Adventures in Birmingham

Let me tell you about my perfect Sunday.


Since I moved to SIFAT I've been researching churches online on the off chance that I ever get to go to church on Sunday. The off chance happened this past Sunday.


I got up Sunday morning and head to church _____. First, let me tell you that this church obviously has someone who knows what they are doing in their PR department, because the website is fantastic. There are pictures of a beautiful building, kids running around playing in a lush green field, young people hanging out...basically it looks like just the kinda church I want to visit on my Sunday off.

False, FALSE, FALSE!

That's what I have to say about that. I pull up on Sunday morning and it was so sketch. First of all it was in the middle of nowhere. Secondly, there was this little tiny building and at 9:20 (church starts at 9:30) there were about 10 cars in the parking lot. I sat there for about 5 minutes, and EVERYONE was at least 70 years old who went in the building.


I felt deceived.


Plan 2: Head to Oxford and find a church that starts at 11.


Flaw in Plan 2: I have NO CLUE where any churches in Oxford are.


I'm driving down the interstate contemplating my dilemma when I see a sign that says "Birmingham 51 miles" BINGO! It's 9:50, and I'm off.


10:15-I realize I don't know where any churches in Birmingham are.

10:20-Start calling and texting friends who live in/are from Birmingham...nothing.


At some point I decided to get off the interstate and onto 280...Then I decided to get off of 280, so I turned on this random road.


Finally about 10 till 11:00, I passed a church that looked like people were going in for an 11:00 service. ALAS! a not-sketchy, non deceiving church.

Thank you Covenant Presbyterian for a great service. Seriously, one of the better services I've been to in a very long time. The sermon was great, the music was great, it was traditional enough without feeling old fashioned...there were lots of young people, but it was obviously a multi-generational church...I LOVED IT! All of you Birmingham people...if you don't have a church, seriously check out Covenant Pres, even if your not Presbyterian...I'm not.

I left feeling so refreshed and renewed. It was so refreshing to be in a church where they preach the word...I seriously don't think he told one story (other than referencing biblical stories) and he didn't tell any jokes. Not that there is anything wrong with those things, but I don't think I realized how unnecessary they were until Sunday. It was good.


After church I headed over to Oak Mountain State Park to spend the afternoon.

The weather was perfect. It was 65, maybe 70 degrees and sunny. I found a trail and hiked about 8 miles. It was up and down the whole time, so even though it wasn't that long it was still challenging. I accidentally left my ipod at home, so it was just me, Jesus and my thoughts...SO GOOD.


I finished the day off with a little trip to Books-A-Million, and dinner with Katie at Aladdin's Grill (no Katie wasn't in Birmingham, she was on the phone with me while I ate).


I was exhausted when I got back to Lineville, but it was such a good tired. In the words of a dear friend..."My body was tired, but my soul was rested."


Sweet.

My Life

My humble abode the day it snowed. Actually Marie, Jarred and I live here. It's a duplex, so Jarred lives in the top part (it's his door you see) that is a one bedroom, and Marie and I live downstairs in the way less nice part of the house that is two bedrooms (the sidewalk goes to our door). It's not much...but it's beautiful in the snow. :)





















This is the beautiful field right outside the office. What you can't see is that the moon is full and rising over the field...the cows are quietly grazing, and their is a dove cooing overhead. Have I mentioned I love my life?























Meet the big fat cow that lives in the field above. Actually there are lots of cows, but I think this guy is the biggest. They like to get out of the fence...so lately when I drive by the fence and they are out in the road we have a staring contest...They look at my car intently (I'm always terrified they are going to ram me) and I stand my ground. Eventually I win and they run back in the fence. There are baby calfs on the way!




























We usually hike the groups the long way to the village...It's 2ish miles, and it really helps reinforce the idea that you are getting away. We cross the creek...and while it isn't that long...the rocks are slippery and it requires decent balance. The other day this girl shows up with a ROLLING SUITCASE big enough to live out of for 3 weeks...she was only here one night. It was quite the sight to see that girl cross the creek with that big suitcase!























This is me prodding the fire with some of the kids from one of our groups...
Objective: Make dinner
Materials Given: 1 coffee can, 1 bag uncooked rice, 2 raw chicken breasts, 1 bag of red beans




























Finished Product: A delicious meal of rice and beans with a little chicken mixed in. Congratulations 8th graders on your culinary skills...(really congratulations to the boy scout in the group who told the rest of the kids what to do).

And finally I'll leave you with....



My feet after a muddy night in the slums...So I where chaco's with my socks. Back off.

For the Roomies...

Today I was leading a group through the challenge course and on this one particular module, everyone was just acting ridiculous. Finally this one kid said..."We could finish if everyone would stop acting IGNANT."

It's been such a physically and emotionally draining week...the thought of Lauri saying ignant just made me want to cry...a good cry.

A better post to come soon.

I have a stalker...

Okay..So I have a stalker. Don't worry...he's well into his 80's, so I could take him down if I needed to. I've known "dirty old men" before....but this guy has the others beat. He's a strange bird.

So it starts out by his just being overly friendly to me. Stopping me when he sees me and giving me long hugs (which I HATE). I used to give j. a hard time about not hugging just anyone...but I get it now. It's my new rule. Thanks to stalker.

It progressed to him stopping by my house to talk. We (no HE) would talk about astronomy, the nervous system etc. He used to be a professor in Puerto Rico and is very well read.

It turned into his kissing my cheek.

Then he wanted me to kiss him (I don't...don't worry...I told him I don't believe in kissing)

Then he started grabbing my face and looking into my eyes.

One day he caressed my arm as he told me how beautiful my hands are.

I've been given gifts of bananas (about 10 of them), fried potatos (a.k.a. potato chips), and a card with a poem.

The poem is titled "To a Wonderful Girl." It is an acrostic with my name. Enjoy

O dic is for lyric poetry;
L ike a poem, sweet is our life;
I n this world too full of contrasts,
V anishing thinking could be; for
I nnocent we're born and die...
A ll our knowledge could wreck!

S incerity always
I s much better than
N othing or emptiness...
G reat is only our
L ord, the Creator of life,
E arnestness brings us the success@
T o be saved and free...
O veranxious maybe our dreams...
N ever be confused, It's true!

You're welcome.

OMG...This just in. I had to stop between the G and the L because he came in. This is not good, he probably thinks I am just studying the card because I love him so much.

He came bearing a gift of little dinner peppermints. The wrapper says things like "I love you" and "You hold my heart" and "Love of my life."

And did I mention he grabbed my face and started trying to pop the zit on my forehead WITHOUT ASKING! Gross!

I have told N. and he is going to address the problem this afternoon. We've tried to do other things...and be nice about it...but it's getting ridiculous. So this may be the only stalker post...but I'll definitely keep you all updated.

Ask me to tell you the story in person...it's way better and there are more details.

Off to work.

Quote of the day

Is He a tame lion?
No. But He is good.

-The Chronicles of Narnia

What did you say??

Meet Josephine. This is the goat I hung out with in the cold and rain on Saturday morning. We had a C.A.R.E.S. (Creative Academic Resources for Educational Success) event for about 75 people. Basically it is a day long field trip where the kids come around and go to different modules in the global village and learn about the different countries. I presented Uganda (don't I look African) and apparently Ugandans have goats...so I got to hang out with Josephine.

After that wrapped up we had a retreat group come in....Let me tell you about this group.

They are a really cool group of kids. We get down to the slums and everything is going well. I played the part of the beggar (by far my favorite role) and I decided to tie one of my legs up so it looked like I only had one. Every character had a "need" and mine was to get a wheel chair.

So...imagine...I have one leg...and I am sitting in the middle of a VERY muddy slum...in the middle of the "street." I was expecting it to take a long time for the kids to find the wheelchair and figure out a way to buy it....The kids were unbelievable...their objective was to find food, water and shelter. They decided their new objective was to find the crippled lady a wheelchair.

They did...in about 15 minutes.

Then things got funny.

Because I was a beggar, the shop owner would pay people to get me away from their shop and to keep me away...so kids were constantly moving me away from the shop and to the other side of the slum....where the lady who gave out jobs lived, she would pay them to move me away...

I could sorta wheel myself...but not very well, and lots of times the kids would have to pick me and my wheelchair up and carry me over the really muddy parts...

All night long I kept thinking "What did you say?" Here are some of my favorites:

1.) "Are you a paraplegic?"
2.) "If you believe in Jesus then your leg will automatically grow back?" (Who taught these kids that?
3.) One kid, pushing me, chased the police officer through the slum to demand that he give me the bread that he had been teasing me with. The kid went to jail. I got pushed in the mud.
4.) Actually I got pushed in the mud twice. The second time a fell over backwards in the wheelchair. My WHOLE BODY was covered in mud. My face was muddy, and my hair was muddy. This kid bends down to help me and accidentally puts his hand in the mud. His response: "MAN...I got mud on my hand....THIS SUCKS!" Really...because I'm pretty sure I have mud in my ears. Shut up and stop whining. His youth director said (in the most country fried accent you can imagine) "Dude, what you think this is? New York City."

Unbelievable.

Expert Decision Maker...

This time last week my prayer was "Lord, I don't want to have to make a decision. Just open the door you want me to walk through and shut the rest." The Lord has been really good at closing doors in my life lately...Closing them, slamming them, dead bolting them when I continually try to open them...Basically He's been protecting me from myself. I wanted this to happen again.

I realized on Tuesday that maybe the prayer I was praying was faulty. Maybe there are lessons to be learned in decision making. Maybe I've learned (at least for now) how to accept NO as an answer...and now I need to learn to be a big girl and make decisions.

SO....in less than 24 hours I was offered 2 incredible jobs. One is safe, the other is adventurous...One is fun, the other has the potential to be boring after a while...One is my heart, the other is a job.

In the end I chose my heart...I'm still battling with the decision (even though it's made and I'm committed)...but I feel peace.

DRUM ROLL PLEASE........

I'll be teaching with TEACH FOR AMERICA in Nashville, TN beginning in August!

My initial offer was high school biology...today I found out that I can choose to do math instead, due to the increasing need for math teachers in Nashville.

Another decision. :( But I'm learning.

So....I don't know when I'll leave SIFAT...probably in May sometime. I have to report to Nashville on June 1st. Then I will spend 5 weeks training in Atlanta.

Pray that I will continue to feel good about my decision, that I pass all necessary tests for certification, that my transitional funding will go through (because I am going to have to stop eating if it doesn't) :), and that I don't miss the time I have left at SIFAT because I'm looking forward to the future!

Cucumbers, Kale and Potatoes

How did you all spend your day? Because I spent mine outside in the GORGEOUS weather building tresses for cucumbers to grow on, picking Kale and planting potatoes!

I got to the office a little frustrated because n. wasn't here on time and I didn't have anything to do...but again in my life...if I'll just be patient things usually turn out better than I could have planned.

I headed out to the garden to help j. (the gardener) and had a FANTASTIC time. I learned so much. I can build you things to grow your cucumbers on (out of wire and twine), I can pick your Kale AND cook it (too bad I don't have the stuff for the soup) and I can now plant potatoes.

We planted potatoes behind the Bolivia house (because potatoes are a staple food in the high Andes)...and it was my favorite part of the day. If I ever have a yard I'm going to plant a potato garden...It's so easy...and they are a pretty low maintenance plant.

The garden will be my baby for as long as I stay at SIFAT....Stay tuned over the next few days to see how long that will be.... :)

Kale Soup...

It is safe to say that I am going to gain 5,000 lbs while I live at SIFAT.  I thought I'd lose weight (the whole no money thing) but turns out, I'm going to be fat.  When groups are here we eat ALL the time...and it is good food!  Most of the time it is normal cafeteria food...chicken, spaghetti, biscuits etc.  However, there are some times when the food is exceptional.  

With one of the retreats, they were living outside in the third world village and had to cook their own dinner.  Since they were 6th graders, that translates into Laura and I cooked their dinner.  

We had Kale Soup cooked over an open fire (everything tastes better cooked over fire)....

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 pound smoked sausage, cut into 1/2-inch thick slices

1 large yellow onion, chopped

salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

6 to 8 cloves garlic, to your taste, minced

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves

1/4 pound dried navy white beans, rinsed, sorted over, soaked overnight in water to cover and drained

1/4 pound dried red beans, rinsed, sorted over, soaked overnight in water to cover and drained.

4 quarts chicken stock or canned chicken broth

2 bay leaves

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper

2 large Idaho potatoes, peeled and diced

1 bunch kale, well washed, stemmed, and torn into bite-size pieces

1/2 cup chopped fresh mint leaves

1 loaf crusty Portuguese bread

Directions

1. Heat the olive oil in a heavy 8-quart stockpot over high heat. Add the sausage and onion, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add the garlic, parsley, and beans and cook, stirring for 2 minutes. Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil.

2. Add the bay leaves, thyme and the crushed red pepper. Season again with salt and black pepper. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer, uncovered, until the beans are tender, about 1 1/2 hours.

3. Add the potatoes and kale, season with salt and pepper, and continue to simmer until the potatoes are tender, about another 30 minutes. Skim off any fat that rises to the surface. Remove the bay leaves.

4. To serve, pour the soup into individual soup bowls and garnish each with a tablespoon of the mint. Allow the mint to steep for about 1 minute before serving with the bread.

Yield: 8 servings.

There's no need to cook it for an hour and a half "until the beans are tender"....just let it simmer for about 15 minutes then add the Kale and potatoes.  When the potatoes are soft, the soup is done.  It's delicious.

So everyone go build a wood burning stove and get cooking! :)

Running...

I'm in terrible shape. This has been so apparent to me since I got back from Bolivia. I ran a half marathon in April (so almost a year ago)...I didn't run fast...but I ran the whole time...I finished.

It is important to know that the reason I decided to run it is because one of my roommates said "there's no way Olivia would run a 1/2 marathon"...well no, not until you said that.

I hated it to start with. I was motivated only by the voice in my head that said 'prove them wrong.' Before I knew what happened to me I loved my 6 mile runs. I never did learn to love anything further than 6 miles...but I loved 6 miles.

I ran the 1/2 and was pleased with my accomplishment (I almost cried when I finished) :)

After that I graduated, took an end of college road trip and boarded a plane for Bolivia...I never did start running again.

There were times when I tried (like in Bolivia)...I just couldn't get motivated.
So...fast forward to today @ 3:00.

I needed to run.

I have discovered that my desire to run is directly proportional to how much of my day is structured.

When I was training for the half marathon, I was in the middle of my internship, and from 8-5 (sometimes later) I was expected to be at work. After the marathon my life went crazy. I graduated from Auburn...drove to Arizona and back (w/ plenty of stops on the way) and boarded a plane for Ixiamas, Bolivia. In Bolivia, I had responsibilities, but not much structure. I pretty much did what I wanted when I wanted...what little structure I had was so sporadic. Then I moved to Dothan...I was subbing, so I was working, but I never knew when, or what I would be doing...again, not much structure.

No structure = No running

Now I am leading youth retreats, and when we have groups in EVERY SECOND of my day is structured. This afternoon we came off of 5 days of retreats....working 12 to 14 hour days (that were completely structured) and I needed a run.

It was a hard run b/c I'm not used to running on the road, and the landscape is SO HILLY...I fill like I'm climbing mountains when I run....but it was so freeing.

I think the new structure is going to lend itself to my being in better shape.

*New goal? I'm considering a marathon...but let me get into the groove of this first.

Slums

On the way to work every morning, I ride my bike over the wooden bridge that crosses this river. BEAUTIFUL!

This weekend we had a group of 5th and 6th graders on campus for a retreat that will finish up their confirmation process. because it rained all night Friday and most of the morning Saturday, the campus was full of mud. All of our scheduled activities Saturday were outside. I could write all day about the ropes course, and other things we did with the kids, but i want to tell you all about the slums.
SIFAT has an area of campus that is built like urban slums. Saturday night we did the "slum experience" with the kids. Basically, this consists of all the staffers hanging out in the slums....there is a slum owner, who takes up rent money from the kids, a man who gives out 'jobs' so that the kids can earn money, a store owner who sells food and other things...she will also buy things off of the kids as another way for them to earn money, there is a police officer who throws kids in jail (often for unreasonable offenses) and several beggars...depending on the size of the group and the amount of staff available this can also expand to include military police, drunks, etc. The object is that the kids find food, water and shelter while they live in these slums, and hopefully along the way realizing that this is life for 924 million people in the world.
Since I am new and not familiar with the process I got the job of the beggar last night. So, after dressing in the trashiest clothes i could find, and spreading mud on my face, I took to the streets (i regret i don't have a pic of this for all of you who care :)...). I decided to only speak in Spanish to the kids...I cried and pleaded for money to buy food for my kids...i told them that my husband left me and I had no way to provide for my children.

I begged.

I cried.

It was hard.

At the end of the night (even though I'd made 500 bolivianos, been given a house, water and 2 bowls of soup....what can I say, I'm a good beggar)...I felt drained. I was constantly having to beg people for help, constantly asking the same people. At times, it just felt like I was a burden to all of the kids around me. I was getting on their nerves, but I had to keep asking.

As I was getting ready for bed, it became real to me that the type of exhaustion I felt (times a million) is the same thing that beggars, or even just people who need help in life, must feel over and over again. For me it was a game. For others it is a way of life that is accompanied by feelings of helplessness that they are not able to provide for themselves or their families.

It was an eye opener.

I often feel like I have a good grasp on the desperate situations in the world, and maybe I do compared to many, but I still have much to learn.

*On a funny note, the middle schoolers got bored after about an hour in the slums. At one point I walked up to a family to beg, and found them all dealing drugs. They made "drugs" out of the leaves, and the slum owner (a missionary from Uganda) was buying it from them. I had to walk away...these little white, church going 6th graders dealing drugs with an African man was too much for me to handle. :)

Snow Day!

Apparently you don't get snow days in the "real" world. (I guess technically...SIFAT isn't considered the real world, but you know what I mean).

Yesterday it was 70 degrees and sunny out, so when we got the weather forcast for snow today, I absolutely did not believe it. Sure enough, I woke up to no snow.

After devo and breakfast with the kids, we all walked out, and this was the view waiting for me at home! :) Now if only I had someone to play in the snow with....