GUESS WHAT GUYS!

I’M IN ECUADOR!!!  WITH VALERIE!!!

And I can’t speak Spanish…  But I’m getting REALLY good at the whole “Yo no hablo español.”

I got off the plane yesterday earlier than expected, and through customs in like 5 minutes.  Not gonna lie it was somewhat terrifying.  Everything was in Spanish, and everyone was speaking Spanish, and I don’t understand Spanish.  There were ropes holding back the crowd all looking for friends and family coming off the plane, forming a gauntlet for me to walk.   Valerie’s bus was a little late, so once I made it outside I had a little while to wait.  The people are extremely nice here.  As I waited for Valerie three different people approached and asked if everything was all right and if I needed help.  I guess I kind of stood out…

Valerie finally came with two of her friends, and we took the bus from Quito (where I flew in) to Otavalo (where I’m staying).  Oh side note, two other groups from Northeastern were also on my plane to Quito, and the Alternative Spring Break group is actually working in Otavalo!  Maybe I’ll see them again later!  Anyway, by then it was bedtime and I was exhausted.

The next day we got up and went to the Baha’i Institute where an Intensive was in progress.  Valerie was one of the tutors, and thankfully they had a book in English so I could follow along.  They were working from the 5^th Ruhi book, “Releasing the Powers of Junior Youth.”  I really enjoyed learning about the Baha’i faith, and reading from the teachings of Baha’u’llah.  Here are some pictures from the Institute:

The boys playing soccer

After the Intensive, Valerie and I took a little tour of Otavalo and then went back so we could leave with the rest of the group for a community: Uiancha.  We jumped in the back of a truck* and road through the winding paths to the Uiancha, a community living more of the indigenous lifestyle.  There we first walked around by all the houses, through corn fields, and on random paths through the fields to let everyone know we were there to teach the Junior Youth and Children’s Classes.  Then the students came to this tiny room in front of the school building, more of a warehouse really, and we taught the lessons of the week.  

The Junior Youth and most of the group from the Institute

The Children's Class - And me!

After the classes we returned to the Institute for an Ayyam’i-ha celebration.  Ayyam’i-ha is a celebration and spiritual preparation for the Fast, which marks the last month of the Baha’i calendar.  It’s a four-day celebration that began today. 

I have already learned so much here, and my eyes have been opened to a whole new side of the world (I can now say I’ve been to the Southern Hemisphere!).  Tomorrow I’m going to the school Valerie teaches at and exploring more of the area. 

*Something right out of a movie not even joking.  Like 10 of us packed into the covered bed of a truck bumping along the dusty roads everyone yelling and joking around in Spanish.  

ECUADOR!!!

Tomorrow night at this time I will be talking face to face with Valerie, in Quito, Ecuador. For someone who has never left the continent (I’ve been to the Yukon Territory and British Columbia) this will be quite an experience.

I am excited beyond belief. Those 1000 little purple people jumping up and down and up and down and up and down in the purest most true form of joy imaginable inside of me from my first post about Ecuador are back and I can hardly contain them!

Not only do I get to see my best friend whom I haven’t seen since AUGUST!

Valerie and I on top of Lazy Mountain: September 2006

I am going to ECUADOR!

Since it is almost midnight and I’m getting up tomorrow at 5 to go to the airport…. I’m going to bed*. I’ll try to keep updating as the week progresses as best I can, and I plan on posting pictures as well!


*bed… I am WAY too excited to sleep.

Saving Grace

I changed some things. I needed a change.

I changed the name of this blog to Saving Grace. This created more problems than I had anticipated,* but overall I hope you’ll be able to see my reasoning. In August I decided on a whim to create a blog, I had no real reason for it, no specific purpose or ultimate goal. So when one of the first questions popped up asking me to give a title to my blog, I really had no idea what to choose. I picked the first phrase that came to my mind. Weeks later I thought of better names, after the fact, of course, like always. But when the title “Saving Grace” occurred to me I knew I finally had it right.

Saving Grace has multiple meanings for me. First of all, the obvious one, God’s saving grace.

“You were dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once lived, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient. All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else. But God, who is rich in mercy, out of great love for us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved – and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God – not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before-hand to be our way of life.” ~EPHESIANS 2:1-10

It is through God’s grace that I am saved. Through his love that I am alive today. Nothing is more important that this.

Second, my middle name is Grace. And since this blog has developed into me, I find it appropriate that my name be in the title.

Finally, I like a song called “Saving Grace” which kind of epitomizes my whole idea here:

She had her father's blue eyes

He left home before she arrived

Mama named her Grace

Just getting by on their own

When Grace was 15 she ran from home one December day

Grace is lost and alone in a world as cold as stone

God is counting on us to reach her with His love

It's all about saving grace 

All about living love

Being Jesus to those he came to save

Sharing life and giving our own away

It's all about serving God

All about saving Grace 

She'd never darken the door of any church

She would say, "what for... No one there would care for me" 

We have to go where she lives

Simply show her who Jesus is

Watch Him set her free

For grace flows down from above and faith requires a selfless love

For a world that's dying to see the hope in you in me 

It's all about saving grace 

All about living love

Being Jesus to those he came to save

Sharing life and giving our own away

It's all about serving God

All about saving Grace 

There are countless millions just like Grace 

Who need a merciful embrace

They won't believe our God is real

Until they feel his touch 

It's all about saving grace 

All about living love

Being Jesus to those he came to save

Sharing life and giving our own away

It's all about serving God

All about saving Grace

This is what it’s all about. Saving grace and living love, acting as a disciple of Jesus to the world and helping humanity, maintaining an outward focus of love and caring for others, and serving God with all your heart, mind, and soul.


*Sorry if by changing the URL I made it difficult for you to find my blog. I wanted a URL that coincided with the title of the blog and didn’t have my full name in it. I also apologize for the confusion with my facebook page. First my facebook disappears and then my blog! Emily has completely vanished from the face of the Earth! No, I’m still here; I just took a break from cyberspace for a while.

Live Freeze or Die

This weekend I had an Ultimate Frisbee Tournament!!! About 12 teams from the New England area met Saturday morning at the University of New Hampshire to play in the snow and cold. Despite waking at 5:45 to make the drive up and arriving with snow falling from the sky I was as excited as ever for my first tournament. I’m on the Valkyries, Northeastern’s Women’s Ultimate Frisbee Team, and for this tournament we combined with the Men’s team.

In March in Alaska, sometimes if you can time it right you can hit what’s called Spring Crest Skiing. This is when there’s a thin layer of hard snow or ice on top of the feet of powder, allowing you to go virtually anywhere on the mountain without difficulty. This is what I would compare the field we played on to. About a foot of snow under a crust a couple inches thick, not quite strong enough to support your full weight, but sturdy enough cut up your shins and ankles while trying to run through.

Needless to say, the games on that field were a challenge. In Ultimate Frisbee, the first team to score 12 points wins, and points are scored by catching the disc in the end zone. The combination of snow and wind and playing for the first time with the men’s team didn’t leave us very well put together. We lost the first two games 12 to 0.

After the second game we were assigned to the upper field that was shoveled. A completely different game! Running, catching, jumping… everything was so much easier, except throwing. The wind was blowing upwards of 40 miles per hour, which doesn’t sound that bad, unless you’re attempting to throw a flat piece of plastic with any accuracy. The team with the down wind end zone scored every time, and since the other team started that way first, they won by one point.

It wasn’t the greatest of showings for Northeastern, however we did all have a great time and learn more about the game. I learned how to play a zone defense and an offense to run if the opposing team runs a zone on you. I’m looking forward to our next tournament, where hopefully the weather will be more in our favor, with no frostbitten toes and wind-nipped ears. We didn’t stick around after our third game to see where we were seeded into tournament play, we had a pretty good guess though… Instead of staying for the soup they were serving* and one more game on the snow field, we went to TGI Fridays, had lunch, and then headed back to Boston. All in all, a great way to spend a Saturday.

*Bring your own bowl and spoon… WHO DOES THAT!?

Desiderata

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible, without surrender,
be on good terms with all persons. 

Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even to the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons;
they are vexatious to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain or bitter,
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs,
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals,
and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love,
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment,
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be.
And whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life,
keep peace in your soul. 

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world. 

Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.