next

Iceland /New Zealand/ Norway/ Sweden

i'd love to go.

Anticipation.

I think i'm doing that thing again where I really miss the cold weather, and it freaks me out. Actually let me repharse that! I miss the change in seasons, but still, it freaks me out! I really wasn't anticipating missing it at all, but I do. I missed fall weather a lot.... and now I miss hot chocolate, and it is against my principles to drink it in hot weather so i've been going to star bucks and buying chocolate milk a lot. I guess all these trips to starbucks really got me missing coffee shops and scarves and what not. Nevertheless, the weather here is really great because we have a little bit of cold in the mornings and evenings, which will do for now.

It's just ironic that when a place finally starts to feel like home it's time to leave! these next three weeks are going to fly by. I know it because the last 3 months certainly have. I'm just bracing myself now trying to make the best of the last few weeks... and really really really realllllllly anticipating my return to Boston, and at the same time not knowing how to say goodbye to all of this.

At any rate, work has been going well. Tomorrow I will spend my first EVER thanksgiving away from home! It doesn't really feel like it's thanksgiving at all :) and get this... mission builders are the only ones working in the whole campus! woo. So, we get to make all the food, but then we are having a party altogether thursday night. I also work friday, but short hours (like 6 a.m to 10 or something) then we all get to take a van to the beach for the rest of the afternoon. I've never spent thanksgiving weekend on the BEACH. interesting.

random pics



Good night Hale Ola
Maria (pink) and Ida going to bed :)


Roommate (red) and stephanie at the kitchen :)


dress up. christian and Jude


Tehani and Ella Joy crack me up with those heels. They walk better in heels than I do.


Swim Lessons every Friday- kids LOVE it.

This is David, and I love him. so does the rest of the campus...


David enjoying life (Christian is really into pretending he is drowning these days)


Jude showing off major backstroke skills

...Waves.

It looked a lot better with bigger pictures, but anyway just watch the surfer directly in front of the two sitting down.

lazy afternoon...

writing letters on a rainy day..........................

Ode to Sigur Ros

If i had to eat papaya
(which I despise)
every time I listened
I would still listen
a lot.




The End.

it's "DINNER"!

Don't ask me why, but it really bothers me when people call dinner "supper". My roommate calls dinner "supper" all the time, and it's only one of the infinite ways in which we are different. The girl -whose name shall remain unmentioned-that moved into my room once my original roommate(Sydney) moved 0ut has taught me a lot without wanting or meaning to. Sheesh...have I been "stretched" by my roommate situation..... (obviously the word "supper" is not REALLY a major issue, just an illustration:) Don't let my tan or beach pictures fool you, because actually the roommate situation is just one of the many aspects of life here that has stretched me... and that, my friends, is a wonderful thing.

breathe.

Just got back from a run, and It feels really good. just thought i'd share.
Also, tomorrow around 7 a.m my time I'll be calling up the airline about asking to change my return date to december 23rd (instead of 26th) because I want to come home for Christmas (I won't go into why plans have changed). If you're in the mood, pray for that! The only way I can change that flight is if the airline agrees to reimburse me for a hotel reservation that I made for my trip back (I make a stop in seattle overnight) . Needless to say, I have to stay overnight because my original flight was canceled, so the airline is willing to reimburse me for that seeing as it is THEIR FAULT (or I wouldn't have booked the hotel of course) but they had said they wouldn't reimburse me until I'm already back in Boston. Problem is... I need the money NOW so I can use it to change my flight! Ok, a lot of info, and you are officially lost, but the bottom line is... pray that I can convince them to give me MY MONEY now. I repeat, MY MONEY.

I love you all, and I miss you, and I'm sorry that it is freezing in Boston.... because it sure it nice here (ehehhee love to throw that in there) It's actually getting much better (the weather) it was too hot when I got here, but now it's just perfect. So, if you ever decide to come to Hawaii, come in november... it's great! I'm still on a technology fast aside from this blog and travel related communications :) will keep you posted....



-the end-

"you look tired!"

Oh if I had a penny for every time I have been told "wow, you look tired!" (in life in general, but specially here because I usually don't get enough sleep)
Yes, I AM TIRED, thank you for pointing it out, but for the most part this is just how my face looks in the morning- whether i am tired or not makes very little difference. God gave me an interesting morning face lol and that is ok with me.

Anyway, just wanted to let y'all know that i'm on somewhat of a "technology fast" this week. Don't ask. It just means that if you have something important to say you can call and leave a message, or better yet... WRITE A LETTER! (I've been so bad about writing it feels wrong to ask for letters but i will anyway) don't leave it for facebook or email because i probably won't get it. This will probably only be for a week, or so... we will see!

Now off to work!!
Today I miss wearing winter clothes lol

Happy Birthday Kristin

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KRISTIN!! not quite the 17th here yet, but it is on the east coast! I wish i could've made it to your shindig, but I will celebrate here with a sunday from mcdonalds for you:) heheh)

It seems winter is upon us in Hawaii. The nights are cooler (like in the mid 60's ) and the water is cooler, and the waves are really big at most beaches....
Today we took a van to a new beach and I finally got the hang of body boarding :)
I've tried before, but have been totally beat up by the waves , so i gave up for a while. Well, today I conquered the waves. Granted, the beach was more like a lake, and the waves were only a little bigger than new-england-size waves... but STILL. I had a lot of fun.


only 4 more weekENDS with the mission builders! the bittersweet countdown is on...


Enjoy the random pics

Junior and Elin hanging out at Hale Ola


Alice and her husband Ron arrived here on the same night as I did. Awesome couple


hmmmm i think this was our cleaning day

....when you're having fun

So as of yesterday I've only got 5 more weeks as a mission builder. Time is flying!
I know the next 5 weeks are going to go by really fast, so I'm trying hard to enjoy my time/friends here as much as possible. Looking back I marvel at how much i've grown/learned in my time here so far....
This monday my good brazilian friend Junior leaves, and I will have no one to speak portuguese to :( It's annoying to have to say goodbye so frequently. On the other hand i'm really grateful that there is a really big group of us who leave on the same day because it'd be really hard to say goodbye to the ones who've been here with me since the beginning. This weekend a huge group of new mission builders arrived (something like 15 people) and I've made a new buddy :) so i'm really happy about that....
I'll be spending my last week of Hawaii in Maui :) and I am really looking forward to 7 straight days in Hawaii without WORK :D




ridin a scooooterrrr. I was pretty scared... my friend shana had just learned how to drive one


Breakfast!!


Varpu's bday party


Dinner at Bubba Gumps. fun.

skype it up

I have it.
you have it.

let's use it!



**mom, dad, ask matt to tell you what it is, and tell everyone to be home on sunday so we can skype it up.

Ode to the Sea Turtle

Sea Turtle
Oh how I wish
I could hug you,
and lift you
but you are heavy
and it could cost me
25,000 dollars
according to David.
and you
you are always always sleepy
and I would hate to wake you up

The end.

mahai'ula and Jaboticaba

this weekend was perfect.
on saturday we had cleaning day, and afterwards my friend david (foundation school staff) actually invited some mission builders to go to a beach nearby which id never been to before called mahai'ula. The place was amazing... it was so quiet that we all actually fell asleep ... no tourists, no madness, no boomboxes... oh the joy.
At night I realized that now that it's november not only are the waves bigger, but that the nights are a chillier. As I walked to mcdees for my saturday night hot fudge sunday delight, I I was freezing when it was actually only about 65 degrees, which sent me into a panic about soon coming home to below freezing temps. a.k.a i am NOT ready.

On a happier note, on sunday afternoon a brazilian couple (simone and Leo) who is staff here at YWAM invited some of us other brazilians to their house for some CHURRASCO. oh yum. It was only Sam, the kitchen cook, Junior, me, and Michelle (korean brazilian.... SO COOL)

Did I mention they happen to have some JABUTICABA? (awesome brazilian fruit that i havent had in about 13 years maybe more...) I went nuts. nuts. they started calling me jabuticabeira (jabuticaba tree) I brought some home which I will devour in the morning.

note that I am trying to type this in darkness as my roommate is asleep....

Good night Boston :)



JABOTICABA!


YUM! out of focus


Flamenguista


Sam(Hawaiian friend of ours who is staff in the kitchen), leo, e junior

eu simone e a michelle


korean brazilian :)





so happy to find a quiet non touristy beach

The teacher thing...

I have no problem admitting that more than once I have doubted, or questioned whether teaching little kids, or teaching at all, is really FOR ME. Don't get me wrong, there's no question about how much I love kids, and that I want to work with them, but the whole "being a teacher" thing is what I sometimes wondered about. It's just a really big responsibility and at the end of almost 4 years of college I was not feeling so secure that my education(and experience with TODDLERS) had prepared me for that role.

Well, this week i was with the kids in a circle teaching a lesson or something or other and all of a sudden it dawned on me. wow, i'm a teacher. When I first came to YWAM my expectations for the job with foundation school were completely different than what I found on my first day lol. I was expecting to be nothing but a helper to someone who was completely in charge and knew what they were doing.... but instead it's a lot more like a co-teaching experience. The other teacher and I split up the subjects each week and we are fully in charge of teaching that area, and of course beyond that is classroom management which I feel has been left completely up to moi :) (that's not to say that the other teachers don't help with that, but "order" is one of those things that comes naturally for me only because I can't really function in a classroom without it, so i've just taken over that area without realizing heheh)

At any rate, the point is I feel like the whole experience though very very hard and frustrating at times :) has given me some confidence, and DESIRE, to go into student teaching in january. I'm really looking forward to it. I know that God had it all planned out this way for a reason, and it has been just what I needed.

This week has been one amazing week of just learning that God is faithful, and He really hears little OLD ME! it has been so good, and now I can't wait to go home and share it all with you

missing y'all!!





the kids praying for China

I wish I could watch the Office

I think I've officially entered the phase in blogging where keeping up the blog becomes more of a chore than anything else. If you're a long time blogger and you've never entered that phase, hats off to you....
I think part of it has to do with the fact that the camera i've been using of late is this really cool danny/joel camera, which just means it works well and it's big :) (Before you freak out and think that I actually spent a grand on a camera let me explain that a friend let me borrow it... it's NOT MINE! lol) So anyway, i don't carry it around with me, and I don't really take pictures unless an occasion arises. On the bright side, I'm actually learning how to take pictures manually... and I LOVE IT. I've gotten a few mini lessons from a couple of friends here, which has actually made me consider taking photo sometime when I get back (maybe over the summer?) It probably won't happen seeing as i don't own a nice camera which would defeat the purpose :) but dreaming about it is fun. Since being in Hawaii I've thought about learning a million things... including at least 3 other languages, bible school, photography lol and the list goes on.... I will have to narrow the list down when I come back to earth of course.

This friday I'll have been here for 9 WEEKS!! It's ridiculous how fast time flies when you're having fun... It feels like the worst phases of homesickness are over, and the 13 other girls i live with are really starting to become a little sisterhood of sorts . Building 6 at hale ola is one very exciting place to live heheheh......

Now on to more important things, IT'S ELECTION DAY!

I love election day, even though I don't get to vote. Let me rephrase that. I LOVE election day probably BECAUSE i don't get to vote. No pressure on my back about having to pick between two unexciting/uninspiring choices... I just sit back, pray hard, and watch it all unfold.



Oh and one more thing... I wish I could watch The Office!

rest

today the gang went to some place to kayak, but I actually stayed home... slept in.... then went to the beach later on in the day.
call me a granny, but all I have to say is feels good to stay back and rest once in a while :) I feel so much better...