PRIMER DIA!

Wake up, do my thing, get dressed, eat breakfast, get on the road. This was my list as I woke up this morning to prepare for my first real day on the job. What to expect? Will I have students on my first day? Honestly, what type of teacher is going to give up on a student in the first week and send them to a tutor? I really had planned on today being a sort of, "facebook/get to know the faces of kids" day. I loaded up my van with the essentials: laptop, phone, wallet, GPS, and a pen. Why the pen, I don't know, but why wouldn't a tutor have a pen? It just seemed to go with the outfit.

As I walk through the entrance fifteen minutes early, the principal, which I will not attempt to spell her last name, meets me at the front door. "Oh good, (all in a very strong Creole accent) we have been needing you. We have three students behind in reading!" Inside my head, thoughts were something as follows: "WHAT am I getting myself into? School has been in session and I already have three students needing my assistance?" Well, this is why they have me, so I smile and say, PERFECT!, acting as excited as I could fake as I walked straight back to my boys. Max, Jude, and Oliver sat waiting for me at the back table as they all were writing the story of their summers. I decided to let them write a bit, introduce myself, then ask to read their stuff just to examine what I was going to be working with. The following is an excerpt from one of the (and remember this key fact) EIGHTH grade boys.

"This sommer I in my bois hit the jim every day and we hade a lot of fune and plaiyed some bascetballe and then played XBOX360 and then i goe to the poole and tot my dad how to swem."

As I sat looking at this poor child's writing, I got excited as I saw how much opportunity I had to help this person out. Each of the three boys were equally as bad at writing and reading. They all had trouble reading books at the first grade level, in which the hardest word was truck, pronounced TROOKEE by one of the boys. So, I went to work teaching them to recognize words. I went into the school without a thought of teaching a person to absolutely teaching them a skill that would help them get through life. I took three boys from Little Haiti from this to the point that they were getting up, pointing and being excited as they corrected paragraphs that I purposely wrote wrong. I have never had such an inner feeling as I did at this point, as I noticed a person in the office peering into the room watching these boys have fun while doing something they have refused to do for eight! straight! years!! It was awesome!!!

This did not come as easy as I made it sound, but I often was getting frustrated as they would try to give up, throw in letters that were not even remotely close to anything in the word, and just say any word that came into their head, making absolutely no sense. As I saw these THREE boys give up, not try and just do only the amount required to get by, it made me think about how God feels when he sees us just edging by. Doing just the amount that we need to do to get by with our spiritual lives. How frustrated he must get when he sees SO MANY different people not even TRYING to make it right in their lives. I got so upset so quickly with three young men! Think about NATIONS going wrong. Tens of thousands of people, but then when God sees it "clicking" in just one or one small group, how awesome he must feel to know that this one person is saved or the right track with Him. This is how these boys made me feel. They were lead astray with their education as they didn't care. However, I related to these boys and showed them the attention that they had never received. I made learning fun for them as we talked about football and how much I am going to run them in the coming weeks. We had an instant bond, and I am excited (something I never thought I'd say) to go back to "school" on Wednesday and see these three. These three boys that offered to take their work home and make it better. To take their work home and correct it and ask questions to their parents, to be the best that they possibly could be. WOW! I think they are really spoiling me on the first day of school.

However, then came lunch time. The time I gladly volunteered to be in charge of. That is, before I knew that the lunch room was outside, and I would be "serving" the children like I do the guests in Olive Garden. As I take the plates to each individual student in the entire school, one by one, I feel my shirt sticking to my back as it eventually just becomes a saturated sponge which happens to be wrapped around my body. My light blue shirt is now navy and my very white skin "as the students say" is now shimmering in the sunlight that is beating down from above. I am soaked and have half a day to tutor still. I am miserable just remembering this. And then I think, o wait, this is going to be everyday until I leave. It does not get cold down here. The sun doesn't disappear for six months like I am used to at school. My great start to a day quickly declines.

The children are great and seem to like me a lot as I try to get into their mindset and try to get to know them. I was the only new teacher that the students lined up to feel my hair, as they had never had the chance to run their hand through a white person's hair. Two of the girls just kept rubbing it and rubbing it and feeling the straight hair go through their fingers. "That is crazy!," they would say. These same kids all come up to me after school with a giant, pearly smile and say they will see me tomorrow as they high five me. Kids don't do this to teachers they hate. They don't fist pound a teacher they don't respect. This is a great feeling! I now look forward to waking up in the morning.

On the way home from school, I picked up my two new room mates from the airport since it is right on the way home for me. And the fact I have plenty of room to carry them, and most likely the rest of the passengers on their plane in my creeper van. We get home and unite as our family for the next year, or four months in my case. It really is great to have an evening of "getting to know you" and an evening to set up the house we are going to be sharing in the coming months. Many people from the local DOOR community stopped by tonight for pizza, as they wanted to meet everyone new in the program and welcome us to city. I knew most everyone since I have been here for a week before the year actually started, which was great because I finally was not the one in the crowd talking to myself to keep entertained, yet, I could communicate with people that I felt I "know" from church.

It was a great day and I look forward to continuing with my work day to day and helping these three young men on their journey to the adult world. They truly have the spark in them to be great people, it is just getting people to learn how to connect into "their" world and get them to respect you as a teacher before they will let you in on their life. With this, I continue to thank God for my ability to still be a kid, relating to any age group or IQ level!

AND HE RESTED!

Sunday.  A time for worship.  But even more so, a time for rest!  What is it that makes Sunday afternoons such a lazy, enjoyable time?  This is the day that God rested, and therefore, he made it a day for us to rest as well!  And boy do I love it!

Today was such a relaxing day, as I spent the afternoon in deep conversation with my room mates as well as the assistant principal in my school, who is an ex-DOOR member who remains friends with the interns here at the house.  As our first day with "real" company, we engaged in such a meaningful conversation about God and how he placed each of us in this same place, and why we felt we were here.  It seemed like our own little church service together in our cozy little dining room.  After what seemed like 5 quick minutes, we looked at the clock, noticing it really had been 5 hours as it already was reading past five o'clock!  Where does time go on a relaxing Sunday afternoon.  Why does time NEVER go that fast when sitting in a teacher's meeting?!  I guess this is one of those questions that mom always said we could ask God when we went to heaven.  

Lately, our neighbor, a (around) 50-year-old Cuban woman (which I may have mentioned earlier) has been coming every day wanting to use our phone.  It has been a challenging thing in our house as we want to sh

ow the love of Christ to her, however, when it becomes an invasion of personal space as she stays for two hours and two bowls of our ice cream, it seems like too much!  She has been wanting to use our phone to call apartments, as she is trying to move with her husband to a better apartment across town.  We feel bad that our prayers consist of us praying that she will find one soon, so she will stop coming over and staying the rest of the day.  It wouldn't be so bad if she didn't promise to stay 15 minutes, which turns into an hour or two, and if she didn't smell so bad.  I just feel so bad for someone, as she always is wearing the same outfit and continually smells extremely foul!  How much can a hot, small house take when we already have numerous people living it with our own smells from across the country!  But today, as the door rattled with her fist against it, we opened it welcoming her in to use the phone.  However, she didn't ask to.  Instead, she grinned from ear to ear, happy to inform us that the got a house out of walking distance.  God does answer prayer!  It just takes us being continually nice AND time AND consistenc

y of the same prayer!  I feel bad aiming my prayers towards her getting a place so the visits are limited to none, but sometimes, when someone takes such advantage of kids who make 2 dollars a day, it just gets old!

The evening was filled with bea

ch volleyball at the University of Miami, just a few blocks south of the DOOR house.  Some ex-DOOR members were in town and wanted to play, so people from church, current and the ex DOOR members all assembled there to play.  It really was an entertaining night as people were present from Miami, Brazil, the Bahamas, Chicago, New York City, and Haiti.  What a diverse group of individuals who can share in a friendly game of volleyball, followed by a great conversation afterwards.  Only in Miami have I had the experience of having such a diverse group of people on any given night.  It truly is a cultural adventure as I meet differ

ent people each day from all around the world!

(The picture is of the sand volleyball courts at the University of Miami.  Never have I played sand volleyball with palm trees surrounding me.  Kinda brought a new meaning to "beach volleyball!")

Tomorrow marks the day of my first official day of work as a DOOR member, as I go at 9:30 EST to check in for my first day of tutoring at Yvonne Learning Center.  I am so excited to finally get to meet all the different students and be able to use the things I have learned at Hesston College and Goshen College as I can put my learnings into action and see if teaching is what God really wants me to do in life.  I have tried to tell God that is not what he wants, however, he told me to reconsider if after placing me here.  When does God talk, when do I (try to) run my life and when will I finally listen to my calling?  This is the question and thought that has really been running through my head lately!  Hopefully I get a letter in the mail tomorrow telling me, because that usually is much easier than waiting!

WHERE IN THE WORLD IS GOD?

So, we grow up learning that serving God in places less fortunate than we are is a great thing to do.  So, how do we determine the places that are less fortunate than us?  Would this be determined on the poverty level or certain geographical areas, or is it just a personal basis?  People told me as I left that hopefully I can be an example in Miami, showing them "God."  Growing up, I always was taught, or thought, that missionaries were sent from the places that had it together spiritually to show the less fortunate people about God.  Am I a missionary?  No, iI do not really consider myself to be, however, I think others may be.  Therefore, I am to be showing God to the less fortunate people of Miami, Florida.  Right?  It has taken me less than a week to notice that God is VERY present here.  Can he be more present in one place than he is in another?  If so, God is MUCH more present in Miami than he is in back home in Harper!  I am not saying this to cause a ruckus with people there, however, but so we can all get out of our comfort zones a bit.  While worshipping in Miami, people are so alive with the spirit and willing to share.  And what is the best part, these are not the older, more experienced Christians.  Yet, we have numerous people younger than me sharing their testimonies each week with the church, how they are changed, challenged, and tested by the holy spirit each week!  However, back home, I hear this only from the older generation.  I want to challenge the younger people to share how God is working in their lives, and encourage the older people to do the same, setting more of an example.  It is always the same people in my home church standing up to share.

So does this include getting out of your comfort zones?  Well heck yes it does!  Praying publicly is something I have never done, because I feel judged so often.  I can not pray up to the potential of others that I have heard, and when tried, I have been publicly humiliated about it.  And these are people in my home congregation!  My church family that is supposed to be so supportive.  Tonight, in the middle of the church service, I was asked to pray over a member of the church in front of everyone.  I felt the spirit moving through me and it was an amazing feeling as I prayed for a man who I met just a week ago in front of a church who knows nothing about me.  If anyone should criticize me, it would be these people.  The ones who don't know me from Adam.  However, I received great words of encouragement from many after the service of how well I did!  It was at this point that I realized...was I really sent here to spread God to the people of Miami, or was I brought here to strengthen my own faith?  I have been pushed more in one week here, than I have been in 22 years I think?  Not saying I haven't been pushed while at home, but have I been pushed outside of my box back home?  Not often.  

After a week of wondering if I am really supposed to be here, I have received my answer rather quickly!  I think this is the place that God wants me to get my spiritual life back on track after losing a lot of it the past few years at college.  I can not wait to see what else God will show me in the coming months as I start serving the children at Yvonne Learning Center this coming week!

I am sorry if this is hard to read and follow.  My mind was going about 5384900 miles per hour after church.  I felt like I had been through a hurricane of faith and was so excited to type it out that I think I lost myself a bit in it, however, it is too late to go back and make it more readable.  May everyone have a blessed day of worship today!

My prayers go out to my uncle Terry in Kidron as he preaches his last sermon at Kidron Mennonite Church today.  Looking forward to see what God has in store for him in this next stage of his life!

FIRST FRIDAY'S

Everyone loves Friday! This always seems a bit weird to me. The same amount of work is to be done on Friday as is to be done on a Monday. Why do people not just say they like Saturday instead? Why is it that people look forward to Friday more than Saturday where they can be lazy the whole day, not just a bit after work. I don't know, but today was Friday, and I still had to work. No biggie though.

Getting to work is always an adventure in Miami. However, I thought today was really going to be the worst. The first day I was going to have to take public transportation, which is not that big of a deal, I just don't quite know the appropriate amount of time to give the buses to get me to my destination. Today was the one day I did not want to be late, as it was parent meetings. To se

e their students tutor being late on the first real big day just is not acceptable. However, my van was in the shop and my room mates were all gone. After much prayer, I received a text from my coordinator, Heidi Aspinwall, that my van was ready for pick up. This came about 10 minutes after JJ came home with his car. Hallelujah!! What a relief that BOTH things happened, saving me from the bus!

We picked the van up from the shop before I had to leave for work, finding out that the oxygen level readers had gone bad, causing the van to shut off when going at low speeds or standing still. Don't ask me why, I am nothing close to a mechanic, but that is what happened. It works great now, as I drove to work to meet with all the parents for the first time.

It really was great to see all the parents come to support their children, and us as teachers, as we embark on this journey together of helping them with furtheri

ng their education. What a great group of people it was that came out to Yvonne Learning Center tonight. It always is great to see such a fine turn out on a Friday night when I am sure other things could have been recognized as more important. I know I had more important things to do, but this is m job!

After getting home, JJ was eating supper and Julie was at a party for a friend so JJ and I decided to play games together. We did this and watched a few episodes of our favorite shows online until Julie got home around 11:30 P.M. We all discussed our days together until the clock struck midnight. We had been waiting for this moment for a long time as we all wanted to see the shuttle take off. It was supposed to everyday for the past week, however, weather and faulty valves on the ship delayed it until tonight. We ran outside to see nothing in the sky. We talked for a bit thinking that we may have missed it until, rig

ht above the skyscrapers of downtown Miami, something glowed a b

right yellow as it slowly disappeared into the night sky. I had witnessed my first Space

Shu

ttle leaving the Earth's atmosphere in a ball of flames. What an amazing sight!!! Just thinking about what had just happened, while some think of this as unimportant, really is an amazing feat that we as humans have overcome. The fact that we can send

other humans into orbit to work on the International Space Station is awesome! And I got to witness it being done without a camera between me and the rocket ship!

What a perfect end to a great Friday night!....and what better way to end it than waking up with a great, free Saturday ahead of me!

(The picture, while one downloaded from the web, is basically what my room mates and I saw from our street corner. However, it was darker and the shuttle was entering the atmosphere, causing a bright, fiery glow around the whole thing until it disappeared into the atmosphere!)

Today, being the day off, I had the opportunity to mow our lawn, which, shouldn't even have the honor of being called a yard.  It really was a jungle.  Like...really!  I'm saying, like, I actually chased a lion out with a rake in the middle of it.  Seriously....our yard was a jungle.  The grass was mostly at my knees, but pieces to my waste.  This was some tall grass.  Our house is the one in Little Havannah that people walk by really fast because they are scared.  So today, I mowed it...with a weed-eater only!  It looks so good now...it really is an accomplishment.  

This was the only ounce of excitement around the house or my life today, as nothing else was scheduled.

During the evening, I went to the hospital for a few hours to be with JJ until the nurse finally came in around 8 o'clock with the news we had been praying for.  It was finally time to go back home and be a "family" again!  It seems kinda cheesy to be this excited about finally being all back together under a roof, but when living in a community, you care for others and you quickly become attached.  It just isn't the same without one of the members in the house.  Moral is back to normal around the DOOR Dwell house.  Thanks for the prayers and please continue to remember us as we all start our jobs on monday and start to experience the real thing!

FAMILY

So I found out Palm Beach, FL is an amazingly rich place that has lots of palm trees.  Who would guess with a name like that!!  Nathanael and I started the day with a huge breakfast buffet at the hotel, and then went on to the airport to prep his plane for his flight back to Bermuda tomorrow.  It was fun to get to hang out with him and experience a little bit of his life for a change.  After the toilet was properly put back in place with the blue water in it, we left, driving around the Island for a bit just looking at the real estate.  Pretty sure if one house sold, the owner could buy Harper and have enough money left over to rebuild Anthony!  Pretty amazing!  It is so crazy how fast things change though as we drove down the coast towards Miami.  Within less than 100 miles you can go from this, to Little Haiti.  It really is a shocker to see the different types of people living in such close proximity.

We came back to the DOOR house, which, if my the owner sold, they could buy..well, still a nice piece of real estate in Harper!  But it isnt quite as nice as the mansions.  

We came back and played games all afternoon until it came time to brave the traffic to my school.  After an hour of sitting still, we somehow arrived at the school to find all the classrooms blocked off due to paint, therefore, I couldnt show off my work to the one visitor that I will have in 3 months.  Nathanael took off for his hotel as I had to go to teacher meetings the rest of the day.  Reality has set in for the time being, as I no longer can wear anything other than dress pants and a tie to work.  (with the shirt of course)  I kinda felt like I won "reward" on the hit show, SURVIVOR, where the winners get a trip away form the island for the weekend, getting fancy food and nice bedding.  We ate some fancy sushi while we were together and stayed in a very extravagant hotel!  It really was an awesome treat to have your big bro take you out for the evening and night!

Teachers meeting are boring!  Always! 

enough about that....

The evening was spent getting home from school, with the van stalling every 100 feet in the middle of major highways.  No one wants to mess with man in a van though, so I wasnt in too much danger!  When I arrived home, my one room mate me to take me to the hospital to see JJ.  I spent the evening with him, keeping him a bit of company while we watched some TV together and surfed the web.  He seems to be doing alright, but they still have no answers for him.  They are keeping him tonight and I pray he will be released in the morning.  Continue to pray for healing and answers as this is a scary time for him with no answers coming his way.

(The image is of JJ 'James Jordan' relaxing in his hospital bed at the University of Miami)

HMM...OK?

As I sit in the first day of teacher training at Yvonne Learning Center, I feel a long "buzz" in my pocket signaling a new text.  Knowing Nathanael was on his way to Miami for the day, I just assumed it was him.  I knew he was trying to find his way to the school I teach in, and knowing that he was in the middle of Little Haiti, I didnt know if he would be comfortable just sitting out in the car, therefore, I did what every new employee shouldn't do.  I took out my phone to read a text that says, "hurry up, im bout to have heat stroke out here!"  Of course this made me smile catching the principal's eye as she, with a very confused look, stared at me for a bit.  Why would I be smiling the way I did in the most boring presentation a person could ever sit through?!  But finally the meeting ended and I met Nathanael outside as he still sat waiting.  (Random Note: the picture is of "nap time" at the Yvonne Learning Center.  About 30 more children were in the line, just not in the picture)

We drove around Little Haiti until we reached a Publix Grocery Store to park my Godzilla in as I jumped in with Nathanael in the rental car and took off to South Beach.  Exciting right?  Um, definitely wrong!  It was nothing to write home about, but it was a Tuesday night so I will give it another chance some weekend.  We shared 5 different sushi plates as we sat bloated in our chairs with raw fish rotting in our happy stomachs.  It really is a delicacy!!

After we left South Beach, I was dropped off at the van, which amazingly was still there, however, who would want a grey-primer colored 15-passenger van with the ceiling completely fallen out!  "Oh ME! ME!"  Anyways...I led as Nathanael followed me back to Little Havannah where we went to my humble abode to find the house empty......which leads to a long story!  Proceed with caution, but if you want, skip the next paragraph....

So I called my room mate to tell him that I would not be back for supper.  However, he answers the phone, "Isaac, I am in the ER!"  Of course I had to ask what happen, because what honestly could he be there for?  Last I knew he was going to mow the yard with our sweet amish mower, which means, a blade but no motor.  "Well, I woke up and my arm heart really bad, so I came here and it was dislocated.  I remember having a bad dream, but I dont know how it happened!"  Well I told him good luck and what I was up to and we parted with that.  I then called my other room mate a bit later and asked her if she had heard.  She was at the hospital with him and said they were admitting him to the hospital for the night.  "They think he may have had a seizure while he was napping, causing his arm to have such pain when he awoke."  Hmm, ok?  This just seems so weird, but remember him in prayer as he waits for answers if you would?

Meantime, me and Nathanael were sitting at the house when an old Cuban women knocked on the door and asked if she could use our telephone, for she needed to get a new apartment to get away from her husband.  Little did I know, we are not supposed to let people in the house, but hey, what would Jesus do, right?  But I do know now, that we do need to keep them in their own houses on their own phones.  While she was still there, I was caught as my one room mate returned home to get clothes for the other room mate and told me about the house rules of letting her in.  However, we let her continue with her business until we finally got the urge to kick her out.  Before this time though, Nathanael, Julie and I were all in the kitchen talking about places we have been and comparing large cities.  Nathanael talked about there being cooler ones than Miami, so I said, "Don't you like Miami?"  This was followed by a low, groaning moan of, "NO!,"coming from the old Cuban women.  "Well why not?," I continued the conversation.  "Immigrants!," she belted out without even looking up.  Hmm....OK?  Yea, you figure that one out!

THE DAY OF FIRSTS!!

Today I experienced many things for the first time in my life.  Some were cool, others were....well, an experience!  I think that is all that I can say about that!

So, today was the first time I have...

1. Drove in Miami

2. Drove a 15-passenger van

3. Been hired by a school

4. Been in Little Haiti

5. Been asked to coach a football team

6. Followed directions to a "police station" that turned out to be Bank of America

7. Gotten lost in Miami

8. Had to pay a toll so that I could turn around and pay another toll.

9. Had a GPS go from "5 minutes till destination" to "9 hours and 15 minutes" to destination with one wrong turn.

10.  Been fingerprinted

11. Had a background FBI check

12. Had a bank tell me they can't break my $20 into 4 five-dollar bills

13. Bought a candle in a bakery, just so I could get a $5 bill back in my change.

14. Been in a room of Blacks, Caucasians, Latinos and still the only person that speaks English.

15. Spoken perfect Spanish to a man as i rattle out, "No Comprendo Espanol!" without skipping a beat!

16. Gone shopping in a Latino grocery store 

17. Cooked tacos with housemates with my duty being frying up the taco shells.

18. Gone to a live jazz concert in Little Haiti

19. Met another house mate named Julie

20. Experienced fire twirling in an "English Pub" located in Little Haiti, in a back-stage tent while people next to me smoke joints.

21. Walked into my kitchen to find 2 cockroaches feasting on leftover cake batter that was left out

22. Ever had nachos, vanilla yogurt, vanilla pudding and chips and salsa for lunch

23. (This is to come after I finish this entry) Watched a space shuttle launch LIVE from Cape Canaveral from my door step (If these clouds clear out!)

To say the least, it has been a very exciting, yet, strange day as life is starting to come into play for the next 3 months.  It is going to be a journey......a very interesting one that is shaping up to make quite the memories and stories!

BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE

Being a single male in today's society, I obviously look at people ( and this is where I should emphasize women).  I have been quick to notice the people that I have came into contact with in the 36 hours that I have been here, but the people are just very good looking.  Obviously not every single person including the homeless man pushing the cart past my house can make it into GLAMOUR magazine or anything, but the overall look and style of people has really stuck out to me.  I believe a large part of this is that dark skin is something people strive for, and the Cuban or latino people naturally have this dark, beautiful skin.  But is beauty only skin deep?  To some people, I guess I would have to say it is.  I have met some very beautiful looking people, however, when they show their true colors, I'd rather hang out with the homeless man that has deep stories!  This said, I can not say all of Miami and the surrounding towns are full of truly beautiful people.  However, the people that I have came into contact have all proven so far to be very beautiful within as well.  Being here Sunday and going to church, I obviously have put myself in the position to be with people who also have their hearts in the right place.  I haven't had the chance to meet those people with their drug and alcohol problems which are out there.  That time will come.  For now, Miami is BEAUTIFUL!

Church today consisted of a "church" that started a year ago.  They were planted here in Miami as an existing church decided to try and "survive" as others came in and helped them out.  It was a very good service that had a worship band and a very good pastor/sermon.  He was a man who moved here from Brazil and leads the congregation in a very mixed-culture way.  He really is pushing at getting out to other cultures and experiencing them and the people at are in them.  He talked a lot about the whites and how we all tend to stick together and are the worst at "getting out" and being with others.  We have our predominantly white churches, who turn their heads and stare at the dark skinned person who walks through the doors instead of welcoming them with open arms.  Thinking of this statement, I just have to sit and smile....because it is SO true.  Just days ago at a going-away BBQ my family had, one of my friend from the Tongan Islands came to wish me off.  The first thing he noticed was almost every head turn and stare at him, as they talked quietly still looking at him wondering what he was doing there.  It couldn't have been more obvious to him that he was looked at as an outsider, but he has been used to that in Harper.  Growing up with this community, I have been taught the same gestures, and am sure I would have been on the other side was it someone else's dark friend coming.  Working on a change in this direction is something that already is taking place, as I have met only 2 other white people in Miami.  One in which I share a bedroom with and the other bunks across the hall.

The rest of the day was occupied with much needed sleep.  Sunday afternoon naps are the most amazing part of the week, and I am sure that will continue to be my opinion.  I then kept up my foreign relations in Bermuda with Skype for a bit as I talked with Nathanael for a bit.  He will be flying to Miami this coming Tuesday, so we are planning an outing -since I am now an expert on Miami and know how to get around :/ 

Tomorrow is the start of something new and great! I will take my new car known as Godzilla to the DOOR house (a 15 passenger van to the rest of the world) to where I will be working for the remainder of my stay here.  A quick story about that and then I am going to bed.  Today at lunch we were talking about the murders that happen in town and all the crime.  I decided to ask where the majority of the crime is at.  "Oh, up at this and that street" (I forget the exact streets).  The girl there must have seen my look of confusion as I dont know the streets around.  She says, "Have you heard of little Haiti?  That is where it is."  Which translates to....right where my school is at! AWESOME!  Hopefully there are some 7 foot white guys walking around that steal all the attention!

A NEW BEGINNING!

As I left mom and dad standing behind me at the airport this morning, I felt many feeling of being nervous, anxious and excited all together mixing in my stomach.  Why do we fear the unknown?  Was the nerves I was feeling due to leaving home?, of starting what could turn into a new life?, or just that though of the unknown and not knowing exactly what I was going to Miami for...

The plane rides went very well and made a few friends to make the trips go even faster.  I sat next to a woman on the first plane from Wichita who produces and

 models in many commercials for FOX Kansas.  She had her MacBook Pro out, doing her work and was very quick to show off her work, which, being an artsy person, I was very excited to be able to see.--The next plane I sat by a New York City native and lifelong resident.  What a different accent!! WOW!....I do enjoy the fact that I dont have an accent, yet, it could be pretty fun if I did! (Thats all about her.  She was nice but definitely the Eastern attitude of being better.)

I was met at the doors of the Ft. Lauderdale airport by a fellow DOOR member who was on her way to Miami as well.  She took the long route and drove from northern Iowa and was nice enough to share her car with me, saving me the taxi fare.  We met the DOOR coordinator and fellow DOOR peer who I am sharing a room with until my term is up.  We all ate on the coast, which, let me tell you is just a rough place to eat when you look at where the food came from when eating.  To put this into perspective, imagine eating a burger while sitting on a deck overlooking a feedlot!  Just seeing where the dolphin grew up as you are shoveling it into your mouth really is quite the experience!

The house that the 5 of us are sharing is a nice, almost ranch style house just on the skirts (well a few blocks) from Little Havannah.  However, there seems to be a Cuban or hispanic influence on the architecture around.  Our neighbors have the typical barred up gates that they park their cars behind, the breezeways in the houses, and also the bright colored buildings.  It really is a different world having palm trees in my yard compared to pin oaks.  But, I think I could get used to it.

We went to church tonight (every saturday night and sunday morning to make up for my lost time) at a contemporary church service called the "lighthouse."  It really was a different church service than I have really ever experienced.  I mix of Caucasians, Latinos, African-Americans, old, young, homeless, people who live in houses and about every other aspect you could think of except famous!  However, the musicians easily could make it famous some day.  The music was just outstanding, as they have a worship band who has been playing together for 8 years.  The pastor was a man who lived across the street from the Panama Canal and talked about how we need to not just say we are Christians, but live it.  You know, kinda like every other sermon you ever hear about in church.  But he did it in such a way that related to the younger generation and made us all think about it.  The young adults go to a restaurant most nights after the service, and tonight I went along.  It was a great way to reflect on the sermon, hearing what everyone got out of it while also getting to know the people that will be around the area the next couple of months.

Well it is getting later than I planned on being up.  This experience is going to be a good one, I can tell already.  I head to church in the morning, I think the beach in the afternoon, then start school on Monday morning when I hopefully find out exactly what my assignment is going to be until Christmas!