On The Dirt Road

Schools Out!

2008-06-14T18:36:00.006-06:00

School is out for another year.. bye everyone.. anyone?? :)

Lester and me syncronise watches one last time.. one second off.. all good buddy, all good.

Well, my year of teaching in Honduras is very quickly drawing to a close. The exams are graded, the marks are in, the house is packed, the goodbye's are said. Early this morning I left the crisp fresh air of Siguatepeque to come down from the mountains into the muggy city of San Pedro.

My good friend Rob Jefferson is flying in tonight and we'll be travelling down through Central America for the next three weeks for a year end vacation. Our flight out of Panama (to New York and then Toronto) is booked, so we have three weeks to get down there and catch that plane. Here we go!

Oh, and here's a link to my June Newsletter (pdf 1 mb)

Looking forward to spending time over with all of you, talking about what we've all been up to this past year, I hope it's been a good one for all of you, it's been great for me!

And next year? Page 2 of the newsletter has some hints. :)

Be back in Canada July 7th!
Mark

HOCKEY IN HONDURAS!

2008-05-31T12:49:00.006-06:00

Carlos Edwardo sprint down the ice with unparalleled focus,
easily most valuable player this season...

This last partial at the school has been hilarious in gym class.. I mean I've really loved it. We've been playing the best sport ever.. it's new to the kids.. mere weeks ago they had no idea what they were doing or what these plastic sticks were for, and now they have a blast every gym class and ask me if we're playing again next class. They've all got into it and have stayed so interested we've just kept playing!

Face Off's, penalty shots, he shoots he scores! The high school kids look on in wonder, locals passing by stop and seem confused. What are this game? Eyes lock waiting for the ball to drop. Yellow and red plastic sticks flash around the court chasing an old yellow tennis ball. My friends, Hockey has arrived in Honduras!

Hockey rocks Mr. Mark!

Farra at the FaceOff

Okay this sport brings out the tomboy in Megan for sure.

Andrea shooots .. and ... and .. ? You should have been there!

Laura wins Fan of the Game

Focus.. Focus!!!

Elena waves to the home town fans! Thank for the equipment Canada!!

Suitcase #2 Arrives! Supplies for Casa Hogar Kids Home!

2008-04-27T18:52:00.011-06:00

Hi everyone! The other thing we did besides taking the kids to the circus the weekend was bring up Suitcase #2 full of donations from all of you! Noel and I went up in the afternoon to play and hang out with the kids, but this time we also had some donations to help them out at home and school!

Suitcase #2 - Arrives! We had some more sports equipment for the school, and all these donations for the kids in need.

Just a note you won't see me posting up too many of the kids photos here or mentioning their names, just for safety. The home has 30 kids, is part of an outreach program that is based in Spain and now has Canadian ties through Melodie, a Canadian missionary who has been working there for the last 2 years. She sleeps at the home 6 nights a week.

Many of these kids are not orphans, but have been taken from their families because of abuse. The stories they have are.. well pretty bad. I work with a few of the kids who are sponsored to come to our school, and they're really great. The home has a solid reputation for care, unlike other homes in the country. 2 years ago they won a European Missions award and received money to buy the property they are currently on. This allowed them to move the whole 'family' out of a dangerous San Pedro area, and here to one of the safest places in the country.

Hello!!!

Yes! They can always use more toothpaste!

Noel and I put the supplies in the store room without any fanfare or announcements. I've learned from Alfredo (who runs the Providence Ministries Orphanage/Hospital/School) that is better if the kids don't know how or by whom they're being supported. Many setups that require your kids to write to donors create a begging mentality in the minds of the kids. This way, all they see is the provision. They have what they need, they feel secure. Good plan? You betcha.

The stones are all multicolored! The grounds are really starting to take shape.

Casa Hogar (Translation: House Home!)

Melodie's brother just came down from Canada the last few weeks and built a playground for the kids! They're hoping to purchase a swing set and jungle gym too!

Tires are fun! :)

These guys are awesome.. climbing and playing.. climbing and playing..

Inside the house, very clean, well built..

Tired after a long day of running around.. and the Circus last night!

Okay! So want to help!!!!???
Suitcase #3 is getting ready to come down!!! It'll leave Toronto early June. AND we're actually hoping to bring 2 suitcases down at that time!

The Orphanage also supports over a hundred other kids in the community by distributing school supplies to specific families in need. Basically they put their kids through school with uniforms and everything they need.. so everything will go to good use.

So, here's some things we can certainly use more of..

Erasers!!

Pencils! Brushes!!

Notebooks!

Soap! Hey I know that name :)

Just like last time, drop off points will be:
2586 Robin Dr, Mississauga Ontario Call my Dad : (Ted) 905-823-7622

This time there will also be a Toronto drop off location. To be announced!

Exciting!! The kids all really appreciate your efforts guys. Keep the generosity coming!

Circus with the Kids and a trip to Casa Hogar Kids Home

2008-04-27T16:44:00.007-06:00

Hey hey! So it's been a good weekend getting out and about let's take a look at what went down..

This past Friday the teachers and I got together and took the all the kids from Casa Hogar group home to the circus! We all (30+) packed into a teeny tiny little van and headed out! It was a great time.. I have a picture of Noel buying everyone Candy Floss around here somewhere... Here are some of the pictures!!!

Group shot in the half time, see the Lion Cub bottom left?

In the van on the way...

Okay this van is packed! Hi Meg!

A hush falls over the van as we approach the circus tent...

Melodie! The French Canadian who's been working at the home for 2 years, watches over her flock.. Make a silly face.. and go!

The entrance, handily carved out of a the side of a truck. Use everything you bring when you're a traveling Central American circus!

Under the Big Top.. Any minute now..

Can't wait can't wait!!

Mmm Candy Floss..
A couple of our kids got up with the clowns.. the slapstick gags were the only ones I understood, but everyone else seemed to love 'em.

And the group of us again with the lion cub! (bottom left)

Quiere mas? I have all the pictures in an album on Facebook "Honduran Circus with the Kids":

Okay! Oh and saturday w

Archives: Lost at Sea, three years past.

2008-04-04T15:52:00.014-06:00

.

Hi everyone, apologies for not keeping up with this blog in a while, I hope reading Noel's and Katharine's and Amanda's blog's have kept you up to date (<-- see links on the side) on some of the more daily events in our life down here.. Katharine is especially diligent for which I am thankful.

So I've had somewhat of a writer's block due of late, and I just haven't made the time like I should. There are a couple reasons.. things have been busy down here! I hope to post on what been happening at the school in a few days. Also, unlike my roommates in our house of technology, I have fairly poor internet reception on my beat-up used Mac laptop and have to wander into the school field if I want to get any signal! Next time I'm getting a new PC one... mmm maybe. Katharine's been online to India tech support with her's today...

There's also a post I wrote a while ago and never put up. I had convinced myself that it was just an old story that everyone already new about and I didn't actually need to post it, but I'm stuck at that point, and I now realise it's part of the larger story I've been given, and it is worth looking backwards sometimes...

------- April 5th, 2008

This month I've been aware of the past more than usual. For me March is a month that seems to stretch backwards through time. March is a part of me.

It's my birthday month for one thing, and as of the 21st I'm a nice round (actually more tall and lanky) 32 years. My 'Bio-Mum' Karen has her birthday in March too, then there's Lent and this year Easter, so maybe it's a natural time of reflection. Or it's simply that the heart has some kind of internal cycle and it's time for me to look back..

It's my first March away from Canada since living in Australia, and this past weekend I was making the call to go to take a friend to the hospital for dehydration. She got a stomach virus while we were exploring the Honduran mountains by zip line. It turned out alright, but it was all too familiar. I must be back here for a reason, there must be something more to learn.

All of this has combined this month to turn my mind backwards, to remember rocky Australian seas and easter spent lost on a boat. I've been coming across Psalms all week that have been talking about God calming the wind and the waves, but it was a sentence in a book this morning that finally knocked me out of my complacency and made me pick up my computer. It didn't take long to find the email I sent out to everyone 3 years ago.

-------------------

"Human beings do not readily admit desperation. When they do, the kingdom of heaven draws near."
- Phillip Yancey, The Jesus I never knew

A photo taken of our boat during the rescue. We never saw it again.

April 2, 2005

I have only been in serious danger three times in my life. The first was while skiing alone in the Canadian Rockies, the second a year and a half ago; with meningitis in a Toronto Hospital, and the third time was this past Wednesday, here in Australia.

This time the hospital was the back deck of a huge Navy/Customs super-boat, racing back from the middle of the Gulf of Carpentaria; in the seas somewhere north of Australia. I was suffering from fever, exhaustion and advanced dehydration.

For two days this week I was lost at sea with my friend David on a 22 foot yacht, with no land in sight.

On our way back from what was supposed to be an overnight trip out to a small outer Island in the north Australian oceans, we were caught by a sudden change in the wind patterns: the beginning of the southeast tradewinds which blow all day and all night at high speeds, for months. Overnight the calm winds that carried us out to the Island swung around and built up steam. We tried to set out eastward but had to turn back. We decided to wait a day and set out early Tuesday morning when we saw the winds had calmed down slightly. An hour into that trip the winds picked up again and quickly got worse, and very quickly we were blown away from the Islands into the open waters of the Gulf of Carpentaria. After 6 hours the haze of the Prince of Wales Island shoreline disappeared, and we were in open ocean.

We continued heading south, hoping to hit the tip of Australian coast (Weipa), but both the current and winds were against us, and we missed it by 40 miles. Our only other option to get to land was to head directly West and cross the Gulf of Carpentaria to Gove, if we could only get some sleep that night. But by midnight the winds had only increased further and the boat was now surfing down 3 meter whitewater swells. We braced ourselves against the pitch and had to tie ourselves to the boat while trying to steer. I had been throwing up for more than 12 hours and had started to become feverish as green bile began to turn red. Neither Dave nor myself could keep down food or water. We soon calculated that at our current speed it would take 3 days to cross the 200 miles and reach Gove, if the currents didn't sweep us north into the Arafura Sea. With no compass, no radio, no stars above to guide us, we sat below deck looking over the map, guessing at our bearing. I had effectively not had water or food in 36 hours, and realised that I didn't stand a good chance of surviving more than another day or so.

It was 4 am Wednesday when we made the decision to take down the sails, hit the emergency satellite beacon (EPIRB) and hope for rescue. I watched the boat rock in the darkness as David strapped the beacon to the boat; willing it to work. It gave off a small red glow and beep that echoed into the night. As morning came, and we saw the first reddish yellows of the sun, a search helicopter appeared in the distance. We lit off flares and made contact with the emergency crew. At 9 am a plane air-dropped an emergency kit with two-way radio, and water.. but because of my advanced seasickness I still could not keep it down. A rescue boat manned by some of our Islander friends had set out in the night but had to turn back because of distance and severity of the conditions, so while they were regrouping, at 10am the main navy/customs boat was launched from Thursday Island, where by chance it was docked. It took 6 hours for it to reach us at top speed as we had been blown 80 miles west off the coast. At 3pm we were taken onto the rescue boat, and abandoned the Yacht. At 9pm that night we finally set foot on dry land once again.

It is Saturday evening now as I write this.. I have spent the last few days quietly considering what happened, and recovering physically. I still wake up with the room spinning and I have been finding it hard to do much more sit, and spend time with friends.. which is a good way to spend the last part of easter holiday-week I'd say. I was down by the water tonight, but the usually calm waters have grown even more rough this week. Now every wave is a white cap and the anchored boats are being tossed around like toys. I am surprised to find that it is difficult to look at the ocean, but I make sure I hold my gaze.

One thing that keeps coming to mind is the discussions with God that never stopped through the whole trip. I think the clearest of everything that that I heard was the quiet repetition, 'leave it behind'. I heard him say it through the darkness at 4am when we were most desperate. Until then we weren't even considering abandoning the boat. After that we finally realized we had to, that for hours it had been the only option. Why did we waste so much time? It's a leap to realize you are actually in as much danger as you are, we were fooling ourselves for a long time.

Even as the rescue boat was an hour away I had pockets stuffed full of personal things. But in my delirious state I felt the pocket weigh me down, and envisioned falling off the boat with my pockets weighed down, sinking and unable to swim. So we left everything. We got off with bare feet and shorts. Dave managed a zip lock bag with our wallets & phone. And it turns out that when the time came, it took everything I had to leap across to the rescue boat.

So the week is over, and in somber moments I quietly thank God I am alive. It's amazing how quickly a fun trip turned to disaster, but even when it did it never seemed too much to bear. There's an old saying I grew up with; that God won't let us bear more than we can handle. Knowing that is freeing and powerful when you feel like you can't bear any more. I actually think doing calculations on which actions would not lead to my death is a bit beyond me.. and yet in those moments Christ is there. Not like a philosophical idea or a historical character from the past. But really there, like he was the third guy on the boat. Grasping at the rigging with us.

I kept thinking, 'this sucks', as little wells of panic started to rise, but the third guy seemed confident and so it calmed me. 'What do I do next?' is the only question He let me ask. Even now as I try to communicating how close things came, I'm actually doing pretty good. Four days later I'm still tired and a bit quieter than usual. Being shaken around for a couple days has left me weaker and stronger at the same time. Maybe the more you realize you are not in control, the stronger God moves in each step you take. Maybe it is to the desperate that heaven draws closest. He certainly showed up when I was weakest.

There's lots more to tell, but I've said enough for now. Love you guys lots, I'll be home sooner than you think. And if you have a spare moment this week, pause and step back for a second and really look around you. I seem be seeing things with different eyes this week. See if you can.

Love always.

Mark

------

So there it is.. some day I'll write all the details from that day that make my hair stand up. But how do you write down on paper the sense of God in the shadows, gently nudging your actions along? Wanting you to walk on your own but waiting to catch you, like any good father. I still remember standing at the front of that boat the first sun-filled day, feeling like the king of the world. I still remember 3 am wednesday night; grasping that same rigging, staring into darkness, calling out and hearing Him Answer.

When I'm in Toronto I go out to the beachheads and just stare across the water into the dark, the waves drowning out the city, listening. When I'm in Costa Rica I climb high peaks in the nights to see the sun Rise. I do a lot of that, whenever I can.. but don't think I do it to feel strong... I think I do it to feel weak. Blessed are the poor in Spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.... they will see God. Who said a comfortable and happy life is actually a good thing? Maybe all it does is put you to sleep, like we're fooling ourselves. Maybe God's just patiently waiting for each of us to be desperate enough to wake up and realize we need Him.

Does all this affect my life? Only on days that I let it. At least for today I remember that the One who made Everything is calmly and quietly walking beside me. I should be scared out of my wits at that idea. I should let that knowledge and that friendship change me.

If I could wake up every day and remember that, I should be ready to leap towards anything with my whole heart.

Maybe I am.

Suitcase #1 Arrives! Full of gym Equipment!

2008-02-29T13:38:00.009-07:00

Hey look! Suitcase # 1 is here! Thanks everyone! Suitcase #2 is leaving Mississauga March 5th and is currently 1/2 full with all the other stuff.. Call Mark's friendly Dad Ted at (905) 823-7622. HUGE thanks goes out to Grant who donated... well basically all the gym equipment. Amazing man. The kids were very thankful and excited for the new games we're going to play!

Thanks also to Jeff & the Havenwood staff! The soap and toothbrushes and eveything will be much appreciated by the kids at the orphanage!

This is Carlos Edwardo, he's everybody's hero :)

This is Ibon, she's at the kids home CASA Hogar, she's in my grade 3 class, and she wearing a very large first basemen's mit! Grant gave us 4 other mits in kids sizes.. a good start for the baseball program!

Jen grinning as per usual! We got 30 hockey sticks!Javier!Karolyn with the new left handed glove :)

Thanks for filling suitcase #1 Grant and Havenwood!!

Fill an Empty Suitcase for Honduras!!

2008-02-17T13:06:00.006-07:00

4 of my Grade 3 students! What's that? Looks like an empty suitcase!

Hey hey! If anyone wants to send stuff down to Honduras, now's the time! We've got our friend Megan back in Mississauga this week for a wedding, and she's taking an empty suitcase back to haul some supplies down here for the school!

Right now we could really use sports equipment! I've just cleaned out a great storage room at the school, we just have to fill it!

*** First suitcase leaves: Monday Feb. 25th ***
Drop stuff off at 2586 Robin Dr., Mississauga. (905) 823-7622

Have some old baseball gloves in your garage? Send 'em down!

Not sure? Here's a list of a few things (ie. we have very little currently!)

Pinnies (sets of 15, a few different colours for elementary and high school)
Bean bags (30)
Gator balls/elephant skin balls
Volley balls (5)
Skipping ropes (jump rope for heart)
Frisbees - decent quality (think plastic - not necessarily ultimate
frisbee ones, they're kinda big)
Sidewalk Chalk
Parachute
Hockey Blades (the plastic bottom part of a hockey stick)
Netting for a hockey net (2)
Mesh bags to hold sports balls (a few)
Beach balls
Tennis balls
Rubber kick-balls (with texture, good-quality)
Rubber bases
Used climbing rope /plastic yellow rope

Random Saturday, Part 2: SuperBowl and Robert De Niro

2008-02-09T15:26:00.001-07:00

Well it's Saturday afternoon here at the school. Rafa the handyman is quietly moving things around the school, the girls are up at the camp, Noel left for a bike ride and I've been sitting/lying out on the porch, listening to podcasts and getting over the last of a cold I had this week. I wonder if my body just knows it's a cold February for most Canadians back home, and decided I needed to share in the fun. Soar throats for everyone! :P

Overall this looks to be a good week on the health front for our little house.. Amanda was sick all last week with something crazy, but is now .. almost better? Noel and Katharine seem to have managed avoiding the stomach bug.. and hopefully we'll all sleep well this week. As for me, thanks for your prayers, I can walk again (some kinda bug or just over exertion made me stiff for 2 weeks.. ouch). I'm learning the joys of stretching after sports, drinking water, and of not eating leftover spicy hot dogs from the SuperBowl party 4 days prior. (Let's not talk about it)

Last Saturday was pretty unique for Honduras.. we went up to the dedication ceremony for Alfredo's orphanage project: Providence Ministries.. Pretty amazing. A beautiful house with a family all moved in. Two loving parents to take care of both their kids and adopted orphans. One big happy family. More houses are being built, all of them around the new hospital Providence built last year on the land they bought the year before that. You can get to it using the road they built on the bus they own that regularly transports teams of doctors from the U.S. to do free surgeries. If anyone wants to put their money to a cause that's really doing a lot.. Providence is it.

Patriots vs. the Giants, live on Honduran Cable TV.

And besides that, Alfredo throws a great SuperBowl Party! None of us actually watch American football, but we had about twenty people over there Sunday night. I think 5 of us watched the game around his fuzzy TV, while Alfredo's, Isreal's and Tim's kids ran around the place and swung on hammocks out back. Sweet. Alfredo has a big family of his own and they also have just started caring for two newborn baby's who's mom can't support. Practice what you preach happening right there.

Speaking of preaching, I've just been gazing off into the hazy blue afternoon sky listening to a Podcast from the Meeting House back home. All the churches here are in Spanish (surprise surprise) so I get a lot of my churchin' up online these days. They did a series a month or so ago on the God Debate. I remember Kevin mentioned wanting to read and discuss "The God Delusion" by Dawkins' on a postcard from his honeymoon (random) .. it's mentioned in the podcast so I'm writing it here before I forget again. (Kev send me the book!)

I like the premise of the first of the series, Common Ground (40min). It's about how religion and specifically the church have been one of the most destructive things ever to hit us over the head. Atheist writers call us on it, and it's humbling but true. Not the cheeriest message to ever come from a pulpit, but humbling and freeing when you remember Jesus felt the same way towards the established religiosity of his day that had lost its way. We happened to watch The Mission last night on Noel's laptop and it seemed to resonate the same feelings. The Jesuits are just doing their thing, helping people, then the Church comes and wrecks it all for political reasons (I didn't ruin it, it's still a great movie, DeNiro is great).

There's probably more to say about all that.. but I'm off to the camp for the evening. Oh and pray for Noel, he just got back from his bike trip, and some unknown bug bit him again. Scorpion? Who knows! :P

Random Saturday, Episode 1

2008-01-19T16:36:00.002-07:00

Mist in the morning at the school..

Well it's been a good day here at the school. Hopefully the the first in a series of many random get stuff done days.. I've had the place to myself and got a lot of marking done, called some of you guys... Blake too bad we got cut off, IKEA has bad reception, have a Swedish meatball for me. :) The photo above is of our basketball court early in the morning this week.

..and I've even been fixing up the place too.. Jorge (Horhe), Enoc and I made a bridge component for the ropes course, I think Ken calls it the Train Track element. It took two days, and some running around town looking for more supplies, but we got it done. :) Next up a circular floating staircase. Sweet.

Enoc and Jorge

So I'm heading out for dinner up at the camp with the girls.. new girl Megan is cooking us dinner! Amazing. That frees me up even more to do some of those important things you never have time for.. like uploading a video of Amanda freaking out after Megan got swept into the waterfall. Amanda's the young one of the group, easily ruffled.

Cliff jumping and Hot Springs: Who needs a theme park?

2008-01-14T18:45:00.000-07:00

View from the cliffs..

So, apparently Honduras is amazing. We just had a great weekend a within hours from where we live, all the while thinking.. do we really live here?

Saturday, Ken, myself and Jorge took Ken's kids and some american high school guys out to do some repelling down a waterfall. Pretty amazing stuff. Scenery was great, the younger kids we took down the jungle path off to the side, but it still required a harness and gear to get up and down the rock, slippery often vertical path. A great starter climb for the kids, and good fun on the falls for the more experienced. The guys have all the pictures of the cliff, but so for now here's just two of the area leading up to the giant falls.
Picturesque river leading up to the cliffs.

Next, on Sunday, our house, Noel, Katharine, Amanda and myself went on a road trip with Ken's family and the guys to the Hot Springs, a couple hours away. Lucky we prayed before the road trip started because one thing after another went almost horribly wrong.

(above, to get to the Springs you need to pass through a cave. At points you're surrounded by steam and can't see a thing)

First, Katharine's front tire almost fell off while we were going down the winding mountain road. Seems the guys who rotated her tires didn't thought tightening the lug nuts by hand was a enough. The hot springs themselves were pretty epic; a river with multiple waterfalls to climb over, a set of falls to climb behind, rapids to float through, a cliff to dive off, and small little pools of really hot water to sit in.

The group picking their way towards the main rocky beach..

Next blunders on the list; while underneath one of the falls, Megan got swept out and Amanda panicked. Got that on video. Next, Noel swims with the current. 'Buddy you're too close to the falls' Noel: 'It's okay I know, .. I know.. .I thought knew!' Noel's head dissapears over the falls. I hugged a couple rocks too right and got some bruises but the Gold medal goes to Amanda for stepping in boiling hot pool and burning both feet. We took care of her and carried her limping to the car, put her feet in a cooler of water the whole way home and she's doing all right today. Good thing we all know the doctor's cell numbers here and they were waiting for us at the hospital when we drove up.

The four of us climbing under the waterfall..

So that's that. Honduras is amazing. I'd write more but I'm going to post up some pictures. If you want a more detailed read, I refer you to Katharine the very English girl's blog, who is currently boasting 15 pictures of the weekend fun.. She has a better camera than me too. :) Amanda and Noel wrote too, we may be blogging all at the same moment :)

Vacation Done, Back in Honduras

2008-01-06T14:28:00.000-07:00

Well I've been back here in Sigua a couple days with Amanda and Katherine, roommate Noel comes back anytime today and we start school in tomorrow. A cold front came down on central america the last week, so it's been rainy and cold here at the start of the year.. but now it's blue sky and sun as I type from the table at our school's little store/cafeteria, and my laundry is drying in our newly fixed dryer (thanks Amanda's Dad) . Tomorrow there will be kids crowding this wooden porch, calling to Dona Kathy for a Pepsi or an enchilada... but for now it's calm. :)

And the rainy days did give us some time to get me some time to sort through trip pictures, play cards, watch movies and settle back into Honduran life.. I put some links on the side bar <--- to Katherine's and Noel's blog, they write more than me and have many of the photos that I've missed puting online.. more to come .. but I have to go fix Amanda's computer and move furniture :)

Back from 12,000 feet

2008-01-01T15:54:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone, today I`m back in San Jose today after 3 days climbing Mt. Chirripo in southern Costa Rica. It was an epic trip... and as I hoped I had a great time and found purpose and meaning in the adventure; I had long periods alone with the world and me, times where the all sound would stop and you could feel God`s spirit in the air, there was struggle at keeping warm during the cold nights and awe at the stars and the sunrise during our 3am final ascent to the summit. I am as thankful for the hours alone through much of the initial ascent (10 hours) as I am for the friendships and comraderie I found at the top.

I`m trying to summarize what I`m coming away with.. no large stone tablets this time, no massive command.. but definitely the knowledge that wherever I go, I am not alone. God provided on the trip in a hundred small but crucial ways that saved my butt, and a lot of the time that came through people being brought into the story.

I need my time alone.. God whispers in the clouds, I look back and see things more clearly, plans start forming in my head.. but this trip I kept hearing and feeling the importance of relationship. I say time alone but what I really mean is time with God.. Father Spirit Son.. all three of them. Time just talking and listening and really hearing the still quiet voice telling you you are loved, that you are worthy. Everything else flows from knowing that.

It must have been like that when Jesus walked around on the dirt roads. 3 years in ministry and He put most of his energy into 12 friends. Doesn`t seem like the most efficient way to go about things, but whoever said God wanted to be efficient? On the mountain I read that it must have been thrilling to have Him there, watching him walk past every social barrier and telling people they were worthy and loved. I read that basically, people are wired to hear from things outside themselves that they are valuable, and I find that to be true.

I do just want people to like me. Which is good because there is lots to do and none of it will happen without or mean much without friendships, brothers, sisters, family to build and share it with. But to really find and hear and feel love that lasts, that satisfies, I have to get away, climb a mountain, get lost at sea, maybe next I`ll drive into the desert to leave the other voices behind; listen to the whisper, feel the warmth in the sun, walk with Christ as we kick the dirt of our sandals, laugh, and hear him call me by name and say, follow me.

Happy New Year from Central America everyone,
lots of faith, hope and love to you for the new year.

Mark

Bull Fighting in San Jose

2007-12-27T22:50:00.000-07:00

Less than 9 hours into my vacation in Costa Rica and already I've got stories. It's 12am, I've just got back from a Bull Fight in the town arena, and I have dirt on the bottom on my shoes from running in the ring with about a other hundred Costa Rican's.

We flew into San Jose Areopeurto today at 3pm, a short 50 minute flight from Tegucigalpa (Honduras). Christmas was great at Ken and Sue's house (they run the camp up here, and I teach their kids at the school) and now the second part of the winter vacation was starting, a week in Costa Rica.

We got to the guest house here in town, got settled, and were on our way to the town mall to get supplies around 6, when our taxi passed a Carnival and free concert going on in the city. We ditched our plans and went wandering around the gleaming lights and party party instead.

Funny enough, the amusment park, filled with rides identical to those you'd see in Canada at the exhibition, also have a good sized stadium in it. I went to check out what people were lining up for. After some broken spanish, a lot of sign language, 5000 colones (local money $10) and chatting in line with a nice local family, we were sitting on wood benches inside the stadium, surrounded by cheering Costa Rican's, waiting for the Bull fights to begin, wondering what the heck just happened.

First it was these guys singing while the crowd came in. Local pop star Donny Q and his friends or something like that. Guys dressed like matadores with microphones. Then a show of horse riding (not bad okay okay where are the bulls), THEN came the bulls. Bull riders getting kicked off there bulls after a couple seconds, trying to stay on for the prize winning 8 second. Then guys on horses competing to lassoo the bulls and bring them into the coral. All the while more and more local guys where gathering behind 5 foot high wooden fence that around the inner ring. I thought, hey, maybe I can go watch from there...

Then all of a suddend a horn blows and the hundred of so guys standing behind the fence hop over and run into the center. A bull gets let out and they sprint back to the fence, diving over it as the bull chaces them down. Some of them get hit by the bull, some get trampled on, others just get chased for their lives.

After about 10 mintues of watching I can't take any more of this, I find one of the guards, get permission, hand Katherin and Amanda my wallet and jump down into the dirt ring too. The next round is a couple minutes off, I chat with a local guy named Manuel wearing a ThunderCats T-shirt get the rules down, and the next time they call us in I hop over the fence with him and his brother.

Oh wow. Okay those bulls are fast. You have to keep track of it through all the other people, and keep a good eye on the nearest part of the fence to get too. Some guys are sprinting past the bulls trying to get him to chase them. One guy does and dives behind a fence. Another sprints past, trips, gets run over but miraculously doesn't get hurt... the round keeps going, the bull runs around the edges of the fence towards us and we all cascade over the seconds before the bull gets to us. Awesome.

Next round we get back into the center. Me, Manuel and his brother David get a little closer to the starting gate where the bull comes out, the countdown, the horn, a hundred guys peel off and sprint for the sides as the bull comes tearing out, Manuel shouts that this one is about 600 pounds, and runs like mad. Same as before, diving over walls and then back over after the bull passes us, once I jump over and turn around to see the bull with his head over the fence staring at me. As he backs away he snorts and kicks the fence and I hear the wood splintering. I jump back over as he runs away. A minute or two later boom, some unlucky guy gets hit. He's get's down on the ground and plays dead like your supposed to, but the bull bends his head down, and tosses him around in the dirt with his horns. We all rush over, the bull rushes off and those closest to the guy pick him up and run him across to the first aid booth. Serious injuries stop the bull rushing event for the moment and riders come out to compete to lasoo the bull.

I look up at the stadium and Katherin and Amanda are getting cold in the stands, so I call it a night and climb up the larger wall back into the stands. I waved to the family we chatted with in line, they smiled and shook their heads at me, and we took off.

And now I'm off to bed. A good first night, tomorrow I leave by myself to go south, Saturday I should be starting 3 days climbing and living at the highest peak in Central America, Cerra Chirripo. It should be exciting, and rewarding I hope. I'm here in Costa Rica to find some things, things you can only find alone, in places with epic views, with nature all around you. But I'm conscious that the adventure has already started. Yes some of you can question why people would get into a bull fight with good reasons, but something in me needed that tonight. I'm praying God shows up on this trip, answers some questions, fills my heart with what it needs. I got a piece of that tonight. As I was leaving the stadium Manuel picked up a splintered piece of wood from the fence and handed it to me.. "Something to remember this day, good to meet you my friend." One piece to carry with me to the mountain. Here we go.

Surfing and Hiking in El Salvadore

2007-10-02T21:41:00.001-06:00

About a two weeks ago myself, Deb, Nikita and Jon went to El Salvadore to do some surfing and hiking. It was an amazing time and we all had a blast on the four day long weekend.. The first day we travelled on two coaches, crossed the border and got to San Salvador. We spent the night there and in the morning headed off to the tiny coastal town of La Libertad. Now I know where all of our old school buses go to get sweet hippie paint jobs and new lives. The rickety old buses were hilariously sketchy, with people crammed in even when all the standing room was taken and 3 people to a seat. I love that everyone hops in and out of the back anywhere along the road. Want to get off? Yell. They slow down. You jump. Multiple times I was 'back door guy', stopping older locals from falling out the back door whenever the bus took off to soon. We laughed a lot at how cramped it was and ever farmer from here to San Salvador got to try out the couple words of english they new on me, then they'd say something in spanish and the bus would erupt in laughter. Joke's on the gringo. Gotta learn this language!

So yes, we surfed two days and then took more sketchy buses at fast speeds and hurtled up to the local volcano of Santa Ana for a day of hiking (pictures below). I was told the volcano had been inactive for a good 20 years, but there was steam coming out of the top and later on I heard it was evacuated a year or two ago after a little explosion. Sure, don't tell the gringos until after.. :) Anyways, the hike itself was almost as amazing as the fact that Deb chose to wear flip flops. We had an armed escort (people have been getting robbed in the area), and the guards shook their heads at Deb and whispered in Spanish. I destroyed my sneakers because someone said you can jump and ski your way down the rocks on the way down. They were right.

Speaking of jumping down active volcanoes.. I remember walking along the coast back to the first surfboard rental shop we found (re: a very poor family with two surfboards down a dark ally in a dark dusty garage). On the way back at one point I stopped, looked in-land and saw rows of half-build half abandoned houses with dug out basements, filled with water.. it was getting dark, and I said "Oh look, I wonder why Dengue Fever is common here, no stagnant pools of water, noop". About a second later a mosquito landed on my arm. About .5 seconds later everyone had dropped their surfboards and was putting on bug repellant. Dengue can very easily be fatal, and there's no real treatment as far as I know. So we booked it out of there and went surfing somewhere else the next day..

That would be the end of the story, except that I don't remember Jon putting on bug repellant with the rest of us.. Actually I feel like I remember him not worrying too much about it and openly mocking us for being paranoid. And Jon was fine the rest of the trip.. actually it was me that got the El Salvadore Stomach Fun on the last day passing through Tegus (Try getting lost and drawing a picture of a toilet on a napkin to get much needed directions).. BUT enough about my internal workings, did you know Dengue has a week or so gestation period? So Jon started feeling bad about a week ago, and was hospitalised for 4 days for Dengue fever. They just hooked him up to an IV and hoped for the best. Luckily, yesterday his platelet count bounced back and they released him. I like to think it was the snazzy card I whipped up for him, but the community praying for him probably helped too. Lucky lucky. He'll be contagious for two weeks, so I put on some bug repellent as we sat around the campfire tonight.. and he put it on too. Safety never takes a day off.

Surfing Pictures!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=56227&l=d2ade&id=594095642

Volcano Climbing Pictures!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=57592&l=06775&id=594095642

Living on a Volcano

2007-09-28T01:39:00.000-06:00

A good day today.. it's late at night and the evening was full of good conversation with friends and long distant family. Good to know that everywhere, people are the same. Some days are good, and others you feel like you're balancing at the top of a Volcano. I'm trying to be at peace with the uncertainty, volatility... at least the view is pretty great.

2007-09-26T16:49:00.000-06:00

Hey hey, it's the end of the school day on a Wednesday here in the cozy little mountain town of Siguatepeque, Honduras. I've been here a little more than 2 weeks, and have been teaching almost since I hopped off the plane. The first two weeks were a blur, awash with Independence day that and kids day celebration this, and even a teachers day holiday. Holy.

I think Sam knows what I'm talking about when I say my brain is tired. I remember we'd sit down on the balcony couch back in Toronto, and not have done a lot of physical work, but were just exhausted at all the input. Here it's new language, new people, new home, new everything.. I can't even buy groceries or take a taxi without a fair bit of language learning.. Fun but busy. Lots to learn.. spanish lessons on monday nights, constant reading and planning for classes.. All the new teachers are finding these first months exhausting, so I'm in good company.

I've got a pretty darn good deal teaching Phys Ed and Science at the primary level.. but it's not as easy as you'd think (if you're silly enough to think it's easy), when you don't speak the same language as the kids. But we're working at it. And I want to do this really well.

Then there's the camp. Once things get settled, I'll use some of the open spots in my timetable to work for the camp up the road. I met Ken, the camp director and there apparently a number of mountain trails to map out using GPS. I think there's just as much to learn from him as anyone else. Or maybe I'll just help Dave build cabins, it's all good.

Sun's going down. The clouds here are amazing.. Off in the roads nearby I can hear a rival school band practising for the marching band competition this Saturday.. we're all going to check it out, apparently it's pretty full on.

Aight, time for dinner, and then off to soccer with some kids at the mission and my roomate..

Here's some pictures of my first day here, more to come..
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=56206&l=3ecfc&id=594095642

Did I mention I went Surfing and Hiking in El Salvadore too? Okay maybe that's why I'm tired..
Pictures to follow.. Talk to you all soon.

On The Dirt Road Walking Towards Me

2007-09-23T09:20:00.000-06:00

I've never had a blog before, I always wondered why anyone would want to hear someone else's ramblings on a regular basis. But now that I'm out of the country again and out of regular contact with the people I care about, I can see this will be useful to help us stay in touch and share the adventure as it happens. It's a good thing, so here we go.

The quote is from a book I read days after I came back from teaching in Australia, "Blue like Jazz" by Donald Miller. I didn't know it but apparently the book was all the rage at the time, which I'm glad I didn't know, because I might have not have read it. As it happend I flew into B.C. and read late into the night thanks to the benefits of jet lag. Back home in Canada with a good book, what could be better?

So this next trip starts here, with the right perspective; the thought that these events are part of a path I'm walking along, that there is a reason for things happening the way they do, and that though this part of the story is for me, the story is not about me. These truths both drive and comfort me. And in quiet mornings like this, I wonder at the Figure far down the road walking towards me, and smile knowing that the destination is more a person than a place.