Saturday, June 28, 2008

My Last Journal Entry!

Notes:

1) There were actually two days more than this on my trip. One was our "tourist day" and the other we traveled back to the states. HOWEVER, I was too lazy to actually write anything those days, so I'll do a picture post in place of those days.
2) Any questions? Ask me in the comments and I'll do a post answering them when I get back from Peru!


AND NOW..... I PROUDLY PRESENT:

06. 17. 08/ Day Eight
Today we worked in a community called Guarari. There are three areas of the community: one nice-ish part; one with government housing; and the part we were in. We worked in an area called "la quenca", or "the pit" in English. We saw around 111 patients. My dad taught me how to fit people with reading glasses, which was... interesting. It was challenging, because although my dad taught me what phrases to say, he didn't prepare me for what the patients would say back. I gave out about three pairs in the morning, then in the afternoon people found out we were giving out eyeglasses; and I was busy all afternoon.

This evening we had dinner with the people who went with us to Amubri. They showed pictures and we hung out and talked for a while. Here are some pictures:

Tomorrow we're going to have more of a Tourist Day before we go back to the states. We're going to see a volcano (named Poas) and some waterfall and butterfly gardens called La Paz.
Today at dinner I was trying to change the quality of my pictures, and I accidentally formatted my card! I am SO upset. I almost cried. On Friday my mom's taking me to the camera shop to try to get the pictures back.
I can't wait to get home! Two more days!
See ya!
~Faith

Friday, June 27, 2008

Days Six and Seven!

Notes:
1) Replying to comments: Territerri- I post one journal entry per day, sometimes two if there's a short one. Thanks for adding me to your reader!


2) One more day 'till I leave for Peru! I can't wait! I actually am taking a break from packing to write this. I'll probably take Of Mice and Men with me.

06.15.08/Day Six

Today was our final work day. Woot. Since it's Sunday, It was a bit slower. OK, it was really slow! I mainly played ball with some little kids. Here are some pictures:







Those kids can sit there for and throw a ball back and fourth for hours and not get bored! They seriously have amazing attention spans! ADD does not exist here... LOOK! A BIRD! I have ADHD...

My mom says ADD is more common n the US because kids are overstimulated, and sometimes it can be over diagnosed.

Today we had a closing "Ceremony" with the people we ministered to. Hugo and Dana (one of our translators) put on a play for the people about a man who beats his daughter, then at the end she says that she wants to be just like him, and that makes him realize that he is mistreating her and he finds Christ.

After dinner we had a meeting just with the team, and we shared our expectations we had before the trip and something God taught us during the trip. This is what I said:

I've been on a few mission trips, and I've learned not to have very high expectations, because you're likely to be disappointed. Still, I couldn't help having a few expectations. I thought it would be like last year, [I went on a trip to this same area last year], and I thought I would have more work to do then I did. But God's taught me that it's not the work that matters as much as the relationships you build with people.
Today, at dinner, our cook made a fathers day banana cake. I didn't eat any, but I heard it was good. We finally had something other than rice - pasta! I was glad, because I am SO sick and tired of rice, and I LOVE PASTA!
Well, It's past lights out, so good night! Tomorrow, we go back to San Jose and we stop at a beach on the way! YAY. See ya!
~Faith
06.16.08/Day Seven
Today we traveled from Amubri back to San Jose. We stopped at a beach Called Cahuita on the way back. It was nice, but I got a REALLY bad sunburn. All in all, nothing really happened today.
~Faith

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Day Five!

NOTES:
1) You may or may not of noticed that I now have a twitter feed in my sidebar. If you have twitter, feel free to follow me!

2) I'm leaving for Peru in 3 days! WOO-HOO! I'm so excited, but also nervouse... This calls for double posting, because I have five more entries to post!

NOW ON WITH THE SHOW!!

06.14.08/Day Five

Well, for once we had water all day! YAY!

Today was a bit slow, but we had more men because it's Saturday and they're home from work all day. As usual, I helped kids with their crafts and met some more kids. I also helped check in patients, which was a disaster unless they had their insurance card.

All in all, the days are starting to get a bit repetitive. I'm still having trouble sleeping on the hard bunks, along with everyone else. I woke up with my arm hurting really bad, because I had slept on top of it all night, pressing it against the bed.

Tonight, after dinner, Hugo, (The clown from two days ago) shared his testimony. It is only by the grace of God that he is here today. I'm not going to post it here, because it doesn't feel right. I may post it later as a separate post, though.

After the daily clown show, they started showing the Jesus Film, but the DVD player wasn't working and the kids were getting restless, so the handed out balloon animals and let the kids go, and we went to dinner.

Well, it's getting late and I'm tired! Bueanas Tardes!

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

THE FOURTH OF MY JOURNAL ENTIRES!!

I have no special notes this time, so let's get the show on the road!
LIAR! I do....

1) I met the girl I'm flying with to Peru today! She's so nice. We went shopping for last- minute stuff that we need then ate lunch. We ended up talking for a while afterwards.

2)I uploaded a Youtube video today. I'll try to put it on blogger, but a lot of it is focused on Youtube. Oh, well.

NOW we can get the show on the road!

o6.13.08/Day Four

What a day; I don't know where to start! Hmmm... I guess I'll write in chronological order today. Well...

We woke up to roosters crowing- again. I don't know about you, but I'm in the mood for chicken soup right now; along with the rest of the group. My mom found out there are three of them, and she named them Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner.

Speaking of which, our the water was out again, and our cook couldn't cook the rice, so we just had eggs & sourdough bread for breakfast. In the morning I read, helped my mom take measurements, read, and helped some of the kids in the craft portion of the lesson. Today the cut our hearts and glued them together to make butterflies.

During the lunch break we met some college students who were part of a study abroad program based in a Missouri college. They were all fluent in Spanish, and hung out with us in the afternoon.

In the afternoon, I helped kids with their crafts again. Remember the little girl from yesterday afternoon? I found out her name was Kirara. I played with her in the morning until lunch, and she came back in the afternoon for the lesson. Here are some pictures:




This afternoon after my shower when I was heading back to the Clinic, I saw some members of our team with some kids. One boy, Andre, followed my back to the clinic. He knew some English and we tried to communicate. I sat down and started reading, and he sat very close to me, put his arm around me and rested his head on my shoulder. I guess he had a little crush! Or maybe he just needed a hug... It was kind of cute, but I wasn't sure how to react- he's nine!

After the clinic closed, they showed Shrek 3. Fortunately, it had English subtitles. I don't know if I could of sat through it without them. It was so cute!

Dinner was spaghetti and banana- pineapple juice. I know it sounds weird, but it wasn't that bad. I have a stomach ache, and I'm having trouble sleeping.

See ya tomorrow! Good night!

~Faith

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

06.17.08/Day Three

THE THIRD OF MY JOURNAL ENTRIES!!! A few notes before I begin....

1) I got my pictures back, so I'll post pictures soon when I get my dads pictures.


2) Camp Rock premiered!! I loved it! More on that soon.



And now, the moment you've all been waiting for..... (not really....)



06.17.08/ Day Three

Today we started work. In the morning, I mainly sat around, but I did interact with some of the locals a little bit. In the afternoon, I helped out with the children's program; mainly with the crafts.


There were two girls who grew very attached to me. One in the morning, and another after lunch. The morning one- I forget her name- took me all over the center, and I tried to talk to her; keyword being tried. I think she went home after lunch, because she came back when the other kids were singing during the lesson.


The other girl I met during the "Arts 'n' Crafts" Portion of the lesson. I offered to her with her craft, and she hardly left my side. While the kids were singing, I sat down and read more of Animal Farm. (It's very good; I'm almost done!) Afterwards she came up to me and I helped her color She's very precise- she would hand me a crayon, show me where to color,and I would. She's so cute!

After the Bible lesson, two members of our team dressed as clowns and did a show for the kids. During the show they called some of us up to help and do some activities with the kids. The girl from this afternoon (I forget her name as well) never left my side.

This morning our water stopped working- including the water used to flush the toilets! It came back on during the day, but its starting to go back out again. I hope it comes back on before I go to bed so I can take a shower.

Breakfast was a big surprise- rice and beans! (Sarcasm.) We also had eggs. Lunch was rice, beans, and overdone beef. We haven't eaten dinner yet, but taking a wild guess, we'll probably have rice, beans, and some kind of meat, probably chicken. One think I love about Costa Rican meals is the fruit juice! I don't know if its fresh squeezed or not, but it tastes AMAZING. I'm going to read more of Animal Farm and change now. See you tomorrow!

~Faith

Friday, June 20, 2008

I'm Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!!!!

Didja miss me? A few notes before I begin.....



1) On the next-to-last day of our trip, (THE DAY BEFORE OUR "TOURIST DAY") I formatted my memory card!!! I. AM. SO. MAD. So, there won't be many pictures for a while.... [Edit: I'm getting the memory card back today, so pics will be up later this week]

2) I've actually been back for a few days, and I'm leaving for Peru in a week, so I will be putting shorter entries together. I also may post twice in one day, in case I want to post something completely unrelated to my trips.

3) On the subject of pictures again, I do have the pictures from my moms camera, which became my own after I formatted my card. My mom didn't care; she doesn't even know how to take a picture with her phone. No offence to her, but she is technology deficient. (Seriously! When I was four, I was teaching her how to put a CD-ROM in the CD drive on our old computer!)



Anyhow, Here's my first journal entry!

O6.10.08/Day One

Today we traveled- not much happened. Fortunately, the flights were boring; no turbulence or anything. On flight to Miami, College Road Trip was shown, and we watched 27 Dresses on the way to Cost Rica. (The censored version was shown.) Both of them are good movies.

Anyhow, when we got to Costa Rica, we went to our hotel, got settled in, and went out for dinner. All-in-all, a pretty boring day.

~Faith

o6.11.08/Day Two

Travel day- again. We had a six hour bus ride, a 10 minute river crossing, and a second thirty- minute bus ride. We had to wait about an hour for our luggage to arrive, though.

Right now, we're about to eat dinner, and will probably go to bed soon after.

Today and yesterday, I read twilight- for about the third time! It's so good; I never get tired of it! I would read it again, but I really should get started on Animal Farm. I really don't mind; I actually like classic literature- somewhat. I've heard a lot of good things about Animal Farm, though, so it shouldn't be that bad

I'm excited to see everyone from last years trip again. A lot of people didn't return, but some did and I'm happy to see them again. I can't wait to start work again tomorrow!

~Faith

PS: We saw the most adorable puppy today when we arrived. We named him Tico, (The name Costa Ricans call Costa Rican men/boys) and he followed us EVERYWHERE, but he disappeared after dinner.

Monday, June 9, 2008

Costa Rica

Well, my bags are packed and I'm ready to go! First stop: Cost Rica! I don't know what time my flight leaves, but my family is leaving for the airport at 3:00 AM, so I'm assuming it leaves around 7 or so. We're actually going with a group of people from our church on a medical mission's trip, we're meeting at the church at 3:15, so really, we'll officially be on our way to the airport at 3:30.

Anyway, my parents will be working in a medical clinic, and I think I'll be working with the children, and I might be going with my dad further into the jungle and will be doing blood pressures and such.

The place we'll be working is a little jungle town near the Panamanian border. A group from San Jose goes there about every two months and does a clinic and some other ministries for different age groups. (e.g. a Bible story/ craft for the kids, and sewing projects for the women, and soccer with the teenagers.)

I have a journal I received as a gift a few years ago and never used until now that I'm taking with me. I'll try to write in it every day and post what I wrote when I get back, so as huckdoll said "you can live vicariously through me!" My dad also got me a bigger memory card for my camera, so I'll also have LOTS of pictures for you and videos for youtube!

Alrighty, I am going to sleep now, because I'll need it- I can't sleep on planes! Fortunately, I have a lot of books to read- I have to read Of Mice and Men and Animal Farm for school and write a report on each of them. My goal is to have one report done before I leave for Peru, but my personal philosophy is "Procrastinators of the world unite! -- Tomorrow."

~ Faith

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Final Exams Suck.

I wanna post something, but:
a) I dunno what
b) I gotta study for finals.

Schools almost over for me; I have one more exam tomorrow, then I'm done for the year! UGH! I do NOT want to study. I'm so tired, and I can't focus at all! My Ancient Civ. teacher told us exactly what to study, but it's a lot, and it's very tedious work. My study guide for his midterm was 10 pages!
Fortunately, my most important exam is out of the way- English. I want to be a writer, and my grade on the exam determines weather I'll be in Honors English or not. In January, I applied to take Honors English-the highest level English class for sophomores at my school- and I was accepted. However, to be in honors, one has to have at least a "B" average at the time of applying, and at the end of the school year. I currently have a "B-." One thing I like about my school is that semester exams only count for 1/7Th of your grade in that class, because its hard to change your final grade- If you're doing really good and you bomb your exam, you still do great at the end of the semester. Unfortunately, I really need to change my grade in English! I have to get 7 points higher than my current average to move up a letter grade, so I need to get a 91 on my exam to get a "B."

I just checked my school's online grade book, and I actually have a 86 in that that class- so that means I need an 93 on my exam, which I cannot find anywhere!

Tomorrow at exactly 10:00AM I will be a sophomore. YAY.

I can't believe it. I'm only a freshman and I can't wait to get out of here. Did you know there's an actual high school named hell? Seriously, who names a school- the epitome of torture for all teenagers- hell? The only thing I would "like" (lack of better term) about that would be being able to say at the end of the school year/graduation "I can't wait to get out of hell!"

Today I auditioned for my schools select traveling choir. Everyone who auditioned made it- only eight people auditioned. Honestly, that's not that bad for my school- we have 160 students in the high school and 400 in the entire school. It worked out perfectly, though; four girls auditioned and four guys auditioned. Technically, I'm not officially in until tomorrow when the results are posted, but when you're one of eight auditioning, it's a shoo-in.

This summer is going to be so chaotic. In less than a week, I'm going to Costa Rica on a mission trip; two weeks later I go to Peru for two weeks; and the first two weeks of August, I'll be in Ukraine!

The Summer of Chaos starts tomorrow.

~Faith

Sunday, June 1, 2008

Harry Potter

I picked this up while reading Kaley's archives and decided to do it and save it in my drafts in case I ever needed to post something and had nothing to post. [ Edit: I later decided to post this when the next Harry Potter movie came out, but then they moved the release date to June...)

Number your 12 favourite Harry Potter characters, in no particular order, and answer the questions below the cut! No peeking.
1. Luna Lovegood.
2. Fred Weasley.
3. George Weasley.
4. Hermione Granger.
5. Harry Potter.
6. Ronald Weasley.
7. Sirius Black.
8. Remus Lupin.
9. James Potter.
10. Lily Potter.
11. Ginny Weasley.
12. Nymphadora Tonks.

1) Have you ever read a Six/Eleven fanfic before?[Ron/Ginny]
I hope not!

2) Do you think Four is hot? How hot?[ Hermione]
Ew. I'm straight.

3) What would happen if Twelve got Eight pregnant?[Tonks/Lupin]

Thats Kind of twisted... But not... Cuz they do end up together.... I'M CONFUZZLED!


4) Do you recall any fics about Nine?[James]
yes, but they're all WAY out of character.


5) Would Two and Six make a good couple?[Fred/Ron]
8 -0. EEEEW!!


6) Five/Nine or Five/Ten?[Harry/James][Harry/Lily]
8 -l. No. Impossible, cuz a) They're his parents, and b) they're dead.



7) What would happen if Seven walked in on Two and Twelve having sex?[Sirius] [Fred/Tonks]
Were he living, he probably beat up Fred, were he living, for having sex with his BFFL’s woman.

8) Make up a summary of a Three/Ten Fanfic.[George/Lily]
While grieving the loss of his twin, George finds a time turner and *tries* to go back in time to stop his death. Unfortunately, never being taught how to use a time turner, he goes back to far… I really hope that never happens...


9) Is there any such thing as a One/Eight fluff?[Luna/Lupin]
Sure Hope not.


10) Suggest a title for a Seven/Twelve Hurt/Comfort fic.[Sirius/Tonks]
"Teddy's Daddy" I don't know...


11) What kind of plot would you use if you wanted Four to de-flower One?[Hermione/Luna]
.... What kind of twisted person would write/read about that?


12) Does anyone on your friends list read Three het?[George]
What's that? Yes I'm sheltered.



13) Does anyone on your friends list write or draw Eleven?[Ginny]
Yes! We all love her!

14) Would anyone on your friends list write Two/Four/Five?[Fred/Hermione/Harry]
No. We're all Hermione/Ron and Ginny/Harry shippers.

15) What might ten scream at a moment of great passion?[Lily]

... I don't know.

16) If you wrote a song-fic about Eight, what song would you choose?[Lupin]
"Everything You Ever Wanted" By Hawk Nelson



17) If you wrote a One/Six/Twelve fic, what would the warning be?[Luna/Ron/Tonks
Why would I need a warning? I never write about adult material.


18) What might be a good pick-up line for Ten to use on Two?[Lily/Fred]
.... well considering she's dead, I'm sure it would be something complimenting him on his uncanny ability to make a time-turner... though that wouldn't really be a pick-up line...