Merry Christmas

MERRY CHRISTMAS! I just want to wish everyone a wonderful, joyful holiday. I hope your Christmas is full of warmth and hope, and that you are spending it with someone you love. Christmas is a reminder of the things that matter the most in our lives, and is such a humbling holiday. It's a time for family, whether yours be biological, adopted, inherited, or substitute. It's a day of celebration: celebration of miracles and hope and faith and goodness and togetherness. And if nothing else comes from today, it's an opportunity to show the ones you care about just how important they are. It is Christmas, after all.

Hafiz of Persia

"Even after all this time,

the sun never says to the earth,

'You owe me.'

Look what happens with a love like that.

It lights the whole sky."

- Hafiz of Persia

love

I will have you know that as I write this entry I am sitting in the Belize airport, awaiting my flight home for Christmas. That’s right, I’ll be home for Christmas! I am so thrilled to see my family again and spend the holidays at home where it is miserably cold and snowy, as it should be for Christmas. But I couldn’t have left Belize with a better week than I did this week. 

Last Friday evening I joined a group from the states (from Clovis, New Mexico, to be precise) who was traveling to Belize for a Christmas shoe project with several orphanages. Since my focus here is working with children in the homes, the project was headed by the organization I work for, and one of the orphanages on the list was King’s Home, where I happen to work, they thought I might be of some assistance. So I’ve been tagging along on a week long Christmas shoe extravaganza, and it’s been wonderful. 

On Saturday morning we traveled to Belize City to buy a new pair of shoes for the children of Dorothy Mensy’s Children’s Home, and boy, that was something. Let me begin by explaining that there are approximately 75 children currently living in the home, and Dorothy Mensy’s is considered somewhat of the rejection orphanage of Belize. To put it in perspective, children in other homes are often threatened with Dorothy Mensy’s when they begin acting up. The building is overcrowded (it’s built to accommodate 25 children), run down, dirty, and overwhelming, and at times children can be in just as much danger there as they are at home. It’s a heartbreaking and difficult place to be, and needs an immense amount of help. But everyone deserves to celebrate Christmas, and so we loaded them up in groups of 15-20 via buses, and drove over to a local store to buy each child a new pair of shoes for Christmas. It was chaos from the moment we entered the store, but a positive chaos. Kids were all over the place, running past you, under you, around you, sometimes even on top of you, and it was physically and emotionally exhausting, but we managed to get the job done. If you have ever helped a child try to pick out a pair of shoes, you understand the roller coaster of emotions you undergo trying to satisfy one child, so just imagine attempting to do the same for 75 of them. It was intense.

the kids choosing new shoes

Our second stop on the shoe craze was to an all girl’s vocational school called Y.E.S. This was an entirely different kind of difficult, as all of these girls are teenagers or young adults who are learning various trades and life skills at Y.E.S. because they were never able to complete school. Each of the 25 students received a new backpack for Christmas, a trip to purchase a new pair of shoes, and a nice evening out for dinner. This project was so challenging because it is physically impossible to please a teenage girl, especially when the situation involves shoes. Every girl wanted something very specific, and if she couldn’t find that particular shoe then she immediately retreated into refusal mode, which means she absolutely refused to even look at any other shoe and instead kept trying to somehow trick her foot into magically fitting into her ideal choice. But by the grace of God we eventually found every single student a good fit and proceeded to have a very enjoyable evening with the girls at dinner in town, and then took all of them home.

On our way home that night I rode with a girl from Y.E.S. whose family was unable to celebrate Christmas (at least in the materialistic sense) because they couldn’t afford the gifts and the food and all of the trimmings that most people include in their holiday. So instead they went to the church for a small Christmas dinner, and just had a quiet holiday at home. Well, that only left our team with one choice: to intervene. As soon as we dropped her at home we began planning our attack, and the next day we were able to stop by her house and bring her family enough food for a big, extravagant Christmas dinner (plus some for later) and caroled to them (not well, I might add). I can’t portray the joy on their faces when they realized what was happening. It was a very inspiring and humbling moment, and one I am so thankful I was able to experience.

After our delivery we held a giant Christmas party at Banana Bank (a resort outside of  Belmopan where we were staying for the week) for the children of King’s Home, where they were able to go horseback riding, swim in the pool, play in the yard, and just be kids. It was so incredible to see the kids that I have fallen in love with over the past few months experience the freedom of being a child, and freeing themselves from the chains of their jaded lives. I have never seen them so happy and joyful and relaxed. They played for a couple of hours, and then we had a lavish Christmas dinner in the dining hall, complete with live, local entertainment. Then each child received a new backpack, a few small toys and school supplies, and a brand new pair of shoes (which they chose for themselves online a couple of months ago). It was a perfect night, and I didn’t stop smiling for a several hours after they left. Their smiles and bright eyes that night are the reason that I do what I do.

kids from King's at the pool party

Merry Christmas sweet girl!

It was such a whirlwind week, and if I had to sum it up into one word it would be love. I know that sounds a little cliche, and it probably is, but there isn’t a more accurate description I could use. From the very beginning of the week, I was welcomed into the group with open arms, and I felt so accepted and loved from the first evening I spent with them. The moment we entered Dorothy Mensy’s the children were looking at us with outstretched arms and pleading eyes that turned into bright smiles and laughter with a simple hug. All they needed was to know that they were loved and remembered, and that they mattered. The girls at Y.E.S. are still just girls, yet they have been forced to become adults in a cold world. And they just need a friend, someone to tell them that it’s going to be okay and they are going to make it. We were able to grant them a little freedom from their everyday burdens and bring them a little bit of hope at Christmastime. And the kids at King’s Home just want to be kids and be loved and taken care of. They are still so young and still need to be nurtured and played with and adored. To me, this week represented what Christmas is supposed to be about, what life is supposed to be about: love. It was evident from the beginning and overflowing in every way, and it reminded me of what I’m doing here. I’m here to share love and hope in places that people might not normally find it, and never stop giving. It’s such a simple concept, and yet can be so difficult to fulfill, but so important to always remember. 

the machete

Fun Fact #4: They carry machetes with them everywhere. It is 100% normal to see men strolling down the street carrying a gigantic, Arabian sword sized knife as they go about their daily business. The machete is the tool of choice for almost all outdoor chores, so why not carry it around like the everyday asset it is? In fact, even prisoners carry machetes in and around the jail as they cut the grass and maintain the land around the facility. It probably wouldn't fly in the states, but the machete is a way of life for Belizeans and is as common in the country as the iPhone.

Grace Potter & The Nocturnals

This chick is so cool, I kind of want to be her. Okay fine, I really want to be her. Grace Potter has such a sultry, strong voice and she and her crew know how to rock out. This is a band that understands what true rock and roll means and delivers it with a vengeance. Grace's voice is reminiscent of the greats of the 60s and 70s, and the group's electric guitar is bold and exciting and full of life. If you know me, then you know that I have an musical obsession with the electric guitar, so this music is right up my alley. Grace and her gang just do things right and bring some pride back into the world of rock and roll. On some of their slower songs, they even throw in some electric blues, which always makes me melt, so there is simply no way to go wrong with these guys. If you like real rock and roll, then you should like this.

"Some Kind of Ride" by Grace Potter & The Nocturnals from the album Nothing But the Water

"Oasis" by Grace Potter & The Nocturnals from the album Grace Potter & The Nocturnals

Theodore Roosevelt

"Let us remember that, as much as has been given us, much will be expected from us, and that true homage comes from the heart as well as from the lips, and shows itself in deeds." - Theodore Roosevelt

blessings

You know what I love about Christmas? Well, there are a lot of things, but one of the many parts of the Christmas season I enjoy is the Christmas parties. And I was lucky enough to attend a couple in the last week. Last Friday I went to a program that a local high school performs every year at Christmas for the community. One of my roommates attends the school, so Mrs. Sewell (my landlady) and I went to watch her perform, and it was so wonderful.  Then program was called "Welcome to Bethlehem", and the school recreated Bethlehem and the story of Jesus' birth, complete with live animals, tax collectors, and a manger. The students and faculty constructed the entire village themselves, and obviously put incredible amounts of effort to make it a success. There was a perfume shop, bakery, carpentry shop, and other shops and details that you would expect to find in Bethlehem at the time. The students were the actors, and they did a surprisingly great job. You could sense that they were really enjoying themselves and it made such an impact on the atmosphere of the program. At one point I started laughing because I couldn't conceive of any of the students from my high school (including myself) acting out the nativity scene for an audience of hundreds of people. We were all way too cool for that. The entire evening I had a grin from ear to ear, and I really enjoyed the program. It was so nice to see the community come together and interact all evening as well. I'm still fairly new to the area, and I'm still learning a lot about the culture and the social life here, so it was a glimpse into a fun Friday night event.


This week I had another exciting evening, because Wednesday was Marla's annual Christmas party. I helped to prepare for the shindig all week long, and I've never seen the kids so excited before. A trend that I'm beginning to notice in Belizean entertaining is that when they throw a party, their motto is go big or go home. The amount of food they cook is unreal, and they love to decorate and prepare special music and entertainment, and Marla's did not disappoint. We even received a visit from Old Saint Nick himself, and that's when you know it's a party.


It was a lovely evening, and I am so thankful I was able to be a part of it. All of the kids were dressed up, everyone was enthusiastic and content and at ease with each other...it was a special night for them. The kids received gifts from Santa, and even though he scared a couple of the little ones into hysterics, it was fun to see the younger kids light up when he called them over. I don't know if you've ever spent much time around children and Santa Claus, but they really love him, and it is really something to watch their excited innocence and joyful, simple belief. It's beautiful really.


Santa wasn't our only entertainment though, oh no. Several of the girls shared dancing performances with us, which they choreographed themselves, so you know those were good. Then a couple of girls gave a few speeches, the house mother said a few words, and we spent the rest of the night partying. Like I said earlier, it was a lovely evening and one of my favorite Christmas parties to date.

one of the outstanding performances at the Christmas party

Something that these events made me realize, especially the party at Marla's, is how incredibly blessed I am to be here right now. I have just fallen in love with these kids and this place, and I can't imagine not having this opportunity. I am constantly learning and experiencing and growing, but sometimes I forget to just sit back and appreciate all of the wonderful things in my life. Some days are challenging, and at times I wonder what I was thinking when I signed myself up for this, but I really have something good going here, and I am very lucky and blessed to be a part of something that is bigger than myself. 


So during this Christmas holiday, even if you are struggling with something, or experiencing some tribulation, everyone has something to be grateful for in their life. Just take a moment and remember how blessed you really are, and how much you have to be thankful for, and maybe it will make your Christmas seem a little bit brighter.

little Brelyn with Santa

Mumford and Sons

I know that Mumford and Sons is somewhat past news, and everyone has already heard their music, but they are just so good. Their sounds and harmonies give me chills, and that banjo...oh I love that banjo. Not to mention their writing is phenomenal. It's not often that I love the lyrics to a song as much or more than the music itself, but like I said, these guys are good, and their way with words is beautiful. There is so much passion and emotion in the music, and when they play the music carries you into the soul of the song. Their music really makes you feel, and when you're listening you can feel their own enthusiasm and love for their craft. I mean you can really tell that these guys are simply doing what they love and having a good time doing it.  Needless to say, I think they're an alright group of musicians.


Now everybody knows their songs "The Cave" and "Little Lion Man", but I think that some of their best talent is hidden in the lesser known songs (although you can't go wrong with any of them). So I threw in my own two favorites just to broaden your musical horizons a little. This is another group who knows how to combine genres, and while they definitely have a folk feel going on throughout the album, they aren't afraid to rock out hard with it either. I realize that most everyone is already pretty familiar with the band, so I apologize if none of what I've written is new news for you. But if it is a new treat for your little ears, or even if it's not, I hope these songs add a little something to your day.

"Sigh No More" by Mumford and Sons from the album Sigh No More

"Roll Away Your Stone" by Mumford and Sons from the album Sigh No More

the laundry

Belize Fun Fact #3: They don't use dryers. We dry laundry the old fashioned way and hang clothes on a line to dry outside. Most homes in the city have washing machines, but I'd estimate that around 98% of the country doesn't own a clothes dryer and hangs all of their laundry outside. It's really not as inconvenient as it sounds, and the only downside is that your clothes aren't as soft the next time you wear them, and they do tend to contain a slight scent of freshly cut grass (but just spray a little Febreeze on them and you're golden!). Once you get used to it though, it actually makes laundry day pretty relaxing, almost to the point of being therapeutic. I really enjoy putting on my headphones and hanging my clothes on the line; it's a great way to take a break from the day and enjoy the sunshine. Not to mention, it really cuts back on energy usage, so bravo to Belize for going green.

Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros

I've been feelin' these guys all week and thought I should share my enjoyment with everyone. Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros have so many different sounds, and their music is the kind that makes you crank up the volume in the car, roll the windows down, and just take in the tunes. It's difficult to really describe their genre, but I'd like to think of it as a meld between Woodstock and Nocturnal Fest. In fact, there is something about Edward's voice that reminds me of Bob Dylan, although I can't quite discern what that something is. This particular song happens to be a favorite of one of my best friends, and it's an awesome example of what Edward and his crew have to offer. I think you'll be surprised at how much you enjoy their music, and how quickly their sound grows on you, so check them out.

"40 Day Dream" by Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros from the album Up from Below

James 1:19-20

"My dearly loved brothers, understand this: everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger, for man's anger does not accomplish God's righteousness."- James 1:19-20

patience

Well let's see here, this past week was pretty routine. No extraordinary occurrences, nothing too crazy to report on, but Friday was pretty sweet. On Friday night I went over to Marla’s to help the kids decorate the Christmas tree and set up the Christmas decorations around the house. It was a perfect evening in which I was able to immerse myself in all of the kids’ joy and excitement, and the it was the first time it’s really felt like Christmastime here in Belize. It was such a happy atmosphere and such a wonderful evening, I am so blessed that I was able to be a part of it. Perfect end to the week.

decorating the Christmas tree at Marla's

I love these kids so much

This week has started off pretty normal as well, but today was definitely a trying one, to say the least. I swear that small children have a sixth sense for annoying others; it’s like a sick little game that only they understand, and they play it like pros. In fact today the preschoolers were playing the game of their life. While I was trying to teach the lesson this morning, we had one child doing somersaults, one child crawling on my back, two crawling on top of each other, and one trying to steal the glitter and use it as a musical shaker. It was hopeless from the word “go”, and their usual attention span of 20 seconds was sitting at a solid 2.5, so to say the lesson was challenging would be an understatement. At one point I literally had to stand up and just walk to other side of the room before I attempted strangling the first child I could get my hands on. 

I finally gave up for the morning and took them outside to jump on the trampoline, which is usually a break for me because they entertain themselves with all kinds of ridiculous “tricks” and games they make up...but not today. Today every single one of them wanted me to watch their incredible acrobatic skills as they performed dangerous feats such as twirling in a circle, jumping “really high”, jumping and landing indian style, and more somersaults. And every single one of them began yelling my name over and over, at increasing decibels, until I assured them at least three times that yes, I was watching, and wow, that was a great trick. And every single one of them wanted me to watch them at the same time. I don’t think I’ve ever heard my name that many times in that short of a time span. It was impressive. 

The fun doesn’t even stop there, oh no. After the trampoline we went over to the play fort, where they once again took turns completely ignoring my instruction. Yet they would turn and smile at me while disobeying, as if saying, “Yep, I can hear you and I know exactly what you want me to do, but I love watching you suffer so I’m just going to keep throwing rocks at you until you cry.” I didn’t cry, but I did have to count to ten several times and remind myself that murder is not okay. So I suppose you could say that my patience was tried today, but I made it through the day without yelling or crying or killing anyone, which I consider to be a victory.

While I was outside with the kids (as they threw rocks at each other and me), I realized what a necessary quality patience is and how it makes such a difference in our relationships. Having a short temper pushes people away and prevents you from really getting to know others. You can’t build a relationship of any kind with someone who gets angry or defensive at every difference of opinion or disagreement, who would want to? You need understanding and compassion to create a lasting companionship of any kind, and those qualities aren’t compatible with anger or frustration. It’s not easy to maintain that kind of patience in your life, but hey, when has this world ever been easy? 

You can’t always contain your temper, we are only human after all, but it’s so important to attempt to maintain a calmness in your life so that you are better able to communicate and relate to the people you care about. When I was seconds away from loosing my cool this morning, it suddenly dawned on me that getting angry wouldn’t fix anything. There was absolutely no point in losing my forbearance: nothing would get done better or faster, no one would feel better because of it, and I would most likely feel worse due to the guilt of losing control of my emotions. It’s just not worth it. 

So many times we let our frustrations get the best of us and turn a simple solution into a raging disaster. So the next time you feel like you’re about to lose the last of your patience, just stop for a second and ask yourself, what will your anger accomplish? I bet you won’t come up with enough to justify a temper tantrum. Just make a small extra effort this week and try to stretch your patience a little farther than it’s used to going, and you might be surprised at how calm things suddenly seem to become in your life. After all, patience is a virtue...eh, it’s just plain vital.

the Nickelback

Belize Fun Fact #2: They still listen to Nickelback. All the time. It's so painful, I swear I've heard that "Rockstar" song they sing more times in the last few weeks than I have in my entire life. Generally they listen to the same pop music that is big in the states, but they also throw in their own Latin pop...and lots of Nickelback. So if you plan on spending any length of time here, make sure you bring your own music and some quality headphones, or you could have some serious issues.