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It has been a full two days.
Our plane was delayed four 6 hours!
We flew with United, and our friends Tara and Caleb warned us that we would be delayed b/c they were stuck for a day in Denver. We were very disappointed with United, we are going to join T & C letter writing campaign when we return to Vancouver.

We got into Dulles at 2 AM.
We had a wedding the next day in MD. Fadia Shadid and Iyad Shadid (they both have the same last name!) So I guess Fadia is keeping her maiden name! We had a blast at the wedding.

After that we went to see our friend Phil and Jo. We got to see Phil’s new condo in Alexandria. It is a beautiful new apartment. He is ready to host Bible Studies at his house because of the beautiful loft he has is perfect for it.

Tonight we are having a big dinner part at the Ajaj home. We are having family and friends over for a big meal. It should be a lot of fun.

Then tomorrow we are taking Lisa’s niece and nephew for a day of fun and learning since they will miss school.

Hope to have pictures up soon.

Thank God

Hurricane Adrian just hit El Salvador.
Thank God it was not as bad as Hurricane Mitch.
Lisa and I go there July 1st.
We will be visiting family and working with Habitat for Humanity for ten days.
I will post as soon as I hear more info.

Ice Hockey

Well if you are in the states you might be following the NBA Tournament or the NBA draft. However, I am trying to live more like a Canadian and I have been following the IIHF World Cup. The Canadians have informed me that if they don’t make it to the Gold Cup game it is a disappointment because they usually win the whole thing. Since NHL is on strike this is the biggest event of the year.

Unfortunately, Lisa and I were not able to watch the game since we do not own a TV and it was on cable too. Sadly the Canadian team lost to Czech in the final game.

Well maybe the Steve Nash winning the NBA MVP will be the biggest news story of the year. I was watching TSN (the Canadian ESPN) and when they announced that Nash won the award they said, “This is probably the most exceptional thing a Canadian has ever done.”

I am very excited about a new bike I bought on Saturday. It was an old work horse of a bike. I have the road bike I rode across country, but I need a trail bike I can ride in Pacific Spirit Park. So I had been scoping the thrift shops and used bike shops. I found a nice bike I need to work on some. I replaced the front tire and spent some times cleaning off some layers of grease and dirt caked on the chain and gears. It was fun fixing it up. I met a bike mechanic once that told me he would never ride a bike older than the 70’s. I don’t know what he was taking about because the seat on this thing is killing me. I love the new advances they have made on bike saddles. I will let you know what I think about. We don’t have the U-Pass anymore so I have to ride my bike to school every day. It is a good thing since it gets me doing some exercise that I need. As my friend Hugo said, “Studying the Bible makes you fat.” He isn’t lying.

Walking on the Beach

Walking
Originally uploaded by julio and Lisa.

Lisa, UGM volunteers and I went to the beach a couple weeks ago. It was a blast. Here the kids are following my footsteps b/c my feet were so big they had fun sinking into my footprints.

So Sad

Lisa and I don’t have web access at home any more. So we have to rely on the public system to post blogs. So I can’t blog often as I would like. So here is a quick update. Lisa and I have moved. This is only a temporary spot. We move again in July!!! 😦 Too much moving. Well as students we got to do it to find the best place at the best price.

We leave for DC on May 21st. I will be speaking at the Annual Arabic Bible Conference on Memorial Day weekend! I will be the high school and Jr. high school speaker. Lots of work to do to prepare for that.

Then we return and I take start a class with Paul Freston at Regent.
More details to come.
Peace,
Julio

In Whistler

This weekend I am at a retreat with the University of British Columbia’s Alma Mater Society. We have been planning for the coming school year and doing some team building stuff.

We had a long session on SWOT of the AMS. I never did that before. It is where you have a group discussion on the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and threats. The first two deal with issues within the organization and the last two deal with things that are external to the organization.

I went a little hike around a lake here in Whistler and got to do some reading too. I am reading In The Red Tent. It is okay.

Lisa and I fly out to DC on May 21 for May Camp and also for a wedding. We can’t wait to see everyone in DC.