Allons-y!

"It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to." ~ J.R.R.Tolkien

I'm on the road again! And though I think I know where I am going, how can I really know what life will be like when I get there? I am curious and nervous and excited to see what comes next.

I am starting this blog again because I'd like to share my journey with you. I like to write and I hope you like to read what I write! However, I'll also say at the outset that I'm not sure how often I'll have an opportunity to post an update. My current plan is try to update about every two weeks, but there may be times when exciting things happen and I just can't wait to share and I'm sure there will also be times life gets too crazy to find time to post.

Staff and Orientees from my Toronto Orientation

I am off again, this time headed for Bolivia to teach math and science at Carachipampa Christian School! I've said my good-byes to family and friends in BC, and I've taken to the skies, this time just a short hop to Toronto, Ontario for orientation. This orientation is with SIM Canada and included other orientees headed to Bolivia, Angola, Malawi, Zambia, Canada and India. I had the privilege of rooming with a young woman about my age who is headed to India for three and a half months; it was so cool to be able to talk with her and share our excitement and fears. So many times I thought to myself, "You feel that way too!?!" I got to know another family that is headed to Bolivia in Sept 2014; they have six children who each found a special place in my heart before the time was done. Our seminars included everything from spiritual formation, fund raising, culture shock and culture stress, to an intro to SIM Canada and how they work with and support their missionaries in the field. I was saddened to learn that Canada's 10,000 churches support only 5,200 missionaries and that number has not increased much since 1999. I was encouraged to hear how God has been working in different countries around the world and how some countries we send missionaries to, such as Ethiopia, have also started sending missionaries to other countries. During one seminar, Julie Burley, the elementary supervisor at CCS (Carachipampa Christian School), came and shared with us the culture and history of Bolivia, and during the following lunch I had the opportunity to ask her questions about the school specifically. That evening we cooked an 'ethnic' Bolivian meal - French fries covered in beef stewed in bouillon, chicken stewed in bouillon, hot dog bits, tomato, onion, boiled egg, ketchup, mustard, mayo, and hot paprika. It's quite the combination!

I've been dealing with Lymes Disease since September 2011 where I picked it up in Sweden from a tick bite. I was hoping I'd finally dealt with it completely when I finished my IV antibiotics a week ago, but since I'm still experiencing symptoms, the struggle continues. The tricky part with lymes disease is that I could be disease-free and still be experiencing symptoms as my body clears out the leftover inflammation. On other hand, I could also be symptom-free and still have the disease since it goes through a four-week cycle and can choose to hide during part of that time. Consequently, I won't know that I'm free and clear of it until I've been symptom-free for a month, which means I'll be taking another antibiotics for at least another two months and hope the symptoms will clear up within the first month. I'm taking a higher dose this time than last time and unfortunately, my stomach decided to voice its protest last Sunday night and Monday afternoon. I've stepped the dosage back again and am increasing it more slowly this time, and so far it seems to be working. Please pray that I'll develop the tolerance I need to take as much as necessary to clear this disease from my system.

After my orienation in Toronto, I spent two days in Toronto/Waterloo with my cousin Kylie. We went to the Art Gallery of Ontario where they currently have some intriguing 'immersive' art exhibits, sets you walk into or look into with changing lights and music and sometimes narration that make them really come alive (get a taste here: http://www.cardiffmiller.com/artworks/inst/darkpool.html#). The exhibits were very intriguing, like catching bits and pieces of people's lives without knowing the context, but they were also a little depressing. The next day Kylie and I were walking from Waterloo to Kitchener when a storm suddenly blew in! The days so far had been quite hot and muggy so we were completely unprepared. We took shelter from the strong wind and large rain drops on the steps of a nearby house, and as the wind got worse, we gradually moved up the steps on to the porch. After about fifteen minutes, we heard a scream behind us and the door opened; the woman who lived in the house was startled to look out the window in her door to find two young ladies sheltering on her porch. She graciously invited us into her house for the rest of the storm, and I think she was as relieved not to be alone any more as we were to have a dry place to be. When we emerged about half an hour later, we found that the wind had knocked numerous branches out of the trees, many of which were quite large. The storm and its aftermath reminded me of the Philippine typhoons! 

We returned to Kylie's flat in Waterloo, but apparently we didn't learn our lesson well enough the first time because not long after we started out again for Kitchener, the rain poured down again so we gave up on walking and rode the bus the rest of the way. After picking up Kylie's boyfriend Gareth in Kitchener, we headed to the Kitchener Rib-fest, only to be soaked a third time as the rain poured down; when the thunder and lightening started once more, we rushed for cover! It was such a crazy day, but I can't say I didn't enjoy it!

Saturday found me on the greyhound bus from Kitchener to Sherbrooke. I meant to catch the 9:30am bus from Kitchener but it was so full that I didn't even catch the second bus at 10am and consequently missed my connection in Toronto. I was on stand-by for the next bus from Toronto to Ottawa and then again from Ottawa to Montreal. The second bus was an especially close call, and I found out from my friend later that if I hadn't made that bus, I would have missed the last bus from Montreal to Sherbrooke. I did arrive safely in Sherbrooke at around 1am.

In Sherbrooke I am staying with my friend Marie-Claude (MC), whom I met during my time in Sweden last summer. MC and her family has been very gracious with me, slowing down their French so that I have a better chance of understanding and also switching to English when necessary. Yesterday morning I went to church with MC and her sister Claire, had a picnic lunch with them and their friends and shared in their family dinner that evening. I have a hard time following conversations in French because words go by so fast that it's hard to separate them, but I am enjoying practising listening and speaking as much as I can. I suppose this is a small taste of what I'll experience in Bolivia when with Spanish-speaking people as I don't speak much Spanish as all. Hopefully I'll learn quickly!

TTFN!