Well I’m back in the U.S. Getting to the airport at noon for a 1:15 AM flight wasn’t exactly the greatest ting ever, but I was able to get some reading in. I’m still trying to get my body back on a good sleep cycle after staying up for over 24 hours. But it is certainly good to be home and have a couple weeks to rest before really getting back into the swing of things. I am enjoying the company of my parents in Georgia at present and then will spend a few days back in Searcy with my sister’s family as well as getting to see a few friends before going on to Nebraska, where I will begin at the University of Nebraska at Kearney to certify to teach Spanish.
So what can I say now that it’s all done? I made most of my closing remarks in the last blog, so if you missed it, you can check that one out. However, I will still say a bit here. The last six months+ has been a whirlwind, preparing for a couple months and then just over 4 months in Central America. It has been a time to reevaluate and refocus, a time to listen and abide, a time to be reminded of a bigger picture. It was a blessing to offer a couple months of English to people who find that knowing English is becoming more and more valuable to them. It was a blessing to share laughs and casual “conversations” with my students. I especially loved interacting with some of the younger ones who always manage to bring out the simple joy of living. My school in Guatemala and all the activities associated with it could not have easily been a more enjoyable experience. The people, the learning, the climate, the exposure, the sights, were all amazing and I recommend it to anyone who even remotely thinks that travel and/or learning Spanish sounds interesting.
Honduras was not as comfortable climate-wise, but brought several meaningful relationships and positive lessons. I’m still processing through my experiences and letting things come to me, so it is difficult to express what some of those lessons might be at present. Perhaps a simple one is just to be reminded that despite so much effort and energy to do so, I do not and cannot control my circumstances the way my pride and my comfort would like to believe. It was easier down there to remember that, and to look to God. I am thankful to be back in the U.S., but I know that remembering this simple truth will now be more difficult…. but then again, who knows what might be coming to test my faith. In the name of the Living God, I say in respect and humility, “Bring it on!” (not to be confused with a mid-grade cheerleading flick ).
By way of summary of the various projects or one-time activities that I was involved with in Honduras:
-Teaching 5 English classes in 4 different towns
-Building a decent house for a woman living house made of mud with no floor
-Building a classroom for the church in Las Casitas
-Helping Jorge and his family move into the Resource Center
-Purchasing in bulk and then packaging food packs to be distributed to poor families
-Entertaining a group of children at the EBH (Honduras Bible School) property while their parents were at a special seminar at the church building. This event included me telling the story of Joseph to the kids with a translator while the kids had a snack, quite fun! (shout out to Sarah on that particular idea).
-Assisting Jorge in various specifics by being another driver. Things such as bringing his wife home from the center when he was in Tegucigalpa, carting trash to the dump, dropping off and picking up vehicles from the mechanic, and giving a few rides to my students when there wasn’t a large group to walk home with at night (that one wasn’t for Jorge)
-One opportunity to expressly share the love of God with a 17 year-old guy having problems at home; an opportunity that arose naturally because he grew to trust me over the course of our English class together. I consider this one of the highlights of my trip.
I may continue to blog on occasion, but I will probably create a new blog to do so, leaving this one exclusively for this trip to Central America. If anyone would still like to receive updates as I continue my journey forward, comment on this blog, send me an email, or facebook me. Thank you so very much for your support over the last several months. Your prayers, your encouragement, and your financial support, has all been vital to this all being possible. I pray that the Lord of the harvest will raise up workers from among us all to go out into the harvest and reap what God has been faithful to grow. May the Lord bless you and keep you as you continue on this journey.
Grace and Peace,
Bryan
P.S. After a short email exchange with my sister I was motivated to find out what that fruit was that I mentioned in the last entry. If you're curious, here is a link:
http://www.menuism.com/blog/exotic-fruits-rambutan-the-hairy-fruit/
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Home stretch baby!!
Well, I’m in the home stretch. I only have one week left of class, plus a couple extra days. I will have my last classes on Friday and Saturday, meet with the Church at Las Casitas (the mountain town about 90 minutes away) on Sunday, and then Jorge will drive me to Tegucigalpa on Monday where I will catch a bus for San Pedro Sula. I will stay with a newly made friend in San Pedro that night, spend the day with him Tuesday and then go to the airport and wait for my 1:15 AM flight out.
The last 1-2 weeks has felt like senioritis all over again, with the anticipation of being done. I hadn’t even really thought much about returning until then. Though I am still enjoying myself here, being away since the end of March has caught up to me, and I am definitely ready to be back in the good ol’ U.S. of A. In the mean time, I still get to sleep with open air and a fan (that’s a good thing to me ), drink pineapple juice by the cupful, wear my new sombrero without getting gawked at (more than usual), and crack corny jokes in my English classes. I would include eating tons of Mango, but sadly, the season has ended. But that’s ok, star fruit, and some other fruit that looks like something from Fraggle Rock have taken its place!! I have never seen or heard of that last fruit, so I don’t know what to call it. Inside the weird outer part is some fruit that loosely resembles a grape, but its more gooey and has a big seed in the middle. Hopefully I can get a picture of it loaded.
In the time since I last wrote, the Hunter Hills CoC in Alabama, a church my parents were members of before they moved to Georgia, and others have been here to hold some preaching seminars and other various things to help people in more practical ways. Between those seminars, and Jorge’s truck breaking, I have missed quite a few classes in the past 2 weeks. 3 of my 5 classes are not actually in Catacamas, so I normally drive Jorge’s truck. But I have been able to borrow the truck of one of the preachers around hear to get to a couple classes on Fridays. My classes have been a blessing to me, and I think I can safely say that is a mutual feeling with my students as well. They seem to genuinely enjoy being in class, and also enjoy my relaxed format.
Some things to be joyful about: the three incredibly cute little girls that help carry my markers and dictionary and always give me a hug when I arrive and when I leave; leading a “train” of little kids around the EBH property (Hunduran Bible School) and making train sounds while their parents were in a seminar; working hard enough at manually mixing cement and gravel all day to damage the muscles in my hand so that my hand wouldn’t loosen up for a week; being invited to be hosted for an hour of food and fellowship with the family of three of my students in Las Casitas; having a coconut fresh from the tree for the first time in 14 years; an English class morphing into a dancing class at the end (just waltz and a couple latin dances I don’t know); being asked for advice from a 17 year old guy in one of my classes about a family situation and fumbling through understanding and speaking; enjoying many humorous and serious moments with Jorge, a kindred spirit; getting to share living space with Jorge and his wife and 2 year-old daughter (they moved into the Center a week ago); plenty of time to let some confusion in my spirit work its way out.
I am thankful for this time I have had south of the border. I have been able to share my skills, and I have been able to share my SELF. In the end, I believe the latter is what really matters. Skills can be found elsewhere if need be; but YOU are the only you, and only you can choose to share yourself. I’ve fallen in love with a ministry of presence, a casual giving away of yourself that is only possible as you begin to let go of fear. It is beautiful in a way I cannot describe, but that sets the soul free to soar to highest heights. Jesus set us free that we may have freedom. Freedom from what? I would say, freedom from “have to”, and replaced by “get to”. When you’re in debt, no matter what you pay, you still owe. When you’re free of debt, EVERYTHING you give, no matter how small, is a wonderful addition. Though I still clearly see selfish tendencies to hoard my time and energy, at this point those tendencies are embraced with mixed emotion, always accompanied by a sense of dissatisfaction with such selfishness.
If our lives were not so ordered, would God be free to order them? If our time was not so full, would we hear better how to live to the full? In a culture that moves fast around us, what does it take to slow down? In a culture that measures worth by production, what would it look like to truly value a person, or a people, for just being with them? I can’t say I have it figured out. But I can say that perhaps for the first time, I’m beginning to know that I don’t have to have it figured out. I believe it was Socrates who said, “All I know, is that I know nothing.”
A well-known American slogan/catch-phrase is that of the Nike Co.: “Just Do It”. If I may make a small suggestion with far reaching implications, I would say that a much better slogan would be, “Just be.” Joshua brought the Israelite people to a point of ultimate decision when he stated, “Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord”. I choose to serve our great and loving creator God. The natural next question is, “How do I do that?”, and many people have proposed an answer. I choose to “just be,” and to do so with as few borders between me and the world as possible, and in that case, Jesus will just show up. I don’t know how he will do it. I just know he will, and the “how” is not on my shoulders.
Just be…..
Grace and Peace,
Bryan
Party for Bety during class at the Resource Center
Devotional with a translator on the second floor terrace of the Resource Center on the first morning the Hunter Hills group was here
Stylin' with my new hat!!
Posing with the three sisters who invited me for over to their families home for some food.
Helping load the last of the wet cement into this little house that will be the residence of a lady who was living in mud hut without a floor.
Building the classroom behind the church building in Las Casitas with another group from the States.
On the way to Las Casitas mountain town. Beautiful!!
Sample of how bad the road is on the way to Las Casitas
The last 1-2 weeks has felt like senioritis all over again, with the anticipation of being done. I hadn’t even really thought much about returning until then. Though I am still enjoying myself here, being away since the end of March has caught up to me, and I am definitely ready to be back in the good ol’ U.S. of A. In the mean time, I still get to sleep with open air and a fan (that’s a good thing to me ), drink pineapple juice by the cupful, wear my new sombrero without getting gawked at (more than usual), and crack corny jokes in my English classes. I would include eating tons of Mango, but sadly, the season has ended. But that’s ok, star fruit, and some other fruit that looks like something from Fraggle Rock have taken its place!! I have never seen or heard of that last fruit, so I don’t know what to call it. Inside the weird outer part is some fruit that loosely resembles a grape, but its more gooey and has a big seed in the middle. Hopefully I can get a picture of it loaded.
In the time since I last wrote, the Hunter Hills CoC in Alabama, a church my parents were members of before they moved to Georgia, and others have been here to hold some preaching seminars and other various things to help people in more practical ways. Between those seminars, and Jorge’s truck breaking, I have missed quite a few classes in the past 2 weeks. 3 of my 5 classes are not actually in Catacamas, so I normally drive Jorge’s truck. But I have been able to borrow the truck of one of the preachers around hear to get to a couple classes on Fridays. My classes have been a blessing to me, and I think I can safely say that is a mutual feeling with my students as well. They seem to genuinely enjoy being in class, and also enjoy my relaxed format.
Some things to be joyful about: the three incredibly cute little girls that help carry my markers and dictionary and always give me a hug when I arrive and when I leave; leading a “train” of little kids around the EBH property (Hunduran Bible School) and making train sounds while their parents were in a seminar; working hard enough at manually mixing cement and gravel all day to damage the muscles in my hand so that my hand wouldn’t loosen up for a week; being invited to be hosted for an hour of food and fellowship with the family of three of my students in Las Casitas; having a coconut fresh from the tree for the first time in 14 years; an English class morphing into a dancing class at the end (just waltz and a couple latin dances I don’t know); being asked for advice from a 17 year old guy in one of my classes about a family situation and fumbling through understanding and speaking; enjoying many humorous and serious moments with Jorge, a kindred spirit; getting to share living space with Jorge and his wife and 2 year-old daughter (they moved into the Center a week ago); plenty of time to let some confusion in my spirit work its way out.
I am thankful for this time I have had south of the border. I have been able to share my skills, and I have been able to share my SELF. In the end, I believe the latter is what really matters. Skills can be found elsewhere if need be; but YOU are the only you, and only you can choose to share yourself. I’ve fallen in love with a ministry of presence, a casual giving away of yourself that is only possible as you begin to let go of fear. It is beautiful in a way I cannot describe, but that sets the soul free to soar to highest heights. Jesus set us free that we may have freedom. Freedom from what? I would say, freedom from “have to”, and replaced by “get to”. When you’re in debt, no matter what you pay, you still owe. When you’re free of debt, EVERYTHING you give, no matter how small, is a wonderful addition. Though I still clearly see selfish tendencies to hoard my time and energy, at this point those tendencies are embraced with mixed emotion, always accompanied by a sense of dissatisfaction with such selfishness.
If our lives were not so ordered, would God be free to order them? If our time was not so full, would we hear better how to live to the full? In a culture that moves fast around us, what does it take to slow down? In a culture that measures worth by production, what would it look like to truly value a person, or a people, for just being with them? I can’t say I have it figured out. But I can say that perhaps for the first time, I’m beginning to know that I don’t have to have it figured out. I believe it was Socrates who said, “All I know, is that I know nothing.”
A well-known American slogan/catch-phrase is that of the Nike Co.: “Just Do It”. If I may make a small suggestion with far reaching implications, I would say that a much better slogan would be, “Just be.” Joshua brought the Israelite people to a point of ultimate decision when he stated, “Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord”. I choose to serve our great and loving creator God. The natural next question is, “How do I do that?”, and many people have proposed an answer. I choose to “just be,” and to do so with as few borders between me and the world as possible, and in that case, Jesus will just show up. I don’t know how he will do it. I just know he will, and the “how” is not on my shoulders.
Just be…..
Grace and Peace,
Bryan
The giant bee hive in the roof!!! I got stung on my finger yesterday and it is giant and swolen now.
Party for Bety during class at the Resource Center
Soccer at EBH with the kids during a seminar their parents went to.
Devotional with a translator on the second floor terrace of the Resource Center on the first morning the Hunter Hills group was here
Stylin' with my new hat!!
Posing with the three sisters who invited me for over to their families home for some food.
Helping load the last of the wet cement into this little house that will be the residence of a lady who was living in mud hut without a floor.
Building the classroom behind the church building in Las Casitas with another group from the States.
On the way to Las Casitas mountain town. Beautiful!!
Sample of how bad the road is on the way to Las Casitas
Swolen pinky finger from a bee sting!
Friday, June 18, 2010
English and other randomness
Hey everybody. I’m still truck’n away down here in the land of mosquitos and electric generators. Actually, mosquitos haven't been as much of an issue since I started wearing socks to bed. Yes, I know, hell just froze over. Everything is going well and I am enjoying my role here. The four English classes I am teaching are going well, and the students seem to enjoy the time spent in class over and above the fact that they are learning English. I try to keep it light hearted by joking around quite a bit. This becomes especially valuable when there are moments where I might need to make the same correction over and over again. The fact that a lighthearted atmosphere is well established helps keep anybody from getting upset or annoyed with either me or themselves. The class that meets here at the Resource Center where I have been living is especially nice, because they are close to my age and also a little more educated to start with, so we can move at a little faster pace. Generally speaking that group picks up on everything without the need for crazy repetition and “creative” techniques. That group will also occasionally bounce off topic and ask me questions unrelated to learning English, which provides a more personal atmosphere, which everybody seems to enjoy. That group has remained steady at about 6-8 people until a couple days ago when we had 4 new people show up, and then 2 more yesterday. The room we meet in here at the Center is not extremely large, so with the additional people it feels a little cramped, but that’s something I’ve learned to be more ok with down here (partly because I have learned that its something they are already comfortable with. Personal space has an entirely different definition down here).
The other three classes all meet in different churches, and all four classes are made up of current church members (though I don’t think the 6 new people that came to the Center the last 2 days are part of the group. So its pretty cool that what I’m doing is providing an environment where non-Christians can mix with Christians in a no-pressure environment. Circumstantially, or maybe not so circumstantially, that’s exactly the sort of context I want to be encouraging and establishing when I return to the States, minus the grammar lessons of course). One class moves rather slow because there are a couple students who don’t take shift in thinking very easily. They happen to both be 40 plus, so that may have something to do with it. But I realized the other day, after several weeks of trying to make progress, that these two did not even understand the most basic of language terminology, in their own language. So I got lucky yesterday and those two were the only two people who showed up, and I could go back to the basics. It was basically a grammar lesson at the most basic level, having nothing at all to do with English. Mainly I was trying to explain the meaning of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person perspectives. Then I realized that one of the two didn’t even know what Singular and Plural refer to. So I drew a diagram using pictures to explain. My stick figures were rather impressive, if can say so myself!
The class in the mountain town of Las Casitas is fun because it’s a group of about 15 and they are all pretty sharp… and laugh when I do something ridiculous . Driving up there is stressful though. I’ve never seen a road that bad in my whole life. By the time I get there after driving, I’m close to a brain aneurism from concentrating so hard on the road non-stop, and then I get to teach in Spanish for 4 hours. (That was probably a little dramatic, but hey, I don’t want to disappoint my avid fans!!).
Besides the classes, as I mentioned before, I have been doing random small things to be helpful as they come up. I suppose the best example of that would be just a few days ago, when Jorge (my “boss”) was in Tegucigalpa. He was gone while an older couple from the States were here, among other things, to help put together a bunch of food packs to distribute to poor families. Well, they needed to communicate with Jorge’s wife to get this done, so I became the interpreter (if you could legitimately call what I was able to do “interpreting”). Then they needed a bunch more food from the store, so I got to drive to the store three separate times and try to communicate our specific needs to the ladies behind the counter. In this particular store, you don’t go up and down isles and get your own stuff. You tell the employees what you want and they go back and get it. Then, around lunch time I was in charge of driving them to the restaurant in town that has both good and safe food. They probably could have walked, but Jorge and one of his bosses (who is also here right now) think its not that safe for them to be walking around on the street. So with Jorge gone, I became the resident expert in language, culture, and traffic (the last of which is not for the faint of heart). I’m definitely not complaining though, because not only did they pay for my lunch, but we also ate with the manager of the hotel/restaurant, who is a good friend of those two gringo’s as well as Jorge and others in the same network down here. Oh, did I forget to mention that SHE is 23 and quite attractive, and knows English. hmmm…. I ate there a few days prior with Jorge and his boss and was first introduced to her then. It was rather funny, because Jorge got a kick out of introducing us to each other by looking at me and saying “This is Nora. She is single and looking for a husband,” and then looking at her and saying, “This is Bryan, He is single and looking for a wife.” He was mostly kidding so it wasn’t really weird. But only a week before that, I had gone with a preacher from a town about 20 minutes away to his church on Sunday, and for lunch afterwards we stopped at a roadside stand where he introduced me to a long time friend of his family who he is literally trying to find a husband for. If this keeps up I’m going to have to just hide in my closet and come out for English class!!
Next week I will be canceling a couple days of my English classes to go up to Las Casitas, the mountain town, to help with some construction projects that a group from the U.S. will be here to complete. I’m not sure how exactly my presence in necessary other than a extra pair of hands, but Jorge seemed to think it would be good to have me there. Perhaps my little bit of Spanish plays in to that somehow. But I’m looking forward to a bit of manual labor at any rate.
Right at this moment the power is out, and it has been since 11:30 or so last night. That is the longest it has been out in one stretch since I got here, but its also not unexpected. It is a consistent and seemingly unsolvable problem here (and throughout much of Honduras I believe). Throughout the day you will see the lights dim and then get brighter again, or watch the fans slow down and then speed back up as the level of power fluctuates. And then many times, like now, it goes out all together. This is what I was referring to in the first sentence about “the land of electric generators”. When the power goes out, I can hear generators automatically come on from all around the city. Its sort of annoying, but you get used to it pretty fast. I don’t know how many of you caught my post on facebook about this next point, but I’ll share here as well. I was watching the old classic thriller-suspense movie “Silence of the Lambs” on TV several days ago, when I saw something move out of the corner of my eye. I looked to the left and saw a big black moth land on a stack of plastic chairs. If you aren’t familiar with the movie, there is a serial killer who places a big black moth on each of his victims. SPOOKY!!!! Another random note, I found passion fruit at the grocery store the other day and just about flipped, because I haven’t had it since the hiking trip I went on with my dad when I was like 11 years old and its my favorite fruit in the world. Its very uncommon and isn’t sold anywhere that I know of in the central 48 States. This fact is probably confirmed by the fact that most of the people reading this don’t have a clue what passion fruit is. But I was disappointed because they aren’t in season right now and it wasn’t ripe; rather sour and not what I remembered. Such is life I suppose. I can’t remember if I mentioned it in the last post or not, because I don’t have internet access right now, but I have had the good fortune of having lunch prepared for me most days by Jorge’s wife, Mayori (or for most gringos who know her and come down here, Margery). I pay her for that and I get to have a convenient, and always tasty, lunch. Then I eat rice and beans and bread and fruit for dinner. Though tonight I had a hot dog and Pringles from the gas station. Yay for Texaco!!! And on a side-note, BOOOOOOOO for BP! (If you don’t understand that last statement then you should probably start paying more attention to current events ).
I’ve been thinking a lot about what will unfold for me after I return to the States. In this regard, I have been reading and enjoying a book called “The Tangible Kingdom”, with subtitle, “Creating incarnational community – The posture and practices of ancient church NOW”. It is very good and I suggest it to anybody willing to keep an open mind about the FORMS (the what and how of structure, as opposed to function, why you do what you do) that “church” can take. Basically, there are two aspects to the book. One, it emphasizes the “going out” and the “inclusive” aspects of true faith, necessary to every Christian, that have so dynamically been forgotten about in a consumer culture. Second, it tries to emphasize the “tangible” factor of faith. To refer to scripture, it’s the issue James deals with when criticizing people who think they can have faith without fruit showing up as a result. This book, more than any others I’ve read, presents the general concepts necessary for specific action to take place, and gives examples of what that looks like. I’m not done, but this book has been very helpful as I seek to bring the last 5 years of my life into a focused tangible effort to pursue the Kingdom of God. Thank you to all who have helped me in this trip once again, because in addition to doing a good work, I have had the time to pray, study, and meditate on the past, present, and future in terms of my life in the Kingdom. Thank you for all your support and prayers.
Grace and Peace,
Bryan Cannon
The other three classes all meet in different churches, and all four classes are made up of current church members (though I don’t think the 6 new people that came to the Center the last 2 days are part of the group. So its pretty cool that what I’m doing is providing an environment where non-Christians can mix with Christians in a no-pressure environment. Circumstantially, or maybe not so circumstantially, that’s exactly the sort of context I want to be encouraging and establishing when I return to the States, minus the grammar lessons of course). One class moves rather slow because there are a couple students who don’t take shift in thinking very easily. They happen to both be 40 plus, so that may have something to do with it. But I realized the other day, after several weeks of trying to make progress, that these two did not even understand the most basic of language terminology, in their own language. So I got lucky yesterday and those two were the only two people who showed up, and I could go back to the basics. It was basically a grammar lesson at the most basic level, having nothing at all to do with English. Mainly I was trying to explain the meaning of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person perspectives. Then I realized that one of the two didn’t even know what Singular and Plural refer to. So I drew a diagram using pictures to explain. My stick figures were rather impressive, if can say so myself!
The class in the mountain town of Las Casitas is fun because it’s a group of about 15 and they are all pretty sharp… and laugh when I do something ridiculous . Driving up there is stressful though. I’ve never seen a road that bad in my whole life. By the time I get there after driving, I’m close to a brain aneurism from concentrating so hard on the road non-stop, and then I get to teach in Spanish for 4 hours. (That was probably a little dramatic, but hey, I don’t want to disappoint my avid fans!!).
Besides the classes, as I mentioned before, I have been doing random small things to be helpful as they come up. I suppose the best example of that would be just a few days ago, when Jorge (my “boss”) was in Tegucigalpa. He was gone while an older couple from the States were here, among other things, to help put together a bunch of food packs to distribute to poor families. Well, they needed to communicate with Jorge’s wife to get this done, so I became the interpreter (if you could legitimately call what I was able to do “interpreting”). Then they needed a bunch more food from the store, so I got to drive to the store three separate times and try to communicate our specific needs to the ladies behind the counter. In this particular store, you don’t go up and down isles and get your own stuff. You tell the employees what you want and they go back and get it. Then, around lunch time I was in charge of driving them to the restaurant in town that has both good and safe food. They probably could have walked, but Jorge and one of his bosses (who is also here right now) think its not that safe for them to be walking around on the street. So with Jorge gone, I became the resident expert in language, culture, and traffic (the last of which is not for the faint of heart). I’m definitely not complaining though, because not only did they pay for my lunch, but we also ate with the manager of the hotel/restaurant, who is a good friend of those two gringo’s as well as Jorge and others in the same network down here. Oh, did I forget to mention that SHE is 23 and quite attractive, and knows English. hmmm…. I ate there a few days prior with Jorge and his boss and was first introduced to her then. It was rather funny, because Jorge got a kick out of introducing us to each other by looking at me and saying “This is Nora. She is single and looking for a husband,” and then looking at her and saying, “This is Bryan, He is single and looking for a wife.” He was mostly kidding so it wasn’t really weird. But only a week before that, I had gone with a preacher from a town about 20 minutes away to his church on Sunday, and for lunch afterwards we stopped at a roadside stand where he introduced me to a long time friend of his family who he is literally trying to find a husband for. If this keeps up I’m going to have to just hide in my closet and come out for English class!!
Next week I will be canceling a couple days of my English classes to go up to Las Casitas, the mountain town, to help with some construction projects that a group from the U.S. will be here to complete. I’m not sure how exactly my presence in necessary other than a extra pair of hands, but Jorge seemed to think it would be good to have me there. Perhaps my little bit of Spanish plays in to that somehow. But I’m looking forward to a bit of manual labor at any rate.
Right at this moment the power is out, and it has been since 11:30 or so last night. That is the longest it has been out in one stretch since I got here, but its also not unexpected. It is a consistent and seemingly unsolvable problem here (and throughout much of Honduras I believe). Throughout the day you will see the lights dim and then get brighter again, or watch the fans slow down and then speed back up as the level of power fluctuates. And then many times, like now, it goes out all together. This is what I was referring to in the first sentence about “the land of electric generators”. When the power goes out, I can hear generators automatically come on from all around the city. Its sort of annoying, but you get used to it pretty fast. I don’t know how many of you caught my post on facebook about this next point, but I’ll share here as well. I was watching the old classic thriller-suspense movie “Silence of the Lambs” on TV several days ago, when I saw something move out of the corner of my eye. I looked to the left and saw a big black moth land on a stack of plastic chairs. If you aren’t familiar with the movie, there is a serial killer who places a big black moth on each of his victims. SPOOKY!!!! Another random note, I found passion fruit at the grocery store the other day and just about flipped, because I haven’t had it since the hiking trip I went on with my dad when I was like 11 years old and its my favorite fruit in the world. Its very uncommon and isn’t sold anywhere that I know of in the central 48 States. This fact is probably confirmed by the fact that most of the people reading this don’t have a clue what passion fruit is. But I was disappointed because they aren’t in season right now and it wasn’t ripe; rather sour and not what I remembered. Such is life I suppose. I can’t remember if I mentioned it in the last post or not, because I don’t have internet access right now, but I have had the good fortune of having lunch prepared for me most days by Jorge’s wife, Mayori (or for most gringos who know her and come down here, Margery). I pay her for that and I get to have a convenient, and always tasty, lunch. Then I eat rice and beans and bread and fruit for dinner. Though tonight I had a hot dog and Pringles from the gas station. Yay for Texaco!!! And on a side-note, BOOOOOOOO for BP! (If you don’t understand that last statement then you should probably start paying more attention to current events ).
I’ve been thinking a lot about what will unfold for me after I return to the States. In this regard, I have been reading and enjoying a book called “The Tangible Kingdom”, with subtitle, “Creating incarnational community – The posture and practices of ancient church NOW”. It is very good and I suggest it to anybody willing to keep an open mind about the FORMS (the what and how of structure, as opposed to function, why you do what you do) that “church” can take. Basically, there are two aspects to the book. One, it emphasizes the “going out” and the “inclusive” aspects of true faith, necessary to every Christian, that have so dynamically been forgotten about in a consumer culture. Second, it tries to emphasize the “tangible” factor of faith. To refer to scripture, it’s the issue James deals with when criticizing people who think they can have faith without fruit showing up as a result. This book, more than any others I’ve read, presents the general concepts necessary for specific action to take place, and gives examples of what that looks like. I’m not done, but this book has been very helpful as I seek to bring the last 5 years of my life into a focused tangible effort to pursue the Kingdom of God. Thank you to all who have helped me in this trip once again, because in addition to doing a good work, I have had the time to pray, study, and meditate on the past, present, and future in terms of my life in the Kingdom. Thank you for all your support and prayers.
Grace and Peace,
Bryan Cannon
My class in Las Casitas. This is inside the church building.
Me teaching in Las Casitas. Usually there is stuff on the board, but I hadn't got that far yet.
There is big hill on one side of Catacamas that has a multicolored staircase of about 4-500 steps leading up to this white cross. Rather picturesque.
Facing away from the white cross at the top of the big hill, looking down on Catacamas.
Lunch at road-side stand after church in Jutiquile (very small village about 20 minutes from catacamas).
We actually did two services the same Sunday as the lunch picture above. The first was in a building. This was the group of about 10 people who meet each Sunday about 1:30 for a church service. It was nice to have church under the shade of mango trees!
Jorge's (my boss) daughter Hillary breast feeding her stuffed animal duck. lol.Thursday, June 3, 2010
Kick'n it in Catacamas
Well, I guess its been quite a while since my last post. My last week in Xela went smoothly with not much out of the ordinary happening, except that I paid for dinner my last night there and invited all the main (local) people that I had interacted with. Basically this means friends or family of my host-parents there. We had Dominoes Pizza and Pollo Campero (a fast food chain comparable to KFC or Popeyes) as well as some sides that others brought. It was a very good last night in Xela.
My trip to Catacamas went pretty smoothly. I took a nice air conditioned bus from Xela to Guatemala City, got it around 7:30 pm, and had a taxi bring me to a hotel. It wouldn't stand up to anything in the US, but it was a private room with its own shower and television, all for about $12.50. The taxi driver said he would come back at 4:30 AM to pick me up and bring me to the bus station. True to his word, he was waiting when I got down there, so that made things A LOT easier. Calling a cab at 4 am would not have been fun to figure out. "Ticabus" got me from Guatemala City to San Salvador, El Salvador for a 90 minute "layover" and then from there to Tegucigalpa, Honduras. A taxi took me from the bus station to Baxter Institute, the Church of Christ preaching school down here, where I met up with Dwight, an American living and working in Catacamas. We stayed at Baxter that night, went to a worship service at Baxter in the morning, and then took took the 4 hour bus ride from Tegucigalpa to Catacamas. Jorge (my "supervisor", for lack of a better word) met me at the bus station and brought me to the center (Mission Point Resource Center) where I am living.
I've been here for almost 3 weeks. Since part way into my time in Xela, and when i first arrived here, I thought a big part of my responsibilities was going to be helping to develop material for teaching local adults how to better teach bible lessons to children. Also, I thought I was going to be presenting that material to local church leadership, so that they could bring that material back to their respective areas and teach their teachers. However, after arriving, I was made aware that the material to be used has already been developed and all that was being asked of me was to give the local leadership some instruction in how to best present that material (i.e. strategies and methods of presentation). Though I've not done a lot of study in this area specifically I felt like I could have had a few good things to say. In the end however, it occurred to me that since Jorge has been presenting this material (that he himself developed) for the last couple years, his own experience doing so would be the best source of strategy and methods for presentation. Jorge seemed to agree with this and so I was left wondering what I might do while I'm here.
After a couple days of following Jorge around for various odds and ends, I decided I could try to teach English. Jorge jumped on that pretty quickly and within the next few days I had a relatively full schedule. As it stands, I am teaching about 26 hours of English a week, split between 4 groups. One is here at the Center, Tuesday through Saturday from 6:30-8:30. One is about 10 minutes away at a church that goes by the name "La Trinidad". It is Monday-Thursday, 2-4. The third group meets at a church by the name of "La Sosa" (the name of the small community it is in) Monday and Friday from 4-6. The last is about 90 minutes away over a terrible dirt road filled with pot holes you can't possibly avoid. The community is called "Las Casitas", and it is the church where Jorge preaches. Between the four classes I have about 65-75 students. I try to joke around some through the teaching, and it lightens the mood nicely. I think most everybody seems to enjoy the time spent. Many times my attempt to joke around falls flat because I can't communicate what I mean, so in that case, I become the joke, which still works fine I think. :)
As of this moment, English, both classtime and preptime, is my only official responsibility, but it seems like nearly every day there is some errand that Jorge would like me to come with him on because it is helpful in one way or another to have a second person. One example is that he has been having some things fixed on the two vehicles he has here, and so a second driver to follow him to the repair shop is convenient. I helped lug a lawn mower up to Las Casitas and mow their terribly high grass. Etc. Etc. And now that June is here there will be several different groups coming from the U.S. to help with various projects that I will probably end up helping with in one way or another, even if just to drive a second vehicle to transport them to and from project sites. I can't really know exatly what to expect in regard to my involvement with those groups. But I will be relatively involved with English at any rate. Not what I planned to be doing, but then again, I really didn't have any specific plans. All to the glory of God.
I will try to add pics later when I get some decent pics of english class. God bless.
Grace and Peace,
Bryan
My trip to Catacamas went pretty smoothly. I took a nice air conditioned bus from Xela to Guatemala City, got it around 7:30 pm, and had a taxi bring me to a hotel. It wouldn't stand up to anything in the US, but it was a private room with its own shower and television, all for about $12.50. The taxi driver said he would come back at 4:30 AM to pick me up and bring me to the bus station. True to his word, he was waiting when I got down there, so that made things A LOT easier. Calling a cab at 4 am would not have been fun to figure out. "Ticabus" got me from Guatemala City to San Salvador, El Salvador for a 90 minute "layover" and then from there to Tegucigalpa, Honduras. A taxi took me from the bus station to Baxter Institute, the Church of Christ preaching school down here, where I met up with Dwight, an American living and working in Catacamas. We stayed at Baxter that night, went to a worship service at Baxter in the morning, and then took took the 4 hour bus ride from Tegucigalpa to Catacamas. Jorge (my "supervisor", for lack of a better word) met me at the bus station and brought me to the center (Mission Point Resource Center) where I am living.
I've been here for almost 3 weeks. Since part way into my time in Xela, and when i first arrived here, I thought a big part of my responsibilities was going to be helping to develop material for teaching local adults how to better teach bible lessons to children. Also, I thought I was going to be presenting that material to local church leadership, so that they could bring that material back to their respective areas and teach their teachers. However, after arriving, I was made aware that the material to be used has already been developed and all that was being asked of me was to give the local leadership some instruction in how to best present that material (i.e. strategies and methods of presentation). Though I've not done a lot of study in this area specifically I felt like I could have had a few good things to say. In the end however, it occurred to me that since Jorge has been presenting this material (that he himself developed) for the last couple years, his own experience doing so would be the best source of strategy and methods for presentation. Jorge seemed to agree with this and so I was left wondering what I might do while I'm here.
After a couple days of following Jorge around for various odds and ends, I decided I could try to teach English. Jorge jumped on that pretty quickly and within the next few days I had a relatively full schedule. As it stands, I am teaching about 26 hours of English a week, split between 4 groups. One is here at the Center, Tuesday through Saturday from 6:30-8:30. One is about 10 minutes away at a church that goes by the name "La Trinidad". It is Monday-Thursday, 2-4. The third group meets at a church by the name of "La Sosa" (the name of the small community it is in) Monday and Friday from 4-6. The last is about 90 minutes away over a terrible dirt road filled with pot holes you can't possibly avoid. The community is called "Las Casitas", and it is the church where Jorge preaches. Between the four classes I have about 65-75 students. I try to joke around some through the teaching, and it lightens the mood nicely. I think most everybody seems to enjoy the time spent. Many times my attempt to joke around falls flat because I can't communicate what I mean, so in that case, I become the joke, which still works fine I think. :)
As of this moment, English, both classtime and preptime, is my only official responsibility, but it seems like nearly every day there is some errand that Jorge would like me to come with him on because it is helpful in one way or another to have a second person. One example is that he has been having some things fixed on the two vehicles he has here, and so a second driver to follow him to the repair shop is convenient. I helped lug a lawn mower up to Las Casitas and mow their terribly high grass. Etc. Etc. And now that June is here there will be several different groups coming from the U.S. to help with various projects that I will probably end up helping with in one way or another, even if just to drive a second vehicle to transport them to and from project sites. I can't really know exatly what to expect in regard to my involvement with those groups. But I will be relatively involved with English at any rate. Not what I planned to be doing, but then again, I really didn't have any specific plans. All to the glory of God.
I will try to add pics later when I get some decent pics of english class. God bless.
Grace and Peace,
Bryan
Monday, May 3, 2010
Pele, eat your heart out!
Well, to be honest, I haven’t really done a whole lot since my last post, other than maintain my routine of school, meals, homework, keep in touch with people back home, and continue to play soccer on Thursday’s with my school. I do have two events to mention however.
Saturday before last, April 24th, I hiked up an active volcano called Santa Maria (for those that were confused by the title, Pele was the mythical goddess of fire in Hawaii and was responsible for the formation of the islands through the volcanoes. And for anyone who is still confused why that is relevant, my family and I lived in Hawaii for 4 years). It is one of 20 or so volcanoes in Guatemala, and one of 4 or 5 active volcanoes. The crater where the activity exists isn’t actually at the peak. It is lower down on the back side from where we hiked up. In funny way I was a little disappointed because I was hoping to get to the top and look down over the side into a giant hole, as is the stereotypical image of a volcano. But its probably good it wasn’t like that, since the active crater actually let off a bunch of sulfuric gases while we were there. Yipes! Its good we got to the top when we did. 10 more minutes and all my pictures would have been awful. The sulfuric cloud spread out all around the entire area. It took 4 hours to get up, and about 2 and a half to get down. My body hasn’t been that exhausted in several years. But it was totally worth it! I’m sure nobody is jealous at all. [insert joking maniacal laughter here]. I got back, showered and spent the remainder of the evening at a café with free wireless (as long as you buy food). I had a “milkshake” that was really just strawberry milk. Live and learn I guess.
The other event was just this last Saturday. The previous Wednesday I attended church with my host parents again and was invited by another man at the church to attend a sort of church picnic thing on Saturday. It was at this Sports Complex that includes some open grassy area with a covered pavilion with a barbeque where they ladies made lunch. Most of the males present and also most of the younger females participated in “Indoor” Soccer. Indoor only means fenced in. It’s a very small field compared to a real soccer field. It’s the same as I have been playing on each Thursday with the school, only this one was much nicer. While we were eating the man who invited me asked me, in Spanish, what I believed about what would happen once I died. Since my Spanish is still awful and he didn’t know much English at all, the younger ones at our table, who did know English, picked it up from there. It was not pushy or insulting at all. Though I clearly disagree with a few specific points in their theology (Jehova’s Witness if you didn’t remember) what stood out to me was the ease and confidence with witch these three “jovenes” (young people) were able to communicate and substantiate their beliefs. The primary speaker was the daughter of the man who asked the original question. She is only 16, and goes at least once a week, if not more, to go knock on doors with her entire family and tell people about God. Beyond being hugely impressed at the ability of these jovenes to combine confident articulation with kindness, grace, and maturity, it also made me look at my situation more closely. The honest truth is that even with a Bible degree I would not feel comfortable trying to substantiate my beliefs to a near stranger. I’m not saying I wouldn’t feel comfortable talking about my beliefs. I’m just saying I would find it difficult to point to specific places in the Bible that support my beliefs. A girl of sixteen can present the gospel and defend her beliefs in 3 languages without ever putting me on my guard, and I would hesitate to speak up at all, simply because I know that I DON’T know my bible well enough to objectively defend what I believe. What’s the difference? How much I read and think about the Bible. But what is different about my motivation to do so vs. theirs? In part, depth of belief I think. Depth of my genuine desperation for my Lord and Savior. I don’t feel guilty. For the first period of my life I understand the pure love of God for me, and so I’m not feeling guilty. But certainly convicted and motivated. Can God speak through a Jehova’s Witness? I believe so.
Though it is not a new activity, I was able to play soccer with the group from my school once again on Thursday (a week ago). It is always a blast, and also always very very tiring. This time was a little different because we had enough people for three teams, so whichever team did not score during each 6-8 minute round would then sit out for a round. This allowed me my much sought after breathing! We went to a place called "Pool and Beer" afterwards. I played a round of pool with one of the male teachers that had played soccer with us too. They didn't play ANY salsa, which was weird, but also a decent change. Oh! speaking of music, I forgot that I also went to a little salsa club a couple weeks ago on a Friday night after the graduation dinner. I clearly can't dance, so mostly all I did was participate in this line dance that seemed like some form of "Follow the leader" via salsa steps, except not with a partner. I think it could take Taebo any day of the week! (not quite, but it sounded cooler that way!).
A couple fun little tidbits. My host mom brought a batch of bananas back from the coast several weeks ago, when she went to visit her father, and after seeing that I liked the bananas so mutch, she has been calling me "Mono Blanco" (White monkey) ever since. She also jokes around at me as though this girl from her church (the same one I mentioned above) were my girlfriend. She told me that the local women generallyh tend to like gringo men, so I guess all you need to start a joke like that is the fact that the girl wants to talk to me in English. Its all in good fun. I get a pretty good laugh out of it, especially when I am casually eating my food, not paying much attention while my host parents are talking full speed, and I'll catch the girl's name, look up, and find Elmentina grinning at me. They are great fun in general, joking around and laughing off and on through most every meal. Elmentina even snuck up behind me when I had my headphones in and doing my homework, scared me, and then walked off laughing at how great her prank was. I have, to date, woken up at 5- 5:30 about 5 times to go walk up El Baul, the small "mountain" just on the edge of town, with Jose (host dad) and his friend Rudolfo.
My Spanish is getting better too. I still won't catch more than a random word or two if people are speaking normally, but if they slow down and use siimple grammar I can at least hold a very basic exchange of ideas (I purposefully avoid using the word "conversation" because I don't think I deserve that word yet). My family here hosted another student over the last week in addition to myself. He was from Japan. He and I went up El Baul, just the two of us, one morning, and we only spoke Spanish, partly because his Enlgish isn't much better. He made the comment that he is accustomed to being far inferior in conversation when speaking with Americans or Europeans, but thought it was cool that we were on the same level with our Spanish. I did as well. The last night he was here, Elmentina served the very normal plate of beans and eggs with tortillas. But she also set out a plate with some chili pepper seeds on it. I don't know what kind. Toto (the Japanese guy) ate quite a few. I had alread found that Elmentina's pecante sauce was too hot (pecante) for me, so I was weary. I wasn't going to bother, but when Elmentina started cheering Japan I had to at least try one. And like the genious that I am, I just put it in my mouth straight, instead of eating it with food. I can honestly say that my mouth has never been that hot in my whole life! ONE seed! It took about 10 minutes before I could even enjoy the rest of my food. Fun times!
Well, I'll sign off now. Very likely I won't blog again until I'm in Honduras. I leave here a week from tomorrow night to be in Tegucigalpa Saturday afternoon/evening and then on to Catacamas on Sunday. Hasta proximo vez...
La Gracia y La Paz,
Bryan
View of sunrise on first trip up El Baul
The active volcano crater, Santa Maria
View from path up Santa Maria
Almost at the very bottom of the trail Up Santa Maria. Santa Maria is the cliff in the background. I was on the very top 2 1/2 hours prior to this photo.
Me on top of Santa Maria volcano with mountain ranges in the background, including 3 other volcanoes
View from the top of Santa Maria
View from the trail up Santa Maria
View from the trail up Santa Maria
View looking back down the way we came, soon after starting the hike up Santa Maria. The fog cover is a normal thing here. It rises and disperses through the morning. This shot is at about 6:30 AM or so. This is also the background on my computer.
Saturday before last, April 24th, I hiked up an active volcano called Santa Maria (for those that were confused by the title, Pele was the mythical goddess of fire in Hawaii and was responsible for the formation of the islands through the volcanoes. And for anyone who is still confused why that is relevant, my family and I lived in Hawaii for 4 years). It is one of 20 or so volcanoes in Guatemala, and one of 4 or 5 active volcanoes. The crater where the activity exists isn’t actually at the peak. It is lower down on the back side from where we hiked up. In funny way I was a little disappointed because I was hoping to get to the top and look down over the side into a giant hole, as is the stereotypical image of a volcano. But its probably good it wasn’t like that, since the active crater actually let off a bunch of sulfuric gases while we were there. Yipes! Its good we got to the top when we did. 10 more minutes and all my pictures would have been awful. The sulfuric cloud spread out all around the entire area. It took 4 hours to get up, and about 2 and a half to get down. My body hasn’t been that exhausted in several years. But it was totally worth it! I’m sure nobody is jealous at all. [insert joking maniacal laughter here]. I got back, showered and spent the remainder of the evening at a café with free wireless (as long as you buy food). I had a “milkshake” that was really just strawberry milk. Live and learn I guess.
The other event was just this last Saturday. The previous Wednesday I attended church with my host parents again and was invited by another man at the church to attend a sort of church picnic thing on Saturday. It was at this Sports Complex that includes some open grassy area with a covered pavilion with a barbeque where they ladies made lunch. Most of the males present and also most of the younger females participated in “Indoor” Soccer. Indoor only means fenced in. It’s a very small field compared to a real soccer field. It’s the same as I have been playing on each Thursday with the school, only this one was much nicer. While we were eating the man who invited me asked me, in Spanish, what I believed about what would happen once I died. Since my Spanish is still awful and he didn’t know much English at all, the younger ones at our table, who did know English, picked it up from there. It was not pushy or insulting at all. Though I clearly disagree with a few specific points in their theology (Jehova’s Witness if you didn’t remember) what stood out to me was the ease and confidence with witch these three “jovenes” (young people) were able to communicate and substantiate their beliefs. The primary speaker was the daughter of the man who asked the original question. She is only 16, and goes at least once a week, if not more, to go knock on doors with her entire family and tell people about God. Beyond being hugely impressed at the ability of these jovenes to combine confident articulation with kindness, grace, and maturity, it also made me look at my situation more closely. The honest truth is that even with a Bible degree I would not feel comfortable trying to substantiate my beliefs to a near stranger. I’m not saying I wouldn’t feel comfortable talking about my beliefs. I’m just saying I would find it difficult to point to specific places in the Bible that support my beliefs. A girl of sixteen can present the gospel and defend her beliefs in 3 languages without ever putting me on my guard, and I would hesitate to speak up at all, simply because I know that I DON’T know my bible well enough to objectively defend what I believe. What’s the difference? How much I read and think about the Bible. But what is different about my motivation to do so vs. theirs? In part, depth of belief I think. Depth of my genuine desperation for my Lord and Savior. I don’t feel guilty. For the first period of my life I understand the pure love of God for me, and so I’m not feeling guilty. But certainly convicted and motivated. Can God speak through a Jehova’s Witness? I believe so.
Though it is not a new activity, I was able to play soccer with the group from my school once again on Thursday (a week ago). It is always a blast, and also always very very tiring. This time was a little different because we had enough people for three teams, so whichever team did not score during each 6-8 minute round would then sit out for a round. This allowed me my much sought after breathing! We went to a place called "Pool and Beer" afterwards. I played a round of pool with one of the male teachers that had played soccer with us too. They didn't play ANY salsa, which was weird, but also a decent change. Oh! speaking of music, I forgot that I also went to a little salsa club a couple weeks ago on a Friday night after the graduation dinner. I clearly can't dance, so mostly all I did was participate in this line dance that seemed like some form of "Follow the leader" via salsa steps, except not with a partner. I think it could take Taebo any day of the week! (not quite, but it sounded cooler that way!).
A couple fun little tidbits. My host mom brought a batch of bananas back from the coast several weeks ago, when she went to visit her father, and after seeing that I liked the bananas so mutch, she has been calling me "Mono Blanco" (White monkey) ever since. She also jokes around at me as though this girl from her church (the same one I mentioned above) were my girlfriend. She told me that the local women generallyh tend to like gringo men, so I guess all you need to start a joke like that is the fact that the girl wants to talk to me in English. Its all in good fun. I get a pretty good laugh out of it, especially when I am casually eating my food, not paying much attention while my host parents are talking full speed, and I'll catch the girl's name, look up, and find Elmentina grinning at me. They are great fun in general, joking around and laughing off and on through most every meal. Elmentina even snuck up behind me when I had my headphones in and doing my homework, scared me, and then walked off laughing at how great her prank was. I have, to date, woken up at 5- 5:30 about 5 times to go walk up El Baul, the small "mountain" just on the edge of town, with Jose (host dad) and his friend Rudolfo.
My Spanish is getting better too. I still won't catch more than a random word or two if people are speaking normally, but if they slow down and use siimple grammar I can at least hold a very basic exchange of ideas (I purposefully avoid using the word "conversation" because I don't think I deserve that word yet). My family here hosted another student over the last week in addition to myself. He was from Japan. He and I went up El Baul, just the two of us, one morning, and we only spoke Spanish, partly because his Enlgish isn't much better. He made the comment that he is accustomed to being far inferior in conversation when speaking with Americans or Europeans, but thought it was cool that we were on the same level with our Spanish. I did as well. The last night he was here, Elmentina served the very normal plate of beans and eggs with tortillas. But she also set out a plate with some chili pepper seeds on it. I don't know what kind. Toto (the Japanese guy) ate quite a few. I had alread found that Elmentina's pecante sauce was too hot (pecante) for me, so I was weary. I wasn't going to bother, but when Elmentina started cheering Japan I had to at least try one. And like the genious that I am, I just put it in my mouth straight, instead of eating it with food. I can honestly say that my mouth has never been that hot in my whole life! ONE seed! It took about 10 minutes before I could even enjoy the rest of my food. Fun times!
Well, I'll sign off now. Very likely I won't blog again until I'm in Honduras. I leave here a week from tomorrow night to be in Tegucigalpa Saturday afternoon/evening and then on to Catacamas on Sunday. Hasta proximo vez...
La Gracia y La Paz,
Bryan
My first trip up El Baul, the mountain on the edge of town.
View of sunrise on first trip up El Baul
The active volcano crater, Santa Maria
View from path up Santa Maria
Almost at the very bottom of the trail Up Santa Maria. Santa Maria is the cliff in the background. I was on the very top 2 1/2 hours prior to this photo.
Me on top of Santa Maria volcano with mountain ranges in the background, including 3 other volcanoes
View from the top of Santa Maria
View from the trail up Santa Maria
View from the trail up Santa Maria
View looking back down the way we came, soon after starting the hike up Santa Maria. The fog cover is a normal thing here. It rises and disperses through the morning. This shot is at about 6:30 AM or so. This is also the background on my computer.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Hotsprings and Midwives!
Hey everybody! I’ve been in Xela now for about two and half weeks. The initial strain from being in a new place and not knowing the language has decreased greatly, so my general demeanor stays pretty high. I am thankful for a very comfortable and warm home to live in and for pretty good food. Perhaps not quite as much food as I would like at times, but I can supplement with a 6 cent banana as needed! In general I have been splitting my time between class (obviously), studying on the side, a few activities with the school during the week, reading one of the two books I brought or my bible, and keeping in contact with some friends/ family back in the States. (And while I have mentioned the States, there is a word down here for being from the US as a nationality that doesn’t exist in English. People don’t like those of us from the US calling ourselves American because everyone in North, Central, or South America is American. They kind of have a good point. So down here I would say I am from “Los Estados Unidos”, but I would say that I AM “Estaunidences”.
So what have I been up to lately? Honestly, I feel like I’m not doing a whole lot other than Spanish and communicating with folks back home. I’m actually typing this on my laptop at “home” and I don’t have access to the internet at the moment so I can’t check my blog to be reminded of what I have and haven’t already said. So if I repeat anything you’ll have to forgive me. Last week I went to the hotsprings on Wednesday. There is a couple videos on my youtube page concerning that trip (youtube search: wbryancannon). It was a blast, and also incredibly gorgeous. Pics and Video should be sufficient so I won’t say more here. That night I watched a movie in Spanish called “City of God” that follows a boy that grows up amidst the gangs, drugs, and violence of “Ciudad de Dios”, a sort of shanty town outside of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, established by the government to keep the homeless out of Rio de Janeiro. A very good film, though it depicts reality in similar fashion to “Hotel Rawanda” and “Lord of War”, so its not something you turn on for kicks.
Thursday night I played soccer in a caged in miniature soccer field. Overall it was a good time, and I intend to do that with the school each week. However, when I am at 7,000 feet, and am very out of shape, breathing wasn’t exactly easy! Kind of embarrassing in a way, but I didn’t really care; breathing takes precedence to pride in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs! Lol. I would have gone again this week, but I left the school for two minutes to change clothes and when I got back they had already left! Oh well, I got some homework done. Friday nights are always the graduation dinner with the school. I really enjoy those because the atmosphere is so festive and because it provides some real conversation (in a language I can understand). I talk with the other students through the week but its mostly short snippets during the half hour break we have during class. Communicating with my hosts continues to be a little awkward. I can handle not knowing what is being said around me just fine; its just awkward when they are trying to ask me a question and try to repeat it in several different ways and I still have no clue what they are talking about. I guess that’s all part of the deal though.
Yesterday (Saturday) morning I went with a group from the school to two places. One was a sacred Mayan hill top that is used for various ceremonies. The presence of several crosses clearly indicated some syncretism. The second stop was a Midwife clinic. Partly it felt a little weird, but mostly it was just really cool, and I definitely felt an increased awareness and respect for the miracle of life. An interesting note here is that these women begin in the track of this profession as early as 10 years old sometimes and the older ones with the most experience are said to have a sixth sense concerning the health of the baby and mother during the pregnancy and childbirth. They can basically just touch a mother’s belly and know stuff. Pretty interesting. Also, they use medicinal plants they grow themselves for just about everything (shout out to Andrea).
I didn’t go anywhere for church this morning because my stomach was a little out of sorts and I didn’t want to be away from a bathroom. I feel mostly better now though, so it wasn’t too big a deal. The “Estaunidences” guy at their church, who met me the one time I went, sent me a note back with my host mom saying he was sorry I didn’t feel well and to let him know if I need any meds. Very nice of him. Couldn’t help noticing he wrote the note at the top of an article in, “The Watchtower”, a Jehova’s Witness teaching publication. Lol.
Just a snippet of the variety that exists in my school, and I assume most of these schools down here: I’ve met people from Ireland, Holland, Denmark, Canada, and in the U.S., Chicago, Philadelphia, New York, San Francisco, and more that I can’t remember. The typical age is mid-20’s to mid 30’s, though right now there is a 21 year old girl and two, one man and one woman, about 60. Some are traveling and learning Spanish as they go from place to place. Some are here more specifically for the language training. One guy is going on to scuba-dive in several places, and several people are just traveling till their money runs out (the Irish Guy has plans for at least 15 months!) I’ve met at least 6 people that are med-students and are either down here as part of their program or else traveling for a bit before residency turns their life upside down. There is tons more variety that has caused me to stop and wonder at it all.
The one consistent thing seems to be that people with my world-view don’t seem to do much traveling. I’ve always known that I don’t know much about politics or world-events, or the social and economic realities of the world around me, but when I’m only around people similar to myself it is easy to let that fact pass as something that doesn’t really matter much. But in this group of people it is profoundly evident that I am somewhat of an ignoramus. Furthermore, I begin to question the somewhat black and white way in which I have viewed my own country, not to the detriment of my patriotism, but certainly there are political realities to be aware of that many staunch U.S. patriots would not want to admit existed. I leave out specific explanations of these comments because at this point I don’t really have anything specific to say. I have only heard about a few things that leave me wanting to do some of my own research when I have the time. One thing on that list is finding out the full implications and effects of what is known as the “Nixon Doctrine”. If anyone cares to fill me in, I’m all ears.
Well, this is longer than anybody really wants to take time for already, so I’ll let you go. Please keep me in your prayers. I was able to have a brief conversation with a girl at the dinner on Friday about my experience in the Bronx and my love of the effect Jesus has in creating community across cultural boundaries. She grew up Mennonite but has no real interest in any of it at this point. Un-plannable conversations like this one are what organic growth starts with. Todo la Gloria a Dios. (not sure if I got that right). I love you all.
Check videos: http://www.youtube.com/user/wbryancannon
Grace and Peace,
Bryan
"Sauna" for after-birth recovery in which they also place herbs and whatnot that mix with the steam.
Cypress trees at the Mayan holy place
Mayan holy place with crosses that show affect of syncretism (combining of faiths)
View from the road up to the Mayan holy place. This community was badly effected by civil wars here and Guarrilas lived in these hills.
Above: the view straight up from the hotsprings pool
Valley on the way to hotsprings. Every usable section is used for growing veggies! Way steep!
So what have I been up to lately? Honestly, I feel like I’m not doing a whole lot other than Spanish and communicating with folks back home. I’m actually typing this on my laptop at “home” and I don’t have access to the internet at the moment so I can’t check my blog to be reminded of what I have and haven’t already said. So if I repeat anything you’ll have to forgive me. Last week I went to the hotsprings on Wednesday. There is a couple videos on my youtube page concerning that trip (youtube search: wbryancannon). It was a blast, and also incredibly gorgeous. Pics and Video should be sufficient so I won’t say more here. That night I watched a movie in Spanish called “City of God” that follows a boy that grows up amidst the gangs, drugs, and violence of “Ciudad de Dios”, a sort of shanty town outside of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, established by the government to keep the homeless out of Rio de Janeiro. A very good film, though it depicts reality in similar fashion to “Hotel Rawanda” and “Lord of War”, so its not something you turn on for kicks.
Thursday night I played soccer in a caged in miniature soccer field. Overall it was a good time, and I intend to do that with the school each week. However, when I am at 7,000 feet, and am very out of shape, breathing wasn’t exactly easy! Kind of embarrassing in a way, but I didn’t really care; breathing takes precedence to pride in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs! Lol. I would have gone again this week, but I left the school for two minutes to change clothes and when I got back they had already left! Oh well, I got some homework done. Friday nights are always the graduation dinner with the school. I really enjoy those because the atmosphere is so festive and because it provides some real conversation (in a language I can understand). I talk with the other students through the week but its mostly short snippets during the half hour break we have during class. Communicating with my hosts continues to be a little awkward. I can handle not knowing what is being said around me just fine; its just awkward when they are trying to ask me a question and try to repeat it in several different ways and I still have no clue what they are talking about. I guess that’s all part of the deal though.
Yesterday (Saturday) morning I went with a group from the school to two places. One was a sacred Mayan hill top that is used for various ceremonies. The presence of several crosses clearly indicated some syncretism. The second stop was a Midwife clinic. Partly it felt a little weird, but mostly it was just really cool, and I definitely felt an increased awareness and respect for the miracle of life. An interesting note here is that these women begin in the track of this profession as early as 10 years old sometimes and the older ones with the most experience are said to have a sixth sense concerning the health of the baby and mother during the pregnancy and childbirth. They can basically just touch a mother’s belly and know stuff. Pretty interesting. Also, they use medicinal plants they grow themselves for just about everything (shout out to Andrea).
I didn’t go anywhere for church this morning because my stomach was a little out of sorts and I didn’t want to be away from a bathroom. I feel mostly better now though, so it wasn’t too big a deal. The “Estaunidences” guy at their church, who met me the one time I went, sent me a note back with my host mom saying he was sorry I didn’t feel well and to let him know if I need any meds. Very nice of him. Couldn’t help noticing he wrote the note at the top of an article in, “The Watchtower”, a Jehova’s Witness teaching publication. Lol.
Just a snippet of the variety that exists in my school, and I assume most of these schools down here: I’ve met people from Ireland, Holland, Denmark, Canada, and in the U.S., Chicago, Philadelphia, New York, San Francisco, and more that I can’t remember. The typical age is mid-20’s to mid 30’s, though right now there is a 21 year old girl and two, one man and one woman, about 60. Some are traveling and learning Spanish as they go from place to place. Some are here more specifically for the language training. One guy is going on to scuba-dive in several places, and several people are just traveling till their money runs out (the Irish Guy has plans for at least 15 months!) I’ve met at least 6 people that are med-students and are either down here as part of their program or else traveling for a bit before residency turns their life upside down. There is tons more variety that has caused me to stop and wonder at it all.
The one consistent thing seems to be that people with my world-view don’t seem to do much traveling. I’ve always known that I don’t know much about politics or world-events, or the social and economic realities of the world around me, but when I’m only around people similar to myself it is easy to let that fact pass as something that doesn’t really matter much. But in this group of people it is profoundly evident that I am somewhat of an ignoramus. Furthermore, I begin to question the somewhat black and white way in which I have viewed my own country, not to the detriment of my patriotism, but certainly there are political realities to be aware of that many staunch U.S. patriots would not want to admit existed. I leave out specific explanations of these comments because at this point I don’t really have anything specific to say. I have only heard about a few things that leave me wanting to do some of my own research when I have the time. One thing on that list is finding out the full implications and effects of what is known as the “Nixon Doctrine”. If anyone cares to fill me in, I’m all ears.
Well, this is longer than anybody really wants to take time for already, so I’ll let you go. Please keep me in your prayers. I was able to have a brief conversation with a girl at the dinner on Friday about my experience in the Bronx and my love of the effect Jesus has in creating community across cultural boundaries. She grew up Mennonite but has no real interest in any of it at this point. Un-plannable conversations like this one are what organic growth starts with. Todo la Gloria a Dios. (not sure if I got that right). I love you all.
Check videos: http://www.youtube.com/user/wbryancannon
Grace and Peace,
Bryan
"Sauna" for after-birth recovery in which they also place herbs and whatnot that mix with the steam. 
Cypress trees at the Mayan holy place
Mayan holy place with crosses that show affect of syncretism (combining of faiths)
View from the road up to the Mayan holy place. This community was badly effected by civil wars here and Guarrilas lived in these hills. 
Above: the view straight up from the hotsprings pool
Valley on the way to hotsprings. Every usable section is used for growing veggies! Way steep! Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Pics Time- Including Semana Santa
Hey everyone. Here are the pics that should have gone with the last post. Also view my videos on youtube. You can see all of them on the same page at http://www.youtube.com/user/wbryancannon
Same spot of the same street as the next picture but without the float and crowd (Parque Central)
The main float being carried by somewhere around 50 guys!
The processions move from Parque Central out to the surrounding streets and people put these designs on the street for the procession to trample using various colored bits of something organic and giant stencils
View of the middle of Parque Central
Little girl in Parque Central with toy on wheels. Toy is one of many similar being pulled around during Semana Santa
Little kitchen at school where we have coffee, tea, and various breads at break time
Part of the Semana Santa procession on Good Friday. Cathedral is the right side of the building in the background
Labani and Harmony dancing goofing around at the graduation on Thursday
Part of the Graduation ceremony is the teachers playing and singing music
My host mom's grandson, whom I kicked a little plastic soccerball around with for a few minutes
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