a rewarding feeling to complete a project like this.  I've learned a lot from the community of Miraluz.  They have taught (or rather reaffirmed in) me that it's not about what you have, but more about being grateful that you are alive.  I've also been reminded to be thankful for what I do have, because the people of Miraluz have so little, yet can still find joy in the little things.  Today I learned that Doña Sofia is a warrior, who defends her community at every possible opportunity, and has fought (literally) people (some in the same community) to get this school built.  I admire the way she cares for others and how she is concerned for people she hardly knows.  Yesterday Elsa was sick and Doña Sofia kept asking how she was doing.  It's been such a pleasure to get to know her.  I knew this experience was going to be life-changing but it has caught me off guard by how the people have affected me.  The youth have bonded with a lot of the younger kids and it has been a delight to watch.  there is this set of 3 sisters:  Cristiana, Illyaida (sp.?), and Maria-Guadalupe, that are so sweet.  Maria-Guadalupe is the youngest and she always tried to do everything the bigger kids do.  They are all quiet but love to joke around with us.  And they love to take photos with you :-)  I'm glad about that because then I'll have them in my mind always.  I'm a little sad that tomorrow is our last day in the community, but I'm glad that I'll be home soon to tell people all about my work down here and everything I took away from it.

Eileen (top, middle) and Axie (bottom) with some of our new friends from Miraluz

July 12, 2015

Many of the isletas have private residences on them

Another beautiful day sightseeing in Nicaragua!  We took a boat tour of some isletas (small islands) around Lake Nicaragua.  They were formed when the Mombacho Volcano erupted a few hundred years ago.  There are 360 islands, many of which (at least that we saw) are privately owned and inhabited by people.  One guy owns two and put a species of Spider Monkey on one.  Now people go up to the island to feed & see the monkeys.  After the boat tour, we went ziplining!  OMG it was AWESOME!!!  I'm so glad that I chose to do that for my 30th birthday.  Flying above the rain forest canopy was absolutely beautiful.  I wish I was able to get pictures of me doing it, but sadly could not.  At least I have the memory of it though.  The youth decided that for my 35th birthday, I should go SCUBA diving.  I think I will go to Fiji for that.  After ziplining, we went to a potter's studio in San Juan de Oriente.  His name is Pedro Guerrero and he walked us through his process for creating pieces out of clay.  I bought a small jug for $12.  It just so happened to a day that the village celebrates/honors their Patron Saint, St. John the Baptist.  Pedro's son invited us so we decided to participate.  That was fun.  As an act of penance, people walk through town and go door to door asking for blessings and serving food.  Then they gather in the main part of town & beat each other with sticks made out of bull penises.  We didn't stick around for the beating part, but did enjoy walking down the street with the locals.  Then, we went to the Artists Market in Masaya and did some shopping.  I got a shirt & bag for myself, t-shirt for Terral, shot glass for my dad, and coffee.  I even bought some cookies.  Then, we had pizza for dinner & came back to Mundo de Fe.  All-in-all, this weekend was pretty amazing!  It's back to work tomorrow, which everyone is looking forward to because the people of the community are amazing.

One of the monkeys of "Isleta de Monos" ("Island of Monkeys")

Someone else managed to get a photo of me!

Potter Pedro Guerrero, showing us how he creates

Celebrating San Juan in the village!

July 11, 2015

Today was the first of 2 days off.  We swam in Laguna Apoyo which is an extinct volcano.  It was amazing!  After lunch, we celebrated Aldrin's 18th birthday with a piñata.  then we went to Granada which is the oldest city in Nicaragua.  We are staying here for the night.  We were originally going to go on a boat tour, but the weather was bad so we may do that tomorrow if we have time.  We got a chance to walk around the city and look at some of the buildings.  Everything in Granada is colonial and brightly colored.  Our hotel is very nice and owned by a guy who is originally from Botswana (or Israel - I can't remember).  When we got near the lake, Elsa was tired so she decided to take a horse & carriage back tot he hotel.  There was room for six people total so Axie, Claudine, Alicia, Angelica, and I joined her.  The driver gave us a tour of Granada & took us all over & explained a lot of the streets and buildings to us.  It was awesome.  When we got back tot the hotel, we had a little down time before dinner, so we rested.  For dinner, we went to a restaurant called Nectar.  I had the Nicaraguan "Ropa Viejo" (which translates to "Old Clothes," but definitely does not taste like that, lol) - seasoned shredded beef w/sautéd veggies.  DELICIOUS!  It was a very active, but wonderful day.  Tomorrow, we get to go ziplining!  I'm so excited!

Laguna de Apoyo, an extinct volcano and lake.

Enjoying a refreshing kayak ride!

We enjoyed the afternoon at Laguna Beach Club, a resort on the lake.

Enjoying the sun and a refreshing swim.  The water was very nice!

Pastor Rich secures the blindfold on the birthday boy, Aldrin.

View of our hotel's courtyard & pool from my room

Iglesia la Merced, one of the many cathedrals in Granada

Girls just want to have fun!

July 10, 2015

We made more progress on the school today, with the help of the master builder from Villa Japon, Dimas.  More people from the community came to help.  One boy, Alvarado (maybe 16 or 17) helped me set blocks.  He was very soft spoken and fast speaking, which made it difficult for me to understand what he was saying.  A lot of our communication was through gesturing to one another, which I though was pretty cool.  If we continue the same amount of work, we will most likely finish the walls, and maybe even start on the roof, which I feel really good about.  The work is much more intense compared to SSP because we are building from the ground up, as opposed to just repair work.  After lunch, we went back to Miraluz to Doña Sofia's house and learned how to make tortillas - from corn!  We started with boiled corn, ground it into a paste, added water to make Masa (dough), shaped them to tortillas and then put them on the fire.  They were the most delicious tortillas I have ever had in  my life!  And we put some queso on them; ooh!  SO GOOD!  Of course we ate as soon as we got back and I'm still stuffed, nearly 4 hours later.  Elsa has been doing a lot of translating for us and she said that Doña Sofia is so happy to see that we are so united as a team already that she was moved to tears.  It warms my heart when I hear that because it means that I am playing at least a little part in enriching someone's life here.  Doña Sofia is so nice and welcoming.  She was patient with us as we went through the process of making the tortillas; and we've only been in the community for 3 days.  I can already feel like it's going to be hard to say goodbye.  It's so fun to see the youth interact with the children of the community also.  I can tell how much this experience is changing them which is truly amazing.  And I am getting to see more and more of each of my youth's personalities as we bond as a team.  I am so glad we were able to make this trip happen!

Howard (another chaperone) & Nancy show off their beautiful work!

Roger was our Master Builder.

Axie, taking a break from working to play with some of the children.

Axie with Moisé, one of the children who stole our hearts.

Eileen (one of our youth), having fun with some of her new friends.

Nancy & Elaine (another one of our youth), grinding the corn into masa as Doña Sofia (right) supervises.

Another beautiful sunset at Mundo de Fe (see the volcano in the distance?)

July 9, 2015

Today, we got to participate with more of the community.  People came throughout the morning to help wherever needed.  Many of us were mixing cement and one woman, Maria, never took a break.  Elsa (another chaperone, who was incredibly helpful at translating for us!), Nancy, and I kept having to stop because the shoveling was too much for our backs.  I learned how to set cement blocks from Sheldon (another chaperone, and expert builder who has lead many mission trips to Kenya to help build a hospital), which was cool.  He seems to really enjoy seeing how buildings are built in different places.  It seems like the more time I spend with him, the more I like him.  After lunch we went to one of the community learning centers to interact with some kids.  We played games, colored, and got to take a tour of another school that Seeds of Learning (SOL) is working on.  When SOL first came to Villa Japon 2 years ago, there was only a two classroom school.  They built a second and the community ended up doubling their enrollment.  Now, they are building a third 3-classroom building because the high school kids can only attend school on Saturdays due to the fact that every classroom is currently housing 2 classes - a morning shift and an afternoon shift.  The hope is to be able to have enough rooms in order to ensure that kids stay in school all day because kids are less likely to attend if they have to attend the afternoon shift.  It was really interesting to interact with the kids because they were so accepting of us all.  One boy, Bryce, insisted on coloring with me.  Then he took Alicia's phone and took a selfie with me.  The kids also made us friendship bracelets.  Such a great day.

David (one of our youth), Elsa (top right), and Nancy (bottom left) playing Jenga with one of the kids of Villa Japon.

Me with one of the children from Villa Japon.

Axie (middle), one of our youth, interacting with some of the children from Villa Japon.

Claudine (one of our youth) helps a boy from Villa Japon with his Math homework.

July 8, 2015

Today was our first day at the work site.  We got quite a bit done, which is good because our day was cut short because of... wait for it... RAIN!  And lots of it too!  Coming from drought ridden California, it felt so refreshing that I stayed out in it for about 10 minutes.  If I had known that we were going to have to walk back tot he car in the torrential downpour (at least according to this gringa), I may not have done that.  But it was so nice to hear the rain - I never realized how much I missed it until I heard it.  So now we are back at our home for the next two weeks.  The food is still so delicious and I could totally get used to someone cooking me lunch and bringing it to the work site each day, instead of the PB & J's that we get at SSP, hahaha.  Because of our unexpected trip back home, we were able to watch a video on the recent political history of Nicaragua - the Sandinista Revolution.  Like much of Central & South America, up until the 1980's, Nicaragua was under a military dictatorship.  The revolution, while successful, did take it's toll on the economy, which is why Nicaragua is the second poorest nation in Central America, after Haiti.  It's almost time for dinner and rumor has it we're having homemade tortillas!

Our work site

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Nancy (one of the other chaperones) and I had a conversation earlier about the availability of water to the community of Miraluz.  They don't have running water and rely on 3 water wells to get water from.  Yesterday, I was talking with Julian (the regional director for Seeds of Learning, the organization that SSP teamed up with to make this trip possible) and he mentioned that each house is limited to a certain amount of water jugs per day.  It's amazing at how your perspective can change on what you think are necessities when you are serving a community with much less that you.  Nancy and I came to the conclusion that the people in Miraluz only bathe maybe once a week and/or for special occasions, and toilets are latrines - holes dug in the ground (18ft deep), with a seat built on top.  But, even though the community struggles, many still seem content with what they do have.  It's amazing, and make me feel like they are much richer than me in many ways.

July 7, 2015

I can honestly say that the best way to see the sun rise is on an airplane 35,000 feet in the air (and wouldn't it suit my luck that I couldn't reach my phone/camera to take photos :-/)!  I have never seen such vivid and distinct colors.  And it was equally awesome to see the sun rise above the clouds.  We are in San Salvador right now for a stop/layover and will arrive shortly in Managua.  I can't wait!
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We had a welcoming ceremony from the community we are serving.  There was lots of music and dancing and interaction with the people of Miraluz.  We were all able to express our gratitude (both the community to us and us to them) for being able to be a part of this project.  Even though we were all tired, we were excited and had a great time.  One girl even taught Stephen a dance.  It was funny.

Part of the Welcome Ceremony

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We have some amazing cooks - Rosa and Marta - that will be cooking most of our meals.  For lunch, we had a kind of pork stew and for dinner, we had Gallo Pinto (a rice and beans dish) and chicken in a sweet sauce.  SO GOOD!!!

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We are staying at a place called "Mundo de Fe" (trans. "World of Happiness" which is very fitting).  It is gorgeous!  So green and lots of colorful vegetation.  And always butterflies flying around to get some nectar from the plants.  Birds are constantly chirping and sound so different from the ones back home.

Some of the beautiful and colorful foliage

They have a couple of cages with parrots in them

Sunset at Mundo de Fe

July 6/7, 2015

At the airport!  I'm very tire because I didn't sleep well last night.  I was too excited for this trip.  I can't wait to see what awaits us when we get there.  Being given this opportunity to serve others is just the thing I've been looking for since I graduated last year.  I hope and pray that our team stays safe and has a good time.  I also hope that no one gets sick.  I think that's the thing I'm most worried about.  But most of my excitement is related to the opportunity to learn and explore another world.  It's exciting!  :-)

Some of my youth waiting to board the plane at the airport!

Nicaragua 2015!

It's been a whirlwind since I last wrote in here just 10 before my trip to Nicaragua.  Thankfully, I wrote everyday while I was there and took a ton of photos.  Having the chance to travel to an underdeveloped country and get to know people who have less than me puts many things into perspective.  The next series of blog posts will be all of my entries from that trip.  Enjoy!

10 days!!!

Wow!  It certainly has been awhile (too long for my "wanderlust"-ing taste, but what can you do?).  But if I am posting on here, that means that SOON I will be on an exciting and amazing adventure!!!  In 10 days, I am heading off to Nicaragua with my church on a mission trip.  I am so excited to go, it's killing me, hahaha!  I don't think I've been this excited to go anywhere since my trip to Europe almost 10 years ago.  Anyway, stay tuned for more entries :-)

Going home...

I was at my Fortress of Solitude this weekend for an all too brief stay (only an hour). But it was still just what I needed. As I wandered through the camp, I walked up to the point and was about to be alone with my thoughts. While I was there, I kept thinking, "Something's missing." I thought, as I walked back down to McGiffen, that maybe it was the people but it still didn't feel right. An then, as I continued past McGiffen and down into the fire circle, it literally hit me - right in the nostrils. The scent of the trees hit me like a ton of bricks and for a moment, it was camp. Then, I realized that many of my "thin space" moments occur at the fire circle. That is the place where I feel God's presence the most. So, I sat there for as long as I possibly could and rejuvenated my soul for as much as I could.

Four Corners and Navajo Nation - August 2011

I neglected to mention in my previous entry that I also had the opportunity to be in SIX "places" at one time! By six, I mean that I traveled to none other than the Four Corners National Monument. Now, I understand that it can be confusing that I say six places instead of four but what most people don't know, at least until they go there, is that when standing at Four Corners, you are at the crossroads of Colorado, Arizona, Utah, New Mexico AND the Native American territories of the Navajo and Ute tribes.

The original marker was placed there in 1912 and has become a major tourist spot. They have vendors there selling handmade Native American crafts, t-shirts, post cards, etc. I even got some of the youth that I was traveling with to "plank" there. For those of you who don't know what "planking" is, that is where you lie face down with your hands at your side and legs straight out (like a wooden plank). It was pretty funny and silly. Driving out there was equally exciting because I got to see the AMAZING Arizona desert landscape. It was very relaxing and beautiful.

I had the privilege to spend a week repairing a chapter house for the Navajo in a place called Teec Nos Pos through an organization called Sierra Service Project with the youth group from my church. It was a pretty amazing experience being in a VERY remote part of the country and in a place that is considered holy by its people. Teec (pronounced TEES) is in what is called "Monument Valley" which consists of a bunch of natural areas that are admired and revered by the Navajo people. The landscape is GORGEOUS! The colors are just spectacular and breathtaking. The pictures I took don't do it justice.

On Tuesday of the week I spent there, I had the pleasure of hearing a young Navajo woman speak about her people. I learned so much Navajo culture; things like: blue, yellow, black, and white are the colors that represent the four directions. I also learned about Navajo basket making. There is a specific design of the basket that has to face a certain way. Part of the basket represents the darkness and some of the design is in memory of those considered holy. We also heard the creation story. It was all very interesting to hear about.

I mostly enjoyed the landscape, though. I think that of all the places I've been, Arizona is my favorite in terms of landscape. I honestly can't get over the beauty of it. It's absolutely amazing!

The Grand Canyon

One of the most amazing places I got to visit briefly over the summer was the Grand Canyon! I visited here when I was a little girl and enjoyed the trip, not because of the beauty of the canyon but because I was with my parents and got to know a mule named Susanna (who belonged to my grandmother's cousin). As I grew older, my memory of the Grand Canyon faded and I was deeply saddened by that because it is one of the World's natural wonders and although I could technically check that off the Wonders of the World list that I've seen, the fact is that I don't remember it at all. I don't remember riding the Grand Canyon Railroad from Williams into the canyon, seeing the sunset over the canyon, or anything in between. I made it a goal of mine to go and see it again and was delighted to hear that the church's SSP trip was going to be in Teec Nos Pos, which is about a ten minute drive from the Four Corners monument and about 3 hours east of the Grand Canyon. On our way back from Teec, we decided to go to the Grand Canyon!

I was like a giddy little school girl when I found out that we were going to go. When we got into Grand Canyon National Park, my heart started racing and it continued to race as we parked and walked to the Desert View Watchtower (which, I was told, is one of the spots I stopped at when I was a little girl). Finally, we hit the tower and all I could do was stare. The view was literally breathtaking! All I could think was, "Wow! God is amazing for creating this so that I could see it!" I could not believe my eyes. The colors were just as vivid as they are in pictures and as you look down into the canyon, you see the river that carved it all (with God's help, naturally), the Colorado River. It was spectacular, to say the least! I could not believe my eyes and I never wanted to leave.

Our second point was Yavapai. That was equally beautiful, and it was the spot where we had our group picture. It was wonderful. We spent a little over 2 hours in the Canyon and I will never forget it. I'm sure my group was a little annoyed that I kept taking pictures but I kept thinking, "Whatever! This is one of my life goals, so I'm going to document it!" It was truly a wonderful gift to have been given the opportunity to see something so glorious and magnificent and I hope that everyone gets a chance to see it someday :-)

P.S. I'll post pictures as soon as I get a new computer :-/ (update: Here is the pic! This pic was taken at Yavapai by one of my youth. Look at the giant smile on my face, hehe.)

It saddens me...

...that it has been over a year since I've written in this. Of course, that means that I haven't taken any memorable trips in the last year. Hopefully soon, there will be a much needed vacation where I can fall in love with some culture/food/place so I can write about it. But it will never be Prague...unless that's the next place I go, lol.

Kürtőskalács!!!

After 3 LONG years of searching for the name of the most delicious tasting pastry I've ever had, I have succeeded! It's called Kürtőskalács. The english translation is: Stove Cake. It's a Hungarian pastry that comes from the Transylvanian region of Hungary. They are typically eaten at celebratory events like weddings and Christenings but they are frequently sold to tourists in Budapest, which is where I fell in love with this delicious gift from heaven. You have no idea how incredibly excited I am about this!

My fortress of solitude

That's what I like to call Colby Ranch in the Angeles Forest. It's where my church holds it's yearly Jr. High camp for a week at the end of July. That place literally rejuvenates my soul. I feel so much better coming down from there than I do when I usually go up. Even though I didn't get to explore as much as I would have liked to this weekend, just being there does me good and I get to go back in a couple of weeks which is nice. Hopefully, I won't need the retreat nearly as much as I needed this one, but it will be a welcome break from my everyday life because it always is.

San Fransisco

It is slowly becoming the place I want to move to. I was there last weekend for an MUN conference with my school. I drove up early to take in some of the sights. Of course I've been there before, but every time I go, I don't want to leave. I got to have dinner above Union Square one night, experience the BART (which is always fun), Pier 39 (if you're ever there, go to Trish's Mini Donuts...THEY ARE DELICIOUS!!! I call them "Little Puffs of Heaven"), and Ghirardelli Square. Riding the streetcars. It was all great. I took a tour of Berkeley (and the same thing happens, every time I go, I want to go to school there more and more). It was wonderful. Soon I'll go again.

AZ trip!

I had so much fun this past weekend! I got a chance to get away and spend time with my family which is always nice. Let's see, where should I start? On Wednesday night, we had dinner with the bride (my cousin, Lynnea), groom (Mike) and her family - my Uncle Bob, Aunt Paula, and cousin Jarrot - at this place called "The Organ Stop." It's a pizza place that has a live organist in the center and he plays all sorts of music. His organ is huge and controls a number of lights, instruments, and even a set of puppets! It was really entertaining to see!

Thursday, we went to my Uncle Don and Aunt Connie's house in Peoria. They live in a really nice retirement community (my uncle likes to call it "age restricted"). They moved out there maybe about a year or so ago and absolutely love it. The houses are set up in a way where there are no fences and that everyone is forced to be sociable with their neighbors. There's a community center where they've got a spa, pool, gym, library, pool hall, cafe, classes, you name it. They also have their mailboxes there so you're forced to go there at least once a day which also allows you to be sociable with the people in the community. Their house is absolutely beautiful! They got to customize it to their liking as the community is very newly built. They also have a spectacular view each night of the sunset, which is the picture you see above. We had burgers and hot dogs, and got to meet their neighbor Lee, who is a nice gentleman, and his beautiful collie, Sammy. It was fun.

We told Uncle Bob and Aunt Paula that on Friday we were available if they needed help in setting things up, but luckily they didn't so we decided to go to the Commemorative Air Force Museum, which was my dad's idea. It was alright. My dad really enjoyed it, which is good. After the museum, we took a little trip to a botanical garden/park in Mesa. That was really nice also. Lots of pretty desert flowers and cactus. There's a tree there that the bark is green! I thought that was awesome! After that, we decided to go to Arizona Mills (developed by the same people who built Ontario Mills) for dinner. We ate at Rainforest Cafe. My sister LOVED it! She loved watching the animals move and make noise. LOL.

Saturday was the big day! We woke up and got ready and went to the church. The ceremony was lovely. And after the ceremony we went to the reception. OH MY GOODNESS! It was so fun! Lots of dancing and having fun just being with the family. Lynnea looked gorgeous in her dress (which I was told that I was the only one that got to see the dress before she wore it - other than her mother - which made me feel priveleged). The couple was so happy and full of love for not just each other but everyone that came to their wedding. They were so grateful of the out of town guests (we got a welcome basket when we checked into the hotel from them, as well as a parting gift). And they made sure to come to each table to greet the guests which was really nice as well. All in all, it was an awesome day!

On Sunday we went to Uncle Bob's house and had a nice gathering of family, including the newly weds (they leave for their honeymoon sometime next week). I got to meet family members that I had never met before (like my Aunt Joan's daughters, Tracy and Kelly Anne, and their families), which was great. Then, we took the trip home and here I am, writing about it at work.

It was such a great weekend filled with exciting new places, family, love and amazing experiences that will stay with me forever!