Read All About It!

I have been filling much of my free time with reading, something that I have not done in quite some time. I've already read a few books and have a few more on my list. If you have any recommendations of books or authors please send me an email at kbejarin@gmail.com or leave me a comment. Any book at all - any author, any genre.

"The things I want to know are in books; my best friend is the person who'll get me a book I haven't read." - Abraham Lincoln

'Tis The Season To Be Rainy

From now until the new year, it is officially rainy season in Ahuas. For the first few weeks, the rain came in dumps where it would rain hard for about 15 minutes and then pass. Now a storm will last for entire days. This latest storm started Friday afternoon and lasted until Saturday night. And now it comes in sheets accompanied by crashes of thunder and lightning. Last night I watched a movie at the mission base and was walking back at about 10pm. It was pitch black but then every few seconds lightning would light up the sky like it was noon and I could see for miles!

The best part of the rain was Saturday afternoon. If you remember from my previous post, Saturday afternoons is when the soccer games are played. It must have rained the hardest of the entire storm for the four hours that there were games. But as normal, not one game was missed. And when it would start to rain harder, I would hear screams... immediately followed by laughter. After the game, Peter told me that the water on the field was ankle deep in some spots. Team Clinica won regardless, 5-2, with Peter scoring another goal. For those of you keeping track at home, Clinica is still unbeaten and is in first place out of six teams in the standings.

"And when it rains on your parade, look up rather than down. Without the rain, there would be no rainbow." - Gilbert K. Chesterton

All's Well

It's been a while since my last post and I just want to let you know that everything is just peachy. As I mentioned before, I've settled in quite nicely here in Ahuas. Less "new things" have been happening so the time in between posts might be a bit longer.

I've had a few emails from friends and family wondering how I'm doing and I realized that I haven't really covered that yet. I'm doing great but the first week was the hardest. After being spoiled by Air Conditioning, the heat sapped all of my energy.  I missed my friends, girlfriend, family and my puppy. I missed being able to watch TV and use high-speed internet.

After a month, I feel very comfortable living in Ahuas. I still miss the things that I mentioned but everyone here has been great. One of the first days I was able to talk with Gerard after dinner and he told me the story of the young traveler and the old farmer. One night a young traveler comes to a farm. The old farmer answers the door. "Do you have anywhere I can spend the night?", asked the young traveler. The old farmer nods and leads the young traveler out to the barn and puts the young man up in the loft. Right before leaving the barn the, old farmer turns and says to the young traveler, "If there's anything you need, just come get me, and I'll show you how to live without it."

Helped me put things in perspective.

"Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive." - Dalai Lama

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAL!!!!!!

Every Saturday, from 1pm-5pm, the kids from the area come and play soccer at the field at the clinic. The great thing is that the games aren't even pick-up games. Peter and his mother, Norvelle, created a soccer league for kids to play in. There are six teams, each playing one game every Saturday. Peter is the captain for undefeated Team Clinica. They just played their six and final game of group play, finishing with a record of four wins, no losses, and two ties. Today, Clinica played the only other undefeated team, so a matter of pride was at stake. Peter ended up scoring the game's only two goals, one in the first half and one in the second to seal it.

You really have to see these kids play to truly understand how hard they play. Sure, kids in the states play hard, but let me try to paint a picture of the futbol games in Ahuas.

First, the field. One side looks fine and mostly covered in grass. The other half bottlenecks towards the goal (A short throw-in can land in front of the goal) and is primarily dirt. There are no lines. There is however, a road that cuts the field in half. The out-of-bounds are barbwire fences on one side and the crowd of observers on the other (The barbwire used to tear up the balls so they lean sheets of scrap metal against them.) If they're lucky, the pilots will let them have some oil to paint the lines. The goals have been made from logs; two standing up and one nailed across the top. Clearly, none of this screams "regulation size".

Then come the players. In the states, every player has to have shin guards, socks, and cleats to play. I would say that of the 22 kids on the field, only four had all three. The majority of kids play with bare feet. Some are lucky enough to be able to share a pair of cleats with a teammate. And by share I don't mean they switch at halftime. I mean one kid wears the left and his friend wears the right. But not even that can slow them down.

A few days ago I asked Ben and Tobi who was better at soccer: kids in Norway or Ahuas. They hesitantly said that kids in Norway might be a little better, but Ben was quick to point out, "But kids here play way harder." He's not kidding. The motto for these boys might as well be "No socks, no shoes, no problem".

I hope to get some pictures and maybe a video in the coming weeks so you can see for yourself.

"Futbol is a matter of life and death, except more important." - Bill Shankly

Fuimos a Ribra!

One of two muddy sections on the way to Ribra

The path to Ribra.

In the jungle! Almost there...

Made it!

A week and a half ago I got the chance to walk to and swim in Ribra. Scott - a teacher at the K-2 school on the mission base - led me on our journey, which is a little less than four miles one-way. The path was pretty good, "only" having two muddy sections; the first is about 2.5 miles from Ahuas. When trying to cross one of these sections, there was nothing to do but take off our shoes and socks and squish through the shin deep mud. Since our feet were so dirty and with the knowledge that we were going to encounter another mud pit soon, we didn't want to put our shoes back on. So, Scott and I ended up walking the rest of the way to the river in our bare feet. The water was a perfect temperature to cool off and relax in. Parts of the river are shallow enough to sit in while just a little upstream was deep enough to completely submerge. Scott and I stayed for about an hour, skipping stones, swimming, and chatting. Scott tells me that the boys know of another, better swimming spot on the river. Hopefully I can get them to take me, maybe for extra credit on their next test.

The Daily Routine

The parrots: Lilia and Ripichip. They walk around, squawk, and generally tend to be pests during school.

The livingroom a.k.a. the classroom and 2/3 of the class - Ben and Peter.

Sorry it’s been so long since my last post; been a bit busy. But now in my fourth week in Ahuas, third week teaching, I’ve gotten into a pretty solid daily routine. Here’s what my days usually look like.

6:00am - Wake up and get ready for the day
6:20am - Bring my laptop and lesson plans to the Rudy-Goff house. Then I get the key for the airplane hangar, which is where the internet modem is located, which I have to connect and turn on each morning before class. (A while back they hadn’t disconnected it and lightening hit the cell tower and destroyed the modem. A few thousand dollars to replace.)
6:30am - Breakfast and bible study with Peter and his parents, Gerard and Norvelle.
8:00am - Tobi and Ben arrive at the house and we start class. Each of the boys has 5-6 subjects to complete each day. The curriculum comes from K12, an online homeschool program that comes with textbooks and teacher and student guides.
12:00pm - School ends. I grade as much as I can before...
12:30pm - Lunch at the Hofstads with Jarle, Yngvild, Tobi, Ben, and Camilla. Yngvild makes bread often so it smells delicious when I walk into their home.
1:30-6:30pm - This time I have open. I tend to lesson plan for a good chunk of it, but then I can read, excercise, watch a movie, or do my laundry. Often the boys will be playing soccer so it’s fun to watch them go at it. I’ve played a few times and kids 8, 9, 10 years younger than me absolutely take me to school. Tobi and Ben have spent some time in Norway, and according to them kids in Ahuas play much harder than in Norway.
6:30pm - Dinner at the Rudy-Goff house. Dinner - and lunch for that matter - tends to consist of the same three things: rice, beans, and beef. A very standard meal for much of Ahuas.
7:30pm - Finish up plans, read, Skype, shower.
9:30pm - Bedtime. The blackness outside really makes me sleepy. That, and the darkness and creaks in the rest of the apartment creep me out more the later I stay up.

“While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about.” - Unknown