One Way United

It’s been quite some time since I’ve shown my face around here. With good reason: the trip was done. However great and amazing it may have been it was finished. It was in the past and it was time to move on. Interesting that after such a long time of being on the move, when all was said and done and it came time to actually move on to something else I took my sweet time about it. Fortunately, since I was flat broke, I had the advantage of having a ready-made home to go back to.

No rent, free food, instant job, gotta love the parents. So I moved back into the room that had been mine all through my high school years. It’s changed a bit since then, but it was still considered mine (or at least my storage closet). And I went back to the job I held all through high school (and even a year or so prior) as well. It was different store and all entirely different people, but it was almost scary how quickly I got back into it. It was almost as if I’d never left.

So this is what filled my days during the numerous months that followed the end of my great Latin Adventure. My evenings were filled with provolone and pepperoni and my days were filled with…well…mostly nothing. Not to say that I spent all my spare time staring into space (although there was a fair amount of that). I did engage in numerous little projects to make it seem like I was busy. But by and large I did nothing really of consequence. I’d read. I’d organize my old stuff. I’d go running. I’d take the dogs for a walk. I’d visit with my folks when they were around. And there was thinking, a lot of thinking. But as far as moving forward I wasn’t really doing a whole lot of that. Sure, I was saving some good money from working so much. And as far as everyone around me was concerned I was saving and waiting for the time when I would move out and go back to Seattle. This had always been what I’d told people what I was going to do after the trip was over and I was able to. But what I failed to tell everyone was that I was no longer sure that was what I wanted.

The first time around when I was living in Seattle it was indeed one of the greatest chapters of my life. I made incredible friends. I had a wide variety of awesome experiences. I grew so much through college and I firmly believe that going there was one of the best decisions I have ever made. It’s never really easy to explain to anyone why I chose to go to Seattle in the first place. I’d never been there. I didn’t know too much about it. I had no family there and knew absolutely no one. And yet aside from UNR (a mere 40 minutes from my mother’s house) the UW was the only other school I actually applied to. Why? I don’t really know, but I like to think God meant for it to happen.

So the first time around was good, but would another go be just as good or hopefully even better? I honestly couldn’t say. I knew from the moment I moved out of Seattle the first time after college that if I were to ever come back things would be a lot different. But I had no better ideas. Every once in a while I’d pray to God to give me just a little hint that going back would be the right choice. God chose to be ambiguous on the subject, which I think He did on purpose.

So eventually I did it. Through the grace of a good friend (who I couldn’t have done this without) I was offered a place to stay in Seattle and I set a date for the journey back to the Pacific Northwest. It was a very intense period for me filled with equal parts excitement and nervousness. Even though I was going back to a place I knew well I still really didn’t know what to expect. But the diving into the unknown is what makes life an adventure, so I made my plans while trying to believe that if I trusted in God everything would work out well.

I love road trips. Watching the world go by from the driver’s seat and venturing where I please, the world unfolding before me. It was a good trip down winding roads through gigantic redwood trees and passing traffic logged streets of enormous cities. From Carson City to San Francisco to Portland to Seattle and the many miles inbetween, through sunny skies to pouring rain to dense fog and even a freak blizzard, through solitary dinners at Burger King, quiet hotel rooms, and evenings reminiscing with old friends it seemed like I went through it all. Eventually, I made it. I discovered a new place and was reunited with friends I hadn’t seen in ages. Then it was time to set about making a new life for myself. This has had its ups and downs.

If I were to use a negative word to describe my time here so far it would be “lonely”. Living essentially on your own isn’t easy sometimes. Sometimes it can be downright miserable. I’ve always been a very independent person who strives to be self-reliant first and foremost, but when you spend several nights in a row at home all alone it can put you in a somber mood. If it extends into the weekend it can be downright depressing, especially if you’re someone like me who takes the utmost joy in positively spending time with people. Another aspect that takes some getting used to is that oftentimes you end up going out in public and doing things alone too. Eating, the movies, a basketball game, if you aren’t careful you can feel a little outcast in the middle of a crowd. It can be particularly hard to sit by yourself in a church pew and look around at all the couples, the families, the friends who are there sharing in the grace of God and no matter how close you sit there’s at least three feet between you and the nearest person. Feeling like you’re alone in your faith is indeed one of the saddest places to be. Yet every week I still go because it’s important to me and I still feel that I get something out of it. God is with me always. I know that. And I think if it were always easy it wouldn’t be faith.
But even still for all the reasons I listed and a few more that I haven’t being back in Seattle has at times been almost intolerably hard. I knew it would be difficult and lonesome at times, maybe even a lot of the time. I wasn’t in anyway expecting it to be all easy and effortless, but sometimes I feel like there should be a little more than what there is. So you can imagine what happened next: I began to wonder if perhaps I’d made a mistake in coming back.

It’s an honest question, but the trouble with it is that it’s not really easy (or maybe even possible) to answer it. Once again I turned to God and prayed, asking for some sort of hint that I’d made the right choice, and once again God was resolutely silent on the matter. In the end I settled on one thing: I made a choice, and every choice has consequences both good and bad. The one true mistake would have been to choose to make no choice at all and remain back in my mother’s home waiting for I don’t know what. Was coming back to Seattle the best thing I could have done? Maybe not, but it was a start, and every journey has to start somewhere. And with commitment, love, and passion almost any choice can be made into the right choice.
If I were to pick a positive word to describe my time here so far it would be “hopeful”. In every day there is an opportunity; it’s all a matter of having the courage to take it. Life may be a lot different than it used to be, and certain things that I may have expected may no longer be in the cards. But God is there guiding me. He may not always be clear, but there is a reason for all that He does and He abandons no one. And there is an element of excitement in all of it. His blessings are everywhere, especially in the hard times, for that is where you grow the most. There is a place for everyone in his kingdom and the adventure of life is His gift. I look forward to my journey, whatever it may hold.

Share on Facebook

I have been home now for almost a week and in some ways the whole entire journey feels like some sort of dream that I have just woken up from. Did I really just spend the last 8 months traveling through Latin America? Did I really see penguins in Patagonia, hitchhike through southern Chile, swim in a secret spot in Iguazu Falls, witness a midnight Incan ritual in the middle of Lake Titicaca, hike the Inca trail to Machu Picchu, or become the one of the first tourists to see ancient Incan walls with white-stoned llamas? Did I really see the endless Bolivian salt flats, go bike riding in the Atacama desert, float through the Amazon jungle, watch volcanic eruptions in Costa Rica, see giant ancient Mayan pyramids, or meet the new Vice President of Peru in the middle of an election day riot? I feel like I bumped my head, dreamed the whole thing, and woke up in my bed at my parents house. I don’t know how to answer when people ask me, “how does it feel to be back?” In a way it feels like I never left. Sure my house changed colors and my cat got fatter but all in all it seems like not much has changed.

Like in any crazy dream, it took a little time to compeletely adjust back to reality. It took a while walking through the Dallas airport thirsty before I realized the purpose of the shiny silver thing. It took a little bit of driving before I realized that I would not see random drunks peeing in the streets, children playing everywhere, starved dogs frolicking about, chicken busses careening out of control, or hear the constant honking of horns. I feel completely awake now but I find solace in the fact that the dream was real. I really did and saw all those things. I really lived out of a backpack for 8 months. I may be back to what people like to call “the real world,” but for the majority of 2006 that dream was my “real world.” Every time a person I met from my journey emails me, my face lights up as I am reminded that the crazy, unfathomable dream actually happened. I have now woken up from one dream and am ready to begin another. I don’t know what will happen yet but I am excited to experience it. For me, there is no reality.

*I know a lot of you may be curious about the details of my return back to Seattle. I decided on the 9th that I was going to come home so I bought a ticket that day and came home on the night of the 12th. I have spent the last week just surprising people (including my sister on her birthday). Nobody had any idea I was coming home…I led my parents to believe I was going to volunteer with Safe Passage for a month or longer. There will be more to come on One Way United. There are still some pictures that I will post of the trip and I will write more on my decision to come home, my final days, what this journey has taught me, highlights, and so on. But for now, I want to say thank you to everybody that supported us as we were living a dream. There have been so many people that have prayed for us and have been so encouraging before and throughout the journey. Thank you!

Share on Facebook

*Pictures of the thursday tour in Guatemala City are now up*

Hanley Denning was just an ordinary recent graduate when she was studying Spanish in Antigua. The day before she left home, she got an invitation to see the Guatemala City garbage dump. There she witnessed the dark reality that thousands of people faced everyday living there. Finding things from the dump to recycle was their only income. The children helped by digging through the trash or taking care of children smaller than themselves. Everywhere, she saw poverty at its worse. People lived in cardboard boxes and everyday, they would do the same thing. They would dig through the trash. To survive. They only lived days at a time and the saddest part was there was no hope. There were children everywhere who would never be able to afford an education and whose potential would never be realized. They had no options in life, except for digging through the trash, hoping to find enough material to survive on. Hanley was so moved by what she saw, that she decided to do something about it.

In 1999, Hanley founded Safe Passage (Camino Seguro). It was an organization designed to fight poverty in the Guatemala City garbage dump through education. She raised $2000 before coming down to Guatemala. Her original plan was to select 15 children for her program. She started at a small chapel located next to the dump with the initial intention of providing a safe place for a meal while gradually building an educational program. From these humble beginnings, the organization exploded. Over 500 children are served today and Safe Passage is now one of the most successful children´s non governmental organization in Central America, raising $100,000 per month in support with hundreds of volunteers coming to help from all areas of the world.

I got a chance to take a tour of this organization and I was very impressed. On Tuesday, I visited Casa Hogar which is located in the town of San Pedro, a few kilometers away from Antigua. Casa Hogar was originally meant to be a Condominium but after years of trying to sell, the builder finally leased it to Safe Passage at a very cheap price. This is a place where neglected children living without homes can go and receive an education in a safe place. The children there were just like children. They were happy, full of life, and curious about the new visitors. As I walked around and witnessed how content the children were and knowing the hopeless situation from where they came from, it just made me so happy. These children would have the opportunity to go to college. These children would have choices. All because a young lady cared and was moved to act.

On Thursday, I visited the sites Safe Passage has near the dump in Guatemala City. The tour was led as a sort of crescendo. He led us first to the chapel where it all began. Then we went to their current primary education center where the younger children learn. The building is actually a warehouse right next to the dump complete with a cement slab as a floor and grey walls. However, it appears they tried to make it as colorful as possible as everywhere there are posters and drawings. After that we were taken to the recently constructed primary education center. The land purchased is directly on top of where the dump used to be. A couple of people from the University of Washington constructed all the buildings and did all the landscaping for the site and they did a fantastic job. This facility is not being used yet but it will be a great improvement to the spot they have now. After that, we visited the old Casa Hogar, simply a tiny house crammed in between other houses. This is now being used as a small educational center. Finally we visited the school for the older chilren. It is a huge building complete with dozens of actual classrooms, a library, a cafeteria, and even a computer room! I have to say I was extremely impressed on how big this organization has grown to be. This program, after only seven years, already has two college graduates, and there will no doubt be hundreds more.

Still, the children lucky enough to be involved with Safe Passage, only comprise roughly 25% of the entire population of children living in the dump. Despite the great success of the project, there is still a tremendous need. Thousands of children still dig through the trash to survive. If you have an interest in supporting Safe Passage or are just curious about it here is their website. This is a great organization making a huge difference.

*On a random note, I had one of those small world moments. I was accompanied on both tours by a couple that stayed at the same hostel that we stayed at in Quito, Ecuador. They have a fearless little girl who loves to be in the middle of everything which made for a fun tour! They plan on volunteering at Casa Hogar for 2 months. I am still undecided on what I am going to do.

Share on Facebook