- The Subway here not only has flatbread, but white chocolate macadamia nut cookies as well!
- Suriname Netflixs contains shows and movies that American Netflixs does not.
- I have more access to cottage cheese than I did in the past.
- You can drink the tap water! You can drink the tap water! You can drink the tap water!
- A dryer.
- My bike Silva
- Pampamoose is a delicious fruit that is select only to Suriname
- Competitive volleyball, and hitting drills
- Rediscovering goalie capabilities
- Living with and working with wonderful cooks
- More English speakers
- Reading a book in a hammock
- being able to run a 5K without stopping
- Having an air-conditioned bedroom
- Having access to American shampoo and conditioner
- Praise nights where we can all sing
- having a musically talented faculty
- starting every morning with God
- Christian Zumba on Fitness Fridays
- Being forced to learn how to cook
- Petting an iguana
- Knowing all of the students in Elementary
- Being able to play with kids during school and after
- Good conversations with high schoolers
- Every time it rains
- A nice breeze
- Mexican food whenever it is available
- Pizza that one of the faculty made
- Freely talk about my faith
- being surrounded by nature
Saturday, October 19, 2013
Rule 32: Enjoy the Little Things
A rule taken from a great movie. This list is certainly not made in order of importance, but just randomly collected from experiences down here so far.
Reality Check: I am in South America
It has almost been three months since I woke up in South America, and I am still getting use to living on another continent. Yes, this is the third continent I have lived on in 2013, but it is still uniquely different. There is palm trees and scorching heat. It rains a lot, causing the streets to flood as well. My friends are right now experiencing fall, while I am experiencing 90 degree weather and a dry season. Things here are just different.
I would like to say that I have completely adjusted to life here, but there are still unexpected surprises everyday. For example, yesterday I saw the movie Captain Phillips with some of my housemates. This movie talks about an American captain taken hostage during a Somalian pirate raid. During this movie I realized a small thing. My housemates and I are probably the only Americans in the theatre. This movie has some American ideals that are talked about, and it shows the power of my home country. I thought that it was interesting to observe other people's reactions when jokes about America were made. It is always interesting to get other people's insights on the United States.
I still get these moments where I tell myself, "Hey, guess what? You are living in South America."
It makes you think about God and His plan.
Last October I was student teaching in Wisconsin. I spent my mornings and afternoons driving around gorgeous scenery of leaves changing color. I would start out everyday with hot apple cider, and end it with food network. My friends and I would play cards during the weekends, and people cared about who was playing the World Series. I had my mind made up that I wanted to teach middle school math in the lovely state of Colorado.
Then, around this time, I heard about a job opportunity to teach in China for six months. After encouragement from my aunt and uncle, I sent in my application. A month later, I would find out that got the job position. A month after that, I would graduate college, and prepare to move to China. Once in China, I would experience a pull to spread the gospel and to strengthen my relationship with God. While there, I felt that I needed to stay international for a while, and ended up in South America. All of this has happened in a year... one year, and my life has completely taken an unexpected turn.
Not for the worse though. I realize that I am following God's plan down here. He had great plans for me, and they are still being revealed. I never thought I would end up in South America, but God knew.
I used to, and slightly still do, have a control issue. I, like many people, like being the one who has the steering wheel. I like to chose where I want to go and what I am going to do. I like to be in charge and know what is happening. However, since moving to South America, I have let God take the steering wheel. I say that, when in reality, He had it all along, I just did not acknowledge it. If I can be honest, since I have acknowledged God's control in my life, my shoulders have felt lighter. There is a freedom in giving everything up to God. My worries have lessened, and I can "go with the flow" a lot easier. So, now I am sitting in shotgun waiting for what God has in store for my life. He has already given me so much in life with family, friends, music, a career, and sports. I get that daily reality check that His plan is in process. Everyday is a new adventure filled with surprises!
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18-"be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."
I would like to say that I have completely adjusted to life here, but there are still unexpected surprises everyday. For example, yesterday I saw the movie Captain Phillips with some of my housemates. This movie talks about an American captain taken hostage during a Somalian pirate raid. During this movie I realized a small thing. My housemates and I are probably the only Americans in the theatre. This movie has some American ideals that are talked about, and it shows the power of my home country. I thought that it was interesting to observe other people's reactions when jokes about America were made. It is always interesting to get other people's insights on the United States.
I still get these moments where I tell myself, "Hey, guess what? You are living in South America."
It makes you think about God and His plan.
Last October I was student teaching in Wisconsin. I spent my mornings and afternoons driving around gorgeous scenery of leaves changing color. I would start out everyday with hot apple cider, and end it with food network. My friends and I would play cards during the weekends, and people cared about who was playing the World Series. I had my mind made up that I wanted to teach middle school math in the lovely state of Colorado.
Then, around this time, I heard about a job opportunity to teach in China for six months. After encouragement from my aunt and uncle, I sent in my application. A month later, I would find out that got the job position. A month after that, I would graduate college, and prepare to move to China. Once in China, I would experience a pull to spread the gospel and to strengthen my relationship with God. While there, I felt that I needed to stay international for a while, and ended up in South America. All of this has happened in a year... one year, and my life has completely taken an unexpected turn.
Not for the worse though. I realize that I am following God's plan down here. He had great plans for me, and they are still being revealed. I never thought I would end up in South America, but God knew.
I used to, and slightly still do, have a control issue. I, like many people, like being the one who has the steering wheel. I like to chose where I want to go and what I am going to do. I like to be in charge and know what is happening. However, since moving to South America, I have let God take the steering wheel. I say that, when in reality, He had it all along, I just did not acknowledge it. If I can be honest, since I have acknowledged God's control in my life, my shoulders have felt lighter. There is a freedom in giving everything up to God. My worries have lessened, and I can "go with the flow" a lot easier. So, now I am sitting in shotgun waiting for what God has in store for my life. He has already given me so much in life with family, friends, music, a career, and sports. I get that daily reality check that His plan is in process. Everyday is a new adventure filled with surprises!
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18-"be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."
Beauty is Pain
That famous saying "Beauty is Pain," is something that I never thought I would experience. I usually do not go out of the way to enhance my appearance. I wear make-up almost everyday (Saturday excluded), and make it a habit to shower (as anyone should). However, especially since my straightener died, my hair is simply brushed and air dried. My nails are unpainted, and I have never experienced a facial, pedicure, or spa date of any kind.
Yes, I have experienced pain before in steps to change my physical appearance. I have had my hair pulled through a cap in order to get highlights, and have had my ears pierced (which is more anticipation nerves than actual pain). I experienced five and a half years of braces in order to get my teeth straight and that horrible gap fixed in the middle of my teeth. However, I have not regretted any of these actions.
In order to get better in touch with my feminine side and spend some quality time with my female faculty members, I went with them to a salon to get our eyebrows done. I have gotten my eyebrows waxed in the past, and did not find the experience completely painful. The last time I had done that though was March of 2012, and have not really bothered to since then. My eyebrows are on the thicker side as eyebrows are concerned, but I have not really had a problem with them being the way they are. Anyways, when we got to the salon, and one of the ladies had sat down to get her eyebrows done, I noticed that they had just jumped in to plucking her brows. I asked if they did waxing here, and my friend said no, only plucking and trimming.
So, when it came to my turn, I was a little bit nervous. I had my friend translate that I just wanted my brows cleaned up, and I still wanted them to be thick (I was getting memories of that episode of Friends where Joey gets his eyebrows done...). The eyebrow lady then got straight to work plucking my eyebrows, and inflicting annoying pain on my face while plucking out individual hairs at one time. I didn't physically cry, but my eyes were watering like crazy. I don't like to sound like a wimp; but it very much hurt! The pain caused me to start to get really angry and annoyed. I was peeved that this woman was hurting me, and a part of me wanted to yell at this innocent woman for causing pain. I was already slightly cranky from low blood sugar, and this did not help. Needless to say, I was so very excited when she was done, and I was freed from the torture. My friends all told me that my eyebrows looked great, which they did look better, but I didn't think they had looked bad enough before to go under that kind of pain.
The part of the night that I had the hardest time wrapping my head around was the fact that I paid the person for causing my face pain! I went and paid her 10 USD for plucking out individual hairs on my face. I paid for pain!...and nice eyebrows.
What I did enjoy however, was time spent with my fellow female faculty friends and the Snickers later enjoyed on the trip home. I am hoping for more hang out time in the future, just maybe not around a beauty salon.
To all women who regularly pluck eyebrows: You are warriors, and I respect your pain tolerance. I do not think I will be joining your league in the future.
Sincerely,
a wimp with unkempt eyebrows
Yes, I have experienced pain before in steps to change my physical appearance. I have had my hair pulled through a cap in order to get highlights, and have had my ears pierced (which is more anticipation nerves than actual pain). I experienced five and a half years of braces in order to get my teeth straight and that horrible gap fixed in the middle of my teeth. However, I have not regretted any of these actions.
In order to get better in touch with my feminine side and spend some quality time with my female faculty members, I went with them to a salon to get our eyebrows done. I have gotten my eyebrows waxed in the past, and did not find the experience completely painful. The last time I had done that though was March of 2012, and have not really bothered to since then. My eyebrows are on the thicker side as eyebrows are concerned, but I have not really had a problem with them being the way they are. Anyways, when we got to the salon, and one of the ladies had sat down to get her eyebrows done, I noticed that they had just jumped in to plucking her brows. I asked if they did waxing here, and my friend said no, only plucking and trimming.
So, when it came to my turn, I was a little bit nervous. I had my friend translate that I just wanted my brows cleaned up, and I still wanted them to be thick (I was getting memories of that episode of Friends where Joey gets his eyebrows done...). The eyebrow lady then got straight to work plucking my eyebrows, and inflicting annoying pain on my face while plucking out individual hairs at one time. I didn't physically cry, but my eyes were watering like crazy. I don't like to sound like a wimp; but it very much hurt! The pain caused me to start to get really angry and annoyed. I was peeved that this woman was hurting me, and a part of me wanted to yell at this innocent woman for causing pain. I was already slightly cranky from low blood sugar, and this did not help. Needless to say, I was so very excited when she was done, and I was freed from the torture. My friends all told me that my eyebrows looked great, which they did look better, but I didn't think they had looked bad enough before to go under that kind of pain.
The part of the night that I had the hardest time wrapping my head around was the fact that I paid the person for causing my face pain! I went and paid her 10 USD for plucking out individual hairs on my face. I paid for pain!...and nice eyebrows.
What I did enjoy however, was time spent with my fellow female faculty friends and the Snickers later enjoyed on the trip home. I am hoping for more hang out time in the future, just maybe not around a beauty salon.
To all women who regularly pluck eyebrows: You are warriors, and I respect your pain tolerance. I do not think I will be joining your league in the future.
Sincerely,
a wimp with unkempt eyebrows
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