recent happenings and some thoughts about them

so im going to try to be more consistent in updating the blog. i honestly dont know why i dont do it more often....

the past few weeks have been fun and full. we have had a lot of time with the students which has been great. parties, bible studies, english club and such.

we welcomed a new teammate on wednesday. his name is luke and he's a fun guy. he's gunna be checkin out Valencia for the next 2 months or so, we are looking forward to having him here. the night he got in(around 1130 Wednesday night) david and i went to pick him up in Caracas(about 2-2.5 hours away depending on how you drive). all went well. on the way back at about 330 in the morning and 15 minutes form our apartment our taxi broke down. T.I.V....
haha we called christian at about 430 and he thankfully answered his phone and came to pick us up.
it was one of the more interesting car rides ive had in a long time, not quite the way we were hoping to welcome luke either, but its all good. he didnt seem to mind too much. it's jsut one of those things that we will remember for a long time to come....
**on a side note about 3 minutes into the taxi ride to go pick up luke form the airport, i texted david who was sitting in the front seat something to the effect of "this car is going to blow up". if you know me, you know i know diddly squat about cars. so if i could tell that this car was in trouble, you know it was bad...just sayin**

this past weekend we went and played soccer with one of the students in a neighboring town. the field was dirt, rocks and glass. the goals were lean-to pipes. so it was quite different form the turfgrass/rubber field at ohio state, but it was awesome. i got to see some pot-bellied venezuelan men and came about 3 inches from netting my first goal in venezuela(it was a header that missed high, so disappointing) and i came away with a pretty rad scrape on my knee/leg(which i m kinda hoping turns into a rad scar). for the next 2.5 hours we played i tried to pick off the numerous pieces of glass/large rocks to make sure that the didnt become lodged in me somehwere....

it's been a blast, but tiring at the same time. it's been a struggle sleeping well the past few weeks for whatever reason. i dont really know why(jsut kidding, i think i knwo some of the reasons), this seems to happen once in awhile to me. i feel as though i need alot more sleep here than i do back in the states. it might be tha ti just wake up 2 hours earlier than i used to as well because of the sun.

the country has also undergone some interesting times in the past few weeks.
our electricity and water is begin rationed here. this means that about 2 or 3 times a week for afew hours we may not have one or the other. it honestly isnt that big of a deal. it's something i feel like we have adjusted too pretty quickly. i had a close call with beign stuck in the elevator(not a fun thought). i happened to avoid it by about a minute(i was on the way to the bathroom too. lucky me) i suppose if this was my home country it might be more frustrating.
recently the national exchange rate for the US dollar also went up which seemed like it was going to cause a ruckus, but has not really effected thing tooooo much, less than i originally thought so far.

it's interesting talking to people(mostly students) about the state of their country. there are so many different ways it effects them.
it effects their schooling and when the students try to do something about it and make a difference there are often strikes and protests which either cancel classes or postpone them.
in afew other cities students have even died as a result of some of these demonstrations which is ridiculous. as one student described it "it's a cycle that sucks". the students try to exercise their rights and one of them ends up getting hurt or worse. as a a student im sure its not a fun thought to have to worry about your safety when you head to class every day.
many of them do not trust the future to hold much promise either. they talk about their concerns working and raising families in a country where these things happen and how it' so easy to lose hope.
so i take their situation here and compare it to mine while i am here. as an outsider, as a temporary resident here. yes i see and feel the effects of so may of the same things as they do. my apartment sometimes doesnt have water or electricity, my day gets rearranged when there are not classes. but for me it is so easy to think about how temporary this situation is for me. i have a different home to look forward to where these kinds of things dont really happen. i have more "security" waiting for me back in the u.s., but when i honestly think about it, do i? are these kinds of things worthy of my hope? for some people, it may be all they have to hope in.
but even in so many of the Venezuelan people i know here, while they are concerned for the state of their home country, and for their family and fellow class mates across the country, they also take comfort in the knowledge that these things are not what give them hope. not all of them, but many of the students in know.
and in much the same way, as i have a knowledge of a home that has so much more to offer me, there is a Home that has infinitely more to offer. and it's there where their and my Hope really reside.
it's been an interesting series of events to see unfold and witness how different people have handled it. to think about where my hope comes from and what it is in.
just one of many many things ive been learning and growing in this year and im sure this reality will continue to change me as the year goes on. and im looking forward to see how Hope will continue to change the students of UC and how they, as the future of the country, will bring that same Hope wherever they go.

really? it's january? (part 2 of 2)

so as i was saying...

we only had about a week on campus during December between our visa renewal and the university holiday.
not too much to really speak of during that week, things went as normal from what i could remember.

part way through that week david left to head back to the States for medical school interviews. this 2 week stretch was the long period of time i think i have ever lived on my own before. really though. i dont think i've ever lived in a house/apartment alone for 2 solid weeks. fortunately everything turned out just fine. the girls here invited me over quite a bit and i had some students hang out here afew nights and i managed not to burn down our concrete apartment building.

the first Sunday of the break we had a Christmas party with the students which was a blast. we played "pin the nose on rudolph" and the girls baked some amazing christmas cookies. good times were had by all.

and for the next 3 weeks leading up to christmas we watched alot of our favorite christmas cookies and decorated the apartments which was also alot of fun and provided some good bonding time for the 5 of us(at least during the times when we were all together).

the week of christmas 2 of our teammates returned from the US and the christmas festivities continued.

on christmas eve we hung out and watched christmas episodes of the Office and ate christmas cookies. and on christmas day we celebrated together with huge breakfast and opened presents together.

afew interesting notes abotu Venezuelan Christmases--
-Venezuelan boys and girls receive presents from santa AND baby jesus(he puts them under the nativity).
-they decorate with alot of the same decorations as we do in the US. i.e. snowmen, snowflakes, ice sickle lights, yet it does not snow here.
-christmas eve is the bigger day then christmas as far as family gatherings and such are concerned.
-everything shuts down for atleast the week until after new years(which is also a huge day/night here in VZ)
- it was 95 degrees F here on christmas day if i have not already mentioned that.

for christmas david and i finally got a couch for our apartment which rocks! its no longer just a dull, empty space. i also started myself an itunes account which may be the end of me...

all in all it was a fun christmas and one that i will never forget, but very different.


after christmas activities died, venezuelas attention is focused towards new years eve.
there are fireworks ever night going off throughout the city(mostly the loud, annoying kind which in turn set off carm alarms which aare also loud and annoying). our new years eve here was particularly special because we were invited to spend it with a student and her family.

the family was so kind and welcoming to us. they fed us traditional venezuelan new years foods like hallacas, pan de jamon, and chicken salad( i cant remember what they call it) and we got to partake in some fun venezuelan traditions(eating 12 grapes at the stokes of the clock on midnight, more fireworks, seeing people run around with thier suitcases.)


all in all it was one of the most memorable holiday seasons that i have had thus far in my 23 years of life. though it was difficult to be away from family and friends who i am so used to seeing around this time, it was a great experience to see and learn how other people celebrate these same days in the world. new years was especially cool, being invited into a home and welcomed to celebrate with a family was a great pleasure and so much fun, and the food was really good too.

with that said i should be going. im exhausted form just having returned from a leaders retreat in the city of Merida(which i will write about soon). Those 12 hour bus rides through the night leave much to be desired...


matt

really? it's january? (part 1 of 2)

it really has been awhile. more than 2 months in fact, and they have been a packed 2 months.

where to begin...

well in November(if my old man memory doesn't let me down) we get to go to Maracaibo, which may be the hottest city in the entire world, seriously. it felt like 105 on thanksgiving day there, we had a staff conference where we got to connect with all of the Vida staff in Venezuela, it was incredible.

we got to hear some great talks and learn alot of great things. but even cooler than all of the stuff that i got to learn were the people that i got to meet and spend time with. the staff here in Venezuela are incredible and a testament to the AMAZING work God has been doing in the past few years here.
in one of our meetings we lined up by the length of time we have been involved in Vida Estudiantil here in VZ. it was so cool to see the living time line laid out before my eyes... not to mention i was the last one in the line. so to think of all that God has done before i arrived here and all that he would continue to do looong after i am gone and forgotten in this place. and the impact that it will have on this country and on so many other places in the world....
i also got to spend alot of great, intentional time with some of the guys that are on staff here, many of these conversations coming over the local fair of Venezuela(arepas and the Maracuchan special, patacones[spelling?] which is kind of a sandwich made with two fried plantains{green and savory or yellow and sweet} that are smashed into "buns" and then there is some kind of meat, tomato, onion, lettuce, and sauce between them. they are some of my favorite eats in the world now. but you have to get the ones on the street, in my opinion those were the best ones we had)
it was so cool to talk to these young men and their passion to see their country and their desire to see it changed from the inside out by the Gospel and how this could be such an important country when it comes to seeing the Gospel go to places like the middle east or other countries where Americans can not go easily. it was a great reminder encouragement and reminder of why i am here. so cool.

As i mentioned briefly before we were also there for Thanksgiving and got to celebrate as a Vida Estudiantil family. it was great, there was alot of traditional and tasty Thanksgiving food prepared by by extraordinarily gifted hands.
There were quite a few Americans there between my team, the Maracaibo STINT team and a national staff family, but it was also many of the Venezuelans first time celebrating Thanksgivng(for obvious reasons). so it was special in many ways. and also hot. like 95 degrees feels like 105 degrees hot. very different than Ohio.

after this we got to relax on our first visa renewal trip in Aruba. i dont have much to say other than it was absolutely beautiful. the water was so blue and so clear. it was a great chance to chill and have fun with the team and some of the other stinters from Venezuela. we also got to enjoy some of our missed American comforts (peanut butter and real milk, as well as some other things)which was fun.

Venezuelan airports are alot of fun as well. on the way to Aruba we got to spend 7 hours in the Maracaibo airport waiting for a 25 minute flight. there was alot of finger wagging and shouting by the other Venezuelans waiting for the same flight...things just work very differently here...

after returning from Aruba we only had one week on campus before they went on their holiday break....
and ill leave you on a bit of a cliff hanger here. i just gave you November in a nutshell and i still have the rest of the month of December and i want to try to sleep since it's 12:45 in the morning here in Venezuela.( i haven't been sleeping well lately, i dont know why)

part two coming soon...