#241: 20 Acts in 60 Minutes

if you have a moment and need to smile... please listen to this.

If you don't have a lot of time I suggest fast forwarding to the 25th minute.
You will smile.

click on December 12th. The title is #241: 20 Acts in 60 Minutes

http://www.thislife.org/Radio_Archive.aspx?year=2008

Ireland.

if you have read my blog in the past you will see that this is the THIRD post regarding Ireland.

I have been asked a THIRD time to come and work with the Deaf in Ireland. I have thought much about it and prayed only a little. I really felt that i would not be too beneficial in Ireland as my heart is focused on the third world Deaf children. Then after some prayer, i realized that God may want to teach me something new in Ireland. After all, this is the Third time being invited to work with the Deaf. Also, all three times i have been invited to work in the SAME city.

I will be going with 7 other students from my University. 3 of whom are Deaf. It will be an interesting time of preperation. I only know 1 of the students on a personal level. I am sure that God is going to something great.

This is going to be about $1,000 for the 9 days. Including flight, food, lodging and travel while in the country. I am positive i can not come up with this money on my own. I am trying to figure all of that out, logistics.

Travel dates: February 27- March 8, 2009.

please pray:
preperation
open heart
finances
preperation of the Deaf in Ireland for our team to arrive.

step for step

driving on Washington Ave on the UofM campus in the middle of the day is never fun.
people are everywhere, you miss all the green lights, bicyclers think they are cars.

yesterday i was stopped at a light and i noticed 5 business men dressed in their suits and thier briefcases on wheels in tow. they were smiling and laughing all keeping in pace with one another. The 20 degreee weather was represented by the smoke rolling from thier mouths with each laugh or comment.

the part that really made me smile was the man walking directly behind them. only a few steps behind. however, his left foot hit the ground the same time as each of the business men, followed by thier right. step, for step.

He was probably in his mid twenties, had a long full beard, wore a stocking cap that , by no means, could hold his hair under. his taterted pants were tucked into work boots that were only half laced and partially untied. The smoke coming from his mouth was half from the weather, but half from the cigarette he held in his hand. As he slouched a little to keep his backbook full of books on his left shoulder, taking a puff of his cigarette when the pace allowed, he was probobaly oblivous to the fact that he was walking in the footsteps of the success in front of him.

two generations represented, one on the rise, one in the midst.
how delightful.

I had a moment about 2 weeks ago when i suddenly was afraid of everything. I cried everyday and was sertain something terrible was going to happen to me next.

I read through newspapers as a part of my job to find the ads that we place through our marketing department. I can't help but read the other stories that catch my eye. a few things that had me overwhelmed,

• a man in canada slicing up that kid on the bus
• a guy in woodbury shooting the 19yr old girl in the head while she was waiting in her car
• those 4 guys who mutilated the mentally challenged guy for 2 days
• The brutal murder of a close friend's Uncle
• having the SWAT team come and disarm 4 people at 7 am 1/2 a mile from my apartment complex.

As i began to pray against the fear i found myself wondering why i had ever come to live here anyway.

Then i took a trip home for a day. My brother had forgot his backpack at home and needed me to bring it to him early the next morning. I grabbed a hat, put on some boots that were too big and jumped in daddy's pick up truck. enjoying the feel of the truck versus my German jetta was the beginning of it all.

• As i drove through town I had to slow down as a few kids were trying to ride their bikes up the hill to get to school.
• I had to stop and wait as i saw Dean pulling an old brown rusted pick up truck behind the tow truck into Upsala motors. The farmer was riding inside the tow truck with flannel shirt, suspenders and ear flap hat.
• I waved to the feed truck as he waited to turn into the CO-OP.
• Driving out of the school parking lot Mr. A waved to me excitedly as if I was famous and he couldn't believe it was really me.
• on my way back through town I (two finger) waved at every car And the tractor I passed.
• Paul and Kathy's had a big white board out and written in Black Marker was a description of their one day meat sale.

I went back home and was reminded how simple things really are. I do not need to be afraid. That trip through town did more for me than I could have ever expected.

Thank you Kevin... for being forgetful.

Lebanese man and the Thrift store.

I have planned to have Halloween party at my apartment. This last week I got strep throat AND had my wisdom teeth removed. So, I havn’t had much time to gather my costume. This afternoon in between classes I decided I would run to the near thrift store and pick up what I needed.
While driving over the newly built 35W bridge I began to have some unnecessary uneasiness as I am SURE this new bridge was built was last! But who is to know for sure? It might be silly but that is really what I was nervous about. About ½ a mile later the car in front of me slammed on his brakes and I almost hit him while going 65mph on the Freeway. His front Right tire had BLOWN and was throwing chunks at my car as he decided to continue driving on it. I tried to get over and wave him off the road but he insisted to continue driving on the tire that was non existent. He pulled onto an exit and proceeded UP the exit. We were not going very fast so I got up on the side and “ran him off to the side” he was forced to pull over. I got out and told him that he can not continue driving on his RIM! He is going to wreck even more of the vehicle.

“No tire.” He exclaimed. “ I have not tire. Must continue to drive.”
“sir, I have the same car as you, I will give you my spare tire. You can not make it any further driving on the rim of you vehicle.”
“You help me? Oh God Bless you!. My tire go flat, I say, Oh Jesus, Oh Jesus, send someone. You must meet my wife and children.”
He then called his wife as I began to unload my trunk into my backseat in hopes to reach the tire and still have time to run to the thrift store.
“Where you live?”
“Plymouth. But I go to school in Minneapolis, I am just running errands right now. Where are you from?”
“Lebanon. Now live St. Paul. But come here before you were born, 1974.”
He smiled looked around and continued,
“ I believe in God, do you believe in God?”
I smiled and said, “ Yes sir, I believe in God!”
“He sent you to me today. Thank you!”
Much to both of our surprise the tire didn’t fit because I have sport version of the jetta! So we decided to just put one Lug on REALLY tight and head up the ramp.
“I know a place near by. It is just up the road.”
“ I will follow you. Just drive VERY slow.”
We began to drive and I followed as I prayed the tire would not bend or give way. About three miles in I was wondering if his “just up the road” meant the same as it does to those who live in Upsala! But we arrived at a place called Rani Engineering about 5 miles later.
“My brother owns this. He will help. I will give you tire back. Thank you so much!”
After removing my tire and getting a business card from his brother I knew I still had about 20 mins to try and get to the thrift store. He explained to me that his brother and this company was in charge or rebuilding the 35W bridge. They showed me the plans and all the extensive planning and labor that went into it! It was reassuring and breathtaking. It was time for me to leave. We began to walk out the door.
“Please wait right here. Don’t move I will come back.”
I was a little shocked as he ran around the corner. A little concerned for the first time in this endeavor I tried to listen carefully at what he might be doing or where he was going. This was difficult as the traffic from nearby 35W was drowning out even some machines that kept the building running.
-what if he comes back with a gun and shoots me? Or worse a knife, he will stab me and leave me for dead. Did I lock my car? Is going to steal my purse? Should I keep waiting.
-he returned with a BIG smile on his face and a bunch of fruit in his hands. He wanted to repay me somehow and these were in his car.
How foolish, of course there are still good people in the world. He wanted to tell a man he worked with the story of how I stopped, the man responded, “ we are all in this together!”
Yes. We are. We are all in this together.
And if you are wondering… I still went to the thrift store and found what I needed in about 4 mins and still made it to class!

Pulling from a hat.

I have been your typical swing voter from the beginning of this thing.

At first, It was every couple days I would switch who I was going to vote for. Things became a little more intense, so I began to read newspapers and check CNN every once in awhile.

Things became a little more intense, I began to listen to KTLK (talk radio) and check CNN more frequently. All the while changing who i would vote for every other day.

The past two months, especially with the rally's and the speaches, I have become a crazy. Thats right... A Crazy. I listen to KTKL every opportunity i have. I even found myself briskly walking from my garage into my apartment radio in hopes to only miss a couple moments of the heated discussions. And yes, CNN was refreshed on my toolbar anywhere from 15 to 30 times a day.

I have gone from every other day swing voter, to every day swing voter, and i now find myself changing my mind to the hour. Yes... A Crazy.

Tuesday night, after much thought and not a lot of studying for my midterms, I have decided to keep my radio on Air1, change my home browser back to storypeople.com, and use the Iny miny miney moe tactic come Nov. 4th.

* Note: Please do not give me information as to why I should vote for policial party of choice. I am done. And maybe you say THAT is what makes me A Crazy, but to you I say, Jesus Knows what he is doing. and he will play my Iny Miny Miney Moe game.

Some day

while sharing my dreams, passion, and ambitions with people i have become more and more discouraged.

The question of when it will happen (in my mind) is changed to HOW will that happen by the skeptics in my life. I realize that I must gaurd who I leak my dreams upon, but also I must find the balance as to not become self reliant.

I have, in the past week, discoverd a definition to cover all those things that I continue to ponder on. Dreams, Passion, Ambitions= Burden.

bur·den (bûr'dn)
Something that is carried.
Something that is emotionally difficult to bear.
A source of great worry or stress; weight: The burden of economic sacrifice rests on the workers of the plant.
The amount of a disease-causing entity present in an organism. (wow).

But all of these 'Some day' comments will, from now on, be Today.

little update

School started a couple weeks ago and i am starting to get a little overwhelmed. i will probably have to cut back on something.
Though a lot of prayer, i am almost positve that i will not be spending next summer in Ireland. Things have not lined up and I have been in contact with a boy from my program that would be perfect for the role. He has been in contact with the missionaries and is all set and ready to go starting in May. He will do a fantastic job and it is clear he is supposed to go.
I am still not sure where I am going to be. I feel torn in so many directions. One thing i know... I am getting very antsy. but maybe that is why I am not going anywhere. I need to just refocus things right now.

feel free to send encouraging emails. i love them... they encourage me.

Ireland

here is a link to some Deaf churches around the world. Pastor Ian McCabe is who I would be working with If i were to go to Ireland next summer.


http://www.vallejodeafchurch.org/missionssupport.html

India Camp

Last week i had the privaledge to interpret for three days at something called India Camp. It was for children who were born in India and adopted by American parents. They taught them all about Indian culture and they got to be in a room full of other Indian Kids for a change. It was very sobering.

The little girl I was interpreting for has only lived in the states for 4 years. She is 16 ( or that is the age they gave her).

Her mother had adopted 6 Deaf Kids from all around the world. 5 years ago her husband suddenly died. After a year of trying to figure things out God called her to adopt a much older, damaged child from India. She obeyed. She went over there... found this little girl and adopted her. Except it was a little more complicated than that (it always is.) This little girl had no name, no language, no sense of time, didn't understand what was happening to her. All of the sudden a White woman was trying to take her on an airplane, something she had no concept of. I can't imagine all that she had gone through. But to make on the streets of India for at least a decade and be alive, I would say she is pretty strong.

Despite the fact that she has only started learning about 4 years ago Taylie is a genious. Her mom said that she saw somthing different in her... A brilliance she never saw with her other childeren. As the interpreters, we never had to change out of ASL, she completely understood what was happening at all times, her favorite things are a calander and a watch... because she can litterally see time and know when things are going to happen. She has a future.

The thing that really got me. We were playing Indian Bingo. One leader would ask a question about India and the children would all try to find the answer on their Bingo card and cross it off. Each time i would finish the question Taylie would look down at her paper and search until she found the answer. EVERY time she got the CORRECT answer! I was very impressed. I knew that her mom had spent a lot of time teaching her Deaf culture. But she knew the capital was New Delhi (and she spelt it right) she knew the nations bird, color of the flag, also one of the questions that was asked was, What was given to the Indians on August 14th 1947. Earlier in the week I had told her about how Britian controled India for almost 100 years but then India was free in 1947. She looked up at me and signed... INDEPENDENCE with a big smile on her face. I was SO proud. I never used that sign with her but she completely understood the concept of what happened during that time. Later I told her mom I was impressed with how much she knew about India and i told her what happened. She broke into tears and said that she has never once told her anything about India becuase she doesn't know anyting. She has spent most of the time on Deaf Culture. this was the first exposure to Indian Culture. She said that she thinks Taylie knows how much i was believing in her... and that is when her brilliance shines.

I made some great contacts to Deaf areas all around the world through this woman... and she is a Christian, so... God is Good.

wanting to adopt a Deaf child of my own some day,

toni

home sweet home.

I wasn't able to write while in North Carolina due to lack of free time. Also... I had to pay extra for internet. That wasn't so bad. I mean you can expect that you may have to pay for wireless if you go to a hotel... But this hotel... you had to pay $5 a day to use the workout room. Which still... ok, i have never heard of that, but I guess it keeps the place clean and only serious people will use it. But you also had to pay $5 to use the pool. That is per person, not per room!
Turns out none of that mattered either since the times I was around the hotel the pool was closed anyway.

Enough of that. My time in NC was amazing. I met some women that truely have a heart after God. It was very encouraging. One woman came to the North Central booth where I was standing to talk about the interpreting program. She asked me a couple questions, just normal questions that i had been getting all day, and it was like the power of God just fell on us. Both of us started crying and really got into an awesome converstaion about what God is doing in our lives currently. She was so inspiring to me! We exchanged information and she said she would be praying for me. I met another woman who is Deaf and she asked my why i was interested in her Culture and we really got into it and she prayed with me right there and said that she wanted to keep in touch and that I need to continue what I am doing and bring advocacy around the world.
So... I will. :)

Last summer I talked with some Deaf missionaries in Ireland. They wanted me to come and intern with them this summer. So i told them I would think about it. After I came back from the Philippines is about the time I would have went to start my internship there. However, I just didn't really want to go at that time. So i forgot about it and started my internship here in Minneapolis. The first day in NC my professor from NCU came to me and said that she had some Deaf missionaries from Ireland contact her and ask if she could send an intern to them next summer. She told me she knows that I will be graduated and not need to fulfill any internship hours but when she prayed about it I was the only one that came to mind. Turns out... it is the same couple. SO... I am seriously considering this option. I need to really be in prayer about it all before I get too excited. Because more than anything right now, I want to go back to the Philippines. But I know i don't have enough money to work this out. But God will provide if this is a road I am to take.


Possibly traveling some more sooner than I thought,

Toni

Interpreting.

A few thing in the English Language that make interpreting so much fun.

1) The bandage was wound around the wound.
2) The farm was used to produce produce.
3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.
4) We must polish the Polish furniture.
5) He could lead if he would get the lead out.
6) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.
7) Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.
8) At the Army base, a bass was painted on the head of a bass drum.
9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.
10) I did not object to the object.
11) The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
12) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.
13) They were too close to the door to close it.
14) The buck does funny things when the does are present.
15) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.
16) To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
17) The wind was too strong to wind the sail.
18) After a number of Novocain injections, my jaw got number.
19) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.
20) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
21) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?
22) I spent last evening evening out a pile of dirt.

Screwy pronunciations can mess up your mind! For example...
If you have a rough cough, climbing can be tough when going through the bough on a tree!

Opportunity

In the midst of my summertime jobs and stuggles to complete an internship I was surprised with the opportunity to represent my school at a festival coming up in August. Having never really done anything to support my college in the past I was in awe. I was asked to drive with 19 other North Central students to S. Carolina for a National Fine Arts festival that is held amung the Assemblies of God churches. I will be reviewing the kids who are perform using Sign Language. I will also be scouting to see if there are any kids we want to come and be a part of the program. Several times I will be standing by the NCU booth promoting what the ASL major has to offer.
I am pretty excited about this. Some of the hours will count toward my internship and I will be gaining some great experience from a pheonominal interpreter who I will be with the majority of the time.
In these times of frustration and perserverance.... blessings will rise.

Looking for NCU appearal to bring...

Toni

Mental Heuristics (rule of thumb)

If you can't find a solution, change the rules.
Comment: Remember that there are no no-win scenarios.

If you cannot do anything about something, there is no point in worrying about it.
Comment: Worrying is stressful, and in most situations doesn't accomplish anything - it just wastes energy. Instead of worrying about things, either do something about them or find ways around the problem. One useful idea is to write down your worries on slips of paper, and then put them away in a box. Regularly, once a week or so, you open the box and see what you can do about the worries that are still relevant.

Listen to your intuition, but do not believe it unconditionally
Comments: Intuitive or emotional thinking, analogies, "gut feelings" or "flashes of inspiration" can sometimes give fantastic new insights or show problems from a new direction. Unfortunately such thinking isn't always reliable, and quite often completely wrong! Such insights should never be accepted because you admire their beauty or they are intuitive, only because they fit with reality.

Home Again.

A friend of mine
he is
A friend to me
he was

this moment

My heart is broken for all that is going on in the Philippines and I can not be there to help the Deaf kids figure it out. The emails I get everyday bring me to tears knowing that I must sit back and wait. Not a moment goes by that I am not thinking about them or wondering how they are doing. Often I am doing something and think to myself, those kids will never be able to experience this simple task that has become so easily a part of my everyday life.

Many of them are struggling to maintain respect amoung family members and teachers. They go to school pretty much year round. With all of the things I am involved in here in the states I get so worked up and attached to it all and then i am brought back to the humility of no knowing how they must REALLY be feeling. It isn't one of those, 'oh that must suck, i feel bad for them' things anymore. This is part of MY reality as well as theirs. And I am here... just working and doing my stupid internship. While they are struggling to be identified, not as a teenager going through puberty, but discoverd as an acutally human being who has all the intelligence to succeed as the next guy.

My goal is to help raise money for them to actually be able to rent out a building or room where they Deaf kids can all come together and hang out. They need to have a place of support where they can encourage eachother. That is not a possiblity for them to rent something on thier own.

um... i can't keep typing... i don't know how to explain my feelings and my thoughts are all jumbled.

wishing i was with them...

Toni

Finances... blessing and curses

I have been trying to get ahead on my finances after coming back from the Philippines. I was blessed with a great job that I was able to start full time at. however, I have been working funny hours because I am currently keeping up with my internship too. 

For my internship I am doing Freelance Interpreting. This takes me anywhere from 10-150 miles a day.  With gas at 4.00 a gallon I wanted to sit and cry, or quit at life for a little bit. Instead... I bought a crotch rocket that gets 70mpg.  I have had it for about 3 weeks now and have saved a lot of money. I have only driven my car twice since I got the bike. I am able to drive it everywhere.  By the end of the summer the bike will have paid for itself as well as save me at least 200$ unless gas keeps climbing. 

Then, I was still slightly stuck with some rent issues and school loans that I am paying off currently.  And I just got $1 raise at work!  I started another job where I will be getting paid very well to make supper for an older man that lives 4 miles away 3 nights a week. And I can choose which nights.  

Today I went outside to take a phone call, which i never do, and I bent over to pull the dead flowers off the flower bush, also to look like i was actually there for a reason.  Inside the bush was an unfolded 10$ bill. It was almost like it was growing inside the bush. I was pretty excited. I should check again later and see if it is perhaps... a money bush!  Wouldn't that be wonderful? Maybe if it is I will leave the 10$ bill so it will grow into 20. maybe not. 

The point is... God has continued to bless me even though I have allowed myself to get a little stressed about finances. He is always taking care of me. 

One blessing after another

I was able to go to the zoo on Thursday afternoon with the girl from Texas I met. We had to take the metro there. Neither of us have ever been on an underground subway before. (texan's dont even have basements!) We took a lot of pictures and asked a lot of questions. Everyone around us probably thought we were crazy. I decided i would much rather take the above ground light rail like we have in Minneapolis. I have really grown to love Minneapolis after coming here. This city seems to dirty and the people are not as friendly. I was talking with Scott from GoAbroad.com (the company that sponsored me to come here) and he said he talked with some girls from Turkey yesterday morning and they could not believe how nice the people are in DC and they were SO helpful. It is funny how different our experiences were in the same city, same time, just because of where we came from. (remind me not to go to Turkey).

Troy (the owner of GoAbroad.com) told me to cancel my stay at the hostel and to move into one of their hotel rooms. They aren't leaving until monday. It was such a blessing. So I was able to cancel my hostel (even though that would have been an interesting experience) and I am now staying in the Renaissance. Supposedly it is more ritzy than the Hampton but they don't include breakfast here. They ordered room service for us for each meal anyway. :) They are taking really good care of me.

Last night i went and sat on the steps of the Lincoln memorial and watched people with the GoAbroad.com team. It was so amazing. It is beautiful at night... not scary at all when you are with a group of people.

This morning I woke up and walked close to 3 miles to Gallaudet University (the only Deaf college in the World). I wasn't able to get a tour but I was allowed to walk around by myself as long as i didn't go in any of the buildings. It was amazing to know that everyone I met would know sign. It was a beautiful place. I can't even imagine how amazing that place must be for a Deaf person. They know they can go anywhere on campus and use their own language! I met one girl who is very hard of hearing and works security. She can't attend the college because she doesn't have a high enough GPA. I told her all about North Central and the programs they have for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. She was Super excited. I told her why I came to DC and how I am working with the Deaf in the Philippines. I gave her my business card and she said she wants more information on NCU as well as on the trip to the Philippines that I am trying to put together. She wants to work with Deaf from all different cultures. It was NO coincidence that I met her!

I wanted to take a taxi back but none would take me cause it wasn't their territory on the way back. As soon as I entered my hotel it started to downpour outside. Right now it is thundering Super loud. I love it. I love it more cuase i am not out in the rain! It is as dark as night outside and beautiful from the view of my hotel room.

Yesterday night I was giving my taxi driver directions to my hotel and I realized that my "trip" turned into.. Toni you have been here too long if you can tell the Taxi driver where to go when he doesn't know. So I have two options... Become a taxi driver myself, or come home now. I think I am ready to come home now. I fly out tomorrow morning. But I am having supper tonight with an amazing girl I was put in contact with. I have never met her. I will write about it tomorrow or later tonight.

Ready to go home..

Toni

Its already Thursday

I can hardly believe it is already Thursday. I did decide today though that I was not going to change my flight. I found a hostel where I can stay for 25$ a night. However, I am not sure what it entails. I don't mind an adventure though. And if I were to change my flight it would cost about the same anyway. The hostel I will be staying at is about 3 blocks away from my hotel currently. So it will not be tough to get myself and my one bag over there. I am pretty excited. That gives me an extra two days to go to museums and see all the sites.

Ok... Well I have to be somewhere at 3(two your time... or noon if you are kevin). So i better get going.

Thanks for reading my blog. You can leave a comment to let me know you are if you want. It is not crucial though.



excited to stay my expected length...



Toni

this is my second post today.

So... what did tuesday hold... I woke up early and went to the conference center. I didn't know what was in store. There were a couple other students that were headed into a certain room so I followed them. It ended up being a mentor/mentee meeting. I was placed with a mentor as soon as I walked in the door and ironically enough she knew sign language and gave me some contact info. She is from Long Beach California. This conference is in California next year and she told me to keep her contact info in case I want to come next year she will let me stay with her or she will help hook me up with free rent somewhere for the week. So that was pretty neat. The past president of Mexico , Vincent something i can't remember his last name, spoke at a Plenary yesterday. It was not very interesting but I sat next to a really awesome girl. She is 24 and from Texas. We pretty much didn't leave eachothers side the rest of the night... no really. We were out really late and our hotels are in opposite directions so she ended up coming and sleeping at my place. we had to go in seperate directions the rest of the day today but we are planning on meeting up again tomorrow. She has helped put a lot of fun into this kind of stressful trip. This morning I went to several sessions and also helped out at the Hospitality booth. I couldn't really give anyone directions or answers but they had really cool maps that I could help find it with the person who was asking the questions. And I ended up learning a lot myself at the same time. OH i am not sure if mentioned this earlier, If I volunteer 20 hours I get 50% off my conference fee. That is 125$. So That is what I have been doing. I still go to the sessions I want but I just help out a little and technically get paid to go.

This morning I went to look at the exhibit hall for the first time. I found a lot of cool information and met people from all over the world. The last count was 9,500 people attending, 3,000 from outside the US, and 126 countries being represented. It was an amazing splash of every culture you can think of in one room. you walk two steps and you are in a different country. Each booth was offering somthing completly different. It made me really want to travel ALL over the world... expect poland and egypt weren't all that exciting to me. I mean Poland did have nice ladies and some cool pillows they were giving away. But it just didn't seem all that exciting to me.

The coolest thing was I found a travel agency. I started talking to him and he ended up being from Burnsville. He has booked flights for North Central(my college) when they go on trips and he also has gone on YWAM trips himself! He is the VP of the company and he asked me to meet him and the owners of the company when I get back to MN. He said maybe we can sit down and talk some good partnership where I can help my school lock in great rates for trips in the future as well as assisting me personally in my travels in the future whether I am alone or in a group. So that was really awesome. Really.. the most exciting thing that has happend so far.

I ran into a man yesterday also from Japan and started promoting his school. I found out he is best friends with Jason, one of the guys who sponsored my flight to come here. Small world. And I want to travel all around it!

I am sure I am missing a lot. but i am tired and have another big day tomorrow.

wanting to do more things like see the smithsonian...

Toni

really quick

On Monday I went early and registerd in hopes to find the other people in my group. I registered and was told that nothing really started until tuesday. So i thought I would go find my group and help set up their booth in the Exibit hall. No one would let me in becuase i didn't have an exibitors ribbon on my name tag. i tred to explain that I was going to help set up with the organization i came with but apparetnly they should have registered my name before hand in order for me to pass into the expo hall before 9:00 tuesday morning. I was not surprised. So I decided to take advantage of every free map and brochure on my way back to my hotel. I sat down, turned on some music, pulled out my highlighter and mapped out my day. Again by myself Idecided I would go and see the sites. It was not the best day for that since it was Memorial day and all the families in america come to DC to take a picture with Abe lincoln. It was a lot of fun despite being alone. I was able to see evetything and i took a lot of pictures. However the only one I have of myself is my shadow on the sidewalk (just to prove i was there). I was able to watch the memorial day parade which was amazing! i went back to my hotel about 7 and swam in the pool, used the workout room and watched some movie on tv that nobody has ever heard of and I would not try to find out the name to watch it again anyway. But I was in bed early and woke up early the next day to begin my real adventure. The reason i arrived in this city. But i do not have much time now... i will give the rest of tuesday and what happend/happens today later on.

In a really dirty city,

Toni

Lonesome Traveler

I am at it again... traveling by myself. Those of you who have been keeping up with my blog might be surprised to know that I was/am pretty nervous about this one. I flew from Minneapolis to Milwakee then to DC. The volunteer conference is all this week.

Upon my arrival I had to take a taxi cab for the first time ever. and yes... i was alone. I always have tried to convince myslef that nothing happens like it does in the movies. well... this experience was only shy the blood on the seats. Don't get me wrong he was a nice guy... but hollywood has it pretty accurate according to (all) my experinces in taxis to date.

I got to the hotel (hampton inn) only to find that it wasn't paid for and I had to pay for all 5 nights before entering my room. Needless to say i ended up using my (emergency) zero balanced credit card to get into the hotel. I ended up maxing it out. So hopefully... all will pan out when the rest of the group gets here. Oh yeah... I just found out... the rest of them don't get here until TOMORROW. So I just spent the last 3 hours wandering the streets of DC by myself. I found a lot of stuff to do.. only I didn't have a credit card to do any of it. But it was still neat to see all the different things. They even have an Urban Outfitters here(my favorite retail store).

Those of you who know me well are probably waiting for this next story. I DID in fact find a nice stranger to sit and talk to. His name is Seargant Charles somthing somthing somthing from the US Navy. He is homeless and was sitting on a park bench that I can see from my 240$ a night window. Ironic huh. Anway... I had some good conversations with him and he told me all the things that I could do if i wanted. He told me that he would take me out to lunch. But i would have to wait till tuesday. Since monday (memorial day) is a big day at work (begging) for him. I smiled and split my $5 footlong with him while toursists pass by on this weekend where they are supposed to be honoring the very man i was sitting next to. He showed me some of his previous war pins that he hides in his pocket as well as his wallet with a picture ID of a much younger looking him in a Navy Seal uniform. He couldn't get over the fact that my name was Toni so he started calling me Soni and i just let him. After all... it is memorial day weekend. :) He told me about a thing called Rolling Thunder where people with Motorcycles from all the surrounding states go and give rides and show off their bikes to everyone in the city. As tempting as that sounds... i better stay away from that. Or i may never make it to conference. Oh, by the way... it starts tomorrow at 1pm. So ... I am a little early.

Once again... in a different time zone....

Toni

what is love?

He learned to love her before she thought it was even possible,
so she didn't have a chance to hide & mess it up
& while it was a little scary at times,
mainly she could not even imagine the world
without him there.

-storypeople.com

Long Lake beach.

they came to mind.

191. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
192.Spend time with people over the age of 70 and under the age of 6.
193. Make peace with your past so it won’t spoil the present.
194. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

Yello

For my new job I do a lot of excel spreadsheets.  I am helping with the marketing side of things at a Hearing Aid company in Plymouth.  Anyway... I have to enter all the data from the different places we advertise or that request us to advertise with them.  Many of them have the word... yellow... in the title.  I decided after typing this word over and over... I hate that it has a 'W' at the end. Why?  I would much rather just type it like this: yello.  It is faster and looks a little better. Any thoughts? Or am i crazy?

Lexophiles

1. A bicycle can't stand alone; it is two tired.

2. A will is a dead giveaway.

3. Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana.

4. A backward poet writes inverse.

5. In a democracy it's your vote that counts; in feudalism, it's your Count that votes.

6. A chicken crossing the road: poultry in motion.

7. If you don't pay your exorcist you can get repossessed.

8. With her marriage she got a new name and a dress.

9. Show me a piano falling down a mine shaft and I'll show you A-flat miner.

10. When a clock is hungry it goes back four seconds.

11. The guy who fell onto an upholstery machine was fully recovered.

12. A grenade fell onto a kitchen floor in France resulted in Linoleum Blownapart.

13. You are stuck with your debt if you can't budge it.

14. Local Area Network in Australia : The LAN down under.

15. He broke into song because he couldn't find the key.

16. A calendar's days are numbered.

17. A lot of money is tainted: 'Taint yours, and 'taint mine.

18. A boiled egg is hard to beat.

19. He had a photographic memory which was never developed.

20. A plateau is a high form of flattery.

21. The short fortuneteller who escaped from prison: a small medium at large.

22. Those who get too big for their britches will be exposed in the end.

23. When you've seen one shopping center you've seen a mall.

24. If you jump off a Paris bridge, you are in Seine.

25. When she saw her first strands of gray hair, she thought she'd dye.

26. Bakers trade bread recipes on a knead to know basis.

27. Santa's helpers are subordinate clauses.

28. Acupuncture: a jab well done.

29. Marathon runners with bad shoes suffer the agony of de feet.

How I live my life.

"The Present day is important to you for this reason: You can waste it or use it, but no matter how you spend it, you've traded a day of your life for it!" -Zig Ziglar

1)never be a part of anything for the money
2)never let money be the determining factor of doing something
3)allow people to love me
4)pick blueberries
5)sharpen a whole pencil in one sitting not using electricity.
6)sponsor a child again
7)be in constant prayer
8)over come road rage
9)don't allow yourself to feel defeated... because you aren’t
10)believe him when he says he loves you
11)never miss an opportunity to dance
12)color an entire coloring book
13)make a volcano instead of being bored.
14)buy a jump rope
15)treat everyone as though they like you even when you know they don't... eventually they will if you keep pretending like they do.
17)never do anything for the shock factor.
18) learn to play piano
19)Be ASL certified
20)get over pet peaves... they are annoying to hold on to.
21)marry someone with nice feet.
22)Adopt
23)always smile
24)never be afraid to apologize
25)be a joyful giver outside of tithing.
26) love nonbelievers to love them, not to 'win' them to Christ.
27) see people through there spirit not their flesh
28)sleep in a tent every chance you get.
29) draw all the time
30) everything is beautiful
31) make decisions through prayer
32)never give coincidence the credit.
33)don’t always have square ice cubes
34)appreciate the drive to work
35)don't let someone tell you what you like or don't like
36)shut of your phone every once in awhile.
37)learn Spanish
38)fight for your right to party
39)sing praises
40)drive around every chance you get.
41)get a pedicure
42)sit down once and watch tv cause there is 'nothing else to do'
43)maybe he was just for a time.
44)smile cause you had him for that time
45)its ok to cry because you miss him
46)move on
47)stand tall
48)go volunteer everywhere you can
49)don't expect money to be the payment
50)keep your checkbook balanced
51)write checks for a whole week instead of using debit card
52)throw it away
53)don't use bug spray
54)If what HE has given you now stands between you, lay it at His feet
55)Don't forget in darkness what He told you in the light
56)sit back and listen
57)speak up.
58)money isn't real.
59)hair grows back
60)it never keeps raining
61)the sun doesn't always shine
62)perfume CAN be a bad thing
63)Marshmallows have many purposes
64)its ok to lick a battery
65)you are never really alone
66)warmth on the inside melts the cold on the outside
67)you allow yourself to loose joy
68)blue is the best color ever
69)never try things less than ten times
70)always DANCE
71)never whistle or snap
72) let him be good to you
73)Laugh until you cry
74) Paint your toenails
75) Read the Psalms every day
76) speak kindly, even when it's more work
77)Try to be direct with people. Don't play games
78) Never be content with where you're at right now
79) Keep it real
80) write your thoughts down
81) learn their story, then judge them
82) don’t judge
83) you can contradict yourself sometimes
84) tell him everything
85) Tell them when they are bothering you
86) cook your own food
87)don’t look into it.
88) let him buy supper
89) answer your phone
90) just let it ring sometimes
91) never be intimidated
92) don’t stay sad.
93) let him pursue you
94) pick up the pennies
95) learn how to fix it yourself… even if you don’t
96) never forget M.C. Hammer
97)warn him before he loves you
98) observe deadlines
99) time doesn’t care about you
100) don’t wait for his call
101) be excited when it comes
102) never let him know
103) the water isn’t that dirty… just swim
104) whenever you move.. locate the nearest swing set; use it often
105) be with people
106) go alone
107) take pictures
108) sit in silence
109) use glue and tape equally
110) build things
111) always hug them… or at least high five
112) make wishes
113) expect things
114) it’s ok to be let down
115) get over it
116) look people in their eyes
117) stunning
118) never settle on anything
119) use sidewalk chalk
120) talk face to face
121) this land is my land
122) never stop asking questions
123) give them a hard time
124) rollerblade a marathon
125) wear pink sometimes
126) change isn’t bad but you don’t always need it.
127) go to garage sales
128) have a garage sale
129) plant your own food
130) be a giver not a taker
131) try to explain it
132) let them think they understand
133) be still
134) don’t turn around
135) use body language.
136) unravel your latest mistake
137) winter is the best season
138) life is an hour glass glued to the table
139) hold hands
140) don’t be fake.
141) you’re just as far in as you’ll ever be out
142) be ready
143) nothing can compare
144) stir it up
145) don’t let the train pass by
146) wait for love until it is ready
147) listen to the words
148) make a connection
149) think about the future
150) don’t be a afraid to close your eyes
151) sink your foot on the peddle
152) bust a move
153) you don’t deserve anything
154) be there
155) have the passion
156) carpe diem
157) slow dance
158) allow the sun to kiss you
159) hush your urge to cry
160) find someone you can go to
161) find someone who is there for you
162) speak the unspeakable
163) live the life aquatic
164) it’s the perfect time of year
165) fix the mistake… don’t make a new one
166) scream
167) see the world beyond your front door
168) figure out what it is all for
169) throw away your cares
170) drink from the hose
171) leave town
172) be nice to the Gatekeeper.
173) swim upstream
174) dim the lights
175) it’s ok to be carried for a short distance
176) be strong
177) listen to advice… don’t always take it
178) leave room for number one
179) it doesn’t matter where you are going
180) do things that don’t remind you of anything
181) study faces
182) park in the back
183) sit in the front
184) let go of what you want
185) pursue the things you need
186) Give without remembering
187) receive without forgetting
188) light candles
189) wear colorful clothing
190) keep looking… you’ll find it.

Hot Pockets

I figured that i would just write things i find interesting instead of just things about my trip and stuff directly related to the Philippines. I found this translator thing and i found it very funny... so i thought i would share...

Original English Text:
Warning you just bought hot pockets.

Translated to French:
Vous avertissant a juste acheté les poches chaudes.

Translated back to English:
Informing you just bought the hot pockets.

Translated to German:
Sie informierend, kaufte gerade die heißen Taschen.

Translated back to English:
She informing, bought the even hot bags.

Translated to Italian:
Lei informare, comprata i sacchetti persino caldi.

Translated back to English:
She to inform, bought the even warm bags.

Translated to Portuguese:
Ela a informar, comprado os sacos mesmo mornos.

Translated back to English:
It to inform, bought the exactly warm bags.

Translated to Spanish:
Él a informar, comprado los bolsos exactamente calientes.

Translated back to English:
He to inform, bought the purses exactly I warm up.

Oh, say can you see..

I have been back for a couple days now and sleep schedule is starting to get on track ( i hope) I am actually awake very early right now typing this after going to bed at 1am. While typing this I began to eat a banana my mom had sitting on the counter. Perviosly, before going to the PHilippines, I hated bananas. I ate several everyday i was there. For some reason i thought if it didin't taste the same i could at least convince myslef.... i will NOT finish this banana that is now half eaten and turning brown sitting next to the keyboard. But remind me to pick it up when I am done here so my mom won't get upset. All right... about the trip back... I flew early in the morning accompanied by MANY of my great friends that i had made both the other volunteers and many of the Filipinos in my area i have become very attached to. Once arriving at the airport close to 30 of the Deaf kids were there already holding a farwell banner for me. It was a really tough farwell. I flew to Manila and had to spend the night there. At that point i just want to fly straight to the US instead of prolonging the inevitable. I cried the entire plane ride to Manila. Once i arrived it was very hot and NOT raining there. The family i stayed with was very nice and took really good care of me. They have two maids that live with them and I connected with them right away. I had to exchange information and everything. One of thier friends came over because they were told he was Bi-polar and they wanted me to tell them if it was true or not. I was not up to that challenge. I just wanted to decompress everything before i took my trip back to the USA. But he came over and... to make this quick... he IS Bi-polar. The flight back home there was a young Filipino boy, ok he was 21 so younger than me, who was moving to the states to live with his mom. It was his first time out of the Philppines and he was very excited to see the US. We talked about the differences and i felt i was preparing him well. Every hour or so i would lean over and tell him how excited i was for him to see snow for the first time. I can assure you after awhile... i was way more excited than he was. When we landed I safley found my luggage and Khris found his. It was an easy task to find my family and Josh who were waiting on the other side. Khris came with us to eat before his next flight. We brought him to Fudruckers for his first American food experience. He couldn't pronounce it that well but he laughed a lot and you could tell he was very excited. So now i am back in Upsala praying for direction and finances to become clear. Feel free to put in a word for me if you think of it.
Should i keep writing on here about what happens with my partnership with VFV and my organization? Or will nobody read it anymore?

my last few days(i know a couple... let me say FEW)

Before I left home to come here I remember being excited because the place I would be staying had electricity and running water. Looking back over my 2 months I realize that the running water was turned off many times and the electricity went out at least once everyday for a significant amount of time… but I guess what matters is that it existed. I put in perspective with my showerhead… at least I have one to look at. J People teased me about my headlamp at first but now they are all wishing they would have one. My room doesn’t have any windows so when the electricity goes out it is deadly hot, full of mice, cockroaches and darkness. Until I put my headlamp on. Glorious. There was a massive downpour all day again yesterday and everything flooded once again. It is amazing how fast the weather can change. I didn’t bring my umbrella with me because it was very hot and clear skies in the morning. I was getting too proud to think that I could judge the weather by now. Needless to say I was soaking wet by the time I got home. Tonight is my Despiteda( going away party). One of the staff of VFV who I have become very close with is going out of town for two nights so we moved my party so she could attend. It was important to both of us. Apparently I get to share my going away party with the French volunteer. I feel their mindset behind that went something like this… “Hey. We should have Toni and Donon’s party together since she doesn’t drink at all and he is an alcoholic. That way we will spend the normal amount on alcohol.” Just kidding… but he does drink A LOT! He is a good guy. I have also found that I am eating WAY more banana’s than mangos lately… if you know what I mean. In my process of preparing myself mentally for heading home have made a couple lists:

Things I am ready to go home for:

Fresh air

Lack of Cockroaches

See Jackson and hear him talk!

Things I can live without but am ready to have again:

My family and friends (JK that should go in my first list.)

Snow

Cheese

Ice cream

Broccoli

Driving

A comfortable pillow

Unlimited access to real chocolate

Being able to Chanda anytime I think it is necessary.

Reasons I will come back:

I have fallen in love with the kids here.

The oppression needs to end ASAP within the Deaf culture

The relationships with many of the Filipinos here have changed who I am put a new perspective on many things.

I like to “shower” with a bucket and freezing cold water… it really wakes you up. I don’t drink coffee in the morning anymore!

I want to bring my friends to experience this!

This is going to be my last post until I get home. I will try to write as soon as I can to let you know about my time in Manila as well as the flight. I will wait to post more pictures until I get back. It will be easier to go through them all. LOVE~

the weather is changing.

So last night there was a big party because four of the volunteers are leaving today. Two of which i have gotten really close to. Audrey and Shannon are both leaving today. It really hit me this afternoon and i cried a lot. I know i have five days left but it still really hard for me to realize that I will have to leave these kids. Last night all the volunteers went to a local bar to hang out one last time and about an hour later the earth began to shake. it was really intense. I had not drank anything So i knew that it was not just me... everyone grasped the table or their drink and went silent. It lasted a couple minutes and was really scary. I guess i wasn't' scared i was just nervous. It was an earth quake. I have never experienced anything like that before! The foundation below me was MOVING! After it passed the swedish girls were a little in panic but i started laughing and thought it was awesome. One of them was in Thialand during the bad Tsunami so i can see why she was worried though. But it was a neat experience. Then on the way home there were flashes in the sky... i havn't seen that since being here. Today it was SOOO hot again... But it poured down rain for like 2 hours this afternoon and i didn't have my umbrella. So i ended up being soaking wet. The weather is strange.. but i know that is all part of living on an island. I am just sad that i have to leave the island.... really sad actually... extremely sad.

God is doing some great things.

I was able to meet with Troy (the founder of VFV.. volunteer for the Visayans) And explain to him all that is happening here with the Deaf and the organization i am starting. Patrick and his sister came to the meal as well. Patricks sister works for another volunteer company called GoAbroad which is owned by Troy's friend but they are partners with that company. Anyway.. Vanessa(patricks sister) has been telling me about a conference in Washington D.C. that is coming up for all the different places around the world who help with setting up Volunteers. I really wanted to go and do some networking there for the Deaf here and EARN. But i knew it wasn't possible financially. I have been praying about if I should go to this conference or not. I didn't even bring it up to Troy when I was explaining to him my ideas for getting this all set up. He was really down to earth and helped bring me back to reality with a few of the things i was suggesting. He has been working in peru and the Philippines for over 20 years now and he know a lot about the government and how to get around it. His advise was very helpful as well as encouraging to me and Patrick. Troy mentioned the conference but i told him i have been thinking about it and i am sure that I will not be able to attend becuase it is too expensive and too close to my return home in order for me to earn enough money again. He told me he would pay for my plane ticket and the hotel. I would be staying with Vanessa when she goes. I started crying a little bit and told him that would be amazing. I also offered to pay for half of my plane ticket but he refused. he said he wanted to pay for the plane ticket and my hotel. All i need to pay for is the food and conference fee. My conference fee will also be reduced if I volunteer during it for at least 10 hours during the week. I want to volunteer as well as do my own promoting because then i will be able to meet many other people and develop more relatinoships with people around the world. I know that this is a huge step but everything is SO clear and i know that God is using me to do some huget hings. I am very honored to be in the position i am in right now. Somtimes it gets a little stressful but I know that this is not my work..

Today i visted the McCarther Beach landing. It was very intense. But amazing to read the history as well. It hasn't rained for three days now. It was VERY hot the past two days. I have a pretty nice heat rash that everyone is worried about when they see me. I am reassuring them it is from the heat and not from something have eaten or been bitten by. :) Don't worry mom.. i know that is what it is from. This morning we visited the Dump Site. It was horrible. I didn't think it was going to be that bad. four of us road in a bulldozer as the man pushed the garbage all along. There were many children picking through the nasty and trying to find somthing. I am not even sure what they would be able to salvage from THAT. it was disgusting. I have never smelled something so horrible in all my life. I have a pretty strong stomach.. but i ended up throwing up. I couldn't handle it. I was very surprised with myself... but yes.. I vomited into the nasty.. only adding to the wonderful smells during the ride. I guess it smelled a lot worse than it ever has when they take volunteers only becuase it has been raining for a month and now it has been like 100 degrees for two days. there were a lot of flies, mosquitos and other nasty things that flew around. UH>>. just talking about it makes me want to throw up again. I took a lot of pictures but when i look at them right now i can smell it again. so i will have to show them when i return.
so my next step is to put together a brochure and DVD to hand out to promote EARN and the Deaf here in the Philippines.
can't wait to see you all. I can hardly believe i will be back in a week. The Deaf kids here get really sad and tell me they are already depressed that i am going to be leaving. I feel like it just makes it that much harder to leave. But I know i must go home and continue what i need to there while raising funds to return with the plans to bulid up the organiztion.
oh... the conference is May 25-30th. :)

Pagbag-O (bring change)

I like that i am learning Waray while i am here. It is a lot of fun. people get excited when you try to communicate with them in their own language. I have been trying a couple more traditional Filipino foods. Balute is the baby duck egg that is a specific amount of days old and you eat it. When i ordered it down by the ocean the guy asked... 15,16,17, or 18? I was like... um just one please. then i realized that you choose how old the duck is that you want to eat. HA> So i got the 18 day old duck egg because i figured it would be the most developed. It didn't taste that bad. LIke a really salty boiled egg. But i hate boiled eggs. I also recently tried Cuttlefish. If you don't know what it is you should look it up. They are gross. But had seen pictures before coming here so when it was on the menu i thought it would be funny to try... nope. it was gross. REALLy gross. they have way more suction cups than the squid... and i have a hard time swallowing the squid already. But i got through it. The rain was VERY bad here in Tacloban the past two days. I have some amazing pictures. the roads were flooded and i didn't go out side because the water was above my boots. In my house my room flooded and we had to move everything out and put down towles. but it was the flood that came from the side of the walls again.. not bucket worthy. there was no way to prevent it from going everywhere besides towels on the floor. I have been seeing a lot of mice in my room so i bought a sticky trap yesterday.. there were 3 mice in it this morning. JErry noticed i bought one and bought some more.. when i got home he said he had put more in my room and while i was gone he had caught 8 more. IN MY ROOM. and my room is very tiny. for those of you who have been to my mom and dads... it is a tiny bit bigger than their bathroom. very small. only a bed and small dresser fit. and th door hits the dresser everytime i try to open it. so that is a lot of mice for that small area. But that is ok. Anyway.. i don't have much time and i am getting tired. I hope to hear from all of you. things are getting pretty tough and i could use some encouraging emails.
miss you all..

February 28 9:38pm

It is kind of sunny today.

All of the soda is in glass bottles here. If you don’t stay in the restaurant to drink it they pour it into a bag and stick a straw in it for you. I am explaining this now because I had my first experience of this yesterday. For some reason I had convinced myself from the beginning that it was not sanitary. But Patrick stressed that the restaurant was too full for us to stay and eat and that this was my only choice. So I gave in. It really wasn’t that big of a deal but it was a new experience for me. This coming Monday there is no school because it is Revolution Day or something. I am not sure… they make every excuse I can think of to not have school! But I will be able to finally go on my first excursion since I have been here. I think we are going to see the San Juanico bridge. It connects Leyte and Samar. I am pretty excited about that. It still has not stopped raining. I broke my umbrella in three places and had to buy a new one. Patrick is always saying that I am very careless and he worries about me all the time when I am not with him. He is convinced that I almost get run over like 10 times a day and he is always catching me before I step in something. But I remind him that I am on my own a lot more than I am with him and I have some how managed so far. J So anyway he helped me pick out a new umbrella. I however, don’t believe it will rain much longer so I just wanted a really cheap one. He is big into quality and I frankly… just want something that will keep the rain off my head and clothes. He finally gave in to a cheap one I bought off the street. He explained to me how I have to be careful with it because it will break easy like the last one. I rolled my eyes and thought “good grief I wasn’t born yesterday.” We only got about 10 minutes into our walk to school and I broke the top off the new umbrella from swinging it around and using it as a walking stick. HA. But you don’t NEED the top.. I think it is just for decoration. Needless to say… Patrick still thinks I am careless and I am starting to believe him. I woke up this morning at 2am after going to bed around 9pm. I went to the center and helped fry chicken and make spaghetti for 100 people in Ormoc today. We left at 5 am and had a 3 hour van ride to get there. But I was able to hang out with JP and Liam again. I spent the night at Liam’s and then we came back to Tacloban on Saturday because it was his birthday. I put together a surprise party for him before I left so when we arrived in Tacloban all the volunteers had decorated. It was pretty fun. Tonight is the Grand Finale of Leyte Idol and May, the head volunteer coordinator, got all the volunteers front row tickets. So that is going to be pretty cool. This past weekend I went to Ormoc to work with the street kids. It was amazing and heart breaking all at the same time. We bought them food and brought them gifts of crayons, color books, papers, pencils and several other things they don’t have. Some of them are 9 years old and have never held a pen. Liam was teaching them how to hold a pen! It was pretty devastating yet beautiful at the same time. These are the kids Liam has been working with this past month. He leaves on Wednesday So I am taking the trip to Ormoc again tomorrow and going to work with the street kids along with Liam for his last two days here. The kids are amazing! Another Volunteer arrived last week from Minneapolis. He is 55 years old and HIV positive. His story is pretty interesting.

so.. it is still raining

i realize that i already wrote rain in a few titles... but that is what is going on here. A lot of houses are under water and and many have water above my knee. I helped some families yesterday put up shelves to keep their electronics out of the flooding in their houses. My room began to get wet recently. The only problem is that the water is coming from the floor up... so it is not bucket worthy. no way to "catch" the water. I just have towels down and keep my things in a different place. It is ok though. I am not worried about it. The rain will pass. The weather says it will be raining for one more week. It is kind of bumming me out a little. But i bought a rain coat and boots. I wear them almost everyday despite everyones embarrassment of me. I like to stay dry. Things are going smoothly with the organization. The meeting with the president was postponed until next week because there is flooding at the college. The school hasn't had class for a week because of the rain and flooding at the teacher's homes as well as at the school. I have had a little more time to work on things for the Organization. I am going to Ormoc on Friday morning to help out with the Street kids there. Then i am staying the night with another volunteer, Liam. His birthday is on Saturday so we are coming back to Tacloban together and i have planned out a day for him here. I am planning a surprise party for him with the other Volunteers on Sat. night so that should be a lot of fun. But since he is normally in Ormoc i planned a day in Tacloban for him to see everything before he leaves back to Australia in a week. I am trying to take time for myself to stay rested. I had a bad fever and felt really sick yesterday morning. My eyes were really swollen and i felt horrible. the Coordinator of VFV wanted me to go to the doctor. But i told them to wait another hour. So i prayed that I would be healed of whatever was goign on and that i would not be sick anymore. (plus i am not to sure about a hospital here.) Anway... within an hour my eyes had gone down and my fever was completely gone. within two hours my eyes were pretty much back to normal... :) So i was able to go back to evertyhing. PRAISE THE LORD! I guess i won't be bragging about everyone else getting sick instead of me. OK... don't have much time. I will be back in three weeks. I can't believe it! I love you all and miss you much. Keep me in your prayers.

More rain

Everything here is flooded. It is still raining. Many houses are flooded and The water in many places is almost knee high for me. So the boots i bought are not doing much besides weighing me down. :) I am writing a proposal now to the LNU president for using their space as well as seeing if they will start an FSL class as an elective to get the hearing interested and eventually that they would set up an interpreting program for them to get a degree and work in the schools so the Deaf students can learn equally among the hearing. This will take a while but it is worth bringing it up while i finally have her in front of me. That is my long term goal here in the Philippines is to get that set up. I had to buy contact solution the other day because i am running low... it took me a long time to finally find some because not many here wear them. But it was 7$ for the same solution i buy in the US for $3. Because they don't have it anywhere else. So that was a bummer having to buy that. But it was a necessity. Right now there are three poor Filipino boys staring at me through the window and I am trying to ignore them. Ok.. so here is one quick story that doesn't pertain to me... and i am very glad. One of the volunteers had a soggy roof because of all the rain and three cats got ontop and the board caved in on what happend to be his bed. While he was sleeping three of them landed on him and started scratching because they were in the bug net. He started screaming and the homestays came upstairs and chased the cats out. But he was pretty scratched and has to get rabis shots now. I am not very sensitive and couldn't stop laughing when he was telling me and showing me his wounds. He, however did not think it was as funny as I did.
There is a lot more to update but I am too busy with the proposal right now.
much love.

So busy.

So yesterday the water in my burungay was turned off. I guess a few people heard about it on the news about two hours before it happened but of course… my house was not one of them. I never “shower” at night but chose to last night… I was almost done in the “shower” and the water stopped working. I had enough left in the bucket to finish, as well as enough to save to “flush” the toilet for the next day. So I didn’t feel too selfish. But I guess the government decided they needed to prepare for something. I wasn’t sure what that meant. Someone told me today that they are preparing for the effects of the Typhoon! I never realized until today that I don’t really know what a typhoon is. I guess the other province is having a small Typhoon and that is why it has been pouring rain here for the past five days. Normally February is not very rainy. I am ok with the rain though.. I can’t find time for the beach anyway. Yesterday I ran into some complications with the organization I am setting up(E.A.R.N.). The hearing man that is helping us(Romy) really made me feel a little uneasy about him. When I discussed it with Patrick and Nilo they agreed that maybe something isn’t so right. I felt like possibly he didn’t have the right intention. I am not sure. But I have a bad feeling about it. We had a meeting today with VFV(the organization I am here with) and they agreed to partner with my new organization. When I leave they will really be taking it over until I can return and help out more often. I know that I can trust them and they will be taking care of all the mail as well as the accounting and finances. So I am now at ease for when I leave until I can return. I am seriously considering moving here for good in the future. May and Aldos are the head of VFV and they pulled me aside today and told me that I am a natural born Leader. They asked me to partner with them when I go to America. I would be their first and only contact in America. This means when I get home I will advertise their organization as well as my new one I have set up here. I will take the applications myself and review the people who are willing to come and serve. I will be completely in charge of deciding who will come and help with the Deaf but they will deal with the other applications for orphanages, hospitals, ect. I will receive a small commission but most importantly I will be able to have the resources and credibility behind me when promoting the new organization I have started. My hope is that other people will be willing to serve here and the equality between Deaf and hearing will move a lot faster. I have begun to discuss an elective course in FSL to be set up at LNU(Leyte Normal University) and EVSU(Eastern Visayas Sector University) but this takes a lot of time and I can’t go directly to the president. I have been getting used to this because the American in me wants to go straight to the person who can say yes. But that isn’t possible here. However… May has connections with the LNU president and she is going to see if we are able to get a meeting this next Tuesday. It would be great to get the hearing interested in FSL and in the (very far) future I hope to help set up some type of interpreting program so it will be a profession here and the Deaf students will be able to learn equally in the classroom. But that is a project far off. I have been praying a lot about all of this and I have never had more peace in my life than now. I have been so blessed to be a part of all of this. I am now in charge of One organization, soon to start a second when I return home, then I have also become a member of the LCOD(Leyte Christian Organization for the Deaf) I am hoping to become a board member once I return. At the moment I have not enough time to commit to that yet. Although I have helped them write the vision and mission statement. J Things are going great. I love you all. Thanks so much for the emails. Please keep them coming. I know I can’t respond long and I can’t update my blog very often.. but know I am thinking of you all the time. Keep me in your prayers and continue to share what God is doing here with everyone you meet!

My words are not enough

Yesterday I went to the beach with shannon… the new volunteer. It was kind of raining so we just went to sit on the beach for a little bit. Anyway there were two wild cows far away and she thought it was so funny. But I see it all the time. And I grew up on a farm. J anyway.. after like 10 minutes they started coming really close to us and we were the only ones on the beach because it was kind of raining. She got scared and I told her we were fine that they are not going to do anything. And I kid you not I hardly finished my sentence and they started charging at us! ON THE BEACH! She panicked and I yelled at her not to move. I said just stay still. They came SO fast but here was no where to run or find safety.. we were on the beach! They came SO close but they stopped dead in their tracks right before demolishing us. I started laughing so hard I was crying and practically peed myself. Shannon was really scared… ok. I was a little concerned. But they ended up not hurting us and went the other way. I am sure it would have been worse for us to get up and try to out run them. Anway.. it was super funny to me and she said I was crazy for laughing that hard. Liam also said that I was crazy for laughing when we saw this Giant toad.. the biggest toad I have EVER seen… even on T.V. smashed to bits on the road. I thought it was so funny and couldn’t stop laughing but he said it was cruel. J I think Chanda and Krystal took all the compassion for animals and I have none. Ah well.

I can not begin to explain to you the great things that I am able to be a part of here. Today I went to Dulog with a group of Deaf friends. I met a few more Deaf yesterday and a couple again today. It was amazing. I went to the church service this morning that was for the Deaf and these people touched me so much! The pastor(Nilo) started preaching right from the bible about hypocrites. He said that through much prayer and preparation that he felt there was one of the Deaf among them who was not living a moral life and hiding from God during the week only to come and meet the Deaf on Sundays. He explained how he felt God was telling him that this person really only wanted to communicate with other Deaf but had no interest in God at all. He went on to say that this person is still very welcome to come but that they should hang out a lot more during the week and not just on Sundays. One of the Deaf started crying and crying and confessed that it was him. He said he didn’t really believe anything that Pastor was talking about until that moment. He was told God that if he was real he would call him out in front of the others who are the same as he. It was amazing. I cried. Also I cried when I was watching the closing prayer. It was so sincere and you could tell he was Connected to God! It was amazing. After three weeks of no contact with anyone who believed in the same God as me and now I am exposed to these people who trust in Him completely! They began to tell me how they know I am sent here by God and that the things I am doing here have been prayed for for a long time. I told them about my journey to come here and they keep telling me over and over again that God took their prayers and nudged me to come. Because I obeyed things are going to continue to happen. This is all things I have known but it is so great to have the reassurance from others here. AND they are Deaf so that is a bonus for me! The past two days Patrick and I have been together trying to brain storm about the vision and mission statement for LCOD as well as the logos for that and E.A.R.N.-H.I. We have pretty much got it close to done but there is a lot more involved for the brochures, programs, tshirts… a lot of things need to happen yet. But I am confident that all things will continue to go smooth. And Patrick has been very encouraging to me with all of this. I am so blessed to have met him. I am really going to have a hard time when I have to leave here… although I am already planning when I can financially come back. Eveyone here keeps telling me different days that would be best to come. My credit card is not being accepted online(yes mom and dad… my new one) to buy my plane ticket back home so maybe I will end up staying here the rest of my life. Except there is my school loans, car loan, Taxes in April, car and health insurance, I could go on. I will continue to trust in God and all will go well. Brian… I will save all my pictures for you.. don’t give in to facebook my friend. Holli… I havn’t heard from you in awhile.. tell me how you are… mom and dad: get an email account so I don’t have to broadcast when I want to tell you something… Kevin: keep doing well in Basketball. Everyone else.. much love and keep me in touch. I love to hear from home even though I say I want to stay here. I miss you all very much!

These are all the Deaf in the Elementary. I don't interpret for any of them but I get to hang out with them during my time off at the High School.

This is me and patrick teaching the differences in FSL, ASL, and SEE to the children at school. Patrick is the Deaf boy who goes to EVSU(the college here) I am interpreting for him now as well.
sorry i can't turn the picture. I am figuring this out. This is one of the boys involved with Leyte Idol. It is really fun to see live. It is every Sunday night. He was pretty good. :)


hope you are all doing well.

some more news

The other volunteer showed up yesterday. She isn't an interpreter and actually is really nervous about signing in general. She has only taken 3 years of ASL and she doesn't want to interpret. So i am trying to teach her some FSL and hopefully she will pick it up. I am pretty bummed cause i was expecting a lot of help from her. I am very busy now all day long. From early morning until late at night. I have no time for anything. I will probably come home as white as when i left! :) but i am ok with that. As long as i get to keep having an amazing time here with the Deaf kids. I get to go to a fiesta with them on Monday. Also there is a christain organization here called LCOD (leyte Christian Organization for the Deaf) I was asked to be a part of it today even though i am hearing. The Deaf kids said they were all talking about it and they know that I feel the same things they feel and they know i love the Lord. So i agreed to be a part of that Organization. They have a two year anniversary coming in April that i WISH i could be here for but i can't stay that long! I was asked to write the Mission statement for the organization! I am super honored. I will be working on that tomorrow after i go to another meeting. They are meeting from 1 to 4 again. I am so blessed to be a part of this group. We have come up with a name for the other organiztion that I am helping start.
E.A.R.N.- H.I (employment assistance resource network for the Hearing Impaired). We need a logo and a brochure and a bunch of other things for that yet too. Me and patrick will be meeting to set all of that up. Patrick is a part of LCOD also. So i am pretty excited that God has placed these amazing people here to take care of me.
I might not be making much sense cause i am SUPER tired. So i will stop writing now. Much more has happend i feel but i am not sure what else to write.

This is very Important!!!!

I apologize for not writing in so long. Also this post is very important. If you normally skim through I would ask that you wait until you have enough time to read this one all the way through in its entirety. The most important thing that I will probably ever be a part of has entered my life in the past week.

Upon my arrival I was interpreting but I was frustrated with the things I saw. I was also surprised at how the Deaf were given NO opportunity. But I have explained that already in the previous posts. I began to pray about how I can be of some other help here. It seemed impossible. Since last Thursday I have met some very phenomenal people that are helping to change this part of the world. I began to talk with some people that shared the vision I had for the Deaf here to get jobs. Over the weekend we started a small organization consisting of Me, A powerful Filipino hearing man who knows no sign but is passionate about helping out the underdog in his country..Romy, a Deaf Christian missionary..Nilo, and a well established Deaf college student..Patrick (the only one here because his family has money). Together we came up with a plan to get the Deaf students who are graduating high school job opportunities. We had a meeting yesterday with the Hotel and Restaurant Management board of Leyte. I wrote up a proposal for the possibility of having a two week training period for the Deaf to become waiters and Waitresses. Here in the Philippines you must be trained to work in a restaurant, they have a course for it at the colleges. I was able to explain why I believe these students can do the job equally as the hearing people. I spoke for awhile convincing them that this is in turn, going to help the well being of the entire country by employing the Deaf. I gave examples of some Deaf in America who are very well off. Patrick was there and explained his life and how he has been really successful in his work. He is going to college here to become an interior Designer and he is AMAZING! I have seen a few of his drawings and he has even won competitions in Manila for some of his work. They were really impressed and they realized when I was voicing for him that he is just as intelligent if not more intelligent than many of the hearing. I was SO happy. They were convinced and they passed my proposal!!!!!!! The only thing is they said they would rather it be 5 consecutive Saturdays instead of two weeks straight. This way the students can be trained Before they graduate and start working right out of high school. They agreed to hire the Deaf as equal among the hearing as long as they complete the training we will be setting up for them. SO… the next step.. I am in the process of writing a letter the the Leyte Normal University president to see if we can use one of their rooms. Also I am requesting that some of the students who are taking classes to manage restaurants volunteer to train the students on the assigned Saturdays. I am not sure if this will go over very well but I know that this is a part of God’s will. And I believe that anything in God’s will… will never lack God’s resources. So I am going all out and asking for the gold! Patrick is nervous because going directly to the president is going to be hard for him. But I know that this is the only option we have right now. We just need facilities and sponsors. The Deaf students do not have enough money to attend the training. I figure it will be about 100 Pesos ($2.50) each Saturday per Deaf student and there are about 15 that want to go through the training. So we will need to find Sponsors for the time. The students agreed that once they are certified they will help pay back the sponsors once they get the jobs. And my dream, the Deaf agreed, is that when they are certified and working they will be the ones to do the training for the next generation who want to work in the hotel and restaurant industry. So far it is going really well. I have no extra time and I can not go to the beach or on any of the excursions with the other Volunteers but I would not have it any other way. I know now why I came. None of us four involved in this new organiztion could have done this on our own… we needed each other. Now something is going to be done. This will be the first time Deaf in this country are able to work outside of a family business. It is a revolution among the Deaf culture here and I have the honor to be a part of it. I almost cry every time I think of the depth of what is happening!!!!!!! AHH… God is amazing and I always knew I was made for more than what I was doing in America! I almost don’t want to come home but I know that I must.

One other thing… There is one Deaf boy that is GREAT at cutting hair and it is really his passion. He dreams of owning a barber shop one day. He has talked to me about it everyday since I got here. Now that all of this has started I have no fear. I am talking with a man who owns a barber shop here to see if he will allow Genaro to at least “intern” at his barber shop. It is going to take a lot of convincing but he said he is considering allowing him to work there. Please be in prayer for that. It would be a step toward this boys dream! But it is going to take me talking to this man everyday. Which I have been doing and will do everyday until I leave!

I am getting a little tired out at times so you can pray for health and strength for me. Also for all the plans that are being set up to go smoothly and we would all have strength to stand up for this culture that is so looked down upon right now.

I experienced my first Cock fight. It was loud, dirty, and there were like four women including me and Tes. I am not so sure I would go back again on purpose. Although.. it is supposed to be 200 Pesos for sitting Ringside… Tes did a little sweet talking and said because I was a foreigner I should get a good seat to take pictures. We got in for free. I thought it was kind of funny. But it did cost us a lot to get to the place in Fare.

Ok… much love and I will try to update on how everything is going.

Chanda… I bought you a really awesome coach purse here.. but I have been using it the past couple days for these meetings because I have to appear professional with what I have. J I have other stuff for you though.

God is Good

The past two days have been AMAZING! In my recent posts i was explaining how it is kind of difficult being the only Christian here. I have been praying for something to come along so i can be in fellowship with others who strive to serve the same God as I. Two days ago i was able to meet a few more Deaf people from around Tacloban and one was a Deaf man who moved from America (but he is Filipino) and has set up a Deaf devotional group on Sunday's. He is an amazing man of God and told me all about the calling on his life. It was nice to talk to him because ASL was his first language but he know uses FSL all the time. He was a little rusty with ASL as he hasn't used it in 21 years. None the less it was really neat to attend one of his meetings. The Deaf kids i interpret for at school were there along with many others from all around Leyte(the island Tacloban is on) I received a text yesterday asking me to come and interpret at a coffee shop. The man had got my number from the woman who tells me where to interpret at school. So i showed up and much to my surprise he was a very well off Filipino man, hearing, and didn't know any sign language. So i interpreted for the meeting between him and the Deaf girl. After he gave her 50Pesos to get home. (it costs only 6) I was really confused at his intentions so i asked him staight up what his plan was. And why he wanted to help this Deaf girl get a job HERE in the Philippines. I asked him if he knew that it was next to impossible. Then he asked if he could take me to eat for interpreting and we could discuss it then. I was intriged so i aggreed. Here this man was really messed up in the government setting up Illegal gaming corporations. He would get 10,000 pesos a day and would pay of the cops on a regular basis. It was very surprising for me to be hearing these stories first hand. For two hours he explained to me the horrible things he had done and the different times he almost lost his life or took another. He was convicted for many years before he decided to leave the business. He was asked to stay and would recieve 100,000 pesos a day. It was a hard decision but he knew he had to leave. He became a christian and stepped away from all of that. He began a Catering business here and now wants to help the Deaf and Disabled to get jobs. He met a woman who is supposed to help these people but he said she has no compassion for them so he is doing it out of the goodness of his heart. He is not getting paid for this but his heart went out. i was a little surpirsed that there was a woman who already had the job i have been trying to set up here. But now I am teaming with Him and another woman i met the other day who has the same heart as me(Gemma) and we want to get things set up for all the Deaf. we are not sure yet what it will be but there will be some type of program or several programs in the making before i leave. I have the ideas, Romy has the financial and power, and Gemma has the will and heart to help everything get done. These relationships over the past two days have been more than I could have asked for. God is really working here. I am so glad that i am able to be a part of what will change this countries view on the Deaf!!!! I hope that everything can continue to go smooth. But much prayer is needed and appreciated form all of you at home. Pray specifically about this!!! there is much more to say but i am goign to go to the market with Tes soon.
much love