8 months later and going again

Well, it is a little strange to be doing this again. I have sat down a few times and worked my way through my messages again. It is strange to go back, to remember the stuff that struck me, and to now be a long way away from that. It is kinda scary, but yet awesome to go back and read stories that I had forgotten. It is awesome because the memories flood back with such a richness that really allows me to relive those moments. They also scare me because they make me realize how much I have forgotten. There is no way that I could even joke with myself to make believe that I can remember everything, but it is always sad to realize what you have forgotten.

As for a quick roundup on what has happened in-between these postings (though most of you already know this or may have only met me during this "in-between time." I spent my summer as a counselor at Camp Spalding just north of Spokane. It was an amazing experience to be surrounded by so many people who love Jesus so much and it was a blessing to be able to avoid the "standard" american life for a little longer. CASP was a very "this world" experience where we focused on the plight of humans and were trying to figure out how to seek humanity and social justice. Camp was quite oposite. We were working for something that was a little more supernatural. I feel like it was a good time for me to talk to God and to see what he thinks about life. I had a lot of fun, but by the time it was over, I feel like I had been separated from a lot of what I was fired up on when I got back in May.

After a family vacation to Canada, I moved into a house in Spokane with Cory and Caleb (who are getting their Masters in Teaching. From my first day there, I dedicated myself to living a simple life. I don't own a car (though thank you Alice for letting me borrow one during this snowy Christmas season) but have mainly used an old bike that I found in a shed at camp. I am trying to save up a good chunk of money to pay the government back for my student loans so that I can go abroad (and therefore continue writing for "the blender").

So that brings me to why I am writing again. On January 10, I'll be getting on a plane to go to Central America again. I am going to El Salvador with Mike Johansen to be an elections observer for the salvadorian municipal elections. We will be working with an organization called CIS (Centro de Intercambio y Solitaridad http:www.cis-elsalvador.org/ ). We will be working with them for a little more than a week. At this point it looks like a few days of culture and training in San Salvador, then a few days observing in a smaller town and then back to write reports on our municipality. I am really excited about this job because it is something that truly interests me and because I think it is super important. About 70% of salvadorians don't have faith in this or the presidential election in March. ARENA and the FMLN (the two main parties) are the two most opposed main parties in the Western Hemisphere. They are both slandering each other in ways that put McCain and Obama's mudslinging to shame. This is only a year after 60 people were killed in the elections process a boarder away in Guatemala. Of course this is a country that is full of gang violence and only 16 years away from signing a peace treaty. Not to make it sound more dangerous or to blow anything out of porportion, but this is an important time for the country. The FMLN is leading in the polls and it will be facinating to see what happens.

After observing, we are hoping to hop the border to Honduras and see our families there. I got a letter from the Gutierrez family (my Honduran family) a couple weeks ago. They were really hit hard by the heavy rains this fall. Some of the CASPers have been talking about finding a way to help out and so I hope that Mike, Richie (separately going down) and I can give a little better picture of what was/is going on.

Well, this is getting long (which is a great habit of mine), so I'm going to conclude. I am excited to go back and I hope that you can share my excitement too. Keep checking back, I won't flood your inbox, but just want to keep you posted.

Prayer Requests

• safety: when I tell people what I am doing, I usually get the "won't that be dangerous?" question. I don't think that I will be in too much danger. I will be smart about it and I pomise to not do too much stupid stuff. But I do want the safety blanket of the Big Guy too.
• A good election: duh
• good times with the family: also duh
  
• That I can use this time as a way to grow and know better where I am supposed to go with my life
• God shows more of himself

Thanks for reading. I'm not going to make any promises about shorter posts, but I'll try to keep you posted. I love you.

I'm back on American Soil (an not an embassay)

It is wednesday morning and I have been here in spokane since about 10pm on friday night. Since then, I have been in a whirlwind of seeing people, debriefing, and now making the presentation (SATURDAY 2:30 IN THE WHITWORTH AUDITORIUM). I want to say thank you to all of you who have welcomed me back and to all of you who have expressed reading these messages, so lucky for you, here is the last one.

After leaving San Salvador, the team split up into 2 groups. Half of us went to a town called La Mora and the other (my group) went to another called Las Vueltas (which is close to the honduran border). So we took a nice little chicken bus up to the town of Caltenango where we met the leaders of the youth ogranization that was putting together our homestay. We then piled into the back of a truck and headed 20 minutes up the hill to Las Vueltas. When we arrived, we walked into the parque central where there there were many pro-FMLN (the leftist party) paintings and murals, two sculptures representing those who had died fighting in the civil war in the area, and then an un-exploded bomb. So, in the first minute of being there we felt that we had a general understanding that this town was very involved in the conflicts during the 80s. We split off into homestays. I went with Travis to the home of one of the leaders of the youth organization's house. Her name was Areli. This began the rediculusness of this homestay. Travis and Areli were always making fun of each other and it made being there very fun. That night we played soccer (like normal) and then headed to bed. The following morning we woke up early do go do some community building work (like Community Building Day, but in spanish). So the ladies went to pick up garbage in the park and in the river and the men headed up the mountain with machetes and such to go do some "heavy labor." After hiking up the hill, we came upon a clearing with a bunch of rocks with hyroglyphics on it. our guides looked around and said "oh, well.... all of the clearing looks like it has been done......lets go pick some mangos." so that is what we did. We also found a rusty clip from an M16. This really brought the war to reality and put it in my hands. One of our guides said that there was a town near there where the government had come in at 3 in the morning and massacred 600 people by noon. I am still reeling from those numbers and the reality of those stories. finally, the girls got up there and were quite angry of how easy our day was. then we headed back and watched the ladies of the town (and cheri and Fletchface) play softball. 
The next morning, we began a hike up the mountains. We were told that this was a 20 km hike, but personally, i don't believe it. It did take us within one hill of being back in honduras. at the top, there were caves that had been carved out of the hillside where the guerrellas had hiden, had a hospital, and held their radio as to hide from the government forces. I really was struck in the hospital cave because there were so many people who did not make it out of those caves and had put down their lives fighting for the lives of others. this was not an idealisit war for them. it was a war for survival. I really advocate for peace, but my host mom was forced to take up arms to ensure the safety of her children.
On Sunday morning, we watched people squeeze sugar cane, then went to mass. it was a good mass, but the interesting part was at the end when the priest lambasted the congregation for not turning out for the local protests against foreign owned mines. He also talked about how there was going to be a procession on May 14 to remember the massacre. In the evening, the town made us dinner. It was cool to see the way that they were excited about us coming and the future that they had.
Then monday, we hit the road. it was sad to see the town left behind because this was one of our favorite homestays because the people were sooooooo excited to have us there and we really benefitted from their lives. We then, after picking up the other group and going to Pollo Campero, went to a retreat center in the town of Tacuba which was close to the border with Guatemala. There we did debriefing for a few days. One of the days, we went canyoning in the national park "el impossible." This is when you hike through a river and whenever you get to a point when you can't hike, you cliff jump. it was AWESOME. that night we went to hot springs too. one of the most fun days of the trip.
our last night there, we had a coffee house where people did little things to commemorate the trip and to remember the amazing experiences we had done. I just gave flowers to everyone, but some sang songs, or preformed poems, or said what we are going to be doing in 25 years (apparently I will be winning the portland marathon without leg cramps). Then at 2am, we hit the road, the plane, and were back in the states.

so this is basically it. Thank you so much for reading these messages, replying, sending mail, and praying for me. You all are amazing and I would love to hang out. Please, let me know if you want to spend time. I have literally NOTHING to do next week. so send me a message. but more importantly COME TO THE PRESENTATION. well, actually, it is more an introduction to what we did. we will try to scratch the surface of what we did and how it affected us, but if you love me or any of the other 24 students, you should be there (I do understand if you can't though). but a reminder, it is SATURDAY, MAY 10, 2:30PM, COWELS AUDITORIUM.

thank you all.

muchas gracias con mucho amor.
Jose

last message from down here?

hey everyone,
i am writing what may be my last email from central america. wow, that is a strange thing to say. all those years of waiting, all these weeks of doing it and now it is coming to a close. so, i don´t remember when i last sent a mass email. it may have been in nicaragua. so we have been here for a week and a half. salvador has been one of the most packed, but yet awesome times we have had. we are staying at a hotel that we have basically taken over and so it is like a home. our first days we went to work with a program that helps kids stay out of the gangs. gangs are a huge problem down here and they have absurd amounts of power. so it was cool seeing people embrace the alternatives. the next day we had probably the most intense day of the trip. we began the day with an economic status of the country at the UNDP building. that was pretty cool. then we went to the UCA (University of Central America) campus and had a lecture of 500 years of salvadorian history in 1 hour. crazy. everything from colonization to the civil war (which is such a crazy and hard topic). our professor (Karla Morgan) wen to this university, so she gave us a tour of the school. we then went to the site of where 6 professors and a cook and her daughter were brutally murdered by the salvadorian military in 87. it was so moving. (that sentence does not give it credit, but i really don´t know how to explain waht looking at that rose garden that holds so much history in it means, sorry. lets have coffee sometime and maybe i can help you to see it). then finished the day with a lecture on modern salvadorian politics (which is sooooooooooooooo polarized). the next day we went to the national assembly, visited with ARENA (the conservative party) and the FMLN (the liberal party). it was amazing seeing the differences between the two parties stances and just the way they viewed the world. we then had a day of visiting museums and just hanging out here in san salvador. i love riding buses. the next day we went to the site where Archbishop Romero was shot while he was giving the mass. that was a very emotional visit because his life and death has really affected the life of the country and to go stand on the place where he was killed is mind boggling. there was a museum there too where they had his blood stained robes and pictures of his body as they rushed it out of the building. honestly i have had nights that i cant go right to sleep because i am being tormented by these pictures.
The next day we went out to a community called Huisisilapa where the the whole community was forced to flee to honduras for safety. when they came back, the organized themselves into a community that is working for the good of all and is doing really good work. there was a youth gorup there that was doing good work (including building a full sized soccer field). they had a town radio that i got to talk on too. monday we went to the US embassay and had a conversation that we felt actually didn´t feel terrible about. then we went to hang out and work with a GBLT rights group that were pretty cool. yesterday we had a free day, so instead of doing homework like everyone else, i and a couple other people went to a world class surfing beach and ripped the nar-nar. and then today we went to a different beach and played in the surf.
tomorrow we are going to go out to communities that are beginning ecotourism homesay stuff and we are going to be their guinea pigs. and then the last few days will be debriefing at another lodge.

so that is the trip. wow... thank you all for the paryers, hopes, emails, letters, and random thoughts. i really know that i couldn´t have done it without you. this is important MY PRESENTATION IS MAY 10. please come if you are near to spokane. ti wont be a compelte description o fwhat went on but it will be an introduction. also, i would love to spend time with you all. i don´t know if i will be able to tell you my deepest secrets or how i am going to change my life, but i can give you want i can. so yea, i guess i will see you all soon.

new pics

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2018575&l=1c45c&id=59400432

yea, check em out

Since Easter

first of all, it is HOT. i would say about 95 degrees F and really freakn humid. also, this keyboard has somehow switched the y and z character. which is annoying.my life since easter. well, the day after easter, we all hit the road to managua, which was a long day (most of which was spent at the boarder). we then spend a few days doing lectures and embassay visits. we heard some great stuff on how CAFTA screws the common man (from both anti cafta people and the pro-cafta US embassay). really didnt make me proud of my countrys foreign policy. we then headed up into the norther parts of the country to a town called Sontule which had a strong co-op presence and was greatly affected by the contra war. my host dad spent 6 years hiding in the mountains to escape both sides because he was afraid of serving. we also climbed 75 feet into the air inside a strangler fig tree. then we headed to a town called cuidad dario (the birthplace of ruben dario if that is your type of info). there we worked with a group called seeds of learning wich helps school projects in nicaragua and el salvador. i was really impressed with this program because one of their goals was to humanize everyone. all the times that got together began with everyone, both gringo and not, saying their name. this simple expresssion of what is important in a human was rally impactful for me. the project was good. we painted a run down school (thanks power painting for the expertise) and played with a lot of kids. yesterday we came back to managua and we are enjoying a day off (kinda) which we have spent writing papers to send back to spokane with Jim Hunt, who leaves tomorrow. Karla Morgan arrived with the group this afternoon and her spunk is already apparent. so, that is about all for now. hopefully i will be able to put up some more pics or something soon, but at least know that i love you all. i will stop now because i have recieved messages about how i write too much. so yea. with lovejose(GO Ms)

happy Christ´s Passover night

hello everyonei hope that this email finds you well. i shoudl note that this keyboard is pretty worthless and so i am likely to have some ill spelled words. but it has been a long time sicne i have sent a mass email (actually, i think it has been at least a country since the problems that i thought i had in Tegus). but we are here in costa rica as we have been for some time now. i do not know the exact day when we arrived but it was about three weeks ago. the first thing that we did was to go to punta mona. punta mona is a hippie commune (basically) on the carribien coast of costa rica. there we learned a lot about sustainable living and tried to debrief the honduras home stay that i talked about in my last big email. that is something that we are still trying to deal with, but that isn´t the point. punta mona was a great time for our group to just enjoy being together and learning about sustainable living. i have never spend that much time that close to the ocean, but living in board shorts (only board shorts) for a week, is a great experience. we also kyaked, made chocolate, ate some great vegetarian food, and just loved the group. after a week of using the compost toilets and living in the wall-less yoga hut, we came back here to san jose for a week (this is something like the 10th or so) and had lots of lectures on everything from tourism to CAFTA to indigenous history. we also were fortunate to spend a morning with an amazing man named Don Juan Stamm who is a gringo who spend his life supporting and doing theology to help the people of central america and had some great stories. then in the afternoon we went to the american embassay and were fed a lot of disheartening and incorrect information from a worldview that i don´t know if i agree with anymore. (apparently the state department doesn´t have numbers on whether or not there is an increase in the number of illegal immigrants to the states, but yet they are building a wall...). We then packed up and went up to the University of Georgia´s San Luis Research Center which is also an ecolodge for groups. from there we did some more study on the importance of ecological sustainability, free trade, and ecotourism. we also spend a day riding on zip lines and eating really good ice cream (yea, we were tourists). then we spend two nights in home stays up in San Luis (the town). it was really interesting to see the difference between the families there and the ones that we lived with in Honduras. these were generally better off financially and had more material goods and really the kids were really happy. today, we came back to san jose and i tried to go to a soccer game between saprisa (the team from san jose) and a mexican team, but because the game was sold out, we didn´t have enoguth money to pay for all of us to go, so i hope that at this moment, the ones that we gave the money to are having a great time and we will see. so in the words of kelsey orr "Joe, that is so long, who is going to want to read that?" so i am going to stop. but happy holy week to everyone. all of you at whitworth, enjoy your spring break and to everyone please go out and remember the sacrifice that our lord made on the cross, but also remember how awesome easter sunday is. (Catholics focus too much on friday and protestants only care about sunday, find a mix). but Dios Bendiga. I love you all. check out the new pictures on the facebook profile and enjoy the face that he is risen and that we are saved. in himjoe

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2018575&l=1c45c&id=59400432

I am alive and well

so this post is actually two in one. for those of you who keep up on it here, you are in luck. after some internet craziness, i have found my other post and am now writing from here in San Jose, Costa Rica. we are just relaxing a bit before we head to punta mona in the morning. I will be off the grid again until next saturday at least, but i will keep you guys more informed when i can. so yea, here is my other, longer message from the other day.

hey everybodycontrary to the bet that we all had, i did not recieve any machete wounds during my time in the campo. first, i have to say thank you to all of you who send me messages in response to my messages or just to wish me a happy birthday. reading those has been a really happy experience to know that i still have people who i am close to back home. (oops, i just spilled someones 7up). so what happened to me. where do i start. on friday feb 8, we left copan ruinas (sorry, all city names will be in spanish) and went to La Entrada. there seven of us split off to go to our homestays which were close to la Entrada (that is me, Richie, Kristina, Cheri, Glen, Travis, and Gillian). we later became known (mostly to ouselvse) as the San Carlos Seven (more on the name in a few minutes). after going to a meeting of some local mayors, we were taken off in groups of 1 or 2 to our areas. i went with Kristina to an area known as trinidad de copan and after a little car switching, our mayor took me to my town called Quebraditas. The house that i lived in had a mom (who was about 45), a 20, 17, 12, and 10 year old sons, a 16 year old daughter and her 18 year old live-in boyfriend-fiance guy. honestly, the first few days were hell. i know spanish pretty well and i was having basically no problems understanding people before this, but the accent of the family and this region was REDICULOUS. the washington accent is based out of the front of the mouth pronoucing all s sounds very solidly, but they talk out of the back of their mouth. needless to say, we had some serous communication problems. it was a real struggle. the first morning, i woke up and wend to cut (i mean pick, but the word is cortar which literally means cut in spanish and so that is what we use) coffee. coffee looks just like a red grape when it is really ripe. the bushes are usually 6-10 feet tall and you just pick them off the tree and drop them into a bucket that you keep tied around your waist. when the bucked is full, you go and put it all into your bag and continue. we worked until about 11 when one of my host brothers would bring coffee and lunch to eat. then at about 2 we would pack up and walk back to the main station thing. there we would measure our cutting by five gallon buckets (known as galones). at first i was unaware that when they asked how many galones you picked, they meant how many buckets, not how many gallons. so when my 1 and a half buckets was multiplied out to be 8 gallones in my head, they were really impressed. then i learned. i usually picked somewhere between 1 and a half and 2 and a half buckets with a high of 3. we were not working on the land that my family owned so i was actually paid (about L. 250 or 12 bucks for 5 or 6 days). it really made the how little they make real to me. this was pretty standard for my life. but i would not cut every day. some days i did not do anything. others i worked around the house or went to find firewood. one day the San Carlos 7 got together at the loca fair just to hang out. this day was amazing and really important for my psyche because i had only been speaking apanish for over a week at this time and it was amazing just to relax with some of my favorite people (just like you all). this day was kinda funny because we went to watch a soccer game between the local mayors, and at half time, they just started handing everyone (players and spectators) tecate. it was a good day. my family was really cool. my mom was the local, governmentally designated know it all. this meant that anytime any agencies would come to the area, they went straight to talk to her. then i got to talk to them. so that led to some good info on loca economics and stuff. the downside of my homestay was that we had electricity and a tv. thus while other members of our group spent a lot of their evenings talking, my family would just watch telenovelas (spanish soap operas) or bootleg DVDs of either music videos or crappy movies. i really enjoyed my time there. i nad a lot of time to think about myself, the world and how everything came together. eventually some of the language problems went away (but i still have no idea what my mom said most of the time). i have some great stories though about the time my knocked a guy out, playing soccer for the towns team, going to a waterfall to drink beer with the mayor, and a crazy leaving confusion. needless to say, my life is a little fuller and brighter now. i really do not know how i have been changed, but we will see. thank you all for you prayers and such. we are flying out to costa rica tomorrow and i will leave email contact for a week again on sunday. so please, say hi, and all that stuff. i will email again soon, but i love you all and so does jesus.in the one that kept me safe and is shaping my life

joe