The Speck

Right now, there are children scared of starvation in third world countries,
people dancing in Hollywood,soldiers dying in Iraq, and you reading this off your computer screen probably halfway across the world from me. And here I
am..standing still on a spinning planet in a country that is foreign
to me. I feel so helpless sometimes, a teeny tiny speck on a spotted
globe. But I feel more alive than I have ever felt. I just finished
reading "The Old Man and The Sea" by Ernest Hemingway. At the
beginning of the book, he has dreams of lions he once saw in Africa,
then the next day he goes through the trials and struggles of trying
to catch a fish and is defeated and tested many times. The last paragraph talks about how he
lies in his bed at night, dreaming of the lions in Africa.
I feel like the old man. Tested, struggling, defeated at times, and at
night no matter what, always lying with the lions. With my thoughts of doubt, joy, fear-The
new life I am experiencing is beyond what my mind seems to know how to
comprehend, so my thoughts always wander back to the same curious place.
My friend Dan, who is also an exchange student, had a good point..we
have been here near a month, eaten the food, met the people, spoken
the language and have had the short cultural experience we are used
to. He said he keeps thinking, "Okay, I did it, it's time to go home."
Now what we noticed is coming upon us is the feeling of our comfort zones leaving, and a new one coming. We are LIVING here. This is home! The new comfort zone is
foreign, and I almost find myself not wanting to let it consume me.
It's the familiar routine of walking through the rainforest to school,
looking around a crowded church of people speaking in a new language to me, and of being alone at night in the loud
peace of the rain knowing that this experience is mine. My life. So
many people exist and blur past me daily, new faces that I am
beginning to recognize, and I think back to the speck that about a
month ago was on Orcas Island. The same little speck.
The other day in assembly, which was in Spanish, I heard whispering
behind me so i turned around...there was a small second grader translating
to his friend. The face of the boy who was translating was all scrunched up,
concentrating carefully as he listened in Spanish to pick out the
words to use in English to tell his buddy. That same day there was a scorpion in Pre-Calculus. AHH! Every day really is an adventure!

As I am learning more Spanish, I notice that I mix Spanish and
English often..there are some words that just sound better in Spanish
or vice versa. Ultimate Spanglish!


I´ve been spending a lot of time reading through 1 John in English and Spanish, this verse is one of my favorites :)

1 John 4;18-19
En el amor no hay temor, sino que el perfecto amor echa fuera el temor. Porque el temor conlleva castigo, y el que teme no ha sido perfeccionado en el amor. Nosotros amamos, porque él nos Amó primero.

I miss you all and am praying for you always. I hope the beginning of the school year is starting off well!

EMMA