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MerrySigner
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Name: Mary
Birthday: 12/21/1985
Gender: Female
Interests: I love sign language, reading, writing, most sports and anything that has to do with people. I love my family, my friends and the Lord God Almighty who has for now blessed me with these.
Expertise: No claims here, but Heaven knows I'm working on it. :)
Occupation: Student
Message: message me
Website: visit my website
AIM:  Maui 931 85
Yahoo:  BerryBear04
Member Since:
7/27/2004
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| We're Engaged!
Yes, it's true. Two days after
returning from Jamaica, Phil and I went with his family to their cabin
in Colorado. While we were there, Phil took me out on a picnic and
proposed!  I said yes.
 We plan to be married next summer.
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| Three weeks left The study phase of SST is in full swing. The whole group has gathered in Mandeville now and we're all staying with new host families and meeting at the Jamaica Bible College daily for culture and language classes. Sam and I are both with the same host family of a mom and a 10-year-old brother who loves to drive us crazy . Classes are going well. We're learning more and more about Jamaican Sign Language. (I'm really enjoying studying different signed languages. I've also had some exposure to British Sign Language and Kenyan Sign Language while I've been down here... I could easily get hooked on this!  )
This past weekend we all traveled to Kingston to visit the Jamaican Association for the Deaf (I got to see my JAD friends from service again), Devon House, the Institute of Jamaica, the National Art Gallery, a Blue Mountain Coffee Plantation and a Rastafarian gathering. It was a lot to do, but we all really enjoyed spending time together as a group, swimming every night in a pool where we stayed and just relaxing a bit away from the school-zone.
Next weekend most of the group is heading to Kingston yet again with plans to climb Blue Mountain Peak, the highest peak in Jamaica. We're starting from half-way up, but it could still be a 7 or 8 hour trek. We're hoping for a clear morning.
Three more weeks until we head home, and although I am really enjoying myself I'm looking forward to be in a familiar place again. Sam and I were just saying today how much we'll appreciate deciding we want to go to the grocery, walking out to the garage, getting in our own cars, driving ourselves, buying what we want, coming HOME, cooking it ourselves... *sigh* luxuries I hope I will not soon take for granted when I return to the States.
Your prayers and emails are continually appreciated. I don't have reliable internet access right now, but I will reply eventually :). Love to all, Mary
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| Hello from Jamaica! Well, I've been in Jamaica for almost three weeks! Where has the time gone? I'm based in Kingston and have enjoyed my work with the Deaf agency down here. Work mostly consists of improving the interpreter situation in Jamaica. Interpreting isn't considered a profession here at this point, but they're working on raising the bar for interpreters and for Jamaica's many Deaf schools. I have had opportunity to visit both a highschool and a preschool here in Kingston. Phil is working at the highschool near one of my offices. We get to see each other in the mornings when we're both there at the right time.
Last week I was interpreting quite a lot for an American visitor, but for the remainder of the time, interpreting jobs will be few. I've been learning LOTS of new signs (from Jamaican Sign Language) and have been picking up some Patois as well. There are four weeks left in Kingston and I plan to make the most of them!
My host family is amazing! It has been nice to go to church with them
and see what a Jamaican family is like. I have a host-sister who is
actually in the middle of her post-highschool exams, but she makes sure
she takes time to show me the highlights of the city.
Your prayers are felt and appreciated! Please continue to pray for:
- safety for all of our group members spread across Jamaica
- cultural sensitivity as the initial "honeymoon phase" with Jamaica fades
- continued motivation to serve and to learn as much as possible
- to trust God in all things
Thank you!
Love to all,
~Mary~ | | |
| I'm off again :-)I graduated! Commencement was this past weekend. Thank you to my family for attending and supporting me these past three years getting through college!! I love you! I leave for Jamaica in 4.5 hours. I'll be back July 31st. I will be checking both my Gmail and Goshen email accounts every once in awhile. Please do e-mail me! I'd love to hear from you and I promise you'll get something back. Love,
~Mary~
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| The homestretch...Well, I only work for two more days and then Friday morning I head to
the airport for a day of traveling. Two planes and a layover later,
I'll be back to Dayton. Thankfully my layover is in Milwaukee, so I'll
be catching a coffee break with Katie . I usually look forward to
Easter, but it's really special this year.
I'll be spending Easter with my parents my precious grandma. Phil
will come later in the afternoon and we'll head back to Goshen that
evening. I long for the hugs I've missed out on these past three
months...
This internship has been an amazing experience; the work experience was
priceless. But there was so much more to this internship than work. You
learn a lot about who you are and who you want to be when you find
yourself in a different place with different people. By the second week
I just wanted to see someone or something
familliar. A Steak'n'Shake would have been amazing in those times.
(Jack In The Box and In'N'Out Burger just don't hack it for me.) By now
those things have become famailliar. Cactus, mountains and 90 degree
weather have become the norm. It's gonna be weird to see so much grass
again. The Ohio forecast has dared mention the four-letter "s" word (snow) for Easter... hahah... 
A week ago I would have told you I was ready to leave Phoenix; at any
moment I would have just gotten on the plane and not looked back. This
past week, however, it's been different. I'm leaving on Friday and,
although I'm glad I won't be here any longer missing family and
friends, I might glance backwards or fight a tear as I walk past
airport security. My housing situation has just been amazing this past
week... I moved in with three girls I met at my mid-week Bible study
and they've been amazing! We've gone to the mall, the pool, the book
store, etc. Ahhh... this is more like it. THIS is the Phoenix I want to
remember. Nighttime movies, good Christian girl chats and laying out in
the sun after work. Thank you Jess, Becca and Christi. You made my
last ten days in Phoenix SOOO much easier, when I would have been
counting down the hours and wishing the time away. You made it fly, just
by being there, caring and being yourselves!! Man... I'll miss you guys. 
I had a day of realizations yesterday... lol, I wanted to share:
- I've been dating Phil for fourteen months And I'm SOO glad to see him in five days! 
- One month from yesterday I leave for Jamaica... I want to enjoy every moment of April and this time at home and at Goshen. 
- I graduate from college THIS month!! Wow... that's weird. Wasn't high school graduation yesterday? 
- My sister and I will have different last names come August... weird.
I guess those are all no-brainers, but... wow. 
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