Lessons Learned and Lessons to be Learned

So I am leaving augie in just a few days to go home for just 2 weeks then im off to Fiji. I place that as I learn more about I realize just how little I know. I am nervous excited and just plain giddy about leaving for a place that I know so little about. This may seem strange to those who have never been thrown into something that they dont understand and dont know what to expect but I love those situations. This reminds me a bit about the time I went on a mission trip to Puerto Rico. It is to date the furthest I have been away from my family which wasnt a big deal because I was with my church including 2 of my best friends Rachael and Travis. However, what I didnt know going into this trip was that I would be going to a drug and alcohol rehab center for men over the age of 18 and that Rachael and Travis wouldnt be going with me. I was told this after I was in Puerto Rico and was all settled in to the place that I would call home for the week. I was terrified. I didnt know what these guys would be like. I didnt know if they would be dangerous. I didnt know if they would even speak english very well. But im so glad that I did it. It was one of the best experiences of my life. The men there were amazing. Most of them were there because they got on the wrong path at some point in time and now they wanted to fix it. It taught me to not judge a person before I got to know them. It taught me the simple things in my life that I take for granted can be so important. Like when we bought them a microwave, some popcorn, and some candy. When they wanted microwave popcorn they were making it in a toaster oven. It cost my group a few dollars each for these men to be so happy about something as simple as a microwave. Or how one of the men, they called him freckles, he cooked for use every day. He didnt know much english but he did find out that one of our leaders was on the atkins diet. He saved the leftover fish so that it would fit into her diet the next day. He wanted to make sure the she had something to eat and didnt have to bring her own with. I felt so inadequate for the things that I did there. We did some painting and cleaning but what was more important was the guys. They taught me some spanish and made me realize how great my life is. They cared about me and I think that is what was important. Im putting some pictures up of these men they were amazing and what I learned from them was more important than any microwave. So I guess what im saying is that im glad I dont know anyone who has been to Fiji to give me a perspective. I will learn something for myself and I cant wait.


Jon and Me. He was an amazing person


The whole group with the Puerto Rican flag that the guys all signed and gave to us.


This is of the guys after we gave them the microwave. The one kissing it is Freckles.

a revelation about the world

Bula(hello)!
Right now I am sitting in my dorm room during j-term and thinking about life. I just got done watching an amazing documentary about the TED conference which I had never heard of before(thank you netflix!). The TED conference brings togeather some of the greatest minds in the world to tackle some of the greatest issues in the world today. It made me think about my life and how I want to make the world better. This blog entry was originally going to be about my trip with my family. It was going to be about the places we went and the things we saw. All of which were valuable in their own sense. However, now I look at this trip and see something different. Yes I see the orange picking, a trip to an amazing zoo, a view of a city from over 1,000 feet but I see something different too. I see a possibility for my life and the lives of people around me. So to start, the day that I went home for break I challenged my mother to turn off the tv and computer for the few days before christmas that I would be home. She replied with “I dont want to.” With much arguing we did not turn off the tv. Now you may say how is this even close to relevant to my trip and any possibility for my life? Well its because I wanted to connect with people again. I wanted to slow down and see the world. Not watch it go by like it does so many days. I tried to do that on this vacation with my family. But what I learned is that most people dont take the time to see the world. They may stop once in a while and watch something of interest, like the giant pandas, but it seems that we dont pay attention to what we see. I was told many times during the 10 days that I spent with my family “Emily hurry up we have more stuff to do.” Each time I was told this I thought “isnt what we are doing right now important too?” What I really mean by this is that its more important to see not watch the things in front of us. Yes I want to watch everything but that isnt going to make me a better person. It is just going to drive me crazy. So how this whole crazy rambling of mine ties into my life and yes I do have a point. I want to listen, see, live, and understand the world around me. Not watch, hear, get through, and know the world around me. How am I going to do this? Im not sure yet but I think it involves listening to peoples stories. Truly seeing a place. Living as others do and just paying attention to the world. So what I want now is to listen to your story. Tell me anything! A good time. A bad time. Something Strange. Something Amazing. But tell a story. Its the only way that people can know each other. Its the only way we can make the world into what it is supposed to be. I think I can change the world. I think everyone can change the world. But if we hear the stories of others we can change the world in a way that will be better for everyone.
Vinaka(thank you)