Where The Lotus Flowers And The Water Buffalo Roam

7:30am and it's already a balmy 85 degrees outside.  I'm wearing a dress, long black gloves up past my elbows, and Shakira is playing loudly on the radio.  So begins my morning commute: zipping through crowds of cows, and motorcycles, and heavily-loaded vegetable carts.  Another motorbike cuts in front of me, just inches from my wheel.  So I dart up on the sidewalk and take a little detour around a lady with a floppy orange hat who is selling sausages.  I smile to myself.  It's funny but for me the chaos brings with it a strange sort of comfort.  Today I will be busy doing things that I sincerely believe make a positive difference in the lives of others.  It feels good to be back. / 7:30 de la manaña y ya son casi 30 grados afuera.  Tengo puesto un vestido, guantes negros hasta los codos, y se escucha a Shakira por el radio. Asi comiensa mi día.  Volando por en medio de vacas,  motos, y carretas sobrecargadas con legumbres. Una moto pasa en frente de mi, solo centimitros de mi llanta, y casi me choco.  Entonces, subo a la vereda y hago un pequeño desvío detras de una señora con sombreo naranjada, quien esta vendiendo salchicas.  Me sonrio por adentro.  Para mi, el chaos trae un sentido conocido y confortable.  Hoy me mantendré ocupada haciendo cosas que realmente creo hagan una diferencia positiva en las vidas ajenas.  Me siento alegre haber regresado. 

My trip to Asia was pretty uneventful.  Although I will say that the Cambodian border town of Poipet is not a place for the faint-hearted.   I couldn't get out of there fast enough.  Because it took so long to pass immigration, I decided to "save time" by taking a taxi back to Phnom Pehn rather than wait for a bus.  / Mi viaje a Asia fue más o menos normal.  Pero si digo que el pueblo Poipet, que queda en la frontera, no es un lugar para camarones.  Yo me queria salir corriendo.  Pasando aduanas tomo una eternidad, entones pensé tomarme un taxi para "ahorrar tiempo", en vez de esperar el bus. 

I'm not sure how well this photo tells the story, but there are 8 people in this car (including me) The driver is the second person from the left. That's right- the one who is talking on the phone.  Also the rear-view mirror isn't really a mirror at all.  It's a little DVD screen playing Cambodian karaoke videos at decibels that should shatter glass.  But I guess that was okay, because the entire back window was stuffed to the roof with bags and luggage, so a rear-view mirror really wouldn't have been much use anyway.  AND- this is the most shocking part- NO ONE was wearing a seatbelt!  How long did I spend in this completely safe and culturally-rich environment?  Five hours. / No se que tan bien este foto cuenta la historia, pero hay 8 personas en este carro (yo incluido).  Quien maneja es la seguna persona a la izquierda.  Si!  La que esta hablando por teléfono.  Tambíen, el espejo retrovisor, no es un espejo!  Es una pantalla pequeña DVD con karaoke camboyano a todo volumen.  Pero, supongo que estaba bien, porque el vídro de atras estaba completamente bloqueado con fundas y bolsas... así que un retrovisor no le hubiera sido de mucho valor de todos modos.  Y- la parte más espantoso -  NADIE habia puesto su cinturon de segiridad!  ¿Cuanto tiempo tuve que pasar en este ambiente demasiado seguro y edificante?  Cinco horas. 

My congregation had split since I was away and the new hall assigned some territory that had never been worked before.  Some of it is within the city, and some is rural.  Not long after you leave the borders of Phnom Pehn things start turning green again.  Okay, so I think lotus flowers technically cannot "roam", but I would definitely say that they sprawl.  There are these beautiful open fields of water lilies in every color and light pink lotus blossoms that smell like honey; wooden farmhouses and coconut palms.  Cows and buffalo just sort of meandering around aimlessly.... I like it. / Mi congregaion  se habia dividido durante el tiempo que estuve en los estados y a la nueva congregacio le asignaron una porcion de territorio nuevo, que nunca antes ha sido predicado.  No mucho tiempo despues de salir de los limites de la ciudad, las cosas se vuelvan verdes.  Hay campos grandes, llenos de flores de agua que huelan a miel.  Hay casitas de madera y cocos, vacas y bufalo vagando por allá....  me gusta. 

We meet for service at 8am, 6 days a week.  (Every day except Monday)  / Nos reunimos para la predi a las 8am,  todos los días, menos Lunes.

This is the typical kind of street you might see in this area.  / Este es una calle typica de este sector. 

From time to time we stumble across something unexpected... like a pink wedding reception. / De vez en cuando encontramos algo no esperado... como una fiesta de bodas rosado. 

The preaching work here is good and it seems like we're having excellent calls every day.  Sometimes when we're out,  I'll try to discretely take photos of interesting things we see along the way.  The other day while my partner was starting a new study with some girls, I noticed another girl in the next room trying to sneak some pictures of us with her camera phone.  Apparently having people come to their house to talk about the bible is as much a novelty for them as it is for us.  / La predicacion aqui es muy bueno y parece que todos los días estamos entablando conversaciones excelentes con la gente.  A veces cuando salimos yo trato de descretamente tomar fotos de cosas interesantes.  El otro día, mientras mi compañera empesaba un estudio nuevo con unas chicas, me di cuenta que otra muchacha nos tomaba fotos de nosotras con su telefono.  Supongo que ver gente venir a su casa para hablar de la biblia es tan intersante para ellos que para nosotros. 

Even though Buddhism has been the Cambodian state religion since the 13th century, for the first thousand years of their history Cambodia was ruled by a series of Hindu kings.  In fact, the famous Angkor Wat temples here were originally Hindu.  I read that it's actually the largest Hindu temple in the world (although today many parts of it are filled with shrines to Buddha).  Almost no one here would think of themselves as followers of Hinduism, but some of the traditions do still remain alive, such as this:   / El Budismo ha sido la religion del estado desde el siglo 13.  Pero durante los primeros mil años de la historia Camboyano, ellos fuero gobernados por uno reyes Híndues.  De hecho, el templo famoso aqui Angkor Wat, originalmente fue templo Híndu.  Leí que esto es el Templo Híndu más grande del mundo, aunque hoy día muchas partes estan llenos con altares a Buda.  Ahora, la gente no se consideran Híndues,  pero unas practicas todavia existen, como esto:

They worship termite mounds.  It's hard to see in this picture, but there's a shallow spot on the side of the mound where sticks of incense and offerings of rice have been left.   As far as I can tell, this is related to worship of the Hindu god Khandoba; who (according to some sources) is also connected with worship of the sun.  / Adoran a los nidos de los termitas.  Es un poco dificil de ver en este foto, pero hay un lugar en medio del nido donde han puesto pallitos de incencio y ofrendas de arroz.  Segun lo que he podio investigar, estas practicas estan contectadas con el dios Hindu Khandoba, quien (segun algunos fuentes de informacio) esta relacionado con la adoracion del sol.

Day-to-day survival here is all about being resourceful.  To me it seems like the local people have it almost perfected into an art form.  Like, what do you do if it starts pouring rain and you don't have a raincoat?  (There are cheap plastic ponchos for sale about every 100 ft. on the side of the road for about $.25.  But why stop?)   It's obviously easier to simply speed down the highway with your friend holding an umbrella, right?  / Para la superviviencia diaria en Camboya, hay que ser creativa.  Me parece que la gente aquí la han perfecionado.  Por ejemplo, que haces si empieza a llover en no tienes chompa?  ( Bueno, se vende ponchos barratos al lado de la caretera cada 30m.  ¿Pero, por que parar? )  Obviamente, tu amiga puede sostener su paraguas mientras vuelas por la caretera, ¿verdad?

I'm pretty much all moved-in to my new little apartment and I like it a lot.  Since I had to get almost everything to set-up, there have been lots of interesting trips home with things on the motorbike.  Things like: a coatrack, stove, closet, table, a fishbowl (with fish not splashed out), a three-foot palm tree, etc....  here it's no problem to drive through the middle of downtown with an enormous pile of housewares heaped on top of a motorbike.  No one even gives it a second glance.  / Estoy más o menos asentada en mi nuevo departamento y me gusta mucho.  Tenía que consiguir casi todo para la casi, asi que han habido muchos viajes interesantes en la moto.  he traido cosas como un closet, una cosina, una mesa, una pecera (sin perder los peces!), y una palmera....  Aqui no hay problema pasar por en medio de toda la ciudad con una monton de cosas en cima de la moto.  A nadie le parece extraño.

Here are some pictures I took today.  The walls aren't actually quite as yellow as they seem to look online.  For some reason the colors went a little funky... but you get the idea anyway./  Aqui hay unas fotos que tomé hoy.  En realidad las paredes no son tan amarillas como se parecen en el internet.  Por alguna razon los colores se cambiaron un poco... pero, bueno, te da la idea. 

I read something recently that said "Life is not the way it's supposed to be... it is the way it is.  The way we cope with it, that's what makes the difference".  And I think it's very true... our perspective plays such a huge role in our happiness and success.   / Hace poco leí algo que dijo "La vida no es como debe ser... es como es.  Y es la forma en que nosotros nos reacionamos que hace la diferencia".  Y creo que es muy verdad... nuestra perspectiva toca un papel grande en nuestra felizidad y éxito.

This picture reminded me of that quote.  Perhaps for some people, it's an ominous looking drainage ditch on the side of the road... / Para algunas personas esto sería una alcantarilla medio sospechoso... 

...for others, it's a place for inspiration to bloom.  / ...tal vez para otros, es la raiz de la inspiracion.

           "Is anything too extraordinary for Jehovah?"

 -Gen. 18:14- 

" ¿Hay cosa alguna demasiado extraordinaria para Jehová?"

there's no place like home

Well, I was getting back on an airplane.  That much I expected.  

But where I landed... now, that part was something of a surprise.  

As soon as my feet hit the ground, I could  instantly I feel the temperature of my blood begin to rise. This was the land of big mountains... of roasted plantains... of really really loud salsa music.  This was Ecuador... and I was home.

Well, for a visit at least.  I had 12 days to run around the country like a madwoman and see everyone- It was an amazing time!

I had first met Leane when she was a bible student in Pedernales.  Later she and her husband both came in the truth, and eventually we all end-ed up serving together where the need was great in Flavio Alfaro.  Their enthusiasm always contributed so much to the group there.  I'll never forget the day they rode their bikes to my house in a torrential rainstorm and dragged me outside for a football game... hahaha...  and how we sat on my front porch afterwards, eating cookies and laughing like kids.  Sadly, her husband Darío passed-away unexpectedly about a year ago, and is greatly missed.  It was a special time for us to be together again and to see how well the family is doing, despite their loss.  Leane and her oldest daughter Karen both serve as regular pioneers and generously give their free time to others.  Some of the friends back in North America had given me a suitcase of clothes and other things to share, and I was very pleased to be pass along those gifts.

They all traveled many hours on a bus so that we could spend a day together.  Thanks guys! 

This is Merci, who took me in when I was new and was patient with me when I could barely speak spanish... and who has always made me feel like a beloved member of her family.   They don't  have a lot, but they're happy to share whatever they do have.  Her hospitality is legendary, and if you ever go there, she will cook you  (I'm quite sure)  the most amazingly fantastic fish dinner on the whole entire planet!  

She inherited, among other things, my red sunglasses from cambodia.

Another dear friend, Carolina, came on a bus all the way from Santo Domingo so that we could see each other.   She and I were in the same congregation when I first moved to Ecuador in 1999, and we've stayed friends ever since.  Around here, anything is an excuse for a party!  When the sun goes down in Pedernales... we gotta dance!

My next stop was Tabiasa... 

That was one of the first places I served here in the country, back when it was just a tiny isolated group in the middle of nowhere.  To get there, I jumped on the back of a pick-up truck and headed into the hills...

When the truck stopped a few hours later, I started walking...

and walking...

and walking...  (there's something strangely familiar about all of this)

One thing I haven't missed are these fine bamboo bridges!

(p.s. My latest inexplicable passion: red shoes) 

...and then walking some more.

 I eventually came to this house.  The home of the brother who serves as the only elder in the Tabiasa congregation.

If you think the outside of the house looks cool,  wait until you see the the inside!

This is Brother Washington with his wife and daughter.  It takes a lot of hard work out here in order to earn enough to support a family.  Add to that the workload of being the only elder in an isolated congregation  (and currently there are no servants either)  Needless to say, this is one HARD working guy!  He moved out here to help where the need is great, and has been loyally sticking to it for nearly 9 years now.  

Isn't she just TOO cute!

It was just incredible to be there with everyone.  To see all the things that have changed... and all the things that have stayed the same... and to be reunited with dear old friends...  

Not the pig though.  He and I had just met. 

Before & After....

This is an old photo I dug out, from back in 2000...2? (about). You can see the way our kingdom hall looked when I first moved here: a wood floor, tin roof, and no walls.  Just a few planks behind the stage...

And this is that same kingdom hall as it stands today.  They've added walls and doors, and the inside is decorated with flowers and curtains.  This year, they've even been able to have electricity!  It's small and simple-  it's also one of the nicest buildings in the territory.  BUT...

Thanks to Jehovah (also a bulldozer, and a whole lot of electrical cables) Tabiasa has been approved to have a real kingdom hall built for them by the brothers of the RBC!!  Heavy machinery was made available to come fix the road and level a plot of land where the hall could be built.  Also contributions were made to help the brothers run cables with 220v electricity out to the construction site to run the machinery (according to my best guess, it's about 15 miles- that's one long extension cord!)  For many weeks and days prior to the build, the brothers painstaking brought out loads of supplies in trucks... bags of concrete, piles of crushed stones, tile, paint, rebar, food....  everything!  It was no small feat, and that's only the beginning...

This is  going to be a "real" Kingdom hall, with cement walls, microphones, and tiled bathrooms where water comes out of the faucets!  Maybe that doesn't sound like such a big deal at first, but this Kingdom hall will be the first building of it's kind out in these hills, and a tremendous shout of praise for Jehovah and his loving world-wide brotherhood.  

The building project is set to last 7 weeks.... being out there, I didn't want to leave.   Over the years,  I had put so much of myself into the building-up of this congregation... I felt like I would've traded just about anything to be able to stay and help construct the building too.  But, sadly, there was no time.  I had just one day there.  Well... I was glad for what I had. 

Here is another old picture of two women I used to study the bible with, Dolores and her mother-in-law Señora Cruz...    In this picture, Cruz is holding Dolores' newborn baby Merci, and they are crossing a river on their way to the meeting.

And this is the family today...  Dolores is in the green shirt; she has 3 children now and the whole family serves Jehovah.  Her little baby Merci (all grown-up) is the girl in red.

And here is the Señora Cruz with some of her other daughters-in-law and grandchildren, some of whom also study the bible now.

There was only one person there who didn't really seem to appreciate my visit...

But we did eventually make friends

One of my favorite things about the Ecuadorian landscape are the Kapok (or Ceiba) trees.  Every one seems to have it's own personality and unique story to tell.   Along the coastal road that leads to Jipijapa, you can find miles and miles of dry hillsides peppered with these trees.  Often they're drapped in spanish moss; almost wearing it, as if they were a troupe of eccentric stage performers in costume.  The Kapok have a secret that's the key their survival in this often harsh climate... it's their green color.  During the dry times, (that may be most of the year) the tree will shed it's delicate leaves to conserve moisture, and the plant can continue to photosynthesize through the chlorophyll in it's green branches and trunk. At first glance they look mostly dead, but they're actually thriving!  Isn't Jehovah's creation amazing.... !

The English District Convention... 

...held at the Branch in Guyaquil was another one of the highlights of 2011.  At Malachi 3:10 it reads: "test me out, please, in this respect," Jehovah of armies has said, "whether I shall not open to YOU people the floodgates of the heavens and actually empty out upon YOU a blessing until there is no more want."   When I think back on this convention, and I look at the smiling faces of the brothers and sisters...  outstanding people who's examples and encouragement have inspired and guided me...  My friends have, by far,  been the greatest blessing of my life.  I can think of no better testament to the truthfulness of that scripture than this:

After the convention on Saturday we had a special dinner  with friends to celebrate Dave and Daniella's 4th anniversary.  It was like a little mini international convention. There were guests from Italy, Peru, Ecuador, U.S. Scotland, Canada, Australia... I don't even know how many other places.  

Jacques always has a smile to share.  She's German + Scottish...  = Germish?

And then it was back to my old hometown of Puerto Lopez...

 Time was short, and I had just one day to see everyone.  So, needless to say, we danced!

Before I knew what hit me, it was time to say goodbye.  This had been a rare privilege... to return to this place after so long a time, and find the piece of my heart that I had left behind.  My suitcase was nearly empty, but I left with so much more than what I had come with.




Meanwhile, back in New York..... 

Another  highlight of July was time spent with friends near Albany.  I used to live around here for a short time. It was only about a year, but the bonds of friendships that were formed then have remained so true, and so strong, that being back always feels like coming home.  (Jen, I can honestly say I have learned SO much from you!!  harmonicas, home decor with red duct tape... and now this! :)

Marie and I had been in Ecuador together, in Cambodia together, and now here we are once again in New York.  It is a small world, after all :)

She had a gathering at her family's camp up at the lake...

It was a day for friends....  swimming, kayaking, ultimate (water) frisbee, eating, singing, and my personal favorite...  learning to shoot at stuff with a giant  potato cannon!

It was great to see Kim again too!  She serves as a pioneer in a Sign Language cong. in Nicaragua and we're almost never on the same continent at the same time.  But happily our paths collided here this time around.  (BTW, Kimmie you are my HERO!  Thank U for saving my life again & again!!)

And then Lee Center NY...

back to the place where I had grown-up.  Back in that field behind my grandma's house where I used to lay awake, and watch the stars light-up the night skies.  We lit and a huge fire (even though it was kinda raining)  and practiced our golf swings in the wet grass, and...

other, um... 'upbuilding' activities.  It was good to be home. 

There are so many good stories and good memories... I could type on and on, and not even scratch the surface...

This world-wide interweb is just not big enough to hold all of the smiles and memories from this trip.  Thank you guys, for being such great friends and making all of this possible! 

Last, (but by no means least) this is one of my grandmothers:  The always-beautiful Barbara Taciak

She is the ever-wise, undisputed matriarch of the Taciak family.  My favorite Barbara quote from this month:  "People say that we're just a like, Melissa.  But the truth is there's nothing like you in all of God's creation.  You're like one of those things they find deep in the ocean, bring to the surface and say "What IS this thing?!"  

Ha!  Well, like I was saying...  "there's no place like home"!

  (where ever that home may be)