28 February 2007: Matthew
The second day of classes is now complete... my head is feeling very full, but I am realizing more all the time that there is so much more to learn. The climate is very temperate (elv. 7,800 ft.) and we are bundling up at night. Thankfully we have not experienced any sickness so far, and have plenty of access to good water...
My head is pretty tired right now after a full day of class and studying, I'll have to write more later. Hope everyone is doing well.
26 February 2007: Matthew
I am glad to say that we have arrived in Xela safe and sound! Nina and I checked in with our host family this afternoon, had a nice little late lunch, and we are finally finding a moment to come back here to the school to check email and call family. As mentioned below, we were delayed by a day getting here because of the weather in Dallas, but have now completed the jouney to Xela, where we hope to spend the next 4 weeks.
I am doing my best to pull up all of the Spanish from the recesses of my mind in order to communicate, as only a very few people here seem to speak any English... well, its an immersion program, right? :) I have hopes that at least the basic survival skills will come quickly though. I´m going to close here, more updates to follow.
24 February 2007: Matthew
This morning we were filled with both excitement and some anxiety as we were gathering final bits and pieces that belonged in our bags, and said our last farewells to the Hertzog's, who still had sleepy eyes at the hour of our departure. Everything was going as planned, including our meeting up with Traci for coffee just prior to making our way to the airport. Even the lines at the check-in desk were pretty moderate... but all the while we had no idea what the winds were doing in Dallas, TX. As it turns out, the entire airport was closed for several hours this afternoon due to severe winds. Despite optimistic steps taken by our flight crew, including loading us all on the plane, our flight was cancelled. Well, for today at least.
This was the first of what I can only imagine will be many delays that we encounter throughout our journey. Of course, we decided that maybe it was the worst because we are now set with the task of saying goodbye all over again, but maybe a few extra hours with the family is worth the pain of saying goodbye again.
We are feeling pretty tired as we were up rather late last night assembling our packs. And then of course we were off to an early start today, only to be followed by a great deal of waiting in line and trying to decern what was really going on with our itenerary.
We were assigned the same flight, just a day later. I was able to make contact with Alberto, our contact in Guatemala City, who will be picking us up at the airport, and rescheduled for a pick-up tomorrow. I hope that we are able to follow through with our plans tomorrow and actually arrive at our destination. But I must say that I would still gladly accept the opportunity to avoid tornados in Dallas if that is necessary.
22 February 2007: Matthew
Well, just to say it briefly, I was able to conclude my jury duty yesterday... whew!! I was called in to court, but was then able to convince the judge that I needed the next couple of days to complete final preparations for our trip.
We then drove up to Nina's Grandparent's house on the Puget Sound last night and stayed with them. After a nice breakfast and some visiting this morning, we made our way to the Hertzog's in Enumclaw. The bus is running great and has now arrived at it's home for the next year.
21 February 2007: Matthew
There is a small load for us to carry up to the Hertzog's for storage (and easy access on the
short visit in June), and otherwise Nina and I are reduced to a backpack each. We certainly
did ourselves quite a favor by putting most of our things in storage back in September
when we moved in with the Porters.
This past week or so has been a bitter sweet time as we say farewell to our friends here in
Portland. Of couse we are looking forward with great anticipation to the journey that is
ahead of us with so many opportunities for growth, learning and challenge. But also we
have some very dear relationships here in Portland that have been difficult to leave even for
a couple of months until our brief visit in June.
We are going to miss our host family dearly. The Porters' home has been a wonderful place
to call home for the last several months and there is a big part of me that would love for
nothing to change. Creating special memories and having fun conversations with the kids
on a day to day basis offers an opportunity to see them grow and develop that few other
situations can afford.
Over the past nearly two years we have been with our Home Community from church who
we meet with on a weekly basis. With this group we have lauged, cried, talked, listened,
prayed, expressed concerns, shared joys, shared meals and many other things. To all in
this group we will miss you deeply.
On a lighter note (hopefully!) I am hoping to conclude my jury duty today. My situation is
that I was call up last summer, and had to reschedule. As it turns out my requested date was
not granted and I was assigned for duty in late May of 2007. Of couse I knew that this was
not going to work out given the dates of our trip, but being discouraged about not being
granted my requested date of service I put the fact in the back of my mind as if it would just
go away by itself. It didn't. As of last week I remembered about this detail and after
looking back on the original summon I realized that ignoring it further was not a good
option. So, it was arranged that I would serve today. My hope is simply that I could
conclude my service by the end of the day and we could carry on with preparations for our
trip. I am hoping that if it comes to it, the fact that I have an international flight to catch on
Saturday will serve as sufficient reason to not involve me in a long tour of duty.
8 February 2007: Matthew
We took Mom and Dad to the airport yesterday, which concluded what seems like a rather short visit. We had a great time, including two nights up at the Hertzog's. It will actually only be about three months before we will be seeing them again when we head back to WV, which marks one of the shorter amounts of time between visits since I have moved to OR.
Most exciting for us today is the fact that we are heading down to Cricketwood B & B for the next two nights. This is the lovely bed and breakfast where Nina and I spent our honeymoon and first year anniversary. Our weekends were just packed this last year, and we weren't able to find a good time to head down to Bend to enjoy Cricketwood for our anniversary, so we decided to just wait until we had some time and have a late celebration. If you look at the web site you will see some of the things that we enjoy so much about cricketwood which make it a great relaxing get-away. But, one of the things that really make us want to come back are the hosts, Jim and Tracy. They are wonderful friendly people who truly have the gift of hospitality which makes the entire visit comfortable and welcoming.
Ok, well it is time for us to head out the door, with a quick stop at Stumptown before making our way down to Bend, OR.
2 February 2007: Matthew
Ground hog day. Does anyone know if he saw his shadow or what? Mom and Dad got here by noon today. We had a nice day of visiting together and then went for dinner at the Kennedy School. Also, there was a film that we watched called "Tsotsi". This was a powerful story about a young man in South Africa who had grown up in the streets, basically sustained himself as a thug, but through a series of events began to evaluate the impact that his actions had on those around him.
This was my first day being done with work. It has felt strange to know that I am not going back... I think that the impact of this first step in our journey is going to take some time to really sink in. In addition to that, Nina and I were talking last night about how much time that we are going to be able to spend together starting now and extending through the rest of the year. That is something that we are really looking forward to.