Kinda Sorta

So I KINDA...SORTA...maybe possibly didn't write about Belize at all. But there was no internet! And I was having too much fun there to write it down. It was an amazing trip. We stayed in Belmopan and worked at the King's Children's Home building a new one for the 90+ kids that are crammed in to a little house. Mama Leonie is the only one there taking care of them and relies on volunteers to come and help out. We got to tile floors, do roofing, and work and play with the children in the afternoon. There were lots of cute kids, but I especially loved Zenida. She cried when we left, which was really sad. There was also a little cutie named Emerson who was Rachel's favorite too. Speaking of Rachel, it was so nice to see her and catch up. On the day the rest of the SM's went snorkeling, Eric, Karli, Rachel, and I went to Caye Calker to get coffee and go out to eat. It was nice to eat and hang out with her because we haven't talked in so long! Another fun day was when we went cave tubing. It was so dark that we used headlamps and floated through the caves. We even passed a mini waterfall and a wind tunnel! The best part was bonding so quickly with the other volunteers. There were around 20 of us, and it was such a great group that we almost became automatic friends.

The next thing I'm thinking about is Summer 2014. This summer I'm working at camp, so that's all booked, plus our family is moving to Chicago so my dad can be the Vice President of the conference. But the summer after that, I'm all free to go! Katie and I had a meeting with Jeanne today to talk about possible options and we came up with three solid ideas. The first idea would be to go to teach ESL in Indonesia. I would love that because it's right by Bali, which I've always wanted to go to! We could also travel and that would be amazing. The only downside is that Jeanne doesn't know much about it because no SM's have gone there in a really long time. The second option would be to Cradle of Love Orphanage in Arusha, Tanzania. That's the baby orphanage that Beth went to last year. It would be amazing to go there and get to spend time with all those adorable babies, but the problem with that one is that there is no stipend. This means that we would probably have to raise double the money for just three months. I think that would be cool though because we could hopefully travel to Nepal or India! The last place that we were looking at is Thailand. This would be a different kind of call. The first two months would be teaching ESL to different people in the city. After we did that, we wouldn't technically be missionaries under Walla Walla anymore, but would be under the conference. Then, for that last month, we would try to go to this place called the Bamboo School off in the jungle of Thailand. We wouldn't have internet and would have to sleep in thatched huts. We would also get the job of being "ambulance driver", whatever that entails. It would be awesome, except the school isn't legally allowed to send us to the Bamboo School, so we would be on our own. There are just so many options that it's hard to pick! I wish I knew what to do. These are just a few of the options too! We could go back to Belize to work at the Home, we could go to an island to start VBS and day camps, or we could try to go to Bangla Hope in Bangladesh. I wish I knew what the best option would be. At least we have a whole year to figure it out!

Take Two

Well, here I am again. It's been such a long time since I've blogged that it feels foreign now. In Palau I really wanted to share my experience with everyone back home, so they could feel the way I did. It almost seems like now that I'm back, I don't have a story to tell. BUT! This week I found out that I will be able to go to Belize on a short term mission trip over spring break! I am so excited, because ever since leaving Palau, I've been so excited about mission work.
We are going to get to go to an orphanage and help build some more rooms for the children We are also going to put on a VBS program. It's extra exciting for me because right now my friend Rachel is there doing six months of SMing, so I'll get a chance to see her which will be great! I'm worried because of the short notice I don't know if I'll be able to make enough money to pay for the trip. I will most likely be paying for most of it myself, but I still really want to go and help out.
It's funny how much I think about missions now that I'm home. Besides Belize, I want to go to India for a summer as well. I have so many plans to travel! I want to go to Europe to see Tami and Jeanine in two summers, and the summer after that I want to try to go to India. Traveling is really a disease.
Anyway, I'm here at Walla Walla right now just trying to survive. I'm taking this math class which is super hard, especially since I haven't taken math in four years. I also am in research writing which I know will start taking up a lot of my time. On the plus side, I have Austin here to support me. He's coming to Belize too! How crazy is that...two mission trips together. I just need to survive this quarter until spring break, and everything will be okay!