Alma de Color

Perhaps finishing my last entry with "The end." was a bit dramatic. But I'm still struggling with letting that chapter of my life go. Strange how we cling to now-deceased fragments of things made irrelevant by the present. It's not as if life will never again be that good. Yet, my heart still aches at times as though I were grieving the death of a loved one. I've cried more over this change of location more than anyone I've lost. Doesn't seem right, but I guess it is what it is. Now is the time for my story of "now". Lee picked me up from the airport that frigid night of November 22 nd . I met up with some Bozeman friends the following morning, and happily packed into an already-stuffed carpool in the afternoon that got me as far as Butte. Jerrit brought me the rest of the way to Divide. I surprised everyone! It was fun to see the look of dumb shock on each face I encountered. A LOT of prep work and vague responses went into achievi

Once again, I was blogeligent , and therefore am WAY behind in my entries. I pity your poor eyes. Only read if you have a super good cup 'o something tasty and are seated very comfortably. :-) Here we go.... Entry from 11-12-10 If 7 weeks seemed like too short a time, then 9 days might very well kill me. Way back in October, I spent Natasha's last day here climbing the water tower, making cookies that mostly never made it to cookie status, and drinking large quantities of tea. The next day, I escaped early from a delightful dinner with the Rumbaughs ' and practiced violin for almost an hour with practically no one in Staff Housing, (they were all still at the Rumbaughs '). I played fútbol three days in a row that weekend, had a great movie night/chat with Samuel, and moved out into the community with Joelle. She and Christine asked to take care of Rigo's and Christy's house until they get back in January. Christine was still in the States, though, an

Entry from 7-30-10 Two days ago, I had an adventure. Colegio was canceled for the day, so the kids wanted to go to Río Coco and Bambú. Peter, Karli, Josh Bradley, James Morrow, and I went with. Río Coco was beautiful and refreshing. Bambú was also nice...until a naked catracho came streaking through the rocks, kyped our bags, and ran off into the jungle! We were all so stunned by his state of disrobe and leafy headband that we didn't react quickly enough to catch him. ¡Qué raro! No one was hurt, however, and we only lost 3 cameras, some moto keys, a shirt, a couple drivers' licenses, a cell phone, etc. Just stuff. And we now have a rather hilarious story. :-)   My camera was one of the ones kyped, and I was so disappointed; I would not have access to getting a new one the rest of my time here.  However, a visiting team of Canadians heard our adventure, and Andrew gave me his!  I was blown away by his generosity, and am ever so thankful.  Now, I can still record the

In the early afternoon hours of Friday the 16th, five young adults bounced down a bumpy, lumpy road on their way to an adventure. They bought their ferry tickets in La Ceiba and set off for the tropical island of Roatan, feeling giddy with excitement and expectancy for the weekend activities. The waves were calm, so the ride was tranquil, and the sea spray tickled their faces and spiced their inhalations. And so began our weekend with my cousin Brandi and her husband Yourgin. They made dinner for us the first night, which was absolutely delicious! Beans, rice, chicken, tortillas...does it really get much better than that? I'm STILL not tired of beans and rice! We turned in for the evening pretty early so we could get up and go the following morning. Morning arrived the crack of dawn with Christine bumping about the room at 5:30 AM because she couldn't sleep. I slept a bit more after that, but the quality of it had declined severally. When we all were fairly functi

About a week into Naomi 's stay here in La Quinta, Colón, Honduras, Norma approached me and asked me if I might be interested in translating for a visiting doctor for whom no translator had hitherto been procured . And thus it was that two weeks ago , I wandered into the hospital labyrinth to seek out Dr . Hans de Bruyn from Calgary , Canada . Several of the missionary families and docs are in the States for the summer , so Hans came down to help for three weeks since we were down to only two docs for most of the summer . I have REALLY enjoyed translating ! I certainly lacked ( and still lack ) many words and phrases in my standard classroom knowledge , like the word for " hemorrhoids ", " lymph nodes ", and " you have a chronic condition of such and such a type of arthritis , as well as leftover tissue from having part of your varicose vein r

Who 'da thunk I'd ever end up on the Cayman Islands ? Certainly not me! I had priced plane tickets all over , and the one to Cayman was the most economical , though the lodging was not . I stayed at a little guesthouse called Eldemire 's. I wandered the streets a bit on Thursday night to find some groceries , and then on Friday to see Smith 's Cove and a bit of 7- Mile Beach . My first impression was that of distaste and also of claustrophobia . there are very few sidewalks , private property lines the majority of the beach , adn all the attractions are based on purchasing something . So I didn 't get to swim with a horse in the Caribbean , ( though that would be rockin '!), or visit the turtle farm , or go snorkling , but I did finish some work I was trying to get done before I got sick the week before my trip . I walked for three hours on Sa