Little corn island

We figured luck was on our side that morning. We easily got on our flight in Miami. The weather was so warm, we felt like our trip had already begun. It's so nice to walk outside and be warm. The flight from Miami to Managua, Nicaragua was great. We arrived in Managua and found the building where our small domestic flight to the corn islands left. We thought our flight was leaving at 2:30, but they hurried us through check-in (not the type of checkin you would think about) and within 15 minutes we were boarding the 14 seater prop plane.
The flight was about 1 1/2 hrs long. A little loud and bumpy. But whatever. We were on our way....
We finally landed and went to pick up our luggage. Ya, it was not there.
No problem the baggage guy said. It will come on the next flight. It will be here in 2-3 hours. Yay.😕
Now, I am nothing if not always searching for a positive in any situation. And of course I found it. We met a very awesome couple, Allan and Dakota. Their luggage was also left behind. So off we went into town for lunch and to explore a bit of Big Corn Island.
We had a nice lunch and after almost not time at all, the next flight arrived. With all our bags, we could continue our journey to Little Corn island

We flew over on a small 16 seater plan. It was a little loud and bumpy and I was happy when we finally landed on Big Corn island.

 We walked down the sidewalk that went through town to our hotel. We stayed at the Dolphin hotel and dive shop. It was right in town and connected to the dive shop, so we did't have far to walk in the mornings to do diving.

This is the view from the windward side of the island. We walked from side to side and end to end many times a day.

Travel unexpected

Sometimes you think you're embarking on a perfectly planned trip and it doesn't end up as you'd expected. Either you can look at that experience as an adventure. Or you can think life sucks. 

This morning we woke up expecting to leave on our trip to Nicaragua. The flights were booked long ago and all we needed to do was make it to grand forks, ND. I remembered first thing to go online and do our web checkin. We had an hour and a half drive to the airport, so we had to quickly checkin and go. The first thing that came up was a note saying our flights had been cancelled. No explanation. Just cancelled. Not what you're expecting on your way out the door. I did a very brief freak out, and quickly got my wits about me and found the Delta airlines website and calked the 1-800 number. The message said it would be a 2 hour wait. Not good we found another number. Got through and explained to the lady what ws going on. She was very helpful, but explained tat there was a major storm in Atlanta, and all flights were cancelled. Not good. 

I asked her if there was any other way to get to Nicaragua and she spent the next 20 minutes working out a way for us to get to Minniapolis that day and to continue our travel plans the next day leaving from Miami Fl instead. I told her we would take whatever she could get arranged at his point and we would work on it further once we got to grand forks.

When we got to GF, they told us they couldn't help us, but we didn't lose hope. We got on our flights to Minniapolis and figured we would work on getting as close to Nic as we could tonight. 

As soon as we arrived in Minn. we went to the American Airlines desk and talked to a very nice rep who listened to our dilemma with Delta airlines and worked out a way for us to get to Miami that night and continue onto an earlier flight the next morning. It didn't solve the problem of our 6am flight out to the Corn Islands the next day. But at lest we would hopefully make it to the islands....as long as we could change our 6am flight to the afternoon flight. Problem was that we couldn't get ahold of the local airlines by email. They were not replying and time was running out. 

We tried to skype from the airport in Minniapolos. We did get though a bunch of times, but could not stay connected long enough to get our flight changed. The connection kept dropping. finally I decided to text my friend Cindy and see if she could call Nicaraugua for me and change our flights. Cindy called and did get through after a few tries, but unfortunately her card didn't work and she was calling from work so we needed to figure out another way. We searched the airport for a pay phone. When we found one that worked, we slid our credit card and made the call. We are still nervous about what that call will cost us. But we did get our flights changed and we felt great knowing that we did not loose our flight for that day and we would make it to little corn island as planned. 

Through all the stress of that day, we realized that travelling is as much about the Attitude you have as you make your way to your destination as it is about when you arrive. We had a great time figuring it out together. We had some great meals in the airport and had a good night in Miami.

Port Hardy, BC (first morning)

Port hardy, BC

Day 1-

It's a cool  morning this morning. Dean and Colton woke at 6am to go out for the early morning fish. Miranda is still sleeping. I'm sitting outside on our cabin deck  overlooking the flat ocean, soaking up the northern island air. I keep looking out over the bay expecting to see the whales frolicking within my view. No luck so far. The view is breathtaking. It so quickly brought us back to our 2 months in NZ. The landscape of Vancouver island is so similar to parts of NZ. The towering trees growing close to the road as it twists and turns around towns and rolling mountains. Ahhh I love it! 

I went for a little walk this morning to get to the ocean. Whenever I first glimpse the ocean, I have the desire to touch it with my fingers.  It doesn't go away until my fingers splash in the water. I don't need to go in. I just need to touch it. To feel its energy or something. Not sure what that is. But it's there. 

Anyways, I didn't get there. There is a small forest between me and the water. I think there also might be a cliff. So my walk didn't last long. I didn't want to go too far on my own for fear that I might meet a grizzly bear on my path. I wonder how grizzly bears got on this island anyways. So I came back. Had a great walk uphill. Another thing I love and now I'm sitting here, overlooking the bay. Drinking coffee. Listening to the sea gulls in the distance. Waiting for whales. Hmmm

SOAR 2014

I had my last shower in our house today for a while.
Last night was our last night sleeping in our comfy new bed for 10 days.
It was our last day drinking coffee and eating in our kitchen for all of spring break.
Are we going on a trip? Yes!

Today we leave for a 10 day missional experience in the North End core area of Winnipeg.
Today is the first day of 10 that we get to sleep on a church floor.
Today is the first day of 10 that we get to stand in line with 300 other hungry people waiting to get fed by volunteers who have decided what we will be eating for the day.
Today is the fist day of 10 that I will stand in line with 250 teenagers to use the shower trailer.
Sound like fun?

It IS!! REALLY it IS!

Today is the first day of 10 that I get to spend watching Miranda learn about the homeless and people who feel hopeless.
Today is the first day of 10 that I get to watch Miranda learn who she is.
Today is the first time in the next 10 days that I get to be immersed in learning more about who God is in all of this mess....

Yup, its going to be awesome!

Miranda Soar 2012

my day off

Today was my day off. Dean woke at 5am to go to work. I’m not good at going back to sleep so I also woke at 5am. Luckily I didn’t have to “do” anything till 7 when it was time for the kids to get up for school.

 After the kids left at 8, I started my workout. I’m trying to get back into shape after falling off the Wagon or rather the treadmill months ago. So my start to the day usually involves an hour or so of a running/working out. Other than the 5am wakeup, my day started pretty good. Because it was my day off, I offered to drive my dad to morden to visit a relative who is in the hospital. My dad has MS and can’t walk, so it’s a bit of work loading and unloading the scooter. But I was glad to be able to spend the afternoon with him.

When we got back home, I dropped him off, picked the kids up from school and quickly came home to start supper and return to town so Miranda could go to curling. While Miranda was curling, I decided that I might as well spend some time on the walking track, which overlooks the curling rink. I did a hard hour walking/running and had a really great talk with a client that I met while on the track. The hour flew by as we talked and talked. I felt like I could have talked for another hour straight, But Miranda and supper were waiting for me.

When we got home, Colton had just finished up supper and it was great to fill my plate and sit down for the evening. Just as I picked up my grapefruit for dessert, the phone rang. It was one of our tenants back in town. The doorknob of the apartment building was frozen up and she was locked outside the building. NOOOO!!!

But YES, I would be right there. So off to town I headed for the 3^rd time today. YAY. NOT

I had 2 choices for stopping for de-icer, either Co-op or the gas bar in town. I quickly drove to Co-op hoping they would have some lock de-icer. But as luck would have it, they were out. Ugg! So, I next went to Domo, Yes, they had some. Perfect! This should be quick then. I carefully drove the icy roads to the apartment where the tenant was waiting in her warm car. The temp was hovering around -27. Very chilly.

I told her to stay where she was as I tried to turn the door handle. The lock of the deadbolt was fine. It was actually the door handle that was frozen up so that it wouldn’t turn at all. What do I do?? I did what I thought Dean would do. I kicked the door handle with my foot, banged on the door around the handle with my elbow. Nothing!I went back to the van for something hard and pounded on the handle with it to try to loosen it up. Nope, that tactic didn’t work either. Shoot!  I called Dean on his cell to ask his opinion. He wasn’t sure. It needed to warm up. But how? We decided maybe a blow dryer. I ran back to my running warm van. Made some calls and drove a few streets away to borrow a blow drier. Oh please let this work!!

So now I had the blow drier but the nearest plug was 50 ft away. So I trudged through 3 foot snowbanks to collect multiple cords and plugged them all together so that the blow drier would work. I aimed the drier at the knob and cupped my freezing hands around it to create a nice warm area. The heat felt good in the -27 weather. After lots of heat and a bit more pounding YAHOO! The door opened! So happy! So, then I figured I had better try to find the root of the problem. Why would this door freeze up like this? It didn’t take much to tell why. There was an ice build-up all around the door. The door hadn’t been closing properly because snow had gotten in between the door and the jam and created a gap, which must have iced up and gotten bigger and bigger so that the door couldn’t seal anymore and now it had finally froze the knob. So I borrowed a knife from the tenant who was now safely in her apartment and chopped all the ice off the door till it sealed properly again. On further inspection I realized that there was ice and frost around a bit of the entrance base. So I went back outside and shoveled a whole bunch of snow up against the outside of the building to help insulate the base of the entrance. Snow is a wonderful insulator and it sure was looking like the exterior of the building was really not insulated to accommodate -40 temps.

I also realized that the entrance was not warm enough. Because of the last month and a half of -30 to -40 weather, the heater was not keeping up. So I borrowed a screwdriver from the tenant and took the heater apart and got it working again. Then I also realized the de-humidifier was running, but there was no water being collected. No wonder the entrance was so humid. The windows were all fogged up and dripping. SO I took that apart and hopefully got that fixed. I’ll have to go back tomorrow and see if I fixed it. If not, I will go buy a new one. After my second trudge through the snow banks to replace the cords I had borrowed from all the neighbors cars, I was now ready to go back home so I could finish my grapefruit and sit down to tell you all about my day off!!

I hope my next day off will not involve spending time outside in -27. Yuck! 

How did we get used to this

Sometimes I am amazed

at what a person can get used to. 

Like....

Showering over the toilet

Stepping over piles of garbage while walking along the street. 

Holding you breath as you pass by certain areas of town because you know it smells really bad. 

Massages for $6

Sand on the floor in the house 

Talking to parents and friends at odd times of the day on Skype 

Walking outside instead of down the hall to get to our bedroom after tucking the kids into bed. 

Telling people 20 times a day that I don't want to buy a bracelet, have a massage or need a ride somewhere. 

Looking into the eyes of a hungry beggar and walking away. 

Bartering with a 5 year old over a bracelet. 

Cooling off in the ocean. 

Going everywhere in a Tuk Tuk. 

Ordering my meals instead if cooking them. 

Spending all day with my family. 

Crossing the road with traffic speeding by on either side of me. 

Seeing babies and children on motorcycles without helmets. 

Sending Colton and Miranda out on a sailboat. 

Talking to people using as few words as possible 

Having to barter for everything I buy. 

Sleeping without my pillow. 

Living without a phone. 

Wearing the same clothing day after  day. 

Not having a schedule. 

Being hot. 

Having limited Internet. 

Lizards on the walls inside every room. 

Watching someone throw garbage out their car window. 

Seeing cows, goats, chickens, pigs and water buffalo walking on the roads  in cities

All of these things make travel in other countries so different from Canada. These things make up the experience. You have to take the bad with the good and learn from it all. 

We are changed because of the differences we see. We are changed because of the interactions we have with the people we have met. Some things I could do without and hope things will change for the better for the people of Asia. It will take time. Time and education. For them, but for us just as much. 

The hard parts of Cambodia

Imagine your normal day. The kids get up in the morning, you get them breakfast, pack their lunch for school, you and your husband get ready for work and the day begins. It's a normal day for you and it's also a normal day for the people of Cambodia. Sometimes it's hard to imagine or understand that people in other countries live a very similar life that we in Canada do. But they do. They have families that they love like we do. They have kids that need to get up, dressed and fed before they go to school. They also have homes that they have worked for and jobs to go to every day. Same same, but different. 

Now imagine if one day as the kids are ready to go off to school, someone comes to your house and tells you that you need to pack a bag and some food and you need to leave your home for a few days. What? That doesn't make sense does it? It didn't make sense to the Cambodian people in 1975 either. As we listen to the stories of the Cambodian people, we come to realize how sometimes the world doesn't make sense and sometimes it is not fair. It's hard to imagine what the Cambodian people went through 38 years ago. But every single person we have met was affected by the war. EVERY SINGLE PERSON HAS BEEN DIRECTLY AFFECTED! 

Some people don't remember because they were to young. But they feel like they remember because they have learnt from their parents, if they are still alive. Most people don't have grandparents, most may only have one parent. Because their family was either killed for being educated or starved to death. 40% of the Cambodian population were killed. 40%!

The Cambodian people couldn't return to their homes. They were pushed around the countryside for many years. Slaves to a government that decided where they lived, when they worked, what they wore and how much food they got (1 cup of watery rice a day) and if they would live or die. 

It's hard to hear isn't it? It's also hard to look into the eyes of people who are sharing their story of going back to remove the bones of their father 30 years after their death from starvation, because the burial ground has turned into a construction area and needs  to be cleared of all bones. It was a shallow grave, because the malnourished wife had to dig the grave herself while on the move to yet another home. A home that the pol pot regime made them go to. They had no choice. If they argued they died. It was as easy as that. You did what they told you to. Or you died. 

It makes me so mad! I feel horrible that we as North Americans took so long to help. I remember hearing about Cambodian "boat people" coming across the ocean when I was a kid. We all thought, why are these people risking their lives and the life of their kids to sail across the ocean in a boat. I know now. It makes me sad. 

How many people come to Canada seeking safety from what is happening in their country right now? Maybe we think they should go back to where they come from. Maybe we don't understand. Maybe we need to try harder. How can we learn more? I'm sure that its as easy as getting to know some of these newcomers and asking them. I don't want to find out in 30 years that we as adults had an opportunity to make a difference and didn't even try because we thought it couldn't possibly be that bad. Maybe it is. 

Suggested movie or reading- the killing fields or first they killed me father

Google- Cambodia pot pot regime or Khmer Rouge