Jubilee USA!

Take action! Cancel Debt for impoverished nations.

Most memorable moment in the Olympics

I got to say I am very impressed with the Brazilian marathon runner Vanderlei Lima. He just ran after he was tackled by this big guy and then held no bitterness. I love the Latin American love for life. Why didn’t the other runners (the winners that is) recognize the incident and recognize him for his strength of character? Does any one know why the guy jumped out at him?

Pace of Life

I am impressed with Canada’s (or should I say the BC province’s) time given for families. They give a mother one year of maternatiy leave and 50 percent of her wage. That is great. They also give people time off to grieve the loss of a loved one. Maybe not every business, but I spoke with a guy yesterday that took some time off when he lost his father.

Deep Creek

Lisa and I went kayaking for the firs time yesterday. Karen from the Kits Church organized the trip. We went to Deep Cove. It was so beautiful! Lisa and I had never been real kayaking; we were a little nervous b/c we heard it was a lot harder with a two person kayak. We even wore the kayaking skirts! As we found out the larger kayak is a little more stable. Being out in the water was so peaceful. We got to see the clouds roll in over the mountain tops. We got in a little so we even did some night kayaking. We can’t wait to get back in the water again. We loved it.

Labyrinth

I just finished doing this Labyrinth. Check it out. It was a nice prayer and reflection tool. I am so impressed with the use of media and prayer integration. It is hard to find a place where they are both used effectively.

Dawn

Dawn
Originally uploaded by julio and Lisa.

Here we are on Going to the Sun Highway. A ranger told us this road was built during the Depression. It is an amazing sight to see. All the stone walls were laid by hand!

Big Horn Sheep

DSCN0188_1
Originally uploaded by julio and Lisa.

While Lisa and I were in Glacier National Park we got to see Big Horn Sheep and Mountain Goats. On Alex and my bike ride we never got to see Big Horn Sheep. We always looked for them. Alex, I finally got to see one in the wild!

Laundry

Today we met our first compatriota at the Laundry Mat.
He was very nice and he told me where to go to meet all the Salvadorians in town. This Sunday there is a Latino Festival here in Vancouver. The guy said that we could find all the pupusas we needed! Yeah! We also found the local Falafel place in town. We are excited to have some authenic pupusas and find where to find all the things we need to cook and also some authentic Middle Eastern food. Yeah!

Check out this quote:

Recent Latin Americans in Vancouver: Unyielding Diverse Needs Versus Insufficient Services
by Aranzazu Recalde (15):

“Salvadorans constitute the biggest group, followed by Mexicans, and finally Guatemalans. From 1983–1986 Salvadorans accounted for over 50 percent of all North and Central American immigrants, and from 1986–1993 they still represented the largest proportion – over 40 percent until 1992. These arrivals contributed to the more than three hundred people per year from 1986– 1992, reaching a maximum of 572 in 1991 and 439 in 1992”

I had seen this stat before I came to Vancouver, but I had yet to meet Latin Americans until Sat. Lisa and I were at a garage sale and we met two Argentinean women. They told me the largest group here in Vancouver was Salvadorians. They told us they lived on the Eastside. That is the “bad” part of the city. We haven’t even been downtown yet. We hope to go soon, but Lisa has been busy with teaching and when she has a free day we are trying to get our lives in order before I start school. At church we also met a woman who goes to El Salvador every summer to do mission work with Emmanuel Baptist Church. It was great to meet her because she knows some of the local Salvadorian restaurants. Lisa and I are also excited to meet the Arabic community in town. I saw a Lebanese restaurant in town that we hope to visit soon. Something interesting that we have experience is that foreigners do not staff most of the restaurants we go to. Like the Mexican restaurant we went to yesterday was all staffed by Canadians. I didn’t get to go to the kitchen, maybe that is where the foreigners were?

Kits

Yesterday Lisa and I went to a church (I don’t remember it’s name, but people called it Kits). It is an abbreviation for Kitslano where the church is located. It was a great church. The pastor gave a sound and motivating message (the pastor is a Fuller grad). It was full of children and people of different ages. We went out with a couple that is in the same exact situation we are in. He is full-time at Regent and his wife is a teacher. They were very informative to learn from th their experience. The husband started school in January so he could give me some good infomation. This couple and another couple we met were from Pasadena. They were familiar with Harambee! One of the couple’s home church in CA supported Harambee.

After lunch Lisa and I went to Kits beach and studied. I was learning how to write school assignments for Regent. Lisa was studying for the classes she was going to give today. It was a beautiful day yesterday. It was sunny and cool. We are excited to live near the beach, but for me this area doesn’t have the feel of a beach town. Maybe b/c I am used to smaller towns near the beach. I am not used to a city near a beach.