Breakfast Interrupted

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Butter beans and pesto!

I saw this recipe for butter bean and arugula pesto salad at everyday musings.  It looks absolutely delicious.  

I love the rain.

So, last week was a bit crazy because our car wasn't working properly.  The radiator was overheating.  At one point, we were driving on the highway in pouring rain and the car decided to overheat so, we had to pull over to the side of the road and wait in the rain as cars and trucks drove by us.  It was pretty crazy.

You know?  I love the rain here in Panama.  The truth is that it's felt almost chilly in the evenings for the past week or so.  There's been a lot of rain and when you have a car, it's really nice.  It's the kind of rain that falls so hard that you can't see in front of you.  I love it when I'm at home and can snuggle in bed but...when you have to ride the bus here it's absolutely awful.  Most of the buses here have no air conditioning so, when it starts to rain the windows go up and the bus gets all steamy, hot, and smelly.  You can imagine...

This past weekend we didn't get to go see STOMP (it had sold out), so we went to eat some good food at the end of the Causway.  First we drank coffee (Ariel had coffee, I had tea) and read a while.  Then we went to eat lunch (the restaurant we were going to go to was closed because of the Jewish holiday.)   The location was beautiful, there was a fantastic breeze and we sat where there was a view of the city and the canal.  (We could have asked for a bit more regarding the food but, it's ok.)  Otherwise... it was just gorgeous.  It's nice to spend some time just enjoying being together in a lovely place.

That reminds me --this past weekend was a Jewish holiday and in Panama, half of the businesses close down for the weekend when it's a Jewish holiday.  It's crazy but, it's so interesting as well.  Ariel and I counted businesses, at least half of the shops and stores at the mall were closed.  Panama also closes down on Muslim holidays and Christian holidays.   Panama is such an interesting place.

weekend

This weekend was LOVELY.  I was exhausted at the end of Friday but, I still went to an Engagement party, a Photography event, and a Cheesecake tasting all in one night!  It was the busiest Friday that I've had in a while. I went on a hike on Saturday.  It was the first hike I'd been on in a long time.  Then, Sunday was spent with some friends tasting some delicious food.  I ended it all going to Church, then coming home to mentally prepare for a couple days of lead teaching.  The truth is that life is beautiful...

what makes it worthwhile?

Last night some of my friends help put together a fantastic BBQ dinner at a local homeless shelter. It was a lot of work but, I think the guys at the shelter really appreciated it and were thankful.

Afterwards, one of my friends felt the let down that you get after you do something good for people who may or may not ever escape the trap of drugs, alcohol, and poverty. She wondered if there had been any real interactions and if just "hanging out" in that setting does any good at all. In some ways, I wish that mere acts of kindness would help people out of poverty but, unfortunately it doesn't work that way. That does not make the acts of kindness any less significant.

Even so, I think that the question, "What is the good of this?" is worth asking. I mean, seriously. If our intention was to help these guys, we probably didn't do much more than give them a really delicious meal. But, maybe that is enough. We don't have to fix their situation. Maybe our willingness to be present is good enough.

Isn't that [almost] all we want anyway? As I listened to my friend's discouragement --I realized that I felt the same way a week or so ago after we had a big party at our house. We had a good time, we shared good food, and had good people over but, afterwards, I felt a similar let down. I wondered what the good of that type of interaction is, I felt like all my conversations had been short and superficial, so, ok --yeah, we had a good time, but what is the value of that?

Maybe it is the same. We want people to be present in our lives. Sharing food and time is valuable. We can always work towards more meaningful interactions with people and towards more intentional conversations. What is it that makes an activity worthwhile? Is it something we can measure?

Int' Water Day

I like water. I like drinking clean water without any fears of getting sick because of it. Every 20 seconds, a child dies as a result of the poor sanitary conditions endured by some 2.6 billion people around the world.

I think that often I take water for granted. I don't often in my prayer blessing the food say "thank you for this fresh, clean water". Maybe it is a good thing to stop and consider that as a real gift. I'm going to try to celebrate International World Water Day. Apparently, it is held annually on 22 March as a means of focusing attention on the importance of freshwater and advocating for the sustainable management of freshwater resources. (I didn't know about it until this year).

There are a lot of random things people could do to celebrate World Water Day.

1. You could learn about and donate to Play Pumps International.
2. You could go to a World Water Day Event in your town/city. [Water for People DC is featuring the Filmmaker of "Blue Gold," Sam Bozzo; Friday March 20, 2009 6:30pm @ 1904 14th St. NW Washington, DC 20009]
3. You could learn more about water and the water crisis through organizations like Water for Life.
4. You could participate in the World Water Day International Poster Contest.
5. You can provide access to clean water for 12 people by using a replyforall email signature for one month.

Last, and not least, you can be thankful for the next clean glass of water that you get to drink.

Now... for a quiet evening

Recently, a friend has chosen silence over the inane communication that can occur through mediums like this one. Sometimes, that sounds so appealing and yet, at the same time, I know that this medium provides the comfort of communication for certain people that I think is important. Just a little glimpse into your thoughts and your world --by email perhaps-- helps remind me of why we are friends, that we care about each other even though we are far away, and many other little things.

I realize that this is in no way a replacement of 'real' relationships but, it is a way to remind those that are far away that we are continuing to grow, think, and love. Nothing personal enough to replace the real thing but, something particularly unique to remind us of how great it is to share life with others.

I got to enjoy "sharing life with others" today. After the great fun of my Portuguese class yesterday and meeting up with new and old friends at Church. This morning we --at the yellow house-- got to host so many good friends for a mid-morning brunch. It was great! Everyone brought such good things and it was fun to have our house filled with friends, conversation, food, and music. All five of us love having people over, hospitality is such a great way to express love for others.

After the wonderful brunch, I got to go over to a soccer field to play a little of 4 on 4 soccer. It was so good! I hadn't played soccer in months! I don't know if I can describe how good it was to get out, to run around, to kick the ball around... ah. So good. I would play soccer every week if I had the opportunity. It is so much fun and it just feels so good to play outside. It was a little bit chilly, it even started to snow for a few minutes while we were out there. But, we all had a blast.

Now for a quiet evening... lovely.

enjoying every moment as much as I can

I love quiet Saturday's like today. It has been lovely. I guess it probably all started with a great Friday evening. I had dinner with some good friends at the new restaurant in the neighborhood. Then, we went (running!) to the opening night of an art exhibit at Touchstone Gallery where one of my friends from church has her art up. It was really great to see friends there. I enjoy art.

I have a friend who told me that given the excitement with which I re-tell my work at the Charter School that maybe I've found my "calling". I reminded them that I only spend 3.5 hours there and I am not sure if it would be my calling to spend all day in that type of challenging environment. I DO love the kids though. Later, I told someone else that I think my calling right now is to "enjoy every moment of whatever I am doing at the moment." Even so, education is certainly at the top of my list of things that I enjoy doing.

This morning I slept until the sunshine woke me up. I had random and pleasant conversations with my different housemates as they got up and started their days. I went for a little walk to the Franciscan Monastery up the street and went to the grocery store. After eating lunch and listening to Ben Harper, I went for another walk to the local branch of the library. I love being able to walk to the library!!

Going for walks, reading, studying for my Portuguese class, and doing some random writing has been the best way to spend this Saturday!

Sushi Anyone?

Israel and I had talked about making and eating sushi the whole time I was in El Salvador. The unbelievable part was that we didn't eat any together until the day before I left. So, to make up for the three months of not eating sushi together we went out in style and had more sushi than either one of us could eat in one sitting (even though we did pretty good, I'll have to admit). I don't know if I can quite describe how much I'm going to miss Israel.

Isra and I finally enjoying some sushi together.




Eduardo doesn't like sushi but, he enjoyed himself anyway.

sushi and uncertainty

The other day Eduardo, Valeria and I went to eat some Sushi. It was a great experience for Valeria and myself, unfortunately Eduardo doesn't seem to be a big fan. Anyway, that day I hadn't had anything for lunch so, I was absolutely starving by the time we got our food. I ate all of my rolls and then most of Eduardo's (seeing as he didn't like it that much).

My time here is quickly, quickly coming to an end. I am having a hard time realizing what that means. Everything in my life is completely up in the air (once again). I'm planning on going back to DC to give it another try and yet, I'm quite tempted to come back here. I like it here and I love the people here.