So just one note, a long weekend away from home without your computer isn't the best way to start off NaNoWriMo. So... yeah. I've got 1400ish words plus a paragraph or so that I scrawled in the car. That said, this weekend was entirely worth it.
My mom and dad and I left on Friday morning. Upon arrival in Portland, we spent an hour or so at the fabulous Powell's City of Books. This was only the second time I've gotten to go to Powell's and the first time I had a high temperature, and don't recall enjoying myself much. This time, we didn't really have a lot of time to wander around, but I found a wonderful memoir about North Korea which I have been eyeing on Amazon for quite some time. It's called "The Eyes of the Tailless Animals" and I highly recommend it, I finished it on the car ride (when I probably should have been writing.)
On Saturday, we did a little sight-seeing and then headed North to Hayden Island where the Forward Edge Banquet was being held. Forward Edge International is the organization that I went to Oaxaca Mexico with, and I was delighted when I heard a couple of months ago that Tom and Wendy, my host family from Mexico, and Victor and Lety, who run the a family center called Trigo y Miel in Oaxaca, would all be speaking at the banquet. I lived with Tom and Wendy and helped out at Victor and Lety's center almost every day for the nine weeks I spent in Oaxaca.
When we arrived at the hotel where the banquet was being held we met up with Bill and Anita and some other friends who were had gone with us on our first, week-long trip to Oaxaca.
That evening when went to the banquet. I had a somewhat tearful reunion with Tom and Wendy and Victor and Lety, and then had a few stressful moments of getting back into the swing of speaking Spanish as Victor expected me to translate for him and Lety to the rest of our group when Tom and Wendy weren't around. Happily, I did OK with the Spanish though, as Victor is pretty careful to speak slowly for me. We were able to taste some of the Mexican sweet bread they brought to show off their successful new project- a bakery which brings food and employment to the families in a neighborhood where many of the people, and especially the women, don't believe they have the talents and abilities necessary to have a good job.
After some time to chat and a silent auction, we headed into the banquet hall and enjoyed a tasty dinner and then listened to the special speakers for the evening. In addition to Tom and Victor and Lety, we also heard from Forward Edge facilitators and local missionaries from Nicaragua and New Orleans.
After the speakers, we hung around and chatted with Tom and Wendy and Victor and Lety a little more, as well as others who came on short term mission trips to Oaxaca while I was there.
Victor and Lety kept asking us, "When are you coming back?"
My mom said, "Now that the bakery is finished, what work do you have for us there?" and Victor and Lety both responded, "Oh, so much! We have so many plans!"
My plan right now may be to live and work in South Korea, but at the same time, I hope God brings me back to Oaxaca and the wonderful work he is doing there through Victor and Lety. Their faith and constant encouragement has been so influential in my life. There is nothing like seeing people full of love and compassion for people who have, all their lives, felt inferior, abandoned, and rejected. These children and families are just longing to feel the love and acceptance that they can only find though Christ's love- a love which Victor and Lety strive to show them every day of their lives.
Here are some of my pictures from my time volunteering in Oaxaca at the family center Trigo y Miel.
Brother and sister Yoselin and Leonel wait in line to wash their hands before eating their Saturday breakfast at Trigo y Miel.
My sponsor child, Clara, waits for the activities to begin after finishing her meal.
Lalo and his sister Melina pose for a picture. I was trying to keep them entertained while their mom and Lety helped their older sister write a letter to her sponsor.
