Back in the states

Well, I am officially home. Please excuse any spelling mistakes as I am shivering so bad, I can hardly type. Thats right. Its friggin cold! Although all my friends have been like, cool man, I am boust to put some shorts on, I have been searching for the long underwear.

I think my grandma said it the best. I am torn. I am back with my people and my country yet hardly feel like I know it at all. And I am torn and hurt by the fact the the people I talk to here will never really understand what my life has been like for the past seven months. I am happy to be home and see all my friends and family, but feel lost and confused. I am preparing myself for the emotional roller coaster that will be being home for the next three weeks.

The mountians are still here in Colorado, and it reminds me that something never change, even though they maybe covered with snow, (something that I had almost forgotten about), and that somethings, like the love of family and the presence of friends, although they may seem a little different or there might not be complete understanding, are always there and never change either.

I am but a stranger here myself...

A Photo Update

After some technical difficulties, we finally have take off. I was able to download pictures form the last month it seems like, ok well, two weeks. With concerts, graduations visiting missionaries, and church dedications, we have been keeping busy! Heres an update of some of the things we have been doing here in Panama, Kodak Style.

April 29th was the Easter Concert. All the churches were present to sing songs and show of their talents that God has given them. The church was packed and the students loved every minute of it. Congratualtions to all the people on the Music Committee who pullled off a great show by themselves...with out the leadership of Joy! I know that she was proud of all of you!

Las Chicas Bond. April 30th was Joy's last sunday here in Panama, so the church threw her a farewell party. Hazel and Joy take in their last minutes to goof around together at Joy's Farewell Party in Balboa. It was a testament to Joy's work here to see all her students show up and tearfully say goodbye!

Joy gets all the Ensalada Rosada that she can before she leaves. Anselma, who has adopted all the volunteer missionaries as her grandchildren, did a wonderful job, as always, cooking for Joy's farewell Party.

Joy and her students have one more jam session during the farewell party! Rock on!

Eat it up. This is one of the few times I was brave enough to wear a tie in the Panamanian heat and humidity. This was for graduation ceremonies for my English Classes in Balboa. We had the beggining and advanced levels together at the graduation and part of the graduation was that the students had to present something in English to show off what we had learned. I was so proud of my students!

Ixora and Darlys sang "I Lift My Eyes Up" with Hazel and Haily accompanying on the piano and Guitar.

Cecilia did a speech on busy people. She talked about everything she does during the week that keeps her busy! Good Job, Cecilia

Florentino gave a speech about the English Classes at the church and how they have been a gift from God for him!

We had a dialouge between Lesvia and Sheila. They used all the questions we talked about in class to make a play. They even worked in a plug for the classes at the Lutheran Church! Way to go!

Katherine and Bolivar are my newest students. They have just started to come during this last session. Nonetheless, they imporved and learned a ton. Here they are also doing a dialouge, where they are asking each other about themselves. I was so proud of these two for all the work they did!

Liz brought her friend, Eleazer, to accompany her while she sang "From this Moment". She did a wonderful job and I think Shaina has got some competition coming!

Leo also gave a speech on the English classes. He siad that the hardest thing about learning English is pronuciation! I would agree! After trying to explain that the word "thought" is not pronounced th-o-u-ggg-hut, I would agree!

Elias sang "Above All" and we are talking recording studio quality. Elias Studied in the UNited States and speaks very well! He loves the chance to keep practicing English!

Marcos, another talented musician, played and sang "Lord, Be Glorified" in English. He even brought his own keyboard! Way to go Marcos!

Nuris gave a speech in the process of learning a new language. She had researched and used from her own experience as an English teacher. She had a very well put together speech. In fact, if I had known her while I was in school, I just might have used this speech in onr of my ESL Classes!

Isabel gave a speech about the English classes and why it is important to come and practice, even if you sometimes feel like you can't do it. Isabel is from Peru and adds so much to our class!

My students and I, with the parting gift they gave me! I told them, that when I take it home, I wont use it so much as a towel but a jacket, since I am not expectin anything over the frigid low 70s when I am in Colorado. Burrr! Congratulations to all graduates! I am so proud of all of you!

On May 3, Rosie, one of the missionaries that I meet at Missionary Oreintation came to visit. She will be in Panama until the 8th, and we have been having a great time! We spent some time in El Valle and all over Panama. This is Rosie with Becky in El Valle, where we spent the day relaxing at the hot springs, and shopping at the local market. We also had something really really freaking cool happen to us, so stay tuned for a joint blog entry on that...

Saturday brought the dedication of the new church "house" in La Chorerra. Pastor Clifford lead a service and dedicated the new building as the official start of many new programs that the church is starting there. Afterwards, ther was of course the traditional meal of somekind of meat with rice.

Of course there was also cake, and me being diabetic and all...Yamileth andI just cant get enough!

Oye Flaco! This is one of my students Lenin, but I call him flaco (skinny) becuase he lovingly calls me gordo (fat)! No service would be complete with out dedicated musicians like Lenin! They actually make service fun, instead of trying to sing along with some hokey CPH produced CD of an Organ recording of the hymns...

and what church service wouldnt be complete without the luney antics of raudy teenagers? Here the girls attack flaco while he is trying to drink his punch. I guess thats what we call flirting...

keep loving life...

Happy Cinco de Mayo...right?

So, I hope everyone enjoyed Cinco de Mayo. Quick Quiz! What is the meaning of Cinco de Mayo? Mexican Independence Day? A reason to get drunk? Day of the grape Harvest?

Nope, wrong. BZZZZ! Times up. Minus one for the gringos. Thats right. Its none of the above.

Cinco de Mayo is actually in rememberance of a battle in the Mexican city of Puebla. The Mexican army defeated Napeoleon and all his French troops, who were like ten times bigger than the mexican rebels. The theorey goes that if the Mexicans would have lost this battle to the French, the United States would not exist. Seeing as that this happened during the American Civil War and France would have support the Confederate Amries if it were to be a new ruling power in the area, it is not only an important day for Mexicans but for Americans as well.

Cinco de Mayo. Is it celebrated in Panama? Mexico is along ways from here. Well, We have a whole plaza in the middle of Downtown called, check this, Plaza Cinco de Mayo. It must be an important day here in Panama as well.

Becky and I walk into the office on Friday and she says to everyone, HAPPY CINCO DE MAYO! She gets a few wierd smiles and one of the pastors says, Becky, its not really a happy day. Puzzled and slightly embrassed, Becky asks well, why?

Cinco de May o is actually a sad day in Panamanian History. When the republic was first starting, and the firemen were not all that well trained, there was a huge fire. Hundreds of firemen died, and so Cinco de Mayo has become quite a day of reverence for Firemen in general.

So, knowing this, we had our tyipcial tequila drinks but made a toast to the Panamanian Firefighters.

keep learning...

A bunch of thoughts...attempted to be connected

So on May 2, one of the missionaries, Joy, who worked with music in the congregations, left Panama for good. She headed back to the states and will continue on with many exciting adventures that include the ocean, Macchu Picchu and a good ole dose of Texan Pride. When she left, all I could help was to ask , "Where's the Joy in Panama anymore?" We miss you Joy!

At the airport, while Joy was walking to her gate and we quitly watched through the windows, Joy just kind of mixed in with the people at the airport at some point, and we lost sight of her. I thought about her and all the other people at the airport. What is their story? Where are they going? What are they doing? Everyone is right at the beggining of something, and the end of something else. Some are ready to be home after a vacation, some are sad to be leaving but excited to start the thing they have been awaiting for for some time.

And then in the grocery store, it was the same feeling. Who is the lady infront of me? Why is she buying what she is buying? What is she going to do when she leaves the store? It hit me that the world is so huge and everyone has a story of their own. I realized that I want to know more peoples stories, and to understand that even though we all have this different story, there is something that unifies us. For everyone on the street in Panama, its the news of the day. That the president wants to expand the canal is the little piece of knowledge that unifies us. For Christians worldwide, it is to know that through our different lives and histories, God has worked in us a knowledge of him. For those in the United States, it my be the effect of the immigrant demonstrations that unify everyone on one common ground.

And I feel privledged to be able to know the stories of some of the other people who I really wouldnt have anything in common with. During my graduation fiesta at Los Andes for my Adult English Class, the class told me about some of their rememberances of the Invasion of Panama (1989, if you need a history lesson, email me!) Alot of my students lived in the areas that were bombed, and this feeling of fear, amazement and confusion, was something that all united them. Through their stories, I learned so much about my students, and felt more connected with them becuase I too had some of the same feelings of fear and amazem,ent and conufsiuon as they counted their stories to me.

There is a qoute from Che Gueverra that says about his journey through South America and his journal of said trip: "This isnt a tale of derring-do; nor is it merely some kind of cynical account, it is meant to be at least. Its a chunk of two lives running parrlell for a while, with common aspirations and similar dreams". Joy, I am so thankful for the chunk of our lives that got to spend together. To my students, thank you for the time we have spent together sharing a part of our lives. And my God continue to bring wonderful people into our lives, even knowing that we will travel together on this road, one day our paths will part, and we will have to say goodbye. And knowing it will be hard to see our paths part, we know that God brought us together for that time and he has his perfect timing to bring us together again.

Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Hebrews 12:1

keep walking...

Still adjusting

Well, the test and frustration of the last weeks come to fruition today. Let me explain. (Please keep reading...this is funny, although it sounds kind of depressing!)

For the last two weeks, I have been tested like nothing else. Everynight before I go to bed, it always happens. There is always this little scurrying sound. The last couple of days, I have heard it when I wash dishes, when I take a shower and when I am getting ready to get into bed.

Now, it can be kind of unsettling going to bed knowing there is a creature big enough to make scurrying noises in your house, lurking in the darkness. And while I have learned to handle all types of bugs flying in my house (alright, I lie, I still struggle with tolerating cockroaches), images of big rats and mice have filled my head the last couple nights as I venture to bed, hoping to God in heaven that they havent nested in my bed.

And as any good American, where scurrying noises mean only one thing-rats and mice-I have covered my apartment with rat poisin, and submerge from my deep slumber every monring, awoken by the excitment that I might have got the best of our furry friend, only to be be disspointed by the lack of keeled over rodents.

Today, I learned why. Take a look at the picture. (Well, Mom...dont look at this picture!)

Anything wrong here with this picture?

Thats right. While I was talking on the phone, out struts our friend, the lizard. He walked right over like he was looking for a best friend. He was very docile, even allowed a nice little photo shot.

That is definatly NO rat...

I pulled myself together, grabbed a bucket and safely removed him from the premises. He was sad to leave, until I stomped the ground really hard...then he took off!

And know I qaulify to be an exterminator. I will have all you Animal Rights people out there now that no animals were injured during this process...

So lesson learned...maybe I need to invest in some lizard traps. Hey, I still learning little by little about the new world I live in!

keep exterminating...

Happy Birthday Cassie

Happy Birthday, Cassie!

I wanted to say Happy Birthday to my little sister, Cassie. I hope that everything goes well for you! You have grown up so much and I am so proud of you! I cant wait to get to hang out with all of you again in a couple weeks!

Hopefully you have learned this much in Spanish class...feliz cumpleanos...que cumplas muchos anos mas y que sean de alegria y salud....te amo...tu hermano..

sigue estudiando (keep studying)...

ps. jamming to some coldplay just for you!

The Wedding...through Chris' eyes

April 8 was Becky and Noriel's wedding. It was so beautiful. The wedding itself was held at the church in Balboa. And after all the planning and the stress that had me convinced that eloping is the best option, after seeing all the guests and family and Becky and Noriel enjoying themselves and being as happy as they were, I guess a wedding will be worth it someday.

So a little background. Becky was a missionary here in Panama. A testimony to the work that she has done here in Panama was the support she had from the women of the church. Anselma (who has dubbed herself my Panamanian grandmother), Yazmina (who has dubbed me her hermanito) and many others, spent Thursday, Friday and Saturday preparing the whole church and the event. They not only stripped and rewaxed the entire floor of the church, but prepared and served a buffet dinner of salads, meat, traditional panamanian food and other appetizers (long live HUN PAU!) Noriel, who comes from the provience of Chiriqui, is a wonderful guy, whose humor I get! I am actually not supposed to encourage him with his so called "dry and chessy jokes" by laughing, but cant help it. He is studying architeture in the National University and is a person who has taught me so much about Panama and its culture...in as much as he has told me as well as just by the way he acts.

Becky, has spent the last four months of her life, slowly pulling this wedding together. And since most of my teaching duties are at night, I had the priveldge of doing alot of wedding planning and shopping together during the days. I also had the priveledge of being a groomsman in the wedding, so I got to get all cleaned up and dressed in a tux.

With all the out of town guests, fruit baskets needing to be carved from watermelons, cupcakes to be made, and food to pick up from different restaurants throughout the city (among many other things), none of us really slept for more than 3 hours a day the days before the weddings. Some slap happy memories including laughing at the dairy queen tip dipped cup-cakes, try to lug around a huge vat of watermelon (oh yes, it was about 8 pounds), and eating all the rejected cupcakes. Even when we were slap happy, or dead tired, standing at the altar and seeing Noriel and Becky say their vows (bilingually I may add) was enough to keep us all going.

Please pray for Becky and Noriel as they start this new part of their life together. Pray that they would continue to walk in God's ways all the days of their lives, and continue to be an excellent model of a Christian couple to the people of the church in Panama.

And now for some pictures. Thats right ladies, eat your hearts out. This is one of the few times you can feast your eyes on me in a tux...

Noriel and I put the cake on the cake stand. I was in charge of picking the cake up...that was the most nerve racking twenty minutes of my life. Big thanks to Dave for carrying the cake and saving me from having a cake meltdown in Panamanian traffic. You can tell by the looks on our faces that we are just a little aprehensive about setting it down. That cake weighed a ton! To qoute Noriel's grandma, "Esa vaina pesa." (translates roughly 'that shit is heavy!')

Noriel and the cabelleros (groomsmen), and the pastors. The pastors informed us that is was our job to make sure that the wedding went off...that we were to make sure Noriel didnt run off at any point in the ceremony. While the damas (bridesmaids) where there for elegence, we were spiffed up body guards. Just kidding!

Becky and the cabelleros. Our job was to make sure that Noriel didnt go running out of the church. Here Becky is congradulating us on sucessfully holding him back. Just kidding...But we are smilimg becuase we are about to leave the church and have the opportunity to take off our sweaty jackets. Yeah, tuxes and non-airconditioned buildings, not so fun.

Ana and I leaving the church. Ana had hurt her foot the day of the wedding, so here we are practicing the slow march out of the church.

More pictures of Becky and Noriel to come! Stay tuned!

Of Haircuts, March Newsletters and Pictures

I know. I could hardly beleive it. I have been on blogger almost three days in a row. Wow, you think, that Chris is really cool. He keeps us updated so well on what is going on in Panama. I wish I had his blogging abilities...well, I try, what can I say.

There are more pictures added in my Photo Album, so be sure to check those out. Also check out the March Newsletter under the "My Newsletters" Links.

Oh yeah got a haircut. That was an adventure. You all have to let me know what you think. I will know next time to take my dictionary with me when I go, since the only "hair" term I know is cocobolo, which rougly translates as coconut head...

This is the before picture. Altough I like the curlying out in the back look (my Panamanian friends loving called me Jesus Christ), and the way my hair whisped around in the wind, it was time for a little trim.

Although I have a kind of smug face, I actually like it. It doesnt look that bad. The truth of the matter is that I liked the hippy look, but I am in a wedding this weekend, so would prefer not to lose my life to the bride's wrath than keep my stylish locks (just kidding Becky, I know you would have only hired a hitman, not actually gone through with it!)

On a blogging roll...

Wow, two days in a row! This has to be a record in Chris' blogging career. Now, dont get your hopes up, this two day phase is no guarantee that I might drop of the face of the blogging world for months at a time.

Just thought I would answer the burning question about the Panama Canal. "How do they do that?"

First boat enters. Then doors close. Then water is pumped into lock. Said boat raises. Doors open. Boat Exits. Repeat as nessecary.

Well, thats the idea that was envisoned since 1530 when Carlos V of Spain thought about making a transit route across Panama, what the french struggle with building for 8 years and what Americans worked on for 10 years to figure out how to build. Seems simple, but it really is interesting. I had the chance to take a cruise through the canal, so I learned plenty of interesting facts. Join me on a transit through the canal...

So first we start out in the ocean. The average boat spends about 24 hours waiting before it enters the canal. Then when it enters, a Panamanian Canal Pilot boards and takes complete control of the ship...the only time a captian ever resigns his power over the boat. Then you enter and head towards the Puente de las Americas, the bridge that was the first connection over the canal.

This is actually not in the canal, but getting close.

Ok, now this is actually in the canal, and the going under the bridge.

Okay, so after about an hour of sailing slower than I used to drive in the states, you enter the first set of Locks, called Miraflores. You can see the lock door open, the boat in front of us going in and us getting ready to go in.

The locks of the canal raise each boat 86 feet from sea level to be able to get into Gatun Lake, 86 above sea level.

And here comes the ingenious part of the canal. The water is pumped into the closed locks, completly by gravity. The control ma just opens the right pipes and in flow the water (each chamber has huge pipes running underneath it). The water is pumped at 52,000 gallons a minute into the chamber, and it takes about 8 minutes to raise a boat. There are six locks, three going up and three going down. The best way to think of them is just really big water elevators.

Here you can see the difference in the water levels from the first part where we entered and where we were after the lock had been filled with water. This was at Miraflores locks, and we are now about 8 meters above sea level.

After about three hours and two sets of locks, you find your self almost through the first portion of the canal. The tug boats come along and help your boat into position to navigate through the narrowest part of the Canal, called Culebra Cut. In this part of the canal, the traffic is one way for the largest boats, so getting it right is the most important thing.

A tugboat comes to help the cargo ship in front of us. At a rate of $3,000 per hour, the Panamanain government makes bank with "services" like the tugboat they "offer" (its more like "requirements" that they "issue").

As you enter this part of the canal, you go under the Centennial Bridge, that was supposed to be constructed as a celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Republic of Panama in 2004. However, Panamanian construction schedules prevailed, and the bridge opened only seven months ago.

The Puente Centenario, the newest connection over the Panama Canal. I dont know what was more impressive, the bridge or the overwhelmingly huge power lines...

So, then the whole reason for the locks comes into view. You actually have to cross the continental divide to go through the canal, and digging out the Canal through this area was the most difficult part of construction. Another interesting fact, the Chagres River, the river that has been dammed and holds most of the water used for the canal, is actually the only river in the world that feeds into both oceans simultaneously.

Those two mountains on each side are actually the continental divide, or what remains of it.

After this, you would pass through another set of Locks called Gatun, the largest set of locks, that would lower you all the way back to sea level. There are museums full of information on how the canal and I hope my feeble attmepts quenches the burning desire to know how one of the eight modern wonders of the world works! You can watch a transit of the each one of the locks at http://www.pancanal.com/eng/photo/camera-java.html

keep learning...

A tale of two cities

The streets of Colon and the City of Panama. The difference between the living conditions would make it hard to beleive that these cities arent just 50 minutes away from each other.

Yes, I made it through the last blog entry and I am still alive. I have been busy with English Classes and helping friends that were visiting from the states. We got to do alot of touring, and I have some wonderful pictures and stories to share, and I want to thank Dan and Cindy for all there kindness and generosity while they were here in Panama.

But today I want to talk about one of the surprising shocks I had while I was touring. I have spent time in Colon, the second biggest city here in Panama, on the Atlantic end of the Canal. However, this time it really stuck out to me the difference between Panama and Colon. The city of Panama is very modern, very clean and offers a safe place to do the work I do. In fact, it was commented that if you were just dropped in Panama city and had no idea where you were, you would have a hard time figuring out you werent in a city in the States. The same cannot be said about Colon.

I hope that this blog isnt lost, becuase I know that I am not doing my sentiments justice, but just the wierd feeling of "wow this is how most of the world lives" is still shocking. Even after seeing people living in the object poverty of a Guatemalan dump, this poverty still is eye opening.

I live a very priveldged existence and I thank God for that...

keep thinking...