Today was a really good day.
Woke up, finished my online class (yay!)
Went into Carpio, cleaned out a closet at the institute
Tutored some kids in math and reading
A kid told me I was "flaca" (skinny)
I had many full conversations with the kids (in Spanish!)
The kids thought my hair was a wig
People are starting to use my name more instead of "hey gringa!"
Got to do some zumba
Rocked it
Got told (for the second time in my life) by a Latina that I have good rhythm for a gringa
Dinner with the family
Discussed space travel, zombies and Jesus (at the same time no less)
Watched a movie with the family
To bed early because I'm off to the beach early in the morning!
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Monday, June 4, 2012
Costa Rica
I know its been very confusing for a lot of you, so heres my attempt at clarification. Last year I lived in Puerto Rico, which is an island in the Caribbean and a US commonwealth. Now I am in Costa Rica, which is a Central American country. Here are some things about my time here so far...
1. One of the things that I love most is that San Jose is in a valley, so pretty much wherever you are you can see the mountains.
2. Spanish is everywhere! I love it, and I've been pleasantly surprised at how much I can understand.
3. I work in a place called La Carpio most days a week and help with different things like tutoring and playing with kids.
4. I ride the bus just about everyday.
5. People stare at me a lot. Its a mixture of being white, redheaded, and really tall. Costa Ricans are short. Heres a picture of a mirror in a bathroom that I thought was funny cause it was so short.
6. I'm being safe (thats for all the mothers and grandmothers in my life).
7. The family that I live with is awesome. They have been so kind to welcome me not only into their home, but into their family.
8. God has been faithful to teach me about himself already, and I'm excited to learn more.
1. One of the things that I love most is that San Jose is in a valley, so pretty much wherever you are you can see the mountains.
2. Spanish is everywhere! I love it, and I've been pleasantly surprised at how much I can understand.
3. I work in a place called La Carpio most days a week and help with different things like tutoring and playing with kids.
4. I ride the bus just about everyday.
5. People stare at me a lot. Its a mixture of being white, redheaded, and really tall. Costa Ricans are short. Heres a picture of a mirror in a bathroom that I thought was funny cause it was so short.
6. I'm being safe (thats for all the mothers and grandmothers in my life).
7. The family that I live with is awesome. They have been so kind to welcome me not only into their home, but into their family.
8. God has been faithful to teach me about himself already, and I'm excited to learn more.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Two Months Later...
So I have let my blog get away from me and it's been over two months since I've posted. Sorry about that! So here it goes...
Puerto Rico is stinking awesome! I am in love with it! I came down here expecting to just be watching some kids and maybe learning a little about church planting, but what I got was a million times better. I have learned so much about loving people and being loved by God! And its not like any fancy theological stuff, its just real simple truths that I have known forever, but now I am actually seeing it lived out by the people around me and trying to live it out myself. I actually feel kind of foolish all the time for not doing these things before now. My friends here love me. That my sound vain, but its not. We are kind of figuring out together what it means to live in biblical community, and that means loving each other well. And I'll tell you what, it is awesome! We are just working being there for each other and just simply living life together. It sounds super corny, and I can't really put it into words. But it has been probably the best thing about being here. Here is a picture of most of our team.
Also, I've been able to take a few small responsibilities with the church and I've found that I really enjoy doing administrative type stuff and being kind of "behind the scenes" and seeing how a church gets started. My first bog project was a video about the church. You can check it out on youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Anna Clare was able to visit me last month for her spring break. We had so much fun, and I was able to show her my family here and a bit of Puerto Rico. It felt good to have someone from home to see my life here. This is us hiking in El Yunque, the rain forest outside of San Juan.
This past week my mom, Sully, and Coulter were able to visit! The kids loved playing with them (especially Brielle who soon would choose Coulter or Sully over me). We also to a ferry out to a little island called Culebra. We did some amazing snorkeling, and had some great beach time. We also went to this place called Charco Frio where we played in the river with rope swings, and did a little cliff jumping. They were also able to be here for our church's Easter Egg hunt. I wish they could have stayed longer. It was good to hug my momma.
Here's us watching the sunset on Culebra.
And here is Coulter at Charco Frio.
I have always liked my work as a nanny, but as of late I have begun to really enjoy it. So much that most mornings I wake up really excited to play with the kids. We have started this new thing where I play music really loud and we dance around the living room. It happens almost everyday now, and it is so much fun! I've started to get really goofy around the kids and most mornings they greet me by simply saying "Silly Taylor" even before I have done anything at all. I have also started telling them stories about two little Native American kids named Sudson and Hophia. They love the stories and remember what happens and will tell the stories back to me sometimes. I will sometimes catch them playing Sudson and Hophia and pretending to be with the other characters in the story. Here is Hudson and Sophia being silly in a fort that we built.
A little while ago we worked it out for me to stay for this summer as well. So besides the fact that it is going to be extremely hot here, I am really excited about it. The Lindsey's are going back to the States for the summer, so I will be working as a church intern full time.
Well I hope that gives you an update on what is going on with me. Know that God is still being faithful here!
Puerto Rico is stinking awesome! I am in love with it! I came down here expecting to just be watching some kids and maybe learning a little about church planting, but what I got was a million times better. I have learned so much about loving people and being loved by God! And its not like any fancy theological stuff, its just real simple truths that I have known forever, but now I am actually seeing it lived out by the people around me and trying to live it out myself. I actually feel kind of foolish all the time for not doing these things before now. My friends here love me. That my sound vain, but its not. We are kind of figuring out together what it means to live in biblical community, and that means loving each other well. And I'll tell you what, it is awesome! We are just working being there for each other and just simply living life together. It sounds super corny, and I can't really put it into words. But it has been probably the best thing about being here. Here is a picture of most of our team.
Also, I've been able to take a few small responsibilities with the church and I've found that I really enjoy doing administrative type stuff and being kind of "behind the scenes" and seeing how a church gets started. My first bog project was a video about the church. You can check it out on youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Anna Clare was able to visit me last month for her spring break. We had so much fun, and I was able to show her my family here and a bit of Puerto Rico. It felt good to have someone from home to see my life here. This is us hiking in El Yunque, the rain forest outside of San Juan.
Here's us watching the sunset on Culebra.
A little while ago we worked it out for me to stay for this summer as well. So besides the fact that it is going to be extremely hot here, I am really excited about it. The Lindsey's are going back to the States for the summer, so I will be working as a church intern full time.
Well I hope that gives you an update on what is going on with me. Know that God is still being faithful here!
Monday, February 7, 2011
Driving Through A Rainbow...
So I've been here for almost three weeks now and I think that it is finally starting to hit me that I actually live in PUERTO RICO! I think that it was solidified this past weekend when we drove around the corner and saw this breathtaking view of the ocean open up before us and my friend Peggy says, "WE LIVE HERE!" I thought this couldn't have been a more perfect thing to say because I don't think there was a single day of my childhood, in the mountains of Western NC, when my mom didn't say these exact words. I'm learning to find the comfort and strength in the ocean that I have found my whole life from my mountains. (The picture below does no justice to the actual beauty)
Lately I've been going through a constant, almost everyday, cycle. It starts by me realizing how I don't know how to love people. At all. And also, how my vanity and pride rules my life. But then comes the good part. I am reminded of what Jesus did on the cross for me. And everyday this becomes more and more (I had to look in a thesaurus to get this word and it doesn't even come close) wondrous because of my growing realization of how messed up I am.
I've been working on memorizing some scripture and have started with Philippians 2. Paul says, "If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from His love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, and being one in spirit and purpose." And this is really what these crazy wonderful people that I live in community with are trying to do. And through them God is showing me how to love people. The Lindsey kids are finally no longer asking me when I'm going to go back to "my home" and have accepted that I live with them and will for a long while. I love when I come back to the house from being out for a while and the kids (esp. Brielle) run up to me and give me a big hug.
Until now I haven't gotten a whole lot of opportunity to practice Spanish, but this past weekend I went on a retreat with a Christian college ministry, and everything was in Spanish! It was pretty hard to comprehend a lot of it, especially since I'm still getting used to the Puerto Rican accent. But it was really good to be able to speak it a little and to be completely surrounded by it.
The weather here has been so great! Real warm, but not too hot. It will rain real hard randomly, then stop suddenly. On the way to the retreat this past weekend we saw and amazing rainbow that we followed for a long while. And then it happened. We came to this bridge over water and the rainbow was right on top of the bridge. Before we knew what was happening we drove right through the rainbow! There was no leprechauns or a pot of gold, but still it was a magical moment. And just like God was faithful in His promise to Noah, so He has been faithful to draw me closer to Himself in Puerto Rico.
I've been working on memorizing some scripture and have started with Philippians 2. Paul says, "If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from His love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, and being one in spirit and purpose." And this is really what these crazy wonderful people that I live in community with are trying to do. And through them God is showing me how to love people. The Lindsey kids are finally no longer asking me when I'm going to go back to "my home" and have accepted that I live with them and will for a long while. I love when I come back to the house from being out for a while and the kids (esp. Brielle) run up to me and give me a big hug.
Until now I haven't gotten a whole lot of opportunity to practice Spanish, but this past weekend I went on a retreat with a Christian college ministry, and everything was in Spanish! It was pretty hard to comprehend a lot of it, especially since I'm still getting used to the Puerto Rican accent. But it was really good to be able to speak it a little and to be completely surrounded by it.
The weather here has been so great! Real warm, but not too hot. It will rain real hard randomly, then stop suddenly. On the way to the retreat this past weekend we saw and amazing rainbow that we followed for a long while. And then it happened. We came to this bridge over water and the rainbow was right on top of the bridge. Before we knew what was happening we drove right through the rainbow! There was no leprechauns or a pot of gold, but still it was a magical moment. And just like God was faithful in His promise to Noah, so He has been faithful to draw me closer to Himself in Puerto Rico.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Ok ok. You win. I'll make a blog.
Though I had tried my best to stay away from the making of a blog, I knew it was finally time to get one when my 85 year old Grandmother asked me to. So here goes nothing....
There is nothing like moving to a new place and culture (where there are literally no other redheads) to remind you of how small you are. I was very hesitant to make this blog because I in no way want to make it seem like I am anything other than a filthy sinner in need Jesus' grace daily. If anything I want to simply show how God is incredibly faithful, and is working in Puerto Rico. The church plant here (Iglesia la Travesia) is small and there are about as many kids as there are adults, but the community is incredible. I can't tell you how welcomed and loved I already feel here.
Well I've been here for a week now. The Lindsey kids are so so great and we are already great friends. We just got back from the park where we had an hr leaf fight. Hudson (4) was "Leaf Man," Sophia (5) was "Leaf Woman" and I was the evil "Tree Monster" (I'm always the bad guy). Brielle (18 months) is probably the cutest baby I've ever seen and loves run from the other side of the room as fast as she can and give you a huge hug. She also has the cute habit of waving and smiling at you whenever anyone looks at her. I love when the kids say words wrong. For example, the other day Hudson kept saying "matato" which I was eventually I discovered means "tornado". And Sophia can never seem to get the word "shuffle" and says things like "scuddle" or "schmuttle."
A normal day goes a bit like this: In the mornings I get up and watch the kids for a bit while Jack is at work and Misty has some time to herself (which usually ends up being interrupted by the kids if she stays in the house). Then I do some housework cleaning stuff while Misty does home school with the kids. After lunch I help with the kids some more and then I'm "off." The kids don't really understand when I'm working or not, but I don't really mind because other times when I play with them I just consider it as me being part of the family. In the evenings I usually eat dinner with the family, and then hang out with Peggy (a nanny for another family in our church that live nearby) and some other friends.
I've already gotten to see a lot of the island. When I got here Misty's parents were here and we did a lot of sight seeing. We went to Old San Juan, which is the historic touristy district. And on Friday we did a tour of one of Puerto Rico's bioluminescent bays. It was really really cool! Then on Saturday I went with some friends to the other side of the island to see a downhill longboard race (longboarding is pretty big here). On the way we stopped at these caves by the coast and played around on those. And after that we hung out at the beach and watched a surfing competition, and then saw the sun set. The last couple of days I have actually gone out driving and attempted to keep up with the very aggressive driving that goes on here. Its true when they say that Puerto Ricans are some of the nicest people, except when they drive.
There is nothing like moving to a new place and culture (where there are literally no other redheads) to remind you of how small you are. I was very hesitant to make this blog because I in no way want to make it seem like I am anything other than a filthy sinner in need Jesus' grace daily. If anything I want to simply show how God is incredibly faithful, and is working in Puerto Rico. The church plant here (Iglesia la Travesia) is small and there are about as many kids as there are adults, but the community is incredible. I can't tell you how welcomed and loved I already feel here.
Well I've been here for a week now. The Lindsey kids are so so great and we are already great friends. We just got back from the park where we had an hr leaf fight. Hudson (4) was "Leaf Man," Sophia (5) was "Leaf Woman" and I was the evil "Tree Monster" (I'm always the bad guy). Brielle (18 months) is probably the cutest baby I've ever seen and loves run from the other side of the room as fast as she can and give you a huge hug. She also has the cute habit of waving and smiling at you whenever anyone looks at her. I love when the kids say words wrong. For example, the other day Hudson kept saying "matato" which I was eventually I discovered means "tornado". And Sophia can never seem to get the word "shuffle" and says things like "scuddle" or "schmuttle."
A normal day goes a bit like this: In the mornings I get up and watch the kids for a bit while Jack is at work and Misty has some time to herself (which usually ends up being interrupted by the kids if she stays in the house). Then I do some housework cleaning stuff while Misty does home school with the kids. After lunch I help with the kids some more and then I'm "off." The kids don't really understand when I'm working or not, but I don't really mind because other times when I play with them I just consider it as me being part of the family. In the evenings I usually eat dinner with the family, and then hang out with Peggy (a nanny for another family in our church that live nearby) and some other friends.
I've already gotten to see a lot of the island. When I got here Misty's parents were here and we did a lot of sight seeing. We went to Old San Juan, which is the historic touristy district. And on Friday we did a tour of one of Puerto Rico's bioluminescent bays. It was really really cool! Then on Saturday I went with some friends to the other side of the island to see a downhill longboard race (longboarding is pretty big here). On the way we stopped at these caves by the coast and played around on those. And after that we hung out at the beach and watched a surfing competition, and then saw the sun set. The last couple of days I have actually gone out driving and attempted to keep up with the very aggressive driving that goes on here. Its true when they say that Puerto Ricans are some of the nicest people, except when they drive.
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