More Brits Converted to American Chocolate Chip Cookies

Sorry I haven't had some detailed posts about our life here in England lately. Things have been slow, but not slow. Busy, but not busy. Weird. I have a few things up my sleeve for the blog this week, so stay tuned.


Anyway, tonight Nathan had a group of five college guys over for dinner. They're going to do the Classic Discipleship study together, and tonight was the kick off. I made some spaghetti and chicken for the main course, which was well received. Nathanael, the food critic in the group, said my sauce had "maturity and depth" that many other typical marinara sauces lacked. Score! He later told us about the Kobe beef burger he had last summer in Scotland, which was especially good because the cow had music played to it and was massaged every day of its life. Interesting...


Seeing as how he had a scrumptious vocabulary to go with his appetite, I eagerly awaited pudding (dessert) time, wondering what Nathanael would have to say about chocolate chip cookies, hot out of the oven, and some cold milk. He said he'd never had cookies and milk. I threw my head in my hands in sorrow for his lost years.


Now, a few Brits I know who live in America insist that the English are not so unfortunate as to never have had cookies and milk, but I keep meeting them, and I LOVE seeing their first reactions. Knowing that not everyone is as an emotive eater as Sam (read his first response to cookies and milk here), I waited in the wings by the kitchen while all six boys (Nathan too) took the warm, chocolate chip cookies and popped them into their mouths.


There was some silent chewing for a while... a good while... then a few swigs of milk... and more chewing... and then one of them said, "I really need to get married."


Laughter. And then another one said, "I was just thinking the same thing!"


I think it's safe to say that they liked them.

Photo credit here

A Family Tradition

I made some more cookie dough today. And my clothes are getting awfully tight. I wonder if the two are related...

Anyway, I saw this recent picture of June at my parents' house and cracked up. Does your family have classic poses or places where you take your picture often? I can think of a few in ours... standing in front of the Small World house at Disneyland or on the beach or in front of the Christmas tree, and of course, eating cookie dough. 

I am just now realizing how big that cookie sheet is. I can only fit nine cookies at a time on mine, and it pretty much takes up the whole oven.

I went through the album my mom made me, and found a similar picture. 

My mom loves cookie dough. I love cookie dough. June loves cookie dough. I'm pretty sure our kids will love it too someday.

My dad can't eat it because when he was little my grandma told him that if he did he'd get worms in his tummy. Oh well, more for me (loosening belt...)!

Testing, Testing, 1-2-3

A few people have commented that my last few posts have been overstepping their boundaries and running off the right side of the text box. Is is still doing that? I'm not seeing any problems from my end, although the words are wrapping around the lines on some of the "Life in Antigua" posts, which is really annoying.


Leave me a comment and tell me what you see. 

Life in Antigua: Part VII

Well, this is it - the last installment of the Life in Antigua series. I hope you enjoyed it. Hopefully I'll have some interesting posts related to England starting tomorrow. Maybe I'll tell you about the sun coming out today. I hadn't come out since last Wednesday, but I already posted about that, didn't I? Is there anything in particular you want to hear about?

K10, I'm working on another BSL post. Go here to a previous post I wrote about it to hold you over until then. 

_______________________________________

Hi friends and family!

I'm sorry for ending my last e-mail so abruptly. I think I was just getting sick of writing and my Easter dinner at McDonald's was getting to me. Let me try to pick up where I left off...

Thursday morning my mom left to go back to the States. Pretty soon after she left, Rodrigo (11), Juan (17), and I went to San Fransico (the church not the city!) to see the exit of one of the processions. There were so many people there! It was definitely not for clausterphobic people. The only events I can think to compare it to would be the Holy Fire ceremony on the Saturday before Easter in Jerusalem or Airband at Taylor. It was pretty and everything, but once you've seen a big procession, you've kinda seen them all. Maybe I've just been here too long.

On our way back home, we stopped into the hospital where I volunteer to see if Rodrigo's little friend Sergio was there. Rodrigo had gone with my mom and me one time and became fast friends with the three year old. Sure enough, he was scurrying around causing the usual ruckus. I asked permission to take him out to see the procession, and the four of us took off to find it again. Sergio kept calling Rodrigo "mi amigo" (my friend) and Juan Carlitos "payaso" (I think that's how you spell "clown" in Spanish, but I'm not sure). Sergio sat on Juan's shoulders and charmed everyone around us with his unusually intelligent chatter. He even recognized a picture of Hermano Pedro, the saint after whom the hospital is named, that was carried before the procession. After it passed us by, Sergio wanted down. The paiyaso couldn't get him off of his shoulders quite fast enough for his liking, so he bit his ear... HARD! Even though I shouldn't have, I laughed even harder.

That night, I went with Rodrigo and Carlos (13) to all of the vigils at the different churches. Nearly everyone stays awake all night on Thursday. There are tons of street vendors around, all of the restaruants are open, and there are people EVERYWHERE! Friday morning at about 5:30 Rodrigo, Edgar (one of his 28 first cousins), and I walked around and looked at alfombras (those beautiful carpets made of sawdust and flowers and all sorts of cool stuff). There's no way I could even begin to describe them to you. They were simply amazing. Good Friday is the pinnacle of the Holy Week activities, so the artists pulled out all the stops for Friday's festivities.

Saturday morning I had a little adventure with Rosamaria (my "mom" here), Carlos, and Rodrigo. There's a new business in town called GOLFY RENT-A-CARS. The boys wanted to rent one SO BAD, so Rosamaria finally gave in and we walked over to Golfy to start the fun. I noticed that the battery light was on before we even left, but I didn't say anything. I'm not an expert on golf carts am I? We drove the little thing around Antigua and the neighboring towns. Rosamaria even let the boys drive on the back roads. WHOA! CRAZY! It was so funny... I think Carlos found his calling in life - to be a golf cart driver. He kept saying, "Ay, que boniiiiiito" (Wow, so preeeeeetty) and stroking it like it was a pet.

Anyway, we drove it on the highway with big chickenbuses whizzing by. We started off at a pretty decent speed, but the longer we had it, the slower it went. After a while, we all were trying to throw our body weight forward to make it go faster. Finally, it just died altogether. Rodrigo and I jumped out to push it through the Holy Week traffic and Carlos (the lazy one, remember?) just shouted, "Faster! Faster!" until I jerked him off the back seat and forced him to push it with us. Then, a big van with tinted windows pulled up beside us. About 20 (okay, maybe not that many - but there were a lot!) Guatemalans quickly filed out of the van and helped us push it to our final destination. Whew! I definitely got my exercise for the week. :)

Sunday, Easter Sunday, began a total letdown. There was one little procession put on by the hospital/church where I volunteer, but again, it was LITTLE! The resurrection seemed like an afterthought. Antigua was virtually dead. However, God, in his faithfulness, led me to an evangelical church to celebrate the life of Christ! The people from the church were in the park where I was studying carrying brightly colored banners and flags and saying "Cristo vive!" (Christ lives!) so I followed them back to their building. It was so refreshing... Afterward, I went to McDonalds to eat and write in my journal. You're probably thinking, "That is so sad! Easter dinner at McDonald's?!" Actually, McDonald's is one of the most beautiful places in Antigua. There is a beautiful outdoor garden with lots of flowers and a beautiful fountain in the middle. It's quite peaceful. As to my Easter meal, I treated myself to a McFlurry. I've never had one before. Does that make you all feel better?

Now, ya'll are probably wondering what's been going on with the two older brothers at the house. Weeeell, things got a bit more interesting since I last wrote. Sunday night as I was doing the dishes, Juan came into the kitchen and said, "I'm going to die." "Of tiredness?" I asked. "No, of love. And you will be mentioned in my last testament." (I can only assume that means an obituary or somthing.) HOLD UP! Does this approach sound familiar to anyone else? Anyway, I played dumb and gave him a questioning look, but he expounded no further. As I was leaving for the hospital the next day, I said goodbye to him as he was at the computer. "Goodbye and what?" he asked me. 

"Goodbye and... what?" I said. 

"Goodbye and I'm going to die," he said. 

I gave him the same "I'm confused" look. He made the "knife through the heart" motion. I laughed a nervous laugh and made for the door.

When I got back from the hospital that night, I had two surprises waiting for me. Which one should I start with? Augh... I'll just continue with the Juan story. Surprise #1 was a note from him - typed on a 2" by 3" piece of paper in about a size 6 font - wedged between the pages of my Spanish/English dictionary. Ok, BASICALLY it went like this, "Choose a side, because I can't go on living like this. That is why I have been saying 'I'm going to die.' Don't ask me what the sides are because you already know what they are. I know it's stupid, but tell me what you think of me, and tell me the truth. Tell me how stupid I am. Please at least give me your beautiful smiles that I love so much. Forgive me if I've done something that you don't like. Please know that I have the most honorable of intentions," etc. etc. For being such a small piece of paper, it managed to say a whole lot.

Here are a few of my first thoughts: "AAAAAAUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH! What does he MEAN choose a side? Did he have a talk with his brother? Does he want me to choose between the two of them? Choose between friends and more than friends? Choose between friends and not friends at all? I'M GOING TO HAVE TO DTR WITH A 17 YEAR-OLD!!!" And, of course, "This is going to make a great story."

Well, to make what's proven to be quite a long and complicated story short, we've DTRed (that's "Define The Relationship" for all you non-TU or Crusade folks) a couple of times since then, and all is well. It was definitely a challenge to communicate heartbreak nice and easy in a language that I am not totally comfortable with, but God is good - all the time - and Juan now knows that we are FRIENDS, nada mas (nothing more), and we even shook on it. Bless his heart... I worry for him. I just kept telling him, "Everything is okay. Don't worry." For those who want the full story, ask me when we see each other next ok? It's really quite touching.

By the way, Jose (20) has been in full avoidance mode since his confession of love. I think it's for the best. As far as I know, neither brother knows of the other's affections.

So, the second surprise was a new pair of housemates from Santa Monica, California. Emily and Frank are in their fifties and they are OBNOXIOUS! They fight like... like nothing else. Their Spanish is terrible, and they like to SHOUT IT! They are studying at another language school for six hours a day, and they come home in the afternoons DRUNK AS SKUNKS. I mean... there are several bottles of vodka, their drink of choice, in our little trashcan in the bathroom every day. Plus, Mr. Obnoxious always leaves the toilet seat up. That's so annoying. Meals are a kick. The family always looks to me to interpret for the American couple, but I can't understand their slurred speech in English, let alone Spanish. I'll be sure to add them to my list of people to impersonate. :)

Well, after living through all of this drama the past few weeks, I am ready to go home. I am leaving for Cali a week from today, and then I'll be in the Midwest for a month for weddings and graduation and whatnot. This will probably be your last installment of "Life in Antigua" from Antigua itself, but I'll be sure to write you all from home to tell you that I am alive and have survived the love triangle... if I do.

I'd appreciate your prayers as I wrap up my time here. I want to finish well and continue to be a witness for Christ to the people I encounter. Please also pray for little Jose, a month-old baby in the hospital with a cleft palate. There is a team of doctors coming next month (they come every six months) to operate, and he needs to be healthy in order to get a surgery. He currently has a booger of a cold. :(

My love to you all!

Nicole

This guy has some amazing pictures of Antigua during Semana Santa (Holy Week). Definitely check them out.

Life in Antigua: Part VI

This is where it gets fun... Tomorrow is the last installment!

_______________________________________

Hi family and friends!

I can't believe it's been so long since the last "Life in Antigua" episode. I feel that a lot has happened since then. There's no way I'll be able to write about everything! Maybe some of it will have to wait until the next episode. :)

Last time I left off with my adventures in Tikal. That very Thursday I went salsa dancing with the friends I met there, David and Justin (the soon-to-be doctors from Yale) and Tom and Eleanor (the couple from Baltimore). Little did we know it was gay night at La Casbah, and we were the first ones there - the weird folks who showed up at 9 p.m. I think there was an office party there too... a lot of middle aged people in business casual, so we didn't realize it until Justin's Spanish teacher told him the next day. We chatted and danced for a while, and then called it a night.

I went home feeling strange. I went to bed feeling even more strange. "I'm going to be sick," I thought. "Please God, can it wait just a few more hours? I don't want anyone to hear me puking my guts out." Thankfully, everyone was asleep when I dashed off to the bathroom and fought the most valiant bout of food poisoning I've ever fought. I'll spare you the details, but I'll tell you this: in the midst of it all, I was mentally writing an e-mail telling you all to start a prayer chain for your poor friend on her deathbed in Guatemala. No joke.

I felt much better by Saturday, and that night I headed back to La Casbah with José (the oldest son in my family) and his friends, Donaldo and Pedro. Even though we could have walked to the club, (it's right up the street), it was such a process to get there. We had to drive to a neighboring town to pick up Pedro, Donaldo called some girls who were at a cafe' back in Antigua, we drove by to see if they wanted to come with us, they said they'd meet us there later, we drove around some looking for a parking spot, ay... it was probably an hour and a half before we finally arrived.

Anyway, when we got there, Donaldo and I danced for a bit. Jose' Roberto sat there with his beer and his usual "I'm mad at the world" face, and Pedro stood beside him looking around at nothing. After a while, the music changed from salsa and merengue to the unh-sst unh-sst stuff that Ang loves so much (love you Ang!), so we joined the boys. About an hour passed... nothing exciting. Then, I looked at Jose' Roberto and his mad face and asked, "Tienes sueno?" (Are you tired?)

"No." he said without looking at me. "Otra cosa." (No, something else.)

"Un dolor de cabeza?" (A headache?)

"No, otra pena." (No, another pain.)

"Un dolor de corazon?" (A heartache?)

"Si'." (Yes.)

"A causa de quie'n?" I asked. (Because of who?) I thought about those girls at the cafe who never showed up and that he might be disappointed that one of them didn't come.

"A causa de ti'," he said. (Because of you.)

"Ah, si' pues." (Yeah right!)

"No me crees?" he asked, finally making eye contact with me. (You don't believe me?)

I gave him a look that said, "No way."

Then he put his hand on my shoulder and said, "Como alguien no podri'as enamorarse con alguien tan linda como tu'?" (How would one not fall in love with someone as lovely as you?)

I thought maybe the music was a little too loud, the second-hand smoke a little too strong, and the time a little too late to have heard him correctly, so I asked him to repeat himself. Sure enough... I heard what I thought I heard, and my mind raced with a million random thoughts. "What in the world? I barely know this guy? He still has the mad face on. Is he really serious? Is he just trying to get a reaction out of me? What if he IS serious? Will I have to move out? This is going to be bad. I can't believe this is happening to me. I want to laugh and cry at the same time."

I managed to give him a "I'm not sure if you're serious or not, but thanks for the compliment" look and a "Gracias" (Thanks) and turned around and faced the dancing crowd. Then I started composing this e-mail in my head! 

But wait... it gets better.

After another awkward half an hour, we decided to leave. Jose' was going to spend the night with one of his friends, so we all walked home to drop me off first. Jose' Roberto came inside with me to get some of his stuff. In the hallway he stopped me and said, "Disculpe Nicole." (Forgive me Nicole.) I turned and looked at him. He actually looked like he was going to cry - the first (and probably the last) change in emotion I've seen in him since I've been here. 

"No quise a enamorarme de ti', pero no pude evitarlo." (I didn't want to fall in love with you, but I couldn't avoid it.)

With that one, I almost fell over. I was completely dumbfounded. Almost all of my Spanish flew out the window! I gave him a little side hug and said, "Esta' bien" (It's okay) a few times and "Buenas noches!" (Good night!) Then, I found my way to my room and flopped on the bed thinking, "My life! Could it get any more interesting/complex/weird?" My answer came the next day...

The next brother, Juan, who is 17, woke me up the next morning and said he wanted me to teach him how to scramble an egg. No one else was home, I was already awake, and I was hungry, so I trudged into the kitchen, still thinking of the previous night's drama. Now, by this point in time, I was pretty convinced that Juan had a crush on me, but he had never come right out and said it. He was (and still is) much more indirect in communicating his affections, but he is much more consistent. He liked to tell me I have something in my eye (when I really don't) so he can stare into it and wipe away the mystery eyelash. After successfully pulling that trick a couple times, I now wipe away my own mystery eyelashes. He also liked to touch my hair... not run his fingers through it, mind you, just touch it. I didn't let that go for too long either. 

Anyway, that Sunday when we scrambled eggs together was kind of a "that is IT" day with Juan. The things he said and did were so numerous I don't have time to explain them all through e-mail, and citing one or two examples wouldn't be a strong enough argument to convince you of his crush on me, so I'll just tell ya when I see ya if you think to ask me about it.

After reading the last paragraph, it just occurred to me that some of you might be thinking "Are you stupid Nicole? Get out of that testosterone-filled house before something terrible happens!" I've thought about it. There are a few reasons to go, but even more reasons to stay. The important thing for you to know is that I don't feel unsafe. It's just a little uncomfortable sometimes.

SO! After two confessions of love, one with words and the other with deeds, from the same family (in whose house I happened to live) in the same weekend, I was ready to call it quits and come home. Luckily, I had only three days until my mom came. YAY!

My mom came the Wednesday before Palm Sunday. Our first night, we stayed up until two in the morning talking. I still had school the whole time she was there, but I went my myself from 8 until 10 and then went home to get her. From 10 until 12 we walked around with my teacher and did lots of shopping. We also went to vigils at the different churches around Antigua. The vigils were beautiful! The people from the church make intricate carpets made out of sawdust and flowers and other natural things (called alfombras [Editor's note: see pictures at the bottom of this post]) and in the background there is a huge painting or a setup from a certain Bible passage from the life of Christ. It's kind of hard to explain, but my mom took lots of pictures. No worries.

In the afternoons we usually ate out and watched the Holy Week processions. We got to see Rodrigo, the youngest son - age 11, carry in the all-kids procession, called "la procesio'n de disorden" (the procession of disorder). He was so cute! We took pictures of that too. The procession was indeed disorderly. Rodrigo was supposed to carry only one block, but his replacements didn't show up for the next six blocks! Poor thing...

On Saturday, we went to Panajachel and took a little boat out on Lake Atitla'n to visit some of the indigenous villages. See "Life in Antigua - Part II" for more details about that place.

My mom got to come with me to the hospital three times, which was great. I was glad she got to meet the people there and love on the babies with me. Her first time we brought all of the Desitin donated by my lovely Aunt Connie and the folks in my parents' Bible study. THANK YOU! It was much needed. On my next visit, I plan on making sure that it is all still there. :)

Well, my fingers are going to fall off soon, and this e-mail is getting expensive... I will write more next week about the rest of the Holy Week activities and such. I love and miss you all! Have the most blessed of Easters!

Love,

Nicole

Life in Antigua: Part V

Dearest family and friends,

I'm cursed, I'm convinced. Last week Thursday I was ALMOST finished with "Life in Antigua - Part V" when, everybody say it with me, the electricity went out. Yes... there's not much else to say about that except that I've only today gained the courage to try again and am saving a new draft every five minutes. Thanks for hanging in there with me through this technology nightmare. Let's get right to it...

First of all, I forgot to tell you about the "hooded figures" who ask people for money, the same ones Nikki was ripping on in my last e-mail. They are actually college students from the University in the capital. They say that they are raising money for a Holy Week parade that makes fun of the government. They don't want anyone to know who they are (maybe they're ashamed, maybe they don't want the government to mess with them) which is why they wear the colorful hoods. In reality, everyone knows they use the money to throw a huge party and drink themselves into oblivion. They just look like Klansmen with a particular fetish for bright Latin American colors to me.

Speaking of bright Latin American colors, the buses used for public transportation here, called chicken buses, are really just old, old elementary school buses from the States that are painted every color of the rainbow and named for good luck. Some of the "new" ones are still in traditional black and yellow form with their district of origin written on the side. I saw an old Bluebird from Philadelphia the other day. José and I took a chicken bus to Guatemala City two weekends ago to go to the mall and see a movie. It was a kick, but I'd never want to make the journey alone. My dad, when he was in Guatemala back in the day, was in a serious accident in one of those things and it completely fell over. I can totally see that happening. The drivers are crazy and the roads aren't in the best condition.

And now for the "random funny things" section...

The McDonald's here has all of the normal selections offered in the States in addition to, get this people, McInternet. There are four or five computers on one side of the restaurant for customers to use if they purchase time. What's McNext?

Condiments like mayonaise, mustard, and ketchup are sold in plastic bags. It makes my distaste for mayonaise even more intense. I've seen easy cheese and even soda pop sold in plastic bags with a twisty tie keeping it closed. I'm sure it tastes just the same, but the packaging really throws me off.

The Communications Studies major in me is really into analyzing Guatemalan nonverbal signals (miss you Al and Emmy and Ellie!). To get someone's attention, they make a really hard "shh" sound a few times that could be written kind of like "Cht, cht, cht!" When they're hot or embarrassed or think something is funny or weird, they make a loud snapping sound with their fingers, but it's not a snap. The closest way I can think of to describe it is this: it's like what my high school friends who played baseball did when they packed their tobacco. I can't do it, and they laugh at me when I try.

I went to an art museum with the school a couple of weeks ago. We sat outside for a lecture about Guatemalan knitting techniques for about an hour and a half. Huge gusts of wind, foliage, and the day's worth of volcanic ash falling on us distracted our attention from the speaker. The speaker, and I'm not kidding, reminded me of a Spanish-speaking Ms. Hannigan from the movie "Annie." Instead of describing her further, I'll let you use your imagination. :)

Now exiting the "random funny things" section...

Last weekend the TAYLOR crowd was here!!! It was SO good to see them and to speak English with people who already know me the whole day. We visted some ruins, had our own little church service, went to lunch, went to the outdoor market, went to dessert, walked around the park... It was GREAT! I had my chance to finally ask what was REALLY happening with the war, what the latest was at Taylor, etc. God really used each of them to bless me. The fellowship was just amazing! I went to bed that night with a smile on my face and filled up with encouragement and comfort.

This past weekend I went to Tikal to see some ancient Mayan ruins. I took advantage of a group discount by secretly tagging along with some not-so-friendly Norweigan journalists from my language school. However, I found some really, really interesting people to hang out with the whole weekend. On the shuttle ride from the airport (you have to fly there) to our hotel, I met two soon-to-be doctors from Yale (what's with all of these Yale people?) and a 40-something couple from Boston. They were all so fascinating to talk to. We ate every meal together and had long conversations about everything from our earlier travels to books and movies to politics. Despite the fact that I was the only conservative and the only Christian, and therefore the only conservative Christian, they made me feel welcomed and accepted. They're here for a few more weeks, so I think we'll get together again for dinner and a little salsa dancing later on this week.

Oh yeah... the ruins were fabulous too! The jungle was so beautiful and our very knowledgable guide, 22 year-old Marvin (who immediately took to calling me Nick), showed us everything around the park. In addition to learning more than I ever thought I would about the Mayans, I got to see cool things like Spider Monkeys and Toucans and ants as big as my thumbs. When we first got there it was swelteringly humid and the sun was strong. However, it rained in the afternoon and the whole night, so the next day was cooler and overcast. The whole trip was so fascinating. I missed you Daddy!

Well... I've made it through my to-say list without any power failures. It's a miracle! Now I'd better send this pup before I jinx myself.

Love and miss you all!

Nicole

Tikal

Chicken bus

Life in Antigua: Part IV

Hey everyone. Thanks for sticking with me through the Life in Antigua series. Hopefully they get increasingly more interesting for you. Not much has happened here in England this past week, so I'll continue with the series. I think there are seven parts in all, so don't worry. It can't go on forever.


I am applying for a job that I am excited about this week. The deadline is Friday, so we'll see what happens. Please pray that we continue to hope in God and not despair about the weather or finances or anything! We know that the birds are fed and the flowers are clothed in splendor by God every day. He will take care of us! 


A little sunshine would be nice. I haven't seen the sun since Wednesday of last week. :(

______________________________________________

Friends and family,

In typical Guatemalan style, the power went out as I was writing this massive e-mail. Luckily I was only on the second paragraph. I'm hard pressed to find anything more frustrating than power outages when I am trying to be brilliant. This week's events weren't particularly thrilling or hilarious, but a lot of little things added together make for good entertainment.

For starters, Carlos, the third brother in my family, has elevated himself entirely to a new level of laziness. Never in my life have I met anyone more lazy than he (nor anyone who can whine in a more consistently annoying manner). Exhibit A: He brings his mouth down to his glass full of juice resting on the table and dips it down holding it with his teeth so he doesn't have to pick it up. Exhibit B: To return his thick glasses to the bridge of his nose, he throws his head back and bobbles it back and forth so he doesn't have to push them up with his fingers. Quite a sight.

There is a new student at the school, named Nikki, who is quite interesting. I think she's only here for a week or two. She knew absolutely no Spanish before coming, and I still haven't quite figured out why she chose to come here alone for her vacation. She graduated from some obscure college in Minnesota with something like two majors, three minors, and a host of concentrations. She is also an overweight vegetarian whose steady diet of chewy candy has been considerably restricted by her new braces.

The girl has been all over the world! She studied for one semester in Ireland because it was the home of Guiness beer. However, she first caught my ear when she said the word, "Israel" when we were walking to a field trip to a Jade factory. She was there for a few months, "post 9/11," she informed me. She confessed to me that she really wanted to be Jewish, but she's going to seminary starting in the fall to get yet another degree in something, something else, and Feminist Studies. Nikki's ultimate goal is to be ordained. I was confused. Only moments earlier, she was commenting on the hooded university students (more about them later) asking people for money saying, "They're just using the money to buy a bunch of liquor. I'm not giving them anything! I paid myself to get drunk all through college!" She's a hoot. I think she had a metal breakdown on Tuesday. She was pacing through the school during the break, shouting at anyone who was remotely paying attention, "I just can't handle any more verbs! I just can't! Don't these people know that I don't speak Spanish?" I'll miss her... :)

My dear housemate Anna returned to NYC this week. Everyone in the house misses her, although no one does more than me. We had lovely conversations and she was such an encouragement to both listen and talk to. We made lunch for our family last Saturday. Well, Ann cooked and I just chopped things. I was thrilled to eat a somewhat American meal, including a scrumptious fruit salad.

Oh, here's some exciting news... Next Sunday I will be fellowshipping here in Antigua with none other than some TU Spring Breakers! Yep! They will be in Guatemala City doing a service project and will come here to do the tourist thing for one day. I am so excited... and they're brining me a box of Cinnamon Life! Also, my mom is coming to visit for Holy Week in April. I'm really excited about that! These people take Semana Santa very, very seriously. Lent is time full of processions and other celebrations to gear up for the big week. There was one that passed by my house on Sunday. Tons of people, tons of ornate costumes, tons of incence, tons of fun to watch. [Editor's note: see picture at the bottom of this post.]

Work in the hospital is still going well. There is still one baby that breaks my heart every time I look at him. His name is Melvin. He just turned one. I think he weighs about 8 pounds. He constantly has tubes coming out of him and is dressed in wet rags to "reduce his fever". Now... I'm not a medical professional, but aren't wet clothes the last thing you want to put on a very very sick baby?

And now... a few random thoughts.

I've been seeing a lot of pickups holding at least 25 people in the back holding on to each other for dear life. The tail nearly scrapes the street beneath it.

We buy our eggs from a smelly pet store. It's a little disconcerting. I'm just waiting to crack one and have a little chick come out that was meant to be someone's pet.

I went to a museum this week that is actually an old house. The two daughters of the man who bought the house still live there. We passed through their bedrooms and everything. I wonder if I could get people to pay money to see my bedroom.

The men here like to hit on women indirectly. I was walking with my "mom" the other day and some random guy said to her, "Adios suegra!" (Goodbye mother-in-law) I suppose he was implying that he was married to me?! Strange...

This country likes to strike a lot. There's always someone on strike. Teachers, truck drivers, etc. They also like to sleep at the airport on the runways to prevent people from coming or going. Interesting tactics, but successful nonetheless.

Well, before disaster strikes again, I suppose I should be going. Thanks for your prayers!

Love,
Nicole

Photo credit here.

Life in Antigua: Part III

Hey everyone, 

I am sorry for the amount of time that has passed since your last installment of "Life in Antigua." I have lofty goals of writing you pages and pages every day, but I simply don't have the time. Wow... so much has happened since last week. Where to begin?

Well, Jan (the neurotic dietician from Colorado) moved out last Friday, saying that she wanted "another authentic experience" somewhere else. I can't say that my family was sad to see her go. She got more and more strange as the week progressed. Not to worry though... we had a chance to spend the WHOLE DAY together on Sunday. Unbeknownst to me, we both signed up for the same day trip to Chichicastenango and Panajachel (or something like that) on Sunday. Uh... it was me, three French Canadian ladies who really didn't speak much Spanish or English (nor did they seem to want to), our Spanish guide (yet another Carlos), and Jan.

It was an okay day, to put it mildly. First of all, I'm beginning to discover that Guatemala looks the same just about everywhere. There's always going to be tons of trash in the road, there's always going to be Mayan women carrying twice their body weight on their heads, there's always going to be little men picking out cigarette butts from the cobblestone roads with salad tongs, etc. Of course, there are things that I will just never quite get used to - like hearing Eminem's "Without Me" set to a Latino beat, for example. :)

Second of all, no one spoke English (or, in Jan's case, wanted to). Now, I know the point of my time here is to learn Spanish, but by end of my second week, I was ready to have a decent conversation in my native tongue. On the bumpy and dusty two and a half drive back to Antigua, I prayed to God. "Lord, I'm starting to feel a bit lonely. I just want to TALK to someone. Will you please send someone I can talk to, even if it's just one conversation?"

LO AND BEHOLD! God heard my cry. When I arrived home, a new housemate had taken Jan's room, but she was already asleep. The next day I met Anna, a 35 year-old nurse from North Carolina. She is so great! She's traveled all over the world working with a group of nuns for months and years at a time - the Philipines, Little Village in Chicago, NYC, Nicaragua, etc. I actually thought she was a nun at first because 1) she is not married, 2) she smiles all the time, and 3) she wears two pendants around her neck, one of the Virgin Mary, and another one of - I'm not sure what, exactly, it is. We have had the most amazing conversations the past few days and we've discovered that we have some of the strangest things in common. She even knows quite a bit of sign language. Not only can we talk in English and Spanish, we can converse in SIGN LANGUAGE! Is God good, or isn't he?

This week I also started my volunteer work at a hospital/convalescent home/orphanage/social work building/church. I took a tour last Thursday of the facilities, and it was hands down the saddest sight I've ever seen. Believe me, I've seen my fair share of old people, sick people, and abandoned babies, but this... this was different. They were all together in one place, many of them with physical or mental (or both) disabilities. There was always someone screaming. There were rows of kids with disabilities in metal cribs that looked more like jail cells. Some of them were as old as fourteen, but I could hold them in my arms like toddlers. It took all the strength I had in every cell in my body not to weep the whole time.

I started my first day of work in Wednesday with the babies. A few of them are recovering from cleft palate surgeries while most suffer from malnourishment. I worked with two of the malnourished babies mostly. At first, I was so afraid that I would break them or that they would die in my arms they were so fragile. Their skin was so thin and I could see their ribcages, their skulls, hm... it was hard. Changing their diapers or feeding them or rocking them scared me to death. Their bodies were so stiff, their fists were clenched into little balls, they gasped for every breath, and they would stare into nothingness for minutes without blinking their eyes. Just pray with me that their health will improve and that they will feel the love of Jesus through me and the other volunteers.

On a much lighter note, I had to change teachers this week because my first teacher had been "reserved" for the month of March. When I first heard this, I "marched" into the director's office and "reserved" her for the month of April. Ha! This week's work was a little boring (who wants to copy down ten pages worth of rules about prepositions?), but my conversations with my new teacher, Elizabeth, have been improving steadily. The most helpful times in my journey toward Spanish proficiency have been around the dinner table doing my homework with my "brothers."

Speaking of "brothers," I'm going to a concert tonight in the capital with the oldest, Jose, and his friends. The name of the artist (or group?)is Elefante. What?! Elephant? It should be interesting. Paula, the 16 year-old girl who works in our house thinks that all of the brothers are in love with me, with the exception of Rodrigo, who isn't old enough to like girls yet. Ay, ay, ay, mi vida.

Well, I guess I should send this pup before disaster strikes me and my computer again. Many thanks to those who have written me... It means so much to read about life where you are!

Love,
Nicole

CCP Youth Rock My World

CCP youth and leaders, you are awesome! We received your envelope of sunshine last Monday, but I have just neglected to blog properly about it. This post has been in the "to finish" pile for too long. I'm sorry for the delay!

Thanks, guys, for your extremely timely notes of encouragement. At first, we discussed the possibility of just reading one a day to drag out the fun, but neither of us could manage more than 30 seconds of that idea. Let's just say that Nathan and I both laughed and cried reading through them. We loved all of the quotes from the quote board, the inside jokes, the pictures you drew, the encouraging words, the retelling of special memories, the prayers, everything. Thank you, thank you, thank you! 

Nathan may or may not sleep with these notes under his pillow every night. Okay, they're next to his pillow every night. Okay, there in his nightstand, which is next to his pillow every night.

David O., here's your "sweet and pungent chicken" shout out! Woot woot!

Life in Antigua: Part II

Here is installment number two of the series, "Life in Antigua." I'm not sure what's going on with the formatting today, but the blog is thinking in terms of individual letters instead of words, making for quite an annoying reading experience. The words are splitting up at the end of each line instead of moving the word to the next line. I'm trying to figure it out, but for now, you'll just have to make do. Sorry!

_____________________________________________

Hi friends and family!

I had been sitting here happily typing away, spinning the most compelling stories about my experiences here when all of a sudden... nothing. My screen went white. I don't know what exactly happened, but I lost about 30 minutes of creative genious. I regret to say that the second take of this e-mail will probably not be quite as exciting (or, rather, written with quite as much excitement).

UGH! Where was I? I first off told you about my new "housemate," Jan. Jan is a single 40-something dietician from Ft. Collins, Colorado. She's got the gear, the clothes (including the Eddie Bauer skirt, Trinidad ladies!), the outdoorsy demeanor, everything! She arrived on Saturday very, very early in the morning and will be here for a total of two weeks. I heard her loud American voice clumsily fumbling around in Spanish attempting to talk to the Senora about sleeping arrangements, so I got up to greet her. "Hi! Wecome. My name is..." Before I could even tell her my name, she put her hand in front of my face and nearly shouted in her ghastly gringa accent,"POR FAVOR! Solamente Espanol! (PLEASE! Only Spanish!)"

"Okay..." I thought. "This should be interesting." Sure enough... her Spanish is worse than mine, and I've discovered that I have less patience than I've claimed to have had. I often find myself thinking, "T-t-today Junior!" when she's trying to spit something out. However, it's getting better with time. Her face is never farther than two inches away from her English-Spanish dictionary, and she's entertaining at least. For those of you who love my impressions, we'll sit down sometime and I'll tell Jen stories. She's only been here five days, and I already have a vault full.

Hours after Jan's arrival, the family and Jan and I went to a wedding in a small town not far away called La Ciudad Vieja. Juanita, the bride,worked at "our" house cooking and cleaning for four years. Now, her sister Paula has her job. Actually, Saturday's wedding was the second for the same young coulple in one weekend. The first was a civil ceremony the day before, but just the Senora and I went because the boys had work or homework. The reception afterward was at the bride's small house where there was only one table to feed about 150 people. So, we took turns. The Senora and I were among the first round. I, oddly enough, sat directly across from the groom, who looked like he could have been just as happy standing in line at the DMV. The next day, however, he managed a smile or two for the camera.

The second reception, held at the "town hall," just a big open space, had many more people and much more food. To my knowledge, we were the first ones out of about 300 to leave, and we left after three and a half hours. These people sure do know how to party. It was yet another interesting cross-cultural experience.

Sunday was Rodrigo's birthday. He turned 11. My family and I (Jen hiked up a volcano on Sunday) went to another neighboring town called Jocotelango to Juan Sr.'s ("dad") sister's house. She is moving to Miami next week, and we had kind of a going away/birthday party. There were innumerable aunts, uncles, and cousins laughing, crying, talking, playing, drinking (glasses, not shots, of vodka), attending mid-day mass, etc. There was not a moment of silence for the eight hours I was there. I didn't speak a word of English all day. Lot's of fun, but my brain was very tired when we left at 8:30 at night.

For those of you wondering what the heck I do with my time besides when I am in school from 8-12, I'll tell ya! After school I rest and then eat lunch. After that, I usually either come to the internet cafe or go on a field trip with the school (Tuesdays and Thursdays). Then, I do my homework with the boys at the dinner table. They're an immense help with my Spanish, and I manage to help them with their English homework. Then, reading, dinner, writing, etc. until bed. I'm usually asleep by 9:30 or 10. I'm such an old lady!

Okay... I'm afraid that I will lose this e-mail again if I don't send it right away. My love to you all!

Nicole
Editor's note: not the actual wedding or couple. :) Photo credit here.

Hotmail Gems/Life in Antigua: Part I

Okay, so if you're a contact of  mine from my Hotmail account, I must offer you my sincerest apologies. It has been used to spam people three times in as many weeks. I haven't closed it yet, but I did change the password and tighten up some security stuff. I'm hoping that I won't have to close it, because all of my pre-marriage contacts, this blog, Facebook, online shopping accounts, and new job hunting leads are linked to it. Maybe it's time... I mean, I got married almost five years ago, and I've had the account for eight! 


Yesterday I spent a looooong time going through all of my folders and cleaning out old files. It needed to be done anyway, and if I end up closing it, it'll be one less thing I have to do. By the time I crashed into bed, I felt like the last eight years of my life flashed before my eyes in a day. There were old stories from my time abroad in Guatemala, hilarious snippets from my kids' 7th grade journals, long relationship updates to my college friends across the world about various boys, a whole folder dedicated to Nathan (we were long distance, remember?), sweet notes from my mentors, and lots of pictures - which are worth a thousand words each. 


I took quite a ride yesterday. My mind was spinning very late into the night. Processing through all of it was more difficult than I was expecting for some reason. I don't know... My life just feels so different now, and I feel very different from the person who opened that Hotmail account before leaving for a semester abroad in Central America. Such is life.


One benefit of finding all those stories is that I now have some new blog fodder. When the days are slow, as they are now, I can always post a story for you from some crazy adventure I was having. If blogs were around back then, I would have been posting them anyway. 


I have still been applying for jobs using my method (spending hours on each application, making sure all of the details are taken care of and that my cover letter matches everything in the job description), but Nathan has encouraged me to cast a wider net and to just go fast and furious. So, this morning  I applied for about 30 jobs using a generic job searching site. We'll see what happens. 


In the mean time, I think I'll give you a series of seven e-mails from life in Antigua, Guatemala, appropriately titled "Life in Antigua." It starts off fairly slowly, but it gets quite interesting as the semester progresses, I promise. I have no way of contacting any of the characters in this series to ask their permission to put this on the blog, so I've changed some names to protect their privacy. I'm not sure they would mind, but one can never be too careful. For a bit of background, I went to Guatemala to solidify my Spanish. I went to a language school and lived with a local family. My dad dropped me off at the beginning of February, and I was there through May of 2003. Here is Part I. 

________________________________________________

Hey friends and family!


Thanks for your thoughts and prayers while I am here in Guatemala. I LOVE receiving your e-mails. I usually hit "my" internet cafe every other day or so. Although writing mass e-mails is the easiest way to contact all of you at once, I promise to write you individually if you write me first. :)

For starters, the weather here is awesome. It is cooler than I thought it would be, in the 60s and 70s, but I hear that it will warm up in the coming months. I guess February is their winter month. However, I'd love it to stay exactly the way it is right now - nice and warm with no bugs. For those of you in Indiana and further east, I am sorry to hear about your blizzardous weather these past few days. If you could be here with me, I'm sure you would be. :)

The city of Antigua is a touristy one. The streets are made of cobblestone, and all of the buildings are quaint and old-looking. I live on a street with a famous arch [Editor's note: see picture at the bottom of this post]. I haven't figured out its significance yet, but it helps me when I am a bit lost.

The family I'm staying with is absolutely awesome. There is a mom, a dad, and four boys. The dad owns a photo shop across the street from McDonald's, and I haven't quite figured out what the mom does yet. She said that she stays at home and takes care of the house, but she's gone when I leave in the morning and doesn't come back until I'm done with school. Plus, there is a maid that cooks and cleans during the day.

The oldest boy who is 20, Jose, was a little distant with my dad and me, but my dad cracked the tought nut with a little conversation about movies and pop culture in the States. He stays with his grandparents during the day because they live closer to the university. His first question to me was not, "What is your name?" or even "Where are you from?" It was "So, when are we going dancing?"


The next one, Juan, 17, is a nice kid studying electrical stuff. He's helps me with my stumbling Spanish when I need it and seems to be the man of the house when his father is away.

The third boy, Carlos, is 13 and the most akward adolescent you'll ever lay eyes on. He has skinny long legs, shuffles around the house, talks suuuuper slowly, and slurrs all of his words together. He reminds me of Pepe Gonzales, Speedy Gonzales's cousin who sings "La Cucaracha" off key and speaks painfully slowly. "Speeeedy. Wheere are you gooooing?" I think he has a crush on me. When we went to the beach, (more like a waterpark with the beach in the background), he followed me everywhere, stared at me with his slightly crossed eyes, and asked if I had a boyfriend. His affections have since lessened, but I was a little worried about it for a day or so.

The youngest, and by far the cutest is Rodrigo. He will be 11 years old on Sunday and is hoarding his money so he can buy a bike. On our first afternoon, he gave my dad and me a little tour of Antigua. After we bought him a Coke and some fries at McDonald's we became fast friends. He's probably taught me the most Spanish so far. He always speaks clearly and with words I can understand. Great kid! He is a SMART one for being 10 years old. He usually picks on Carlos, the 13 year old. :)

School is going GREAT! I have an awesome teacher named Lidia, who teaches me Spanish for 4 hours a day. We usually talk for the first two hours, take a break for the next 30 minutes, and then study grammar for the last hour and a half. The director and all of the teachers are very nice, but I am convinced that I got the best teacher. :) After only three days, I have noticed that my speaking skills have improved some and my listening skills have improved exponentially. I am hoping that one day I'll wake up and it will all just "click."

Ok - that's all for now because I'm afraid something bad will happen and I'll lose this whole e-mail. More in the next week or so...

 My love to you all!

 Nicole

Yes, Google Images had a picture of the street where I lived. Whoa!

By Reader Request

For Amy, more pictures of Winnie. Although, you've already seen her in person, which makes me insanely jealous.

 Winnie and June

On Saturday a new friend, former Atlantan Ashley, came over. Side note: More small worldness... her dad and a friend of ours from church/Whitefield in Atlanta were co-pilots on some Delta flight last year and set up our friendship. She and her husband are here for PhD studies as well. End side note. We made cookies together and watched gardening shows on iPlayer. What a great way to begin a friendship! 

It makes me hungry just looking at the dough...

My cookies are gaining quite a reputation here, as I make them any time we have company and always get rave reviews. I even made some for our neighbors for Valentine's Day. I  thought about being one of those "it's a secret recipe" people, but then I thought, "If Kristi had never given it to me, I'd never have the joy of eating them or sharing them with others!" After a few reader for requests (EBQ, Erin) for the recipe, here it is: Kristi's Chocolate Chip Cookies. Above is the front of the card.

This is the back. If you live in England and have a fan assisted oven like I do, preheat to 160 C and bake for 10 minutes. A few more tips: get a cookie scooper. It's like an ice cream scooper but smaller. Like a melon baller only bigger. I got mine at Publix. If you live in England, I'm not sure where to find one, but I can ask future visitors to buy them at Publix and bring them over in suitcases. :) Also, refrigerate the dough for at least 30 minute before baking. It gets the dough fairly firm. That is my mother's trick. 

And for Erin, a picture of my bag from childhood. Is it the same one you had? It was a lot smaller than I remembered, but I think it's because I'm a lot bigger now.


Do you have any other questions you'd like to see answered on the blog? I'll try my best to accommodate reasonable requests. After posting so many wacky Tesco pictures, I've thought about the "What do you buy at the grocery store?" question someone asked, but I haven't quite brought myself to documenting that. It just seems too normal.