Newsletter Nuisance

I recently decided it was about time to put out a newsletter. This little idea turned out to be a lot more work than I had anticipated.

I actually like designing and writing so that part of the process wasn't too bad. I still haven't figured out what is the best software for newsletters. I found a Microsoft Word template I could tolerate and went with that. I had fun adding pictures and personalizing it and I decided on one page, in color front and back. I assumed it wouldn't be too expensive to get it printed since people print things in color all the time. I was wrong.

First I went to Kinkos where they were going to charge me $1 per page. Printing 100 newsletters would cost $100! That's outrageous, especially for someone who lives on support. I knew Office Max had a print service and I assumed it would be cheaper than Kinkos. I was wrong again. It was the same price. I decided it would be a better use of my money to buy a printer and print them myself. It would cost roughly the same amount and at least I would get a printer out of the deal. I talked with a salesperson who told me the pros and cons of all the models. I picked one out and with extra ink and paper, it came out to a little over $100.

I took it all home and got started printing. Unfortunately I did not think about ink usage when I designed my newsletter. The primary color on the newsletter is a yellowish cream. This meant that my yellow ink cartridge was out long before my newsletter had finished printing. Whoever wrote on the ink cartridge package that it would print 350 sheets was clearly a bold-faced liar. It was more like 30 sheets. I ended up going back to Office Max for more ink about halfway through the job.

I finally got the newsletters printed...well 67 of them. I couldn't even send them to everyone I had originally intended but the idea of spending more time and more money printing out 33 more did not sound appealing. After I printed them all, I showed them to my parents. My dad seemed genuinely impressed with them and I was feeling pretty good. That is, until my Mom burst my bubble by pointing out a misspelling. Now, I can be a spelling snob and am definitely a grammar snob. My mom, on the other hand, is a self-professed lousy speller and the fact that she was the one who pointed it out, really irked me. And she was right. Spellcheck had failed me! I couldn't bear to have my spelling error sent out for people to mock like Elaine's nip in her Christmas card photo on Seinfeld. I had to fix it and I sure as heck wasn't going to reprint those bad boys. So, I printed out 67 correctly spelled words in the same font and size as the misspelled one. Then I proceeded to use a glue stick to glue the replacement words atop the misspelled words. It doesn't look as polished as before but I prefer that to a misspelling.

I took me a couple hours to address and stuff envelopes but now the newsletters are in the mail. If you are one of the fortunate people to receive one of these, know that a lot of hard work and hard-earned cash went into their production. Don't use them to line the litter box or make paper airplanes with them. I hope you enjoy them and maybe for my next newsletter I will learn how to be more cost-effective and also not use as much yellow in the background.

This one's for you, Trina Warrenton

The title of this entry comes from the fact that every time Trina did something slightly embarrassing in China, she would say, "Now, don't put this in your blog." Well Trina, you've now officially made it into my blog.

Trina and Elizabeth's Massages

On my last day in China, Trina and I decided to get massages. We saw a place that looked pretty nice and only charged about $10 U.S. Trina and Merry went the day before to make appointments. Well, they thought they had made appointments but really couldn't be sure since the people working there spoke no English.

So, we showed up at the time of our appointment to find that the workers are all having lunch. So much for an appointment! They ushered us to some seats and had us take off our shoes and socks and put on some red plastic sandals. Then they served us some tea. All the while they are speaking to us in Chinese, while we just nodded and smiled.

Then they escorted us to a room with two beds. They were actually massage tables covered with gaudy gold bedding but the overall look of the room was not too bad. They gestured for us to put our purses away in some locking drawers that covered one entire wall of the room. Then they showed us a shower and a wooden box the size of a confessional booth. I had no idea what they wanted from me. I was just there for a massage. Trina has had more massages than me and said that they wanted us to shower and then go into the box, which was apparently a sauna. They gave me a shower cap and I went into the shower while Trina was taken to another room for her shower/sauna. I rinsed off in the shower, still not sure of what was expected of me. The gesturing of the workers made me assume that I was supposed to come out in only my towel and put my clothes in one of the locking bins on the wall. I refused to take off my underwear and then wrapped myself in the towel.

I am then ushered towards the sauna. It is really small and confined in there. They made me sit in the sweltering heat for at least 30 minutes, though it felt like longer. The workers kept gesturing for me to take off my towel, but that felt super awkward so it stayed tightly wrapped around me. They continued to refill my tea and gave me magazines to read. Unfortunately the magazines were all in Chinese, which I cannot read a single character of. I looked at the pictures and longed for a magazine I could understand. I am sure that would have made the time spent in the hot box seem shorter.

Finally, when I was close to screaming for them to let me out, I was released. When I came out I was given some underwear that seemed to be made out of the same material as those hats surgeons wear at the hospital. Awkward! At this same time, Trina was already laid out on the gold-covered massage table. Her masseuse was trying to tug her towel and underwear down as Trina fought her for decencies sake. Luckily I was too confused about the thin, paper underwear I'd been given, to see anything that was going on with Trina.

I went into the bathroom and took another mandatory rinse off. One good thing about my schphitz was that it had helped to clear my sinuses. I emerged from the bathroom in my towel and laid down on the massage table. I quickly realized what Trina was talking about as my new paper underwear was pulled half down by my masseuse. What kind of massage was this going to be? I tried to talk to Trina but these ladies had strong hands and it took all I had not to scream when she was kneading my back like a loaf of bread. She also massaged the exposed half of my butt, which was especially awkward since I am ticklish there. After the whole thing was over, I definitely felt as if I'd been put through a ringer.

Trina and I got dressed and sat down to another cup of tea. We paid our bill and left feeling like our muscles had turned to putty. It may have been a bit weird but $10 for an hour and a half massage really can't be beat.

A Day in the Life

Here’s an example of one of my days here in Asia. I met with my friend, Marcia who I met when I was here a year and a half ago. I met her in an English corner and we became fast friends. She was unemployed at the time so my friend, Sarah and I spent about five days in a row with her. She is a lot of fun and I think we would be friends in regular life. She is not a part of the C club and is in fact a part of another C club- the one Fidel is also a part of. Even though she knows why I am here, she likes to hang out with me and practice her English.

She’d been out of town so Sunday was my first chance to hang out with her. She met me at the metro station and introduced me to her co-worker, Andy. They took me to a restaurant for dumplings. The food was pretty good but Marcia kept trying to get me to eat more. Andy’s English was pretty good so it was easy to talk to him. After our meal, Marcia took me to this trendy little bookstore. It had a lot of fun things but much of it was American-comparable prices. I did find these little round buttons that look like eyes to put on my purse. It now looks like my purse is alive. Take that, pick-pocketers!

Then Marcia took me to her apartment. It was a pretty cute place and Marcia’s bed had a mosquito net canopy. I don’t know how necessary that is in the winter. When I arrived in the apartment she gave me some tiny slippers to wear. I hope she didn’t notice my heels hanging off the back. She served me the most random snack ever; tea, an apple, walnuts and a Dixie cup of the kind of wine that comes in a box. I was glad for the apple since they are really good here and it’s one of the few words I know in the language.

Then Marcia showed me pictures on her computer of her recent trip up north. It looked unbearably cold there but there was a palace made of ice, which was pretty cool. Then, she began showing me pictures of myself on her computer. Apparently she had gone on to my facebook and copied some of my pictures onto her computer. There were pictures of my Bangladesh team, me and my family, me in weddings, etc. I’m not going to lie; it was super weird! How often do you go to the house of someone you knew for a week over a year ago and find a shrine to yourself on their computer? I know I am pretty awesome but this was over the top. I really didn’t know what to say. Then she showed me pictures of my friend, Sarah who’d accompanied me on my last trip. She had also raided her facebook. She also had pictures she stole from other friends from English corner. This made it a little less weird…a little.

After we hung out, I went across town to a study. It was great because there were 14 locals there. The message was really good and only a few of them are in the club so I am thankful everyone heard the message. It was so much fun that many people stayed past 10pm. It didn’t hurt that Will and Amanda’s baby was there. Even though the local people refer to him a Bucket, instead of Beckett, they absolutely adore him. Everyone wants to hold him and look at him.

So this was my day. It was really fun and really random- just the way I like it.

Asia Update #1

I made it safely to my destination. It's crazy how many people I know are here at this time. It makes it a lot easier to be in a foreign country. I've only been here two full days so I haven't done a ton yet. On Sunday night, there was a B. Study held at our friends' place here. There were 13 locals, some who were in the club and some who were not. It was really neat to see something we'd just dreamed about when we came here a year and a half ago, actually happening. Yesterday was the scheduled day off for the week. So, even though I'd only been here one day, I already had the day off. We went to IKEA to get some furnishings for the new apartment our boys are moving into. Then we went to Starbucks. Such Americans! They have free wifi there so it is a hot spot for foreigners.

After Starbucks, my friend, Jasmine took me and Ben and Bryan to a park. It took several subway transfers to get there and then a crazy motorcycle ride. Sorry mom! The park was huge and you could rent bikes for less than $1 U.S. Jasmine and I rode commuter bikes while the boys rode these weird mountain bikes that looked like a cheap version of high tech. Poor Ben didn't realize his chain was completely rusted until it was too late to turn back. The park had a long series of paved paths perfect for bike riding. It was a lot of fun. There were some fairly steep hills where I wished I was on my road bike instead of a bike with no gears. We raced around the park yelling hello to all the people. I am sure they thought we were just a bunch of crazy Americans. Overall it was a lot of fun.

At night we were supposed to have a study at our house but only two people showed up. Apparently Monday nights are bad because it's the first day of the work week and many people work until 7pm. We had fun socializing with the two people who did come. We tried to explain the concept of Mexican food to them but it was quite difficult. Tonight we have an English class at a factory. I will be teaching this and I am excited. I've never been in a factory before.

The rest of my trip will be a combination of B studies and English teaching as well as hanging out with the people we meet. I am hoping to meet up with Marcia, a friend I met last time, when she returns from a trip. I will also be helping the family that lives here full-time with homeschooling. One of their children is in second grade and I am pretty familiar with that age from teaching third. I am also going to hang out some with my friend, Amanda who recently had a baby. She says she's missed hanging out with girlfriends. Anyway, it's going well so far and I can tell the time will pass by quickly. Continue to think about me. Thanks.

texting from hong kong

i am in hong kong right now typing this on my kindle. it's pretty cool except i cant figure out how to capitalize. i dont want to leave a long text message style post so i will just give a mini update the day in hong kong was fun and jet lag doesnt seem too bad.we are about to take the train to our final destination. yay

Running...or not

So, I've decided to start running. I feel that this decision has been a long time coming. I've tried to run on and off for years but I want to make a real attempt at making this a lifestyle. Feel free to nag me in the next few months about whether I am going through with this or not.

I've been thinking about this for a while. Apparently my brother has been running half marathons in Iraq. If they run it at the same time as a U.S. marathon, like the famed Boston marathon, they can send in their times and get a free t-shirt. I figure if my brother can run in Iraq, I should be able to get off my lazy butt and run here in the U.S. I actually like working out and doing athletic activities but my gym access is limited and there aren't too many adult sports leagues for me to join with my traveling. I like riding my bike but the Maui winds are killer. Running seems like a good option. You can pretty much do it anywhere and all you need are some shoes. I went to the local sporting goods store to find some but I kept getting swayed by appearance and couldn't figure out which ones to get. I decided to go to this specialty running store where their employees are fit experts and really seem to know what they are talking about.

My consultant was named Frankie. He asked me how much running I do. I said, "It's more like how much running do I want to start doing." I told him I wouldn't be doing more than 10 miles. This is a safe bet since I have never run farther than a 5K in my life. Frankie, the running shoe expert, had me put my foot on this special floor that showed the shape of my foot. Then he had me walk down a little corridor in the middle of the store and then run down it while he watched me. A little weird, but I did it. He said my feet curve in when I run so I need a shoe with support on the inside. He had me put on different shoes and run so he could see how they fit. Again, I felt a bit awkward especially when people would inadvertantly cross into the path of my mini-run.

I ended up finding some shoes that felt like I wasn't wearing shoes. This is a good thing. I always wish someone else could feel what my feet are feeling in shoes and tell me if they fit. I don't necessarily trust myself. Apparently these shoes with extra support will stabilize my feet so running will feel better. They aren't too bad looking and while expensive, they weren't the most expensive ones in the place. There's something about having them tell you which ones are right for you that makes it feel worth the extra money. I also liked how Frankie unlaced each trial pair, put them on my feet and laced them back up. They don't do that for you at the local Academy or Sports Authority and their employees would probably think you are a freak if you asked them to.

I asked the cashier as I was checking out if they could call me a couple times a week to see if I was actually running. She said they didn't provide that service right now but that it was a good idea. I am hoping the cost of the shoes and the fact that they're supposed to be the best ones for me will help motivate/guilt me into sticking with running.

The day after I bought the magic running shoes, I figured I'd better go for a run. I tend to try to go too far, too fast, too soon. This run was no different. I walked to a nearby greenbelt to run the 5K loop there. I ran a few blocks and felt like my lungs were going to explode. I hadn't factored in the cooler temperatures here and my recent lack of physical activity. I figured I was being too ambitious and decided to run a block, walk a block. I'd like to say I was doing intervals but it was really just me being lazy. I think I walked more than ran though I definitely didn't exert myself to the max. I could have run more. The outside of my knee started hurting about halfway through my intervals. I think I might not have the best running form and may be putting undue pressure on that part of my knee. Despite this knee pain, I do want to keep running. I will try again tomorrow to see if stretching before helps.

One of my friends told me she ran for years and hated it but recently started to really like it. This is coming from someone who even ran a marathon. I am hoping she's right. I want to stick with it and give it a chance even if I hate it. I will keep you posted on my progress.

This Christmas

Today was Christmas. It was a pretty good Christmas overall, though it would have been improved by having my brother in the United States and not in Iraq. We did get to talk to him on the web-cam, which was an awesome blessing. I got to joke around with him a bit. I miss our witty banter. I can't wait to see him when he comes home for two weeks in January!

I had Christmas morning with my just me and my parents. It was definitely not as much fun as when Andrew was there. I did get good presents, no duds. My best gift was a Kindle from my parents. For those of you not as techie or nerdy as me, a Kindle is an electronic book. It is designed to be as close to a book as possible. I've already downloaded some books and started reading. It's perfect for overseas because it can hold up to 1000 books. I am excited to take it on my next trip.

My grandparents came over later, along with my aunt and uncle and cousin. We cooked all morning. I got to practice the potato peeling skills I acquired by working in the kitchen the last 3 months. We had three types of potatoes since my family loves them so much. We ate until we couldn't eat anymore. After the dishes were done, we opened presents. I only got two presents from my relatives, which were both pretty decent. There have been a lot of awkward ones in the past so this was a relief. The rest of my gifts were money, which is always welcome.

After presents, my cousin, Roy and I went to the movies. The first theater we tried was absolute chaos; full parking lot, people everywhere and all the good movies were sold out. We went to a little art house theater instead and saw the new Sherlock Holmes movie. It wasn't the best movie I've ever seen but worth watching.

So all in all, a good day.

Happy to be Home

I love Maui but I am happy to be back in Houston. Maui is an awesome place that hundreds of thousands of tourists visit each year. Houston doesn't receive the same acclaim. I mean, who would come to Houston on vacation? And yet, I love this place and I have missed it very much in these last three months. Because of this, I have decided to create a "Top Ten Things I Love About Houston" list in no particular order.

1. Bike Riding- In Houston, many people ride bikes. From kids with training wheels to grandmas on cruisers to spandex-clad athletes with clip-in pedals; there are tons of bikers on the streets at any given time. There is a big bike ride every year that goes for 150 miles from Houston to Austin. Many people participate in it, including me and train for it throughout the year. Because of this, there are organized training rides almost every weekend within about 30 miles of Houston. I love organized rides because I can ride a lot farther and a lot longer with other people around me. They also feed you all along the way and I love to eat for fuel. In Maui,I have only found 3 organized rides for the whole year and one is "Cycle to the Sun" where you ride uphill about 25 miles to the top of Haleakala, Maui's dormant volcano. No thank you. In Maui, there are some people who bike but you have to be pretty hardcore to go very far. This is because of the crazy wind that draws the world-class windsurfers. At certain times of day and in certain directions, it's almost impossible to keep your pedals moving against the wind. The first time I tried to pedal against the wind, I gave up and got a hitch home in the back of a pick-up truck.

2. Clean Houses- Houses in Houston tend to be cleaner than in Maui. They also all have air conditioning (partially because you would die in the summers without it.) In Maui, the air conditioning comes in the form of open windows. For much of the year, the wind mentioned above provides more than enough relief from the heat. There are certain times when the wind doesn't cut it though and you feel like you are actually being baked inside your home. Because of the abundance of open windows and wind, there is a fine red dirt that settles all over everything in a house. The houses in Maui also tend to be a bit more run down (not all of them but most of the ones I frequent). In Houston you are not likely to see someone passively living with termites and a hole in the floor. In Maui, this isn't too uncommon.

3. Shopping- Since Houston has over 2 million people, there is also an abundance of stores for all those people to shop at. We have all the chain stores as well as some fun local shops. You can find almost anything you could possibly want. This is not the case in Maui. For starters there is no Target. I know that sounds like a bad dream, but it's true. The only Target substitutes are Wal-Mart and the Big K. Neither of which even comes close to Target. In Houston, I personally know the locations of at least 8 different Targets. In Maui there is no Bed, Bath and Beyond, Victoria's Secret, Bath and Body Works, Marshalls, Best Buy, etc. Most stuff has to be ordered off the internet and there is often an extra charge to ship to Hawaii.

4. Friends- I have plenty of friends in Maui but they tend to come and go. In the couple months before I came back to Maui this time, a bunch of my favorite people left. Bad timing! Then, several people left right after I got there. I tried not to take it personal. I only have one friend in Maui who owns a house. Everyone else is prone to coming and going so it's hard to count on any of them being there when I am. In Houston, several of my friends own homes and have good jobs here. They plan on staying here indefinitely. This is really nice and makes my group of friends in Houston feel a bit more solid.

5. Texas Pride- I have missed this a lot. Hawaiians have a lot of pride, which I respect. Being an outsider, though means that some of that pride is negatively directed at me. They have bumper stickers that say "We grew here. You flew here." And the thing is that they are right. There also stickers that say 100% Hawaiian. Now I can never become a true Hawaiian but I am a true Texan. Maybe I could make some "I arrived here. You drive here." bumper stickers. I really don't have to though since Texans already have a lot of pride. There are even bumper stickers that say, "I wasn't born in Texas, but I got here as fast as I could." There are Texas flags flying everywhere and many businesses incorporate Texas into their company name or logo. And of course, everyone knows that Texas is bigger than France.

6. Mexican People and Black People- I don't know if this is racist since I like these groups. Oh well, I do miss them. In Hawaii, there are very few Mexican or black people. There are plenty of Asians, though. I've always enjoyed black people since I was a little kid. We had a housekeeper/babysitter who watched me and my brother on Saturdays when we were kids. Her name was Betty and she was so loving. I adored her and I think it instilled in me a lifelong love for black people. I also enjoy Mexican people. The school I worked at was predominately Hispanic and I got used to hearing Spanish all the time. I also think Mexican is my favorite genre of food. In Texas there is a Mexican food restaurant on almost every corner. This is not the case in Maui.

7. Driving- In Maui there are no freeways and the highest speed limit you will find is 55mph. I also don't always have a car in Maui. In Texas, you really can't survive without a car and there are plenty of wide freeways with 70mph speed limits to satisfy one's need for speed. I also really like road trips. There are plenty you can take from Texas. I used to go to Louisiana almost every weekend. In Maui, it's a lot like being in a small town you can't leave since it is surrounded by ocean. Sometimes I get that island fever and just want to get off the island.

8. Family- Most of my family lives in Texas so I get to see them a lot more when I am here. When I am not in Texas, I miss shopping with my mom, biking with my dad, playing with my nephew, laughing with my brother and hanging out with my sister-in-law. There's definitely something special about being near those people who love you no matter what.

9. TV and Cable- In Maui, I don't usually get to have a TV. I'm not addicted to TV but I definitely enjoy it. Cable is especially fun since I can watch 5 college football games on one Saturday. It's nice just to veg in front of the TV for a while or get together with friends to make fun of reality TV. It's easy to get out of the loop with no news or movie previews to watch.

10. Nightlife- In Maui, pretty much all the fun to be had happens during daylight hours. There are incredible beaches to lay out on, clear blue water to snorkel in and tropical trails to hike on. But at night, everything pretty much shuts down. Very few places are open after nine, let alone after midnight. The typical night is spent hanging out and watching movies at someone's house. In Houston there is plenty to do at night. I like to go bowling, play trivia at a local bar, go to a concert, go to a sporting event, etc. There are a lot of choices.

It may have sounded like I was dogging Maui in this post. I truly love Maui and the work I do there. However, Houston is my home and I will always love it (lack of natural beauty and all.)

Hawaiian Holidays

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...or not. In Hawaii, there is no drastic weather change. It's pretty much warm year round. But as common during the holiday season, the waves have gotten bigger. The talk all over the island is of "Jaws" the giant wave that only breaks a few times a year. It's one of the biggest waves in the world and it breaks right by our YWAM base.

There are some signs of Christmas even here in the tropics. The other day I stumbled onto a Christmas hula. I mean, how often do you see that? It was in front of a coffee shop and it seemed like a dance recital but all the dances were island-style. They had lots of different costumes, most of which exposed their midriffs. The kids ranged in age from about 4 to 18. It was mostly girls but there was a ridiculously cute little boy who did a boy hula. I almost kidnapped him; he was THAT cute! He did a dance with two 12-15 year old obese boys which made him look even cuter and smaller. He had some good moves and could gyrate his body better than I could ever hope to. All the songs were Hawaiian Christmas songs with ukulele accompaniment. We were only going to stay a few minutes but were soon entranced.

I also went to a Christmas party at the Mormon church. We've been meeting with some Mormons to learn about their beliefs. It gets a bit taxing at times since they act like robots when talking about matters of faith. I enjoy our small talk with them much more. The Christmas party was more of a social event so they seemed more relaxed and less robotic. The food was good and the people were very nice. They had a white elephant gift party and the missionaries let my friend, Max and I take their turns picking gifts. I got a book by Glenn Beck, who I'd been talking about only minutes earlier. Pretty cool! They even had Santa come and about 20 kids quickly lined up for a turn in the old guy's lap. Unfortunately our ride had to leave before I got a chance to sit on his lap. Darn!

So, there is a bit of holiday spirit here but I am anxious to get back to the mainland where it really feels like Christmas. I am excited to see my family and friends.

Thanksgiving: Korean and Regular

This was a good Thanksgiving holiday. I ate an abnormal amount of food, watched an abnormal amount of football and slept an abnormal amount of hours. It was awesome! On Wednesday we had our last lecture for the week, which was on church history. Then, that night our base had its Thanksgiving. This is so the families on the base can have theirs on the actual day. This was my third Thanksgiving on the base and it was really nice. There were about 60 people, many who were from other countries. I love sharing Thanksgiving with people who've never experienced it before. I made sure to sit by Deborah from China to see what she thought of it all.

The staff had set up a beautiful spread outside under tents. There were Christmas lights, table cloths and tons of delicious food. Unfortunately there was also tons of wind and rain, which meant we all got wet. There was a turkey carving contest between the older men of the base. One of the guys, Fritz began his carving with a huge Samurai knife. It was pretty funny. They were also all wearing chef hats, which made me laugh. After the turkey carving, the rain was getting too many people wet so we took half the tables inside so that the other tables could reap the full benefit of the tent.

Despite the change of venue, we managed to enjoy our meal. Even though the head cook was Canadian, she managed to pull off an excellent American Thanksgiving. The sweet potato casserole was the best I've ever eaten. I heard it was made by some Swiss people who'd never even heard of it before. The food was very good and there was plenty of it. I tried to convince Deborah that we ate the gourd table decorations as a tradition but she was on to my schemes.

After the meal, one of the staff girls gave a marvelous rendition of the pilgrim story. I don't think I could properly describe its hilarity in this blog. Then we sang the National anthem. After that, the Swedish guys got up and sang their national anthem. They were followed by the Swiss guys who sang and then passed out Swiss chocolate. Then everyone tried to goad the Ingrids from Norway to sing their national anthem. One Ingrid claimed they didn't have one. In the end, they did come up and represent with their song. I tried to get the dozen or so Canadians to get up and sing, "Oh, Canada," but they were all unpatriotic wusses. All in all I had good company, good food and several national anthems. A good Thanksgiving for sure.

The next day, I went to another Thanksgiving celebration at a local Korean church where some of my fellow students help with the Sunday school class. It was a sort of thank you for the volunteers but they encouraged them to bring friends. I like Koreans and I like free food so clearly I was down. We socialized for a bit and then ate...a lot. There was a mix of Korean and American food. I was afraid they would stuff the turkey with kimchi (fermented cabbage) but thankfully the two items were served separately. I passed on the kimchi. The food was good and the hosts were very gracious.

After lunch, we went into a large empty room. A woman performed a traditional Korean dance with full make-up and costume. It was really neat. Then a couple of our boys sang a song in English and Korean. It was pretty funny to watch them stumble over the Korean words. The people of the church were super appreciative and almost moved to tears by the fact that they sang Korean. Then they had a lady do some sort of traditional drum routine. That lady had some serious talent and some serious rhythm. It was really impressive. Then one of our girls, Michelle did a dance and another girl, Chelsea sang. It was also really nice.

I made it home in time to watch my Texas Longhorns beat a surprisingly good A&M team. Now if only Alabama or Florida had lost! That would have made it the best Thanksgiving!

Testimony Night

Tuesday night was Testimony Night. This is when our returning DTS students share with the base about their outreaches. I always love testimony nights because they give us all a chance to hear what God is doing in other parts of the world. When you are on staff at the base and not going overseas, it is easy to lose sight of why we do all that we do. All the people who work on the base help to facilitate the sending of teams to other countries and are extremely necessary. Testimony nights help us to remember that.

For this DTS, we sent teams to Borneo and Bangladesh. A couple students from each team told a little about what they did in their respective countries. The Bangladesh team had a hard time. I understand this since I have been there and know it can be a very difficult place. Many of the team members got sick and several developed severe food allergies to things that had never given them problems before. Thankfully no one got Dengue this time. In Bangladesh it used to take 10 years+ for someone to become a Christian, but now they are seeing people come to the Lord in less than five. This is a big deal because in order to become a Christian in Bangladesh, one often has to sacrifice their relationship with their friends and family and sometimes can lead to their death. Often they become an outcast. It's hard to fathom here in the United States where change of religion doesn't often result in those sorts of consequences.

The Borneo team seemed to have a little more fun. They got to be a part of a healing of a woman who had had a stroke. The members of both teams clearly grew a lot and were so inspiring to those of us listening to what they had to say. I was really blessed.

Missing Houston?

Lately I have been feeling homesick for Houston. I understand that this may seem crazy since I happen to live in a popular vacation destination, but I still miss Houston. I think this is because I had really established a life there before I left. I had a good job, a car, good roommates, awesome friends, family nearby and I was getting deeper with my Young Life kids.

I feel confident that I am where I am supposed to be right now but it's still hard to be away from home. I'm also trying to figure out what's next for me. I have some ideas about what I want to do but I want to make sure I'm doing what God wants me to do. And so, I keep praying.

I also just found out some sad news about one of my former students, "D". He is a fifth grader now and he was caught with drugs at school. I don't have all the details but I think he's been sent to some sort of juvenile hall type place. The whole thing just breaks my heart. I truly care about all my students and hate to see anything bad happen to them. And D really isn't a bad kid but he does come from a rough area and I'm sure he has plenty of bad influences. Some of his family members are a bit rough but they genuinely love their kids. He has family that loves him and he still made this bad choice. What hope is there for my former students who don't have loving adults in their lives? I can only pray.

A family of color

I have been super busy lately. Last weekend I went to Oahu to celebrate my friends' birthdays. Both Rachel Snyder and Maria Daughtry have the same birthday so we had to do something fun to celebrate. I have also been working really hard on my Buddhism project that was due on Monday. I am actually doing my presentation on it tonight. So with my trip and all my studying, I have slacked off on my blog. I want to write about some things that stuck out to me in our lectures last week.

Our speaker was a guy named Ray, who used to be a college professor and who's traveled all over. He had a lot of wisdom to share as he taught us about Cross-Cultural Communications. One point he made was that Christians are so quick to tell people not to get abortions, but what are they doing to help those babies? He told stories of working in inner-city Chicago and how people would have given up their babies for adoption to good Christian people, if there had been some willing to adopt them. He said often Christians want to adopt from other countries but not our country. This is especially true of minority children. Christians need to stand up and give these kids good homes.

Ray definitely has an authority in this area since he has 7 adopted kids of his own. He has also placed about 24 kids into homes without going through an agency. One really cool thing about Ray's family is that it's multi-ethnic. He calls it a "family of color." I may not get them all right but he has a daughter from Eastern Europe, a son from the Philippines, a child from Ecuador, 3 African American kids and one native American kid. It's really inspiring. One really cool thing is that his two oldest kids now have adopted families of their own. They too, chose not to have biological children and instead adopted kids of varying nationalities as well. This shows that they believed in what their parents did in raising them and wanted to give that to other kids in need. So cool!

It's also pretty cool that Ray never had to go through an expensive adoption agency. Adoptions, especially overseas, can cost tens of thousands of dollars. People would often just give him kids. I would like to adopt someday and would definitely prefer that someone give me a kid instead of paying thousands for one. I am so inspired by Ray's story.

Feelin' Halloweeny

I have recently emerged from a media fast, which gives me a valid excuse for not writing blog entries. Our whole school did a media fast for a week, which meant we were not allowed to go on the internet for anything other than research for a project we're doing. We couldn't listen to music, watch movies or watch TV. It was pretty tough. I've decided I just love media! Even though it was painful at times, it's always good to take a break from things that have become habitual for you.

There's a lot I could write about in this blog entry but I will try to stick to one topic- Halloween. Living with a bunch of Christians from different backgrounds reminds me of how different we can all be. I have loved Halloween since I was a kid. My parents always let me and my brother trick or treat around our neighborhood. I loved dressing up and I loved candy so it pretty much seemed like a win/win situation. Let's be honest, I still like dressing up and eating candy. I know that some people use Halloween as some sort of demonic holiday but I'm just in it for the candy and the costumes.

Some of the people here were not allowed to participate in Halloween as a child and see the holiday as evil. They try to pretend it's not happening and hide indoors from the festivities. I like to do something fun and Halloweeny on the big day. When I lived here before I ran into the same problem of many people around me saying that Halloween was evil and implying that I'm sinful for wanting to celebrate it. In those days, our town, Paia did nothing and the crazy Halloween fun was on the other side of the island. What a difference three years has made!

Now Paia is the party town and I could hear people partying late into the night. Some of my friends and I walked around our town in the early evening. There were little kids everywhere trick-or-treating at the local businesses. It was pretty adorable. A lot of the people in our town are hippies so it was interesting to see what their kids were dressed up as. I expected a lot of nature-inspired homemade costumes, but surprisingly enough, most were standard store-bought super heroes and princesses. Their parents' wore a variety of costumes with giant exposed pregnant bellies seeming to be a trend.

We went to some friends' house to watch Dark Knight and hang out. This was a good movie choice because it was suspenseful but not too scary. After the movie, we had to walk through town to get home. The atmosphere had definitely changed. There were few families around and a lot of rowdy adults. Music was blaring from various businesses and people were dancing in the streets. There were some interesting costumes:Little Bo Peep and her sheep, Jesus Christ on a cross (which I found offensive), a duo dressed as gold and a digger (pretty clever), a lot of fairy type creatures and women in slutty gear. We even saw a fake cop frisking someone. Awkward! We were even offered a free tarot card reading as we walked by a shop. It was interesting to say the least.

I had fun and it felt pretty Halloweeny so I was satisfied. It was a shame I didn't get to showcase my creativity this year. I definitely missed competing at the costume contest at school. I enjoyed looking at my friends' facebook pictures of their Halloween costumes. My favorite was my friend Carrie who dressed her toddler daughter up as Nacho Libre, complete with mustache. It was priceless. I can't wait until I have my own kids so I can dress them up.

Wonderful Wipeouts

So, in case anyone is wondering, (This is presupposing people even read my blog which I am not really sure if they do) it turns out that I did have strep throat so I feel even more justified in spending the $200 to get checked out and get antibiotics.

This weekend I was feeling pretty much fully recovered. My friend, Kristy left for the Philippines today so I wanted to spend some time with her on Saturday. This, of course, was after I woke up at 6am to watch the UT/OU college football game. It was kind of a strange game but at least my team won.

Kristy wanted to go to Makena beach, which is one of Maui's premier beaches. It's really beautiful with a huge rock wall that's a deep reddish brown that contrasts stunningly with the blue water and tan sand. Little do many people know, but on the other side of the rock wall is an unofficial nude beach. That is a story for another time.

This is only the second time I have really gone to the beach since I have been here. I often go to the beach by my house to read my Bible and journal. I don't really count this as going to the beach since I don't wear my bathing suit or actually go in the water at all. Kristy is a real surfer not an occasional surfer like me. As we were putting our stuff down on the sand, I asked Kristy if we were far enough from the water's edge. She assured me we were given the water mark on the sand and I took her surfer, water knowledgeable opinion seriously. We were still setting up our stuff on the beach, when a rogue wave came and attacked our belongings. Apparently Kristy's surfer sense was not as reliable as we both had thought. Luckily I had placed my valuables farther from the ocean and was able to snatch them up quickly. Our only real casualties were a couple of wet/sandy towels.

Now Makena beach is beautiful but it is also a little dangerous for those not experienced with the ocean. It has a shore break, which is where big waves break right onto the shore. Saturday it was very big and I estimate some of the waves reached at least six feet tall. The lifeguards even used their megaphones to warn inexperienced people to not go out into the water. This was the perfect set-up for one of my favorite pastimes here: watching tourists get pounded by waves. Kristy and I kept our eyes on the people who looked the most inexperienced and just waited for them to do something stupid. It didn't take long.

A couple was in the water who definitely didn't look too savvy. The woman of the couple looked like your average frumpy 60 year old but her male counterpart was a bit more interesting. Kristy initially thought he was covered in sand but it turned out to be hair. Ewww! And he was covered with it. He wasn't fat but his body was very strange. He seemed to have loose skin hanging in weird places, an unfortunate byproduct of being old. He also accentuated his weird body by wearing a little black speedo bathing suit. Double ewww!

So, Kristy and I watched as this couple attempted to get out of the ocean. The most dangerous times for tourists are entering and leaving the ocean. This is when we pay attention. The couple decided to be bold and attempt to body surf. Body surfing is often harder than it looks, especially when a six foot wave is threatening to slam you into the sand. We saw the couple at the top of the wave. Then, we saw white foam and misc. body parts tumbling about like a washing machine. After a few seconds, the couple emerged stumbling and sputtering. They lurched toward the sand and stood looking at the waves and breathing deeply as they recovered. Kristy and started laughing hysterically until the man started to rid himself of the sand. He reached his hands deep into his black speedo and fished out handful after handful of sand. What a disgusting conclusion to a wonderful wipeout! Yuck!

Being Taken Care Of

So, I may or may not have strep throat. I woke up on Monday morning with a killer sore throat and tonsils that looked like they were covered in snow. I slept through our morning worship but made it to the day's lectures. I took a bunch of Tylenol but my throat, ears and body hurt. Later that day I was supposed to wash the lunch and dinner dishes but my partner, Max graciously told me I didn't have to. I spent most of the afternoon sleeping, calling my nurse mom and looking up my condition on web MD. I pretty much laid around for the rest of the day.

The next morning my throat still hurt. I started to get worried it was strep throat, which is contagious. I live with a bunch of people in a small space and some of my fellow students have small kids. I didn't want to get anyone sick so I made a doctor appointment. I was supposed to make dinner that night but my partner, Michelle offered to do it by herself. Luckily there wasn't too much to do. After taking yet another nap, I went to the doctor. She was nice and said I might have strep. She did a throat culture, gave me antibiotics and sent me on my way. Unfortunately the whole experience cost me $200. I do feel better that I did see a doctor and got medicine, though. I would have felt really bad if I got anyone else sick. When I got back home, they didn't make me go to our nightly activity. I got to rest more.

One thing I have noticed from my brief illness is that people are a lot nicer here than at my old job. I guess this is to be expected from a bunch of Christians but it's still touching. There were times at my old job when I would be really sick and ask to go home and get denied. Also people didn't really cut you any slack if you were sick. My friends cared but not many other people. Here, people went out of their way to help me, asking if there was anything they could do, getting me orange juice, taking over my responsibilities, etc. I wish everyone was like these people. I think the world would be a much nicer place.

I have recently acquired a new hobby: watching humorous documentaries. I've watched some good ones in the past like "American Mullet" and "Hands on a Hardbody." But now it has become more of a regular thing. I have netflix and it has a feature where you can watch some things instantly on your computer. This is where I have been finding most of these entertaining documentaries.

The first one we watched was about "little people" otherwise known as dwarfs. One of the little people in the video did a bit of little person stand-up comedy which was pretty funny.

Then I found one called, "Monster Camp." It was about those people who play Dungeons and Dragons and World of Warcraft all day. Apparently someone in Seattle created a live action fantasy game called Nero. The documentary was all about the people who play it. The players looked like the dorkiest people from drama and ROTC. They were the kind of people who dress up for Renaissance fairs and like to have fake sword fights. The game itself was super complicated and involved throwing "spells" at each other and hitting each other with swords made out of funnoodle material. The people were clearly very into it and had their own lingo. They had also created personas with fanciful names and costumes. It was basically an extreme nerd fest and really funny to watch. You can check out their website here.

After this delightful documentary, we watched one about the people trying to break the world record score on Donkey Kong. It was called "The King of Kong." This one featured the underground classic video game subculture. They had their own hero, the reigning Donkey Kong champion who was treated like a cross between a god and a celebrity. He clearly reveled in the attention his fans gave him. The documentary story line centers around a newcomer trying to break the Donkey Kong record. You definitely find yourself rooting against the vampire-haired, egotistical champion and rooting for the meek family man who is challenging his record.

I also watched "Word Wars." This is about people who are Scrabble champions. Although predominantly male, the Scrabble champions they profiled were far more different from each other than I would expect. They profiled the reigning champion, a hippieish family man who does lots of tai chi and eastern meditation practices. They also show a Rastafarian looking guy who lives with his mom in the projects. That guy spouted out profanity nonstop, smokes weed on camera and also goes to Tijuana to do some shady things in the middle of a competition. He also goes to the local elementary school to run a Scrabble club and act as a motivational speaker. Then there's an awkward weaselish man who divulges intimate details of his gross intestinal medical problems on camera. He calls himself G.I. Joe because of his problems in his G.I. tract and even has shirts made with this nickname on them.

Overall, I enjoy watching these documentaries. I don't think I'd want to watch them by myself because much of the fun is remarking to a friend how crazy these people are. It's a lot of fun.

Car Drama

The last time I lived in Maui, I bought a 1993 Ford Explorer the first week I arrived. I had a guy (who may or may not have actually known about cars) give it a cursory once over. He thought it was pretty good and I liked the price, so I went for it. I had really good intentions in buying the car. I figured I could fit a lot of people in it so they wouldn't have to hitch. I had also created a basketball team and a volleyball team and figured we could use the Explorer as our team vehicle to travel to and from games. Despite all my good intentions, the Exploder broke down after only about two and a half months. It was the transmission and it was going to cost more than I could afford to spend. It sat in front of our house for months until one of my friends offered to take it off my hands. I left the country and only found out what happened to the car when I got back three months later. A few of my friends had been in it, driving across the island when the hood flew up. They crashed into a telephone pole and abandoned the car to hitch back home. They came back about a week later and the car was gone.

When I got back from Bangladesh, I had a notice from some towing company that they had my gray VW rabbit. I don't know how a green Ford Explorer turns into a gray VW rabbit but it was no longer my problem since I had passed the responsibility on to my friend. She called the tow yard and they told her they knew nothing of a gray VW rabbit or my green Ford Explorer.

At home I could never survive without a car but on Maui, it is definitely possible. I also have enough friends here with cars that if I am patient and flexible I can pretty much do what I need to do without hitchhiking. We also have town runs where they take a van into town so we can go to Wal-Mart, Borders,etc.

So, I can live without a car. But I want one! I want the freedom to go where I want when I want. But despite this deep longing, I am wary of rushing into a car after my previous car experience here on Maui. I have been habitually checking craigslist and local newspapers for cars. I don't have a lot of money to spend so my options are limited. Maui is also a lot different from Houston as far as buying a used car goes. I have seen ads that say things like "doesn't go in reverse," "Not running but a real cherry car," "blown head gasket," "windows don't roll down," etc. Also cars are worth more here. People try to sell Toyota trucks for premium prices even though they are 20+ years old.

I found a website online that gives you a reliability rating for used car of various makes, models and years. This gives me piece of mind knowing how a car is likely to hold up. This can't factor in human abuse but it helps. So, I found an add for a 1994 Nissan Sentra with 187,000 miles. At home I would never drive such a clunker, but I am in Maui and it only costs $800. I call the owner on the phone and it turns out he owns "Maui Cruisers." It's the cheapest rental car on the island because its cars look very local with peeling paint and random quirks. He sounded like quite the character on the phone and we arranged to meet the next day.

I got my friend, Kristy to drive me to see the car. It was in a seedy part of the island in what looked like a junkyard with about 10 Nissan Sentras parked there. The only two people we could see were some sketchy-looking local guys. We pulled up and asked the guys where Paul was. They gestured towards a car with its hood up and a stereo blaring Elvis. From underneath the car comes Paul, an older white guy or haole(non-native), he is filthy, covered in grease. He begins to tell us about his business and his cars but only after disappearing under the broken down car for a few more minutes while Kristy and I waited around awkwardly. When he was telling us about the cars, I noticed that he was missing the tip of his index finger, nail and all. This discovery definitely added to the weirdness of the experience.

He showed me the car from the ad and it became clear why no photo was posted. It had the typical Maui paint job- black with peeling white patches from too much time in the sun. This combined with its overall boxy exterior was pretty much a deal breaker before I got in. I may be a missionary, but I still have my self-respect. He showed us the engine, which he insisted he'd serviced regularly. He seemed to know what he was talking about but that didn't change the fact that the battery was held in by what looked like an old extension cord. He also told us that the odometer had stopped working so he thought the car had 200,000 miles or so. Why did he put the odometer reading on the ad if he knew it was wrong?

Kristy and I took it for a test drive mainly because it seemed weird not to. It was during the test drive that we found out that the spedometer doesn't work either. The car also made some strange noises and seemed to have a problem with its shocks. I wasn't going to pay $800 for something that felt like it could fall apart any minute. The seller was persuasive and a bit forceful so I was nervous about what to tell him. When we got back, I said it wasn't quite what I was looking for. He told me that was very diplomatic of me. I felt lucky to get out of there.

And so...I am still carless.

Getting into the Swing of Things

I have been in school for two weeks now. It's a lot of working but it's interesting and not too bad if you manage your time. I've been trying to balance work and play by going to parties. I think I have been to about four so far and I have a girls' night tomorrow, which I think should count as a party, right? We had a going away party for Rachel Cordy on Wednesday night. I got to see my friend, Sara Montiero for the fourth time in about six days. She too is part of the party circuit. I brought my wii fit and other wii paraphernalia from home. It is a bit heavy so I had to bring it to Kristy's in a rolling carry-on suitcase. I felt super dorky wheeling that thing through town. Luckily Kristy drove me back. We busted out the wii and it was good fun. It was pretty much my friend, Kristy and me with a bunch of boys. It was fun to watch them doing slalom skiing and the ski jump. They kept trying to one up each other.

This week in class, we've been discussing the state of the world and it is pretty intense and can feel really bleak at times. To make matters worse, last night we watched Schindler's List and talked about it. Everyone was so affected by it that after the movie, no one talked for about five minutes and we all just stared straight ahead in silence. Thankfully many people know about the atrocities of the Holocaust but today we talked about massacres in Cambodia, Russia, C hna and lots of other places that are less publicized. Our speaker showed us the images of some of the victims of the killing fields in Cambodia, which really made the awful statistics come to life. It was hard to hear all that but I am glad I did, so maybe I can help us to not be doomed to repeat it.

On a lighter note, I've done some decorating in my room to make it nicer. I put up pictures of my loved ones all over the wall by my bed. My fellow student, Maria calls it my yearbook on the wall and I think that's a pretty accurate description. I bought a lava lamp foolishly thinking it would give off enough light to read by. It does not. It makes my room looking very psychedelic, though. I also have purple Christmas lights around my bed adding to the psychedelic effect. It's not at all the way I would decorate at home but it's more like I live in a dilapidated dorm room, so it works here. This weekend I want to take a video of my house so all can see its condition. It will be a treat.

Washin' Feet

Today it really felt like I was starting school for real. We got our schedule of assignments and I have a lot to do. I already started reading some. I am trying to fight my natural tendency towards procrastination. We have several things due each week so I really can't wait until the end to do it all.

It's still a bit odd being back. A guy here bought my friend, Ashley's car when she left the island. I keep seeing it and it makes me miss her a lot. At every group function, I cling to the people I know. I am sure this will pass as I get to know more people but for now, it feels like the right thing to do.

Tonight we had Love Feast. This is a YWAM Maui tradition. When DTS students first arrive, they get a grand welcoming ceremony complete with traditional Hawaiian leis. At the ceremony, they are told that the next day they have to go on a minimalist camping trip of indeterminable length. And they are not allowed to bring toothbrushes, deodorant, change of clothes, etc. I watched their faces this time when they found out how little they could bring. Priceless! So, the students go on what we call "Exodus" and spend three days and two nights roughing it and bonding in ways they couldn't have done if they were still all clean and smelling nice.

Just when they can't bear their own stench any longer, we bus them up to a church where all the staff and us SBFM students are waiting clean and in Aloha attire aka nice clothes. We cheer them into a clean room set up for a banquet. The contrast is extreme. I remember how amazing and surreal it felt when I was in DTS, to come into this clean room with all these clean people when I was just filthy. It was pretty humbling.

Everyone has a big meal and enjoys being out of the wilderness. Then, there is a time where the DTS staff washes their students' feet. It is very powerful. When I first became a Christian, I thought foot washing was weird and gross. Why would anyone want to wash someone else's feet? I later understood the significance of Jesus washing the disciples' dirty, smelly sandal-wearing feet. He was showing that despite being God, He was there to serve His disciples. After my own Exodus, I remember how humbling it was to have someone clean my feet when they were at their dirtiest. It was very powerful.

This time our SBFM staff washed our feet. It was a great gesture but not quite as powerful since I had taken a shower about an hour before. My feet were washed by D, who is from Chna and serving with SBFM so that she will be able to replicate it on her base in Chna. She knew of my heart to go there so it was definitely meaningful to have her wash my feet and thank me for loving her country.

Being at love feast again after being away for a few years, brought back tons of memories. When I came back on staff, for every school, we each picked a DTS student whose feet we would wash after Exodus. Whenever possible, I chose the Asian girl students. With so many blond haired white girls in the schools, I figured the Asian girls would be easier to spot. I felt these foot washing times were also meaningful though not as much as when I was a leader in a DTS. I washed two girls' feet that time. One, E, was quite the fireball who'd begged to be allowed to go home several times during Exodus. As I washed her feet, she just broke down and sobbed. It was a very powerful moment. Unfortunately this memory is bittersweet because she ended up being sent home for discipline problems and a broken leg.

The other person whose feet I washed, K, also bawled like a baby during the process. She was quite the handful but completed her DTS and outreach with plenty of highs and lows. She was a girl who'd come from so much shame and chaos and I really grew to love her. She was also blessed with so many gifts. She constantly battled between right and wrong in her life. For most of DTS, the right and good side won. We were all so scared for her to go back home and our fears proved founded when she got pregnant the week she returned.

As I watched the foot washing this time, I was reminded of my two former students and was literally very close to tears. Then I saw another one of my students, Rachel, for whom DTS and SBFM were life altering experiences. She has grown into a really solid woman of God and a strong leader. In fact, she is currently a leader in this DTS. I saw her washing her students' feet and was almost moved to tears for another reason- pride.

The funny thing about YWAM is that for some people the experience here changes them positively for life, in ways they couldn't possibly imagine. God can use this time to mold them into the people He wants them to be, if they are willing. But for others, the experience feels significant at the time but doesn't stick in the end. It is truly heartbreaking for me to think of students like E and K but then I remember students like Rachel and I remember why we do this. And it is all worth it.