Story of a broken toe and a fantastic camp-out

Squamish, BC

It all started with a car switch. There were five girls trying to cram sleeping bags, mats, pillows, food and gear for 3 days into one little car. We made it all fit somehow, but then as we got on the road and rounded the first corner, “Screech!” The car made a horrendous scraping noise. Around the next curve it came again. This time it was more of a scraping sound. It was determined that we should return to the house and switch to a larger car. In the end, my 2-door car ended up having more space than the others’ 4-door vehicles. Score 2 points for the trusty Buick! So we were off again to our destination – the town of Squamish, north of Vancouver, British Columbia.

David and Shelley building our tent

The Canada Institute of Linguistics made camp for the night in eight neighboring camp sites in Paradise Valley Camp ground. I was at the “single ladies” camp site which had two tents and 10 women, but we all had plenty of room.

"Single ladies" camp site

The evening turned into a sort of progressive dinner, as everyone had been told they were responsible for their own dinner. But there was so much food at all the camp sites that you could move from mac&cheese to my pizza pockets to some who had gourmet dinners, then there was of course hot chocolate and various kinds of teas. It was similar in the morning, with everyone whipping out french presses and cast-iron skillets.

The choices for the day were many: the hard-core group, the medium-core, the light-core, and the light. All of the “core” groups were hiking straight-up something, so I opted for the light-core hike that would end up at the lake where I could swim. (It still took us over two hours). But everyone was very patient and we met up with the “light” group at the lake. The water was warmer than I expected, so I actually went swimming several times. I also had a chance to canoe down the river to where there were three different rope swings. The final rope swing was attached to a tree that went far out over the deep water so you could really get out there. Sadly, on my first attempt I hit my foot pretty hard on the rock, so it was bleeding and I’m fairly certain I actually broke the middle toe. (Why just the middle toe? So strange.) Anyway, we spent another evening at the campground, relaxing, playing games, and making s’mores around the campfire. Sunday morning after a communal breakfast we had an amazing time of worship and prayer together.

Swimming with Stacee and Shelley at Brohm Lake

Carcasonne game at the lake

There were still a few who wanted to do another hike, so after some seat-swapping I took this crew up to clean the Chief (mountain). I headed back to Squamish to get gas and then I spent a lovely 3 hours by Shannon Falls. There was perfect shallow water for creek-walking and exploring. Thanks for everyone who encouraged me to come up to Canada and study linguistics this summer. It’s been a challenge and very busy – but this weekend I’m reminded what good preparation it all is for the work that lies before me.

Shannon Falls

Hanging out at Shannon Falls

Shannon Falls creekbed

travelling post

When I picked a name for this blog I was identifying myself with the 40 million nomads in the world, according to Wikipedia.  I’ve been living out of a suitcase since last September when I moved out of my house on Flanders street.  I figure that means I’ve saved a little over $2,800 already, just in rent.

But it can be an exhausting way to live as I look forward to more of the same.  I will continue to travel from now until October next year.  Hopefully at that point I will be in Northern Cameroon looking for an apartment to rent again.  That’s slightly over 2 years of travel between departure and destination.

But the upside is the actual traveling part.  Even without money for “tourism,” you can see so much.

Elephants

Waza

Originally uploaded by Sarah MCWA

…Yes, there are elephants in Cameroon.
…Yes, the best place to see them is not far from where I’m going to be living.
…No, we don’t have cheetahs or tigers.
…Yes, I will take you there WHEN you come and visit.
…Yes, there are also lions.

Breakdown…

just the car kind, not the mental kind.

But seriously, I did have to get my car fixed on my drive down from Portland  to Placerville, CA.  I left at six in the morning because I was trying to make it to Placerville in time to have dinner with the pastor’s family.  I was about 10 minutes from Cottage Grove when my check gauges light came on.  I got gas in Cottage Grove and checked my oil but that was fine.  The nearest town with a Jiffy Lube (where I can get liquids topped off for free) was Grant’s Pass.  Well by the time I got to Grant’s Pass the “Service Engine Soon,” light had also come on intermittently.

Wycliffe on the move

Wycliffe’s got a new blog up at  http://wycliffeusa.wordpress.com where you can track as they go to Uganda and Tanzania.  Our president Bob Creson and a team are taking journalists with them to visit a Bible translation project.  They’re going to focus on  the Mara language cluster and the people who speak the Bwisi language.  This should be a good chance to hear first-hand interviews with national translators and observe AIDS awareness seminars.  Technology plays a big role in how Wycliffe can do the task part of the mission.  So they plan to highlight a few key ways they use technology and software to translate the Bible.  If you’re interested in learning more about “how” and “with who” the Bible gets translated, here’s a good chance for you.

Moment of Zen

It’s raining outside, so I’m dreaming of warm days in Cameroon.

Jungle in SW Region of Cameroon

Football in Cameroon

Esc. Futbol 02

Originally uploaded by Daniel Escalé

Yes, there are other popular sports in Cameroon besides football/soccer. Being home to the second highest mountain in Africa, Mount Cameroon, means hundreds of runners come to climb in the Mount Cameroon Race of Hope every year. Basketball, wrestling and canoe-racing are all popular.
But football/soccer is still the most popular across the country. They made it to the World Cup for the first time 1982. Cameroon’s national team won 4 African Cup of Nations finals and they won the gold medal in the 2000 summer Olympics.

Cuban birthday goodness

I celebrated my birthday with my family for the first time in 4 years, what a treat!  We went out to my favorite restaurant in Portland, Pambiche, on the corner of 28th and Glisan.  It’s vintage Portland, we sat at a table outside under heat lamps in a building that’s painted vibrant pink, teal and yellow.  It’s next door to a laundromat, around the corner from a velvet art museam, and across the street from Plaid Pantry and Lucky’s Bar.  Pambiche is great for breakfast with omelets that have chorizo and peppers.  Their happy hour is great for prices on all the little appetizers of fried green plantains, sweet plantains, empanadas and little croquetas.  The names of all the dishes are in Spanish but they do a good job of explaining what the dishes are in English.

But I have to say the highlight of Pambiche for me is the dessert menu.  The owner was originally a pastry chef I believe, and so the desserts are highlighted in a glass pastry case so you can go and pick out what you want.  Then a cup of Cafe Cubano or Cafe Colada, or a cappucino makes a perfect contrast to the sweet desserts.  Here’s what we enjoyed on Saturday night:

Guava cheesecake:

Tres Leches:

and the funniest dessert I’ve seen in a long time was what my sister ordered.  Yes, everything you see is edible – the cigar is dark chocolate around a chocolate ganache and dusted with a little cinnamom to look aged.  The end of the cigar and around the plate they somehow made coconut look like ashes.  And the ashtray is filed with a strawberry sauce.  Yum!!

Useful websites

I have an overactive bookmark folder that has 10 folders with subfolders.  Keeping track of websites is difficult, but here’s a few of the best.

World Nomads

Great travel advice, and their SafetyHub blog has good health information.  In a similar vein, at The Red Cross Store there’s great first aid kits.  That particular one was recommended as the minimum to carry around where I’m going to be travelling in Cameroon.

The Universal Packing List How fun is this?  You enter in your info and it spits out a customized packing list.

Geez Magazine’s tagline reads “holy mischief in an age of fast faith.”  Some of their stuff makes me roll my eyes but it’s often thought-provoking as well.

These Numbers Have Faces is an organization I heard about through Imago Dei Community that does community development with youth in South Africa through soccer and traditional dance programs.  Their approach is very fresh and creative without overloading you with information, but best of all they focus on the people not the program.

Global Voices is a way to get world news that doesn’t rely on traditional journalism.  Instead most of the contributors are local bloggers.  You’ll get a different perspective by reading from the eyes of the participant instead of the observer.

But saving the best for last, you definitely need to check out Scripture Engagement.  There’s a lot to explore there but it all focuses on one question.  How can we know God and have a relationship with Him unless we hear and know His words to us?  Twenty-five agencies got together to share information and resources on how we can encounter God through His Word.  Under the “Events and Training” tab you can even find the program where I’ll be studying Scripture Engagement this summer in Canada.

Spring in Portland

Laurelhurst Park in