Que paso x!

Its definitely been a while since i’ve updated so im hoping i can make up for it all with one big entry. Hehehhe.

Lemme just do a quick runthrough of what I did since the last time we spoke:

1. in november went to ecuador to help with various things that they had.  Helped serve in an sfc clp, did some youth camp trainings and helped them prepare for their first ecuadorian jpc conference.  We werent able to stay for it, but I heard it was awesome.  (They had 150 youth all dressed in white for the 100% pure launch etc.)
2. early december went to houston for a jpc visit.  It was awesome meeting the group that they have.  The jpc brothers are all funny and the sisters are so committed to jpc that they said they wanna bring their entire marching band to the next camp. Hehehhe.  They’re always crackin on their high schools though…its pretty weird….high school rivalries in texas are heartfelt.
3. mid december went to LA where we made some concrete moves for JPC.  I was only there for a week but it was dumb productive.  Not to mention I got treated out to a brasilian bbq.  Now DAS wassup.
4. spent a week at home for Christmas.  I dunno what it is….but I think im getting so used to my normally crazy travel schedule that im not even trippin anymore.  Sure I still love to sleep in my own bed and drive my car and eat at colonette, but for some reason im just chill about it all, since I know im gonna be leaving again soon.  Its weird.  I guess im being taught not to get too attached to things…since im not meant to stay in one place right now.
5. the day after Christmas my family and I flew to the philippines for what I thought was just gonna be a small 2 week vacation to spend time with family for new years.  Little did I know God had a plan much cooler then mine….

I realized in the philippines that my next mission trip to south america wasn’t until mid february….so I asked permission to stay so that I could train for SFC and KFC.  It was approved and boom.  I got to stay and learn…train…serve all over again.  It was awesome.  Im you sure you can get a feeling of how it all went through lenes and errka’s entries..but one thing I’ll always remember are the indians. Hehehhehe. 

For the first time in my life I was joking around with an indian accent IN FRONT OF and/or DIRECTED AT people from india and they were there and it was ok!!  It was the WEIRDEST feeling hahahha…there were 3 ftw’s from india that were there for training and they were soooo cool.  I freakin love those guys man.  In the states you NEVER use the indian accent in front of indians.  But in the philippines forget about it….it was allllll buttered gravy.......on my curry chicken. hahahahha.

Late february i found myself in caracas, venezuela and the first words that came to mind were HOLY CRAP. Why? 2 reasons.

[1] Holy crap = good:  its so beautiful there man.  Everywhere you go theres a view of these huge mountains.  Caracas is a city built on and around these gigantic mountains….so its crazy..everytime you look out the window its like MOUNTAIN!!!

All female humans are beautiful there.  If they’re my age they’re drop dead shocking mcgorgeous.  If they’re older you’re like wow….thats a really beautiful older woman.  If they’re really young you’re like….when she grows up she’s gonna be so pretty.  Its utterly ridiculous.  I went through 4 stages:

Stage 1 (week 1) :  SHOCK.  Simply. Couldn’t. believe. it.

Stage 2 (week 2) :  JOY.  I liked it.

Stage 3 (week 3) :  ANGER.  I was like what the heck man.  This isnt funny anymore.

Stage 4 (week 4) :  WHATEVER.  Got used to it. Didn’t care anymore.

Sounds crazy. But its true.  And that’s all im gonna say about that.

[2] Holy crap = bad: if you havent heard yet our theme for this year is from tobit 13:6 - Show His Power and Majesty to a Sinful Nation.  Venezuela is the sinful nation tobit was talking about.  I have never been so spiritually bothered by one place before in my life.  Venezuela should really secede from south america and join europe cuz that’s where it belongs.  The best way to deal with a problem is to at least centralize everything and deal with it within some definitive parameters.  So in order to evangelize venezuela we’ll have to literally cut it out…and tow it via tugboat to europe.

But after everything things still turned out awesome.  Because of a really awesome/supportive priest, we were able to have a youth camp and an sfc clp.  Plus, one of our sfc members from ecuador moved there so he’s kind of taking care of everything since he knows the ropes etc.

Venezuelans don’t talk to you by the way. They YELL at you.  Its so weird.  They’re constantly yelling and screaming and wailing their arms.  And their spanish definitely ranks #1 on the Hardest For Me To Understand list.

They also have tons of rats.  One night I couldn’t sleep cuz I could hear the freakin GK Build the rats were having in the kitchen.  I was like crap….dont tell me these jerks got a freakin bayanihan line going.  I didn’t get up to get a drink of water that night.

Oh yeah, if you’re looking for ways to save money on gas, buy a really big SUV.  Then when you’re done move to venezuela cuz gas is only 17 cents a gallon.  Not kidding.

From venezuela we separated like the Great Commission.  Alberto and Magdalena (cfc missionaries from ecuador) went back home from going to cuba and venezuela, Angel and Giana  (missionaries from ecuador and nicaragua) went to dominican republic and I went to panama to meet up with paul. (missionary from ecuador, son of alberto and magdalena)

Which brings us back to panama, of which we all know as the hood.  This is the spot.  It may look like panama city, but it has the soul of jersey city.  Allow me to randomly give examples as to why:

From top to bottom they look just like us.  The crisp fade with detailed shape up.  The quarter in the ear for the next 25cent purchase.  The gear is worn the same.  They’re even down with the various ways to tie shoelaces.  Our corner store juicy is usually CLINTON…theirs is ESTRELLA AZUL.  Icees? Yup. They got em.

Hip hop, rap, reggae.  All of it.  They’ve got all the dancehall….reggae gold classics.  Every basement party joint that made you do the butterfly….they got.  They even have new amazing reggae that we don’t have. 

Everytime I come here I see so much of us in them.  This is the closest I can get to being home.  Now just throw in a few thousand filipinos and a diner near my house…and we’d be straight.

Here in panama I experienced one of the most manliest things I’ve ever done on mission.  Second only to eating a guinea pig in peru, what I discovered as being dumb manly here in panama was showering outside.

I dunno.  It seems like nothing big but when I did it I was like holy crap this is so manly!!! Pitch black darkness outside…nothing but the bright moon/stars above you….and there you are….showering in the great outdoors accompanied by the sound of criquets and frogs singing together. A real life irish spring commercial.  You gotta try it.

I realized that much of what I do is comparable to a video game…like super mario bros or something.  Each level is a different place (in my case, country) and theres usually a goal...to reach the end…attain something or whatever.  (in my case, it’s a youth camp/clp/or trainings etc.)  all the while dodging bad guys in order to survive.  In the Venezuela level the bad guys were rats….i died in that level since I couldn’t kill them.  But I’m definintely mastering the panama level.

Over here its roaches.  They’re everywhere….all over your clothes/stuff….they crawl on you at night too.  One time I found a bunch of little ones all over my toothbrush.  When grace and I were here last time we tried to do battle with raid…spraying them or spraying the floor so that they’d somewhat be effected.  But it was far from being fully effective, and if you know me, you know I hate sprays….so the effort was futile.

This time I’m with paul from ecuador and we found another weapon thats utterly amazing.  Its called COCAINE.  Commonly called “crack,” you can buy a tiny bag of it at any pharmacy for 25cents…spread it around your room….and the roaches eat it and die cuz it burns holes through their HEART!!!  Heheheh….ok fine it really boric acid….but to me it looks like crack.

One thing I realzed from working with grace and now working with paul, is that they both have their personal ice-breaker tactics that they use with people hehehhehe.  When we’re with people we’re meeting for the first time and we’re hangin out at the house or stuck in traffic, and its really quiet we often try to break the silence so that we can also get to know them better.   

Grace always breaks the silence by turning to someone and saying, “Whats your favorite food?”  hehehehhe

And then Paul’s is “What kind of tree is that?” or “Do you guys have ( insert any fruit here ) heehehehehe

And then before you know it this huge conversation about favorite foods or trees/fruits starts up and im sitting there astonished like wow….it really freakin worked. 

Its funny cuz I can always see it coming.  Whenever its dead quiet sometimes I just wait for it. Heheheh..im like cmon grace….ask her what her favorite food is….do it…cmon do it…YES!!! Hahahha….or with paul im like….crap theres no trees around here….he cant.

Hehehe…just thought id share that.  I need a personal ice-breaker.  Suggestions welcome.

If you have a lot of stuff to think about, you should really buy a hammock.  Aside from napping, hammocks are so great for organizing your thoughts.  Id say try it but if you don’t have one you cant.  So if you want one lemme know. I’ll see what I can do.  You gotta gimme the money though.

One unsolved mystery I’ve come to notice is the whole Chinese corner-store empire here in Latin America.  I mean….who set it up.?  Who’s the guy that got the inside scoop….came here….scoped out the real estate…evaluated the needs of all these tiny communities…went back to china and said: “GUYS.  I GOT IT.  We’ll move to latin america and open up corner stores and/or laundromats.  TRUST ME.” 

Its just crazy.  They literally own every single corner store here.  The locals don’t even call it the store or bodega…they call it the chino.  meaning, the CHINESE.  Its just weird!  How did one ethnic group move to one country and build a huge business empire on CORNER STORES!?!  Who’s the chinese bill gates up in here.  I gotta know how he did it…and how he still hasn’t shown up on the cover of forbes is beyond me.

by the way...quick NW7 update:

1. jpc and solteros para cristo (spc) formed in caracas, venezuela!!

2. spc formed in panama city, panama!!

3. jpc formed in dominican republic!!

aaaand more to come soon...just in case anyone was wondering.

check the new spot for pics and vids here.  having a camera is GREAT.

Godbless!