Pura Vida

Life as I know It

2009-09-12T11:52:00.000-07:00

My plan was too keep up blogging as I got home. I hope this isn't a sign of things to come. But this is good, I think. I have no idea if any of you are still reading this and so it will even more so be truly myself.

I've been having random moments lately where I'll suddenly realize how strange my circumstances are. On Thursday it even occured in the comfort of my own home as I lugged a 5 gallon bucket through the living room for a homework assignment in my water conservation class. The portrait seemed so isolated from everything I've known so far this year. I no longer wander the streets of Atenas, unsure of how to greet people and always a little tense of misunderstandings that naturally occur while living in Spanish context. And then to think of camping in Oregon and hiking the West Coast Trail in August. I'm still me, and I was there in all those situations, but it truly does feel like other world's to me. Worlds that I find hard to describe and am glad when a fellow companion is alongside me to understand.

My world now is in Edmonton. I was quite intentional about setting up circumstances that I want to find myself in while I finish up my last year of school. Being part of my church, living with people different than me, spending time with family and having an accountability system set up to name a few. I'm glad to be in familiar circumstances with a plethora of challenges lying before me. Speaking of challenges, I've been procrastinating my geotechnical assignment long enough...time to work. Here are some pictures from the West Coast Trail if your curious.

James

O People

2009-08-07T18:47:00.001-07:00

Hi Friends,

I was back in Canada, momentarily at least. It was amazing. I had been mentally preparing myself for something drastic while spending my last days in CR. My previous returns home have always felt somewhat anticlimatic and isolated. Combo'd with the idea of reverse cutlture shock that I was told to prepare for, I hadn't been expecting much of anything. But boy was I suprised. These last two weeks have been spent enjoying friends, family, celebrating weddings and p

reparing for a flurry of new adventures.

Apparently the typical response in returning to N. American life is to recognize how happy people are in the other parts of the world and be disgusted by our fervent materialism. While I have stood in amazement at the grandor of my sister's new 'starter home', this reaction has not been typical of me. This, coupled with no immediate desire to return back to Costa Rica, has caused some questioning in my mind if the CR experience has really changed me.

After pondering this question for some time, I think that part of the reason for this reaction WAS from the lessons that I've learned in CR. One of the most simple and obvious revelations I've had was the priority of relationships over everything else in my life. A simple example of the mindset I had been in beforehand was when my brother, last fall, announced his marriage on August 1st. I actually contemplated skipping his wedding so that I could spend the whole month of August surfing in Central America. Although I didn't make that decision, the fact that I was even contemplating the idea shows the value that I was placing on family and friends with respect to personal adventures and experiences. CR has showed me through separation from family, hispanic cultural values and spiritual lessons how much emphasis I should be putting on the people around me. And I think one of the reasons I've loved being back so much is that it has been so easy so far to put this lesson into practice. With no job or real responsibilities to get in my way, I've been able to put all my energy into being around people like you. The way it should be. Young adults camping, coffee and waffles with friends, standing up for my brother and new sister at their wedding, slacklining with relatives and visiting all the good people at CROW. I now find myself on the Washington interstate with two good friends on our way to windsurf the Columbia River Gorge. These last two weeks have been filled so much with people that the materialism fades into the distant background. The way it should be. Hope to see you soon. Cheers

Jimmy-James

El Terminar

2009-07-22T07:08:00.000-07:00

Esta es mi terminar dia aqui en Costa Rica. Manana en the manana, yo voy para hogar de avion. Ellos ses meses pasado fue muy bien y yo apprendo mucho, en espanol, vida y Dios. Gracias cada uno para sus orars, palabras de alientos y sostenar. Yo espero y pienso que Dios fue glorfico y bendecion en el trabajar de eMi y la connecions hace con la iglesia y cuerpo mundo de Christo aqui. Yo voy siempre recuerdo mi familia y la aliento y maestros que nosotros estamos para ambos de nosotros. Es tota acerca de relacions. El vez para different causes es aqui. Hasta luego, Dios te bendiga.

The above is my attempt to say goodbye to CR in the the spanish that I've picked up. If you do understand spanish, bear with me as I'm sure it is riddled with mistakes and poor conjugations, but it is a long way from not knowing how to say hello 7 months ago. Here's what its supposed to say.

This is my last day in Costa Rica. Tomorrow morning I fly back to Canada. The past 6 months

have been very good and I've learned much, in spanish, life and God. Thankyou everyone for your prays, words of encouragement and support. I hope and think that God was glorified and blessed in the work of eMi and the connections made with the church and the worldwide body of Christ here. I will always remember my family here and the encouragement and lessons that we could give eachother. It's all about relationships. The time for different things is here. Until next time, God bless.

The Last Leg

2009-07-16T13:19:00.000-07:00

I now find myself on the last leg of my journey, Mal Pais. I'm in a quaint, but busy hostel that sits in the balmy, humid climate of Pacific central Costa Rica. The purpose of this leg was two-fold: surfing and contemplation. I've grown quite fond of surfing at sunrise, mid-day and sunset while reading, writing and talking in between.

There's something about water and waves that gets me tickin. When I was in grade seven our family went to California; I had more fun boogie-boarding the small waves by the piers of Huntington beach than any theme park could offer. I think it was here that the seed was planted. Ten years later I find myself studying water engineering, taking any opportunity possible to visit the ocean or swim in fresh-water lakes and still enamoured as ever.

The hostel atmosphere that I find myself in was quite shocking initially. I had grown used to the Tico lifestyle of bedding down at 9pm and up at sunrise, as well as the missionary atmosphere where everything from morning prayer to our work has a sort of religious intentionality behind it. Coming here I find young travellers openly doing mushrooms in the common area, partying till the next morning and simply seeking to suck the marrow out of life. I'm don't think I am fully comfortable in either of these dichotomous situations. While I appreciate the value of the more disciplined lifestyle I've led in my time here, I also appreciate more openness in a 'secular' atmosphere like this where no one is trying to uphold an ideal. Perhaps while I'm here I can get a better of idea of what, if any, concrete lessons I've learned here and hope to transfer back to my context back home. I'm coming home next week! Hope to see you all soon.

Elusive Culture Points

2009-07-02T15:41:00.000-07:00

I've been experiencing two different cultures while I'm down here. I work with Americans and live with Ticos. One of the things I've noticed is how difficult it is to define these cultures along with my own. Culture is a weird thing because although it makes a people distinct, it usually only reveals itself in subtle ways. I started thinking about this when asked about Canada's independence day after I covered our office in red maple leafs yesterday. We don't have an independence day, we have Canada day. We never fought for independence, but bashfully asked the brits to consider letting us govern ourselves. This is part of our heritage, our culture, but how it plays out on the streets, I am at a loss.

It is a little easier to notice differences in the Tico culture: language, how they greet another, etc., but for the most part there are so many nuances that make Ticos Tico. This makes any attempt at explaining culture adequately almost impossible. Things that I don't understand but only experience. Like why families eat with half broken dishes and cutlery, but dress amazingly well. Or how it appeared perfectly normal to be served pudding cake with a side of fresh tuna after small group last night.

I'm glad to be experiencing these nuances first hand but am looking forward to coming back to Canada where I can understand, even if I can't explain, why we do the things the way we do.

The end keeps creeping up. We are beginning to fill in eval forms and Alex mentions more often how little time we have left together. Sarah, began the pilgrimage of eMi interns back to North America last week. Susannah and Gretchen are leaving on the 13th while Marcos, Chad and Rachel and I are staying a while longer to enjoy all that Central American has to offer. I'm hoping to live on the beach and surf everyday before heading back to Canada on the 23rd. After a weekend of camping and catchup, on to Marc's and Tara's wedding on August 1st. The times are changing...again. Can't wait.

Atenas

2009-06-23T06:58:00.000-07:00

As my time here comes to a close (3 more weeks with eMi) I find myself painting pictures in my head, detailing little euphoric scenes of the odds and ends that I experience here. On my walk home from work today I was caught by Atenas atmosphere. It's been rainy season for since mid-may. Daily afternoon showers have turned everything vivid greens. The rolling mountainous terrain allows me to peer across valleys and stare at the mosaic of countless greens in all the exotic plants. I never try to learn the names of all the plants and animals I see because my mind is already overflowing with various Spanish words that haven't quite found their place in my head yet. But their beauty is still appreciated regardless.

Atenas very much has a small town feel. People are rarely in a rush and the central park is always lively. A few times a week I stop at the bakery across from the park and buy a second breakfast. The staff recognize me (it' s not hard to recognize a white guy here) and are all too happy to teach me how to say 'cinnamon buns' or other sweet pastries in Spanish. The warm climate really does encourage warm hearts. I usually walk everywhere. Warm smiles and greetings are exchanged by the people I pass by on the way to work. I often envy those I see sitting on the patio chatting away over morning cafe. Porches are usually a big part of the home; the equivalent of a Canadian living room. Unfortunately my house seems to be the exception. The small patio was caged in before I arrived here for extra protection as the front door had previously been kicked in by an intruder. I have tried to make the most of the caged atmosphere though and use it to hang the hammock the bought in Nicaragua. This is where I am currently lying and writing.

The care-free, almost apathetic lifestyle is both enticing and frustrating. I like to think that I've somewhat adapted to it. When the power went out last week, my initial reaction was 'Cool, now we have more time to talk' rather than typical frustration with lack of productivity. Little things do start to annoy me though; lots of things in my home never seem to get fixed. Our toilet hasn't flushed properly since I arrived and a five-gallon bucket of water is constantly on hand to help it out. The drain on our kitchen sink has leaked for the past month and Alex seems to think that lying newspapers on the floor to soak up excess water seems to do a fine job. But one must take the good with the bad and I think all in all the care-free lifestyle fits with my personality. Everything always works out in the end; if it hasn't worked out yet, then it's not the end.

the Faithful Language Barrier

2009-06-08T06:55:00.000-07:00

Today we celebrated 3 birthdays: Marco's, Kiko's (Marco's host dad) and Yorlenni's (my host mom). 30 or so persons met at Marcos' house after church and started the fun with a pinata. When my class studied Mexico in grade 2, all I really remember was that latinos pretty much just walked around in sombreros and broke pinatas. It turns out that the pinata part is actually true (at least from what I can see), at every birthday party I've been to there is a pinata. Arroz con pollo (rice with chicken) is also a staple, sometimes its called Arroz con siempre (rice with always) because we eat it so much. I personally prefer to mix things up a little and try Pollo con arroz every once in while. After supper the neatest thing happened. The pastor picked up a guitar and started a sing along. Eventually this turned into a small poetry recital and then into a competition. One guy would recite off a line that was both funny and rhyming and the next guy would get up and try to top it. As I was attempting to follow the rhymes, Alex got up and shouted across the room, "El Canadiense, Cantar, Cantar" (the Canadian, sing, sing! (something like this anyway)). I was a little taken back as in any large gathering I usually try to blend into the background because I can't hold my own with the language barrier and all. But I was on the spot, and with their insistent encouragement I sung the first song that came to mind, Big Rock Candy Mountain. I learned this song last year while paddling the mighty Nechako river. As I started singing, the pastor joined in with the guitar (he's very good and can pick up a tune instantly). The song is from 'O brother where art thou' and is about a hobo who is hiking to hobo heaven where 'little streams of alcohol come trickling down the rocks.' I was midway through the song when it struck me that I shouldn't really be singing this to a VERY conservative church crowd. For once I was thankful for the language barrier. Ignorance prevailed and I received a warm applause afterwards along with many compliments.

Fridays with Marcos

2009-05-24T14:27:00.000-07:00

eMi allows the interns to volunteer somewhere for up to 4 hours a week and count it towards our regular hours. Its a good way to get some 'face time' while serving as often our design work is behind the scenes type stuff. Marcos and I have been taking full advantage of this lately and been spending our Friday afternoons as groundsmen at the local orphanage, Hogar de Vida (Home of Life), here in Atenas. Typically we spend the afternoon raking leaves and cleaning up

rotten mangos, but something awesome has happened every time we've been there that has made us both very much look forward to the experience every week. It also helps that Marcos is super wise and fun and we can easily get lost in conversation while doing the tediousest of work. The first time we showed up we were asked to dig a trench alongside another gringo, Tim, who was volunteering as well. After a few hours of breaking sweat together, Tim kindly invited us over for some American food, more specifically, anything that didn't contain rice. We had an amazing meal topped off with a cobbler with all sorts of local fruit. While w

e were raking leaves on the next Friday, chatting about whatever came to mind, a Tico brought his guitar out on the porch and started singing along with some Tia's nearby (Tia means aunty here, all the children call their caretakers Tia or Tios). It created the most serene environment and peace of mind of which I was ever so grateful to partake. The following Friday some friends at Hogar gave us directions to a waterfall nearby. We walked down to the spot after our work was done and discovered an amazing, untouched 50 or so foot waterfall that we could

swim under. The type of thing that you travel around the world to find and we find it 10 minutes from where we live. Last week, we went to ask the director where to burn the leaves. Naturally this lead to an extra extra long coffee break with conversation about what God was doing at the orphanage and the director sharing his testimony with us:) We didn't get too many leaves raked that day. It's neat how something as tedious as groundskeeping can bring about such amazing stuff.

Next Project

2009-05-20T08:23:00.000-07:00

Next week our office is leading a project trip to design an orphanage expansion in Haiti with a team from Florida. Check it out. The interns won't be going to Haiti but will help with the logistic work before and afterwards.

Not Enough Trees

2009-05-19T15:46:00.000-07:00

Our water keeps turning off. A few weeks ago we didn't have water for 3 days and we just came off a 2-day water outage this morning. Its very annoying when one comes home sweaty from playing sports and finds they can't bathe for the next 2 days. Or attempting to wash a whole salad of vegetables with half a litre of bottled water. Or becoming imaginative on how the only bathroom in the house can function without water. I was wondering why this is such a big issue here when I go without running water for weeks at a time while camping in the wilderness. I think it's mainly a population density problem. There just aren't enough trees in Atenas to service everyone's urinary needs.

It's a bit of a blessing in disguise as I get to see the importance of water more first hand. Every day without water solidifies my desire to direct myself into the water engineering field. It's crazy to see all the implications that not having water for even a short time can have. During the longer outages a water truck drives through Atenas. Everyone comes out and lines the streets with whatever pots and jugs they can scrounge to fill up. Fortunately the laid back Tico attitude usually prevails and the atmosphere is calm and enjoyable as people help eachother out. All in all, no complaints. Keeps life adventurous. Cheers

There and back again

2009-05-14T14:12:00.000-07:00

We got back from our visa renewal road trip to Nicaragua on Tuesday. Susannah, Sarah and I ended up going. Marcos had previous family commitments. Sarah found a bus company that crossed the border for you so we didn't have to wait around for another bus once we crossed. I was all too happy to sign up for this option as I have previously ended up sleeping alone in a scetchy back alley while changing buses at border crossing back in 2005.

Nicaragua was remeniscent of my previous travels in the best of ways. Cheap hostels, relaxing days, aimless wandering and fun people to share it with. I started talking to a guy at breakfast in our hostel. He had been planning to visit a volcano that day but I told him that it was closed on Mondays. Apparently mother nature needs a day off too and shuts er down for some RnR. We didn't really have anything planned either but David pleasantly joined our group for the day. We soon discovered that David was a practicing orthodox Jew, which gave us ample discussion topics as Sussanah is studying Jewish culture in university and I have a bit of an interest in Jewish politics/history. I peppered him with questions trying to get his perspective on things from a religious, american view. I thought that Canada had an unstable minority government, but it pails in comparison to the current political situation in Israel. They have crazy coalition deals going on there.

I took some pictures (finally), they are posted on flickr (link to the right) if your curious. My dad also just posted some pictures from their travels in Costa Rica here. I guess I'll let the pictures do the talking for the blog this time. Cheers

Update Letter

2009-05-08T08:15:00.000-07:00

Aqui

All in this Together

2009-05-01T21:59:00.001-07:00

Arie tells me that I need more photo albums in my blog. I've thought about it and decided that for the time being I don't like the idea because it limits my imaginative power. I've only recently really discovered the joy of writing and simple words seem to have more sway in imparting whatever part of my surroundings I wish to share. Bias at its best.

My parents are here in CR visiting me. Tonight we went to both a fantastic and expensive restaurant to celebrate the occasion. The owner of Ronny's Place (don't let the name fool you, I could take the entire page to write about the food and the view, Arie also has some pictures of the occasion he would love to share with you) courteously came over and chatted with us. At one point he was trying to describe what was so special about Ticos greeting strangers so often, why simply saying things like 'Pura Vida' to a fellow Tico was so important to the Tico soul. I jumped in and offered a suggestion saying that it conveyed that 'we are all in this together', quoting a line from a Ben Lee song of the same title. Ronny wholeheartedly agreed with this; knowing that we aren't alone but sharing these experiences, whatever they happen to be, alongside companions.

Today we found ourselves in Manuel Antonio, a national park where the hoards of wildlife is only trumped by the copious amounts of tourists. Again lots to say about the park, but continuing on my theme, as we wandered around the park for the day I saw some people who were taking in the sites and hikes all by their lonesome selves. It reminded me of a few years ago when, after I found myself alone and lonely in Italy, I decided to never again put myself in that kind of situation. Unfortunately today, for some reason I was content enough in my relationship-ridden circumstances to only notice them from a distance and not make a concerted effort to meet them. Something I now regret not doing and resolve to fix in the future. But I will use the time now to say to all of you out there that I appreciate all your emails, thoughts, prayers, comments, visits to CR (this one goes out mainly to my parents and the other eMi staff..but there's still time) or best wishes. Whether I just met you down here or have known you for years, I have felt nothing but love and support while down here. Its a good life and I'm happy that were all living it and sharing experiences together. Cheers

Cold...But Intelligent

2009-04-18T17:23:00.000-07:00

I gave my first spanish presentation today, 3 months less a day after I arrived in country. This isn't to say that it was good by any means, but it was comprehendible, which in my current situation is more than fantastic. We had an eMi/host family barbecue. It was great to connect with everyone involved here in the Latin American office. I was delegated the task of talking about what I've learned while being down here and on my project trip. I wrote everything down beforehand, but unfortunately I didn't really put forth the effort to really get proper conjugations and such. Instead I found myself up in front of 30 or so people reading sentences that I didn't understand myself. But it was comprehendible. I think for next time I'm going to 'wing it' because then at least I will understand what I'm saying. And our trusty latino, Marcos, is always close by to lend a hand (or mouth in this case) if my 'winging it' veers dramatically off course.

Afterwards we spent some time with the Tico's discussing how things are generally going with homestays and inevitably this involved cultural differences. Alex, my Tico dad, really likes to talk. One of the things that I understood him saying was, 'Gringos y Canadienses estan muchos frio, pero muy intelligente.' (Americans and Canadians are very cold, but very intelligent). And went on to say how reserved we were but intelligent because we are able to pick up the Tico cues quickly and at least act warmer. I think the most obvious way this has played out for me is greeting. A typical street greeting requires a firm handshake between two men and single kiss on the right cheek for everyone else; its not really a kiss, more of a motion. Arriving at home after work to more familiar relationships usually involves a warm embrace from Alex and Alejandro. It has taken some time to acclimatize myself to greeting every person this way when I walk into a filled room, but everyday is becoming more natural. Often, stranger Ticas will recognize gringos and extend a handshake instead of a more natural kiss on the cheek in order to avoid an awkward situation. Of course, one goes along with whatever direction is presented in the introduction, but I feel like I've been shafted, as if I'm being delegated to a less emphatic greeting. I might be becoming warmer. Perhaps by the time I move back home to all you cold people in Canada:) Alex will call me both warm and intelligent.

A piece of everyday Life

2009-04-14T06:56:00.001-07:00

This is what I'm greeted by every morning. Its called a 'widow-maker' or a 'suicide shower', whatever suits you best. I think the name is fairly self-explanatory in the picture. Most Tico homes don't have hot water pipes. And if they do desire a hot shower, which it seems most of them don't, they buy one of these things. It has 3 settings: off, low or high. Once a setting is chosen, one can fine adjust the temperature by controlling the flow of water. The less water coming out, the hotter it is. In my particular household, it took me about 2 weeks to figure out that there was a breakerbox located in the kitchen that I needed to flip on first in order to get hot water. The breaker will then flip off again while taking a shower, but only if it is on the high setting. This was all discovered by trial and error. And so depending on my morning mood, I can choose to take a long warmish shower, or a very short hot shower, or just ignore everything and get a nice wakeup. The cold isn't actually too bad because at 7 in the morning, the outside temperature is typically already at 15 or 20 degrees (~65 for the gringos). Just a small part of my life I wanted to share with you all. Have a good day everyone.

James

My First Sader

2009-04-10T19:47:00.000-07:00

The last thing I expected to experience down here was a Jewish Passover at the house of man from Brooklyn, but alas, here I am writing about it. Abraham and his wife are both New Yorkers living down in CR. Abraham is a Messianic Jew and invited some people from church to celebrate the second night of Passover. Oddly enough, my host mom served me pork for lunch, and I felt like I was stabbing my hosts in the back, even before I had met them.

As it turned out, half the people invited ended up cancelling because of a flu bug going around and it was a more intimate affair of 8 persons, for which I was grateful. If I could relate the meal to anything, I would think it was a high school drama practice. Abraham, the director, had tracts set out like scripts on our plates when we arrived. He handed out our costumes, yamekahs, only for the men and after a typical N. American tour of the house we promptly began. We read through the pamphlets together, Abraham leading us and reciting the Hebrew text in a beautiful chant-like sort of tone. We would follow with a reverence in our minds that we were taking part in a tradition that had been passed down for the last 4000 or so years; all the while not really knowing what to do next and stopping Abraham to ask questions as to the why's and how's of all the various parts of the meal. After many blessings and remembrances, the tracts were set aside and the real eating began; half Tico, half American food. It naturally turned into a Q&A session with Abraham, all of us taking turns peppering him with questions about Jewish customs, views on what roles the Jews play in the kingdom of God and what not. Coffee and desert were served as we continued discussion well into the night. This was my most favorite part of the meal, for most of my suppers here are centered around a Spanish table of course, and when conversation naturally drifts off into the topics of the day, I quickly get lost and distracted. At our Sader table of internationals: American, Canadian, New Zealand, Australian and Columbian, English was the language of choice, although sporadic intervals of Spanish could be heard in accompaniment. I reveled in the joy of taking part in relaxed but lively dinner conversation which I could not only follow, but contribute to, while trying to relate these Jewish customs back to what I had experienced in my short visit it Jerusalem a few years ago.

I’m not sure why, but most of my religious experiences other than Protestantism seem to take place outside of Canada. I’ve never been to Catholic mass in Canada but I’ve been to multiple mass’s and Islamic and Jewish services while travelling, all of which I couldn’t understand because of language barriers. I got lucky with this sader. I think I should either learn more languages, or make a point of attending some of these when in Canada, or continue to live in ignorant bliss. Happy Easter! Cheers

James

Susannah was rewarded the prize for finding the hidden unleavened bread. Susannah and I played the role of the children. I liked the treasure hunt.

The Water That Be

2009-03-30T06:50:00.000-07:00

The interns went surfing last Saturday. It was amazing. Although I've lived most of my life on the prairies, I categorize myself as a surfer. I think that I only took up snowboarding because it was the nearest feeling I could get to surfing. Its also a major reason why I'm in civil engineering. In first year, we had to pick what speciality to go into; mechanical, civil, chemical and so on. On the day the choices were due, I still couldn't decide between mechanical and civil. When I went on the computer to make a final choice, my screensaver popped up, which happened to be the picture below

(I made sure to keep this momentous photo). That was the tipping point. I decided that I was enamoured with water and civil engineering could bring me closer to it moreso than mechanical. And 3 years later here I am, working

as civil engineer in CR.

From what I've read, the only negative side of surfing is that the atmosphere can be hostile at times when locals don't want newbies taking their waves. This wasn't at all the case at Jaco. We even made a new friend while surfing last week. Francisco and I started chatting while waiting for a wave. He was better than us so he helped us out a bit. I was shocked to find out that he's a Tico civil engineer who wants to learn to surf and had just moved to Jaco the previous week. It also turns out that he is renting a house right on the beach where we could shower and hang out afterwards. It really couldn't have worked out any better. He invited us back for this past Saturday but I was the only intern who was able to go.

The waves were much bigger yesterday than previous and we both felt a fairly overwhelmed. But we managed to catch a few that made it all worth it. I'm not sure when I can go back again, but I hope its soon. Pura Vida

James

Prayers

2009-03-26T06:57:00.000-07:00

I just found out that my cousin, along with a friend, passed away in an avalanche near Valemont earlier this week. He has a wife and 4 young kids. Please pray for families of everyone involved.

All that is Water

2009-03-26T06:55:00.001-07:00

I've recently boiled why I've come down to CR to reasons three. The first was a desire to live upfront and close in a different culture instead of simply observing it from afar. I've talked about my experiences in this area in some of my past blogs. Secondly I wanted to see what it was like to really try in live out my faith in everything I'm doing, not something one always needs to move to CR for, but I'm not complaining. This was the topic of my last blog. Thirdly, I'm still in school, and figured this would be a good way to gain some engg. experience. That is what I've decided to focus on in this blog.

As part of my co-op term here, I need to write a paper on what I need to do to have a successful engineering career. I'm in a bit of a predicament because I'm still not really sure what I want to be when I grow up. I'm not too worried about it, I'm sure life will offer many adventurous roads and I will get to choose the most fascinating one when that time comes. And here I am trying some engineering work on for size and seeing how I like it. So let me tell you what we/I do here at eMi Latin America.

I have worked on 3 projects so far: a school in Guetemala, a mission centre serving the Nicaraguan population(Arbol de Vida) and an addition for a local church here in Atenas. For the mission centre, eMi had architects to figure out what buildings should look like, structural engineers to make them stand up, water/wastewater engineers to figure where the ka-ka(refer to a previous blog) should go, civil engineers to figure out how to get there and surveyors to tell us where we are. I've been able to dabble in water, structural and surveying. I decided I really like surveying, I get to be outside all day, sometimes in the mountains and I don't have to turn off my brain because there is math involved. I'm not sure that its kosher in the engineering world to aspire to be just a surveyor, but I won't let that intimidate me.

Water really fascinates me because its so awesome. We can swim in it, skate on it, ski on it, drink it, surf it, make electricity out of it, fish in it, paddle in it, wash in it, put out fires with it and so much more. There really is nothing more beautiful and versatile than water. I've been fortunate enough to be able to help design the water and sanitary system for Arbol de Vida. Its neat to work in this area because not only is water so awesome, but so many people don't have access to it. Check out www.runningthesahara.com, Matt Damon is trying to figure out how to give 1 billion people access to clean drinking water. Granted, development encompasses SO much more than going somewhere and digging a well, but maybe this is something I could be when I grow up.

Excitedly Awesome

2009-03-16T12:06:00.000-07:00

My family sent me a 'wish we were there' photo this morning. I very much enjoyed it and thought its a much better picture to look at rather than sunburnt skin peeling off my back. They're pretty excited and awesome. Samara and Bryan aren't really family, but they are really awesome.

On the plus side

2009-03-13T17:06:00.000-07:00

I feel as though I've conveyed mostly culture shock and hardships in my latest postings. I assure you that this isn't the case. And thus I hope to write about some awesome things that I've experienced down here.

I'll start with the weather, please trust me that I'm not trying to throw this in the face of those experiencing Canadian winter in March. I really do love winter and seasons and hopefully would be making the most of it by means of snowboarding, hockey and skiing. But, living in the moment, I'm making the most of the sun by swimming and surfing. Alex (my host dad) took me, my little brother Alejandro and two other neighbor boys swimming in a gorgeous little outdoor pool last Saturday. I'm not sure why I didn't think I'd need sunscreen, but I didn't use any and paid for it. It wasn't the redness or rawness that got me, but the itchiness. I've never been so itchy in my life. I felt like a mad dog in the office, continually scratching my arms, back and chest while in meetings, casually talking with others or working at my destk. Thankfully the peeling stage has started and the itching has stopped. Alex has told me that were going to the beach tomorrow and I will definetly take appropriate procautions, though I'm not sure what will happen as I haven't fully recovered from last week. But its worth the risk in my mind.

The second thing I'm most thankful for seem a little weird even for me. Its having to give up so much of my previous life while living here. Its hard, but neat to evaluate my life from this perspective. On the eve of my 23rd birthday (two months to go) I've pretty much lost all my independence. For example, I just called Alex to tell him that I'd be home late from the office. I haven't had to tell my parents where I was going since I was 17. I no longer serve myself meals, I need to ask for someone to drive me if I need to go somewhere, etc. I've also agreed to no alcohol, fast once a month, wake up early for daily devotions and participate in daily office prayer. And of course I've been forced to give up English while at home. I have been able to keep listening to my music, which I'm holding onto dearly. Some of these things I've given up or adapted to more readily than others. But I like the whole idea of it because I can actually evaluate this different lifestyle firsthand for a period of time. Because I think that if I'm honest with myself, I'm never quite satisfied with where my life is at, thus why I think I always look for the next adventure. I truly believe that the life Jesus offers is the most satisfying, but how that plays out today in my life is something I'm continually searching for, hence why I'm here. Maybe in the next few months I will find huge joy in the family oriented, Tico lifestyle. Maybe I will experience God or humanity on a crazy new level. Or maybe not, perhaps I will fall into legalism and be a cold hearted hipocrite. I hope and think that this road doesn't lead there. But I'm exactic to be on this road and find out for myself.

Ummm, I didn't expect this post to go in this direction. But thats how it is. I'm off for home now. We are going surfing tomorrow. Thats another reason why I'm here. I also hope to satisfy the 'surfer within me'.

James

New Economics

2009-03-04T15:57:00.000-08:00

Last semester I got to take Economics 101 as an elective. I enjoyed it because it was an easy course, and has since caused me to sporadically evaluate every situation soley in terms of value and efficiency. Which is both a fun and useful perspective to view life in, but I think has its limitations when we get into the spiritual side of life and Jesus comes in the picture and says things like 'in order to gain life, one must give his life up.'

Anyway, as a volunteer intern, eMi actually pays me $5 a day. This is usually used to buy lunch. My engineering friends back in edmonton are probably making around $150 a day in their co-op jobs (if they still have jobs with this crazy economy). When evaluating this in a value per dollar perspective, this means that, all other things equal, I'm 30 times more productive than they are. I decide to give my time to indirectly serving the poor, all of a sudden Bamm, I'm 30 times more productive than I used to be. Wow, God has really blessed my efforts:)

Its also economically crazy here in Costa Rica because labour is cheaper than material. That means that time doesn't = money, at least not very much anyway. I also experienced this yesterday (myself now being cheap labour) after spending two frustrating days trying to fix an office computer so it can run AutoCAD. Its a very old computer, and normally I would have bought a new one, or sent it to a shop, because 2 days of my regular working is worth $300 to the office. But here, I was able to get it running again for only $10, one of the cheapest fixes I've done in a long time.

I think thats enough of that. I think that some of you will be bored by reading the thoughts above, and others, mostly engineers I assume, will probably be amused. Maybe tomorrow I will be in a more normal thought pattern and write something that makes a little more sense. In the meantime, Pura Vida!

James

Photos

2009-03-02T07:00:00.000-08:00

I made a slideshow.

Note that Susannah's name is spelt wrong.

The Transcendent Passion

2009-02-18T19:46:00.000-08:00

I wrote a little bit about culture shock last week. Although it came up in many different areas of life. I think my experience with my new bike epitomizes the challenges of everyday life.

When I applied to eMi I mentioned that I enjoy riding and repairing bicycles as a hobby. That information was translated into Spanish and given to my host family as part of a 'James Bomhof bio' prior to our meeting. Last week, Alex (my new host dad), showed me his two bikes and told me that I could fix them up and ride them to work if I so desired. Of course I enthusiastically agreed for two reasons. It was something familiar that I knew I could do and it would be a gesture of goodwill to my new family. When I asked Alex what tools he had, he brought me to a kitchen drawer and pulled out a half-broken crescent wrench and a philips screwdriver. I had looked at the bike and knew that those tools wouldn't do. I didn't bother asking Alex if he had more tools for fear of misinterpretation, thinking he might come home the next day with a brand new tool set that I would have guilted him into buying. And so the next day I stopped in at the bike store on the way home from work. After the typical greeting, quickly switching to task at hand, "Yo necessito ..." (I need), followed by my realization that I have no idea how to say 'chain break' in Spanish. We both realized that language wouldn’t get too far and resorted to pointing and sherades. After a few minutes I walked out of the store quite proud that I was able to purchase a multi-tool with a chain break, thus satisfying most of my bicycle repair needs, Success!

My downfall was Presta and Shraeder valves. Alex and I couldn't seem to figure out what we were each saying about repairing a bike tube and I was too afraid to walk back into the bike store and tell them I needed a 'valve adaptor for Presta to Shrader'. Eventually, I was able to conscript the help of Marcos (another intern who speaks the language) and buy a pump with a presta adaptor. After that, things went smoothly. I now have a single speed mountain bike and was able to help Marcos fix his new bike. It felt really good to experience this triumph of a challenge that wouldn't have even been a challenge back home. I think the tides are turning.

We are now in northern Costa Rica with a team of short term volunteers. We've been working for the past four days and have two more to finish up. I’m amazed at the progress. The team is amazing. You know how Paul talks about the many parts that make up the body (1 Corinthians I think), here it is very evident. Literally, everyone has a different and critical role to fulfill, architects, civil engineers, structurals, water, wastewater, electrical, surveying. I'm amazed at the selflessness in each person here in their pursuit of something bigger than themselves.

All for now, thanks for all letters, prayers and encouragement. Hasta Luego.

Jaime (its pronounced 'hi-may', thats my Spanish name)

2009-02-11T09:28:00.001-08:00

I've written a bit of a newsletter, you can download it here.

Ka-Ka

2009-02-02T06:22:00.000-08:00

I made a bit of a blunder last week. In my eagerness to eat up the Spanish language I ended up sticking my foot in my mouth.

I had been invited over to a local’s house for afternoon coffee. Coffee is always accompanied by a small treat. My small amount of Spanish was enough to carry on simple conversation. As I reached for the cake, I spurted out ‘Ka-ka’, which I thought to be the Spanish word for cake. It turns out that que-que (kay-kay) is the Spanish word for cake. Ka-Ka is the Spanish word for ‘shit’. Fortunately I was in a pretty laid back atmosphere (as it is everywhere in Costa Rica) and laughter erupted instead of cold stares.

I’m learning lots and enjoying the new life. I think we are all a little anxious to start working as learning Spanish feels very inward focused. We will be travelling to northern Costa Rica in a little less than two weeks where we will work with a team of short-term volunteers for two weeks to design a leadership training center. In the meantime I’ll be pounding out a few more verb conjugations. Cheers

James

My new life as a 3 year old

2009-01-26T06:31:00.001-08:00

I stumbled across the hardest challenge thus far while in Costa Rica: trying to explain what a mortgage is to an eight year old ... in Spanish. We have travelled to Tuis, which is a town in east Costa Rica where there is a Christian language school. We are here for two weeks in hopes of fluency, in which I have the farthest to go. I've been placed with another family for these two weeks: Jimmy and Andrea. They have two kids, Jeremy who is eight and Jaimie, who is 3.

To give you a context of where my Spanish is at, Jeremy pulled out his marbles after supper and we took turns saying the colors on the marbles; azul, blanco, cafe, etc. Afterwords, Jeremy pulled out another game which turned out to be the Costa Rican equivalent of monopoly. I quickly recognized it and started buying up every property possible (the only good monopoly strategy), while practicing my Spanish numbers (I had him beat on addition, and most definately on multiplying by 4 for the utility properties). But when eventually I ran out of money, and tried to mortgage a property to pay for it. That was an obstacle that could not be overcome. I tried gently explaining in English, politely showing Jeremy the back of Reading Railroad in Spanish, but to no avail.

I like it here. The 3 gringos (white folks) from eMi who are here made a bet not to speak any English to eachother for these two weeks. I now find myself silenced often because of lack of words. This blog is my only escape to English. But I have seen my vocab improve and I have high hopes for the language, and huge motivation as I will always be living with locals for the next 6 months. It definitely makes me feel incompetent though. I'm communicating on the same level, if not worse as Jaimie. A very humbling experience, very fun if you treat it like a game. I realize that pictures are definitely needed, and I hope to post some soon. Its amazingly green and mountainous here. Cheers

James

A whole new Family

2009-01-22T11:11:00.000-08:00

We arrived in Costa Rica on Monday evening. When I say we, I mean myself, Marcos, Susannah and Sarah; the four international interns. Marcos is from Guatemala, Susannah is Australian, Sarah's American and I'm the crazy Cunuck. Our transfer in Atlanta was a little tight. We ran across the airport, just like in the movies, and arrived as the guy was closing the door to the tunnel.

Yesterday I met my new host family and am utterly shocked by the hospitality. Alexander and Yorleny are my new parents and Jose and Alejandro are my new brothers. Yorleny is currently away but Alex made sure that I was made to feel part of the family. By part of the family, I mean a real live family member. Alejandro (7) was made to move into his older brother's room Jose (16). I was assured that I was welcome to use anything in the house, even Alex and Yorleny's room (thats where the TV is, Tico's (slang for Costa Ricans) like their TV). Communication was difficult at best, mainly because of my lack of Spanish. We're off to Spanish school for two weeks starting this Saturday. I have high hopes that my skills will improve.

One of the things I have really looked forward to is the coffee. And it is AWESOME. Not only is it fresh and locally grown, but it is an integral part of everyday life. Coffee is always served at 10am and 3pm, as well as at breakfast. I know this sounds similar to north america, but the pride of Tica coffee flows from their blood. Good times.

my bag

2009-01-15T22:10:00.000-08:00

Thankyou for your concern about my hygiene and lost bag. My bag did end up arriving at midnight on the day I got in so I woke up to fresh socks. Learning lots here in orientation. Really glad I brought my frisbee along too, we've had a few games of ultimate already.

It has begun

2009-01-11T20:20:00.000-08:00

I'm now in Colorado Springs. Its an 8-day stop over here to meet the other interns, learn about eMi and its mission, get some cultural training and such. I'm currently going granola style as the airline forgot my bag in Denver. I'm not minding it, just hoping that my socks can hold up for a while in coping with my foot odour.

This past week in Edmonton has been very great. The River had a little sendoff in church for me and then we also had a goodbye/happy 26th birthday marc party. The last time I moved away from Edmonton was when I was off to Jasper and I just kinda snuck away. It almost felt like I was running away, looking for something better in Jasper. But not this time around. Seeing the support of everyone and the love from friends really gave me the sense of being sent. I'm not running away from something boring or dull but instead running towards something different, adventurous and maybe great. Its quite an exhilarating spot to be in.

I also had tea last week with the couple who head up the foreign missions aspects of the River's ministry. They have done and seen a lot abroad and have tons of wisdom to share. It was awesome because they told me stories of their travels and bounced ideas and questions off me about what missions might look like if they are done in a God honoring manner. I just listened to a presentation by the CEO of eMi and its clear that he struggles with some of the same issues. I feel like I'm just entering this world and have so much learn and experience and I'm sure it will never end.

On a total random tangent, heres a picture of the mustard seed that I took on Wednesday.

If you can't tell what it is, its the a room overflowing with garbage bags of used clothe

s.Every Christmas they get so many donations that they literally don't know what to do with. A lot of it just ends going somewhere else unbeknownst to me. (if you want an idea of of what happens, click here http://www.micahmorphosis.org/micahm.gospelcom.net/blog3/index.html ) The ironic thing is that in the summer we are often short of stuff and have to send people away empty handed. So if you can, give away all your extra clothes in the summer to try to balance things out. Wesley at the seed will give you a big hug for it.

Cheers

James

Let the Adventures Begin

2008-12-20T18:16:00.000-08:00

I treated myself to a new experience yesterday. I decided on Thursday that I wanted to go home to Lethbridge on Friday, the only problem was that I didn’t have a car or a ride. After some shameless facebook advertising, I was able to scrounge a ride from Red Deer to Lethbridge from a saint of a friend. The last obstacle, getting from Edmonton to Red Deer was easily overcome to my surprise and enjoyment.

My loving sister Dianna offered to drop me off on the outskirts of Edmonton on Friday afternoon. I had spent the morning wrapping myself in warm attire and printing off a sign labeled ‘RED DEER’ in bold Arial letters. My thinking was that if people saw that I had access to a computer, then I would be more civil and less threatening in some weird sense of reasoning. I pondered the idea of writing ‘home’ on the sign in order to attract some pity, but I thought that was a little vague; what if home was in California. So I discovered something about hitchhiking yesterday that seems intuitive, but I had never actually tried it to see if it works. There is a HUGE correlation between the lowness of the temperature and the time it takes to get picked up. I got picked up in 3 minutes or less. It was awesome.

Bob was a bulldozer operator from Regina. He was travelling to Red Deer to see his son. He kept on talking about the bible thumpers. He didn’t have a good opinion of Christians in general. I didn’t mention that I was a Christian. I didn’t really know what to do. It was an interesting spot to be in because this guy had picked me up off the cold highway and then unknowingly went on to bashing an institution that has had a powerful influence on who I am. My first reaction is to blame ‘those christians’ and tell myself that I’m not like that. But we are the church. He talked about other stuff too and I just listened to his crazy stories. It felt good to cross paths with a stranger again. As Ben Lee puts it, ‘We are all in this together’.

James

Orphan bikes

2008-12-05T12:50:00.000-08:00

I realized this week that I have a symbiotic relationship with my bicycles. It has taken a few years to evolve to this point.

It all began with my first bike, a simple but modern Rocky Mountain. Although it is now past its prime, I hold a special place for it in my heart because of all the places it has taken me...high school, the Pacific, the Atlantic and everywhere in between.

And thus, after moving to the murder capital of Canada, I was wary that I might lose my beloved if I didn't watch it's back. And so I picked up an old Norco commuting bike at a church rummage sale and began my symbiotic endeavor. Restoring and riding my norco made me feel like I breathed new life into it. I had saved it from the depths of the landfill and with the help of duct tape and chain lube, given it new purpose. In return, it faithfully waited upon me and carried me wherever I desired to go.

The reality of life though is that old bikes do need some TLC once in a while. A hub seizes one day, or the brakes eventually grow old and their muscles struggle to squeeze the rim. The beautiful thing is that there are countless bikes that are willing to donate their organs to the cause. With this concept, I’ve been able to restore 5 different bikes and give 3 away. Well one of them I didn’t really give away, someone snipped my lock in downtown Edmonton. The hardest part wasn’t losing the bike, it was knowing that it was probably abandoned by the thief somewhere and will never be ridden again.

And this week I retired my 10-speed to the garage. It has carried me all over the city this summer but started limping along after slowly losing spokes in the front wheel. I hope to resurrect it next summer but until then my new ‘Galaxy Earth Crusier 1200’ has volunteered to take its place and tackle the winter roads.

Bicycles…they give so much, yet ask so little.

and they'll know we are christians by our t-shirts

2008-11-24T17:49:00.000-08:00

eMi sent me a t-shirt with along with a few books. Its a fantastic shirt and its an easy way to promote what I'm doing.

Engineers are kinda weird. I think its this way in other programs too but there's about 100 people who I have been in every class with for the last 3 years of university. Because its still a fairly large group and we only meet together in class, one gets to recognize everyone's face very well but fails to learn very many names. Since I started wearing my eMi T-shirt last month, 4 people who I haven't really talked to before have approached me about eMi. They are all in the same boat as me, wanting to save the world and all, and had never heard about eMi. Its fantastic to really meet people you already know and especially neat to know they are brother's and sister's (thats right, engineering isn't just for men) in Christ. On the other hand its kind of shameful that after 3 years the only way we can recognize each other is by our t-shirts. But anyhow, this shirt has won me new friends, given me a chance to share my experience and maybe connected someone else with an awesome organization. Its a super-shirt.

James

A whole new world

2008-10-24T12:55:00.000-07:00

Someone asked me last week if I was excited about moving to Costa Rica. I had to be honest with them and tell them that I wasn't. Not because I didn't think Costa Rica will be exciting, but because I hadn't really taken the time to imagine what it will be like. I'm an 'in the moment' kind of person and thinking and planning ahead takes a lot of dedication.

But my lack of excitement didn't last for very long. eMi sent me a volunteer package on Tuesday. It was perfect timing too because midterms were just starting and I hadn't found anything to distract me yet. I recieved a copy of a book called 'Foreign to Familar: A Guide to Understanding Hot- and Cold - Climate Cultures.' Its written by a woman who has travelled the world since age 9, speaks multiple languages and seems to have a pretty good idea of whats going on. The basic premise of the book is that the world can be generalized into two different kinds of people: Cold and Hot Climate cultures. I found it ironic that although the purpose of book is to allow it's readers to be less ignorant about the world, it starts off by making a broad generalization. I think the prefice will give you a good idea of what this book is about. You may find it ironic that my blog is filled with someone else's words... get over it, they are fascinating words.

"The Delta flight was leaving on time. Three of us were strapped in next to eachother. 'So Sara,' my isle seat colleague said in a chatty manner, 'tell me what it was like growing up in Israel."

"Well, I grew up in a variety of cultures. The Jewish and Arab cultures are vastly different. In the Jewish culture, you say what you think. It's very direct and you know where you stand with people. Its more focussed on efficiency. The Arab culture, on the other hand, is much more indirect. It's all about relationships; friendliness and politeness. If offered a cup of coffee, I say 'No, thankyou.' The host offers it again, and I decline again with something like: 'No, no, don't bother yourself.' He might offer a third time, and I'd reply, 'No, I really don't any coffee. Believe me.' Then my host serves the coffee and I drink it. "You've got to be kidding!" my colleague said, incredulously. "no, really," I assured her. "You're supposed to refuse the first few times. It's the polite thing to do." "Then, what if you really don't want the coffee?" she asked. "Well, then there are idioms you can use to say that you wouldn't for any reason refuse their kind hospitality, and at some point in the future you'll gladly join them in coffee, but at the moment you really can't drink it." Now Aida, the person in the third seat, got into the conversation. "Incredible! I didn't know that." I replied, "Aida, what do you mean you didn't know that? Your Lebanese." Aida replied, "Yes, but I mean I didn't know this wasn't normal. I've been in the USA eight years already and didn't realize it was done differently here. That explains so much. I've been lonely since moving here and now I know why. When people in the office would ask me if I wanted to go to lunch, I would say 'no' to be polite, fully expecting them to ask me again. When they didn't and left without me, I thought they didn't really want me along and had asked only out of politeness. In my culture, it would have been to forward to say 'yes' the first time.""

Reading this book has made me think back to my travels in the Middle East and Eastern Europe. I realize how ignorant I really was. I'm think that because most of my hosts had hosted north americans before they could understand my actions a little better and look past my ignorance to their customs.

I'm really excited now about what will happen because I can sort of imagine what it will be like meeting all these new people in completely foreign culture. I've realized that I must rid myself of all preconceived notions and expectations about what I think my experience will be like and take it for whatever it is. I think assimilating with the customs and values of the culture I'm living in will be the best thing I can do to gain a new perspective. Of course, one can't walk blindly into a situation and accept everything, but I'm fairly confident that I will be working and exploring in a very encouraging environment.

This book tells me that hot climate cultures emphasize making people feel comfortable in relationships. This even takes priority over telling the truth. The preface mentioned above seems to be a good example of this. I never really understood why people ask me 'how are you?' when its obvious that they don't really care how you are. It becomes really apparent when the conversation goes like this:

"Hi, how are you?"

"I'm great, how are you?"

"I'm doing good, how about you?"

"Uhhh... you already asked me that"

"....O ya"

I've had that conversation before, I'm pretty sure most of you have too. But after reading this book, I'm realizing that the 'how are you' greeting is pretty awesome. It reminds us that life is really about relationships and people, and not merely focused on efficiency and progress, something I very much like to get caught up in. So next time I see you, I'll probably ask you how you are, and I'll try my best to mean it:)

james

EMI Bound

2008-10-19T21:15:00.000-07:00

This is my first blog ever. I feel like i'm entering a new realm. a place where i don't know simple rules or etiquette. Do i need to capitalize, or is it more like a text message. Not that i'm good at text messaging either. Maybe I'll put forth the effort and do things as properly as possible. Maybe even add some alliteration in at times.

There is a reason for this blog, you may have already figured it out but I'll tell you a short version of how I got from there to here. Back when I was just a youngling and backpacking around Europe in 2005, I was trying to figure out what to do with my life. I was vaguely interesting in biology and I had told my father to enroll me in Neuroscience at the UofL. Then I met a stranger that kind of made me shift directions.

Some friends and I were riding our bikes around Geneva. Being on vacation and all, I thought that nothing could be better than taking an afternoon nap in a park. We found some grass and I quickly fell asleep. I awoke a while later to find my friends playing hacky sack with this french hippie guy. I joined in and after a while we got to talking. Lo and behold he was an engineer. I'm sure how, but within the hour, this guy had convinced me that engineering was a direction worth taking. I say direction because none of us really know what we want to do in life; I see an opportunity, and seize it if it seems like a good idea at the time. Engineering seemed like a good idea at the time, so I called my dad back in Canada and got me to transfer my studies. I'm terrible with names, and I don't remember the french guy's name, but I do have a picture of him. He's the one in the middle with the hippie-ish hair.

Three and half years later I'm living in Edmonton and trying to find some way to satisfy my craving for adventure and to follow God's lead. I found out about this awesome organization called Engineering Ministries International (EMI). Their basic mandate is to serve the poor and our brothers and sisters in Christ around the world through engineering. This means that when an orphanage, or school, or church, or retreat center or any other non-profit organization needs help in planing/designing/building new facilities, EMI can help. They can take an organizations vision and put it on paper. This includes things like long term design plans, architectural drawings, construction drawings and utility plans. These things aid the organizations in fundraising, getting government grants and approvals and in construction. Last year they did this for 80 some organizations. There is lots more stories and such at emiworld.org.

God is very mysterious. I've never heard his voice before but there have been times that I've been so sure of Him. I applied for a volunteer position with EMI and then proceeded to ask friends and family and pray and read scripture to see if this is something worth doing. I never got a definitive answer. But volunteering does seem like the best thing to do at this time. It seems like lots of past experiences have prepared me to do something like this and that everything is falling into place. This past summer I had a job working for DeBeer's as a geologist. For some reason it wasn't until I was at the mine that I realized how unqualified I was be working as a geolgist. I'm studying civil engineering. You'd think that would have clicked in my head when I applied for the job. But somehow I landed the job and was able to have an awesome summer while still making enough money to even consider the idea of not working for the next 20 months (12 months of school and 8 with EMI). There's lots of other things that seem to coax me in taking this direction.

And last monday I was accepted as a volunteer intern with EMI. I'm moving to their office in Costa Rica in January 2009 and will hopefully be there until August. I get to learn Spanish. And I'm being billeted with a local family so there is no avoiding the language. Right now I only know 2 words (and they aren't the swear words). I'm very excited. I think that God calls us all to live in community and serve each other. I think I've found a way that really fits with who I am.

So this is my new blog. I've been contemplating this book called God's Smuggler by Brother Andrew lately and I'm trying to figure out what role community plays in this endeavor. This is my first attempt at involving you and telling you whats been happing in my life. I'm hoping that my writings will give a good account of what I'm doing and learning in the next year or so. And moreso how God is directing and using me and EMI and the people they serve. Everything for a reason right? Thankyou for reading. God Bless and Carpe Diem.

Jimmy-James

Pura Vida

Life as I know It

O People

El Terminar

The Last Leg

Elusive Culture Points

Atenas

the Faithful Language Barrier

Fridays with Marcos

Next Project

Not Enough Trees

There and back again

Update Letter

All in this Together

Cold...But Intelligent

A piece of everyday Life

My First Sader

The Water That Be

Prayers

All that is Water

Excitedly Awesome

On the plus side

New Economics

Photos

The Transcendent Passion

Newsletter

Ka-Ka

My new life as a 3 year old

A whole new Family

my bag

It has begun

Let the Adventures Begin

Orphan bikes

and they'll know we are christians by our t-shirts

A whole new world

EMI Bound