Wow, time flies. Or rather I just get so involved in living life here that I don't notice the passage so much.
It's the start of another day...Thursday. Wednesdays for us are half-days, at least where school is involved. What that means is it feels more like a Friday or weekend, because by time I get to the end of the day, I forget that, yes, we did have school that morning. And Thursdays, in some ways, feel like another Monday. [Wouldn't you love to have two Monday mornings a week...].
I've mentioned here and in newsletters that I've been getting to know a certain student here more one-on-one. Well, about a month or so ago she came over to learn how to make brownies. Yesterday she came over to learn how to make bread. That is an all-day proposition...or rather an all-afternoon one. I directed her in mixing the dough, helping where necessary, but for the most part she made it (yes, I am a teacher to my core). It went well, and the timing was pretty good, the last pan came out of the oven about 5 minutes before she had to go home. Part of the reason it was cut so close is she didn't come over until about an hour or so after school got out for the day...even though I warned her she would need to come over as soon as possible. But it worked out, I got to spend some more time with her, and her family gets to enjoy the rolls for the next few days.
It's really hard for me to believe that in a little over 3 months I'm going to be heading back to the States. This time last year I was starting to get into the main part of fundraising to come here. Now I'm looking at transitioning back home, and what exactly that means. How do you go back to your old life when you've changed? I'll be going back to people who know me...but who know the me from a year ago. Some of them I've kept in close contact with, others send me an e-mail here and there. How do you describe a year of life experience when most people have an attention span of about 15 seconds when it comes to the question "How was Honduras?". How do you pick up the strands of your relationships with people when you've both been growing in possibly different directions for the last year. And how do I keep my focus on God, where it should be, when I'm going from a place with few distractions (and super-slow internet) to a world where everything is a distraction? The short answer is...I don't know, but I'm going to have to find out.
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Thursday, February 16, 2012
How to Make Your Life Difficult...
It's been a while since I've written on here. That isn't to say that nothing has happened, thought a lot of it is more of the (now) routine variety, so I didn't feel the need to write about it. The last month or so has been pretty rough on me emotionally and mentally.
It started when I picked up a book that had been recommended to me called Inside Out by Dr. Larry Crabb. I'm the kind of person who reads a lot, and quickly. I've read 5 books in the last week. This book, however, wasn't one I could speed through. I spent a lot of time pondering what it was saying, and looking at my own life, seeing both steps I had already taken to get closer to God, but also ways in which I was still protecting myself. It was a difficult book to read, because it took me on an emotional, mental and spiritual journey...a necessary one, but not an easy one. I spent time processing with God, I spent time processing with other people (some of whom have and some of whom have not read the book). I'm not through processing, I know this, and I know there are some changes I'm probably going to need to make in my life when I return home, and even here to some extent. I don't yet know what that looks like, though...I'm still working on that, and God's still working on that.
In the morning before school, I sit outside on my back porch and read my Bible, pray, listen to music, e-mail people, etc. Last Wednesday I finished reading the New Testament, which I had started when I got here, pretty much read a chapter a day, etc. So I was thinking about where I should read next, and I remembered a couple of years ago a friend of mine had decided to read the Bible...the whole thing...in 90 days. I've read it in a year before (actually I started in January and finished in July...so less than a year), but I haven't ever dedicated that much time to reading the Bible every day. I started this a week ago...last Thursday...in Ecclesiastes. No, I can't explain why I started there as opposed to in the actual beginning of the Bible. I really like Ecclesiastes, though, so that might be part of it. And it means I'll be finishing my reading of the Old Testament at least with Proverbs, and wisdom is always good.
Well, this past week has probably been the most difficult week emotionally speaking that I've had here. I've had a lot of things on my mind, I've been restless and gone wandering around the Ranch pretty much every night. Most of the news I've gotten from home hasn't been encouraging. I'm pretty sure there's spiritual warfare going on. Which on one hand, reinforces the idea that I'm doing what I need to do...because when you're ineffective, often Satan leaves you alone. But the last week has kind of been the capstone to the last month, which has pretty much been kicking my butt. I'm not going to stop...but I do ask for prayer. My goal is to finish reading through the Bible again by my birthday...which is actually less than 90 days from when I started. If I don't make that deadline, I'm still shooting for the 90 days, but my guess is I'll do what I can to make it, even if it means staying up all night on Saturday before my birthday.
It started when I picked up a book that had been recommended to me called Inside Out by Dr. Larry Crabb. I'm the kind of person who reads a lot, and quickly. I've read 5 books in the last week. This book, however, wasn't one I could speed through. I spent a lot of time pondering what it was saying, and looking at my own life, seeing both steps I had already taken to get closer to God, but also ways in which I was still protecting myself. It was a difficult book to read, because it took me on an emotional, mental and spiritual journey...a necessary one, but not an easy one. I spent time processing with God, I spent time processing with other people (some of whom have and some of whom have not read the book). I'm not through processing, I know this, and I know there are some changes I'm probably going to need to make in my life when I return home, and even here to some extent. I don't yet know what that looks like, though...I'm still working on that, and God's still working on that.
In the morning before school, I sit outside on my back porch and read my Bible, pray, listen to music, e-mail people, etc. Last Wednesday I finished reading the New Testament, which I had started when I got here, pretty much read a chapter a day, etc. So I was thinking about where I should read next, and I remembered a couple of years ago a friend of mine had decided to read the Bible...the whole thing...in 90 days. I've read it in a year before (actually I started in January and finished in July...so less than a year), but I haven't ever dedicated that much time to reading the Bible every day. I started this a week ago...last Thursday...in Ecclesiastes. No, I can't explain why I started there as opposed to in the actual beginning of the Bible. I really like Ecclesiastes, though, so that might be part of it. And it means I'll be finishing my reading of the Old Testament at least with Proverbs, and wisdom is always good.
Well, this past week has probably been the most difficult week emotionally speaking that I've had here. I've had a lot of things on my mind, I've been restless and gone wandering around the Ranch pretty much every night. Most of the news I've gotten from home hasn't been encouraging. I'm pretty sure there's spiritual warfare going on. Which on one hand, reinforces the idea that I'm doing what I need to do...because when you're ineffective, often Satan leaves you alone. But the last week has kind of been the capstone to the last month, which has pretty much been kicking my butt. I'm not going to stop...but I do ask for prayer. My goal is to finish reading through the Bible again by my birthday...which is actually less than 90 days from when I started. If I don't make that deadline, I'm still shooting for the 90 days, but my guess is I'll do what I can to make it, even if it means staying up all night on Saturday before my birthday.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Advances in Language...
Random update (for those of you not on facebook)...I finally got my official residency ID card yesterday. I've officially been a resident since December 1, but now I have the ID card to prove it so I don't have to carry my passport around for official purposes (going to the bank, etc.).
One of my goals coming down here was to become, if not fluent in Spanish, at least a lot more proficient. The difficulty with that goal and living on the Ranch is that most people on the Ranch speak English, and the nearest translator is never more than a phone call away (and is sometimes right next to you). I could probably make it through my entire time down here without having to speak more than a dozen words of Spanish (to order food in a restaurant and to buy groceries at the store).
The first month or two that's basically what I did. I heard Spanish everywhere, but I definitely relied on students to translate for me, or other adults to translate for me. When people from the States spoke Spanish, I could usually understand it, but when the Hondurans spoke it, much of it went over my head.
By the end of September or beginning of October I was starting to understand the Hondurans when they would speak. I was at the point where I could recognize that I didn't know words they were using, but could identify (and maybe even look up) the word being used. And for me, that is one of the most difficult parts of speaking with them is identifying individual words, because initially they all seemed to run together.
In November I started taking Spanish classes with one of the teachers here, and that was very encouraging. It forced me to speak more Spanish. I was at the point where I could understand much of what was being said to me, but I never forced myself to speak it unless the person I was speaking with didn't know English. So actually taking a class did force me to speak a little bit more, and think more in Spanish.
Going home to the States showed me that I was functioning a bit more in the language, because it took a while for my automatic responses (thank you, excuse me, good morning, goodbye) to transfer back to English. Coming back to Honduras, on my first flight I was seated next to an elderly hispanic couple. He spoke some English, but she didn't speak any as far as I could tell. She was on the plane first, looking for her seat, and looking very confused. I saw her boarding pass as she was turning around and realized that she was sitting in my row. She was talking to herself in Spanish, so I asked her in Spanish if she was supposed to be sitting by me. She looked a little surprised initially (probably to hear me speaking in Spanish, because I had been conversing before with someone else in English), but realized that she was, but then she didn't know which seat, so she asked me which seat F was, and I understood the question and was able to answer it. A little thing, but it felt good. And when her husband showed up, she had him thank me for her in English...evidently she understood my Spanish, could see that I understood hers, but living in the States, was very accustomed to talking with strangers through her husband.
Now I'm in the second half of my year here. Yesterday my principal passed along the message that my spanish teacher had told her I was doing well in the language, which always makes me feel good. I had a conversation with my housekeeper today in which I understood most of what she said, and I'm pretty sure she understood what I was saying. I'm not taking translation at church anymore, and I'm usually understanding what's being taught. So while I would not yet say I'm proficient (and definitely not fluent), I may say that I'm functional in the language. I can have conversations about more than "Hi, how are you? What's your name? Pleased to meet you." The key for me is I need to keep pushing myself to practice and be willing to use the language. I also need to expand my vocabulary a bit...then again, I can be creative in getting my idea across, even when I don't know all the words...sometimes all it takes is a little bit of thought.
One of my goals coming down here was to become, if not fluent in Spanish, at least a lot more proficient. The difficulty with that goal and living on the Ranch is that most people on the Ranch speak English, and the nearest translator is never more than a phone call away (and is sometimes right next to you). I could probably make it through my entire time down here without having to speak more than a dozen words of Spanish (to order food in a restaurant and to buy groceries at the store).
The first month or two that's basically what I did. I heard Spanish everywhere, but I definitely relied on students to translate for me, or other adults to translate for me. When people from the States spoke Spanish, I could usually understand it, but when the Hondurans spoke it, much of it went over my head.
By the end of September or beginning of October I was starting to understand the Hondurans when they would speak. I was at the point where I could recognize that I didn't know words they were using, but could identify (and maybe even look up) the word being used. And for me, that is one of the most difficult parts of speaking with them is identifying individual words, because initially they all seemed to run together.
In November I started taking Spanish classes with one of the teachers here, and that was very encouraging. It forced me to speak more Spanish. I was at the point where I could understand much of what was being said to me, but I never forced myself to speak it unless the person I was speaking with didn't know English. So actually taking a class did force me to speak a little bit more, and think more in Spanish.
Going home to the States showed me that I was functioning a bit more in the language, because it took a while for my automatic responses (thank you, excuse me, good morning, goodbye) to transfer back to English. Coming back to Honduras, on my first flight I was seated next to an elderly hispanic couple. He spoke some English, but she didn't speak any as far as I could tell. She was on the plane first, looking for her seat, and looking very confused. I saw her boarding pass as she was turning around and realized that she was sitting in my row. She was talking to herself in Spanish, so I asked her in Spanish if she was supposed to be sitting by me. She looked a little surprised initially (probably to hear me speaking in Spanish, because I had been conversing before with someone else in English), but realized that she was, but then she didn't know which seat, so she asked me which seat F was, and I understood the question and was able to answer it. A little thing, but it felt good. And when her husband showed up, she had him thank me for her in English...evidently she understood my Spanish, could see that I understood hers, but living in the States, was very accustomed to talking with strangers through her husband.
Now I'm in the second half of my year here. Yesterday my principal passed along the message that my spanish teacher had told her I was doing well in the language, which always makes me feel good. I had a conversation with my housekeeper today in which I understood most of what she said, and I'm pretty sure she understood what I was saying. I'm not taking translation at church anymore, and I'm usually understanding what's being taught. So while I would not yet say I'm proficient (and definitely not fluent), I may say that I'm functional in the language. I can have conversations about more than "Hi, how are you? What's your name? Pleased to meet you." The key for me is I need to keep pushing myself to practice and be willing to use the language. I also need to expand my vocabulary a bit...then again, I can be creative in getting my idea across, even when I don't know all the words...sometimes all it takes is a little bit of thought.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Allergies? Really?
Since I've returned to Honduras I've had what I thought initially was a cold. I was coughing, sneezing, sinus problems, runny nose, whatever. But when I was inside certain buildings it was better, and when I was outside it was worse, and it didn't make any sense for any cold I've ever had...which leads me to believe that it's not a cold.
Growing up, the only allergy I've had to deal with is to a medication. I haven't had plant induced allergies, I don't dread the changing seasons. But i'm pretty sure there is some plant down here that is pollenating or whatever that I am allergic to...something I don't encounter back in the States. Because I'm not used to dealing with allergies, it took me until Monday to come to the conclusion that I might be dealing with allergies. Yesterday I took some 24 hour allergy medicine (one of the advantages to having keys to the clinic...I didn't have to wait for someone to get it for me), and I took another one today. I have noticed a difference. The symptoms aren't completely gone, but they're not as severe. On one hand, I'll take that as a win...on the other, I don't want to have to deal with this for however many months. The plus side is there are meds, the down side is I need them.
Hopefully the meds do what they're supposed to do, I'll get used to taking them, and I can get through this. It does beat feeling miserable and going through a box of Kleenex a day (not too much of an exaggeration).
Growing up, the only allergy I've had to deal with is to a medication. I haven't had plant induced allergies, I don't dread the changing seasons. But i'm pretty sure there is some plant down here that is pollenating or whatever that I am allergic to...something I don't encounter back in the States. Because I'm not used to dealing with allergies, it took me until Monday to come to the conclusion that I might be dealing with allergies. Yesterday I took some 24 hour allergy medicine (one of the advantages to having keys to the clinic...I didn't have to wait for someone to get it for me), and I took another one today. I have noticed a difference. The symptoms aren't completely gone, but they're not as severe. On one hand, I'll take that as a win...on the other, I don't want to have to deal with this for however many months. The plus side is there are meds, the down side is I need them.
Hopefully the meds do what they're supposed to do, I'll get used to taking them, and I can get through this. It does beat feeling miserable and going through a box of Kleenex a day (not too much of an exaggeration).
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Happy New Year! :-)
It's very hard to believe that 2012 is here. Fortunately, my time home was enough to make me feel that at least it was winter. But waking up the first day of the year to birds tweeting outside my room...a little strange.
In the last year a lot of changes have gone on in my life, and I've definitely learned a lot more about trusting God and stepping out on faith. I started this blog a little over a year ago, and re-reading some of the entries makes me remember the ways, large and small, God has shown me that He is there, and this is where I'm supposed to be.
My time at home was definitely good. I'm glad I was there. But now I need to recover. Being here feels in many ways like coming home. I've been down to the school, seen people, spoken in Spanish...it all feels familiar. It's strange that this time last year I had just been asked to come down and teach, I still didn't know it was really happening, I was waiting on the official word from my school to see whether or not I was going to get a leave of absence. Four months later I had a ticket, and less than three months later I was here.
I know I have an interesting year ahead of me. I'm here (in Honduras) for 5+ more months. My time home definitely showed me that I'm supposed to go back to the States and teach there for at least one more year. After that, I really don't know what God has in store for me. I may be there, I may be here, I may be somewhere else entirely. It will be interesting in this coming year to see how I've changed teaching here, living here, and seeing how God has worked in my life and the lives of those around me. I know in many ways my perspective is different. I'm less busy here, and I like that. I'm not afraid of down time anymore, I know I'm not done working through some of my issues and stuff from my past, but I've definitely made strides in that, and I know that God can carry me through that and heal me. I'm probably going to try to back off of some of what I was involved in before I came down. School and Campus Life most likely won't change...but I don't know about a lot of the rest of it.
I'm sure there are a million stories and things I could say about the year, some of them rehashing what I've already written about, others are things I never wrote about, but this late at night nothing is really coming to mind. I'll blame part of it on tiredness, as I haven't completely recovered from traveling here, but a lot of it is looking back on the year, I'm more seeing it as one connected whole rather than individual stories. I'm looking forward to what God's going to be teaching me and how He's going to be using me this year. I hope I learn quickly...it tends to be easier that way. :-)
In the last year a lot of changes have gone on in my life, and I've definitely learned a lot more about trusting God and stepping out on faith. I started this blog a little over a year ago, and re-reading some of the entries makes me remember the ways, large and small, God has shown me that He is there, and this is where I'm supposed to be.
My time at home was definitely good. I'm glad I was there. But now I need to recover. Being here feels in many ways like coming home. I've been down to the school, seen people, spoken in Spanish...it all feels familiar. It's strange that this time last year I had just been asked to come down and teach, I still didn't know it was really happening, I was waiting on the official word from my school to see whether or not I was going to get a leave of absence. Four months later I had a ticket, and less than three months later I was here.
I know I have an interesting year ahead of me. I'm here (in Honduras) for 5+ more months. My time home definitely showed me that I'm supposed to go back to the States and teach there for at least one more year. After that, I really don't know what God has in store for me. I may be there, I may be here, I may be somewhere else entirely. It will be interesting in this coming year to see how I've changed teaching here, living here, and seeing how God has worked in my life and the lives of those around me. I know in many ways my perspective is different. I'm less busy here, and I like that. I'm not afraid of down time anymore, I know I'm not done working through some of my issues and stuff from my past, but I've definitely made strides in that, and I know that God can carry me through that and heal me. I'm probably going to try to back off of some of what I was involved in before I came down. School and Campus Life most likely won't change...but I don't know about a lot of the rest of it.
I'm sure there are a million stories and things I could say about the year, some of them rehashing what I've already written about, others are things I never wrote about, but this late at night nothing is really coming to mind. I'll blame part of it on tiredness, as I haven't completely recovered from traveling here, but a lot of it is looking back on the year, I'm more seeing it as one connected whole rather than individual stories. I'm looking forward to what God's going to be teaching me and how He's going to be using me this year. I hope I learn quickly...it tends to be easier that way. :-)
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Next Time I Pack My House Up...
...I'll make sure I do a better job of labeling the boxes.
Last May when I was packing my house up for someone else to move in, I was more concerned with getting things out of the way than with my ability to easily find what I had packed up. I figured that it was in storage until I returned in June 2012, coupled with my move out date being pushed up a week...well, I packed things up so they would be safe in the boxes, put them in my storage room, and got out. Which means when I decided a couple months ago that when I was home I should go track down some DVDs to bring back with me, it seemed like an easy proposition. I would just have to go back to my house, find the right box, and I'd be set. Easy in theory, a little more labor intensive in practice. I first went over last week, and I spent about 20 minutes moving boxes and looking through boxes until I found the one that held what I thought were all my DVDs. In going through them, I realized I had more DVDs than I had remembered, and there was no way that all of them were going to make it down with me. I have a few different "travel cases" for DVDs, and once they're filled, I'm done...individual cases take up too much room.
So after the initial search, I figured I was done. As I started filling the cases today, however, I realized that I was missing seasons of some of the TV shows I have on DVD. So I hadn't found everything. And then I remembered that when I was packing up, the first dozen or so boxes were packed with some sort of logic behind them...here are the DVD's, here are books from this shelf, that shelf, the other shelves (I realized somewhere along the line that I own a LOT of books...unsurprising to those who know me, but still...). As I was nearing the end of packing, things got a little more haphazard. I would set the box to fill on my couch, and whatever fit in it that wouldn't get broken was placed there. Which means if the DVDs weren't on the shelf where they belonged when I packed them the first time, they got put in another box of random things. And I never bothered to label which boxes were random things.
I went back to my house this afternoon to see if I could track down any of those seasons that I was missing (a couple from The Office and NCIS). There were also a few movies I know I'm missing. After an hour of searching I had found the seasons of The Office in a box filled mostly with books. I still hadn't found the rest of it, and I think I had been through every box. I'm sure they're sitting somewhere in that storage room, but I couldn't find them. So I'm going to be borrowing my mother's copies of those seasons (a sacrifice on her part...she "watches" them when she grades...they make great background noise). Though now that I've introduced her to House, maybe she'll have something else to watch. I think she made some comment about picking a few seasons of that up.
But my lesson for the week...next time I move out, make sure I clearly label the boxes!
My time back here has been good. I've had the opportunity to share with people one-on-one or in groups what I'm doing. I've seen a lot of people that I've wanted to see, and haven't been able to see others, which is kind of expected. In many ways it has seemed normal to be here, and then it seems strange when I realize that it's been 5 months since I've done things like drive...and it will be at least another 5+ months until I do so again. Often times when I sit down and talk with people, it's like no time has passed, things are "normal", just chatting about everyday life. We pick up where we left off...and somewhere along the line it hits me that my "normal" and their "normal" are currently very different. I can still very much relate to their normal, it's really easy to fall back into my old patterns...but in my time in Honduras, I've changed some. They're good changes, and I don't know how much will stick in the long run. I'm sure it will be interesting next year to see what sticks and what doesn't. It will also be interesting to see how much culture shock I experience going back to Honduras on Saturday. In many ways I feel like I've been back longer than 2 weeks...it's been a very full 2 weeks! And while I've definitely enjoyed my time here, and I'll miss people here when I go back, I am ready to go back, and looking forward to seeing people there again.
I do still have one more day in the States. Tomorrow my uncle, aunt and cousins are coming up for the day, and tomorrow evening is our family Christmas...so I'll see a lot of family right before I leave. It should be a good day! :-)
Last May when I was packing my house up for someone else to move in, I was more concerned with getting things out of the way than with my ability to easily find what I had packed up. I figured that it was in storage until I returned in June 2012, coupled with my move out date being pushed up a week...well, I packed things up so they would be safe in the boxes, put them in my storage room, and got out. Which means when I decided a couple months ago that when I was home I should go track down some DVDs to bring back with me, it seemed like an easy proposition. I would just have to go back to my house, find the right box, and I'd be set. Easy in theory, a little more labor intensive in practice. I first went over last week, and I spent about 20 minutes moving boxes and looking through boxes until I found the one that held what I thought were all my DVDs. In going through them, I realized I had more DVDs than I had remembered, and there was no way that all of them were going to make it down with me. I have a few different "travel cases" for DVDs, and once they're filled, I'm done...individual cases take up too much room.
So after the initial search, I figured I was done. As I started filling the cases today, however, I realized that I was missing seasons of some of the TV shows I have on DVD. So I hadn't found everything. And then I remembered that when I was packing up, the first dozen or so boxes were packed with some sort of logic behind them...here are the DVD's, here are books from this shelf, that shelf, the other shelves (I realized somewhere along the line that I own a LOT of books...unsurprising to those who know me, but still...). As I was nearing the end of packing, things got a little more haphazard. I would set the box to fill on my couch, and whatever fit in it that wouldn't get broken was placed there. Which means if the DVDs weren't on the shelf where they belonged when I packed them the first time, they got put in another box of random things. And I never bothered to label which boxes were random things.
I went back to my house this afternoon to see if I could track down any of those seasons that I was missing (a couple from The Office and NCIS). There were also a few movies I know I'm missing. After an hour of searching I had found the seasons of The Office in a box filled mostly with books. I still hadn't found the rest of it, and I think I had been through every box. I'm sure they're sitting somewhere in that storage room, but I couldn't find them. So I'm going to be borrowing my mother's copies of those seasons (a sacrifice on her part...she "watches" them when she grades...they make great background noise). Though now that I've introduced her to House, maybe she'll have something else to watch. I think she made some comment about picking a few seasons of that up.
But my lesson for the week...next time I move out, make sure I clearly label the boxes!
My time back here has been good. I've had the opportunity to share with people one-on-one or in groups what I'm doing. I've seen a lot of people that I've wanted to see, and haven't been able to see others, which is kind of expected. In many ways it has seemed normal to be here, and then it seems strange when I realize that it's been 5 months since I've done things like drive...and it will be at least another 5+ months until I do so again. Often times when I sit down and talk with people, it's like no time has passed, things are "normal", just chatting about everyday life. We pick up where we left off...and somewhere along the line it hits me that my "normal" and their "normal" are currently very different. I can still very much relate to their normal, it's really easy to fall back into my old patterns...but in my time in Honduras, I've changed some. They're good changes, and I don't know how much will stick in the long run. I'm sure it will be interesting next year to see what sticks and what doesn't. It will also be interesting to see how much culture shock I experience going back to Honduras on Saturday. In many ways I feel like I've been back longer than 2 weeks...it's been a very full 2 weeks! And while I've definitely enjoyed my time here, and I'll miss people here when I go back, I am ready to go back, and looking forward to seeing people there again.
I do still have one more day in the States. Tomorrow my uncle, aunt and cousins are coming up for the day, and tomorrow evening is our family Christmas...so I'll see a lot of family right before I leave. It should be a good day! :-)
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Culture Shock...
I think my mother summarized it best this morning. I was eating breakfast, and probably looking a little out of it. She asked how I was doing. I said I didn't really know. And she said it probably felt like I never left, and like I wasn't really here at the same time. And she's right. Part of me doesn't really believe I'm here, while another part of me has already fallen back into the pattern of living at my parents' house.
Traveling here went really smoothly. While we were waiting at the airport to leave, an influx of people came to our gate, all speaking English and I saw a few of them wearing "mission trip" shirts. So I started asking them about their trip, what they had been doing there, where they were heading, etc. In the hour we were sitting there, I probably talked with 20+ people. I ended up sitting next to one of the girls on the flight to Atlanta, and we talked for a good portion of the flight. I didn't even pick up the book I had downloaded on my iPad the day before (which for me on a flight is very rare). We made it to Atlanta a little late, but I had plenty of time to clear customs. Customs was a slightly different experience, because technically my residency is now Honduras. So there were a few other questions being asked of me, like how long had I been in Honduras, what was I doing there, how long would I be in the States and what was my purpose here. It felt weird being surrounded by English everywhere (it still does to some extent). I left Melody at terminal D and continued on to my gate where I had about two and a half hours to kill before boarding. Over half of that was probably spent on the phone with people from the States. It's a luxury to have great signal everywhere, and not have to worry about how many minutes I have left before I need to load more.
I got off the phone about half an hour before boarding the flight, and struck up a conversation with the couple sitting next to me. I found out they had been in Nicaragua for the past eight days on a missions trip about 30 miles northeast of Managua. We had a good time talking until they called for boarding, and once on the plane, I found myself across the aisle from a couple who had been with them on their trip, so we spent about half the flight talking about our respective experiences. They showed me pictures and told me stories about what they had been doing. Again, I didn't pick up the book I had on my iPad. [I had read a few pages in the terminal before striking up conversation with the first couple.] The guy sitting next to me was in the Air Force, had been in Florida for training, and was continuing on to California this morning. We chatted a little bit, but mostly he listened in to the conversation I was having with the couple across the row, asking some questions, mostly of me, about what it was like teaching in another country. I don't know where he stands with God, but maybe he heard enough to make him think. I don't know, I just know I was more outgoing yesterday than I've probably ever been before. On one hand I think it's a good thing, on the other, I don't really recognize myself anymore. So combine that with the culture shock...and it took me a while to get to sleep last night.
I was in church this morning at the 8:00 and 10:45 services, Sunday school in between, and then there was a luncheon afterwards. I had three large cups of coffee today, which helped with the maybe 4 hours of sleep I got. It was great to see people, and after being away for so long, it's natural to go up and hug people. So not too much different than Honduras in that...though the cheek kisses didn't happen. But definitely a lot of hugging going on...again a change from who I was five months ago.
It's weird to be here...good, but weird. And while I'm here, I'm thinking of Honduras as home in some ways...as in I'm going "home" in two weeks. I'm not counting down the days to that (at least not yet) but I was thinking this morning of what I'd be doing there, and what my friends there are doing now (probably on the way back to the Ranch from church...or finishing up shopping in the city). It's definitely strange feeling like I'm belonging in two different places. And it's enough to keep my mind spinning. Hopefully tonight I'll be tired enough to where I'll fall asleep without too much of a problem regardless of how active my mind is.
This week is pretty booked. I'm going into school on Tuesday. That will probably be the next large culture shock...because as I found this morning, I automatically fall into old patterns (kind of like muscle memory) while my mind is telling my how strange this is. And it is bringing to light some of the ways I've changed in the past five months...most of them good.
Traveling here went really smoothly. While we were waiting at the airport to leave, an influx of people came to our gate, all speaking English and I saw a few of them wearing "mission trip" shirts. So I started asking them about their trip, what they had been doing there, where they were heading, etc. In the hour we were sitting there, I probably talked with 20+ people. I ended up sitting next to one of the girls on the flight to Atlanta, and we talked for a good portion of the flight. I didn't even pick up the book I had downloaded on my iPad the day before (which for me on a flight is very rare). We made it to Atlanta a little late, but I had plenty of time to clear customs. Customs was a slightly different experience, because technically my residency is now Honduras. So there were a few other questions being asked of me, like how long had I been in Honduras, what was I doing there, how long would I be in the States and what was my purpose here. It felt weird being surrounded by English everywhere (it still does to some extent). I left Melody at terminal D and continued on to my gate where I had about two and a half hours to kill before boarding. Over half of that was probably spent on the phone with people from the States. It's a luxury to have great signal everywhere, and not have to worry about how many minutes I have left before I need to load more.
I got off the phone about half an hour before boarding the flight, and struck up a conversation with the couple sitting next to me. I found out they had been in Nicaragua for the past eight days on a missions trip about 30 miles northeast of Managua. We had a good time talking until they called for boarding, and once on the plane, I found myself across the aisle from a couple who had been with them on their trip, so we spent about half the flight talking about our respective experiences. They showed me pictures and told me stories about what they had been doing. Again, I didn't pick up the book I had on my iPad. [I had read a few pages in the terminal before striking up conversation with the first couple.] The guy sitting next to me was in the Air Force, had been in Florida for training, and was continuing on to California this morning. We chatted a little bit, but mostly he listened in to the conversation I was having with the couple across the row, asking some questions, mostly of me, about what it was like teaching in another country. I don't know where he stands with God, but maybe he heard enough to make him think. I don't know, I just know I was more outgoing yesterday than I've probably ever been before. On one hand I think it's a good thing, on the other, I don't really recognize myself anymore. So combine that with the culture shock...and it took me a while to get to sleep last night.
I was in church this morning at the 8:00 and 10:45 services, Sunday school in between, and then there was a luncheon afterwards. I had three large cups of coffee today, which helped with the maybe 4 hours of sleep I got. It was great to see people, and after being away for so long, it's natural to go up and hug people. So not too much different than Honduras in that...though the cheek kisses didn't happen. But definitely a lot of hugging going on...again a change from who I was five months ago.
It's weird to be here...good, but weird. And while I'm here, I'm thinking of Honduras as home in some ways...as in I'm going "home" in two weeks. I'm not counting down the days to that (at least not yet) but I was thinking this morning of what I'd be doing there, and what my friends there are doing now (probably on the way back to the Ranch from church...or finishing up shopping in the city). It's definitely strange feeling like I'm belonging in two different places. And it's enough to keep my mind spinning. Hopefully tonight I'll be tired enough to where I'll fall asleep without too much of a problem regardless of how active my mind is.
This week is pretty booked. I'm going into school on Tuesday. That will probably be the next large culture shock...because as I found this morning, I automatically fall into old patterns (kind of like muscle memory) while my mind is telling my how strange this is. And it is bringing to light some of the ways I've changed in the past five months...most of them good.
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