Friday, August 31, 2007

One day left




The last night in Mexico we had a nice dinner in Roserito and then we went to the beach to have a bonfire. We brought all of the prayers that teams had written down over the last 8 weeks, read each one allowed and put it in the fire. We lit off some very loud fire crackers including some huge bottle rockets with very fast fuses. Leaving the base and saying goodbye was sad. I dropped my roommate off in Encenitis and went up to a friends house in Rancho Cucamonga. Three of my friends wanted to go on one last trip with me before I left for nine months. We went out to Utah for three days of hiking and canyoneering. We had some spectacular weather at the end of the trip with pouring rain, flash flood watches and lightning crashing down. So cool. I am up in Bakersfield right now packing and visiting with my sister and parents. Tomorrow morning I get up early, drive 2 and a half hours to LAX for a 8:55AM flight that stops in Chicago, then Stockholm before reaching Oslo (16.5 hours trip time from Lax to Oslo). I have 12 hours in Oslo before an 18 hour train trip to Bodo then a 3 hour van ride to the base in Nordtun. The next morning we take off for a 5 day backpack on a nearby glacier (weather permitting). Nothing like jumping in with both feet! The currency is the Norwegian Kroner and measurements and temperature are in metric. Norway time is 9 hours ahead of Pacific time.

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Week Eight In Mexico

This was the last week in Mexico. The summer program is over. Seems like it all went by so fast. Time to say goodbyes and focus on the next step. I am going out to Utah canyonering with some good friends and then to Bakersfield to spend a little time with my parents and sister while I repack for Norway. I can't believe that time is already here. When I made the plans it seemed so far off and now it is 10 days away. Sometimes I am really ready and excited to go and other times I am wondering what I have gotten myself into. I know it will be ok once I get there and get settled.

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Week Seven In Mexico




A somewhat slow week for me. There was just one build going on this week and I was not on the build team. I was scheduled to be on Kitchen mornings and evenings but another staffer took it over for me. Running sound keeps me fairly busy as sometimes I am in the worship hall until late. On Sunday there was a bull fight in the arena by the base (the parking lot for the arena is about 15 feet from my bed). If you look on Google Earth where the US border and the beach meet you will see the arena. A group of us decided to go an experience the spectacle. It was an interesting cultural experience to say the least. One of the bulls was allowed to live because the crowed felt the bull was being treated poorly. The crowed chanted "TORO TORO" and threw their seat cushions onto the field while "boooing" the Matador. It was really hard to watch them killing the bull though. It is panic time for Norway and I am trying to wrap my mind around all of the details before I take off.

Monday, August 13, 2007

Week Six In Mexico


Another build week. The house this week was on a lot up two sets of welded metal stairs. That made getting the building materials up and down a real challenge. The team (from Vancouver, WA) was up to the task though. They had a lot of energy and some construction experience. They are the team that I felt the biggest connection with this summer. They were so great. One side effect that I hadn't counted on this summer was a different set of people that come each week that I share my life story with. And every week they are so shocked that I am not married. And every week someone is trying to set me up with someone they know. I know they mean well though. For our days off we went to Santa Barbara and then Magic Mountain. Lots of driving. We got back to the base at 2AM Friday morning. Norway is coming up quick and I am starting to wonder what I have gotten myself into. I'm sure it will be fine once all the details are out of the way and I get there.

Wednesday, August 1, 2007

Week Five In Mexico



This week was really slow. We had three teams but none of them were building. I talked to one of the teams and they said they wanted to build a house but couldn't raise the money (the cost of materials for each house is about $4800). I was on breakfast crew and running sound for meetings (as usual). The water park in San Diego was fun. It was shocking how much it cost though ($28). The water park in TJ was only $6 and you can bring your own food in. For our days off this week we drove up to Santa Barbara for the night and then we are going to six flags tomorrow. The pictures are from the TJ park.