Tracking with Tony and Julie

We've Moved

2010-01-26T21:12:00.003Z

Thankfully we haven't "moved house" as our British friends would say, but we have moved blogs. Blogger has been good to us over the past few years, but I got the itch to change things up and have now been lured away to Word Press. Perhaps this is a classic case of the grass seeming greener, but there was only one way to find out.

You can now find our blog at: sweetsimplicities.wordpress.com

And then there were three...

2010-01-11T14:12:00.005Z

After my last post on December 5, I continued waiting in good company for another 6 days for our little one to make an appearance. With each passing day I was getting more and more anxious, not because I was tired of being pregnant, but because my parents' departure date was getting closer with each day that went by. I was desperate for the baby to come so that we could have as much time as possible with the baby AND with my parents! But we waited as patiently as we could and finally in the earliest hours of December 11, my labor began. (I don't know if anyone has ever been as delighted as I was upon realizing my water had broken - I was overjoyed!)

We arrived by taxi at the hospital just before 2am, and it was just about 12 hours later that our daughter, Emeline Rae, entered the world. My mom and Tony were a wonderful duo supporting me through labor and though we were hoping to have my mom with us for the birth, she wasn't able to be with us because the delivery was a bit more complicated than expected and only Tony could accompany me to the "theatre" - the operating room where she was born. We were reunited with my mom a couple of hours later in the maternity ward and spent the rest of day falling absolutely head over heels in love with little Emeline.

The past 4 weeks have been the most memorable of our lives and though it is hard to believe four weeks have already gone by, in many ways it seems like she's been a part of our lives forever. We've learned so much about her and are always anxious for her to wake up from her naps so that we can cuddle her and just observe as she is taking in the world around her.

Having my parents here when she was born was wonderful, and knowing that Jon and Lindsey were coming with little Kate just a few days after my parents left was the only thing that made our goodbye bearable. We thoroughly enjoyed having Jon, Lin and Kate here with us over Christmas and we will treasure that time together for years to come. Edinburgh had a white Christmas this year, which is a real novelty as we rarely get even a dusting of snow, let alone enough to cover the city in a shimmery white blanket!

We've been flying solo since they had to leave on December 30 and though there are still so many things to learn as new parents, we do feel like we're getting into the swing of things slowly but surely. Tony returned to school last week and Emeline and I have been spending our days together here at home while the freezing temperatures and icy sidewalks have been lingering in the city.

We have so many things to be thankful for and each glance at our little girl serves as a tangible reminder of God's goodness and faithfulness in our lives. Emeline is an absolute sweetheart and we can't wait for the adventure that awaits us as she continues to grow up!

(We have an exorbitant number of photos of our little darling, so I'll do my best to pull a few favorites out for now!)

Waiting in Good Company

2009-12-05T21:17:00.003Z

Well, I'm officially 3 days overdue which I know isn't much, but it has obviously put BABY even more to the forefront of our minds than it was before! I know I must be huge now because everyone who comments now assumes I am very close to delivering, whereas before they would politely congratulate me and ask about the due date. : ) I enjoyed being able to give a single digit response during the last week, and now it's quite satisfying to be able to say I'm in fact overdue.

My mom arrived on Thanksgiving and we've been having a wonderful time with her while we're waiting for this little one to arrive. We've had only 2 or 3 days of rain since she arrived which has been a blessing and we've been able to get out and do a lot of walking and exploring in the city over the past 9 days. I felt such a sense of peace about the arrival of this baby when she arrived and it's been an absolute joy to have her here with us while we're waiting for Baby to make an appearance. We've had fun catching up and enjoying quality time together and are now hoping the baby will come soon, but are trusting in God's timing and in the comfort that he knows the exact details of this little one's arrival. We'll definitely put an update here when the time finally comes, but thought I'd at least get one last blog post in before then!

Generosity

2009-11-18T20:47:00.003Z

As of 3:30pm today, I am officially on maternity leave. I feel a sense of relief on some level, but I still don't think the reality of what is coming next has really sunk in yet. Despite all the baby stuff that is now set up throughout our flat, it's just hard to believe that this active little baby in my belly is actually going to be joining us as an autonomous human being in the coming weeks. I keep wondering how I will feel when labor begins - part of me thinks I might burst into tears over the sheer velocity with which our life will change in the proceeding days. I'm beyond excited to finally meet this little one and to transition into this new phase of life, but I have to admit that the rate at which everything will happen is a bit intimidating to me!

I'm sitting on the couch this evening feeling overwhelmed by the generosity of the people in our lives. There is a big box full of pampering items for momma and essentials for the baby sitting on the coffee table, so thoughtfully put together by my coworkers as a send-off gift. A changing table from one of the members of our Board of Directors at work is to the right, stocked with baby gifts from the shower my mom and sister threw back in Denver this summer. Our stroller, which I am in love with, is next to it and will always be a reminder of my parents amazing generosity and thoughtfulness. I have bags of clothes passed along from a dear friend here in town, along with books and resources from my sister that have been my companions of the last 9 months. We have a crib, baby bath, monitor and Moses basket all given to us by coworkers. I'm just amazed at the provision of all these things by the generous people around us. God has supplied for all our needs, and we feel so loved and cared for as we're walking ahead into unknown territory. It really is humbling to just look around and see these many reminders of the generosity in this world, as it's easy to lose sight of it with the many tragic news stories and reports of suffering in this world.

Looking at the next week, I'm hoping to do a few more posts with pictures from recent events and perhaps a pic of my massive belly in celebration of maternity leave. I am so excited to have some free time on my hands - oh, I just can't wait to soak it up tomorrow!

A little cultural lesson...

2009-11-06T09:36:00.004Z

November 5 is Guy Fawkes Night, or Bonfire Night, in the UK. Anyone out there ever heard of this before? I certainly hadn't until we moved to Edinburgh, but with fireworks going off outside tonight and the smell of bonfire that filled the air earlier this evening I suppose I am now not only aware of, but somewhat experienced in the British tradition.

Although we were living here at this time last year, I didn't actually learn about this tradition until this year. Why? Because last year I was holed up in our flat desperately looking for jobs and manically filling out applications with little to no contact with the outside world. Oh, there are no words to express my gratitude for being out of that situation!

Guy Fawkes Night is the annual celebration of the day back in 1605 when Fawkes and a group of conspirators were discovered and stopped in their attempt to kill King James 1 and most of the protestant aristocracy by blowing up the House of Parliament. The plan was uncovered, Fawkes was arrested, and he and his conspirators were subsequently tried and hung.

The Brits now commemorate that fateful day every 5th of November by burning effigies of Guy Fawkes, setting off fireworks and lighting bonfires. It's quite the celebration going on tonight!

Happy Guy Fawkes Day!

November??

2009-11-04T08:13:00.003Z

In the middle of September I remember looking at my calendar and eagerly anticipating the arrival October, which I expected would be a calm and far more low key month than the ones before it. Inevitably my calendar filled up with work responsibilities, an ever growing personal to-do list as we're preparing for the baby, and mid-week social engagements as we've been trying to get more connected in our community here. And now we've turned the calendar page into November and I can hardly believe it!

November holds a lot of exciting dates for us and I'm so glad it's finally here! Here are the highlights:

This weekend: a mini-vacation from the chaotic work schedules we've both been managing - our last chance for a little getaway as a couple before the baby arrives and life becomes wonderfully different.

Nov 14/15: our 2-day intensive prenatal classes (I'd be curious if this qualifies as an "exciting event" for Tony...I think I'm speaking for myself on this one!).
Nov 18 - my last day of work!
Nov 19 - maternity leave begins! I've got big plans for the following 2 weeks before my due date - lots to get done!
Nov 26 - not just Thanksgiving, but also the day my Mom arrives in Edinburgh!
Nov 28 - my original due date, which I'm still attached to even though I know it will most likely come and go along with my new date of Dec 2.

And then we're into December which holds a whole other bundle of exciting events - my dad coming for the last part of my mom's visit, my sister, brother-in-law and niece coming for Christmas, and most definitely the arrival of Baby Bolos (hopefully earlier in the month than later)!!

Beyond the routine responsibilities that have been keeping us busy this last month, we've managed to have a lot of fun. I've been thoroughly enjoying the autumn season and all the beautiful colors and crisp, cool air that come with it. We enjoyed having a weekend visit from a friend studying down in London. We've been spending time with new friends and settling into our new home church by joining several groups. And we've been mesmerized by the active little baby that now has the ability to shift my entire stomach from one side to the other as it moves around! Life is full and I'm grateful for the connections we're finally starting to make after being here for a year.

A few picture highlights from recent events:

A recent walk through The Meadows

Our new Moses Basket for the baby, kindly lent to us by my manager at work

Tony's hands on my ever-growing belly!

A gorgeous autumn sunset in Edinburgh
(this is our neighborhood, by the way! I still love all the chimney stacks around here...)

First of many...

2009-09-29T17:08:00.002+01:00

Yesterday morning Tony taught what will most likely (and hopefully!) be the first of many classes in his philosophy career. With undergraduate classes now underway here, Tony's responsibilities for the fellowship he received from the department have kicked into high gear. This year he will be doing 6 hours of "tutoring" per week, which is similar to being a teaching assistant in the US. This semester he is working with undergraduate students from a huge (500+ students) intro level philosophy course. Since the lecture class is so big, they break the students up into small groups of 14 students for a one hour seminar where they discuss the class material and get more personalized teaching from PhD students. Tony is really looking forward to the semester and the opportunity to work with these students over the course of the semester.

In other news, summer has officially bid us farewell here in Edinburgh as the days are now noticeably shorter and the infamous Edinburgh wind has returned. I don't really understand how wind can be a seasonal thing - I would have thought it to be a geographical one that wouldn't change with the seasons. But unless the past 4 months of still air were a fluke, the wind does seem to be seasonal here - and it's back!! This also means that even my best efforts to keep my hair in a presentable state before walking to work, church, etc. are now futile.

Baby Bolos seems to be growing well as my belly is getting bigger and bigger. I've hit my baby bump with the refrigerator door several times in the last couple of weeks, nearly knocked over the pot on the stove by hitting the pot handle with my belly and have noticed small collections of crumbs resting on top of my belly after eating crumbly things lately...so apparently I am getting bigger than I even realize!

We've started meeting people at our new church and Sunday felt like a major turning point in our quest to get connected. We saw many of people we've recently met through the two groups we've joined (a parenting class and a theology reading group) and actually sat with someone we knew during the service. For the first time in a long time I feel somewhat at home in a church and I'm so thankful that this is coming together as we're preparing a major life change with this baby on the way.

Anniversaries

2009-09-11T23:13:00.003+01:00

The past month has been filled with significant dates and it has made for a reflective and sentimental few weeks for me. August brought with it the anniversary of when we moved to Peru in 2007 and the anniversary of leaving Peru in 2008. Yesterday marked the day of our move to Edinburgh last year after a blessing of a visit in Denver (yes, airfare was significantly cheaper on Sept. 11), which carries a lot of memories of saying goodbye and leaving family and friends behind indefinitely. Today marks our arrival here in Edinburgh, which brings a whole different set of emotions and memories with it. Suffice it to say that we're much happier to be one year into this where we can look back and laugh at all the chaos and confusion that clouded our first few weeks here!

These past few years have held a lot of change and transition, a lot of hellos and goodbyes. It feels good to know we'll be here for another 3 years, though its a bit weird to think that by the time we finish we'll have been here longer than we've been anywhere else since we've been married. Our hearts are still tied deeply to the kids and work in Peru and I'm still trying to find the emotional and practical balance of how to manage that while moving forward with our new responsibilities and involvements here. Looking back over the last year I think we were in a bit of holding pattern, trying to adjust to life here and prepare for what would be coming next. Now that Tony's received funding and we know we're staying for 3 years we've been taking many more steps to connect with our new community here. We're excited about what the next 3 years may hold and are ready to jump in!

As mentioned above, we've been doing a lot of laughing and reminiscing over the many things that we found so confusing when we first arrived here one year ago. While English is obviously our shared language with the Brits, we did have a learning curve for certain terms and phrases. A few examples:

Knock on wood = touch wood
Six and one half dozen of the other = a six and two threes-ies
Sick = vomiting (something I caught onto after getting a panicked look from my coworkers when I said I was sick! "Ill" is their term for feeling sick.)
Dinner = tea
Expensive = dear
Knock up = wake up
Sleep in = a long lie

We recently took a quiz on American vs. British English to test our progression over the last year. Take it and see how you do! US vs. UK Vocabulary

The Revival Begins

2009-08-28T21:38:00.005+01:00

Earlier this week Tony said to me, "So I guess our blog is over, huh?" to which I replied, "No! I just haven't had time to update it in awhile." From there, the conversation went like this:

T - You realize you haven't put anything on there in over a month.
J - You realize we haven't been here much over the past month, and we've been busy moving and settling into our new place?
T - I think it's actually over two months since you've put anything on our blog.
J - And I've been back to the US twice since then, plus moved, plus have been quite busy (and exhausted) making a little person in this growing belly of mine.
T - I'm just saying, it doesn't seem like we're really going to keep up with our blog.
J - Well technically we haven't been keeping up with it at all over the last year, I have been. Maybe we should try to revive it.

So our attempt at reviving this blog is on. Never mind the fact that even before the most recent 2 month hiatus the postings were pretty sparse; we're trying to bring it back. And yes, I mean we. I'm going to be trying to get Tony to write on here every so often, though I may need to take the pink and green flowers off the background of the blog in order to help facilitate that. So if anyone out there still reads this, you can expect to hear more from us and can leave angry comments to whip us back into shape if we fall too far behind again.

An attempt at catching up for lost time would probably be overwhelming enough to kill the revival effort before it even gets started, so I suppose I'll just jump in at the present and see how we get on from here.

I'm sitting in our cozy living room in our new flat (a 2 bedroom flat to accommodate Baby Bolos in the coming year!) watching with delight as my belly is physically moving from all the dancing and stretching going on in the womb (a dance session that I likely induced with the bowl of ice cream I just finished, I should say). Tony is out at a send-off party for one of the guys he's been playing soccer with every Thursday night for the last year. Collectively we're grateful for the opportunity to still be here in Edinburgh pursuing this dream together.

Highlight of the week: the approval of a maternity policy at work that looks like it will provide me with a miraculous 6 months of paid maternity leave if our budgeting plans for living on 75% of my normal income prove to be feasible. The amount of shock that our American friends are probably feeling about this incredibly generous maternity provision can scarcely compare to the amount of distress our British friends are experiencing when they hear that there is no standard paid maternity leave in the US! We are simply amazed by this provision and humbled once again by God's provision for us.

With new found determination to be updating you again soon, that's all for now. Or as they say here, "That's me away!" Have a great weekend, everyone!

Grateful

2009-06-13T09:32:00.003+01:00

There have been many things filling our days and weeks over the past month or so, and this morning I'm sitting with a cup of tea thinking of how much I have to be grateful for. Most of these things are deserving of their own blog post, but given my recent blogging habits it could take ages to get caught up that way, so I'll revert to a list format:

Biggest Bolos news: By the end of this year, "we" will be referring to three of us - I'm pregnant! The primary reason behind my lack of blogging in recent months has been exhaustion and illness related to this little miracle, and since I can use that as an excuse, I will! I am now 16 weeks along and am not only starting to feel better, but am starting to show a bit too which is just delightful. My original due date was November 28, but they've bumped it back to December 2 now. We had our first ultrasound at 12 weeks and it was an incredible experience. The baby was moving so much, doing somersaults and stretches the entire time, and I was absolutely amazed at how full of life this baby is already. Here's the first snapshot of our little one:
Most recent news: My dear sister and her husband welcomed their second baby girl, Kathryn (Kate) Elise, into the world yesterday morning. Everything went smoothly and safely, and we're so incredibly grateful for that. It's a bit strange being so far away for this kind of thing, but that leads to my next point...

Denver bound: We leave in less than one week for our two week visit home! There are no words to express how excited I am about this - I simply can't wait to be back in the place that is still very much my "home." Tony will be heading to NY for a few days to see his family while I'm in Denver on Auntie Duty. : ) We are looking forward most of all to seeing family and friends, but are also desperate for some Colorado sunshine, heat and summertime activities - as well as a lot of good, flavorful food!

Heat Wave 2009: Two weeks ago we had what the Scots are referring to as a "heat wave" - several days of sunshine and mid-70 degree weather. I put on my flip-flops for the first time since we arrived on Sept. 12 and Tony even broke out his shorts. We spent every minute outside that we could and it was truly blissful. The sun is most definitely therapeutic. : )

Visitors! Quite different from our visitor roster in Peru, we've not had many visitors since we've been in Scotland. But in May we welcomed my brother, two cousins, aunt and uncle for a quick 36 hour visit to Edinburgh. They were traveling up in Sweden and were able to find a cheap flight to come see us over the weekend. It was absolutely wonderful to be with them, and having Mike stay in our living room was a treat. We stayed up late both nights because I could hardly justify sleeping when my brother was right here! He also came bearing gifts: Peanut Butter M&M's, Reese's Pieces, Twizzler's and other yummies that hit the spot exactly. He also brought me a Mother's Day card, which meant the world to me coming from my younger brother. : )

At the end of May we had one of Tony's good friends from high school come to stay for two weeks. Brian just finished his two year commitment with the Peace Corps in Ukraine and came over for a visit and to get some R&R. I'm not sure how much R&R actually happened, but we certainly managed to have a fun visit together. : )

So those are the basics from the Bolos household. Pictures will be coming soon, and with any luck the 2nd trimester will bring with it many more regular posts here on our blog.

Happy summer!!

Humility

2009-05-24T09:22:00.002+01:00

This morning I encountered this post on humility, written by Dr. Groothuis, the lead philosophy professor that Tony and I had the opportunity to study under at Denver Seminary. In my experience, humility is a rarely addressed subject within Christian circles, most likely because of the challenge of teaching on it without violating it, as Groothuis points out.

I strongly encourage you to read the full post, but I leave you with a few highlights to consider and hopefully draw you in to the link itself:

Without humility, others may hear of Christ from us, but they will not see him in us. He will remain more of a rumor than a reality.
Humility is rooted not only in our being rescued from sin by the Savior; it is equally rooted in our position as creatures of the Creator. We are not the source of our own existence nor of any good that greets us. All is a gift from Another--the thunderous rush of the surging waves of the ocean, the luminous smile of a wife or husband, a good night's sleep, a moonlit night, a child's laughter. All is received by mere mortals. Adam and Eve in all their unfallen splendor owed worship and thanksgiving to their Maker. As do we.
Our salvation was achieved through humility and for humility. Humility was the very instrument of redemption.
If we understand the gospel and know who we are in Christ, we can trust the kindness of God himself instead of pridefully seeking the flattery and approval of others. We are free to be humble in Christ because we are completely at peace with him through his crucifixion and resurrection.
Second, we should note what things particularly disturb us and then ask, "Am I bothered because this is evil and offense to God or am I upset because my pride is hurt?" Am I more outraged at not having my good deed applauded than I am over the fact that my friend was cheated by an employer? If so, my pride outweighs my humility. Andrew Murray puts it strongly: "All sharp and hasty judgments and utterances, so often excused under the plea of being outright and honest; all manifestations of temper and touchiness and irritation; all feelings of bitterness and estrangement--have their root in nothing but pride, that ever seeks itself."
But humility comes when our self-esteem is grounded in God's gracious estimation of us rather than in the varying opinions of others.
Humility is not optional for Christians. The humility of Jesus secured a salvation which makes humility both possible and necessary. It is not simply one virtue among many, but the root of all righteousness--because only humility puts us in our rightful place before the Creator and Redeemer. And only humility puts us in the ethical position to represent our Master with authenticity.

I hope you'll be encouraged by these truths as I am today.

Hiatus: Over

2009-05-05T20:41:00.007+01:00

Trusting that late really is better than never, I'm back after an unreasonably LONG hiatus from posting on our blog. For me, writing a blog entry is one of those things that the longer you put it off, the harder it seems to sit down and do it. Why? No idea. But here we are in May and I'm just now writing. I'll be amazed if anyone is actually still reading this blog after the prolonged silence!

The initial break in posting was due to a wonderful 10 day trip home to Denver that I was able to take at the end of March. The beauty of working in the UK is the standard 6 weeks annual paid vacation that most people get from their employer. With the fiscal year ending in March, I had a portion of "holiday time" to take before the 31st, which happened to overlap perfectly with my cousin's wedding in Denver, which miraculously aligned with a wonderful sale on airfare between Edinburgh and Denver. It was meant to be, so I went! Poor Tony stayed here to finish his spring semester papers which were due the day after I returned, but I rewarded his faithful scholarship with lots of treats and goodies from home. : )

Pictures really do say much more than I could about the trip home, so here is a smattering of favorites from my trip home (highlighting my niece Nora because she's just so stinkin' cute!):

The Olson Girls at Blake & Emily's wedding!

Cousins lunch @ Old Chicago's for Julia's birthday!

An afternoon at Wash Park with the family:

Baking Day @ my parents - caramel rolls and tea ring, so yummy!

Got in on my brother Jon's 30th birthday party!!

My brother Mike - miss him so much!

This photo highlights one of the primary motivations for my trip home: seeing my sister pregnant! I just love that little belly!Birthday dinner @ Hodges

The birthday boy and his girls!A morning with treasured friends Dana & Olga before the snowstorm hit!

Jon made wonderful calzones for dinner while we were snowed in on his b-day - so yummy!

Nora playing with Uncle Rick, whom she adores!

Nora and Grandpa playing in her cardboard house

Goodbye picture the night before I left

I had a wonderful time with my family and got to visit with a couple of dear friends which was a treat. Now we're just 7 weeks from our trip to Denver in June to meet Nora's little sibling when he or she arrives! Thankfully Tony will be with me for that trip because it's just hard to fully enjoy anything without him there with me. My cousin Chris got engaged the day I flew back to Scotland and they're planning an August wedding...who knows, maybe I'll get lucky and get to go 5 for 5 on weddings held while I'm living out of the country!!

Gettin' around Scotland

2009-03-10T20:55:00.008Z

In the past month we've had several opportunities to do some traveling within Scotland, and it's been wonderful! I've had a dream fulfilled of traveling by train across the expanses of the UK, and Tony had a chance to fulfill a dream of driving on the other side of the road. My heart was about to beat right out of my chest after the first 5 minutes in the passenger seat and I gladly offered the front seat to our friend Christopher when we picked he and his wife up for our weekend excursion!

We spent Valentine's Day weekend exploring the region of Inverness with our friends Christopher and Jackie. Jackie amazed us with her adventurous spirit despite being 8 1/2 months pregnant with her first baby. We rented a car (and GPS, thankfully) to get us to our hostel, explored Inverness the next day (including the infamous Loch Ness), and then drove through Stirling on our way home the last day. We soaked up every moment of beauty in the open spaces outside the city and cherished the long hours of conversation and fun with our friends. My pictures from the trip can be seen here, but here are a few highlights:

Placid Loch Ness

Lighthouse along a loch in Inverness

Beautiful shells along the shore
(this is one of my favorite pictures of the trip!)

Trying to stay warm while exploring northern Scotland!

A few weeks ago we had the opportunity to travel up to the University of Aberdeen to hear a lecture given by Alistair McGrath in the Gifford Lecture Series. It was a real highlight for me to put my academic thinking cap on and engage my mind with a fascinating topic - Natural Theology and the Quest for Meaning. The venue at King's Campus was inspiring and the whole evening typified what I thought it would be like to live and study in the UK. We managed to eat a quick dinner at Carmine's, a wonderful little Italian restaurant, before the lecture began. The food was wonderful - certainly the best Italian food I've had in 2 years - and was accentuated by the jolly Italian gentlemen that greeted us, took our order, made the food, and served it!

View of the ocean from the train ride up the eastern coast of ScotlandUnion Street - Aberdeen (The Grey City)

Then yesterday I had the opportunity to travel to Glasgow to attend an event for my work. I took the train out and back in one day, but had an hour to do some exploring before I came back. It rained on and off throughout the day, but it didn't deter me from marching around in my raincoat! I did manage to get hit by the 3 foot splash created by a car flying through a muddy puddle on the road (the second time this has happened to me, for the record!) and consoled myself by thinking of the laughter the scene undoubtedly provided for those who witnessed it.

Buchanan Street, Glasgow - shopping central!

A police booth? Haven't seen any of these in Edinburgh!

A statue in the park along the River Clyde

Bridges along the River Clyde

In St. George's Square

Reflections of St. George's Square on a rainy day

The charming entrance to a hotel along the square I would have loved to stay in!
Alas, my work budget only covers the train ticket...

And lastly, a shot of the beautiful flowers Tony had waiting for me after a long day of work last Saturday. It took a week for them to bloom this fully which has made them even better - I love waiting to see the true beauty of flowers when they open. They've been indulged with glorious sunlight pouring through our windows in the afternoons lately.

What a lucky girl am I.

Are we getting old?

2009-02-22T19:23:00.002Z

We have been asking ourselves this question for a number of reasons recently, but the top three are:

1 - While I have been finding (and plucking!) gray hairs for a couple of years, I noticed a significant increase in gray hairs while we were in Peru. And now Tony is joining me with a handful of silvery hairs showing through his dark head of hair.

2 - I've noticed a downturn in my capacity to remember details, which is unsettling for someone who is known for having a good memory! Experiences have always stuck in my mind better than facts, but I now seem to retain even less factual information than before. Upon sharing this with some friends who are, if only slightly, younger than us, it was affirmed that I'm not the only one realizing this. The suggested culprit? The internet. Our friend is doing mind games to help him stay sharp and I'm setting out to do the same.

3 - We talk about the weather - all the time. I'm still convinced that this is natural given our move to a new climate and the amount of joy we get from warm bursts of sunshine. But still, we do talk about the weather more than we ever have before. Hmmm...

But we're quite comfortable with all of these signs that we are in fact seeing the signs of growing older at the young age of 28. : ) The real reason for sharing this is to justify our reasoning for devoting a post to the changes in weather that we've enjoyed this past week!

Over the winter months I learned that no matter how mild it looked outside, it was bound to be freezing when I walked outside. So after two days of being pleasantly surprised by the mild weather earlier this week, I finally trusted the view from the window and brought out my spring coat. It was the first day since late October that I've left without my scarf and mittens. It was wonderful!

This weekend I noticed several shops have planted flowers in their pots and I'm wondering if a) we're all so eager for warmer weather that they've planted flower prematurely or b) it is a sign from the locals that warmer weather is indeed coming. Let's hope for the latter!

I never heard the outcome on Groundhog Day this year, but it's looking up for Edinburgh!

Learning to Be Brief

2009-02-15T21:07:00.003Z

I have recently become aware of the difficulty I have in being brief when it comes to writing. I recently gave into peer pressure and participated in the Facebook chain letter activity and posted 25 random things about myself. Only one entry was less than 2 lines long. I have recently heard several people expressing their distaste for writing long emails, but have to confess I prefer writing thorough emails to brief ones. This probably explains why my email inbox is currently loaded with messages awaiting responses - I don't have the energy to write good responses after a long day at work, so they remain unanswered rather than receiving brief responses. I think this is also the reason my blogging activity has been so low - I can't bring myself to write brief entries when there is so much to say since a previous entry, and I just don't have the energy to write thoroughly at the end of a day. I have trouble with being brief - just look at the length of this explanation about the issue of brevity!!

I recently read a challenge for people who utilize email at work to keep replies at 2 sentences. I interpret 2 sentence emails to be cold and unengaged, so I'm challenging myself to keep work emails to 5 sentences this week. Maybe one paragraph would be a good start for personal emails? And to break my cycle of waiting until I have time to write a good update on here, I'm going to post a list of brief updates from recent weeks here and then try to post more regular, brief updates. Being brief doesn't come naturally, so no promises on the length of future posts, but we'll see how it goes.

For now, here is a random list of recent happenings that seem worthy of mentioning to those of you who kindly follow along with us via this blog:

1 - We just got home from a weekend trip to Inverness with our friends Christopher and Jackie (previously featured here as 2 of our Thanksgiving guests). We had a wonderful time and enjoyed many hours of great conversation, an uneventful but exciting experience for Tony driving on the "wrong" side of the road, and hours of soaking up the beauty of open space (something we've missed while living in the heart of the city). We've come home feeling so thankful for our friendship with C & J and refreshed by the beauty of God's creation.

2. There was no sighting of Nessie while we were gazing out on Loch Ness, for the record.

3. We have had 2 occasions of snow in the past month that were significant enough to collect on the ground. This has been a welcomed surprise and genuinely brightened my spirits for the entire day on both occasions.

(The snow coming down in front of my office building)

4. Tony is studying diligently and excelling in his work as a philosophy student. He received the highest mark in his class last semester and I am so proud of him. He is becoming more and more involved with the department and is enjoying the work with his adviser. Studying here has been a very fulfilling experience for him and I couldn't be more satisfied by hearing that from him every week.

5. We officially have plans to be back in Denver for 2 weeks at the end of June. We'll be there to dote on Baby Hodges when he or she arrives, celebrate my brother Mike and niece Nora's birthday on June 30 and soak up every minute of being with family and friends during those 14 days. We are THRILLED.

6. I get the standard 6 weeks of paid time off every year as part of my work contract - 6 weeks! The Scots are horrified to hear that Americans do not receive this same benefit and simply cannot imagine what it would be like to work under such conditions.

7. I have been shocked to hear several people say how much they love my American accent. I couldn't believe it when my coworker told me she could listen to me talk all day!

8. I have recently started knitting again after a friend back home encouraged me to wander into a knit shop and get a refresher session on what to do. It's taken 2 months to finish a scarf, but it is nice to have something tactile to do at the end of the day. I'm hoping to try a simple hat pattern next...should be interesting.

9. We hosted a small Super Bowl party since it was broadcast on a local channel. Our guests arrived at 10pm, the game started at 11pm and most of us felt our beds calling us at about 2am. I stayed up through most of the 3rd quarter but Tony was the faithful fan and stayed up until 3:3oam to finish the game. It was our only viewing of NFL football for the year, so I suppose it's understandable.

10. This "brief" post is quite long so I'd better cut it here. More frequent posts will be coming as I set out to embrace brevity when possible.

Burns Day

2009-01-24T08:46:00.005Z

January 25 marked the 250th birthday of Robert (Rabbie) Burns - a.k.a. Scotland's favorite son or The Bard. Burns was a poet and lyricist and is now the most celebrated literary figure in Scotland, though in Edinburgh it seems Sir Walter Scott is a close second. Much of Burns' writing is in Scots which requires an interesting attempt at deciphering on our part. The most likely piece of work that you Americans out there may know of Burns' writing is Auld Lang Syne, the song most classically sung on New Year's Eve. Here's a little taste of Scots for you, the first couple of verses from Auldt Lang Syne:

Should auld acquaintance be forgot, And never brought to mind ?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne ?

CHORUS:

For auld lang syne, my jo,

For auld lang syne,

We’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,

For auld lang syne.

And surely ye’ll be your pint-stowp !
And surely I’ll be mine !
And we’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.

The traditional way of celebrating of Burns Night (the anniversary of Burns' birthday) is attending a Burns Supper, which we did on Friday night. It was the most cultural Scottish experience we've had yet! The format of traditional Burns suppers has not changed since his death in 1796. It traditionally includes a Ceilidh (pronounced: kay-lee), which is a traditional social dance (for you Colorado folk, think square dancing to Scottish folk music!) and a tribute to The Bard through several readings of his poetry and closing with a rendition of Auld Lang Syne.

Haggis is the most famous traditional Scottish dish; why, however, we do not understand. It is made of minced sheep "plucks" (heart, liver, and lungs) and is prepared by boiling it in a sheep's stomach - think of it as a sausage. Thank goodness they served vegetarian haggis as well!

Despite these questionable ingredients, haggis is indeed a well loved dish here in Scotland and is served in nearly every pub around. Rabbie Burns loved haggis so much he composed a poem titled Address to a Haggis, which is now the most famous poem recited at a Burns Supper, just after the presentation of the haggis.

The Burns supper we went to was hosted by the L'arch Community here in Edinburgh. We were introduced to L'arsh through a friend of ours who works in the community here. We were really impressed with their vision of living in community with adults with learning disabilities, giving dignity and value to every member. Simply by 'doing life together' the assistants are able to offer the members with learning disabilities the opportunity to do things that they would rarely have a chance to do if living in a formal care facility.

The highlight of the night, perhaps the month, for me was watching the gentleman in the photo below respond to the tune of Amazing Grace when it was played by the string band. He slowly walked up to the stage and sought help to position the microphone in the right spot. The band started the tune over again and he sang, truly from the depths of his heart, as the room fell quiet and listened. I caught a glimpse of the beauty of pure worship in the room that night and it humbled me more than I can say. All evening this man had caught my attention because he reminded me so much of David, my dad's cousin who passed away not too long ago after a full and long life. He brought so much joy to so many people's lives and it was a treat to be caught up in many memories of him throughout our evening.

St Andrews

2009-01-18T19:54:00.001Z

Over the New Year holiday we took a train up to St Andrews, a charming town about an hour north of us. Many know it as the birthplace of golf, which also means it is home to the world's first golf course. While we knew that Edinburgh was a large city (500,000 people call it home), we realized that we were somehow expecting it to feel more like a small town, much like St Andrews. It was great to get out of the big city and into the open expanses of the Scottish countryside, and then spend the day exploring the castle, cathedral and little shops of St Andrews. Here is a brief slide show of our adventure:

Liberti Group in Peru

2009-01-18T16:59:00.002Z

Last Wednesday a short-term team from Liberti Church in Philadelphia took off for a second annual trip to Arequipa, Peru. Their return is almost exactly one year from their original visit, which we still hold so fondly in our memories. We were fortunate to have a number of visitors during our time in Peru last year, but Liberti was our only large team and it was such a great experience to have them there. There were many aspects of the trip that made it meaningful, but from our perspective one of the most significant things was watching the team love the kids, workers and community members so selflessly and enthusiastically. The resounding conclusion at the end of the trip was the the team members felt they had gained far more from their experiences than they had given, but our vantage point in the weeks and months after the team left confirmed that the love they had given to all at New Hope made a remarkable impact on everyone. I can only imagine the levels of excitement that were bubbling over among the kids and the returning group members when they were reunited last week.

After the group trip to Arequipa last year, several of the group members had expressed an interest in returning to New Hope to volunteer or serve as interns in various capacities. As the year went on, plans came together and we were able to make plans for their return in the fall. When our decision to leave for Tony's schooling was made, we were continually comforted by the knowledge that these interns would be arriving shortly after our departure to help guide and coordinate things at the home. It has indeed turned out to be a tremendous blessing to have them there, and we are continually singing the praises of Lydia, Julia, Jess, Seth, Brad and Andrew who have given of their time and resources to be there in our absence. Tony's parents have been able to be in Peru for several months at a time since we left for Scotland, and I know they are so thankful for the support of the Liberti 6 who have been there.

I don't think it is possible to describe what the transition from Peru to Scotland has been like for us, and I have therefore kept a bit quiet about it here on the blog. Our hearts were fully engaged in the work we were doing at New Hope and while I am not surprised that large portions of hearts have been left in the hands of the children, friends and church members there, I have been surprised by the pain of leaving those portions of our hearts behind. Our minds are continuosly filled with thoughts of the home, which makes it understandable that a good number of my dreams are set at New Hope. We've been thankful for the ways that we have been able to stay involve and connected with the home while living in Scotland, and we are anxious for the day we'll be able to return for a face-to-face visit.

One of the ways that has helped us to feel connected to the home is the work of Seth Shimkonis, one of the Liberti 6 who is currently at the home. Seth is a professional photographer who is using his skills to capture the reality, the beauty, and the hope of children in Peru. He is investing time in the kids by teaching them photography skills, but has also taken on a load of responsibility that is probably far outside his comfort zone by helping to care for the older boys at New Hope. Seth has started posting a Photo of the Day on his website, and I highly recommend reading through the recent entries and following along with his blog.

We are so thankful for the team that is down at New Hope this week and are sad that we cannot be there with them. If you think of it this week, please pray that their time will be safe, healthy, meaningful for all who are involved and filled with the love of Jesus Christ in every way.

The Bolos Christmas Card

2008-12-26T11:47:00.002Z

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Hello, friend!

2008-12-16T21:51:00.002Z

There are certain experiences and feelings that somehow help me to measure my rate of adaptation to a new place. I can clearly remember the first time I referred to our house in Peru, and now our flat in Scotland, as "home." The first time I woke up in the night and was not confused (though still in that mid-night daze) about where I was signified an encouraging level of adaption to my surroundings. Though these internal adaptations do no happen quickly, they do happen more quickly than the social adaptations that go along with settling in to a new place. But that makes it all the more enjoyable when the social markers come along.

This morning I was walking to work, just one of many people "kitted up" in my pea coat, scarf, and mittens, walking briskly in hopes of out-walking the cold wind. Looking ahead, I thought I recognized one of the people walking toward me. I often think I see people I know here (as in people I know from back home), so generally my realization that they only look like someone I know is a sad reminder that we're so far from home. Again, this only made today's experience all the better when I realized that I did indeed know the guy walking toward me. I gladly waved and stopped to talk and smiled when this acquaintance, Andy, introduced me to his coworker as a friend from church.

On the scale of settling in, meeting someone you know on the street is a GREAT sign that you're getting to know people. With 500,000 people living here in Edinburgh, running into someone who doesn't just look like an old friend from home but actually IS your friend feels like a miracle.

Slowly but surely, it is happening.

A very happy birthday...

2008-12-13T16:41:00.004Z

While last year I was enjoying sunshine and warm weather on my birthday in Peru, this year it was back to the familiar cold weather that I'm used to for my December birthday. But it was a very happy birthday nonetheless! It started off with breakfast and tea in bed (yes, tea - a startling departure from the Swedish tradition of coffee that we blame on our assimilation to the culture here). Tony labored early in the morning to provide breakfast in bed - a black bean breakfast burrito, my favorite! He came in singing and bearing gifts, the breakfast burrito, a cup of tea and several cards from back home.
After a full day of work, we met back at our flat to discover a "Sorry we missed you!" card letting us know that my birthday package had arrived on time, but needed a signature for acceptance. We had 1 1/2 hours to get across town by bus to pick it up before closing, so we rearranged our dinner plans and hopped on the bus. We could've waited until Monday for the redelivery, but we had enough birthday excitement to make the decision an easy one. We ended up in an industrial park, walking in the rain without an umbrella, and once again being berated by the Edinburgh wind - but it was all worth it when we got our package 20 minutes before closing!! Here I am back at the house with my birthday gifts (minus the bag of Peanut Butter M&M's that my brother sent which were half consumed on the bus ride home and subsequently stashed away to keep us from eating them all in one day!). I was overwhelmed by the generous and thoughtful gifts that my family had sent - I love every single thing. One of the only benefits I can think of that results from living far away from family is the extra sweetness of opening gifts that have been purchased, packaged and sent with such thoughtfulness as an extension of their love. After the gift opening, we were off to our 9:30pm dinner reservation at this gourmet vegetarian restaurant we've been eyeing since we arrived. While Tony and I are both fairly laid back people and will eat most anything that is served to us, we are particularly passionate about finding and creating good food together. This restaurant was a real treat and gets our full endorsement - delicious hummus served with equally delicious bread, my plate of butternut squash ravioli and Tony's plate of spicy udon noodles were deletable. We put off brownies and ice cream for today because we were so full!
I went to bed feeling so grateful for the many wonderful people in my life, so thankful for the opportunities I've been given and for the gift of another year of life. I got so many sweet emails and messages from people, including a musical e-card from all the kids at New Hope. I can't wait to see what this next year holds. Here's to being 28!!

Home Link

2008-12-11T20:33:00.003Z

Aside from the day we found out that my sister is pregnant with her 2nd child, the most exciting day of our time here in Edinburgh was definitely Tuesday, November 25. After interviewing the previous day, I received a phone call from Home Link Family Support. They called to offer me the job and by some miracle, I managed to retain my composure long enough to express my thanks, accept the job, and establish a time to return to the office to sign my contract. As soon as I hung up, I was jumping up and down and squealing with delight. The job search, which had come to feel quite desperate and hopeless in recent weeks, was finally over.

Since arriving here in early September, my days had been spent scouring every possible job listing source I could find, customizing my CV for submission and completing specified application forms created by various employers. I spent hours scrolling through the Job Centre database looking for opportunities, registered with every temp agency I could find, applied with Starbucks - you name it, I did it. The economy in Scotland was already struggling when we arrived, and sources say that Scotland has been affected most seriously by the economic resession in the UK. Everyone we talked to about the job search tried to encourage us about the wait by confirming the discouraging state of the economy here. When I heard that the average time to find a job here is 6-9 months I started to panic, and then cry. It was a trying process and a real test of my faith as we waited and waited, wondering how God would provide for us to remain here in Scotland for Tony's schooling.

For these reasons and more, the phone call on that Tuesday afternoon was simply overwhelming.

I started work last Monday morning, just 5 days after accepting the position. I am working as the Volunteering Officer, which means I'll be overseeing the recruitment, training and support, and personal development of volunteers. Home Link is a charity organisation (handily a 10 minute walk away!) that provides support for families with preschool age children who are experiencing stress or difficulties in some manner. They have a large base of volunteers who are trained to provide support for these families and then spend several hours each week offering practical help and support to the families in their homes. Their vision is to provide early, preventive support to keep families from reaching a crisis point. I love the concept of their work and it fits very well with my background in community counseling. I'm very excited about the work I'll be doing in my position and can't wait to get started.

Beyond the financial stability that employment offers, I am very grateful to now have something of my own to focus on and work towards every day. It's great to have a routine again and to be able to use my energy and skills in a constructive way. I feel so fortunate to have found a job that will challenge me and allow me to develop my skills further. After applying to wash and fold linens in a hotel, the mental stimulation of this position is an absolute blessing!!

We are so grateful to God for this provision. While our hearts are still missing our families and friends in the US and Peru so very much, having a secure job has brought a great amount of comfort as we continue to adjust to this transition. As you think of us, please join us in giving thanks to God for the good gift he has provided for us.

Thanksgiving in Scotland

2008-11-28T10:49:00.002Z

This was our first year to prepare our Thanksgiving meal on our own and it was a great experience! The most responsibility I have had at my extended family celebrations in the past is the relish tray, so you really can't go wrong there. This year we not only had to prepare the side dishes, but the most important part of the dinner as well: the turkey!!

I did some studying up online and we managed to successfully thaw the turkey in time to prepare it. We were pleasantly surprised to find all the giblets nicely packaged and stuffed into the turkey, so we didn't have to do much digging around at all. I made Tony do all the handling of the turkey, and he was glad to do it. Here he is in the preparation stages:

After consutling with several people, we ultimately decided to put some butter under the skin, stick it in a roasting bag, dust it with flour and let it bake. We were pleasantly surprised with the outcome - nicely browned, tender and fully cooked!! Now we can start branching out next year with recommendations of brushing it with olive oil, combining herbs, brining and maybe even stuffing it!

We had several American friends over for Thanksgiving dinner and had a great time celebrating together. I wasn't quite sure how everything would get baked and stay warm with the miniature nature of our oven. Somehow it all came together and we had a wonderful meal. Our friend Jackie (below with her husband Christopher and their first baby beautifully showing its presence!) brought a delicious sweet potato casserole, homemade dinner rolls and an apple pie that was almost too perfect to cut into!

Here's our small group around the table: Ryan, Jackie, Christopher, Tony and Matt. We rearranged our living room in order to set up the table and fit all of us around it!
As I said in yesterday's post, there is so much to be grateful for and it was particularly hard to narrow it down this year. Our distance from family and friends in the US and distance from our dear friends and kids in Peru has made for a difficult transition, but it also accentuated the many things we have to be grateful for. And these pictures reflect another element of my gratefulness this year: good friends and the opportunity to celebrate Thanksgiving with them.

Candy Corn Reflections '08

2008-11-27T23:29:00.003Z

As we are away from home again this year for Thanksgiving, I am continuing with the new tradition of posting my Thanksgiving reflections here on our blog, rather than around the circle with my family. This year there are 44 of them together, and before the eating begins they will each hold their 3 pieces of candy corn and share three special things that they are thankful for this year. There have been joys and heartbreaks within our family this year, and the sting of the heartbreak is evermore painful on special days like today. But the joys are so well remembered as well, and that helps to balance the memories a bit.

If I were there with my family today, these are the three things I would give thanks for:

1 - Again, I am so grateful for Tony, for the dear companion he is in my life and the ways he has supported me during this big and difficult transition from Peru to Scotland. My love and appreciation for him grows each year and I still proclaim that I could live anywhere and do anything as long as he is by my side.

2 - I am so grateful for the provision of a JOB this week after a long, and at time hopeless, wait. It's not just a job, it's a great job that I am excited to begin. God has faithfully met our needs as we waited, and we're so thankful for this provision of work.

3 - I am so thankful for my family, their thoughtfulness, supportiveness and encouragement while we are in this season of living so far away. They are extensions of God's caring touch in this world and they have made all the difference in making this transition bearable. I miss them dearly and look forward to seeing their faces as soon as possible.

It's never been so hard to narrow my gratitude down to 3 items as it is this year. There is so much more to say, about the Lord's faithful provision in our lives, about Peru and the ways it changed me so deeply, so many things. But for now, these 3 reflect the current condition of my heart and I will stick with them.

May you enjoy a wonderful day with your family and friends today. Happy Thanksgiving!

Let It Snow!!

2008-11-22T13:25:00.002Z

When I first began to picture life in Scotland as we were contemplating the possibility of moving here for Tony's educational pursuits, my expectations were fueled by images I've seen in movies and photo books of the UK. For the most part, those expectations have been fully met - the city buildings made of stone are just as I imagined them, the abundance of beautiful churches fit right in with my imagined scenery, and certainly the beautiful fall colors and cool weather of the past 2 months were a welcomed reality. But when I heard that Edinburgh rarely gets snow due to its unique geographical location, I was really disappointed. I am a Colorado girl at heart and am happy to tolerate the unpleasant aspects of cold, snowy weather (primarily the icy roads and horrible traffic jams that it ensues) just for the beauty of the falling flakes and the cozy feeling I get when home in my slippers, a cup of coffee in hand, looking out on the snowy wonderland. I didn't miss the snow too much in Peru because it was always too warm and sunny to raise my expectations, but the cold, cloudy weather of Edinburgh always leaves me surprised that this will be another year without snow.

SO, imagine my surprise while walking home from our friends' home last night when I saw something white hit Tony's jacket and bounced off. Within a few feet I stopped completely and examined the little white things on the ground. My verdict: popcorn snow!! (At least, this is what we call the really light, round snowflakes that literally bounce when they hit the ground!) I was absolutely thrilled, and my excitement was not diminished a bit by the fact that I knew it would not amount to anything. There would be no snowy wonderland when we awoke the next morning, but I had seen a snowflake, and somehow the bitter cold walk home seemed much more pleasant knowing that it was accompanied by a few sparse and sporatic snowflakes.

Breaking the Silence!

2008-11-20T16:07:00.004Z

The past two weeks have been rather uneventful, hence the silence here on our blog. But after several weeks of uneventfulness, I've decided that posting about something, even if it is uneventful, is better than nothing!

Tony continues to enjoy the philosophy program here and has been doing a lot of reading and writing, on top of studying for the GRE which he's scheduled to take on Dec. 17 in London. For those who haven't heard the detailed complexities of the educational pursuit we're on, let me offer a brief explanation. Tony is currently studying for a MSc in Philosophy, which was needed on top of his previous MA in Philosophy Religion to establish a firm foundation in general philosophy before beginning his PhD. This January he will be submitting applications to various PhD programs, several here in the UK and several in the US, with the hope of receiving funding to cover the tuition costs, along with a small stipend towards living expenses. Philosophy is a very competetive field and most programs have 200-300 applicants each year competing for 3-5 funded positions. Depending on the outcome of his applications, we may be staying here in Edinburgh for the PhD program, or relocating once again to a school in the US. As you think of us, we would appreciate your prayers over this complicated process, especially for Tony as he studies and prepares his applications for submission this winter.

The majority of my day is spent looking for and applying for jobs and as of yet, I do not have a job. The economy here was struggling when we arrived and they are now saying that Scotland will be hit the hardest by the economic recession in the UK. The job market is very competetive and there are scores of people applying for each and every job. I've had several interviews, which has been fortunate I hear, and I have another one coming up next week. While most of my day is consumed with the job search, I have enjoyed having time to do more cooking and baking than I did all year in Peru! I've tried my hand at making homemade bread, granola, granola bars and a wide variety of soups. My latest attempt was a butternut squash soup and it was wonderful!

Last Saturday, Tony put the books aside for the day and we took a bus out to the small village of Cramond, which is on the outskirts of Edinburgh and right on the Firth of Forth. We had a great time together and were refreshed by getting out of the city and breaking our intense focus on finding a job, studying, and wondering about the future. Photos from our trip can be seen here, but I had to include this video from our trip.

Edinburgh is apparently known for its cold, strong winter winds and we can certainly attest to that fact!! It took me about 15 minutes to work all the knots out of my hair after we got home - any of you ladies with long hair can sympathize, I'm sure!!

So that's the latest from the Bolos' in Edinburgh. I'll be posting again soon with updates on Peru - stay tuned!

Election Day

2008-11-04T19:09:00.003Z

As I've been reading about the election woes that are seemingly spreading across the US today as millions of voters turn out in this historic election, I have been ever so grateful that we mailed our ballots in as overseas citizens and can now just sit back and watch. I've been glad to trade out what I'm sure has been an inundation of campaign commercials for the brief BBC updates on the campaign, as well as several SNL skits that have come out in recent weeks.

It's been interesting to see the high level of interest in American politics here in the UK - as one woman said, "Of course US politics seem exciting to us - British politics could hardly be more boring!" Nearly everyone we've come to know well here has asked about our political opinions, and several random strangers have shared their opinions with us as well. Last Friday a young teenage boy declared that he would vote for "Bah-rrack Obama" if he were an American because "Obama's going to legalize marijuana and that's cool!" So the information may be a bit skewed by the time it reaches the people here, but they seem to be swooning after the eloquent young leader as the rest of the world seems to have done as well.

A recent BBC special titled "US '08" made a statement that I found insightful regarding the level of interest in the election. They said something to the effect of, "We don't get to cast a vote, but the outcome will dramatically affect our future, not just the future of America." And they're absolutely right - American politics has a dramatic effect on the world, more so than any other country in the world. It's no wonder that children in remote villages around the world know the names of our major political players. Countless numbers of elections have occurred around the world these past 4 years with scarcely a mention in US news. The sad reality is that we are largely unaffected by the rise and fall of dictators and leaders of many countries in the world, while each of them are significantly affected by the tides of US politics.

I don't want to get into politics here, so suffice it to say that after years of working with women who are working in countries around the world, a year of living in Peru where the government and civil authorities are ruled by greed and power above anything else, and now a brief stay in the UK, I have a deep and profound gratitude for the United States of America. I tire of hearing the accusations and complaints against our country's leaders when we enjoy the comforts of knowing that by and large our government is founded on justice, protection of individual freedom, and the equality of each human being.

The entire presidential cabinet was cleared out in Peru last month in the heat of corruption charges and allegations. The Congo is in a volatile state of political unrest as the Tutsis and Hutus lash out in violence against each other, all rooted in ethnic conflict. Kenya endured a violent and tumultuous election this year as well, which has resulted in a power-sharing arrangement aimed at keeping a violent politic crisis at bay. These are just 3 of several political stories I've followed this year, which are just several of many crisis situations throughout the world. The situation in Iraq is hopeful, and the overshadowing of the good being done there is a true scandal. The fight towards freedom and the stabilization of the country is one that I support, whether our reasons for going in were right or not. We have so much to be grateful for as Americans, and I hope that never gets lost in the criticisms we may bring against her.

So now it's back to the poll watch, waiting along with the rest of the world for the outcome of this historic election. No matter the result, we are free to live according to our own values and beliefs. We will not be threatened or persecuted based upon our differences of opinion. We can place our confidence in our leaders, and still affirm the foundational beliefs that our country stands on. For that, I am proud to be an American. Happy Election Day!!

A gift card will do.

2008-10-20T15:39:00.004+01:00

Nearly two weeks ago I was in the kitchen, preparing to make a batch of chocolate chip cookies to appease the hungry boys in the living room. As I poured the brown sugar out, I caught a glimpse of something that didn't belong in a bag of smooth brown sugar. I grabbed a spoon and sifted through the sugar until I discovered...the back half of a bee with its stinger still attached!! This unfortunate creature must have managed to get mixed up in a sugar factory and sliced in half at some point in the processing line, bagged up, sealed and sent off to Sainsbury's in Edinburgh.

I scooped the backside of the bee up and put him on display for Tony and Ryan. I joked that with all the prayers we've been saying for the financial provision for Tony's schooling, maybe God is going to provide through a successful lawsuit against Sainsbury's regarding a bee in the brown sugar! Okay, maybe it's not that big of a deal. But Tony did contact Sainsbury's about the bee incident and we received a very apologetic phone call a few days later. Today I got a letter from Sainsbury's with a 5 pound gift card (not a 5 lb. card, but value of 5 British Pounds) included to cover the cost of the brown sugar.

It's no tuition waiver, but I suppose the gift card will do. : )

About Me

2008-10-19T10:01:00.005+01:00

My friend Adrienne "tagged" me in the last line of her answers, so I'm keeping it alive and posting my answers. This is kind of like a 2008 version of a chain letter, huh?!

I am- trying to make homemade bread today.
I want- Lasik eye surgery.
I have- converted to drinking tea almost entirely.
I wish- webcams allowed you to hug the people you’re looking at.
I hate- extreme statements about individuals and groups of people.
I fear- the degrading morality of the world that my kids will one day grow up in.
I search- for chocolate chips, green chili's and baking cocoa here in Scotland.
I wonder- what the future holds.
I always- love a Chai tea latte from Starbucks, even more with a piece of pumpkin loaf.
I usually- check my email 5 times per day.
I am not- as artistic as I wish I were.
I dance- sometimes, but Tony just watches!
I hear - that my sister is PREGNANT again!!
I sing- songs in Spanish more than English.
I never- have understood why prayer works.
I rarely- finish craft projects that I begin.
I cry- when I’m overwhelmed.
I am not always- aware of the implications of my own decisions have on the world I’m living in.
I lose- sight of what’s important when I’m overwhelmed.
I’m confused- by the levels of anger involved in this year’s election.
I need- a job. Soon.
I should- start to understand the Scottish brogue better sometime soon.
I dream- of Peru almost every night.
I TAG-uh, I don't know who reads this that also has a blog. Andie? Janelle? Elyssa, with a pregnancy twist on it?

A walk along our street...

2008-10-17T17:13:00.004+01:00

Since I'm often intrigued by the little shops and sights along our street, I thought it might be fun to post a few pictures of the things we see during our daily strolls up and down this end of the Royal Mile. Stepping out of Browns Close, you are greeted by the following sights:

This little tea room always has delectable smelling soup luring customers inside.

The daily selections are displayed on the chalkboard next to the door:

One of many little grocers along our street:

The view down the pedestrian alleyway behind our close:

Not all the sights are foreign....

This little garden is tucked behind a close just a ways up from us:

A smattering of the leaves that I love to walk amongst:

The primary school building across from our house. I love seeing the children out during recess, playing in their ever-so-British uniforms.

Looking back down the Royal Mile towards our flat:

The historic site of the Edinburgh Tollbooth, formerly used for collecting tolls, hosting the city chamber, holding court hearings and housing prisoners.

The Tollbooth now houses a museum reflecting the lives of ordinary people in Edinburgh throughout the history of its development.

Another museum just across the street...

I love the name of this charming storefront - "Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe"

Our first Hill Walk

2008-10-16T19:21:00.005+01:00

Being the mountain snobs that we are from Colorado, we didn't think much of the feats of the "hill walking" group at Holyrood Abbey when they invited us to join them for their next walk. Even when a fellow American clarified that "hill walking" means actual hiking, we didn't feel too intimidated by the proposed climb. We were glad to join them and looked forward to getting out of the city, getting some outdoor exercise, and exploring some of the Scottish Highlands.
It turns out that the excursion was much more than a walk up a hill after all! It was a decent climb - we ascended about 3,000 ft. to reach the summit. The scenery was very much what I pictured for the highlands - smooth, green hills with sheep scattered all over the the land. When we met up with the group for our early (meaning 8:45am) drive up to the hill, I felt very confident that we were going to be fine when I saw what the group was wearing - sweats, tennis shoes, and rain coats. What we didn't know was that they all had a change of clothes in the car that they donned before we started climbing - 100% waterproof gear from head to toe! They even had gaiters to wrap their ankles and calves in to keep water from getting into their shoes. We had our rain coats with us, and I had work out pants and waterproof hiking boots, but Tony had khakis and a pair of day hiking shoes (not waterproof). Worse yet, our friend Ryan was in shorts and a pair of tennis shoes that had holes in the soles!

We soon came to realize that the waterproof gear was not just necessary due to rain during our "walk". The highlands receive so much rain that, even though the hill is relatively steep, the entire surface is pretty much a bog and is holding tons of water in the plant life that covers it. Each step causes water to squish out and go over, then into your shoe, unless of course you have gaiters covering your shoes! All of this water made for a very slippery and muddy climb, and an even more slippery and more muddy descent. Tony took several big slides on the way down and managed to cover his shoe completely with mud! (It's still sitting out on our balcony, waiting to be dealt with.)
The closer we got to the top, the colder and windier it became. I nearly blew over several times, and I couldn't imagine how cold our friend Ryan must have been in his shorts if my legs and fingers felt like ice inside my pants and mittens! We were delighted to find a stone shelter at the top that was the most inviting haven I've seen in a while. We ate our lunches in the shelter from the wind and occasionally stood up to enjoy the view before the berating wind forced us back down. We were supposed to get up on top of the cement post in the middle to have our picture taken as a first-timer, but I'm certain I would've blown off so we settled for pictures next to it.
We took one group shot up at the top before I was too cold to stay around any longer:
As we descended, the weather cleared up quite a bit and it turned out to be a nice afternoon. The scenery was gorgeous, the sheep were adorable and when we reached the bottom we turned to see this rainbow behind us - the perfect finish to the hike.
As I was climbing up the hill and it was getting colder and windier, I tucked myself further and further into my raincoat. I eventually had my hood on, zipped over my chin, with the sides fastened down so tightly that my face was barely showing. I was so desperate to get to the top that I kept looking up to check my progress, and I was advancing at about the same rate that time passes during a particularly long speech at a particularly long program in a hot school auditorium in Peru. I finally quit looking up and just focused on each step that I was taking, trying to fill my mind with other things than the distance between me and the peak.

As I was going up, I started reflecting on our current situation here in Scotland and the many questions we're throwing around about what the future holds for us. Lately we've been so overwhelmed with the possibilities and unknowns of the next 5 years that it's been a bit hard to focus on what we're here to do. I tend to learn well through narrative and metaphors, so naturally I started to reflect on some similarities between my current state of anxiety and my present climb to the peak in front of me. I have been spending a lot of time praying that I would be able to trust God with our future plans and all of the risks, implications and uncertainties that go with it. I've been trying to develop a discipline in turning my anxieties about the future into prayer and a new focus on the present moment we've been given. So as I realized the need to quit looking at the top of the hill and focusing on the fact that I was going nowhere quickly, I was again reminded of the importance of taking my focus off the next one, two...five years, and instead focusing on what's been placed before me. I'm sure some motivational speaker could have gone through that same experience and developed an inspiring talk about the importance of keeping your eye on the goal and not losing sight of the top of the mountain, but for me the lesson was in focusing on the here and now, not fretting about what lies ahead or how quickly we can get there.

This and that...

2008-10-16T17:39:00.004+01:00

As we've settled into our flat over the past month, Tony and I have claimed our respective places in the living room. Tony usually settles into the comfy reading chair with a book or his laptop in hand, while I grab a throw pillow and plop myself directly in front of the heater attached to the wall. I'm usually reading, journaling, or have my laptop set up on the coffee table in front of me. Ever since I was little I have always gravitated toward the warmest place in the house. I used to cuddle in front of the furnace vents in our house with a blanket over me, and still sit by the vents occasionally when at my parents home, so it's only fitting that I have claimed my spot in front of the heater. Tonight I'm home in my spot while Tony is off playing soccer (or football, as we're slowly learning to call it), and I thought it would be a good time to write an overdue blog post.

The fall weather has definitely moved into Edinburgh and there's a distinct chill in the air. The leaves are changing colors and falling, and yesterday I actually got hit in the face twice by falling leaves! There are few things I love more than blustery fall days and the crunch of leaves beneath my feet, so I have been soaking this up since we missed fall last year in Peru. Tony wears khakis and sweaters most every day which seems quite fitting given the weather and setting of his studies. As for me, I'm rotating between my 6 long sleeve shirts and realizing I shouldn't have doubted all the advice blogs for Americans moving to the UK that said, "You will not wear short sleeves, so you may as well leave them behind."

Tony's classes are going well and he's fully immersed in the world of philosophy. The British style of academics has taken some getting used to as it is very self-directed and unstructured, but he's now enjoying the freedom to investigate topics of personal interest and contribute his findings to class discussions. I generally work out in the morning and then spend my days looking for jobs, applying for jobs, cleaning, cooking and remembering what it's like to have free time. I've been working on some continuing education courses to keep up my counseling certifications and have really enjoyed the engagement of my mind as a therapist again.

A few random observations we've made about life in Scotland over this first month:
- Scots do not like to do thing early in the morning, therefore they don't. Coffee shops, even Starbucks, don't open until 7am or later. It makes my days of getting up at 3:45am to be at Starbucks for my opening shift at 4:30am seem like a bad dream!

- We understand why Scots don't like to do things early in the morning - it's always very dark in the mornings. The sun doesn't rise until 7:30am, so it's still rather dim around 8am, and it's very cold out, which isn't very inviting when you're warm in bed. The worst is yet to come, however. By the end of December we'll have a total of 6 hours of daylight!

- The friendly Scottish-British rivalry we heard about is not so friendly, actually. There's a good amount of resentment still brewing towards the English here and it comes out in all kinds of ways. A vote will be taken in Scotland in 2010 regarding the Scottish Independence referendum, which would officially separate Scotland from England. Apparently Westminster could ammend the referendum if passed and bring Scotland back into the UK and under it's control, but that doesn't seem to squash the spirits of people who are for Scottish independence here!

- Edinburgh is a very international city. During the 15-minute walk from our flat to Tony's main school building we usually hear about 7 different languages being spoken on the street. Tony plays soccer with a group of guys on Thursday afternoons and estimates 8 nationalities represented among their group of 20 players. It creates an interesting synergy within the city and offers a great selection of international cuisine. YUM!

-We have settled on a church to call home here in Edinburgh. This has been quite a challenge because the suffering condition of the church in Europe has resulted in many historical and traditional churches that scarcely uphold the basic doctrines of Christianity. There are only a handful of churches that continue to uphold those doctrines, and they have moved towards contemporary styles to meet the desires of young church goers. We were really hoping to find a liturgical and contemplative church to be a part of this year, but most of those churches are quite liberal theologically and have no young people in them for us to build relationships with. You ultimatley have to choose between liturgy and tradition or theologically sound with potential to build community. All that being said, we have been attending Holyrood Abbey, a church that offers a lot of potential for building community with other believers and upholds Christian doctrine in their teaching and worship. It's a rather historical church in Edinburgh - if you're interested you can read more here.

- Lastly, it is surprising to realize how much interest even non-US citizens have in our election this year. The McCain/Obama dynamic comes up in most every extended conversation we have here. I have been glad to skip all the TV campaign ads and have the freedom to avoid that part of the campaign and do my own reading and news watching as the campaign moves along. We are registered to vote from abroad and we'll be voting in this historic election, even though neither candidate is one we'd really love to see as president.

Well, that's the update from my spot in front of the heater. I'll be posting some pictures next of our adventure last weekend to the Highlands. Stay tuned!

Reign of The Mini

2008-10-02T20:19:00.009+01:00

Within hours of arriving here in Edinburgh, one thing became quite clear:

The mini-skirt is BACK.

And it's not just the mini-skirt, it's mini-skirts with tights and leggings, mini-skirts with boots or ballet flats, mini-skirts with sweaters and coats that hang lower than the skirt, leading me to fear that some of these dear girls have actually forgotten to put on their pants. No matter the temperature, the mini-skirt it out. No matter the wind, the mini-skirt is out. It has no limitations - style must be upheld despite the chill or the breeze risk factors. Size of the thighs is apparently no consideration either - women of all sizes sport the mini. The muffin-top + mini combo is alarmingly common, but seemingly only to us foreigners. The mini is pervasive throughout society - students, professionals, mums and their daughters all wear them. I nearly choked on my water when our letting agent stood up and revealed her "poofy-mini",which is what I call the type of mini-skirts shown here on the right (but shorter):

My simple style (or "classic style" as I've been told to say!) is entirely out of place here. The other day we walked into the bank and there was a group of three girls standing at the teller counter. All three were wearing non-tapered jeans with Dansko clogs, two of them were wearing fleece jackets, and two of them had Vera Bradley bags on their shoulders. I nearly walked up and hugged them because it was so good to see a familiar sense of style!

I had to laugh when I saw this cartoon because it reflected our initial impressions so well! Cheers!

Calton Hill

2008-09-27T18:03:00.007+01:00

Last Sunday we took a hike up to the top of Calton Hill, which sits just behind our house. Several interesting buildings and structures sit upon the hill, and it offers a gorgeous view of the city when you reach the top. The New Parliament House is pictured here, and can be seen from a distance from the balcony of our flat. In a historical city like Edinburgh, the term "new" can be a bit misleading. This New Parliament House was actually built in the 1820's and proposed as the new site for the Scottish Parliament which was located on the upper end of the Royal Mile at the time. Similarly, there are distinctions here between Old Town and New Town. We live in Old Town where tenement buildings were rapidly put up as the population of Edinburgh increased exponentially between the 15th and 18th centuries. Overcrowding had led to fire, safety, and hygenic problems and plans were drawn up to expand the city across the bridge. Thus "New" Town actually dates back to the late 1700's. But I digress...here is the New Parliament building on Calton Hill.
These columns are the only finished component of a monument designed to honor those who died in the Napoleonic wars. Funding apparently ran out after these columns were erected so this is all that ever came of the monument project. Still a pretty impressive sight!

You can see most every part of the city from the top of Calton Hill. Here's Tony at the top of the hill with Old Town on the left and New Town on the right:

Here's a view out towards Old Town highlighting a church called Canongate's Kirk. This church is just a few doors up from our flat and hosts the graves of many famous Edinburgh citizens, including Adam Smith.

This is a view of Arthur's Seat, a peak (or hill to us Colorado folk!) that provides an excellent view over the city. Our flat is in the lower left-hand corner of the picture. This is the tail end of Arthur's Seat that wraps around to the Firth of Forth.
And here a view of the Firth of Forth and the city sprawling right out to the shores: And finally, Tony indicating that he is ready for me to stop taking pictures and head home!!

Cheers!

2008-09-27T17:54:00.003+01:00

This single word, "Cheers!", is certainly the most commonly used phrase here, which makes sense given it's broad range of meaning. Thus far we've compiled the following list of possible meanings of the word cheers:

- Hi
- Bye
- Thanks
- No thanks
- Excuse me
- Sorry!
- It's okay!
- Have a good day
- See you later
- I'll be right back with that
- Nice to meet you
- Nice to meet you too
- Sounds good to me
- No problem
- Take care
- Good food
- Good beer
- Good point

And the most important:
- I don't know what else to say, so I'll just say, "Cheers!"

Browns Close

2008-09-22T09:33:00.005+01:00

The lower end of the Royal Mile in Edinburgh is called Canongate, which is where we live. As you walk along Canongate there are handfuls of little doorways that lead back into courtyards and "tenement buildings", as they say here. They call these "closes", so as you walk along you see little signs marking White Horse Close, Cowans Close, etc. We live in Browns Close, which we recently learned sits on the site of an old tenement building that was constructed by Bailie John Paterson with his portion of the winnings of a golf match in which he partnered with the Duke of York and to compete against two English noblemen. The Englishmen claimed that golf was an English game, prompting the Duke of York (later known as James VII) to challenge them to a match, which was held in 1681. The matter was settled when the Scots won the match. Paterson established the tenement building with his half of the prize money and the building was known as Golfers Land. The Duke had a stone carving of the coat of arms affixed to the wall and the golfers' motto 'Far and Sure' was inscribed on it. Sadly, the original building was torn down in 1960 to make place for Sir Basil Spence's development of a pub called Jenny Ha's. The pub is still there on the Royal Mile today, and our flat is just behind it in Browns Close. I've never lived in a place with so much history - it's pretty amazing.

After that story, the details of our flat are rather unimpressive, but here they are nonetheless. We are guessing that our flat is about 650 square feet. Our kitchen is definitely not made for more than one cook to be in the kitchen, which is good news for Tony. Pretty much everything here is tiny - cars, flats, grocery stores, grocery packaging, washing machines and refrigerators. Not much more than a few pairs of pants, a few shirts, and a few socks will fit in the washing machine at one time, so we'll have to become more consistent on keeping up with laundry! Here is the kitchen, looking in from the living room (for some reason, all washing machines are in the kitchen here):

This is the counter top that is behind the door in the above picture. As you can see, our stove, freezer and fridge are all very small. We'll have to become more consistent in grocery shopping as well, because you can't stock up for more than a few days at a time with a mini-fridge in the kitchen! This is the view of the living room from the kitchen doorway. We have a small balcony off the living room there which we'll enjoy having on less rainy days.

Same room, but looking back towards the kitchen. Every room has a door that can be closed to section it off from the rest of the house - they seem to like that here as we've seen it in every flat thus far. Between the kitchen window and the balcony window we get a lot of natural light, which I'm so thankful for.
This is the hallway that the living room door above leads to. If you take a right, you're in the bathroom and if you take a left, you're in the bedroom. Here's the bathroom!

And the bedroom...The bedroom has good closet space and a small built in desk in the corner. Tony doesn't plan to use it for studying, so I've taken it over for my jewelry, perfume and array of hair products since there's so little storage space in the bathroom. Thanks honey!
This is the view off of our balcony - Calton Hill.

And to conclude the tour, this is the courtyard behind our flat.

Last night I attempted to make chocolate chip cookies, Tony's ultimate comfort food. I had heard from a friend that they don't have chocolate chips here, which is still rather surprising to me. Ingredients are slightly different around the world, but even so I wasn't expecting the cookies to come out as strangely as they did. The batter had a hint of the tangy flavor of muffin mix, but was still pretty good. The cookies themselves, however, came out with a very odd texture and flavor - much more like little cakes than cookies: Perhaps the milk chocolate Cadbury's bar I chopped up is too milky to be substituted for semi-sweet chips. It's hard to say what went wrong because the ingredients all seemed fairly comparable to the US, so I'll have to do some testing. This batch will go with me to the dinner I'm going to help serve to the homeless here in partnership with the church we visited on Sunday, and I trust they will enjoy them more than we will.

Week 1 - Scotland

2008-09-19T14:51:00.005+01:00

We left Denver on Sept. 11, and yes the airfare was much cheaper on that date than any other date in the entire month. Not surprisingly, they have trouble selling tickets for that date. We decided that we were much more motivated by the financial bottom line than the eerie feelings and many memories that go along with that historic date. Ultimately, it worked to our advantage that many flights weren't sold out for that date because when we arrived at the airport we learned that our first of 3 flights had been canceled, causing a domino-like collapse of our entire travel schedule. Within an hour or so, we were booked on a flight to Munich, hustled our way down the terminal, said our rushed and teary goodbyes, and made it to the gate just as they were calling standby passengers for the other remaining seats. It was quite an exit, and the agent checking my passport and airline ticket actually stopped when he saw my tears to ask if I felt I would be okay to travel. That motivated me to pull it together!

Our flight from Manchester up to Edinburgh whet my palette as we soared over small villages scattered throughout the gorgeously green countryside. The lush vegetation here is such a change from the deserts of Peru that I oohed and aahed the entire flight as Tony tried to squeeze in a little nap.

To make a long story short, the housing that we had originally secured through the university fell through about 2 weeks before we were supposed to arrive. They found another flat for us in time, but when we arrived we discovered that it was not at all what had been described to us. We had about 450 square feet in total (dirty and damp square feet at that!) and no washing machine, living room or furnishings. We did some looking and realized we could get a much nicer, furnished flat for less than we were being charged by the university. Having arrived on a Friday, no leasing agencies were open over the weekend so we ended up spending the next 4 days wandering from place to place for a cheap night's stay until we moved into our new flat on Wednesday. We now have a place to call home and are starting to feel settled in. Our old building was much more traditional and charming on the outside, but the new one is MUCH more cozy and comforting on the inside. It's a good trade off, all things considered!

The view from our old flat's kitchen window. A beautiful, historic area!

Standing under our new flat's balcony during the evening rainstorm.

We've had so much fun exploring the city and learning our way around. I'm amazed at how quickly a large and overwhelming city can start to become familiar. We've been taking many buses, and usually plant ourselves on the upper level in the first row to get a good look around. The city is beautiful and predominantly filled with old stone buildings, each of which is filled with solely white squared window frames. This makes for a stunning view from the outskirts of the city. A friend here gave a great description of the city when he said, "Doesn't it all feel so Peter-Pan-ish?" And indeed it does. It's an enchanting place to be. Our first night here, we ate at a restaurant called "Ye Olde Peacock Inn", which was constructed in 1767. I love the feeling of being in a place with so much history -you can just feel it seeping through as you walk the streets.

We've laughed at the number of British sayings and sights that truly are everywhere! We've lost count of the number of times we've heard "Cheers!" and "Cheerio!". We've both used a red telephone booth to make a few calls and can affirm that it is much more enjoyable to use a payphone in one of these red booths than any of the ones we've used in the US!

Here's a shot of The Royal Mile, which runs from the Edinburgh Castle down to the Palace of Holyrood. Scottish Royalty used to hold their processions down this road when they moved from one location to the other. We live on the lower end of this road, just about a block before it hits the palace.
There are statues of famous philosophers, politicians, writers, etc. scattered along The Royal Mile - Adam Smith, Sir Walter Scott, David Hume, to name a few. Here's Tony standing next to Hume holding and his tablet. Tony saw a great quote about him recently - "David Hume - may the soul he denied rest in peace."
Here Tony is overlooking the courtyard at New College. John Knox is there in the middle, the key figure in the Scottish Reformation.

Here we are at New College just before Tony's orientation.

While Tony attended his orientation and registration events throughout the week, I explored the city with my dear friend Krista. She was able to tag along on her husband's business trip and spend a few days with us this week. It was so great to see she and Mike after our stressful first days here. Krista and I found a great little French Bistro for a hot bowl of soup on a cold and rainy day. Here I am in my raincoat outside Cafe Marlayne.

Krista and I waiting at the bus stop - a common activity!

So, that's our first update from Edinburgh. Tony's classes start Monday, as does my intensive job search. More pictures and updates to come. Cheers!

Here and There and Everywhere...

2008-09-08T02:08:00.004+01:00

The title of this post is the best description I could come up with for my frame of mind over the past month. It's rather descriptive of our physical locations as well as we traveled out of Peru, stopped in Florida, arrived in Denver, cruised out to Nebraska and are now preparing to leave for Scotland on Thursday. It's been hard to create time to sit and update the blog, not solely for lack of convenient time but also because of the many emotions wrapped up in the last month. While we've been back in Denver, my thoughts have been split between the kids and church in Peru, treasuring the moments we have here with family and friends, and mentally preparing for our move to Edinburgh. This morning I watched the promotional video for New Hope with Tony and my dear friend Dayna and was in tears within the first 5 seconds. I cried and cried as I looked at those little faces again and it gave me the extra push I needed to get over the fact that I don't know where to begin with the next post and just begin to write.

Our last few weeks in Peru were filled with many special memories. The kids were on vacation from school for two of our last three weeks, which afforded us many precious moments with them we would not have had otherwise. We hosted a quinciniera (15th birthday party) for three of our young ladies in the home, which was a great cultural experience for me. We celebrated two weddings with our friends before we left. Tony's mom and I baked, baked and baked with the kids and several ladies from the church. I was enchanted with the number of children I saw flying kites in the weeks before we left, which I learned is the official season of kite flying in Peru. (They also have a "season" of playing with marbles, which I didn't know about either.) I requested and subsequently received an abundance of hugs from all of the kids at the home. Those tight squeezes feel almost real when I think about them now, so far away from the arms that wrapped around me almost hourly for the last month.

Leaving Peru was quite possibly the most heart wrenching thing I've ever experienced in my life. Last year as I bawled my way through the Denver airport on my way to Peru, I had the underlying assurance that my family would be okay without us and that they were supporting us in what we were going to do. This time, my heart ached most because I knew the kids didn't totally understand why we were leaving. How can they understand what this opportunity represents for us when the implications of our departure are so huge for them? I found my deepest consolation in affirming in my prayers that God knows the deepest emotional needs of each one of the kids and asking him to meet those needs in the way that only he can. I pray that somehow the kids will come to know him more as he meets those needs in our absence. It's easy to feel irreplaceable and overly important when involved in supporting and caring so intimately for kids who don't have much in this world. It was good to be reminded of my ultimate inability to provide what these kids need, and to be challenged to trust God enough to meet their needs.

I was humbled beyond words to hear the kind gratitude and reflections from so many people during our last weeks in Peru. We were honored by a special church service that was hosted for us on our last Sunday, a special lunch with all of the workers at New Hope, and many moments of tears, hugs and expressions of thanks that were sprinkled throughout the week. I think it is inevitable to be overcome with a certain number doubts and regrets when a season of life comes to a close, and I believe it is God's grace to provide so many kind comments and affirmations to be spoken during those moments.

In the coming weeks, I'm going to be recounting some of the moments I've treasured and tucked away in my heart. Somehow writing and sharing them with others seems to acknowledge the significance they're due. My heart is overflowing with love for the people of Peru right now and I want to share that with those who may be reading along. Thank you for sharing in this journey with us -I'm back in the blog world and will be writing more regularly again!! Your prayers are coveted for our transition, and for the kids and members of our community in Peru who are feeling the impact of our transition as well.

Breaking the news

2008-07-22T15:25:00.003+01:00

Ever since Tony was accepted in the University of Edinburgh to begin the pursuit of his PhD in philosophy, we've been caught in a very complex web of emotions. We have spent the past several years praying about our future direction, and this spring we prayed fervently for wisdom in what to do. Tony's acceptance into Edinburgh was a surprise because his application was late, reference letters were lost in the mail, and the program seemed a bit out of our reach to begin with. When we received the news about his acceptance, it was a strong confirmation that God was opening the doors for us to head down that path. The considerations that have gone into this decision making process are too many to detail here, but by the middle of June we were confident enough to make our final decision to head to Scotland this fall.

There are many difficult aspects of leaving, but the one I was dreading the most was breaking the news to the kids and our wonderful staff that we were leaving. I would cry just thinking about telling them and couldn't imagine how we would actually be able to get the words out. I wanted to hide from that part of this decision. When the day came to tell our staff that we were leaving, I wanted to send Tony down to the meeting and stay locked up in my office. I sat through the meeting and my lip started to tremble as soon as Tony started to transition the conversation over to our announcement. I cried, as did many others, but I felt relieved when it was over.

Then, we had to tell the kids. We decided to go room by room and talk to the kids about our departure. I was determined not to cry in attempt to be strong for the kids, but that plan failed as soon as I saw one of the girls start to cry. I was a mess all afternoon and I had never been so ready to lay down in bed as I was that night - every ounce of my emotional strength was gone. But the next day, I woke up so relieved to have the weight of that announcement lifted from our shoulders. We were ready to jump in and fully enjoy the last 3 1/2 weeks we have at the home.

I know that my feelings of guilt aren't reasonable or deserved; I know that the Lord is leading us and we are confident in the steps we're taking. Yet, I feel so guilty for leaving these kids after pouring our love into them for the past year. The deepest wound these children have is the abandonment by those who claimed to love them, so to walk away from these dear ones inevitably feels painful and laden with guilt.

But from there, I marvel at two things. I cannot fathom the level of desperation and hopelessness that these children's parents must have felt to be able to walk away, leaving their babies alone on buses, park benches, and alleyways. I am shocked by the power of sin that enabled parents to abuse and sell their children off as domestic servants. But most of all, I'm amazed by God's goodness to use his people to care for the people in this world who have been pushed aside. I'm amazed that children who've been so wounded by this world have the capacity to love and be loved again, and I feel privileged to have been given the opportunity to love and be loved by each one of them. God truly does bring beauty out of ashes.

So little time...

2008-07-20T03:13:00.002+01:00

Each day as we climb into bed I have been taking a mental inventory of the significant things have happened that day, trying to lock them away in my memory because there seems to be so little time to blog, journal or write these days. I have so much I want to share here on the blog, but our recent pace of life has kept that from happening. Tony's parents and one of his younger brothers arrived in Arequipa last Thursday and the 10 days since then have been full to say the least. We've also been in the midst of many changes and mixed emotions and I can tell you that part of me has been putting off posting anything here because sitting and writing rightfully pauses the whirlwind around me and lets my emotions surface, emotions that are currently being held just below the surface throughout the day (with occasional bursts of tears breaking through!). But I do promise to share a bit more in these coming weeks.

A few highlights for me this week have been: planning the Quinciniera (15th birthday party - a BIG deal in Latin America) for 3 of our girls in the home, celebrating the start of 2 weeks vacation from school with the kids, hosting my cousin Jenn and her boyfriend Fernando for a couple of days here, reflecting on the last year with Tony's parents while they've been here, and truly enjoying the moments we've had to play with the kids. A lot of special moments have come and gone and I will write more and share some pictures later this week.

Yo-Yo fun with Tony!

2008-07-10T19:13:00.003+01:00

Just a few fun pictures from last week of some of the boys hanging out up in our office...

Tony teaching some yo-yo tricks to Guillermo and Julio

Tony and Julio with their yo-yo's
(the sticker on Julio's forehead was his prize for a good day at school!)

Jorge loving on Davy

Jorge and Julio (brothers) hanging on Davy

4th of July!!

2008-07-04T22:37:00.002+01:00

Wishing all of you a happy 4th of July, wheverever you may be! We're planning to spend the evening with a group of American friends we've become connected with over the year. I just made my first ever potato salad to add to the spread of traditional American food for the party and am also contributing my mothers infamous pink jello salad, with a small Peruvian twist!

We're so thankful for our home country and the many rights and privileges that are upheld for the citizens by the government. Nothing has made us appreciate the US government, its faults and criticisms included, than living in a country where those same rights and privileges are only a distant dream for most of its citizens. We're proud, and thankful, to be Americans. Happy 4th!

The Guest

2008-07-01T16:11:00.003+01:00

Lucia came to New Hope in 2007 as a 13-year-old girl. She had been living alone with her father for 3 years, ever since her mother died of cancer. Her father struggled to make enough money to support the two of them so he would often keep Lucia home from school and send her to the streets to beg for money or sell candies on the sidewalks. When the police showed up and arrested her father one afternoon, Lucia was left by herself in the house where she stayed for 3 days until her neighbors came to help her. She was brought to New Hope and has been a part of our family ever since.

Not too long ago we had a group of girls from the children's home over to our house for a pizza party and movie night. After eating dinner, Tony took a group of the girls up to the roof where they could see the stars and the city lights. As the rest of the girls started to go back downstairs, Lucia pulled Tony aside.

"Did you know that I've been in your neighborhood before? When I was living with my dad, he used to drop me off here and send me door to door, asking for money and food. The first time I came to your house I couldn't believe it - I had knocked on the door of this same house before, begging. And now I get to come in and eat dinner here. I'm the guest!"

Ever since Tony told me that story I've been thinking about all of the implications tied up in that for her, and for us as human beings in our relationship with God. Lucia was filled with shame, knocking on doors and asking for handouts, searching for something to fulfill her needs. Now she's been brought into our family and she has free access to the goodness and safety of our home. She's celebrated and appreciated. She can partake of the good things offered to her - she no longer begs for leftovers.

I see myself, all of humankind, reflected in that story. Broken souls, separated from the loving goodness we were intended to have in God's original design. Searching to meet the need for love and a sense of wholeness, we so often go knocking on the doors of this world, asking for love, validation and value. Like beggars , we go searching for something to make us feel whole, and then we learn of God's love, the truth of who we are intended to be. We have the choice to accept that love, to become welcome guests in his kingdom, to partake of the good things he bestows upon us. And our sense of shame and unworthiness is wiped away - we get to walk into his presence, we are his guests, his beloved children.

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!
1 John 3:1

How does one lose a pair of glasses?

2008-06-30T02:19:00.005+01:00

I was asking myself this question for days after Tony's first pair of glasses ever disappeared after only a month or so of having them. I couldn't understand how they could've been set down somewhere at the children's home and simply disappear without a trace. But the more I thought about it, the real surprise was that I was even surprised by the quick disappearance of any object in a place where over 50 pairs of hands are prone to touch any object within their grasp, almost without knowing it, it seems. From pens to coffee mugs, stuffed animals to tennis shoes, I never cease to be amazed that the number of items that show up in random places within the property of the children's home. Our dog, Davy, is the culprit for the relocation of most stuffed animals, but with the other items you just never know.

For example, the other day while I was out playing volleyball with some of the kids I heard someone inquiring on the whereabouts of a key on a black string. It had been left in a windowsill during music practice and was now missing. I reported that I had seen Lucia with a key on a string, and she then explained that she found it on the soccer court stands. She had left it hanging on the light post. Someone else chimed in that they'd seen Luis playing with a key on a string, swinging it around his arm again and again. Off to the little boys room we went to hear an interesting tale of how the key was passed from here to there, and was ultimately found in a desk drawer with a bunch of peeled and broken crayons. No one seems to wonder where an object comes from, nor where or to whom it belongs. Items are picked up and passed on into another set of hands before the owner has had a moment to realize it's been moved.

Anyhow, the last place Tony remembered having his glasses was at the children's home while working on the Jeep (an unfortunately common task for us...). Luis had been nearby, which led me to talk to Angelica, the leader of the little boys room. She hadn't seen them in their house, but she did remember seeing them on a table just after the pizza party for Tony's birthday, which happens to be the last day Tony had the glasses. Using my photographs from that day for evidence, we noticed that:

Here has them...

and now they're gone...

We talked to the guys who clean the room where the party was - they hadn't seen anything. We talked to the teens who study in there in the afternoon - same story. We asked all the staff members to look around in their respective rooms - still nothing. At this point, two weeks later, we're reluctant but willing to accept the fact that the stylish new glasses have apparently been sucked into the black hole of the New Hope galaxy. All those little hands passed the glasses along into an unknown location where they'll probably stay until someday they are discovered by someone looking for a missing item themselves. By then no one will even remember that Tony's glasses were missing!

My girl, Davy

2008-06-26T19:00:00.004+01:00

I haven't posted many pictures of our dog, Davy, since she was a puppy - not for lack of photos, however, because my husband would tell you I document her life as if she were our first child! Davy is a Great Dane, but she seems to have been the runt of the litter or something because she's not quite as big as she should be for a 11 month old Dane. Even so, she's a big girl who still tries to cuddle like she's a small puppy. My family took some cute pictures of Davy while they were here and I thought I'd put a few on here for those who are interested.

Davy trying to share the front seat with me for the drive to the orphanage!

Wrapped In Love

2008-06-24T18:55:00.006+01:00

Several years ago, my sister and her husband spent 6 months in Ethiopia on a short-term missions trip. As they shared their experiences and told about the needs of the children there, my Aunt Nachaele decided to get involved in raising funds to help support a children's home there. She is a fantastic knitter and decided to start a non-profit called Stitches for Britches that allowed her to sell her knitted goods to make money to support the kids there. Since we've been here in Peru, she's been incredibly supportive and has done several special things for the kids here.
When Luis was left here alone after his pals were adopted out in February, Nachaele decided to make a special blanket for him to send along with my parents when they came to visit. When Julio came to the home just before my parents came to visit, she quickly put together a fleece-tie blanket to send along for him. It was so much fun to bring Luis and Julio up to the office, show them the picture of my aunt and uncle, tell them how special they are to all of us and give them each their blankets. I told them that whenever they are cold, or just feeling lonely, they can wrap themselves up in their blankets and remember that they are loved.
As we were pulling out of the orphanage later that afternoon, we looked out and saw Luis and Julio standing on the soccer court, wrapped in their warm blankets, watching us as we were leaving to take my parents to the airport. The sight of these two standing there was one of the sweetest things I'd seen in a long time. Thank you, Nachaele, for your gift of love for these boys!

Family Vacation in Peru!

2008-06-21T19:35:00.005+01:00

Tony and I had been looking forward to June 9 for a long time - the day that my parents, sister, brother-in-law and niece would arrive in Arequipa! The day finally came and just last night we said our last goodbyes after a wonderful time together. The time went far too quickly, as it always seems to do, but we're so grateful for the chance we had to share our life here in Peru with my family. We traveled by car (9 hours each way!) to Cusco to see Machu Picchu and then spent the remainder of our time here in Arequipa. Baby Nora, now 11 months old, was a trooper and has earned a reputation as a good traveler. I started coming down with a cold two days before everyone arrived and effectively spread it to everyone but my brother-in-law before the trip was done. But despite the coughing, sneezing, and general aches and pains, we managed to have a wonderful time together! Here are a few highlights of the trip in photos:

Lindsey and Nora greeting two baby alpacas

Introducing the family to choclo, giant Peruvian corn, eaten with a slice of cheese

Nora doing sign language for "water" while Tony holds her over a small stream
(Tony and I were amazed to see her doing sign language!! Yes, we think she's a genius!!)
Nora made a Peruvian friend during our stop in Ollantaytambo, en route to Machu Picchu

Tony and I in front of the famous 12-sided Inca stone in Cuzco

Tony, my dad and Jon climbed to the top of Wayna Picchu early in the morning -
they did the 1-2 hour climb up in 35 minutes!
Nora managed to get her morning nap in while riding on Jon's back around Machu Picchu!

Here we are at Machu Picchu! The peak behind us is the one the boys climbed in the morning.

We soaked in the hot springs (more like lukewarm springs, actually!) in Aguas Calientes, the town just below Machu Picchu. Nora had the best time of all of us!

We stayed in this hostel, "El Rosal", in Cuzco. It is on the property of a children's home similar to New Hope that is run by a group of nuns. The proceeds go to help the home, and many of the girls who grew up there now work in the hostel. We were very impressed with the place, particularly the friendliness of all the workers and girls we interacted with.

Nora finally got to meet another Peruvian friend, Camilla, the daughter of our friends and coworkers here. They were so cute together!
We celebrated Tony's 28th birthday together with all the staff at New Hope by ordering in Domino's Pizza. There's no better birthday lunch for an upstate NY boy than pizza!

Nora enjoyed testing out the zip-line after Jon tested it out first.

Here we are in the Plaza de Armas in Arequipa, well known for several things including the massive numbers of pigeons that congregate there. Tony bought some food and lured them up onto his hands for Nora's entertainment!

Here we are in front of our house with Jon, Lin and Nora (and a neighborhood dog we call "Whitey", for obvious reasons) just before they left to go back to the US. The time flew by way too quickly, and we were grateful to have my parents around for a few more days before the trip ended.

Jorge & Julio

2008-06-07T04:03:00.003+01:00

Julio - 4 years old

As many of you read in my email update, we received two new boys into the children's home this week. They arrived on Wednesday afternoon and are settling into life at New Hope as we speak. Anytime you disturb an existing system, there is bound to be disruption so the Little Boys Room has been readjusting and incorporating Jorge and Julio into their family group. The two brothers have an obviously close relationship and I've enjoyed standing back and watching Jorge protect, guide and play with his younger brother.

Jorge - 10 years old

Yesterday I had a chance to sit and talk with the two house mothers who watch after the little boys at the home. We talked a bit about Jorge and Julio's background and their observation of how quickly both of the boys could switch from a playful spirit into a violent and aggressive attitude. We started talking about learned behaviors and collectively tried to imagine what these two young boys have learned by living in a home where violence and addictive behaviors were far more prevalent than verbal communication. We talked about the importance of teaching and modeling alternative ways of handling frustration, fear and anger - the importance of using words to express emotions rather than lashing out at those around you as they saw their relatives do for years.

I have a dear friend who I met in graduate school who introduced the idea of "default settings" to me. Default settings are essentially the ways of being that we learn from our families and early life experiences, for better or worse. These ways of thinking, acting and feeling are essentially programmed into us and while we are capable of making changes to our default settings, we are prone to revert back to the default settings in times of stress and frustration. I love this idea of default settings because I have found it to be quite true in my life and the lives of those around me.

It has provided me with a helpful framework for thinking about the radical changes that the kids at New Hope go through when they leave one type of environment - whether it be life alone on the streets, living in violent and addiction ridden homes, or watching a parent suffer from physical illness and eventually pass away - and try to adapt to a new environment at the children's home. There are a lot of default behaviors that are challenged and a lot of expectations that are intended to become the new settings. I'd say the primary battle we fight in our work here is against the old default settings that rear their ugly heads for reasons we often don't understand. My, how difficult it is to change our settings - but the good news is that it can be done. That's the hope we each have for the future.

Here are a few fun pictures of several of the boys who have welcomed Jorge and Julio into their family group. They have my heart completely captured!!

Jhon, Moises, Jorge, Julio and Luis piled on Jorge's new bed

Guillermo, Jorge, Julio and Luis, putting on a show for the camera!

Chalky, cherry, minty

2008-05-30T01:22:00.003+01:00

Some missionary friends in Lima are including us in the deparasitization program that they've been advocating and organization here in Peru. Parasites are fairly common here due to poor sanitation habits, particularly in rural and poor areas. Parasites can deprive their host of up to 30% of their nutrition, which is particularly damaging for children. We're so thankful for the provision of these pills that we can distribute to the kids and to the members of our community. While the results can be quite disturbing if indeed you are harboring a serious parasite, it is worth the process of getting rid of it in order to maintain proper health and nutrition.

Today we administered the first pill to all of the kids at the children's home. Tony went room to room distributing pills, making sure that each child dutifully chewed their pink tablet. Tony took his first to set a good example for the kids, while I stayed in the office still feeling a bit nervous about the potential of a parasite passing through my body. I have an aversion to the chalky nature of chewable pills to begin with, so I was doubly motivated to hold off on my dosage.

As we walked out to our taxi at the end of the day, Tony handed me my pill. I asked what the taste was like and he described it as a "cherry, mint flavor." Tony then added, "Considering that it's a flavored, chewable parasite killing medication, the taste is actually pretty impressive." Laughing, I responded, "You make a good point - here we go." Chalky, cherry, minty - but all in all not bad for a parasite treatment.

A few sweet pictures...

2008-05-27T22:16:00.002+01:00

This is my dear little Luis, sporting a new haircut at his school Mother's Day program. His house parent, Angelica, attended the program with him - can't you just see the amount of love she has for this little boy? She is a treasure to us, and a dear friend here in Peru.

Another lost parrot in the news

2008-05-21T14:15:00.002+01:00

After our own parrot experience, we had to laugh when one of this morning's headlines on FOX News online reported "Lost Parrot Returned Home After Telling Veterinarian His Address"!! I guess we should have at least asked our own green visitor for his address! The following story was reported:

TOKYO — When Yosuke the parrot flew out of his cage and got lost, he did exactly what he had been taught — recite his name and address to a stranger willing to help.

Police rescued the African grey parrot two weeks ago from a neighbor's roof in the city of Nagareyama, near Tokyo. After spending a night at the station, he was transferred to a nearby veterinary hospital while police searched for clues, local policeman Shinjiro Uemura said.

He kept mum with the cops, but began chatting after a few days with the vet.

"I'm Mr. Yosuke Nakamura," the bird told the veterinarian, according to Uemura. The parrot also provided his full home address, down to the street number, and even entertained the hospital staff by singing songs.

"We checked the address, and what do you know, a Nakamura family really lived there. So we told them we've found Yosuke," Uemura said.

The Nakamura family told police they had been teaching the bird its name and address for about two years.

But Yosuke apparently wasn't keen on opening up to police officials. "I tried to be friendly and talked to him, but he completely ignored me," Uemura said.

A little green visitor...

2008-05-20T02:42:00.004+01:00

On Saturday afternoon our dog, Davy, was in the front yard observing the activities of the neighborhood - a favorite pastime of hers. She started barking persistently so I looked out the window to see what the problem was only to find a beautiful green parrot perched on our garage door. The bird was looking curiously at Davy while maintaining a safe distance at the top of the gate. We left later that evening and had to open the garage door - but little Polly Parrot hung on for the ride! When we came back later that night she was still perched on the door, and she stayed until the next afternoon. Davy never got used to her, so perhaps she grew tired of the incessant barking and decided to move on. She was a fun addition for the 36 hours she was here!

More on Mother's Day...

2008-05-19T01:15:00.003+01:00

My last post failed to reflect the lighter side of Mother's Day weekend that was celebrated here in Peru, and I decided it needed to be reflected as well! Mother's Day is a very special holiday here in Peru and is widely and well celebrated. In addition to the significance of honoring one's mother, this holiday is a time to honor the Virgin Mary, which is a very big deal in a Catholic country like Peru. Peruvians don't let an opportunity pass by to party with fireworks, so for three days we heard explosions going off throughout the day and night. Local churches led marches through their surrounding neighborhoods to honor the virgin and shrines were covered with flowers and candles.
The men of our church did a wonderful job planning a special Mother's Day weekend for the ladies. They reserved a restaurant downtown for Saturday night and treated the women of the church to a wonderful dinner. We have quite a few single mothers in our church and each of them received a special invitation from the church elders to come to the dinner as special guests of the church. One of the elders gave a short devotion and then the men took turns expressing their thanks to their wives and the women of the church. The next morning we had a special Mother's Day church service and the men presented each woman with a gift they had prepared - a mug filled with candy and other goodies. I was impressed with the planning that the men had put into the weekend and I think each woman left feeling honored and appreciated. An interesting note - here all women are celebrated on Mother's Day because they have the potential of becoming mothers! So I was included on the festivities of the weekend, but not without being asked about 50 times when a baby Bolos may join us... My response was that for now we're just focusing on the 50 kids that have been entrusted to us. : )
A belated Happy Mother's Day to all of you mother's and mother's-to-be!

Dia del Madre

2008-05-17T23:12:00.003+01:00

Last weekend I had the privilege of celebrating my first Mother's Day with the kids at the home and the people in the church. The festivities started off with a special program at the kids' school. Each grade had prepared a special song or skit to perform on the special stage that had been set-up in the recreation courtyard. As we were walking to our seats, the usher asked which grade my child was in. I smiled and said I had a child in every grade level in the school. He probably thought I either didn't understand the question or that my Spanish isn't very good and I misspoke in my reply. : )

It was a delight to watch our kids perform and to see the end result of the hard work they had put into practicing for their performances. I felt honored to stand up with them and receive their flowers and cards that they'd made in their classes. But there was a sense of sadness that I couldn't shake throughout the program as well as I listened to the themes of the songs and performances that the kids put on. The songs expressed deep gratitude to mothers for the sacrifices they make to provide for their children, for being an example of love and patience to their children, for teaching them about the love and Christ and being an example of what it means to follow him. As I listened to them sing I had to wonder about the emotions they experienced during their weeks of preparation and during their performance. While the kids have hopefully found at New Hope the kind of love they sang about that morning, the lyrics couldn't have been farther off from describing their own mothers. Their own mothers have left them on buses and street corners, they subjected them to abuse and neglect out of desperation to survive themselves. Most of our kids have deep wounds from their mothers, not deep levels of love or appreciation. I wondered as I watched them sing if days like Mother's Day feel like salt in a wound. They smiled. They sang beautifully. They gave no hint of any turmoil that may have been churning inside, but my own heart ached for them as I snapped photos and clapped for each one of them.

While I was home in Denver, I spent a great deal of time enjoying my 10-month old niece Nora. Without trying she becomes the center of attention anytime we're together as we watch her toddle around behind her walking toy, explore the world around her, and reveal her emotions through the most darling and hilarious facial expressions. One night as we were all gathered together, someone commented on the way that babies steal the love and attention of everyone around them. My cousin Erika, who works with inner city children, quietly commented that this is true for us but unfortunately not true for many children in less privileged circumstances. I can't recall her exact words, but as I sat there watching these kids perform for the many mothers in the crowd that day, I was reminded of what she'd said. A desire that I have for myself is to become a woman who can enjoy the joys of life that I had as a child, have now as a young adult, and will have in the future, all the while remembering those who are less fortunate, trying to be an active part of meeting their needs, and upholding them in prayer before the only one who can truly meet their needs.

To the US and back again...

2008-05-05T07:02:00.045+01:00

I had a to-do list of several things I wanted to accomplish before I left for my visit to the US two weeks ago, one of which was updating the blog with a message that I'd be leaving, but sadly very few of those items were checked off before we flew out the door to the Arequipa airport to catch my flight out. I'm now back in the Lima airport on an overnight layover, awaiting my flight to Arequipa tomorrow morning at 4:50am. Four hours to go until boarding begins!

I had a wonderful visit and feel refreshed and ready to come back. At the time of booking my flight, two weeks didn't seem like a really long time but it was felt like an eternity of time to be separated from Tony! Poor Tony suffered a soccer injury, taxi accident and car breakdown while I was gone and had no one to look after him, aside from our sweet puppy Davy who was more smothering than helpful it seems. : )

Here are a few photos of general highlights of the trip:

That's snow you see there - yep, snow on May 1 in Denver! I was one of few happy people to see the snow - I have missed it this year and was glad to see a few flakes fall!

This is 10-month old Nora Elizabeth, my sweet niece, sporting pig-tails (or antenna according to some!) for the first time. I absolutely loved seeing how much she's grown up and has learned in recent months. It's so fun to see my sister and brother-in-law as parents.

This is my dear friend Krista on her wedding day. This is a classic Krista shot - can you tell we had too much fun together?? It was good for my soul just to be with her for 5 days.

Some realizations I had during the trip:

- I really miss the ability to casually joke around and laugh with friends on a regular basis. My language abilities have come a long way, but I can't laugh and joke in Spanish the way I do in English. It was so refreshing to just laugh over small things with friends and family while I was home.

- I have developed a strong tolerance for things not going as planned in Peru, but have apparently developed high expectations for things to go smoothly in the US. I was reminded that things aren't as flawless in the US as they are in my memory!

- One of the biggest differences between life in Peru and life in the US can be summed up in one word: convenience. Most things in Peru take a lot of time - cooking, preparing produce, going to the bank...even placing a to-go order in a restaurant! I was strolling through Costco and the grocery store just amazed by the level of customer-convenience that has overtaken the marketing world. Did you know they make Jif Peanut Butter in individual on-the-go containers? Bagged salad, peeled carrots, Rice-a-Roni - all familiar products that struck me this time around with their convenient appeal!

- Speaking of Costco, my mom and I had a good laugh together when we went to Costco the afternoon that I got home. We were strolling around the bread department when I commented on how relaxing it was to be in such a calm and orderly environment. My mom laughed that I considered Costco on a Saturday afternoon to be a peaceful environment and I realized that I had never before equated Costco with anything near to calm or peaceful! But after living in a culture where traffic on the streets and shoppers in the markets weave back and forth between the masses, just trying to get ahead, Costco suddenly seemed like a calm and orderly haven to me!

Lastly, I am realizing that the term "home" is a very fluid concept at this stage of life. I feel so at home in Peru and can't wait to get back, but when I slipped into bed at my parent's house and enjoyed the safe, comforting feeling of being tucked in for a good night's sleep I realized that I still consider that my home in many ways. I suppose being "home" is much more about the people and circumstances than any physical location, so it makes sense that two so totally different places can both feel like home at the same time. So off I go to finish my journey from one home to the other...

Books!

2008-04-16T13:40:00.005+01:00

Even though I am consciously aware of the various items or experiences that most of the people we work with do not have, sometimes I am caught off guard when that realization sinks in on a deeper level as I witness their reaction to a new item or experience. Yesterday Luis was up in my office as I was meticulously labeling every new cleaning item that we had just purchased for the various rooms at the children's home. (Side note: As a naturally detail oriented, structured person, I have had to learn to relax and let things go in this very unstructured, "what's a detail?" culture. However, this has forced me to crave chances to manage details whenever the opportunity presents itself, such as using my Sharpie marker to label brooms, mops, gloves, sponges and bottles of cleaning product for their respective locations. It's healthy to have an outlet for obsessions, isn't it?!)

So, as I was labeling, Luis was exploring my office. I pulled a book off the shelf that had been donated awhile back and handed it to him to read as I worked. The first was an interactive Old McDonald's Farm book. Luis squealed with delight as he showed me the little "chico" that was attached by a string to the book that could walk through the pages with Luis. He laughed at every "special effect" in the book, like the flaps that covered a pool of ducks, the cow that had textured hair to feel and the barn doors that had crinkly material in them. Then it was on to Pooh's book on learning to tell time - you could turn the clock hands on each page as you watch Pooh and Piglet learn about time, and Luis was amazed by this! Fernando's Adventures showed beautiful pictures of a boy in many different places - in a field with animals, under a waterfall, crossing railroad tracks. Luis just oohed and aahed at each picture - it was so energizing to watch him come to life over such simple, taken for granted items like children's books. I realized that he had probably never seen books like this before and I was surprised to realize that, even though I consciously know that in my mind. So the world of reading has just taken an interesting turn for Luis and he can't wait to come up and read again!

Luis

2008-04-16T02:18:00.003+01:00

In trying to think of a good title for this blog entry, I thought of many descriptions and phrases that would help to paint a picture of this little boy, but ultimately I decided that there's no way to capture what "Luis" really means to me. Luis is 3 years old. He was best buddies with Carlos, Santiago and Percy, our three little guys that were adopted out in February. Now he's the lone ranger at preschool and he's just not ready to play with the big boys in his room (6-10 year olds). In the past month and a half he's spent a lot of time playing on his own, in the world of his active imagination. The loss of his friends has slowly taken a toll on him and in the past two weeks or so we've seen the depths of Luis' broken heart. It's been heartbreaking for me to watch, but the blessing in the pain has been watching Luis' heart emerge in a way we may never have otherwise seen. Without the other three little boys running around, I've had more playtime and conversation time with Luis than I ever had before. I've had time to learn more about the way Luis thinks, what makes him hug and not let go, why he usually cries for a bit every morning after he wakes up, what brings out his sweet belly laugh that I love, etc. And as I've learned those things, I've just fallen in love with this complex little boy.

Yesterday Luis had a meltdown moment when he got home from preschool. I looked out the window and saw his limp body strung between the two girls that were trying to bring him in for lunch. He had a toothache and a strong resistance to anyone trying to get him to put anything in his mouth. He was throwing a tantrum, which summons a trip to our office for a conversation. As I sat Luis in a chair in the office, just one glance into his eyes revealed that he was moving from tantrum to meltdown. Tears filled his eyes and he began to wail. My strategies for handling tantrums and promoting learning moments were thrown out the window and I scooped him up into my arms and began to rock him back and forth. I usually don't even have a chance at understanding the kids' Spanish when they're crying, so I pretty much tuned out the sobs and just rocked away. I was thinking about little Luis and all the reasons behind his tears when I suddenly realized what Luis was crying out. "Mama, mama, mama....Mama, mama, mama..." And then Luis wasn't the only one crying. Who is he thinking of when he's calling out Mama? Does he remember his own mother that left him when he was just one and half years old? Is he longing for a new mama like Percy, Santiago and Carlos got? Is he calling me his Mama? I have no idea where his delirious words were coming from. There's a lot more to understand about Luis, his happiness and his sadness. Most likely I'll never know nor understand the depth of what his little 3 year old heart is feeling, but that moment of rocking is enough understanding for me for now.

We're back!

2008-04-12T03:05:00.005+01:00

We've been here all along, but we've been largely out of touch with the email and blog world! Two weeks ago my Uncle Rohn and cousins Andrea and Jeff arrived in Arequipa. We had such a wonderful visit with them and while we stayed very busy the whole time they were here, we felt so refreshed by our time together. It was a nice treat to see familiar faces, socialize in English, and hear other people confirm that some of the circumstances we're living in are strange, comical and sometimes outright frustrating. It's not just us!!

Here are a few highlights from their visit:

We hosted a party for the younger boys at our house the night after our visitors arrived. They came prepared with fun games to play with the boys, and with Andrea's famous chocolate chip cookies for dessert, the night was a hit! Rohn video taped various parts of the evening and then we watched the video together before taking the boys home. It was the first time they had ever seen themselves on video, and they thought it was absolutely hilarious! Here is a picture of the boys watching themselves on the television:

We took a 2 day trip out to Colca Canyon, the deepest canyon in the world, that is just about 2 hours from Arequipa. (Okay, it was just decided that a nearby canyon is deeper by a few inches, but we figured we could dig a small hole and still call it the deepest in the world!) Here I am with a baby alpaca on our way down into the canyon. He was so soft and cuddly!

On our first day we stayed in Chivay, a small village in the canyon where many of the kids in our children's home have come from. We traveled out to an even smaller village called Tuti with Wilson, a boy who grew up at New Hope, to visit his mother that he is now in contact with. This is a view of the village from his mother's house:
This is Wilson with his mother in her home. Wilson and his brother, Jesus, were abandoned as young boys and eventually brought to Arequipa by a relative who thought they could be in better hands in a bigger city. They were placed at New Hope right away and consider that to be their home. They are now in contact with their mother and maintain a relationship with her, though they all struggle to overcome the pain of the past 12 years of separation between them.
This sweet girl lives in Tuti and was hanging around in front of Wilson's mother's house. She was bashful to start with, but eventually let me take her picture. Most children in Peru now know that most tourists use digital cameras and immediately ask to see their photo after it's been taken. This young girl didn't ask, and she seemed a bit confused when I asked her if she wanted to see her picture. I asked if she had ever seen her picture before and she said no, but she smiled when I showed her. Tuti is a very remote village and few tourists travel there, so it was special to get to spend time visiting with the people and taking in the beautiful surroundings.
We took a hike up the mountainside after visiting Wilson's mom. Small plots of land like this one were filled with rows of plants all the way up the mountain. Most families are growing enough to feed themselves and perhaps sell some extra crops to make a small income.
We stumbled upon these cute pigs as we were climbing back down the mountain after hiking to the top of a gorgeous waterfall. Their pen consisted of 4 walls made from piled up stones that you can see here in the background.
Early the next morning (as in 4:00am) we woke up and headed toward Cruz del Condor, the point in the canyon where condors soar nearly every morning between 7:00am and 9:00am. We asked about 10 people in Chivay how long it would take us to arrive at Cruz del Condor and we received a variety of answers ranging from 3 1/2 hours to 45 minutes. We didn't want to miss the condors, so we planned for a worst case scenario of 3 1/2 hours and left at 5:00am. We arrived in one hour flat and froze in the early morning chill! But it was worth it to watch the skies light up and see the clouds move through the canyon. Here are Tony and I at the lookout point.

The condors showed up at 8:00am on the dot - and while we had started to doubt if they would come at all, it was well worth the cold, 2 hour wait! One last photo of Tony and I looking out over the canyon as we started our drive back to Arequipa. As usual, the pictures cannot do the beauty of this canyon justice. The views were breathtaking, particularly at the points where the drop off was 3,600 feet!
Last but not least, another missionary family here kindly gave us a little puppy for the children's home. Here is our Great Dane puppy, Davy, sleeping in her normal spot in our office with the new puppy cuddled up right behind her. Davy's glad to have a new friend, but still figuring out how to play gently with such a little guy!
During their time in Arequipa with us, Rohn, Jeff and Andrea did so many fun things with the kids. The lavished hugs, laughter and love on the kids and made a significant impact on everyone at New Hope. The major project they undertook was the installation of a zip line, which has been so much fun for the kids. Pictures and hopefully a few videos of the kids on the zip line will be coming soon if I can expand my technological abilities this weekend...stay tuned!

Percy Sighting

2008-03-30T13:25:00.002+01:00

Last weekend we were in the plaza, walking and observing all of the Easter weekend festivities. For whatever reason, during Holy Week women flood the street with their vendor carts, selling candy apples, candy strawberries and candy grapes. We ventured out and tried the candy covered strawberries, but with a definite consensus that they were NOT good! We subsequently gave them to a little girl that was begging on the street with her brothers, and she was quite proud to have been the one selected for this gift. She taunted her brothers for a moment before deciding to share this strange treat with them.

As we walked off laughing from this experience, we stumbled upon some familiar faces - Percy's new parents. (Percy is one of the boys that was adopted from our children's home about 3 weeks ago.) I was probably too excited to see them and they looked a bit startled when we gave them an eager greeting! Percy was wrapped around his mother like a little monkey, arms around her neck and legs around her waist, gazing into her eyes and smiling. His parents quickly recognized us and returned our warm greeting, but it appeared that Percy didn't recognize us right away. He looked at us complacently for a moment until it dawned on him who we were, then smiled and called out our names, never once loosening his grip on his mommy. We communicated with his parents through hand gestures for a moment to combat the Italian - Spanish language barrier, then gave them hugs goodbye and were on our way.

As we walked away my eyes just filled with tears as I realized just how happy and comfortable Percy is with his new family. That first moment of introduction, full of hesitation and insecurity, is now a distant memory and he hardly remembers us, the ones he clung to just one month ago! Amazing. God is so good and this little boy is finally resting in the parental love and adoration he deserves. What a joy to see that!

You be the judge!

2008-03-23T03:28:00.003Z

While not a common experience, we have occasionally been asked whether we are the parents of the kids we happen to be out with from the children's home. This makes logical sense given the age of the children we're usually asked about and in many ways, yes, we are their parents.

But tonight we had to laugh when our waitress asked if Tony was Ben's father. Ben is a 21 year old American friend that has been here for several months visiting his girlfriend, Angelica. We often go out with them to play Rook, one of our favorite card games, and usually find ourselves at the same coffee shop, same table and with the same waitress. So it's not like she just saw us once and misjudged either Tony or Ben's age from a brief interaction.

Tony claims that she must think Ben is much younger than he is, because it couldn't possibly be that Tony looks old enough to have a 21 year old son. Ben claims he has too much facial hair to be mistaken for any less than 18 years old. Above is a picture of Ben and Tony together, and to the right is our latest blog feature - a poll where you can submit your vote about the matter. So, you be the judge!

1 - Does Ben look far younger than 21 years old?
2 - Has Tony aged significantly from the stress of directing a children's home?
3 - Is the waitress crazy?

Smokey the Bear doesn't live in Peru!

2008-03-18T02:42:00.003Z

Our friends, Luis and Karen, were over for dinner tonight with their little boy, Luis. They brought several toys for him to play with, but eventually he grew tired of the selection and needed new sources of entertainment. He tottered around the living room, played with his reflection in the glass door and eventually needed his mother's full attention. I was dying inside when I realized that Karen had handed Luis a box of matches to play with!! I could not tune out the mantra of parents in the US, "Don't play with matches! Don't ever play with matches!" while I was watching the delight of this darling one year old as he dumped the box of matches out and spread them across the table. Even more amazing was the ease with which his mother watched on and continued to pick the matches up off the floor as they were dropped from his little hands. I had told her before that I would take some pictures of their family tonight, and I knew she wouldn't think a thing about it if I started taking photos of him playing with matches, so I grabbed my camera and started clicking away. This is one of my "We're not in Kansas anymore..." moments!

March Madness

2008-03-12T02:35:00.005Z

It's the time of year when we would generally be filling out brackets and trying to catch every NCAA game possible. My dad raised me on ESPN and I enjoy watching just about every sport, thanks to him. My favorite, however, has always been NCAA basketball. Tony's done a pretty good job keeping up with sports statistics through espn.com, but I'm pretty out of it and feel pretty lost looking at the teams for the brackets, etc. I've been surprised to realize how quickly significant cultural events like March Madness, the Super Bowl and the Academy Awards lose their relevance when you're not living in the culture that makes them significant.

All the buzz about basketball upsets, favorite Super Bowl commercials (the ones we saw were all for Peruvian products and cell phone companies!), and most liked films give those events a lot of their prominence in society. The people we work with think basketball is kind of a funny sport to begin with, so after explaining the concept of a March Madness bracket they think we're quite strange! We invited a group of boys over for the Super Bowl, but because we hadn't heard much about the seasons leading up to it, the Giants upset over the Patriots didn't have the same effect as it normally would have. Last month I read on a friend's blog that Girl Scouts were canvasing the neighborhoods with boxes of Samoas and Thin Mints. Together we bemoaned the fact that there are no Girl Scouts here in Peru, thought of proposing an international distribution plan to the Girl Scout leaders, but then realized that when no one else is eating Girl Scout cookies it takes away from the "season" of Samoas and the cravings pass!

But we've managed to create a bit of our own March madness lately by keeping busy with the home and church responsibilities. We took a break over the weekend and spent Saturday morning with some friends at Sabandia, a beautiful area outside of town. We rented horses for an hour long ride - quite an adventure! Here we are, posed for a picture just before Tony's horse started kicking...

Tony has pictures on this same tree from years ago with his siblings and childhood friends, so it was fun to take a picture here now that we're married and back living in Peru.

The rainy season is coming to an end here and we're looking forward to the return of consistent blue skies and warm weather in Arequipa. The rain has created deep cracks in the dirt roads out in Pachacutec where the orphanage is located. As the weather starts to clear up the community members will start to come out and work at filling the cracks and repairing the roads. So we're looking forward to what March will bring! Enjoy some Girl Scout cookies for us!

Arrivederci!

2008-03-09T21:47:00.003Z

On Friday morning we stood outside the orphanage doors, waving goodbye to Percy and his family as they drove away. Percy's little hand was sticking up above the seat he was strapped into, waving and waving as they pulled out. The moment of goodbye had come, but because of the time we were able to spend getting to know his new family, it was easier than I had pictured it to be, thankfully.

His parents arrived for the first visit on Wednesday afternoon after traveling through the night from Italy to Lima, and then straight to Arequipa. His parents arrived with their son, Carlos, and two representatives from the adoption agency and the Peruvian government. The moment of uniting Percy with his new family was truly one of the most amazing experiences in my life. Percy's parents had been waiting for a child from Peru for over 3 years, so their hearts were just longing to know this little boy that was finally theirs! Percy walked into the office and greeted his family - "Buenas tardes, Papa. Buenas tardes, Mama. Buenas tardes, hermano." (Good afternoon daddy, mommy and brother!) His new mommy swept him up into her arms, tears flowing freely as she held this boy she'd been dreaming of for the past few years. I felt so privileged to be sitting there, watching this union between our sweet little Percy and these strangers who suddenly felt like dear friends for the abundant love we could see in them.

After their initial meeting, we let Percy lead the way in taking them around the home and showing them his bedroom, kitchen and living area. He was proud as could be to have his parents by his side. He would occasionally get distracted in times of play with his friends, then suddenly look up and see his parents watching him, run over and wrap himself around his dad's legs, saying, "Poppi, poppi!" It was the sweetest thing to watch.

While the nature of our work has given us a great deal of insight into the unique needs of orphaned and abandoned children, this adoption experience has revealed to me just how deeply the desire to be part of family runs within these kids. That desire, placed by God and part of His plan for humankind before sin entered the world, does not dissipate no matter how many years go by. We've had heartbreaking conversations with other kids at the home, older and younger, learning of their dreams and wishes to have a family come and get them as well. Because of the governmental regulations, very few of the kids in our home have a chance of being adopted so it's been a hard issue to address. We come back to God's promise to be a father to the fatherless, as well as the calling of God's people to care for the orphans and widows. We as Christians are the means God has provided for caring for these little ones who will never know what it is to be loved by parents. Thank you for your prayers and support as we seek to provide that love to these kids at New Hope.

Corte de Agua?!

2008-03-05T23:35:00.004Z

Bertin, the Peruvian administrator of the children's home, just called to make sure that we heard the news about the 2-5 day corte de agua (water cut) that starts tomorrow morning.

Tony's response: Oh, we hadn't heard. Thanks for calling.

Julie's response: A what? The city is seriously cutting off water for 2-5 days? How do we wash dishes? How do we shower? What about flushing toilets? What in the world?!

Apparently this is something they do occasionally down here, so Tony is used to us from when he lived here as a teenager. It hasn't happened yet while we've been here so I'm not really sure what to think of it. Maybe this is a good excuse for Tony to take me out for dinner these next couple of nights. Tony's filling all our mixing bowls with water to use for flushing the toilets, something I wouldn't have thought of!

But I'm off to take a shower right now, and Tony's headed to buy a few big bottles of water. The workers at the children's home and strategizing and filling all their buckets as well. Could be an interesting few days!!

Sun, sand and a little bit of sickness

2008-03-04T12:49:00.003Z

These three things characterize some of the major elements of the week we spent at camp with the kids last week. The weather was gorgeous - sunny with a cool breeze nearly every day. I discovered that the camp is essentially a walled in plot of sand with guest accommodations and a concrete soccer court, which made for sand ending up just about everywhere imaginable. I started the week off with a touch of stomach trouble, and Tony ended the week with a miserable battle against food poisoning it seems. But despite the tummy troubles we had a wonderful week with the kids!

The campers were divided up into four teams on the first night. Throughout the week they would compete for points, battling for the winning prize of a basket full of goodies and sodas to share. To earn points they cleaned dishes, performed skits, competed in afternoon games and theme nights, raced to the top of mountains, and decorated their rooms each morning with original ideas and any materials they could find. The room decorations were a highlight for me. Each morning before breakfast the teams had to complete their decorating and we would judge the rooms while they ate. These were the decorations from Wednesday morning:

Team Octopus

Sand art for Team Dolphins

A cemetery of all the dogs the orphanage has had over the years!

A beach side snack bar

Julie saving Tony from a killer shark!

We spent the afternoons at the beach while some played soccer in the sand, others swam, and others watched after the little ones running after the baby crabs that were scattered around each time the waves came in. I spent my fair share of time in the kitchen helping the other women with the cooking. Cooking here is quite an ordeal because everything is made from scratch. I never realized how many processed items I rely on for my recipes until I moved here and realized I actually have just a few recipes I can make here without major modification! Those times of cooking are some of my favorite moments with the women here. Conversation flows right over the interspersed commentary on so-and-so's method of peeling potatoes, slicing onions - and yes, I'm usually the so-and-so they're talking about! But I don't mind anymore because over the course of the afternoon I get to hear the women's stories, their memories and reflections on the road they've walked in this life.

The other joy of the week was getting to be a part of so much play and laughter. I loved watching the kids personalities come out as they competed in the games, relaxed together on the beach and whispered together about the cute boys and girls they were hanging out with. Here are a few pictures that help to express that fun side of camp that did us all good.

Ximena on the swing set

Rinds left over from the watermelon eating contest
(the team representatives had to eat an entire watermelon -
I was waiting with Pepto Bismol pills right after they finished!)

Johan playing with his favorite toy

Tony making the kids laugh (and scaring some of them)

Sofia relaxing in the hammock The last, and perhaps biggest, adventure of the week was trying to make it home from camp in our Jeep! What should have been a 2 hour drive home turned into a 5 hour excursion with the many stops we had to make due to consistent overheating problems. We eventually made it home safely and the Jeep is now being tended to in a local shop. We leave you with a few pictures from the trip home...

Tony looking concerned at the water bubbling out of the radiator water reservoir

The most common sight on the trip home:

Our faithful friend, Milton - a true jack of all trades!

Off to camp!

2008-02-25T01:49:00.003Z

With summer break coming to a close for the kids, we're off for one last summer adventure this week. We're headed to camp on the beach of Peru, near the town of Camana. Tony's parents have been taking the kids to this same camp since the early 90's. We hear the facilities have improved a bit since Tony was last there (about 11 years ago), which I was glad to hear after listening to Tony reminisce about bathing in a barrel full of cold water when he was a kid!

It's been quite a task making sure all the kids have their essential beach items - swimming clothes, sunscreen, sandals, and towels... But as of tonight it looks like we're ready to go! I'm doing my best to go with few expectations because I know things will most likely be far different than what I have pictured in my mind! We should be back next Saturday night and I'll look forward to sharing some pictures and highlights with you when we get home.

We would appreciate your prayers for safety in travels and at the beach, as well as prayers for Tony as he's directing the camp and teaching on the fruit of the Spirit every evening. I'm so incredibly proud of him and his dedication to the work put before him. We're praying that God will use his words and efforts to make an impact in the hearts of the kids and church members that will be with us at camp. Wish you all could join us as well! We'll report back next week!

Sleepover!

2008-02-23T14:23:00.003Z

Carlos, Luis, Santiago and Percy

On Monday night we had 4 little boys from the home over to spend the night. As part of the adoption process, we've been trying to help the boys get a sense of what a typical family home is like, because they've really only experienced what it's like to live with 9 other boys in the same apartment. We brought home the three boys who are being adopted, along with their best buddy Luis who didn't want to miss out on anything.

Santiago holding his newly discovered beetle in the park

We made pancakes for dinner, went to the park, watched some Bob the Builder, and before we knew it they were falling asleep. The next morning as we were trying to contain the chaos in one room and get breakfast ready to serve in the other room, Tony said, "Wow, this is a real wake up call on what it's like to have kids!" I told Tony what my mom always used to tell me when I'd come home frazzled after babysitting - "Don't worry, babies don't come out of the womb with the amount of energy that a three year old has. When you're a parent, you get to ease into it. You slowly get accustomed to the needs of your children and it feels much more normal than babysitting ever will."

Tony with the boys - Santiago, Percy, Carlos and Luis

A few of our observations about boys:
- Except while they were sleeping, there was never a moment of silence in the house.
- Even though they're young, little boys can eat a lot!
- If "daddy" burps at the table, they will mimic the sound for the next 10 minutes
- It's probably not a good idea to give a kid a glass of juice before bed, even if he is really thirsty. Unless you plan on getting up at 4:00am with him when he's wet the bed, only to discover you have absolutely no clothing that will fit him and subsequently wrap him in a towel until you take him home!
- Asking to see their Superman impression will divert their attention from most every problem. Here is Superman Luis and group shot of the 4 Supermen:

We had so much fun with the boys! We're grateful for the special times we are getting with them before they leave for Italy. Carlos and Santiago will be leaving on Monday with their parents, and Percy will leave the following Monday. Thank you for keeping them in your prayers as they come to mind.

From Peru to Italy...

2008-02-14T21:56:00.005Z

The legal processes in Peru regarding the handling of abandoned children make it difficult for them to be adopted, so when children arrive at New Hope they are most often coming to stay for the long haul. In order to be eligible for adoption, children must receive an official declaration of "abandoned" from the government, which generally means that they have no known family or that their known extended family members have not made contact or visited the child at the orphanage. If the location of their family is known, the children cannot be adopted, even if the family has no intention of ever taking the child back. Poverty is the number one cause for abandonment, thus very few families will take their children back after turning them out.

Three of our little boys recently received their official "abandoned" status, and we just learned yesterday that they are now being adopted by two Italian families who have been waiting for several years for children from Peru. Carlos and Santiago, two brothers, will be adopted together, and Percy is being brought into family where he'll get a brother. We've seen pictures of their new families and new homes - they have beds set up and waiting for them already. The process has and will continue to move quickly - they'll be leaving us late next week.

Carlos

I have never been good at balancing two strongly opposing emotions at the same time, and I find myself facing that challenge again today. What joy that these little boys will now have mothers and fathers, stable families, abounding love and opportunities far beyond what they will ever have here! What heaviness of heart has taken over, however, at the thought of these darling boys leaving us. They are three of our youngest children (3 to 5 years old) and they have absolutely captured our hearts with their laughter, vivaciousness and sincerity of heart. They run around with capes made of bubble wrap, pretending to be Superman; they push each other around for hours in a wheelbarrow, imagining all kinds of grand adventures as they cruise around. This afternoon I watched Percy trying to throw a baseball in the air and catch it in his glove (never quite succeeding!) while Santiago and Carlos captured little butterflies from the flowers, studied them closely, and then released them again into the air.

Santiago

The thought of them leaving breaks my heart and I've been a crying mess all day. I selfishly want them to stay with us, though I know this is a wonderful opportunity for each of them. I feel like a protective mother, leery of these people that want to come and take my baby boys away. I don't want them to go through the difficult transitions that are inevitable - trying to understand why they're leaving, where they're going, saying goodbye and missing their friends here, learning a new language, developing trust and love for their new parents... I want to protect them from all of that, but I know it is necessary in order to move them into their new lives that have so much to offer them. It is a life lesson I know to be true - difficult things usually precede our great blessings.

Percy

As they come to your mind, would you join us in praying for their little hearts as they make this transition? They'll be staying with us at our house for several nights to help them get a better idea of what a family home looks like and I'm so thrilled to have that time with them before they go. We'll be talking with them a lot about their new families, and answer a lot of questions I'm sure. Little Percy asked today if he's going to have a brother when he goes to Italy, and when we told him he would he started jumping up and down with joy. They're starting to understand, and it's exciting to see those connections happening. And as you pray for them, pray for me that I'll be able to contain my tears and be a cheerleader for them as they join their new families. Thank you for all of your encouragement and interest in what we're doing here - it's wonderful to be able to share these kind of stories with you all.

Popcorn - the 'old fashioned way'

2008-02-04T02:57:00.001Z

We realize that microwave popcorn, Stir Crazy, and the Pop Lite machines from the 80's are all relatively new developments in the world of popcorn preparation. But,being the young lads that we are, we had no previous experience in making popcorn on the stove top before today. We had a good laugh while making our first attempt at it and thought we'd try to recount it for you all. The commentary went something like this:

Tony and Julie:
Okay, here we go.
I guess we just wait until we hear the popping, right?

Julie: It's been popping for awhile. You better see how full it is now.
Tony: Oh no, we need to start emptying it - I think we put too many seeds in!
Julie: Put the lid back on and I'll get a bowl out!

Tony: You'd better hurry - the popcorn is pushing the lid off the pot!

Tony: The seeds are exploding out of the pan - I'm getting splattered with hot oil!
Julie: Pull the pan back (*no idea why this seemed like a good solution)

Tony: Hand me the lid - they're still popping!
Julie: laughing and laughing
Tony: laughing and laughing

Once all was said and done, about 3/4 of the popcorn ended up in the bowl.
The rest was scattered on the counters and floor, which our dog, Davy, was quite happy to see.

Superbowl earns spot over soccer!

2008-02-03T23:47:00.000Z

American football has taken precedence over futbol (soccer) programming in Peru! Tonight we are watching the Superbowl with a group of boys from the orphanage. Tony is busy explaining the rules and hoping that after watching this, their next match of football will go better than the one on Thanksgiving! We just cleared up the fact that the New England Patriots are Americans, not English as their name would suggest to those unfamiliar with the US. We had a table full of snacks set out, and after 5 minutes every bowl is empty and all the drinks are gone. Teenage boys are hard to keep up with!

I usually try to make a different American snack to serve when the kids come over - they love trying our favorite things. Today I made my first attempt at Rice Krispy Treats. The only kind of cereal that was close was strawberry flavored Angel Krispies, but with a packet of My Sweet Marshmellows, they turned out pretty well. We don't have any chips and salsa or other classic Superbowl snacks, but we're loving the hot pink Angel Krispy Treats!

Pancakes have never tasted better...

2008-02-03T23:35:00.000Z

In addition to all the great work the team from Liberti church did while they were here, they also left us some "luxury" food items they had brought from the US. The best of all:

This 10 lb. bag of pancake mix makes 240 pancakes, so we're looking forward to many months of quick and tasty breakfasts! Last weekend we had two friends from Lima visit for the weekend. Meredith is a missionary with the Evangelical Free Church and Raquel is her Peruvian roommate. After returning to Lima, the food Raquel raved about most was the pancakes and Mrs. Butterworth's syrup! Peruvians usually eat pancakes with honey, so maple syrup was a new taste that agreed very well with her.

A big thanks to our friends at Liberti!

Liberti 4 Peru Team

2008-02-02T13:53:00.000Z

Two days after we arrived back in Peru after Christmas, we welcomed our first short-term team of volunteers since we've been here. The trip was led by a good friend of Tony's from college, Nathan Cottrell. Nathan had come down to Arequipa in August to help Tony and another friend, Brad, with a documentary video project to help raise awareness about the ministry of New Hope. Nathan went back to Philadelphia and started telling his friends and church body at Liberti Church about his desire to bring a short term team back to volunteer in January 2008.
Just five months later, Nathan had put together a team of 15 people who were willing to invest their time and energy in the kids. They raised extra funds for construction projects, planned crafts for each day of the week, collected donations of clothing, and came to offer every bit of love and energy they had. They served as the hands and feet of Christ, delivering the message of boundless love that God has for each one of them. Their generosity amazed us, and by the end of the week they were bags of their own shoes, clothing, jackets, and many "extras" to the office to leave for the kids.
We thoroughly enjoyed the time we spent with their team. We were encouraged by the selfless way they served not only the kids, but each other as a unified team. It was a wonderful experience to start the week by explaining the work we do and the issues that precipitate a home like ours, to then watch them interact with the kids throughout the 10 days, and then see the shared passion for these kids that had gripped their hearts by the end of their trip. To watch others catch the vision of caring for the orphaned and abandoned children of this world was wonderfully renewing for us.

The Liberti team kept a blog of their experiences on the trip. You can read more about their experiences and reflections at: liberti4peru.blogspot.com.

Brayan goes to Cuzco

2008-01-29T00:35:00.000Z

You may remember reading about Brayan, a young boy that came to us in December after leaving his abusive home to travel with the circus for several years, then serve as a domestic slave before escaping to the police station and eventually being placed at New Hope. He adapted very well to his new home and made friends with all of the boys in his room. It became clear that he was accustomed to carrying a lot of responsibility - he was always looking for special projects and ways to help out. He would carry my bags to the office each morning, wash the car, collect trash throughout the home, organize bags of supplies - anything to have something to do.

After Brayan arrived at New Hope, the judge continued to work on his case. We received word upon arriving back in Arequipa after Christmas that Brayan would have to return to Cuzco, his home city, in order to be placed in a permanent home. The judge was working to locate Brayan's father in order to return him there, despite the fact that his father was abusive and had turned his child out to join the circus. Because the problem of abandoned children is so great in Peru, if any parental figure can be located, lost children are most often placed with them without consideration of what is in the best interest of the child. After several additional weeks of processing, the judge called to say that Brayan would be leaving soon.

Last Thursday Brayan had to leave for Cuzco. He was placed in another children's home there where he will stay until his father can be located. Before he left, in typical Brayan fashion, he approached us with a plan he had put together. He would return to Cuzco, search for his parents, explain once again that he understands he's not wanted and ask to return to Arequipa to live at New Hope. As long as his father approves, we are authorized to take in special cases to offer children better education, etc. He wants to explain this to his father and then travel back to stay at New Hope.

Brayan found something at New Hope - it was a taste of love, a small demonstration of the love that God has for him. It made a significant impact on him and he will now do anything to come back. Thursday afternoon he left to travel with the judge to Cuzco with the judge. He came to our office, backpack full of clothes, but explaining that he'd left things in his closet because he will be back soon. He sobbed and begged not to go. He cried and cried, hugged us tightly and said goodbye. We gave him money to call us and keep us informed as the judges proceeded with his case. He called several times the next day, crying and scared. As we expected, he's been placed in another children's home as they search for his relatives.

My heart has been overwhelmed with grief over this little boy. After 12 difficult years, he finally came to a place he wanted to call home - a loving and safe place. He's now been ripped away and placed back into a dangerous world. Last night I cried my way through a church meeting where we talked about our duty as Christians to restore justice and demonstrate love to the ones who have suffered as a result of sin in this world. Please join us in praying for Brayan's safety and for his return to New Hope as soon as possible.

Brayan at Christmas - his first picture in 4 years

Spanish 101 Love Song

2008-01-29T00:09:00.000Z

We've learned a lot during our time in Peru, and one important thing we've learned is the need for humor. While there is much to share about life since we've been back after our trip home, we have to start by sharing our latest source of laughter.

"One Semester of Spanish Love Song":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngRq82c8Baw

Hot Water for Rainy Days

2008-01-16T02:20:00.000Z

Two rather unexpected events have occurred this week:
1) ongoing rainy weather in this desert region
2) installment of a hot water heater for the girls' building - yippee!!

It generally rains in Arequipa about 5-6 times per year, so needless to say the constant rain for the past week and a half has shocked the people here and overwhelmed the city with water. Most homes are leaking - many worse than others - simply because homes are not constructed to endure substantial rain here. We have buckets and bowls strategically placed in our house and in our office to catch the dripping rain. Here are 4 of the 5 that sit at the top of our stairs, creating a rhythm that lulls us to sleep at night:
Few things are nicer on a rainy day than a hot cup of tea and a hot shower. In the past only one of these would have been an option for the kids at New Hope because hot water was not even in their frame of thinking. All hot water here is produced through solar powered hot water tanks and the cost for these tanks is prohibitive for most of the population. Thanks to the generosity of several couples in the US, the funds were given to purchase a hot water tank for the girls' building. The money was given on Friday and on Saturday morning the crew was out to install the tank. In true Peruvian fashion, they hoisted the tank, solar panels and stand up the side of the building. (They wonder why Americans spend so much time navigating stairs with large objects when you can hoist them up a building or into a window with just a few ropes!). Here are a few pictures of the process:
I have had such fun listening to the girls comment on their first ever hot showers:

- That was the longest shower I've ever had!
- I've never wanted to stay in the shower any longer than I had to - but I didn't want to get out today!
- The soap comes off easier in hot water - how strange!

The extravagant nature of this gift has reminded me once again of the incredible number of every day conveniences that we have grown up with, taking them for granted most of the time. It grieves me how quickly I can detach myself from the reality of the kids at the orphanage while I take warm showers each morning with water from the tank on top of our roof, yet it happens because I am so accustomed to basic commodities like hot water. The installation of this water tank was a true answer to prayer, and I had the privilege of observing the joy and glee that it produced in the hearts of these dear girls. Please join us in giving thanks to the Lord for his provision, and for his patience with us as we forget the realities of those who are living around us without the many basic commodities that we so easily take for granted.

Advent reflections

2008-01-12T02:21:00.000Z

I grew up in a church where advent was acknowledged every December, usually through the lighting of candles on a wreath and small readings about the various aspects of advent. We attended a presbyterian church during our last year in Denver and one of my favorite parts of the year was celebrating advent. They provided each of us with an advent booklet, full of daily scripture readings and meditations on the meaning of advent. I have found myself looking forward to this season of advent ever since that time and it was nice to weave it in to our cross-cultural Christmas season in Peru. I love thinking about the anticipation and expectation that preceded the birth of Christ - the hope for redemption that was wrapped up in that bundled baby. While many Jews failed to realize that this was the Messiah they were waiting for, I find myself wanting to long for my Messiah the way they did. Advent is such a wonderful opportunity to reflect on that longing that we have within us for redemption, both now and in the future when Christ returns.

Redemption and restoration of this fallen world are two themes that have been carved into my heart during these first 5 months in Peru. We are exposed to so many more travesties and injustices in our work here than we were in Denver, though the entire world, suburbs or third-world, is oppressed with them. I have had to come to grips with the fact that I am not the savior of this world and no matter how hard we work, the injustices will continue. While that fact sometimes makes it feel like we're in a losing battle, my eyes have been forced to refocus on the hope for redemption that we have in Christ and the promise of full restoration that he offers to those who believe. The more I steep my heart in that concept, the more passionate I become about the work we're doing. For that reason I have come to love advent all the more. Its message aligns so well with the hope that we have for change through Christ and ultimate redemption in the future.

The other experience that impacted my advent season was the alignment of my trip home to Denver with Christmas Day. For months I had been looking forward to my Christmas journey, for weeks I'd been packing and preparing, and as the time line shifted to days I was giddy just thinking about it. As I took my seat for the second leg of my flight (the one that would bring me onto US soil), Christmas Eve passed over into Christmas Day. I was SO excited to be nearing my family and could hardly believe the day had come. I realized in that moment that this was the kind of anticipation that advent depicts. As we soared over the Pacific Ocean, I gained a clearer understand of the messages of advent as I began to picture that coming home experience as a metaphor for the anticipation of Christ's return and the celebration of his birth.

All of this comes several weeks after the end of advent, but I thought I'd put it out there nonetheless. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and a happy New Year. We've made it safely back to Arequipa and will be posting more frequently once again. Many blessings to you as we step into 2008!

21st century Christmas Card - final attempt

2007-12-20T21:53:00.000Z

I'm not sure if we'll end up getting a Christmas card out this year or not, so in the event that we don't, here is a quick Christmas greeting and photo from us. I suppose it is evidence that we're living in the 21st century if we can post our Christmas Card on our blog and get away with it!! We've made many attempts at getting a good picture of all of us with Davy looking at the camera with her Santa hat on - here is the last and final attempt of the evening. Merry Christmas!

Rain, packages and puppies...

2007-12-20T21:20:00.000Z

This month has been insanely busy, but filled with good things to say the least. I just finished filling a stocking for each of the children here that they will open at midnight in Christmas Eve. It's been so fun to be a part of the hustle and bustle here at New Hope! I've been blog-challenged lately because we've been so busy, but thought I'd quickly jump on and mention a few highlights from the week.

RAIN!! Yesterday we had our first real rain since we arrived in August (though "real" doesn't mean what it does in Colorado!). It was a steady sprinkle for about an hour, enough to create small puddles on the sidewalks and get the puppies to notice that there was something falling from the sky and getting them wet. It was so refreshing! As soon as I heard it on the windows I ran outside and stood on the patio, taking in that fresh rain smell and soaking up the cloudy skies. I know our friends, the Culps, in the UK would probably kill for a sunny day about now, but without a drop of moisture in 5 months we welcomed the rainy afternoon!

PACKAGE!! After months of checking our PO Box and pestering the postal services staff, we had given up home that a package from my sister would ever show up. We've had countless problems with the mail system and just recently received a big bundle of mail that had been collecting over the past few months instead of being delivered. When the package wasn't included in that bundle, we continued to check for another week but were assured by the postal staff that the package was good as gone. Just when we thought all hope was gone, we opened the PO Box on Tuesday to find the package - Chips A'hoy cookies, peanut M&M's, Kit Kats, letters from home and sweet pictures of little Nora, our niece. I was so anxious to see what was inside that I ripped into it as soon as Tony came out to the taxi. I made myself car sick by looking through everything as we zipped along the city streets, but it was definitely worth it. Thanks Jon and Lin!

PUPPIES!! Lastly, I just have to say how much fun our puppies add to our lives on a consistent basis. We love having them with us to run around at the orphanage and play with the kids, and then to provide us with mindless humor and affection at the end of a long day. Here are a few pictures for those of you who can appreciate puppy love.

Davy and Cayma have become inseparable - they usually nap and sleep through the night together Davy's giant kennel.

For some reason Davy finds the wooden spool of our chairs to be a comfortable resting place:

Here they are at our front gate, anxiously waiting for Tony to return from the store across the street:
Hope you're all enjoying this busy week before Christmas! Merry Christmas to you all!

Feliz Cumpleanos

2007-12-14T02:54:00.000Z

Our time here in Peru has been full of "firsts" - and yesterday was another day of firsts as I celebrated my 27th birthday here in Arequipa.

The best one was my first chance ever to play several hours of outdoor tennis on my birthday - not to be bundled up and battling the cold and/or snow in Colorado. It was glorious! It was also my first birthday to get a sunburn - not so glorious. : )

It was my first birthday to be away from family (aside from Mike and Dana of course!) but my first birthday to celebrate with our Peruvian friends at the children's home that have become like family here.

It was the first time I've been sung 3 separate versions of "Happy Birthday", including the standard English song but sung with a Spanish accent (Hoppy Bertday to you...).

It was the first time I've ever savored the taste of my cake so dearly - treasuring each bite of our Betty Crocker yellow cake with Betty Crocker chocolate frosting. We found these treats in Lima two weekends ago while visiting Tony's sister. Yummy!

It was the first time we've ever had a fancy candlelight dinner in an excellent restaurant for $18 USD - appetizer, main courses for both, followed by Queso Helado dessert.

It was not the first time I've been excited to receive clothes for my birthday, but it was definitely the most excited I've ever been to get new clothes.

Lastly, it was the first time I've ever had awesome "Feliz Cumpleanos" candles like this on my birthday cake. Thanks Mike!
It was a wonderful day and I'm so grateful for all that God has allowed us to do in this past year. We look forward to the coming year with great anticipation, anxious to see where God will lead us and how he will continue to teach us about himself. I'm so incredibly thankful for Tony and the countless ways that he loves me so well and the deep friendship that we share. Thank you all for supporting us in this adventure and for your encouragement along the way. I look forward to sharing with you all that happens between now and next December 12!

Sunset in the Andes

2007-12-05T15:30:00.000Z

On the days that stories like Brayan's overwhelm me, or when the cultural nuances lose their charm and make me feel so far away from home, I am often encouraged simply by the beauty that surrounds us here. Arequipa is located in a valley between three major peaks of the Andes Mountains. We have amazing views of two of the peaks - Chichani and Misti - from our office at the children's home. Each day as the sun sets I catch these amazing views out the window and am reminded of the majesty and omnipotence of our God. Thought you all may enjoy seeing them as well...

Chichani, with a view of Pachacutec

El Misti, the well known volcano peak
with a view of our across-the-street neighbors

Cry Out to Jesus

2007-11-30T12:48:00.000Z

An 11-year-old boy named Brayan arrived at the children's home yesterday afternoon, and I have been struggling to keep my tears in ever since he arrived. Brayan is from a small village near Cusco, a popular city known as the gateway to Maccu Picchu. As a young child his father abused him terribly, using physical strength and hurtful words as weapons against his son. After enduring this abuse for years, Brayan heard that a circus was coming to Cusco and began to plan his escape. He told his father that he knew he wasn't loved and asked if he could run away with the circus. His father confirmed what Brayan said - he didn't love him and he would be glad to be free of the burden of caring for him. So Brayan packed his small school backpack and ran away at 8 years old.

He traveled the country of Peru with the circus for 3 years, performing as a clown and enduring rough conditions and terrible treatment from the circus crew. When the circus arrived in Arequipa, a woman saw this young boy in the circus and offered the circus owner a good price to buy him. Brayan was taken to her home where he served as a domestic slave. He would regularly be woken at 2:00am to begin working in her garden, doing her laundry, and cleaning the entire house. Once again he was abused - physically and emotionally - to the point that he decided he would rather return to live with his father. He bravely packed his backpack with his few items of clothing and ran to the police station to ask for help in finding his father. As the police listened to his story, they knew that Brayan could not return home to his abusive father. Instead, they told him that they knew of a children's home in Arequipa where he would be clothed, fed, educated and loved. He spent the night in the police station and arrived here yesterday.

Brayan sat in our office yesterday afternoon with wide eyes, carefully watching and listening to everything we said. He spoke softly, answering our questions and helping us to determine what needed to be done to help him settle in. We gave him a set of new sheets, a warm blanket and comforter for his bed, a haircut and a pack of personal hygiene products that he could keep. He was introduced to the other boys in his room and then carefully unpacked his one suitcase of belongings. I saw one smile when I introduced our puppies to him, warning him of the kissing attacks that Cayma (Mike's boxer puppy) sneaks in whenever she has a chance.

The details of Brayan's life follow a similar storyline to the lives of many other children in our home. But we see them all as fairly well-adjusted children that are an active part of the community here at New Hope. I personally have missed the transitional months and years of their lives at New Hope. Brayan is the first child that has come in while we've been here, and I was deeply struck by the injustice in the world that would necessitate his placement in our home. This young boy has been robbed of his innocence; he's been inundated with painful messages that sharply contradict the truth about who he is as a child of God. I can only imagine what kind of questions and thoughts must be racing around in his mind as he is settling in here. I am heartbroken over the life he's had, but desperately hopeful for the healing that God can provide.

In the midst of my tears yesterday, Tony reminded me of a Third Day song that I absolutely love. It communicates a great truth about the hope of Christ for the hurting. I haven't heard it in about a year, but it was healing for soul to listen to it last night. The lyrics are here, or you can follow this link to listen to it live (my recommendation!): www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRN_ApWyb94

Cry Out To Jesus
Words by Mac Powell / Music by Third Day

To everyone who's lost someone they love
Long before it was their time
You feel like the days you had were not enough
when you said goodbye

And to all of the people with burdens and pains
Keeping you back from your life
You believe that there's nothing and there is no one
Who can make it right

There is hope for the helpless
Rest for the weary
Love for the broken heart
There is grace and forgiveness
Mercy and healing
He'll meet you wherever you are
Cry out to Jesus, Cry out to Jesus

For the marriage that's struggling just to hang on
They lost all of their faith in love
They've done all they can to make it right again
Still it's not enough

For the ones who can't break the addictions and chains
You try to give up but you come back again
Just remember that you're not alone in your shame
And your suffering

When your lonely
And it feels like the whole world is falling on you
You just reach out, you just cry out to Jesus
Cry to Jesus

To the widow who struggles with being alone
Wiping the tears from her eyes
For the children around the world without a home
Say a prayer tonight

A Peruvian Thanksgiving

2007-11-26T12:29:00.000Z

We had a great Thanksgiving Day here in Arequipa! We were on the go, morning till night, and I believe this is my first Thanksgiving that hasn't included a nap while watching an NFL football game. We had several key items that helped create a sense of home: a can of pumpkin that was turned into 2 pumpkin rolls, 2 boxes of Stove Top stuffing that were critical components of my casserole dishes, and one bag of the candy-corn style pumpkin candies that we rather selfishly saved to eat among the 5 of us at home that night! Here are a few pictures to tell about the day:

We started the day off by getting locked out of the house - which is an extra challenge when the house is surrounded by an electric fence and metal spikes! Our neighborhood guard found a latter for us to use and Dana made the jump onto our spiral staircase. But not without a good 10 minutes of the alarm blaring after our first attempt in hopping the fence from a man-made (meaning Tony, Mike and Bo stacked on each other's shoulders!).

We arrived at the orphanage to find all of the cooking well underway. Nelva is in the red hat here - she is the main cook at the orphanage and spoils us with excellent meals most every day. We've even been able to convince her to prepare 3-4 vegetarian meals per week!

Thanksgiving just wouldn't be Thanksgiving without some American Football, so Tony led the charge in explaining the rules and getting the game started. A few rules that weren't understood: no forward passing once the ball is in motion, the difference between a fumble and a dead ball, and "late hit", evidenced by every single team member jumping onto the pile once someone was tackled.

Here is little Jhon shivering by the pool after swimming with the other kids. We took everyone to a nearby recreation center with a field for football, swimming pool, and playground for the kids. The weather was surprisingly chilly and we received our first drops of rain since we arrived in August. It sprinkled for about
1 minute, but we enjoyed it anyhow!

Mike and Dana made an impression at the pool while doing back flips off of each others shoulders. All the other guests were cheering and shouting "bravo!" after each flip.

The older girls helped to distribute the food to everyone. Here is Sonya on her way out of the kitchen with 2 plates of: chicken (no turkey for some reason!), mashed potatoes, bean salad, fried rice, and corn on the cob. Yummy!

This is a classic shot of Milton, one of the workers at the home. He was happy to help finish off my food, Tony's turkey, and any other extras he could find!

Here is Carlos digging into his plate with a fork in each hand!

Later afternoon we joined some other American missionaries for Thanksgiving Celebration #2. We each brought several dishes to share and collectively had a delicious meal, complete with turkey and NFL football through their cable system!

The boys (Mike, Dana and Bo) were happy to get started on meal #2!

We ended the day with an evening church service, since Thursday is our usual mid-week Bible study night. Several church members remarked on what a great concept it is to have a holiday specifically for reflecting on the blessings in our lives and giving thanks to God. It is a great holiday and we have so much to give thanks for. We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Happy Holidays!

Candy Corn Reflections

2007-11-22T12:40:00.001Z

One of our family traditions that I have come to love about the Thanksgiving holiday is the time that we take to genuinely reflect on all that we have to be thankful for. Each guest at the Thanksgiving table has 3 pieces of candy corn on their plate. As we move around the table, each guest shares three things that they are thankful, one per piece of candy corn. As young children, my siblings, cousins and I usually had fairly similar reflections - thankful for family, for God and for the opportunity to go to school or something along those lines. I remember one year when my brother Mike sat down at the dinner table, a third grader at the time, dressed up as an American Indian with a full feather-filled headdress. He had been studying American Indians in school and was particularly excited for Thanksgiving because of it. He shared with us that he was thankful for God, for family, and "for Squanto who became friends with the pilgrims so that we could have this yummy Thanksgiving dinner, except for mashed potatoes that make me throw up."

My family will be gathering together today to celebrate Thanksgiving, starting with their candy corn reflections. We'll be celebrating here in Peru, so I thought I'd post my three candy corn reflections here instead:

Living in the city where we fell in love, surrounded by reminders of those blissful summer months, I am continually grateful for Tony and the blessing he is in my life as my husband, counselor and best friend.
Living thousands of miles away has also given me new understanding of the depth of gratitude that I have for my family. I miss them dearly every day and am thankful for the ways they love us so well from a distance.
Our work with orphaned and abandoned children, each with traumatic backgrounds, makes me grateful each day for the redemptive work of Christ and the hope for the future that each of us have in him.

We'd love to hear your candy corn reflections or the holiday activities you're participating in today - leave us a comment! Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

Backtracking to Chile

2007-11-18T02:22:00.000Z

To jump back about 2 1/2 weeks, Tony and I took a quick trip across the Peru-Chile border to get our visas renewed. Until we receive our official registration cards to be in the country, we are here on tourist visas which last for 90 days. We knew this all along, but the end of the 90 days snuck up on us much faster than we realized and we had to leave the country quickly! In times like this we are thankful to be in southern Peru, close to the Chilean border.

We traveled by bus for about $10 each, which gets you on a "top of the line" bus (essentially this means that the bathroom on-board has a 50% chance of working and that you won't make more than 3-4 stops to pick up roadside passengers along the way). : ) Upon arriving in the Peruvian border town of Tacna, we piled into a collectivo to drive across the border. These cars are generally 1980's Buick, Chevy, or Oldsmobile models - comfortable velvety seats, automated windows, etc. I have great memories of riding in my grandparents car as a child that was quite similar, talking with my grandma and eating up all of her orange tic-tacs as we rode along. So I rather enjoy riding in collectivos just for the memories!

Our collectivo

Two thumbs up from Julie for the collectivo

We arrived in Acrica, the Chilean border town, and found a hotel that was somewhat outdated but right on the coast of the Pacific ocean - so we were thrilled! We could hear the sound of waves crashing on the shore all night - it was relaxing and therapeutic for both of us. We were able to get some great photos while we were there. I only wish we could capture the sounds and smells to take home with us too.
We were refreshed after just one night away on the coast, and then it was back across the border and home to Arequipa the next morning. The bus ride home was about 2 hours longer than the ride to Chile because we were stopped several times by customs agents who searched the entire bus for undeclared contraband. One passenger on our bus was detained for smuggling in shoes, which he was probably hoping to sell in Peru to make a small profit to help feed his family. At one stop all of the luggage was unloaded, manually inspected and then held in a secured area for awhile. Here is a photo of the pile of luggage waiting to be released, and Tony waiting anxiously for our bus to be cleared to pick us up on the other side of the custom patrol gate.

All in all it was a great trip, and we are happily back in Peru for another 90 days!

Earthquake Tremor

2007-11-14T18:01:00.000Z

This morning we were studying and working in a local coffee shop when we noticed that the table was shaking. It wasn't very strong, but soon the chairs started to shake and we could feel the balcony that we were sitting on start to sway. Tremors are fairly common here, as the city is near a faultline, so no one reacts much when they occur. It was the strongest tremor I'd ever felt though, so I started to worry a bit. But sure enough, Tony was right and within about 20 seconds the shaking stopped and there was no damage done.

We returned home to learn that a 7.7 magnitude earthquake had hit in northern Chile, about 500 miles from Arequipa. My mom had heard about the earthquake being felt in Peru and decided to call to check on us. She hadn't been able to reach us at home, work or on our cell phones, so you can imagine she was worried about us! She was relieved when we called back!

Thus far no deaths have been reported as a result of the quake and the damage doesn't sound too extensive. As time passes, the reports may change but for now it sounds much better than it could have been. And we're thanking the Lord for that.

My First Women's Event - in Spanish!!

2007-11-13T16:48:00.000Z

As I was sitting down to write this entry, I realized this would probably be a good time to make sure that we told you all that Tony has taken over the pastoring responsibilities of the local church, Iglesia Bautista Amistad. Tony's parents founded this church around the same time that they founded the children's home, and the two have been closely linked in leadership and function ever since. The local pastor resigned from the church near the end of September and Tony has taken on the leadership responsibilities there. The church has never had elders in place, so we have appointed elders and Tony has been meeting with them weekly to teach them about the role of elders and lead them in making decisions for the church. He's been teaching most every Sunday and Thursday, so it was a welcomed break when Tony's dad was here for the church anniversary!

Tony and I have both been surprised at how much we've enjoyed this role. Aside from the extra responsibility load, it's been a surprisingly good fit for Tony's passions of working with people, studying Scripture, and integrating his philosophy of religion background with it all.

I have accordingly been placed in the position of "pastor's wife" and thus am responsible for coordinating women's events, etc. And yes, this must all be done in Spanish. : ) On November 3, I hosted my first Reunion de Damas (Ladie's Meeting) at the local church. We played several fun games, sang songs, and then I taught a lesson on godly friendship that I had been practicing and practicing in Spanish. We enjoyed a fun spread of snacks together, including No-Bake Cookies (the chocolate, peanut butter and oatmeal Olson family favorites!) and egg-salad sandwiches that I made in response to their request for American snacks.

I wish I had a picture to post here of the meeting, but alas I forgot my camera. A photo at 4:00pm, the start time of the meeting, would have shown me standing in front of an entirely empty church, hoping desperately that at least one person would show up! Punctuality is one major cultural difference between the US and Peru. : ) Photos between 4-4:30pm would reveal women slowly trickling in, while I stood uncomfortably among them trying to decide whether we should get started or wait for more to show up. By 4:45pm you would see about 30 women sitting in a circle, laughing and enjoying a Peruvian rendition of Pictionary. A photo at 6:45pm would show a much relieved Julie recounting everything to Tony while cleaning up and preparing to go home. All in all, I think it was a success!