If you asked me what I was most looking forward to about Asia I would have said....well, depending on the day, who knows what I would have said, but one thing for sure I was looking forward to was the colors! I love colorful things. So far, Thailand has been very colorful. Here are some photos of colorful things I have found along the way so far.
These beautiful water lillies are in pots in front of stores and houses.
A typical color for any given meal. So delicious!
The plates are always so pretty. They always seem to have some colorful, intricate design.
First of all...so stinkin' cute...I loved all of the colors in her outfit and in the store behind her.
This guy is so much cooler in real life. He is colorful, huge, and my favorite, covered in glitter!
Love this.
This ladies were walking in a procession/parade thing.
More colorful women! :)
Well, there are a few colors so far. I am sure there will be more to come.
Sawasdeeka—(hello in Thai) which brings me to my point…I’M IN THAILAND! After 133 hours of traveling via buses, planes, vans, taxi, and by foot, I have finally made it to Thailand.
Arrived in Bangkok. Had some AMAZING Thai food, smoothies, a cultural briefing, and got a tattoo.
Went on a 10(ish) hour van ride to Chang Mai got there in the middle of the night, had more amazing Thai food and some more briefing on where I was going to be living, was then put on a truck and sent 3 more hours to stunning, mountainous, northern Thailand to a village called…Chang-something...I think.
This month, my one teammate Katie, and I are living with a Buddhist couple who are probably in their 50’s, May Pin and Paw Nit are their names...again, I think. They speak absolutely no English, and I speak zero Thai. We are living in their house, eating their Thai food, and totally embracing authentic Thai culture. In this village my team is spread out within 3 different houses. We must be up at 6 to help out with daily chores, and lights go out at about 8:30 or 9:00 pm.
I personally want to go to bed when it is still sunny out because of all the creatures that also inhabit this land. Depending on how well you know you will determine how funny you will find this blog.
On our first night here in the village the locals stayed up waiting for us to arrive and had a delicious feast waiting for us. As we were all sitting around the table (our team eats dinner together), everything was fine until one guy pointed out the HUGE bull-frog. So…being that I am scared to death of frogs…I freaked out. It was so embarrassing and so uncontrollable…I was squatting on my chair, with sheer panic all over my face, covering my eyes (because if I can’t see him, he can’t see me!). One sweet Thai lady saw that I was scared to death, she went over to the massive toad with TONGS…tongs, like what you flip a hotdog on the grill with…picked that joker up and threw him over a wall. I was dying.
This is just one of many frog encounters I’ve had so far. Katie and I are kind of living in Charolette’s Web. We have a HUGE rat in the kitchen, Templeton, who runs around the counter and scared the beans out of you when you are brushing your teeth. We also have Charolette, the massive spider, who is ALWAYS hanging out on the toilet; she is the size of a small pancake…so gross! Needless to say, getting up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom…yea, doesn’t happen.
Aside from the creatures, living in a Thai village is simply amazing. The food…every dish that has been placed in front of me is amazing. I am so thankful that I have not had a bowl of some crazy fish dish served to me…it’s only been pork or chicken. I will admit, I go to every meal a little bit scared that it’s going to be a bowl of sardines. So far, so good.
Also, way fun…
It is Water Festival 2012 right now. What that means, is when you are driving down the road in the back of a pick-up truck, there are clumps of people every so often waiting for you to come by and they slam you with tons of water. Ice cold water. Warm water. Pink water. Creepy yellow water. But I’m talking soaked! “Maeai Songkran” is one of the greatest festivals I’ve ever been a part of. I have been blasted (so hard my sun-glasses flew off) and I have been part of the clumps of people blasting. I even blasted a truck full of military men…oops! We need to start this up in America. It’s great!
I hope to be blogging more often this month. Thank you for reading and for your support. Please continue to pray for safety and health…I still have not been sick yet! Praise the Lord.
I never thought that I would go so long without blogging, but good grief, it’s quite the process. So I figure I’ll just catch you up on what happened in Honduras and what is now going on in Nicaragua.
Here's mario.
Let’s start with my stinky little friend Mario. As it turns out Mario was still smoking pot quite a bit. When Tony (our host in Honduras) confronted him, Mario ended up telling Tony that he was bored of smoking and…wam-bam, wanted to start school. Tony asked him when he wanted to start, Mario said, “today”. Tony has a private tutor for some of the boys who are really far behind in school and Mario started school the following Monday. Fourteen year old Mario started the first grade two weeks ago.
The next major memory in Honduras was the city dump! Never in my life did I think anything like this existed. Let me set this up for you: the sky is grey and smells like burning trash (which is a smell that makes the faint of heart want to gag), there are vultures, huge nasty vultures, cows, dogs, men, women, and children all rummaging through the trash. Not just little piles of trash, but literally standing under the dump trucks like children at a piñata waiting for the new trash to fall out and see what they could collect. These people work at the dump collecting recyclables.
Meet Jennifer, she is 16 years old. She has worked at the dump ever since she can remember. Her parents, who also worked at the dump, left for the USA when she was 6 years old, so she just continued to do what she knew…work at the dump. She now has a 9 month old baby boy and works 12 hours a day for about five dollar a day.
The poverty is like nothing I’ve ever seen before. This was a hard day…it was hard to process why I am not Jennifer. How did I end up with an education and a clean home to grown up in? It is still very hard to process all of the questions I have…but I am thankful for the opportunity to go and show love to these hard working people!
here are a few other pictures from the day at the dump:
Katheryn and I were chatting with these two sisters who work at the dump, they were 14 and 16. And, without hesitation, were eating their bags of fruit without washing their hands. They said they had worked there for the last 8 years with their father.
some men who work at the dump, taking a little break.
The dump truck dumping out new trash. Take note of the smog in the air.
ok, on a different note....
Get this. I was in this town called Los Pinos…it’s a pretty dangerous part of Honduras, lots of gang activity and drug usage. We were warned that it was a dangerous place, but I had visited several times and so I let my guard down. On the last Friday I was in Honduras, I took my camera to Los Pinos for the last time and was getting some final shots of some of my favorite kids…I handed my camera to a friend of my to take a picture of me and this cute little baby, as she was snapping the photo, a teen ran by and ripped the camera out of her hand and ran. Before it even registered what had just happened, he was long gone. It was baffling. Cops came, some locals were hunting for him on foot, the store owners were calling each other to be on the look-out for “Robert”. For some random reason I felt this really strange peace about it, I can’t explain it or why I felt that way but I wasn’t as sad as I should have been. I mean, I just lost my $600.00 camera with ALL of my Honduras pictures and videos…yes, I was sad about that…but, like I said, I had this strange peace. A few days went by and it was time to leave Honduras. I was pretty bummed to leave the country without my camera; I thought for sure it was going to come back to me. But I mean, really? It was probably sold for drugs that very Friday night. Moving on to Nica, 2.5 weeks later…my team leader gets a phone call, “tell Nicole her camera has been returned!”
WHAT?? How awesome is God?! It totally is in my hands today. Not a scratch on it. Battery and memory card still there. Pictures are still on the card AND the battery is full, which is odd because the battery was dying in Los Pinos the last time I was using it. I have no idea who, what, or how, but all I know is that if God cares about my stupid camera….woah…what does He think of you and me?
OK, now Nica…
We have been working in a lot of special needs schools, orphanages, hospitals, and even doing some painting. Our living conditions are great. It is the shortest month we have had so far…and time is flying by. We leave for Thailand April 5th. I can’t believe this leg of the trip is almost over. It’s crazy. Today I had my iPod in and was lying down in the bed of a moving truck. I loved looking up the beautiful blue sky with a few random fluffy clouds, watching the unique trees, birds and rooftops go by mixed in with the powerline wires cris-crossing all around. It made me realize how much I love what I am doing and just how blessed I am to be here.
I will try to blog more frequently…know that I am happy and healthy and still loving my life! Thank you for all of your support!!
A final wrap up on El Salvey and an intro into Hundury...
I can’t believe that I am already halfway through my second month. Super crazy, time is flying. Sorry it’s been so long since I’ve posted a blog...but here ya go.
Here are my closing thoughts on El Salvador:
I can’t look back at all the houses I built or wells I dug for thirsty people. I can’t think back to the great conversations I had that led others to make better decisions with their lives. What I can say, is that I learned a little more about love. I learned how to love without my words (mostly because I did not have words to say) but by my actions. I must admit, I was a bit discouraged that I had not done “more” in El Salvador.
As much as I would have loved to have built a house…they eventually get roof leaks and or fall apart. What I got to give to the people of El Salvador was more than a tangible, breakable object, it was a genuine love. And isn’t that what we are called to do? I think Jesus sums up our duty as a Christian by saying, “love Me, first and foremost; and then, love others!” That’s what I did. I was able to leave El Salvador satisfied with my month because I know that I took opportunities to love.
On to Honduras:
This month is going to be a challenging on two levels, emotionally and physically. We (my entire squad of 45) are all living on a property, Zions Gate. It is run by an American man, Tony, who takes in boys off the streets.
There are 7 ‘street boys’ who are also living on the property. It is AMAZING to see what God has done in their lives. They are 10-17 years old and all have been taken off the streets and out of terrible situations. They are loud, rambunctious, and IN LOVE with us. They have such a desire to become friends with us, learn English, and show off their impressive bicycle skills.
Here is a little bit of what I will be able to do this month:
Projects at Zion’s Gate (where we are staying), painting, landscaping, and rebuilding a class room for the boys private English lessons.
There is a soccer organization that is huge here in Honduras that puts teens on a soccer team and gives them jersey and in return they need to show up to a bible study. So our team put together stacks of 16 jerseys according to size and color to help this organization out.
On Fridays we all go to a correction center for teens that have been taken off the streets. A lot of these kids hate being there and so we come and try to bring some hope and a few laughs to these depressed kids. We paint nails, make friendship bracelets, and sing songs.
Some are teaching English and music at a local school.
And my personal favorite, getting to know the street boys that hang out at Zion’s Gate. There is one little guy, Mario, who is 14. Mario has no mother and his dad drives a city bus all day 7 days a week. Mario has no education, likes to smoke pot, inhale paint thinner, and steal. BUT because he has been hanging out at Zion’s Gate, he has been receiving 3 full meals a day, hasn’t been high is a long time, and learned how to write his name. Mario has stolen one thing and that’s my heart. I love this kid. I love his only green shirt he wears that smells like a puppy. I love that he puts his hair in a mohawk every day. His little toes pop out of most of the shoes he wears. I don’t love that. I love that he now hugs me with two arms (that took some time) and I love that one day he came right up to me and gave me a piece of his chocolate! I’ll tell you what else I love…that Mario came to the correction facility with us, not to go in as an inmate, but as an EXAMPLE to the teens there, that their lives can change too. HOW AWESOME IS THAT?? SO FREAKIN’ AWESOME! Here’s what else I love: that little Mario was dancing and singing to the goofy Christian songs at the correction facility…I freakin’ love that. As I am writing this I am torn between laughing and crying. It is amazing to see what a little bit of love/God can do in someone life. Mario is hanging out at Zion’s Gate because he is choosing to. Not because he is being forced to. He is being shown true love and he keeps coming back. He is being respected, trusted (with all of our stuff around), he’s even being hugged…I don’t think he is used to hugs…but I’ve been giving him A LOT of hugs….the good kind of hugs, where I pick him up and spin him around and squeeze him real tight, best part of my day! Below is me and Mario! :)
This month has been so great. I love what I am doing. I know it is where I am supposed to be. I am so thankful to everyone who has supported me…financially, mentally, or prayerfully. I wouldn’t be able to hug Mario if it weren’t for you! So thank you! Thank you for believing in what I am doing. I love it! :)
Thanks for reading!
Today was such a great day. For starters, my teammates made some delicious pancakes for breakfast. I then went and found the internet and was able to find a bootleg, terrible sound version of The Bachelor…such a nice escape…I love that stupid show. *I definitely don’t like that Courtney girl and I think Casey B from TN is cute…oh sorry. Ok. So, after some trash reality TV my team and I packed into the back of a pickup and went off to this little village.
We had been to this same little village before and so I was off to go find the kids I played with last time. As I was walking down the dirt-road, with chickens pecking all around, four little girls started walking my way. They were adorable. We started talking, which consist of me asking them simple questions in Spanish, ‘how old are you? Do you like chickens? Do you like dogs? Do you like cows?” that’s about all I know. After some small talk, they girls noticed Clyde (my traveling gnome) in my pocket of my backpack. THEY LOVED HIM! They were playing with Clyde like they had never seen any form of a ‘doll’ before. They built him a house and showed him to all their other friends. It was so adorable. My brilliant mom packed me some simple little ribbons (to let kids play with) and between Clyde and the ribbons these girls were in heaven. They had a real hard time saying ‘Clyde’ so they gave him a Spanish name but then I didn’t quite know how to say the Spanish name so they asked for some paper and a pen to write it down for me…since I didn’t have any paper, I just gave them my bible…I now have this adorable drawing on the front blank page of my bible along with all kinds of dirty finger prints. Best addition to my bible ever.
So, after doing some dramas, talking about Jesus, and singing with the kids we piled back into the little red truck and headed for our little mustard yellow house. One teammate bought a basketball the other day and so 7 of us went to go play some basketball down the street from our house. Well, it was being used by some locals. One thing led to another and there was then a tournament going. 5 on 5, first to 5 points wins, winners stay in and play the next team. My team was me, 3 other small white girls and one tall black guy! We dominated. We won every game we played. By the second game I looked around, here’s what I saw:
The sun setting and the sky filled with blues, purples, and pinks, the silhouette of a mountain not too far off, two basketball goal with multi-colored ply-wood back boards, and every local out of there house watching the game go on. Men, women, and children crowed the streets and sat on the sidewalks watching us play.
It was such great night. We made friends with the other guys playing and told them we’d be back to play again.
There is something to be said of living in one place for this long. I have developed a few friendships with the locals. Theresa Lopez, the lady we buy hot tortillas from everyday for lunch who always had a special treat waiting for us, Jacquline, the 21 year old who loves 80’s pop music and always has it blasting, and of course the local kids. They love to follow us or watch us when we are out and about. So, every now and then random games of tag or sprint races have been known to break out with the kids. I love seeing all these people on a daily basis. This little town has shown nothing but love to us and it is so fun to be apart of it. The roads are made of dirt, the homes don’t consist of much, it is a very simple way to live here in this small town, and the people are wonderful.
Now don't get me wrong, there have definitely been some hard days. Most of my teammates have been sick with a major stomach bug. Praise the Lord I have not felt the effects of this disaster going throughout the house. Please continue to pray for joy, health, and unity!
AND...so bummed the one day I have internet I forgot my camera card reader....so again, no pictures....next time. :)
Hola from El Salvador.
Things are going so great. I am so happy with where I am at. I am so excited to see God in new ways, master Spanish, and continue to eat frozen fruit.
Some highlights:
1. I met a dog named Tequilla.
2. I have showered once.
3. My team is staying in a bright mustard yellow house. It's been a very comfortable stay.
4. The people from El Salvador are amazing. They love having us around.
5. We travel everywhere in the back of a truck. It's so crazy, but fun.
6. I can't understand the worship services, but they are powerful in a strange way. I am enjoying trying to pick up some Spanish. Hopefully I'll master it in the next 3 months.
7. My team has been great
8. When we departed the States, we started off with a mile hike to the bus stop, to the train, on another bus, and then on a plane--once we arrived, 20 of us smooshed into a van (that needed a 'pushing start' from 3 men) for about an hour and then we arrived at our house. :)
Pictures to come, I promise. Stay tuned.
Did I mention I LOVE my life?! I am so content and happy.
One week till launch! I cannot believe this is really going to happen. It seems so surreal to me. As you can imagine, I am racking my brain as to what clothes to bring, how to pack, and what last minute gadgets I need to pick-up. This is a crazy state of mind to be in, however, I can’t express how excited I am to be a part of this great mission.
As I work toward preparing for launch next week, I can’t help but to reflect on what I learned during my 4 summers on staff with Cheley Colorado Camps. It all started when this born and raised Florida girl was asked to “backpack Long’s Peak”…whatever that meant. I had no idea what a “14er” was or that Long’s Peak was the highest peak in the Rocky Mountain National Park. I thought “backpacking Long’s” meant, drive your car close to the summit, get out, climb up a few stairs, take a few pictures and boom! Victory! What more could there be? I asked for the day off to accept the invitation and go on this ‘little journey’. Brooke Cheley-Klebe (who, by the way, is one of the most incredible, influential, life-changing women I have had the privilege to work for and get to know and love for 4.5 years) looked me in the eyes and said, “you’ve got this!” *and she knew all that “backpacking Long’s Peak” meant.
Needless to say, backpacking Long’s demanded more than I could have ever imagined. I never would have set out for that peak if I had known all that was required of my poor body, mentally and physically. You don’t really drive anywhere near the summit. There was not a nice little staircase to climb up, and my backpack was much larger than the Jansport I was planning on taking. It was scary, there were falling rocks, there were cliffs, it was 7 miles up and 7 miles back down, there were people turning away because they were getting altitude sickness…but just like Brooke predicted, I made it to the top! It was euphoric. It was a feeling of accomplishment that I had never felt before. It was a boost of confidence that I desperately needed. I went out and bought a charm with Long’s Peak on it to remind myself of that great day in July.
I had no idea what I was getting into my first summer on staff with Cheley Colorado Camps, but little did I know that this haven in Estes Park, CO would forever change my life. Who knew that this camp would help muster up the courage to do what I am doing today? I feel like it is only right for me to say “thank you” to the Cheley family for providing the environment where I have grown in so many ways. Year after year of returning to camp, I walk away after the summer a little bit better person, more educated on how to survive the outdoors, with about 5 new best friends, and lots of amazing pictures and memories.
I know that the “Pre-Cheley Colorado Camps Nicole” would not be near as equipped mentally or physically for this upcoming adventure. I am going to miss camp like crazy in 2012, but I am certain that I am doing what camp has equipped me to do:
To take risks and leave my comfort zone.
To act spontaneously in the right.
To be kind to the earth and all those who inhabit it.
To pack light and follow the cairns!
So, here I go. 11 months, 11 countries, 1 backpack. Who woulda thought!?
From the bottom of my heart,
Kurt and Brooke- you and your extended families mean the world to me. Thank you for allowing me to be part of the “landscape” in your lives. Thank you for trusting me with your children! I love your family so very much.
Poppo, Mommo, Kevin, Tracy, and Karen Klebe, your prayers and financial support mean so much to me. Thank you for your generosity and for your friendship, and great memories at Lake George!
Don, Carol, Jeff and Erika Cheley, thank you for all you do to make camp work! I am a better person because of it.
Nanna, thank you for always helping me think outside of the box and for all the laughs!
AHHHHHHH 33 days till Launch! When I think about this I get this strange little feeling in the pit of my stomach. I can not believe this is happening...SO! SURREAL!
SO! EXCITING!
In other news:
Just about every night I check my funding account to see what the total it. The other night I opened my account up and my jaw feel open when I saw that a friend of mine donated $1,000 dollars! I immediately opened up facebook and wrote an inadequate thank you note (I am not too sure how you properly thank someone for that?). Anyway, I wanted to share his reply. I love it.
“It is the least I can do. When I was in Korea I saw the bad side of human trafficking. I asked my command what we could do to help the women that were there. They just said stay away from them. I also have a friend that knows a woman from Cambodia that is married to an American because he paid for her. I have always wanted to help, the only thing I have been able to do is play with orphans. I prayed about it and the donation is a way I can help. I know you will have a great time, and a lifetime of memories.”
What an awesome response!! What an awesome heart for the hurting. What an awesome friend! This donation was not for me. The money that has come in is not for me. It is for a bigger purpose. The money is going to change the lives of those around the world, those who are not as fortunate as say, you and me. It was then that I realized that people are not giving this money to me, rather they are being obedient to God---they are giving their money, time, and talents to those who are in need….not to me. As much as I’d like to think that if I wanted to raise $15,500 to buy a new car people would donate…I am realizing that that is not the case (if you so feel the need to get me a car we can talk in November). :) The money is for a bigger plan.
So, on behalf of the women I will get to help, the orphans I will get to love, and the families I will get to serve; THANK YOU! Lives will be changed and it will be partly your fault! :)
So far I have $9,230 bucks. THAT IS AMAZING! I am blown away.
$6,270 to go! Take a second to this about this bigger plan. **You can support me by clicking on the "support me" link on the left side of the blog.
ALSO! See this little "UPDATE ALERTS" link right below here?? Click that, and put your email address in. I'd hate for you to miss one of my bogs! :)
