Off to Hungary!

I decided that trying out one new continent a year wasn't quite enough for me, so I leave today to ring in the New Year in Budapest with my great friend Matt and his family (they're American, but his parents are missionaries there).

I am so. so. so. so. so (SOOOOOOOO) excited about this.

See y'all in 2010!!!!!!!!!

Oh... and just for clarification purposes:

Frequently Asked Questions

So, are you and Matt Hiltibran DATING?!!
Nope, we're just good friends.

But... you seem to really enjoy spending time together.
Well, that generally is considered part of a good friendship.

But... he's a guy.
He definitely is.

And... you're a girl.
Most decidedly so.

(confused pause)
So... that means... you are CLOSE FRIENDS OF OPPOSITE GENDERS??!!
Yes, and this has in fact been pointed out to us before.

Oh. So, you're close friends, of opposite genders... but are you that kind of not dating where you're really like, sort of dating, but not, but really are, and are going to? You know?
Um. I don't really speak Dawson's Creek, so I'm not completely sure what you're saying, but I think it has something to do with whether or not we have plans to date in the future. The answer is no.

So you know that means you're like SO DUMB, right?
Yeah, both sets of parents have made that pretty clear to us over the years. You can join them and my roommates in praying for changes of heart. In the meantime we're having a great time enjoying a fruitful and encouraging friendship! Thanks for your concern!

:-)

a song, a song, high above the trees, with a voice as big as the seas.

"Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you a sign:
a virgin will be with child
and bear a Son,
and she will call him
Emmanuel:
God with us.

...And His name will be called
Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God,
Eternal Father,
Prince of Peace."

Isaiah 7:14, 9:6

Gchat conversation, around midnight on 12/24:

me: hey,

heading to bed but wanted to say merry christmas eve!

Chet: aw thanks

have a good night!

24 hours till bingo

(aka Christmas)

me: hahaha

like

Jesus is born: bing-OOOO!!!!!!!
?

Chet: right
its just an expression I use

Merry Christmas, everybody. Bingo! Jesus is born. :-)

I'd love to say I'm spending my first weeks back in the country and the week before Christmas resting, reflecting, peacefully enjoying the season...

but the fact that I just pulled up Google for the sole purpose of desperately needing to find this quote... probably answers that question.

"One reason we are so harried and hurried is that we make yesterday and tomorrow our business, when all that legitimately concerns us is today.
If we really have too much to do, there are some items on the agenda which God did not put there.
Let us submit the list to Him and ask Him to indicate which items we must delete.
There is always time to do the will of God.
If we are too busy to do that, we are too busy."

-Elisabeth Elliot

Trying really, really hard to remember that.

Have I mentioned that I love the Ramsings?

My computer "rang" this evening and I saw that my second family was calling me on Skype. This hasn't been unusual over the last 16 months as they returned from 10 months in Uganda only two weeks before I left for Bolivia, but we don't usually use it when we're um, in the same town... but I'd been planning on going over there today but was too snowed in (two feet and counting!) to drive or even walk the couple miles to their house.

They were all "Emily, want to do ADVENT with us?!!!".

Which of course I did.

So they all gathered 'round... the computer, and the kids took turns reading their sections of the nightly reading to me, making sure to hold the book up to the webcam so that I could see the pictures, too.

And then we all prayed together over videochat and blew each other kisses and said good night.

I really love that family, man.

From Mac screen-shot-taker:

"Don't miss the pictures Em!"


Some CRAZY + beautiful people I love.



Advent candles. Jesus, we are so seriously happy that You came to earth, for real.

I don't have a twitter so I am writing this here:

My SISTER who I have not seen in more than Six Freaking Months...

gets home from her first semester of college in TWO HOURS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Even though I am exhausted I am way too excited to sleep. Baking abounds.

YEAHHHHHHHHH

The last time we saw each other- on our way to take me to the airport in June...


I really just like her a lot.

crying.

After my host siblings left Cochabamba in October, I spent more than one evening sitting silently with my host mom. I would hold her hand while she cried, and usually I would cry too. The grief in that house in Bolivia was so thick some nights you could feel it tangibly. I wanted to run away from it. I've never grieved like my host parents have had to this year and I had no idea what to do (and even when I did know I didn't always do it).

But I could sit with her when she cried.


About two weeks ago, I was in my Bolivian bedroom staring at the suitcases set out on the floor. I thought about the fact that I was about to fill them with my things and leave this place forever, and I started to panic. I internationally-called my friend Matt, asked him to pray for me, and promptly burst into tears. It's hard to know what to do when someone you love is crying in another country. But he prayed for me, and he listened patiently, and he spoke words of encouragement and confidence in my ability to live the next few days.

And he sat with me, even from across an ocean, as I cried.


Yesterday, my friend Nate spent the day here on his way home from grad school in North Carolina. Nate did a HNGR internship in Ethiopia last year and he remembered the weeks after returning. We mostly just had a blast hanging out around my town and catching up on the last semester, but for about an hour we sat at my kitchen table and he gave me the great gift of letting me talk about Bolivia. I talked about Mosoj Yan, I talked about my girls- for the first real time since getting home a week ago. I started to cry multiple times in that conversation.

I talked about hearing and seeing stories of bodies abused and lives that had been empty of love in a way for which I have no context. I talked, too, of seeing an organization that acted out the words of the Gospel in a way that made changes, and how that led me to hope I don't think I could have gotten to by myself. I talked about Romans 8:28, "For we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him", and how that verse doesn't mean the same things to me that it used to.

But at one point I heard myself say something that took me by surprise:

"When I would hear the stories of the girls' backgrounds...it was like He was crying, too."

Seeing the situations some of these beautiful, beautiful girls were born into had me yelling and crying confusion at Him pretty loudly at times. Yelling questions, mostly. I get the concept that His ways are higher than our ways and that's been comforting to me in most of my confused moments... but really, Lord? Really, this is for good? Show me how. I don't see one good thing about this.

When I heard myself say that to Nate, about God crying, it clarified for me a little of why, even with the questions and yelling, I didn't seriously doubt His goodness on HNGR. I would hear those stories and cry and somehow, I knew He was crying, too. I knew that if I was devastated by their broken hearts and bodies, He must be uncountably more.

Lord, I am grateful You sit with us, always. I am grateful You cry.

"...Didn't You see [them] crying?
And didn't You hear them call Your name?...

I didn't notice You were standing here
I didn't know that that was You, holding them
I didn't notice You were crying, too
I didn't know that that was You washing their feet..."

-David Crowder, "All I Can Say" (slightly edited)- I listened to that song so many times this year.

what more can He say than to you He hath said

getting a lot of comfort from this right now:

how firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord
is laid for your faith in His excellent Word
what more can He say than to you He hath said
who unto the Savior for refuge have fled?


All of it is good:

...fear not, I am with thee, oh, be not dismayed,
for I am thy God and will still give thee aid
I'll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand,
upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand

when through the deep waters I call thee to go,
the rivers of sorrow shall not overflow;
for I will be with thee thy troubles to bless
and sanctify to thee thy deepest distress

when through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie,
My grace, all-sufficient, shall be thy supply
the flames shall not hurt thee; I only design
thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine

the soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose
I will not, I will not, desert to his foes;
that soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I'll never, no never, no never, forsake!

...in every condition: in sickness, in health,
in poverty's vale, or abounding in wealth,
at home and abroad, on the land, on the sea, --
the Lord, the Almighty, they strength e'er shall be.

How I Really Spent The Last Six Months...

(I am so enjoying having a fast enough internet connection to finally post these...)


Here's a couple glimpses into what my HNGR experience really looked like on a daily basis...


It's definitely NOT all angst :-)

(Videos including me actually dance partying were very intentionally left unposted...)

Re-Entry Week Pumpkin Bread

My "happy place" over the last six months when I needed a little ummm retreat from Bolivia was to page through recipe sites and bookmark anything that looked especially yummy and fun to make for when I came home (...okay, I realize that sounds lame, but I don't have a Facebook... I get my kicks where I can). Many an afternoon brinking on absolute culture-shock/homesickness meltdown was held together by the web-surfing promise of ingredient shopping, two-bowl mixing, and preparing and serving a delicious new dinner or dessert.

(...Yeah, I definitely feel lame writing that. But it is true!)

I finally got my hands on some flour and my kitchen yesterday and made a fun and Christmasy-scented (!!) pumpkin bread:

• 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree (ooh, ooh side note, I used organic pumpkin!! Which... is only because I happened to be shopping at Trader Joe's with Becky that morning and pumpkin was on sale. And nothing else I used was organic. But... it makes me feel cool anyway.)
  
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup applesauce
  
• 2/3 cup water
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
  
• 1 and 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1 and 1/2 cups brown sugar
  
• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 2 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour three 7x3 inch loaf pans. (Mine actually came out to two full size loaf pans and one small one, and probably could have all fit in the two.)
2. In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, water, vanilla and sugar until well blended.
   
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger.
4. Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just blended. Pour into the prepared pans.
5. Bake for about 50 minutes in the preheated oven. Loaves are done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

It's based off of this recipe, but mine has a few changes... I added the vanilla and doubled the spices, and the original recipe called for all white sugar but I like using at least partially brown. I also only used the applesauce because we didn't have enough oil for the called-for cup, but I actually really liked it. I think next time I would just use all applesauce and cut the oil- it makes it slightly more cakey (which it could afford), it's a little healthier, and the flavor was great.

Spicewise, you could pretty much do whatever you want. With what I listed, it comes out VERY clove-y. I think next time I might halve that and replace it with more cinnamon (yum!). And I couldn't super taste the vanilla so I might experiment with a bit more of that.

I wished the pumpkin flavor was a little stronger but I'm not sure how to do that without changing the texture of the bread. I've heard there's a pumpkin spice you can buy?

OH YEAH AND: I definitely think it would be great with chewable somethings. Chocolate chips or personally I'm thinkin' CRANBERRIES!!

Overall: very sweet, very moist, and even if you're not hungry slightly addictive. And best of all fun to make!! Which I did while listening to Christmas music on my laptop and calling out questions every five minutes to my poor mother who was trying to read in the living room. I love Christmas and I love being home.

Home...

I am in Maryland!!!

It is lovely, lovely, lovely to be here.

I am thoroughly enjoying hot showers, a comfortable bed (in a blessedly mice-free bedroom), some variety of food, winter weather, and traffic that stops at red lights.

Way more than any of that though, I am so loving spending time with these precious family and friends I so missed.

My parents, characteristically, pretty much haven't stopped hugging and kissing me since picking me up at the airport on Monday (love it), I'm back to darting in and out of the Ramsings' kitchen to glean wisdom from Nick and Becky and scoop children out for hot chocolate twice a day (literally), and I've gotten to hold Rex TWICE in three days... I figure if I continue at this rate eventually I'll make up for being on another continent the first four months of his life (I still can't believe my friends are allowed to do crazy things like have babies without me present, I mean really).

And, super fun, some crazy bosom friend who had been JUST SO SORRY she couldn't make it home until next week and she's REALLY GOING TO CALL ME A LOT so we can talk my first week home since it's just SO UNFORTUNATE WE CAN'T SEE EACH OTHER... had been super LYING!!!, and totally showed up on my doorstep Monday night.

And some lunches and walks and visits and phone calls... it's just been so lovely. I really have the best friends and family, um, I believe the word is EVER. (My mother snorted when she heard me tell someone on the phone that I'd been "pretty quiet" since coming back... ??). I feel so warm and fuzzy and overwhelmed with joy and what-the-heck-why-is-my-life-so-filled-with-amazing-people-and-love-ness all the time.

Bolivia front:
Goodbyes were so sad but really really rich and affirming and good.

I have absolutely not begun to process... anything... yet. It has not sunk in that I am not in Bolivia and/or am not returning (that I have plans for).

That (the processing) will probably, aka definitely, be hard when it happens. Which it needs to. And it will.

I did go sit quietly at a coffee shop today with my Bible and journal, and acknowledged to God and myself that I was there and now I'm here. I cried (a little bit) for the first time since the airport. I think all those things were good.

I also journaled in Spanish, which felt good. I was very relieved to discover I hadn't forgotten it all already. 'Cause I've heard, you know, lots of people forget whole languages in three days. No but seriously. I felt real relief. After all these months of thinking bitter angry thoughts at verb conjugation charts, I totally am missing it... a lot.

If I think too much about all these faces I'm not sure what will happen. But I need to. Please feel free to ask me about them. I like it (so much it makes me want to cry with gratitude) when people do.

...

'K. More random posts to come.

I will say that if you are thinking about going to another country for six months and then coming back, I really highly recommend coming back at Christmastime. Coming home to snow on the ground and frost in the air and carols playing non-stop and general merriment has, true story, added even more joy to my general atmosphere of life... on top of seeing people I love for the first time in months. I really really love coziness and it makes me think of everything that is beautiful and good about life, which is helpful for transitioning from something like this.

...

what else?...

My blog is now playing a lovely Christmas music playlist so please click on over and hear.

I baked pumpkin bread for my mother tonight. From scratch. I'll post the recipe later :-)

I love you all so much friends. I cannot thank you enough for the love and support throughout this year. The adventure continues and I hope we shall all continue together.

...but to LOVE a great deal.

Good to remember in moments of overwhelmedness and what-the-heck-should-I-be-doing?!!-feelings (not that I'm having those this week or anything):

"O my God, You are there before me. What will You that I think or that I say to You out of the depths of my heart?
'I do not ask you to think a great deal, but to love a great deal,' the Holy Spirit answers. 'Adore me, love Me, contemplate Me; tell me and repeat over and over again that you love Me, that you give yourself to Me, that you long for all My children to give themselves to Me and love Me.'

All is sleeping, all is at rest. Thank You, my God, for calling me to adore You and love You. Hold my eyes open and set wide the gates of my soul. Let me lose and sink myself in the contemplation and love of You."

-Charles de Foucald

let me love a great deal this week, Lord. above worrying about saying the perfect last thing or doing the perfect last thing or visiting every last place i have loved in this city or closing out in some perfect way so that i never have any regrets...

let me simply strive to love hard.

Sad.

(This is, I think, a sort of upsetting entry, so read with caution, okay?).


In my independent study interviews on the girls' perceptions of sexuality,
I ask them if they can please describe their first sexual experience for me.

(And yes, I feel like a bold jerk doing so every time, even though I know it will help Mosoj Yan and thus them to have the information).


On Friday, one of the girls told me how she'd had sex for the first time at age 16,
with a boy she'd known for two months.

And my immediate response?
Was a HUGE wave of relief,
and I inwardly began shouting praises to God.

Because, unlike the other girls I'd interviewed that week,

she'd been over the age of 13,
and it had been consensual.


A year ago, to hear her say that,
would have made me want to cry.

The fact that now I didn't want to...
makes me want to cry.


This organization does good work... this organization does good work... this organization does good work...

God does good work, God does good work, God does good work...

Happy Thanksgiving, sweet friends.

"Lord God, we render praise to you as our Creator and Sustainer,
as the spring of life and source of healing.
We praise you with lips that sing,
arms that embrace,
and feet that dance.
Our praise of you is spoken before the nations
and whispered in intimate love.
Our praise happens in rocking a baby, tending a patient,
affirming a student, hearing a client,
writing a letter, phoning a friend,
reaching out, holding,
listening, waiting,
offering all You have given to us to one another.
We praise you,
Lord God,
when we remember from whence we have come and to Whom we all soon will return."

I saw that on a blog today. I couldn't find the author- but I really love it.

I had a great Thanksgiving. A lovely normal day at work (funny, Bolivian offices don't seem to close for our American holidays...), but taking girls out for ice cream and a walk in the park, chilling on the couches knitting, completing one more interview for my independent study, and a hilarious staff meeting was just right and felt like a wonderful way to spend the holiday.

And they know enough about the holiday to just shake their heads and thank me when I informed them at work that "Estoy agradecida por TI... y TI... y por TI!" (I am thankful for you, and you, and you!). When I bid them all a "Feliz Día de Acción de Gracias (isn't that a cool translation?? The Day of Action of Giving Thanks)!!!!!!!!!!!" on my way out the door they rolled their eyes but returned the greeting :-).

And then I met up with the lovely Drew and Ann and John and Jenny for an impressively traditional American-style Thanksgiving feast. So perfect.

Hope all of your Thanksgivings were so wonderful, my amazing friends and family. I am so unbelievably blessed and grateful to get to have all of you in my life.

Emily' s College Thanksgivings...

Freshman year:

Here Mary and I are with our cute grandmothers at my house for our awesome Goldberg-Gottschalk Thanksgiving Celebration!

(I love friendships that involve each other's families, I love Mayr's family in particular, and I LOVED that we all gathered and gave thanks together that year.)


And my beautiful sister.

Sophomore year:

My mom, sister, and I met up in California to celebrate Thanksgiving with my mom's fam! My cousin Jenny threw a beautiful dinner and it was so great to connect with family we don't get to see enough. Here are my Goldberg Girls with Jen and her then-new baby Connor...

Cute family, beautiful table...

...and walking on the beach in November... gotta love CA.

Junior year:

The incredibly hospitable Kirschners hosted me and I got to spend awesome quality time with Christine, her boyfriend Luke, and got to meet all of her friends from high school and her family. So special to get to know all of them and it was a definite bonding experience for our friendship.

(Don't worry my love... you're going to be back with him so soon!!!)


So very much to give thanks for.

I Love The Mosoj Yan Staff

Gladys (Albergue house psychologist and my BFF), me, and 2-yr-old Diana

Love them, love them, love them, love them. Their warmth, inclusivity, hard work with the girls, patience, and senses of humor have been an unspeakable highlight of my time here.


The Albergue women: Gladys, Maria Jesús, and Tomy ("Tomitaaa!")

Pics above are from the staff retreat earlier this month!:

• RossMary (my boss), Ariane (Mosoj Yan secretary and one of my closest friends here), and Danitza strike a pose, happy to be in Santa Cruz
• Ross and Ari participating in the staff talent show (it's... a long story...)
• Singing worship songs together on the first night of the retreat

I love seeing them do anything to love on these girls...

Chacho with Leni and Jamnaleth

Hermano Tino swimming with Maria Eugenia and Estefani on Albergue's special pool day

Gladys and Maria Eugenia are very excited about our pizza to celebrate October birthdays!!



...And I am so, so grateful for how they've accepted and loved me.

I love the staff meetings where they with great compassion talk about each girl individually, going over what her needs are and how they can work hard to meet them.

I love how they just raise their eyebrows and laugh the girls off when they try to get their own way- relying on senses of humor to keep the atmosphere light, but still managing to give the girls the stability they so need.

I love that the ENTIRE Mosoj Yan staff greets me with "AMIIIIGAAAA AMERICANNNNAAAA!!!!!!" every time they see me (that would be part of the long story from the retreat!), and that I always return it with "COMO ESTAN MIS AMIGOS BOLIVIAANNNOOSSS!!!!".

I love how we all crack each other up every morning, but as soon as we start praying everyone's heads are in their hands and their faces are furrowed and their voices heartfelt as they murmur, "Sí, Señor... sí, Señor". "Yes, Lord... yes, Lord... bless these girls."

I love that when they found out a girl had been lying, in the conversation where they called her out on it and arranged discipline, they kept repeating, "This is because te queremos mucho, hija"... because we all love you so much.

I love that the other night I sat around Ren for an hour with two of the women workers, talking about two of the girls we're the proudest of, in whom even in my short time here I have seen so much growth. That these women humbly refused to take credit but beamed as they discussed them... as Pamela put it, "Nada más necesitamos". We need nothing more.

I love in a different way, though, that when Carola (the other woman) and I went out to lunch the next day and talked about one of the girls who'd left the program, despite the fact that we had just been talking about their successes, about how many girls do so well in Mosoj Yan... just the thought of that one girl whose future she doesn't know, had her in tears. (I mean, I didn't love that she cried. But I love that she cares that much.)

And I love that a minute later, after drying her face with a napkin, she told me, "Emily, I know God can do ANYTHING with these girls, even the hardest case. Our job is to pray."


I am SO, so so so lucky to be a part of this organization and I am inspired every day by these faces.

"Doy gracias a Dios por su trabajo"- I give thanks to God for your work. What I wrote in my card to my "Secreto Amigo" on the retreat (like Secret Santa), but it could have been written to any of them.

Just Over Two Weeks Left.

Repite:

"...It is important to know that our emotional life is not the same as our spiritual life.
Our spiritual life is the life of the Spirit of God within us.
As we feel our emotions shift we must connect our spirits with the Spirit of God and remind ourselves that what we feel is not who we are.
We are and remain, whatever our moods, God's beloved children."

-Henri Nouwen

Here's a peek inside my brain right now:

I can't wait to leave. I don't want to leave for another year. It's going to feel so amazing to be home. What will I do at home? I GET TO SEE EVERYONE SOON!!! Am I going to be able to connect with them? I should have done so much differently. I could have done so much better. I love the people here so much. Do I even really know these people? Why didn't I get to know them better?

Why can't I cry? I hear about 12 year olds being raped and I can't cry? Why can't I stop crying? That Grey's Anatomy episode/blog article/random song on my iTunes shuffle was not that sad! But I can't stop crying...

These girls are so beautiful. Oh God, I want such good things for their lives. What are their lives going to look like? How can I leave when I don't know what their lives are going to look like?

I can't stop crying.

Are their lives going to be good? Will they be warm and safe and have jobs they enjoy and stable partners and inner peace and a sense of worth? Did they internalize what Mosoj Yan taught them? Oh Lord, keep them safe, keep them happy.

I can't stop crying...

Why didn't I ask the office staff out for coffee sooner? Why didn't I practice grammar? Why didn't I pray for the girls by name more often? Will anyone here remember me?

I spent most of the last 5 1/2 months longing for home.
I will be overjoyed to be there.
I spent the last 5 1/2 months laughing, dance partying, being hugged and held, learning, loving deeply, internalizing.
I don't want to leave here.

...I'm going to make everyone so freakin' uncomfortable when I spend the whole next semester CRYING!!!

I don't know how to do this.
I don't know how to explain this.
Six months doesn't seem to justify
this much love or this much pain or this much confusion.
I learned a long time ago, though,
that waiting to justify your emotions
doesn't work all that well.

I am blessed beyond measure.
This time was a gift.
My life at home is a gift.
Lord, when I know not what else to do, make me grateful,
because whatever kind of hot mess I am,
I have so much for which to give thanks.
This,
in the midst of the craziness,
I do know.
Make me cling to that-
lead me to give thanks
when I don't know what else to do...

I think I might not know what to do
for awhile.

(That scares me.)

But this time was a gift.
I believe it and I will repeat it.

I want to go home,
but I am going to miss this place and these people.
That's okay. But it's confusing.

And I can't stop crying.

Right now,
I am actively grateful
for the quote printed at the top,
and the fact
that He is so constant
when I am not.


"When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my hope and stay."

"...The Lord your God is with you,
He is a mighty savior.
He will take delight in you with gladness.
With His love,
He will calm all your fears.
He will rejoice over you with joyful songs."

Zephaniah 3:16-18

"You dance over me, while I am unaware
You sing all around, but I never hear a sound
Lord, I'm amazed by You
Lord, I'm amazed by You
Lord, I'm amazed by You...
how You love me."

-Desperation Worship Band

Praying to remember these words today.
Hoping they bless you all as well...

HNGR VACA!!!!!!!!!!

I had the freaking sweetest luck with HNGR placements ever... for, well, a variety of reasons... but one really important one is that being placed in Bolivia meant my beautiful friend Christine was only one country away!!! She has been working with Paz y Esperanza in Andahyluas, Peru as a HNGR intern since June as well. We had been eagerly planning the prospect of a "HNGR Vacation" together since before we even knew if we'd been accepted to the program, and we were thrilled to actually make this dream a reality when in late October we met up for 10 blissful days of relaxation, rejuvenation, processing, praying, laughing, and crying.

This picture was taken about an hour after we were reunited at the La Paz airport. After hugging and crying for about ten straight minutes (haha you think I'm kidding...), we grabbed our bags, headed straight for the nearest café, and ordered whatever chocolate cake they had on the menu. (We couldn't decide between two varieties, so we ordered both!) This pretty much represents how we spent a LARGE portion of our time. We got the most decadent dessert available at EVERY place we went to... EVERY single day.

Here Christine is in our cute hostal room, where we stayed the first night...

So happy to be together after five months!!


We had a blast exploring La Paz!!! I'd never been there before, and every city in Bolivia really is so different.


We sheepishly confessed to each other that for whatever reason, we were both CRAVING to see a movie. A real movie. In English. In a movie theater. Some sort of lame, Hollywood, boy-meets-girl, pop-music soundtrack, movie. And so we found a movie theater in La Paz and went... and FREAKED OUT.

"WE'RE IN A REAL LIVE MOVIE THEATERRR!!"

Talk about culture shock!!! First off, this theater puts most American theaters to shame- it was massive. When after almost five months of South American life we walked in and saw the CARPETED floors, the neon lights, the fast food everywhere, our jaws dropped and our palms started sweating and we tried to remember how to be Americans... it was a little insane. It makes me kind of scared for what's going to happen the first time I go to Target...


We spent most of our time in La Paz staying with some friends of Christine's family, the Kittelsons, who are missionaries there. They are wonderful and were unbelievably hospitable to us. We loved getting to know them!!



We went on a bunch of great hikes...

Including getting caught in a rainstorm one time! (It was well worth it.)

Breathtaking views with a precious friend. Is there much better?

After five days in La Paz, we headed off to Copacabana, a small town about three hours (by both bus and boat!) away, which is right on Lago Titicaca- the highest lake in the world. And in my opinion, maybe the most beautiful. There, we spent five more days, taking long walks together along the edge of this:

(I know right!)


And doing a whole lot of this:

(And eating more chocolate at every opportunity.)

Does it get much better?

Anyway... the trip was absolutely incredible. The Kittelsons were perfect hosts, La Paz was a blast, Copacabana was absolutely gorgeous.

But honestly, I think that had we been staying in a tiny motel room in an alley somewhere and it had rained the whole week, I still would have been totally happy. The best part was just being with Christine. We got to share our hearts, tell some of the stories we've heard here, laugh together over the joys and goofs of the last few months. We got to cry over our own failings that we've come face to face with as we've lived out of our comfort zones, over how much we miss our friends and family back home, over the injustices and horrors we have seen and heard and not been able to do anything about. We were able to affirm, enjoy, and pray for each other, and speak God's truth to each other's hearts- that He could not love us more even if we had been "the perfect HNGR interns". That He is doing more than we can see or imagine, in the lives of the people that we have grown to love so much here, and in our own. That there is fruit in both of our hearts and lives from this time, and there will be more.

It was a priceless, priceless trip, and it will be one of my favorite memories forever. I could not be more grateful to have gotten to do it, and to have gotten to share that time with one of my best friends.

I love you so much, Christine!!!!! Thank you for sharing this time and your heart with me, and thank you for encouraging mine more than I could ever say.

I LOVE YOU CHARIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Best (12-year-old) Surrogate Sister EVER!!!!!!!!!!

And I love the rest of the gang too!!!!! (Best Surrogate Brother and 8 year old Surrogate Sister)