Friday, June 16, 2006

Apologies

Sorry I haven't been updating much on my blogs. I'm not even going to write much now, which is why I stuck in the picture. It's from Panama, and one of my favorites.

I've been spending a lot of time focusing on my humanitarian work, my new job (teaching ESL), church responsibilities, and especially on Dan. It's all worth it:

I'm madly in love with Dan, and enjoying every moment we spend together (thinking and analyzing books and life and relationships and God, forgiving and being forgiven, learning about new things, appreciating music and nature, playing games and sports, etc.) I love how supportive he is, and diverse our relationship is, and how we can talk about everything. He's an incredible person, and I think it's amazing that it took me so long to recognize what was already in my heart and to follow it. I feel lucky that he was still around, though it took me so long. And I feel really lucky that he loves me despite my quirks and things.

In addition to that, I love teaching ESL. It's such an exciting environment to teach in, and I find myself really feeling inspired in adapting to the needs of the students. I love being fluid in my teaching, and finding ideas and breakthroughs come to me in the very moment that I need them (or the student's need them, I guess). Anyway, I've enjoyed seeing the light of understanding come into their eyes, and to help them in this montrously overwhelming task of learning a new language and adapting to a new culture. It's a big responsibility sometimes, because it has such a direct impact on their quality of life, social interactions, family interactions, and employment.

The humanitarian work is going well. I returned from Panama in relatively good health, and once again, felt enriched for being able to be a part of another culture for a short time. I loved seeing the beautiful (though difficult) island life on Nargana in the Kuna Yala islands of Panama. One of my favorite occurances was making friends with some of the hospital staff and the prison inmates who were helping on the project. Alfredo de Mayo was my favorite of the workers (besides Jiovanni - a church volunteer), when he started showing me all his tattoos, including one that had his mother's name, and another that was a skull with a snake crawling through it. He'd come to watch me paint and smile shyly and try to communicate (with my terrible Spanish). His friendly tenderness was endearing, after judging him by his tough looking exterior.

Being RS president is so out of my comfort zone, but the best part is getting to know everyone individually and feeling like I'm able to help them as I get into one-on-one conversations or as I see their faces respond to some testimony I'm sharing in class. The hardest part is always feeling like I'm not doing enough.

Anyway, I just wanted to apologize and say that I'll get better in the future, and I love keeping up on all your blogs, even if I haven't done much writing on my own.

13 Comments:

At 7:16 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yeah, damn-it, be more "regular." Woops, uh, did I cuss, uh, sorry...meant to. ;)

 
At 1:56 PM, Blogger shasta said...

i'm so happy you are in love. :)

 
At 3:44 AM, Blogger Jared said...

Did you ever notice that other cultures don't have as many creepy people as ours does? You don't have to worry about stalkers as much it seems...or maybe that's just me...

Good stuff.

 
At 3:52 PM, Blogger Marci said...

yeah. I just found out, though, that I can't donate blood. I know it's weird, but I liked doing it, and I'm disappointed that unless I give up going to places like India, Panama, and Africa, I'll never be able to donate again. Alas...

By the way, you all should see the movie, "Emmanuel's gift" It was awesome! It's the true story about a guy from Ghana who has a deformed leg, so it's really short, and he rides a bike (one-legged) across Ghana to prove a stereotype about disabled people wrong. It's an amazing story, and the camerawork and color of it is simply exquisite!

 
At 3:58 PM, Blogger Marci said...

to Jared: it's been true for me... To be honest, I felt more safe in all my travels then when I'm in a big city in the US, or even places like SLC or Ogden. I've heard stories from other travelers, though. But mostly about thieves, which somehow are not as "creepy" as other things.

 
At 6:40 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'd be more stoked about Ghana if they hadn't just eliminated the USA in the World Cup today.

Just kidding! Good work, Team Ghana, and good luck in the next round against Brazil!

 
At 3:38 AM, Blogger Jared said...

Bah! The USA had the lowest score in their group. They hadn't won a single game. I wouldn't say Ghana eliminated them so much as put them out of their misery.

The bigger travesty is SeƱor Shaq and the Heat beating the Mavs. I will always pull for whichever team doesn't have Shaq. I guess I can understand how the rest of the nation felt about Karl Malone and John Stockton...

Marci, same thing in Guatemala about the thieves. When a people are so poor, thievery doesn't seem so terrible. But, then again, I was never robbed or I might not sympathize so much. Giles was robbed at gunpoint once...by guys with machine guns, if I remember right. And he still does microbusiness and international development--so I guess he would feel the same way... :)

 
At 9:11 AM, Blogger Marci said...

What did the rest of the world have against Stockton and Malone?!!!!

Please don't tell me that you are POSSIBLY making a comparison to Shaq. That's a load of hogswallop. Stockton & Malone had a totally different reason for being as good as they were and a totally different "vibe" as players.

I think you've got a friend in Dan about the whole Shaq/Heat thing, though.

What's sad to me, though, is that I was impressed with Dwyane Wade and he's getting lumped in with Shaq and the Heat. I thought he played incredibly, and didn't seem to have the same kind of "I'm the hero/star" attitude that I get from Kobe - who similarly carries the game nearly by himself. Maybe I just haven't watched him enough (Wade), but the impression I got was that he's just playing basketball - not trying to be some snotty superstar. He just can't help being so incredibly good.

 
At 1:12 PM, Blogger Jared said...

I KNOW! I grew up in Utah and was under the Stockton/Malone spell. Finally I asked someone from out of state what was wrong with them and was told they are dirty players--two of the worst, in fact. So I started watching and, sure enough, Stockton would jab people with his elbows as he screened them and Malone would swing his arms when coming down with the ball...not to mention his flop routine.

It kind of soured me. I still think that they were an incredible duo and Malone's fade away jump shot was one of the best. Kudos to Stockton for being one of the best white guards in the history of the game. But I moved on and started liking the T-Wolves soon after that. Kevin Garnett was an incredible power forward and didn't play dirty.

 
At 6:34 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

KG? Overhyped.

Give me Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire any day!

My brother Mike isn't a fan of Karl Malone either.

 
At 9:27 PM, Blogger Marci said...

Not the "bah, update"!!!!

It's coming tomorrow. Promise.

 
At 9:02 AM, Blogger Marci said...

yep. I'm a no-good-stinkin'-yellow-bellied liar.

I can take it.

 
At 2:04 PM, Blogger Marci said...

Bah. Update! Update!

 

Post a Comment

<< Home