Weigner Weekly

The big news and more news

2011-12-24T15:58:00.000-05:00

Since we've been back in the USA we've been even worse keeping this blog updated. So here is a quick catch-up starting with the big news of course!

Gabriel Mateo Weigner was born 12/21/11 at 11:15pm. He was 7lbs 7oz and 20in long. It was a very normal delivery at the Puget Sound Midwives and Birth Center and both baby and mom are doing great (both sleeping at the moment). Noah is loving his little brother. When the first met, Noah gave Gabriel a big hug and kiss with no encouragement from us. He also seems to enjoy the fact that both he and his little brother have a nose.

Noah meets his little brother

In other news, I got a job at Alere Wellbeing as a Tobacco Quit Coach. Basically I spend the day on the phone coaching people through their process to quit smoking. Yes different than anything I ever imagined myself doing but it pays the bills and I actually enjoy it! Gabriel's arrival made me take off two days before the end of my training period which ended up not being a problem since they decided to make and exception and graduate me anyway since I was doing well.

Jenna finished her first semester of prerequisites for her midwifery program and completed some workshops that will count toward her midwifery program. She will be taking the next semester off then finishing the rest of her prerequisites over the spring and summer. The next step will be applying for the program and praying that she gets in.

We will be enjoying a quiet Christmas at home with Jenna's brother Kyle up from LA. Thank you for all your prayers, encouragement, and support through all changes our family has been through over the last few months. We wish you all a Merry Christmas.

Baby Gift Registry

2011-11-02T19:00:00.001-04:00

Christmas is coming which means baby Weigner #2 is coming too! For those of you wondering how you can shower the little guy with gifts, here are a few option:

Registries:
Cotton Babies - http://www.cottonbabies.com/7001.php
This is the company that gave us free reusable diapers when we were working in Bolivia. They are a great company. Be sure to follow the instructions on the site (i.e. when choosing colors or checking out), it isn't as streamlined as some websites.

Babies"R"Us - Search for "weigner" under "registries"

Since we left most of our baby stuff back in Bolivia, we are also looking for clothing under 12 months.
We have no problem with used items.

Settled in Seattle

2011-11-01T18:48:00.000-04:00

We made it! We are finally settled in Seattle after what felt like months of living on the road.

We drove through 20 states! (click to view large)

After leaving Bolivia we took a road trip up the east coast starting in Miami and ending in Syracuse visiting friends, family, churches, and the SAM HQ along the way. In Syracuse, we sortedhrough our junk that had been in storage for the last 3-4 years and got rid of the majority of it. After all, we survived several years without it, we could still live without it. We packed up what we wanted to keep and shipped it to Seattle via Amtrak (hint: Amtrak is the cheapest way to ship or move long distances!). We threw the odd shaped stuff into our car (generously donated through the combined efforts of family and supporters) and into my parents van and embarked on yet another road trip, this time from the east coast to the west coast. It was a beautiful drive although challenging keeping Noah happy for 700-800 miles a day.

People & Places along the way (click to view large)

The idea of moving to Seattle was more intimidating than when we were planning on moving to Bolivia. At least then we had a place to live, a job, and a support community. When we started to move to Seattle, we had no place to live, no job, no car, and knew almost no one in this area. Yet we knew this is where God had been leading us and one by one things fell into place in His time.

First off, some of our supporters and family members pooled their resources and got us a car. Then right before we began our road trip to Seattle, the one family we knew in Seattle (missionaries we met in Bolivia) helped us find a wonderful apartment. We've plugged into a Church and small group and been making friends fast. Then just yesterday I was offered a job. It was a fun ride but is sure feels good to be settled. Jenna has started classes. Noah is growing fast and picking up new things every day. Baby #2 is healthy and growing away.

Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement along the way. Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we enter this time of preparation for our long-term return to Bolivia.

Keep you eye out for our latest newsletter in your mailbox or inbox!

GOOD RIDDANCE!

2011-08-16T22:37:00.000-04:00

As much as I would have loved to have punctured the fuel tank, pushed it off a cliff, then lit the trail of diesel and roasted marshmallows over the fireball, I decided it was a good idea to recover a little money from this hunk of junk. Now before I tell you how much I sold it for, let us review a few of the problems I have had in the two years I had this vehicle:

Repaired side view mirror - 3x
Blown Head Gasket - 2x
Radiator problems - Lost track
Replaced alternator - 3x
Timing Belt - 2x
Other belt issues - 3x
Repaired Power steering - 4x
Electrical system repairs - Lost count
Suspension Repair - 1x
Leaky break fluid line (repaired with chewing gum) - 1x
Random parts falling off our car - 6 or 7x
Various other repairs - Who knows
SNAPPED CAM SHAFT - 2X! (Who snaps a Cam Shaft?)
Left unrepaired: Busted turbo, AC pump, oil leak, fuel pump, and who knows what else

Used car prices in Bolivia are very high. We bought this car for $8,000. We sold it for $7,000 two days before we left! Talk about God's timing. The crazy thing is, used car prices are rising so fast in Bolivia that if I had more time, I probably could have sold it for $10-$12,000! Bolivia is one of the few places in the world that purchasing a car is actually a good investment!

The Last Sunday

2011-07-31T18:16:00.000-04:00

Our church family. Can you spot the ridiculously tall Gringos?

Today was our last Sunday at our church in Nueva Belen. It was sad to say our goodbyes to everyone. Although I must say, we are looking forward to not having to entertain Noah through the service when he needs to be napping! Churches in the USA have nurseries! It is hard to believe we are down to our final days here. I do not feel ready to leave.

The mural on the wall in these photos is the one painted by Cindy, another SAM missionary

Photo of the Week: Crash

2011-07-28T14:05:00.000-04:00

Driving in the city one day we saw what we thought was a plane crash from the nearby airport. Turns out it was just an elaborate advertisement for a movie playing inside the mall.

Photo of the Week: Pet or Pot

2011-07-21T13:03:00.000-04:00

Bolivia is home to the Red-footed Tortoise (Geochelone carbonaria). A popular pet around the city, people often have them roaming around their yards. Among the Ayore, they are a popular dinner dish! They go on Tortoise hunts and bring them back by the dozens and are considered a treat! The one in the photo is one rescued from the stew pot. Here you can buy one for about $5-$10. In the USA you could pay $500-$1000 for one this size.

Ayore Girls Camp 2011

2011-07-11T17:04:00.001-04:00

On July 1st a team composed of North Americans, Ayore women, and Bolivians gathered together and prayed that God would open doors to allow the Ayore teen girls to come to camp. God answered our prayers and sent double (almost 60) the number of girls we had even hoped for in our wildest dreams!

10 Ayore Ladies came to participate

We had a great week at camp. It was so much fun to watch the girl’s get excited about learning stories from God’s Word and then presenting them in drama form to each other. My small group was made of 12 girls from Porvenir and Suegay, Ayore communities about 40 mins from my house. I had the youngest girls overall- ranging from 9yrs old to 14 years old. We had great fun telling stories and helping them understand God’s plan for them. I also had an amazing, solid in her faith, Ayore woman, Deisy (Daisy), helping me. Because my girls were so small most of them did not understand Spanish very well so Deisy worked very hard at putting the stories into Ayore and helping to translate their answers to my questions into Spanish so I could understand them. It definitely helped!

My Small Group- Porvenir and Suegay

Deisy (24 yrs old) standing to the left of me

My group presenting our team's banner- Mas Que Vencedoras

(More than Conquerors!)

Story time!

Overall, I think the girls had a lot of fun doing games and crafts, much like most other camps I’ve been to. But on the other hand there was definitely time and a focus on helping the girls understand who God made them to be and how that should reflect in their lives- specifically in what they should (or should not) be doing with their bodies. We targeted girls who have not been heavily involved in prostitution or drugs yet in the hopes of reaching them before those activities become a major part of their lives.

Playing games together

Each person made a butterfly t-shirt with phrases like "God transforms us" in Ayore

Each morning and night we had praise and worship time

Monica (Right- 9yrs old) was in my group and the daughter (left) of a leader from Barrio Bolivar whose name I forget, she is about 7 years old

The plan is to continue doing this camp for the Ayore girls every year.

BeniSantiagoRoboreFUASanJosePailonPozaVerdeSantaCruz... Deep Breath

2011-07-08T09:50:00.000-04:00

We have been going non-stop lately. It started with Jenna going on a 10 day river trip in the Beni while I stayed up to watch Noah. Then we switched, I went for 10 days while she stayed back. Right after I returned we met up with a church team from Georgia and took them out to Santiago to work with the church out there and help with an Ayore conference. Then we came back to Pailon and took them out to Poza Verde. At the end of the trip Jenna had to leave for a week long camp for Ayore girls.

Beni River Trips
This year's river trips were overshadowed by tragedy. Though the loss was felt throughout this year's trips, they continued on and many village were visited. We were able to hold services in many different communities and ran many sucessful clinics. There were even a few surgeries performed in some rather... creative locations.

Photo Album from this year's river trip:

Beni Trip 2011 #2

Orange Hill Group
A team from Orange Hill Baptist Church in Georga came down again this year. Compared to last year, the car problems were fairly minor. We had one leaky tire and the suspension fell apart on a trailer. We had a wonderful time out in Santiago despite the bitter south wind from Antartica that kepts us wearing all the clothes we brought. Unfortunately the buildings down here are not built for cold and so there is no escaping it.

Part of the team when out to an Ayore village to help with a church conference while the other part of the team stayed in Santiago to help with construction at the church. We held a variety of services in Santiago and had some very meaningful men and womens groups. It was obvious the church was very encouraged by our presence and we by their hospitality. The church out there has been through some trying times and I think the visit meant a lot to them.

On the way back to Santa Cruz we spent a day in Poza Verde holding littler servicies and starting a construction project on Cesar and Mirtha's house that will be completed by another team coming down soon.

Photo Album from this year's Orange Hill Team:

OHBC 2011

Girls Retreat
Jenna is currently at the retreat for Ayore girls. They ran into a little problem, a good problem. They had about 60 girls show up which is about twice as many as they had planned on. This week has the potential to be very important in the lives of these young girls since many are at risk to become prostitutes. It is a miracle that this many girls managed to come since many of the parents do not want their girls discouraged from prostitution because of the income it provides for the family. Please keep Jenna and all the counselors in prayer as they invest in these girls over this next week.

It doesn't stop there, after the conference Jenna is off to Brazil (Leave me with Noah again!) for an indigeneous women's conference. After that, another team from the USA comes down then next thing we know, we're leaving for the states! Please keep us in prayer as we wrap up life here during this busy season and prepare for the coming changes as we move to Seattle.

Photo of the week: Ingenuity

2011-07-04T21:42:00.001-04:00

Some times the lack of laws and regulations leads to some creative solutions...

Photo of the Week: You have Robins...

2011-06-06T23:01:00.002-04:00

we've got Chestnut-eared Aracaris in our backyard!

Just Us Boys

2011-05-30T23:15:00.000-04:00

Yesterday Jenna left for a 10 day boat trip in the Beni region of Bolivia in the Amazon Basin. That means I'm home with Noah for that time. Then when she gets back we will switch, I'll be going on a river trip and Jenna will stay home with Noah. What never ceases to amaze me is how so many people cannot believe that a man is capable of taking care of a baby for any period of time. Bolivians are especially shocked and seem to think at least one of us will not survive. Don't worry everyone, we're doing just fine. I am keeping him well fed on soda, keeping him busy playing with knives, and teaching him how to operate motor vehicles.

Photo of the Week: Monster in the Shower

2011-05-28T11:07:00.000-04:00

We've found cockroaches, ants, scorpions, spiders, tarantulas, and even a snake in our house, but this one topped them all and even gave me the willies. Jenna was about to get into the shower when she gasped and went running for the closet. I was expecting one of the usual home intruders, not this 9 inch monster that was writhing its way out of the shower drain. It was a Amazonian Giant Centipede (Scolopendra gigantea). They have a fairly potent venom. While not likely to kill a healthy adult, they are still dangerous and not welcome in my house.

Photo of the Week: Toborochi

2011-05-16T18:28:00.000-04:00

A Toborochi tree in full bloom out in an Ayore village. For some reason they are blooming 2 months early this year.

San-Fran-sis-co... I mean... San-Fer-nan-do

2011-05-06T09:32:00.000-04:00

We packed our bags, kissed Noah goodbye (we left him with another SAM family), jumped in a SAM plane, and made our way out to the little town of San Fernando near the Brazil boarder this past Monday. We went out there to visit fellow SAM missionary (and fellow FHS Alum) Katie Wells. She has been living and working out in this little town of about 40 families that is only acessible by land for a small portion of the year. I brought a load of plants, Jenna brought a load of food, and Walt (another SAM missionary) brought a load of tools. Once there, we each went to work with our cargo. Walt went to work screening in the church and Katie's quarters, Jenna went to work cooking some food for Katie other than rice, and I went to work putting in a garden and planting trees.

Trees on a Plane

The area around San Fernando from the air

Katie meeting us at the "airport"

Inside the San Fernando church (notice the 'congregation' in the lower left corner)

Walt working on the church

Jenna in Katie's kichen

Me planting trees...

...and puting in a veggie garden

Our Taxi across the river to visit a family

The family was pressing sugar cane when we got there. No maternity leave here! That woman is 9 months preggo!

Katie Wells (not Katie's well) by a well

Plush-crested Jay (Cyanocorax chrysops)

Photo of the Week: Syracuse in Bolivia

2011-05-01T21:03:00.001-04:00

So we were out in Poza Verde the other day and ran into this teacher at the school. She had no idea what the shirt meant. We told her it was from our home town. (For those of you who don't know what 'cuse stands for... Amy... it stands for "Syracuse")

CHICKENS! Finally!

2011-04-29T23:44:00.001-04:00

Finally! Cesar bought the layer chickens and we're going on this egg project. This week we vaccinated all 100 of them by dripping the vaccine into one of their eyes. This is to prevent them from getting New Castles Disease. Once these chickens begin producing eggs, they will provide Cesar and Mirtha with some income and food.

Photo of the Week: In the Grocery Store

2011-04-25T11:09:00.000-04:00

Chicken hearts ready for the grill in the local grocery store.

Easter Ark

2011-04-24T14:32:00.001-04:00

We dressed up a little more than usual this morning, partly out of Easter tradition and partly because it was the first day cool enough to wear long sleeves in quite some time. When we arrived at church we found that the attire was quite casual, not surprising since evangelicals here downplay Easter to avoid appearing anything like the Catholics who make a big deal out of Easter (or at least Good Friday). Kind of sad considering Easter is the celebration of the core of Christianity.
It was a unique service however. Up front was a TV which of course led us to believe we would be watching something related to Easter. "Oh good, at least we are going to do something Eastery" we thought. The movie: Noah's Ark. The rabbits in the ark we're even pink or made of chocolate (not that rabbits really have anything to do with Easter)! After the movie we were then quizzed on Moses and the events leading up to the Exodus. How's that for an eclectic service!

Photo of the Week: 'Tis the Season

2011-04-16T16:46:00.002-04:00

The weather is cooling down, the Toborochi Trees are blooming, and what better thing to do than that old Bolivian pastime, protesting. BANG BANG BANG! The firecrackers nearly make you jump out of your socks as the mob comes around the corner. 'Tis the season to get a bunch of people together to march around downtown or block a highway with tires and trees. Ah, what fun.

I am going to try to start to post a "Photo of the Week" on the blog. Each week I will post a random photo from life here in Bolivia to help give you a taste of life and culture here in Bolivia. We'll see how this goes.
-Jason

Guisela and Cristian Cesar

2011-04-14T21:22:00.000-04:00

A few of you have asked for updates on Guisela, the little Ayore girl we wrote about in March. This week the doctors at the public children’s hospital finally figured out she didn’t have dengue (which we knew all along). Now they are fairly confident she has some form of leukemia. Although this is a sad diagnosis, in it there is an answer to prayer: she has been transferred to the public cancer hospital where she can finally begin receiving appropriate care.
Please pray for Guisela and for her family, particularly her grandmother, Robertina, who is a solid Christian woman. I was speaking to her relatives today and it sounded like she was very discouraged since all the doctors seem to be doing right now is taking samples for tests.

While we were in Santa Cruz this week another little boy has come to our team’s attention. Cristian Cesar is a 3.5 year old, Ayore boy, who has severely clubbed feet.

Cristian Cesar

Cristian comes from Porvenir, a small community about half an hour from where Jason and I live (about 2 hours outside the city). Apparently in the public health system here they had already done a surgery to correct his feet, however when the casts came off, there was no change. The surgery didn’t work.

After the first (unsuccessful) surgery

This family then decided to come to Placido (our team leader and a surgeon) in order to have the surgery done properly. The only problem is that to do the surgery well it will cost a lot of money. Although Placido himself will do the surgery for free, in order to buy the plates and screws, rent the operating room, and buy the meds it will end up costing about $2,000 USA dollars. Because this little boy is now 3 ½ years old, the surgery cannot be put off any longer and his feet need to be corrected now before he grows more.

So cute!
Please pray for Cristian. Pray that the funds and resources will come in to be able to do the surgery soon. We are confident that God will provide. We have seen His provision in lots of cases like this, so please join us to pray.

Experiences for an Aspiring Midwife

2011-04-12T19:11:00.000-04:00

Wow. So much has happened since Friday I’m not sure how to re-cap in a reasonable way so you will all read it without getting bored. I guess a timeline will be the best option.

Gringa and her new baby GIRL (yes, yes, she's wearing blue)

Saturday, April 9th

8:00am- Receive a phone call from Gringa, a 19 year old Ayore girl, pregnant with her first child. Apparently she had been having contractions through the night and wanted me to know since she agreed to let me accompany her through her delivery. She says she will keep me posted.

10:00am- Noah’s Birthday Party! Whoo hoo! We had about 22 kids and probably 40-50 adults come out! It was great fun. Toni Mercado made an AWESOME cake for Noah and overall it was a good time. Birthday boy decided to sleep through half of it and didn’t really show up until 11:00am, but no one seemed to mind.

11:20am- Pinata. All I can say is crazy.

11:40am- Noah’s first cake! He had chocolate cake with yummy frosting. Must admit there wasn’t much of a reaction.

12pm- Everyone heads home and a few people to our house to hang out.

9pm- Receive another phone call from Gringa’s family. She is having more contractions and needs to go to the clinic to be checked. I tell them I will be there shortly (I really needed a shower).

10pm- Go to start our car and it makes a horrible squealing noise and starts smoking.

10:15pm- Go to neighbors to borrow car.

10:45pm- Get to Poza Verde, pick up Gringa, head back to Pailon.

11:00pm- Checked by the Dr (who allowed me, begrudgingly, to be with her while he checked)- 1cm. Not happening tonight. We all go back to PV to sleep.

Sunday AM- Contractions stopped, I go home to try to rest and get the car back to our neighbors.

Monday AM- Up early to Santa Cruz. Call in for an update- more contractions- Gringa would head back to Pailon this morning to be checked.

Monday 1pm- Finally make it to the clinic. Things moving slowly.

Monday 3:30pm- Gringa checked by the gynecologist. I introduce myself to her and she graciously allows me to watch and even explains a few of the things she is checking for. Super cool. I asked her to introduce me to the Dr. who would be on duty that night (since it looked like an early morning baby). She did! It was great! He was very kind as well and was more than happy to let me hang around/assist. (I’m not entirely convinced he completely understood that I have had zero formal training). This was a HUGE answer to prayer since often Bolivian Drs are very closed about having unknown people around. You have to fight to get the Dad in the delivery room here!

Monday 4pm- I realize I’ve missed lunch and I’m starving and go to my friend’s house for food.

6pm- Next check. 5cm dilated. Progression! Yay!

7:30pm- Almost 7cm. Contractions still aren’t super super consistent.

9pm- almost 8cm. Gringa is SUPER tired. She didn’t take a nap in the afternoon like I told her to.

10:30pm- 8cm.

Tuesday, April 12th

12am- Contractions hard and fast. 9.5cm. Quite a few tears are shed, understandably.

1:35am- BABY ARRIVES!

Baby Ayore Girl

2:45am- After everything settles I finally get a ride home from my friend.

3:30am- Fall into bed.

10am- find out our car is suddenly working.

It was quite the experience for an aspiring midwife. Let’s just say there were some really awesome parts, and some really awful parts. The awful parts would be things that I don’t think I would ever do to a pregnant lady. It was great being there for Gringa and supporting her. She didn’t have any prenatal/labor instruction or preparation. I don’t think she had a clue going into this experience what would happen (not like many of us do). But occasionally she asked good questions and when she hit the end of her rope (like ALL of us do), it was great to be able to support her and encourage her that she could actually do it. When she was afraid, she asked me to pray- and I did so with pleasure. There is nothing like being in the most vulnerable state that makes us turn to God. And God gave her a beautiful gift- a little girl.

Tired, but very happy Momma

Connections and a Prayer Request

2011-03-26T14:30:00.000-04:00

So last night I got a taste of the relational-ness of Latino culture.

A little background. There is a 6 year old Ayore girl, Guisella, that was seen during the medical clinic during the Women's retreat last weekend. She had bruising all over her body that wasn't from any trauma. Our doctor asked if she'd been seen by anyone else and the Mom replied they took her into town, but all the labs they did had come back normal. Our doctor suggested going into Santa Cruz for another blood test. The labs were taken and every level was extremely low- as in there isn't much blood in her body, she's been bleeding (hence the bruises). They admitted her to the children's hospital in Santa Cruz and labeled her case as "dengue" (which is a ridiculously wrong diagnosis- btw).
Pros: She is in the hospital being taken care of
Cons: They have mis-diagnosed her and aren't willing to do further testing to find out what is really wrong.

I was talking to Dr. Toni about this little girl and we were praying for her. Dr. Toni doesn't want to be very involved in this particular case because if she shows up at a state hospital and asks for treatment for Guisella they will start charging the family an arm and a leg. At this point, any 'gringo' (aka north american) involvement would make it seem like the girl could afford to pay more. Toni was trying to think of a connection our team might have with someone on the inside.

Dr. Roger Montero- Noah's pediatrician

So this is where I come in. Noah has a pediatrician. We haven't seen him in probably 3-4 months since Noah has been very healthy (Praise the Lord!). However I figured he might know someone who works at that hospital who could look into the case. I told Toni about it and she thought it was a great idea, but wanted me to make the phone call since I have the relationship with Noah's Dr. Ha! Relationship? I must admit it felt really strange to call the Dr. at 7:30pm to ask him a favor for a little girl that I also don't have a close relationship to either, other than we work in her village and she needs serious medical attention. You would never do such a thing in the US! But I did it, and sure enough, true to Latino form, Dr. M didn't hesitate. He asked a few questions about her case and said he would give his friend a call and follow up with Toni later.

Please be in prayer for Guisella and her family. She is 6 years old, and the granddaughter of one of the sweetest Christian Ayore ladies that I know, Robertina. She and her family live in Poza Verde where Jason and I do much of our work.

The Interns

2011-03-23T10:36:00.000-04:00

On Friday two interns with our mission came down to stay with our mission for a month. Their first assignment: Helping corral the unruly children of Poza Verde during the Women’s Retreat. Despite a challenging first couple of days they both have jumped in willingly, getting their feet wet and their hands dirty.

I give you Sarah and Naomi:

Sarah W. and Naomi K.

Sarah hanging with some kids during the Women's Retreat

Naomi and Sarah joined the girl's Bible study on Tuesday night

Learning some basic Ayore phrases

They were super kind and bathed our kitten

Sarah is already hooked on the local stimulant: Mate

Did I mention Naomi is too?

Poza Verde Ladies Retreat

2011-03-21T17:35:00.000-04:00

As I drove into Poza Verde on Friday I knew right away we were in for a treat. There were already ladies sitting on the ground in circles outside the church chatting and waiting for things to begin. Mirtha and I have been planning and praying for this ladies’ retreat for about 4 months.

On Friday my team leader, Toni, taught 2 different sessions covering the topics of “Security of our Salvation”, “The Christian Walk”, and “The Work of the Holy Spirit”. There were probably about 50 ladies from about 7 different communities. Toni is a great teacher and all of the ladies were very attentive. On Saturday my dear Bolivian friend, Elva, gave a great message on the armor of God and how to deal with spiritual warfare. It was great that an indigenous woman could speak to these other indigenous ladies about spiritual warfare since their culture and perspective is so different than that of North Americans. I think coming from Elva the lesson was so much more relevant.

Elva teaching the Armor of God

Saturday afternoon we set up our little makeshift clinic and saw patients. Toni along with 2 other doctors did all the work of seeing everyone. I worked as a pharmacy tech, finding and counting pills to hand out to the patients. We saw probably around 70 people. It was a long day, but a good one.

On Sunday morning Toni spoke again. She spoke of Deborah and how God used a woman to raise up her people to come back to God. Toni exhorted these ladies to be strong women of the faith, to speak out against the vices and problems that the youth are getting into and to be leaders in their communities. The women who came are the wives of leaders in the communities. Each woman could have a huge amount of influence if they wanted to exert it in their communities.

The whole thing ended with about 2 hours of women standing up and giving testimony to what God is doing in their lives. Unfortunately it was all in Ayore so I couldn’t understand what they were saying with their words, but with their voices and their actions I could tell that God had been speaking to them this weekend. Thank you to all who prayed for us!

Noah enjoying the kids

Some of our awesome helpers keeping the kids occupied so the moms could concentrate

What are you going to do this summer?

2011-03-19T15:21:00.002-04:00

Go on a river trip in the Amazon basin! That's right, we have 3, ten day trips through the Beni region (Amazon Basin) of Bolivia and you're going!

Your transportation and lodging

Your sleeping quarters

Every year our mission hosts several boat trips into the Beni (Amazon Basin) region of Bolivia. We visit various villages along the river system providing basic medical care, hold little church services, childrens' ministries, and meeting needs as they come up.

We have been building a relationship with these communities over the years. Medical experience or ability to speak Spanish would be helpful but not necessary. Most of the medical care will be provided by medical missionaries and ministries lead by Bolivian believers. Basically we are looking for people who are very flexible and willing to fill in as needed, often in less than glamorous grunt work. Plans change rapidly from moment to moment as does climate and conditions so flexibility is ESSENTIAL! Conditions can be challenging on a crowded boat, food selection is... unique (often what we hunt, catch fishing, or trade with the villages for), weather changes from very hot to very cold and back again that time of year, it can be very wet or very dry. If you are willing to come down with an open heart, open mind, and willing to serve, this trip is for you! This is probably one of the most "pioneer" type short term mission trips you will find.

Eat your food before it eats you!

Onboard Laundry Service

These dates are first day on the boat to the last day on the boat so plan for travel days on either end:
Trip #1 (mostly full)
May 29th - June 8th (Arrive in Santa Cruz no later than May 27th and leave Bolivia at the earliest June 10th)

Trip #2
June 12th - June 22nd (Arrive in Santa Cruz no later than June 10th and leave Bolivia at the earliest June 24th)

Trip #3
June 24th - July 4th (Arrive in Santa Cruz no later than June 22nd and leave Bolivia at the earliest July 6th)

Let us know ASAP if you would like more information of prices, support raising, or anything else.

Read about last year's trip here

Photos from last year's trip:

Viaje del Rio 3 - de Jason Weigner

Painted

2011-03-18T14:34:00.001-04:00

Walt and Sindi, a newer SAM missionary couple who run the SAM guest house in Santa Cruz, came out to the Pailon area these last two days. Sindi came to bless our little church with her artistic skills. She and Walt completed painting a mural on the church wall today. The words on the wall above the Toborochi tree, as seen in the photo above, are the beginning of the 23 Psalm "The Lord is my Shepard, I shall not be in want."

Christmas in Bolivia

2010-12-29T09:27:00.000-05:00

With 90-100 degree weather, lack of Christmas decorations and traditions, it did not feel much like the Christmas season this year. With only a few days until Christmas we decided to find ourselves a tree.

After searching through palm and fig trees, we finally found the perfect tree!

I chopped it down. Apparently artificial pine trees grow in Bolivia, who knew?

We lugged it home through the snow... uh... I mean sand.

Okay, so actually we found the tree abandoned in the mission mail room. Due to our lack of ornaments, we had to go Little House on the Prairie on it and strung popcorn. It didn't look half bad!

Noah sure enjoyed his first Christmas.

Especially eating the paper

"Okay so the dog is nice, but what did you do with the wrapping paper? I wasn't finished eating it!"

We may not have had snow, but I bet none of you went out back to pick the Christmas Watermelon!

Our family grew a little this Christmas. Jenna got me a Blue Winged Parotlet!

It was a wonderful, quiet Christmas with our little family. The only problem we had was a small plumbing issue in the bathroom

2 for 1 Christmas Shopping Ideas

2010-12-08T20:34:00.000-05:00

As you all are running around trying to find the best Christmas deals, I thought I would pass on 2 different ways you can get your shopping done AND help us out at the same time.

1. Shop through iGive.com and help our ministry out
You can shop all your favorite stores, just do it though iGive.com and a percentage will be donated to our ministry by the company you purchase from. This past year you all raised $67 for our ministry by using iGive! Here is how to do it:
1. Go to http://www.iGive.com/SAM70493

2. Register for an account* (its quick, easy, & free) and make sure "South America Mission IRE Mercy Ministries" is the charity selected (should be automatic if you follow the above link).

3. Login to iGive.com to do your online shopping. You can select stores like Amazon.com or eBay through the site or search for merchandise through iGive.com. A percentage of the purchase price will then be donated to the IRE ministry by the store you make your purchase through. Make sure to do the shopping through iGive to make sure the donation is made to SAM. Right now, anyone who makes a purchase through iGive within 45 day of setting up an account will get an extra $5 towards our ministry.

*When you register for an account, they give you an option to download the "iGive toolbar". If you are comfortable using this, this helps track you online purchases at eligible stores to make sure the donations are made. Also, if you use the toolbar, $0.02 will be donated for every search made through the toolbar. If you don't want to use the toolbar, you can search through this site: http://www.iSearchiGive.com/SAM70493 and earn $0.01 for our mission for every search.

2. Help us out by purchasing Christmas gifts on RedBubble.com

You can purchase some of my photos from Bolivia and various other travels at: http://jganjay.redbubble.com/

You can order my photos as cards, prints, or calendars. Calendars can be customized with any of my photos on RedBubble.

Hombres de Valor

2010-12-07T22:43:00.000-05:00

This past Saturday I was able to help with a conference for about 40 boys ages 10-13 from around Santa Cruz (someday Noah will be that age.. what have I gotten myself into?!). They day was full of talks from various speakers, skits, shield making, devouring food without utensils, jousting, sword fighting, and various other "manly" activities. It was a high energy day fun of fun but the main purpose of the day was to help this guys understand what it mean to be a man of valor and a man of God.

Blowout!

2010-12-03T16:02:00.001-05:00

This past Tuesday I took a trip out toward San Jose and Robore again. It was a great, even though short, trip especially since this time I had no significant incidents with my car. Now you are probably wondering how I can say such a thing especially with a blog post titled "Blowout" and the above photo. Yes the front right tire exploded at 90-100 km/hr, but I do not consider this "significant" since no head gaskets were blown, there were no overheating issues, the cam shaft did not snap in half, and no jumps, tows, or serious maintenance was needed. All we had to do was change the tire and hit the road again! It was also a great trip since the road was much better this time and took 3 hours less than the last time I went out.

The purpose of the trip was to visit various Ayore communities and set up a time for a retreat, similar to the one we did in Poza Verde, only this time for communities in a different part of Bolivia. This is all part of the push toward a more unified Ayore church. It has been very exciting to see the process of the church coming together this past year.

Donate a Diaper!

2010-08-28T22:23:00.003-04:00

*UPDATE: At this point we have received enough promises of diapers but if you still want to donate a diaper, I am sure Noah won't complain (nor his mother).*

It was a sunny, windy day in the city of Santa Cruz. Jason, Jenna and Noah Weigner were going about their Wednesday business- produce shopping at Abasto market. Before embarking through the crowded stalls of fruits and vegetables, Jenna fed and changed Noah's diaper. The little family then proceeded to buy their needed produce for the week.

After depositing the purchased goods in the car, Jason decided to check out a few of the plants being sold nearby. Jenna and Noah decided to go visit a friend in the hospital who had recently had her baby. Upon Jason's return to the car, he found the backseat door wide open! He immediately checked it out to see if anything was missing. The groceries were there. The produce was there. The dirty diapers were there. Yet- no diaper bag! Jason made a frantic phone call to Jenna- hoping, praying, that she had taken the bag with her. It was not to be. Jenna did not have the diaper bag, only Noah, a burp cloth, and the moby wrap. The diaper bag was GONE! Noah was terribly distraught to hear of the loss of his favorite stuffed animal, sound making machine, and several of his amazingly comfortable (kinda expensive!) cloth diapers!! His mother was distraught to hear of the loss of the baby bag- it is impossible to find that kind of quality here in Bolivia.

Noah- upon hearing the dreadful news

"They did what?!"

Needless to say, the most important items will be replaced. This is where you can come in. If you care to donate a diaper to Noah- to replace the ones that were stolen, to protect his bum from diaper rash, and spare his parents from having to buy tons and tons of disposable diapers- it would be very appreciated.

Please follow the link below to purchase a diaper for Noah:
http://www.cottonbabies.com/product_info.php?cPath=98&products_id=2424

Please note: SHIPPING IS FREE!!! (choose economy shipping) Enter the code "BESTDEAL" in the coupon box for a 5% discount.
Also, Noah requests that one of the following colors be purchased: sweet, white or grasshopper

He also specifically requested the SNAPS version of each color.

Please contact us by email so we can send you the shipping address for the diaper.

In order to make sure the diapers get to the appropriate place on time, let us know by Sept. 30 if you care to replace a diaper for Noah. We don't want to post the shipping address on our blog for the privacy of those who will be bringing the diaper to us.

jjweigner@southamericamission.org

Who could possibly steal from such a sweet baby?

River Trip Day 5 – July 11th

2010-08-21T23:19:00.000-04:00

We started the day off at a village that required a little bit of a hike to get to. On the way in, I heard a Jaguar call from the forest. The two Bolivians I was with stopped in their tracks and looked as pale as a Bolivian can look. They proceeded nervously while I eagerly scanned the forest for a glimpse. We made it to the community without an sighting or incident. We stayed long enough to provide medical care and pick up some more grapefruit. Grapefruit, I cannot believe how much grapefruit we ate on this trip. I must have eaten 10-15 a day, maybe more.

Grapefruit, yum

On the river again we got a call over the radio about a pregnant lady on a boat who needed care. We stopped and the doctors saw her then set we out in search of drinking water. We stopped at a spring up on a cliff above the roof of our two story boat. It was only a cliff because of how much the water had dropped. From what I was told, just a few weeks before the spring was reachable from the first level of the boat. This time we had to perform some acrobatics involving filled water bottles being tied to a rope, dangled from a board, and slid to the roof of our boat. The picture below can explain it better than I can.

Gathering water from a spring on a 2 story cliff

Caiman at night

We spent the night at the captain’s father’s farm where we held a culto. His father was a very enthusiastic host and was eager to help in anyway he could. He promised us a cow which was butchered the next morning. That night I went out with the captain and some of the crew on a Caiman/Alligator hunt. Armed with flashlights and a .22, the captain shot two good sized Caiman to add to our food supply.

Tomorrow's Dinner

Poza Verde Retreat

2010-08-21T22:34:00.000-04:00

We interrupt this regularly scheduled program for an important update.

Sorry for the delay in the river trip report. We have been busy with a variety of things out in Poza Verde, one of which was a retreat for Ayore believers from around the country. About 60 came from 8 different communities. It was a beautiful time of messages, testimonies, and strengthening of a very disjointed group of believers. The sharing time had to be extended since so many wanted to give their testimonies. Some of the older people shared their testimonies in the traditional song/chant used to share stories. It was also encouraging to see the initiative and leading of this 3 day retreat taken on by Ayoreos and other Bolivian nationals.

7 were baptised at the conference

Day 4 – July 10th Campfire Exchange ~by Jason

2010-08-09T21:27:00.001-04:00

*To those of you just tuning in, we have been going day by day, retelling the story of our river trip this past July. For more photos from this trip click HERE

Our Capitan

Day 4 – July 10th Campfire Exchange

While on the river, our captain was in communication with various communities and boats by radio. Of course, other people can listen in, including a military port that monitors radio communication on the river. They heard that we were holding medical clinics and requested that we stop and hold a clinic at their base. We stopped but as part of the deal they got a Bible study and a culto (church service) as well. It was a unique opportunity opened by the medical ministry.

The military base has a dark past. During a dictatorship it was here that many people were executed. Last year the river team was asked to stop at the base too. When they stopped, some of the men at the base informed the missionaries that the men were terrified of this one Mango tree on the base. At night they would hear shrieks and other awful sounds from around the tree. Last year they held a prayer meeting around the tree and this year we were able to follow up on the story. We asked around and found that they no longer hear screams from the tree. What an incredible testimony to God’s power over evil.

Back on the river again we reached a dangerous rocky portion of the river. We had to stop on the Brazilian side of the river to hire a local guide to lead us through the rocks. While we waited, we were able to tour an old Spanish fortress.

The Brazilian Fortress

The cracks in the walls has just a few bats

The guide arrived and led us safely through the rocks, well almost through. No sooner did we think we were through and the guide left did we hit a large submerged rock which gave us a good scare but fortunately caused no damage.

Amazon Kingfisher (Chloroceryla amazona)

Our next stop was at a family’s farm. Here we fished for Piranha and Surubi (large catfish) for dinner. That night we held a culto for the family by a campfire. I thought about the fact that we had stopped and were putting so much effort into visiting just one family’s farm. Such a river trip takes a lot of time, energy, and money to run. My North American concept of “productivity” of course had to question whether it was worth stopping for just one family. Perhaps not, but that is not the standard such a trip should be measured by. Seeing just how meaningful our visit was to the family made me remember that our life endeavors should be measured by the lives we touch with God’s love.

Surubi we caught for dinner

After the culto we had a little campfire cultural exchange. We taught the Bolivians how to toast marshmallows over a fire. They were a bit wary of our strange custom but those brave enough to try really enjoyed the treat. They in turn showed us how to toast plantains in a fire which took significantly longer than marshmallows but were never the less a tasty treat.

You can join us next year for a river trip! If you are interested, let us know!

Day 3: July 9th by Jenna

2010-08-08T21:55:00.001-04:00

We woke up already at the first community on the list to visit. Everyone got off the boat to head up the banks to do a medical clinic and a small VBS for the children of the area.

Dr. Sunny working with some patients

The medical clinics are often small, but the people definitely appreciate the service. We have those who desire medical attention line up. We take their name and ask a general overview of what’s wrong and then hand them a number to be called when the doctors are ready to see them. Medical problems ranged from the simple cough/sniffles, aches and pains to minor surgery (i.e. ingrown toe-nails). We also had a portable pharmacy that went along to the clinic where patients could receive free medication, although often its only Tylenol and Ibuprofen that are given.

Jesse manning the pharmacy

As we were waiting with people in line at the first community we also happened to notice growing not very far away- cranberry hibiscus!! Jason and I asked the group if they knew what the plant was but nobody knew what it was or what it was for! Jason (and me too) felt the need to educate all- far and near of the benefits and edibility of the plant. He even went dispersing samples among the crowd waiting for the medical clinic. I think the people really enjoyed finding out the nutritional benefits of the plant and after trying some I have hope that they will actually implement it in their cooking.

Noah was really fun to have with us as well. He is a great ice-breaker. He immediately was passed around all the ladies of the community. He even ended up taking a short nap on someone’s bed! Everyone loves his big smiles and his blue eyes- even if they think his mother should keep his feet covered in 95 degree weather.

A pregnant lady practicing with Noah

By the time VBS and the medical clinic were over the last 3 people of our group joined us (after an adventure with car break-downs and multiple forms of transportation to get there). We ate lunch on the boat and headed on down the river. That afternoon we briefly stopped in 2 small communities where several people came to the boat to receive medical care.

Singing some songs with the kids for VBS

Day 2 - July 8, 2010 – Dolphins, and Tapirs, and Jaguars Oh My!

2010-08-07T23:26:00.001-04:00

Our Boats

There were quite a few engorged visitors in my mosquito net by morning. Jenna and Noah were able to avoid the plague in their screened-in cabin where the girls slept. Noah had the added protecting of his baby travel tent which is completely bug proof.

Top: The last of the group to arive; Bottom: Blue-and-Yellow Macaws (Ara ararauna)

We set sail around noon after Greg arrived with another flight of passengers. As we set off we ate leftover Armadillo and watched the pod of Pink Amazon Dolphins that accompanied us. Our boat was actually two large flat-bottom boats tied side-by-side. There was another boat like ours who was going our way so they tied up to us until our next port. And so we cruised the Machupo River like a logjam of 4 boats. We spent the rest of the day and night traveling, the only day with no stops along the way. We were to meet the last of our passengers in the next port.

Checking the river depth

Pink Amazon River Dolphins (Inia geoffrensis)

Capybara Family (Hydrochaeris hydrochaeris)

The Tapir that was almost dinner

This day was the most wildlife filled day of the trip, probably because the river was most narrow at this point. We saw countless water birds, Pink Amazon Dolphins, Capybara (the worlds biggest rodent), a Jaguar (which only I saw, the others were just too slow to look when I yelled “Tigre!”. Really! I saw one!), and a Tapir. The Tapir caused quite a stir on both our boat and the other. Apparently they are good eating and so the Bolivians were frantically trying to find a gun. Finally the Capitan of the other boat pulled out an old 9mm and tried shooting it like he were holding a small rifle. Needless to say he missed. He tried again but the old rusted gun jammed. At this point we were so close I practically could have jumped out and brought him back by hand, but the gun was not to fire again so the Tapir lived to see another day. Though I would have liked to add Tapir to my list of odd foods I have tried in my travels, I was glad to see the awesome creature climb the bank to safety, especially since Tapir numbers are dropping rapidly in much of South America.

Spectacled Caiman (Caiman crocodilus)

White-necked Heron (Ardea cocoi)

The star-littered night on the river was beautiful. I tried a new method of attaching my mosquito net and I managed to sleep slightly better in a hammock. The next day our village visits would begin.

Sunset on the Machupo River

Beni River Trip: Day 1 - July 7, 2010

2010-08-06T19:57:00.000-04:00

I am sorry this has taken so long but here is the story on our river trip. Since it was just too exciting to summarize in one post, I decided to take you day by day through our journey by writing one post per day, basicly copying my journal from the trip. Check back regularly for more updates from our river trip.

Day 1 - July 7, 2010

We were somewhat rushed getting ready to leave for our river trip since last minute we were told the trip date had been moved up because the river water level was dropping fast and getting dangerously low. We were hardly unpacked from our San Jose/Santiago trip before we started packing for this trip.

Greg, our mission pilot, flew Jenna, Noah, and I to the city of Trinidad and then to San Joaquin in the Beni region of Bolivia where we met up with our boat. The Beni is the northeastern part of Bolivia and consists of many rivers, all part of the Amazon basin river system. This is the more “jungle” or rainforest part of Bolivia.

We were wondering how Noah would fair the ride in a small aircraft. He slept. Noah never ceases to amaze us just how easy going he his. He has handled all the traveling we have put him through in his short life as if he was born for such a lifestyle, much to his parents’ relief. The flight was a little turbulent but it was beautiful watching the Bolivian landscape from the air. As we flew further from the more developed parts of Bolivia, trees reclaimed the land broken only by snaking rivers and oxbow lakes. In some of these oxbow lakes I could see giant Victoria Lilies, the worlds largest lily pads, from the air. It was beautiful to see so much land yet uncut and un-carved by humans.

San Joaquin, the port where we met the boat

In Trinidad, while Greg refueled the plane, Jenna and I desperately searched for sustenance since we had missed lunch. We found a restaurant but they were not serving anything since it was between lunch and dinner (they have much more defined meal times here). After much debate, we managed to finagle a few pieces of bread from them. They could not understand why on earth we wanted to buy just the bread they were going to make into sandwiches to sell later.

Armadillo for dinner

Once in San Joaquin we made our way down to the river where we boarded the two boats (tied together to make one super boat) that would be our home for the next 10 days. We ate a dinner of rice, eggs, bread, and stewed armadillo (boney but good). Afterwards the crew pulled out their instruments and belted out some Spanish worship songs. It was beautiful to listen to them on the river under a clear night sky dusted with billions of stars. Little did I know those songs would be played morning, day, and night at every conceivable opportunity for the next 10 days. I crawled into my hammock and attempted to construct a mosquito net over me. It was, to borrow the current common vernacular in the States right now that I learned on our breif visit back, an “epic fail”. It would take me another two nights to perfect the use of a mosquito net over a hammock.

Chilling with Noah in my "bed"

Return to FUA and Santiago

2010-07-07T08:22:00.002-04:00

*Due to internet issues, I was not able to add photos. I will try again later but for now you can see photos from this trip at: http://picasaweb.google.com/JayWeigner/OrangeHillTeamJune2010?feat=directlink *

This past week a team from a church in Georgia came down to work with our team. The first night they spent out our house before the 28 of us made the long journey out to the communities we were going to work with. Our first stop was San Jose, a painful 6.5 hours from our house down red rock roads that resembled the surface of Mars and roads covered in dust as fine as flour that envelope our car and clogged our lungs. More than once I had to use the windshield wipers for dust rather than rain. At one point several vehicles blocked the road and some guy mentioned we could not pass and used some word I did not understand. When the road in front of us suddenly exploded in a cloud of dust and rock, and the concussion rocked out car I realized the guy had said "dinamita" or in English "dynamite".

We spent the night in San Jose, after working out some double booking issues at the hotel, and then went to the village of FUA in the forest outside of San Jose. FUA is a community of Ayoreos who wanted to get their kids away from the influences of drugs and prostitution that are common in other Ayoreo communities. We spent the day visiting with the Ayoreos, conducting a medical clinic, a VBS for the kids, and constructing a rain water catchment system on the roof of the school and church to help alleviate some of the water problems in the community. We are hoping that a well will soon be dug in the community.

After our time in FUA, we moved on to Santiago (Bolivia not Chile), a small town in the middle of nowhere which is quickly becoming one of my favorite places on Earth. The road out to Santiago was nothing like there previous trip, it was actually a real highway! To wonderful hours on a smooth highway with painted line, rumble strips, guard rails, real road signs, and reflectors, then a short dirt road and we were to Santiago. Why there is such a beautiful highway out in the middle of nowhere and then such awful roads between major cities I will never know. One the way we stopped at a hot spring and had a baptism for one missionary family's 3 kids.

Santiago is a clean, quiet little town at the base of a fantastic plateau system. There is even a small orchestra in the town that put on a little concert for us. We spent the next few days working on building an extension on the back of the church and conducting several VBS and adult services. Noah did just fine with all the traveling and picked up another grandmother along the way. One of the ladies on the team snatched him up and hardly let go until she had to go back to the states. The extra set of willing arms was a real blessing on this trip since it freed us up a bit more.

Over all, the trip went smoothly, that is until the return trip. Both our car and one of the other trucks began to overheat. The truck was leaking oil like water from a faucet. We had to buy 4 or 5 four liter containers of oil to pour into the truck every hour and managed to limp it home. Our car was not so fortunate. It sprung several leaks in the radiator system and blew a head gasket (or something like that, can you tell I'm not a mechanic?). The bleeding truck towed our car the 2 hours back to San Jose where we found a mechanic who is currently still working on it. Since we were down a vehicle, we had to send some of the group back by train while the others squeezed into the remaining cars. I was going to go back by train and pick up my car this week, but today I found out that our Beni river trip was moved up to TOMORROW and so someone else will have to pick it up for us. Today we spent franticly packing and preparing for our river trip. Always the adventure!

For more photos from this trip, visit: http://picasaweb.google.com/JayWeigner/OrangeHillTeamJune2010?feat=directlink

Baby Goes To The USA

2010-06-07T20:42:00.001-04:00

So the baby paperwork drama ended well. We went to La Paz and Noah handled the altitude quite well despite all the "baby turning blue in La Paz" horror stories we heard beforehand. Everything went smoothly turning in the paperwork at the US Consulate and Noah's US passport arived 6 days before our trip to the USA.

The last two weeks of May we spent up in the US for my sister Julie's wedding, visiting Noah's grandparents and great-grandparents, and visiting two of our supporting churches. When we landed in the US, we kissed Noah goodbye and said "see you in two weeks" and gave him up to be passed around like a hot-potato between friends and relatives. Of course we kept the "Baby Crowbar" (patent pending) handy to pry Noah from his grandmothers' arms. It was a great trip up north to see friends and family but it was also an exausting whirlwind of a journey and it is good to be back in Bolivia trying to settle into some sort of routine, if that is even possible.

Noah is doing great and I think he is glad to be back to some stability too. It seems every day he grows and changes a little bit. They were not kidding when they said babies grow quick!

4 Generations of Weigners

Relaxing with Grandma Debi and Grandpa Gerry

Shared between Mema and Poppy

Enjoying time with Oma

Baby Bureaucracy - Part II

2010-04-24T16:18:00.000-04:00

Getting Noah's Bolivian ID and passport was relatively easy, aside from having to wait hours on end in a government building (like going to the DMV) and the ride home turning into a 5 hour trip (normally 1 hour) because of a road blockade by discontented citizens which forced us to take a detour through corn fields on roads so dusty we had to use our windshield wipers to clear off the snow-like dust and farmers charged us tolls to pass through their lands. No, that was easy. The next paperwork battle was preparing for, no not starting, but preparing to start the US paperwork.

So to get Noah's US passport, SS card, and Birth Abroad documents, we have to go to a US consulate with, of course, all kinds of ID and documentation, one of which is our marriage licence. Good thing that was one of the important papers we brought down with us for getting our visas and Bolivian ID. Too bad we could not find it. We found all the other papers we used for getting our Bolivian Visa when we first got here, just not the marriage certificate. We searched everywhere. We had one of our administrators look for it too since he had all the paperwork at one point. We also had our lawyer look, who was also in possession of these papers at one point. No luck until a few days later when the lawyer called and said he found it in the wrong folder. Great news except just hours before we had contacted friends and family in the US to track down our other copy and overnight it to Jenna's mom who is coming down next week. Now it is off to La Paz to visit the consulate to actually start the process. The consulate here in Santa Cruz and the next closest consulate in Cochabama are closed at the moment so we are stuck flying to La Paz. We are hoping and praying this part of the process goes smoothly.

Baby Bureaucracy - Part I

2010-04-14T13:51:00.001-04:00

How to get a Bolivian Birth Certificate:
1. Return to the hospital and ask
2. Be told to go home for different ID
3. Return to hospital to receive form
4. Go to Notary only to be told to go to the Department of Health
5. Go to Department of Health to have form stamped
6. Go back to notary to be told I need my wife and two witnesses along with their IDs
7. Find witnesses and return to notary to sign and thumb print all kinds of papers
8. Be told to come back at the end of the day
9. Return to notary to receive birth certificate only to find he was registered as a she
10. Go back the next day to get corrected certificates

This was just the first step, now on to Bolivian ID and Passport then US Passport, birth certificate, and SS card.

It's A Boy!

2010-04-13T23:17:00.001-04:00

It's a Boy! Oh wait, you knew that already? Well did you know his name is Noah James Weigner? That's right! And he weighed a healthy 3 kilos (6 pounds, 10 ounces) and was 50.5cm long (20 inches). After about 26 hours of labor Jenna got up to relax in the shower. About 10 seconds in the shower and "Uh oh, something is coming out!". No one was ready. Our OB/GYN, Dr. Vidal, had gone to visit another patient thinking it would be a few more hours yet. Fortunately Toni, a doctor with our mission, was with us at the time. She sent me off to find some nurses. The ONE TIME I needed to find a nurse, there were none to be found. Every time I stepped out of the room before, both this time and the 3 nights Jenna was in the hospital before, there were nurses in the nurses' station, usually 3 or 4 watching Soaps. Not this time. After running up and down the halls for a little bit I finally found one coming up the stairs. She rounded up the troops and our room quickly flooded with medical staff and equipment. Dr. Vidal made it just in time. The nurses were a little off guard for two reasons: One, women who go to this hospital almost always opt for a C-section, and two, the few live births they assist happen in a delivery room. There was no time to get to the delivery room and so they had to make do where we were. It was fun watching their looks of confusion and disbelief. Fortunately, our doctor orcistrated the whole ordeal and with a few pushes, Noah was out, blue as a blueberry, and crying his little head off. It was one incredible moment when they held him up. It was amazing to see finally him and such a relief to see the worst of Jenna's pain over with.

Mom and baby are doing well. Mom handles food, dad handles diapers, its a good arangement (I've got the easy end of the bargen). Right now life consists of figuring out what life looks like as parents and working out the never ending mountain of paperwork required for having a baby here. Thursday morning we are planning to head home. Oh it will feel good to be home!

To see more baby pictures check out our Picasa album:

http://picasaweb.google.com/JayWeigner/NoahJames?feat=directlink

My Life as a Country Music Song

2010-03-31T10:54:00.000-04:00

I've decided that I may have missed my calling as a country music writer. Here is my recently inspired country song:

"My wife stuck in bed all day,

'cause doc says baby needs to rest.

My dog got diced to pieces

By some wild animal.

Left my heart out in the campo

While I'm stuck in Santa Cruz.

And I ain't go'n nowhere

'cause my truck broke down again."

Maybe I'll stick to being a missionary, I would not be able to stomach the music needed to make this a country song anyhow. But yes, this is what life has been like lately. Jenna is still on bedrest but thankfully we think this is the last week! If the baby does not come on his own in the next few days, we are planning to induce on Saturday. She will be at 37 weeks at that point which is considered "full term". At this point the risk of infection is greater than the benifit he would gain from staying in. We are looking forward to finally meeting him after all the gray hairs he has given us already.

Simon did get diced up pretty bad the other day. Last Friday we recieved a call from our landlords that they had not seen Simon in 2 days, very unusual for Simon. I went out to our house the next day and spent some time walking around calling for him. That dog will do anything to be with me. After a little while I looked out in the backyard to see a muddy and starved dog dragging himself out of the pasture out back. I aproached cautiously and when I got close he colapsed exausted but happy to see me. He had a broken back leg as well as claw and teeth gashes all over his body. After a couple days of a good diet and some vet care he has perked up a lot and is starting to look more like the Simon we know. Now I have two bedrest patients to take care of here in our little room in the city!

Yes the car broke down again! I took it into one shop to get the power steering fixed (for the 4th time). Next I need to take it into a glass repair shop to have the sideview mirror replaced that had been smashed. Then I need to go to an electrical repair shop to have the alarm fixed or turned off to keep it from constantly going off. Then eventually it might be nice to take it to an AC repair place so we can have AC again, but that one is kind of low on my priorities right now. No one stop repair place here, you have to find a specialty shop for everything around here. I'm not a big fan of malls and Walmart but sometimes there is something to be said for convienience!

Life has been a bit crazy lately and it seems keeping up with life has been taking up all my time, but soon we will get to go home with our little guy in our arms and I'm sure it will all be worth it.

Baby Blues

2010-03-22T12:43:00.005-04:00

Jenna next to a "pregnant" Toborochi Tree

After several false alarms we a back to waiting for baby to come. Jenna is getting tired of her bed rest but we are grateful that we are almost to 36 weeks, a much safer point in the pregnancy to have the baby than 32 weeks when we first thought he was coming. Even though it is still a little early, it is looking likely that we will induce this coming weekend since amniotic fluids are rather low and the baby has developed to a healthy point. It is wild to think that we will at any moment have a kid! We are looking forward to meeting him, and to getting back home! Until then, Jenna is devouring books and movies.

While stuck here in the city, I've been taking care of Jenna and running various errands like getting our car fixed, again, and again, and again. This car is making me miss my first car that I got at an auction and hardly ever caused me problems. Then again, I never drove it on Bolivian roads! This week I'll probably be subbing for a teacher at the mission school who is out sick. I am also hoping to finally get the garden put in at the children's center in the Barrio Bolivar community. This has been one of those projects that keeps getting pushed off and might yet again get pushed off if baby decides to shake things up again!

Babies and Bot Flies

2010-03-12T19:22:00.005-05:00

As most of you already know, our little one scared us the other week when it looked like he was coming into the world early. Things have calmed down since then and I am happy to anounce that we have made it to 34 weeks! After the steroid shots and a little extra time cooking in the oven, he should be in good shape now for whenever he pops out (if only it were that easy). We are still hanging out in the city and Jenna is still taking it easy and is on bed rest. Some of the ladies here threw her a shower. All I know about the party is now we have lots of clothes... lots and lots of baby clothes!

In between taking care of Jenna, I have been busy helping with a group of 8 students from Palm Beach Atlantic University who are down here over their spring break. The first three nights they spent staying at our place out in Pailon and working out in the Poza Verde comunity. Each day I drove out to help direct a variety of projects we had going out there. They helped fix up a house for an Ayoreo pastor who is moving into the community, dug a pit for an outhouse, put in posts for a chicken run, clear brush from the Soy field (they loved using machettes), and ran some kid programs. Not only did I enjoy having the slave labor for a few days but it was fun watching them love on the kids of the community. It has also been encouraging watching them as their eyes have been opened to some of the needs in the world. It is one thing to hear about broken people, it is another to see and experience what they go through. Watching the college group has reminded me of my own journey to where I am now and of why I am here. It has also been fun pretending to be in college again, hanging out until 2am chatting.

*WARNING* This next segment could be disturbing to those grossed out by the idea of parasites and their removal from body parts. Discretion is advised.

In the past month I have had enough parasite experiences to last quite a while. The first was what I thought was a small splinter in my little toe. I poked at it a bit but when it did not come out, I figured it would work its way out. In a day or so it started to look a little infected but still nothing to worry about until it kept growing and I could not seem to pop it out. One day I decided to show the missionary doctor here and when I took my sock off, a bunch of small eggs were falling out of my toe. Niguas! Small fleas that burrow into your skin and start reproducing. Mine had been there long enough to start several generations of young and quite a collection of eggs. Doctor Toni kindly removed the colony from my toe. Next, our dog Simon came down with a nasty case of Mange, also a parasite. After changing his diet and frequently bathing him, we were able to get the mange under control, but not before another visitor took up residence. One day I noticed two large holes in the side of his face with squirming creatures inside. Bot Fly larva! I covered the holes with gel to force the larva to come up for air where I could then pop them out. There are supposed to be 1 maybe 2 larva per hole. I pulled a total of 7 out of two holes! To wrap up the month of parasites, I discovered I had amoebas living in my digestive system. Gotta love the tropics!

Some of the bot fly larva I pulled from Simon's face

Trip to San Jose, Fua and Santiago

2010-02-26T13:34:00.008-05:00

WARNING: This will be a LONG post. :-D

You just never know what you will find on the road in Bolivia.....

Always up for an adventure, Jason and I joined our team (Mercado family, Massey family, and Joe and Julie Kidd) for a trip to visit several towns to the East of where we live. Although it was hot hot hot and we didn’t have air conditioning, the trip went well. Day1: Today the adventures included driving. Not just regular driving on pavement, but driving through large construction sites with no cones or traffic directors (meaning we were driving next to or behind the very large machinery doing the work!), and over a mountain ridge on a dirt road which resulted in our friends turning literally orange in our back seat because of all the dust that came into our car! They looked like they had put on way too much self tanning lotion. We passed areas that looked like small rivers where only 2 weeks before, when the road wasn’t completely ready, Jason had driven in the team’s exploratory trip. God was gracious and we had no car problems. Once we got to San Jose, our resting point for the evening, the guys went to get the wood from the carpenter that had been ordered ahead of time and found it only to be half completed. So the men took what was available out to Fua to have ready for the next day and told the carpenters to finish the rest by the next day.

Day 2: This day our team went to work in Fua, a small Ayore community about 40 from San Jose. The primary goal of the day was to put up some walls on the church building and by the end of the day (after a few generator problems) the guys got quite a bit accomplished. Jason had a blast teaching the Ayore kids to use old 2 liter bottles of soda cut up to scoop a pest beetle off of the community’s pepper plants so they would be able to produce peppers for them. Toni Mercado and Julie Kidd set up their medical supplies and were able to help out lots of community members by examining them and handing out medication. I was able to count pills and write instructions for people. Bush medicine is very interesting, that’s for sure!

Ayore girls playing a hand game

Jason, Joe and Julie Kidd taking some measurements

We also had along Cesar and Mirta, the couple who lives near us in Poza Verde, and they hung out for the day. In the afternoon Mirta led some singing in Ayore, and Cesar gathered the people for a little church service. We met at the entrance of someone’s house since the church building was still being worked on. It was an awesome little service, simple, but so beautiful. Cesar started out by telling a story- a story that even had me captivated- and then used that story to make a poignant point about the need to come to Jesus. He has amazing abilities to make stories have a point, one thing that I really appreciate about indigenous cultures.

"Welcome to the church. No spitting."

All in all it was a good, long, hot, tiring, special day. I love just spending time with people here and not necessarily having an ‘agenda’. There are some really fun things that go on.

Hanging out with the town, watching the guys do the church construction

So Day 3: The men went in the morning back to Fua to work some more on the church. The ladies took the morning to go to the Ayore part of San Jose to do a little singing, service, and seeing medical patients. We were waiting for some of the Christian ladies to come back from an appointment so Toni and Julie started doing medical work. Emily, Toni’s daughter, brought a guitar and so they asked me to play a few songs. I tried to pick ones I knew in Spanish J We had just finished up the medical attention when a truck full of politicians drove up and wanted to talk to the Ayoreos (who were of the opposite political party). Toni decided it was time for us to leave so we headed out and spent some time at Mirta’s family’s house in San Jose before meeting the guys for lunch. That afternoon we spent driving to Santiago, a small town another probably 2 hours down the road. The scenery was gorgeous! Think US southwest, but greener. That evening Jason, Ken Massey, Toni and Placido met with a local leader in Santiago. They spoke with him about what some of the needs in the area are so that we can potentially partner with him in the future. Historically our mission had a big influence in the Santiago area so we are looking to potentially expand again in that direction. While this meeting was going on, I went to visit the memorial for the 5 men (from New Tribes Mission) who were martyred by the Ayore back in 1943 when they were first trying to contact the group. For those who are interested in more of the story you can read “God Planted Five Seeds” which details their experiences and what happened. The memorial was simple, a wooden cross mounted on a large limestone outcropping with a small plaque next to it. It definitely makes you think about how much these missionaries gave up for the Ayoreos in order to reach them.

Toni Mercado, our team leader, working with some of the medical patients

Day 4: We awoke to find out that there was a bloqueo (blockade) on the other side of San Jose and that our chances of getting home this day were slim. So we took our time getting back to San Jose and took a little detour to a town called Chochis where there are super cool rock formations. We found a little sanctuary and hiked around a bit (well, they hiked, I walked on the paths). The views were beautiful and it was a lovely day. We eventually got back to San Jose and got another phone call that the bloqueo would be open for 2 hours, so we quickly scrambled back into our cars to head that direction, hoping to get through without problems. As we approached the bridge where the bloqueo was, we found only twigs as remnants of what had formerly been there. A long ride back and we were finally home again, again without any problems.

(View of "Devil's Tooth" in Chochis)

Overall, great trip. It was fun to spend time getting to know another Ayore community and seeing some of the historical areas of Bolivia where missionaries first were trying to contact the Ayore. It was great to spend time with our teammates, getting to know them better and doing service together. Lots of adventure, lots of uncertain moments, but through it all, God was present.

Thanks for your prayers as we went!

January Thaw, How the time flies

2010-01-26T15:30:00.006-05:00

Jason as "George" and Jenna as "Sarah" in the play "January Thaw". 11 years ago this January we met in Dram Club for this play.

Jr/Sr (Prom) Jason's Senior year 2001. We we best friends at this point but still denied anything more than friendship.

So much for "just friends".

September 2007

Cowboys, Crocodilians, and Quicksand

2010-01-21T18:00:00.007-05:00

Sometimes it feels like I’m living in a western with the wide open space out here and people who stop by on horses. The other day a “cowboy” rode up looking for his lost horse. Unfortunately he was a day late. There was a horse wandering around our yard the day before but had moved on.

Other times it feels like something out of Indiana Jones when I take a hike around our landlord’s property and suddenly find the ground beneath me trying to make me a midday snack. I’ve run into “quick mud” before or sand that sinks relatively fast but this was the real deal quicksand. Everywhere I stepped the ground turned to liquid and so I could not backtrack, I had to find a new path. The faster I moved, the quicker the what felt like solid ground liquefied into a soupy mess. How to survive quicksand: Don’t run, you’ll only make the quicksand “quicker”. I feel like there is a moral in there somewhere.
And then there are Crocodile Dundee moments like Tuesday night when all the dogs were barking more intensely than usual. I went out to investigate only to find a hissing pair of glowing eyes in the bushes surrounded by the dogs. At first I thought it was a small wild cat but it turned out to be a Spectacled Caiman, a smaller relative to Crocodiles and Alligators. Those of you who know me know that of course I could not leave it alone. Soon I was traipsing up to the house to display my 5 foot Caiman to Jenna.

Quicksand, Caimans, Snakes in my seedling fruit trees, and tarantulas on the porch, it has been an adventure as usual. The new year promises to bring lots more exiting things, in addition, of course, having a little one around. Last weekend we had our team out to our house for a meeting to plan for this coming year. There are a lot of projects and ministries we hope to accomplish this year. Hopefully we can get the chicken project running smoothly and put in the nutrition garden for the children’s center early this year. We have several trips to the Beni (Amazonian part of Bolivia) where we will live on a boat going up and down various rivers to various communities to provide medical aid. Often times doctors, dentists, or church teams come down from North America to help out. Our big team dream is to find a plot of land for a camp that would eventually be converted into a bi-vocational (Bible and other vocational options) training center for indigenous peoples of Bolivia, provided funds become available. I cannot wait to see some of out plans become reality as well as experience the realities we did not plan on.

The SAM Bolivia Team at Conference

Back to Santa Cruz

2010-01-10T19:51:00.000-05:00

After only a few days in our new home out near Pailon, we had to move back to Santa Cruz. Well, not really, but we spent 5 nights back near Santa Cruz which is as long as we have been at our new house. We went back for conference, a week long retreat where all the SAM missionaries get together to get away. I am not sure we were quite ready to "get away" after just moving but we really enjoyed conference. Jenna led worship and I just sat back and enjoyed the retreat, well that and led a nature hike. I think I turned all the kids into little naturalists.

As for our new home, we are loving it. We were enjoying settling in, getting to know our neigbors, and watching Simon make friends with our landlord's dogs and chasing cows around our backyard. Below are some photos of our new place.

Dining Room

Our Bedroom

Soon to be baby nursery

Living room

Kitchen

Christmas Time = Weigner Family Moving Time

2010-01-01T12:54:00.006-05:00

Christmas Day 2009

Jenna at 23 weeks pregnant

Yes! It's that time of year again! Christmas has come and gone and again we find ourselves moving. We have moved for the last 3 years the week between Christmas and New Years, and it's beginning to feel like a family tradition. We have been married a little over 2 years, this is our 3rd country we've lived in and we just moved into our 7th house! We are definitely ready to settle down for a little while- like a year and a half.

Christmas was great this year. The week before Christmas we attended several Christmas dinner parties where I accompanied a trumpet player from our mission as the evening's entertainment. We also were able to attend a Christmas Eve service at the English speaking church in town. I sang "Breath of Heaven"- which seemed very appropriate since I'm is getting bigger day by day. We opted to head home after the service for a quiet evening- which was interrupted by a very interesting Bolivian tradition of fireworks starting at about 8pm and reaching its crescendo at midnight. Imagine the biggest 4th of July fireworks display you have ever seen and multiply that by about 4 and that was what we saw and experienced at midnight on Christmas Eve. Everyone in the city buys fireworks and sets them off from their yards, filling the air with the smell of smoke and making it sound like a warzone. It certainly was not a "silent night", but it was fun to see that many fireworks.

As I mentioned before we just moved into our 7th house of our marriage. We will post more pictures soon. We are now living much closer to our ministry site, Poza Verde, and are about 1.5 hours from Santa Cruz. The house we are living in is owned by another missionary family that has to live in the city for now since their kids are in school. We are also located next door (about 400m) from a Trans-World Radio station where we have lovely neighbors who have already made us feel at home. The house is beautiful, in a great location and it is wonderful to be back to country living. We have a cow pasture behind our house and the occasional smells remind us of central Pennsylvania in the summer, not to mention being surrounded by lots of Mennonites who speak only German or spanish.
We have been greeted in German several times now, and I'm wishing I had paid more attention to my Grandfather when he tried to teach me a few basic German phrases. Spanish works as a nice intermediary for communication.

I think thats it for now. Stay posted for more pictures- coming soon! (After we get our internet set up in our house!)

Like a chicken with its head cut off

2009-12-17T19:05:00.004-05:00

The dirty deed is done. We butchered the 120 chickens out in Poza Verde. After two days of butchering, everything smells like chicken. It may be a while before I can even look at anything made from chicken.

Paul and Bubba plucking Chickens. This was by far the longest part of the process.

The first day, three of use SAM missionaries went out to help. It took us 3 gringos along with Cesar and Mirta 5 hours to finish 40 chickens. It must have been amusing watching we three Gringos try to butcher chickens. I have only butchered a few at ECHO, Paul did it a few times in Peru many years ago, and Bubba had only researched chicken butchering online. We all had our "unique" ways of getting the job done. Finally Cesar showed us how it was done while a unified, drawn out "ohhhh" escaped our lips at the revelation of a simpler and more effective way. A few times over the course of the day, some of the Ayore children joined us to watch and snack on chicken blood and feet. Yes, you read correctly.

Gusto, one of the Ayore kids snacking on a chicken foot.

On day two, Bubba and I made our way our to Poza Verde dreading the 80 more chickens especially since we were down a man. To our relief, this time the community was involved and already a good portion of the way through. Not only did the increase in numbers speed up the process, but exchanging Gringos for Ayore women who are accustom to plucking and cleaning chickens increased our efficiency. We finished the last chicken around lunch time and all the Ayore who help were rewarded with the chicken innards. Now all that is left is to sell the chickens which has not been too hard, most are already spoken for. All the profits will go to Cesar and Mirta and their work in Poza Verde. I think we unanimously agree that we will be switching to raising chickens for eggs rather than for meat.

Gusto roasting his chicken foot

Election Day: Trapped!

2009-12-06T12:45:00.004-05:00

So you have probably had school canceled, work canceled, maybe even had your city shut down, but how about your whole country? Today is election day, and for 24 hours, everything is shut down. Alcohol, meeting in groups (including church), and driving vehicles are all banned for the 24 hour period. There is nothing to do but hang out at home or go out and vote.

As you probably guessed, elections are a big deal here. The differences in political parties here make the Democrats and Republicans look like best friends. Whatever the outcome could mean large changes for the country. We personally do not know enough about the politics to presume to know what result would be best for the people of Bolivia. We can only pray for the best.

2009-12-03T17:36:00.008-05:00

Little Weigner

Sorry it has been so long since out last post, there is a lot to catch up on. Today our baby had its second photo shoot, this time in 3-D! The baby was rather stuborn for a while (already taking after one of its parents), turning every way but the way we wanted it to, but eventually the baby turned and we got a few good shots. It was a lot of fun to see it moving around. Still hard to believe there is a little person growing inside Jenna. The baby still apears to be healthy and growing normally. We are very thankful that everything has been going so well. We also found out that we are going to have a... oh sorry, I almost forgot, we're not telling yet but if you care to guess, visit http://bebepool.com/jjweigner and take your best shot.

The finished coop with chickens

We finally have the chicken coop finished in Poza Verde (well, we have a few last little details to finish). I am excited the my rainwater, gravity fed watering system is working! Rainwater off the roof of the coop runs into a holding tank then in to water dishes that refill as the chickens drink. There are now 135 chickens enjoying their new home and they will enjoy it for a few more weeks before they become 135 Christmas dinners. All profits go to help the couple living out there and their ministry.

Cesar cleaning up after his chickens

On one of the trips back from Poza Verde, I was introduced to a new part of life in Bolivia, bloqueos or blockades. Some of the people in the country were feeling ignored by the government so the desided to hang out in the middle of the only highway back to Santa Cruz. They made a baracade of old tires and tree branches. Apparently this is how people strike here. It was not in any way violent (for those of your parents who may be concerned) and it eventually dispersed and we were able to make our way back home.

We have our own car now, a Hyundai Galloper. Never heard of it? Well that is because it does not really exist in the USA. We have been enjoying using an SUV for what it was made for, and that is not exactly cruzing down highways! The 4x4 has been handy lately as the rains have started and the roads around our house have been torn up for new sewage lines. Getting to and from our house has been interesting since each day we have no idea which road is going to be impassable. Last night we drove all over our neighborhood trying to find a route back to our house that did not have a large trench dug out of the middle. Always an adventure!

Jenna's Thanksgiving Pies

SAM Thanksgiving Dinner

We will be moving out of Santa Cruz between Christmas and New Years. This will be the thrid year in a row we will have moved during the holiday season. We decided to move out near a town call Pailon which is closer to Poza Verde, the comunity we spend most of our time working with. We found a wonderful house owned by some other missionaries from another organization.

With Christmas coming up, I'm sure some of you will be doing your shopping online. If you are an online shopper, consider shopping through www.iGive.com. By going through this site, a percentage of your purchase will go toward our ministry. All you have to do is go to iGive.com, sign up for an account and specify South America Mission IRE Mercy Ministry as your charity, then shop your favorite sites like Amazon or Ebay though this site and any business you buy from will give a percentage to our ministry. Get your shopping done and help us out at the same time!

Night in Poza Verde

2009-10-11T21:55:00.005-04:00

Working on the chicken coup with Cesar

This past Thursday and Friday we spent out in the Poza Verde Ayore community, about 1.5 to 2 hours from where we are currently living. This is the community we will probably spend the most time with. We spent the night with Cesar and Mirtha, a Bolivian couple who live with and minister to the Ayore. We had a great time getting to know them, although speaking only in Spanish for the whole time was tiring but good practice. I helped Cesar work on the chicken coup he is building to house 100 chickens. The goal of this project is for them to make a little income from the eggs since they do not get very much support to live off of. We will probably spend a lot of time doing whatever we can to help them so the can be more effective in their ministry since they have many more years of experience than we.

Our ministry team now has a website! Follow this link to learn more about our ministry with the Ayore: http://ayorebolivia.wordpress.com/

Meet Simon

2009-10-01T09:22:00.003-04:00

Here is our new little buddy Simon. We got him last weekend. He is half Lab half German Shepherd and is growing and learning fast. At 8 weeks he already has "stay" and "come" down and is housebroken. We are hoping that one day he will make a good guard dog.

A look at our life overseas

2009-09-24T17:10:00.000-04:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Sunflower Harvest

2009-09-24T15:13:00.006-04:00

This past weekend I spent out in Poza Verde, one of the Ayore settlements. The mission cultivates a field out there. In order to keep the land, a certain percentage has to be productive. Sunflowers were the crop of choice this round and were ready to harvest. We hired a group to harvest the field and we got 25 tons of seeds. Now we are praying the global price of sunflower seed will go up in the next few weeks.
The money made will go to the ministry with the Ayore. This has been a successful way to meet the productivity laws, but is dependent on the mission. Ideally we would like to come up with agricultural projects that the Ayore can sustain on their own. This will be one of the main goals of my work.

Ayore kids playing in the sunflower field

Hired harvesters
Ayore kids playing in the harvested seed

Mission Impossible: Bolivia

2009-09-06T18:04:00.008-04:00

The next two years of our lives packed into 4 check bags and 2 carry-ons

Two years of preparation and now we are finally here in Bolivia, but it almost did not happen. At the end of our two weeks in the states, after a great last few days with family, we visited the SAM office where our passports and visas were supposed to meet us. Thanks to a series of delays, the passports did not make it to South Carolina in time. So we tried re-routing them to Baltimore to meet us at a friends house the day we were to leave.

Eating Breakfast on the sidewalk in Baltimore, waiting for UPS to deliver our passports.

Over breakfast, we got the call that our passports were still in South Carolina

Turns out our passports got stuck in South Carolina. We tried delaying our tickets a day or two only to find out the next flight with open seats was not until Sept. 22nd.

A couple long hours at the airport trying to come up with a new plan

Lunch at Natcho Mama's while waiting for Sue to fly in with our passports

Back at the airport waiting for the passports to arrive

In one last ditch effort, Sue, from our office, intercepted the package at the UPS warehouse in South Carolina, hopped on the next flight to Baltimore, handed the package off to our friend Matt who was waiting to run it to us at the American Air desk. He delivered it to us just in time to check in, with 10 minutes to spare! Once we were on the plane, the rest of the trip was smooth. We were so focused on just getting on the plane that it was not until I was in my seat buckling in that it hit me, WE'RE MOVING TO BOLIVIA!

Agent Matteo running 'the package" (our passports) through the airport

So now we are adjusting to life here. So far we really like it. Basically we've been spending our time in meetings, getting to know the people we'll be working with, and getting oriented to the area. We did take one trip out to Poza Verde, one of the villages I'll be spending a lot of my time. They have a large crop of sunflowers that our team has been helping them grow and will probably we ready for harvest this week. I have been brainstorming with the team on lots of interesting potential projects. It is exciting to see how many opportunities there are here to use my interests and training.

Changing Seasons

2009-08-14T18:16:00.005-04:00

Today marks yet another point of change for us. Since 2001 I have been hopping from town to town, state to state, and country to country. It has been quite the adventure but the frequent packing up to go and all the "good-byes" have been challenging. Today we graduated from language school and are getting ready to head back to the states for a whirlwind 2 week trip before moving to Bolivia. We said our farewells yet again and are looking forward to actually setting up home and staying in one place for at least 2 years. Over the last 8 years or so, I've made a lot of friend around the world then had to leave them behind. At first it was really hard, then I hit a point of trying to stay uninvolved emotionally to avoid the pain of leaving, but now I have found it is worth the effort and investment to enjoy relationships while they last, even if I know they will be for only a short while. And so, I leave Costa Rica with more fond memories of friends I have made to add to the many other amazing people I have met on the journey, and looking forward to new friends and new adventures that lay ahead.

Since we have not posted in a little while, here is a quick recap of our last month here in Costa Rica. Jenna's parents came down to visit us and we had a great time back at Arenal Volcano and showing them around the San Jose area. Unfortunately it was cloudy most of the time so we only heard the volcano. The teachers and some of the students at ILE put on a great show of whirly-twirly cultural dances to celebrate the Anexion of Guanacaste. We took our final Spanish exams; Jenna did great, I choked. Then last weekend we took an amazing boat ride to Tortuguero National Park filled with all kinds of wildlife. I wish I had discovered this place sooner! We saw crocs, sloths, monkeys, toucans, an Eyelash viper, and a Green Sea Turtle laying eggs.

It has been a great 8 months. I am sad to leave Costa Rica and our friends here, but I can't say I'm sorry to be done with school. Onward to Bolivia!

A Future Home

2009-07-05T12:25:00.011-04:00

A Street View of Our Future *Temporary* Home in Bolivia!

Well God certainly does provide, and when He does so, he does it lavishly~!

Our team in Bolivia jumped on an opportunity for us to sub-rent a home in Santa Cruz while a missionary family is on a four month leave back to the United States. Although this does mean that we will have to move (again) to our own place in January, it gives us an incredibly beautiful and comfortable home in which to stay while we get orientated to the field. We will move in as soon as we arrive on September 3rd, and will be able to take our time finding our own place to live for the rest of our term. We will be moving into a fully furnished and equipped home, complete with a large back yard (Jason's estatic), a gardener, a guard at night, an empleada (maid) to help around the house on 3 mornings a week, internet set up, phone set up, and best of all- much to our delight- a dog and a tortoise to keep us company! Yes, we will have to pay rent and salaries for all of these luxuries, but it is such a blessing to be able to make our transition a little smoother, to give us time to check out the best places for us to stay afterwards, to set up our home, to wait for our things to arrive by mail, to look for the best deals. I am excited. We are excited! Things are coming together and starting to feel more real- especially after almost 3 years of preparation time!

Check out the photos of our future, temporary, home:

This is Roger- their pet (red foot?) tortoise- We will be taking very good care of him. Tortoises are my favorite.

This is Beethoven (yellow) and Jerry (black). We will just be taking care of Beethoven and I believe the missionaries are working on finding someone to take care of Jerry- the Rotweiler. If they can't, I'm sure we'll take him under our wing as well, always nice to have good guard dogs. :-)

A view of the living room/ front door?

Kitchen with lots of counter space!! Yay!!

Dining room- very pretty

I'm sure Jason will have lots of fun planting all sorts of random, but yummy things in this yard. I'm sure he will also include a compost pile :-)

Office area- I can't wait to read some of those books!

As you can very well see, this place is huge and so far above and beyond any expectations we had! Not to mention the perks that come with it! Who else would be so happy to take on a tortoise? (Let alone know how to take care of it!) Like I said, God is very good. :-)

Arenal Volcano

2009-07-03T18:59:00.007-04:00

Jason & Jenna in front of the smoking Arenal Volcano

Last weekend we made our long anticipated trip to Arenal Volcano along with Jenna's brother Kyle and a bunch of people from our school. It was a welcome 3 night getaway from the stresses of language learning. We enjoyed hot and cold pools along with a few water slides all fed by natural springs at the foot of the very active Arenal volcano. Whenever the clouds parted we had an excellent view of the volcano from our hotel and the constant stream of smoke from the top. Occasionally we would hear a rumble from deep within its belly. One night we took a van to the other side of the volcano where the lava is currently spewing. It put on a nice little firework display for us while we fought off mosquitoes.

Arenal Volcano at Night

This week was also a little bit of a breather from the routine. It was spiritual emphasis week. This week the teachers were not permitted to give us homework so that we could feel free to go to the two chapels a day and focus on spiritual health. Last weekend and this week was a nice break, next week it is back to full steam ahead. Classes continue to go well as I learn to speak Spanish poco a poco. My one class has been especially good for me since it requires me to get out in the community and build a relationship with 8 people with whom I talk to on a weekly basis. It continues to be a stretch for me but it is great practice. !Vale la pena!

Green Basilisk (Basiliscus plumifrons) at Arenal

Harlequin Long-Horned Beetle (Acrocinus longimanus) at Arenal

Rambutans, Toucans, & Blackberry Wine

2009-06-22T22:54:00.007-04:00

Jenna with a handful of Rambutan

This weekend I made my weekly run to the Feria (farmers market). I love this weekly event, I never know what fun tropical fruits I may find. A few weeks ago, an amazing fruit known as Rambutan ("Mamon Chino" in Spanish) started to come into season. This weekend I found the best looking ones yet, and in two different color varieties (red y yellow). Some people call it hairy fruit, which makes sense. You eat these little self-contained snacks by popping the skin open and eating the white flesh inside which looks a lot and is the texture of a skinless green grape. They have a wonderfully fruity flavor which I can only describe as... Rambutany... with a hint of Lychee. If you don't know what that tastes like, well I guess you are out of luck, that or you need to take the next flight to a tropical country.Red and Yellow Rambutan

Speaking of Fruit, a few weeks ago we bought a bag of Blackberries at the Feria with the intention of making them into juice. Well, two weeks later we found them in the back of the fridge. The still looked okay, and I tasted one which also tasted okay but a little tart... or was that alcohol? Well we blended them up, added some sugar, and stuck the juice in the fridge. Tonight we went to drink some with dinner, only to find it wasn't juice anymore, but rather Blackberry wine. Oops!

Waterfall at Parque Monte de la Cruz

This past weekend I also took a little trip with some friends from the school to a park nearby, well nearby on the map. An hour and a half later, and countless stops for directions, we found the park... right as the rains started. Fortunately, after a lunch in the van, the rain let up long enough for a short hike to a waterfall and up a hill. Before this trip started, for some reason I had an urge to see Toucans. I have never seen them in the wild before and hoped to see some. Soon after we arrived, a couple flew out of the woods and into nearby trees! Unfortunately due to the rain I couldn't get a good picture but I had a fun time watching them!Emerald Toucanet

Well, back to the Spanish homework during one intense thunderstorm. I might want to get off the computer before it melts to my lap.

Catch up

2009-06-09T15:12:00.009-04:00

Blue-crowned Motmot from INBioparque

First off, our latest newsletter is on its way. If you are signed up for an electronic version, you should have received it already. Also, I have downloaded some new photos from Costa Rica into Picasa. You can get to the albums by clicking on the slideshows bellow and to the right of this page or you can follow this link http://picasaweb.google.com/JayWeigner?feat=email

Last trimester was rather slow. I felt like I was riding on top of things, sometime running way ahead of life, now this trimester I've been run over and am now being dragged along behind. Classes are much more intense this tri and I have taken on a few more responsibilities. It is mainly the Spanish learning that is getting tough. Some days I really don't want to be learning another language when I already have one I can use. But I must admit, I am getting better at Spanish and it is incredibly rewarding when I can actually carry on a conversation. I've recently learned how to talk in the past and future rather than saying silly things like "I go to the store yesterday". Unfortunately, as my Spanish skills increase, my ability to speak and write in English seems to be waning.

Where's Weigner? Jenna trapped in a maze at INBioparque

One of the responsibilities I have taken on this trimester is to organize once a month "Paseos" or little trips from the school to other parts of Costa Rica. The first paseo was a little over a week ago to a nature center/zoo/botanical garden/farm place called INBioparque. We went with about 32 other students from the school and had a great time exporing their trails, observing wildlife, and checking out the farm that reminded me a bit of ECHO. You can see photos from this trip on the Picasa page. The trip I have planed for June is to Arenal volcano, one of the most active volcanoes in the world giving viewers a daily show of smoke and lava (if it isn't cloudy). Then in July the plan is to go to a little island off the coast, assuming people sign up for it.

Worship time at the men's retreat

A few weeks ago, the men from the school left their women and children behind, passed through the "corador of death", and vanished into a secluded little valley for a men's retreat. We slipped and slided our way down one of the worst zig-zaged mountain roads I've ever seen (and I've been on some bad roads) in the pouring rain dodging mudslides and trying not to slip right off the mountain. We survived and had a great time at a camp tucked away in a beautiful cloud forest valley known as "Valle de los Quetzals". We enjoyed time on the ropes course, rock climbing, hiking, playing paintball, and just hanging out. It was a great time to get away, relax, and reflect (and not speak in Spanish). We had some great speakers and spent a bit of time talking about our struggles and fears. Some times it is nice to be reminded that all these pastors and missionaries I am surrounded by here are are just as broken and are struggling with similar things as my self and everyone else. One of the topics was on fears that hold us back. The following is an outline we talked about concerning the fears that hold us back and their consequenses.
Fear of criticism leads to leagalizm
Fear of insignificance leads to over compensation
Fear of falure leads to paralisis
Fear of exposure/vunerabiligy leads to duplisity
Fear of loss leads to control
It was a great reminder to me to fight these fears that would keep be from living efectively.

Giant Silk Moth (Copaxa syntheratoides) from men's retreat.

Follow this link for more photos from Costa Rica

ESL

2009-05-13T22:56:00.004-04:00

(My Friend Amanda teaching ESL)

Oh the irony of my life. Growing up English was my least favorite subject. I hated grammar, I hated the busy work, I hated having to figure out what was a noun, verb, adverb, adjective etc. And now, I am teaching it. I have volunteered once a week to teach ESL (English as a Second Language) at a local ministry directed by LAM (Latin America Mission) called the AMCA house. We meet on Wednesday afternoons and my friend Amanda and I are in charge of the poco mas de precipiantes (advanced beginners). Today was my first attempt and I must say it didn't go badly at all- thanks mostly to Amanda who has actually spent time teaching English before she came.

We had a group of about 7, which was a nice size. We reviewed some more simple English to get a sense of what they knew and didn't know- numbers, alphabet, action verbs, greetings, colors etc. We sang the alphabet song, played a number game, and basically eye-spy. The afternoon consists of 2 50 min. periods with a coffee break/large group time/devotional minutes in between. It worked really well. It's good to get more interaction with Ticos here in the area and be able to offer them a specific skill (learning English) while having opportunities to get to know them and share the Lord with them. Super exciting!

Hurricane Weigner Sweeps the East Coast

2009-05-08T18:38:00.005-04:00

(Fun with our ECHO friends, trying not to catch Heidi's germs)

We just returned from a whirlwind tour of the East Coast this Wednesday. It all started last week when left Costa Rica late Thursday evening for Miami. Long before we left for the airport, our dads (Jim & Gerry) began the longest airport run in history. They drove from New York to meet us at the Miami Airport (the reason for this insanity to follow). We arrived in Miami at midnight and then proceeded to drive 3 hours across the state to North Fort Myers where we spent a very short night at ECHO. Friday morning we forced ourselves awake so that we could spend the day catching up with all our ECHO friends and load up our stuff that we left at ECHO into the van our dad's drove down. It felt so good to be back at ECHO, to see the farm (despite its sad state from severe winter freezes and a drought) and to see our ECHO friends. That evening we had a potluck with some of our ECHO friends (mmmm... peanutbutter Chaya greens!). I cannot begin to express what a joy it was to spend time with them again. We devoured everymoment of our short visit.

Saturday morning we left ECHO and enjoyed a huge breakfast spread with my grandparents in Port Charlotte. Unfortunately that was a short visit as well but we had to get on the road if we were to get to church in PA the next morning. We drove from Florida and did indeed make it to PA in time to unload our thing into the Pfluges' basement, take a 15 minute nap, and get to church. Despite being exaused from our journey, we had a refreshing visit with CVC then hit the road once agian to make dinner at Jenna's dad's place in New York. We spent the night there then went up to Jenna's mom's place to visit for the day then spent the night at my parents'. The next morning we visited with my parents then made our way to the airport for our flight back to Costa Rica, or so we thought. We found out our flight to Newark was delayed to the point we would have missed our connection to Costa Rica so we discied to just spend another night in Syracuse rather than spend it in Newark. So we decided to try again the next day. The next day it was on time, that is until we got on the plane and found out we were delayed another 2 hours. We managed to make it to Newark with 15 minutes until our next flight and two terminals to hop to get there. When we made it to the gate (sweating and out of breath) they told us the flight was moved to the other end of the terminal. We then hoped on a cart with 6 other people who were also late for the same flight. Our driver took his time making a 7 point turn and snailed his way to our gate. Fortunately they held the plane since there were enough people late for the flight. We made it to Costa Rica amazingly with all our luggage. We did, however, miss the first day of classes of our second semester.

Incase you were wondering why we planned such a crazy 5 day visit to the states, we did have a method to the madness. For one, we had a return ticket left over since we were planning on only being here for one trimester and we had to leave the country anyhow since our visa was only good for 4 months. We figured we might as well use it and move our stuff back up from Florida while we were at it.

Finally, we are settling in for the next 4 months, starting classes and getting back into our routine. It feels good.

2009-04-26T16:16:00.000-04:00

(The picture is of a sunset near Monteverde Cloudforest that we visited during Easter break).

Ahhh a week of rest. Last week brought to conclusion our first half of language school. I can't believe we are halfway done already! On Friday Jason and I attended graduation where about 50 of our fellow classmates graduated, ready to move on to their assigned country. It made me very eager to finish our time here and move on to Bolivia. It was very encouraging and exciting to see all these missionaries ready and excited to head out to follow God's calling in their lives.

This week is a bit eclectic in our plans. We are finishing settling into our new apartment. We rearranged our kitchen and living room. It's such a wonderful thing to have our own space again, our own kitchen (even if it means we have to do dishes!), and a little extra privacy. Our neighbors are another student couple without children and on the other side is a lovely Tica lady with her Panamanian husband. We live just a short walk from school, which is very nice as well. Check out the video we've attached for a short tour of our new place!

As for our mini break from school, we plan on relaxing, getting random errands done, maybe spend a day at a volcano, and we get to head back to the US to visit! Yay! Due to complications with plane tickets once we decided to extend our time here we now are planning on spending a couple of days in the states to get our stuff from Florida and take it back to PA and NY and renew our visas. (Costa Rica allows a 90 day tourist visa + a one month extension, and after that you have to leave the country for at least 3 days and then you can return). So, lots happening and lots going on before classes begin again. But until then, I get to sleep in tomorrow. :-)

Puerto Viejo

2009-03-31T21:25:00.007-04:00

This past weekend we went on a little trip to Puerto Viejo on the east coast of Costa Rica. Jenna arranged this trip for me as a little birthday getaway. She found this nice little hotel (3 rooms) that was off the beaten track. Puerto Viejo was a nice little town that revolves around beach life. We met up with some missionaries that our host family knows. They run a little ice cream parlor and coffee shop in town. We enjoyed visiting with them while eating their ice cream with the beach a few steps away. While at their shop, they connected us with one of their employees who has a boyfriend who works at a dive shop. So our host family connected us to the missionaries who connected us to their employee who connected us to her boyfriend, who set us up on a dive. Connections are fun.
So we did get a dive in. The conditions were better than in Guanacaste. It was good to get under the water once again. The rest of our time there was spent resting and relaxing either by the beach or at our hotel. Well, that is except for a little 5:30am hike up a nearby forested hill which I found to be a relaxing experience as well. Countless colorful birds were up and about singing their songs along with a few chattering monkeys. Of course I came across quite a few interesting creatures, the highlight of which were the Strawberry Poison Dart Frogs I found calling from the leaf litter.

It was a great weekend getaway and I came back refreshed, ready to learn more Spanish. For more photos from our trip, click on the slideshow link on the right side of this page.

Where did the time go?

2009-03-24T22:11:00.011-04:00

Wow a month since the last post? How time flies. Well as far as school goes, life continues as usual. The Spanish learning process is becoming more challenging for me but still encouraging to see how much I am learning. Yesterday we had a break from the academic routine. The faculty sponsored a cultural day. We had the option to pick two out of four workshops. We picked one on food and one on dance. The other two workshops were cultural games and home remedies. The cultural dance workshop consisted of a sampling of a large variety of Latin dances followed by an introductory dance class in Salsa and Merengue. We butchered our way through it but it was a lot of fun. The food workshop was a tasty experience. We made a huge tropical fruit salad with ice cream, coconut & unrefined cane sugar candy, and Picadillo (kind of like a stew only eaten with tortillas). Tasty times!

We have had a few eventful weekends over the past month. The last weekend of February we spent up in the northwestern part of the country in the driest part of the country known as Guanacaste on a SCUBA trip. Each trimester there is a SCUBA course offered here at the school. Jenna took the Open Water course so now I have a dive buddy! Of course I wanted to go along on the dive trip so I took the Advanced Open Water course.

Guanacaste, right now during the dry season, looks like a combination of the northeast USA in the fall (after the leaves have fallen) and Arizona. There were huge cacti growing between bare trees. We set up at Playa de Coco (coco beach). This area is known for some great diving and incredible wildlife. Unfortunately we were at the right place at the wrong time. A cold, cloudy current moved in and made for an interesting dive with only 5-10 feet visibility. I was rather disappointed with the first two day dives. It was hard to see much and the cold, constant currents were frustrating. However, part of the advanced class was a night dive and it was incredible. I thought it would be overwhelmingly eerie to dive at night, and getting in the water at night was a little creepy but once we descended it was one incredible experience floating in complete darkness guided only by our lights. We saw quite a few Sting Rays and the biggest Green Moray Eel I've ever seen. One of the most fascinating experiences on the dive was when we turned off our dive lights. In the darkness, any movement in the water caused phosphorescent bacteria to glow green. It felt like we were swimming through a galaxy of green stars. Each diver left glowing green trails in the darkness. The next day of diving was a bit better than the first since the water had cleared a little over night.

Change of Plans

2009-02-26T19:37:00.004-05:00

Life is full of changing plans. Well plan A for us was to be here at language school for one trimester. After half of a trimester we realized that four months would not be enough to bring my Spanish speaking ability up to par. Most of the missionaries here stay for at least 2 trimesters if not the full year. So we are resorting to plan B. We are going to stay for a second trimester which will put us back in the States mid August and in Bolivia at the end of August. This change will be good for us and enable us to be more effective more quickly in Bolivia.

Our address here will still be

(Our Names)
Instituto de Lengua Espanola
Apartado 100-2350
San Jose, Costa Rica
America Central

Anything sent needs to be sent by mid July to arrive in time.

Our next update letter is on the way so keep an eye out for it in your mailboxes. If any of you would prefer to receive an e-mail copy rather than a snail mail copy, let us know. Also, if you would like to go back and read some of our old letters, I added an option on the right side of this blog where you can download our old letters. The first couple are Microsoft Publisher files, the more recent ones are PDFs.

Caimitos, Mamey Sapote, y un Colibrí

2009-02-19T16:55:00.007-05:00

We have settled into a routine here at language school. I have been learning a lot and I am beginning to gain some confidence speaking Spanish, even though I speak like a 3 year old. I am finally back to full health. My last post said I was almost better, well that was right before I had a relapse. After a visit to the hospital for a chest x-ray I found out I had walking pneumonia. At this point I was looking pretty bad and had lost a bit of weight. After a course of medication I am back on my feet, bounding up stairs and chasing lizards. It is amazing how much you appreciate feeling normal after a long period of sickness.

Next weekend we are going on our first big excursion out of the city. Yes I know, how sad is that, almost two months in Costa Rica and all we have done is hang around town. We are going to spend a weekend on the coast up in the northwest region of the country. I cannot wait to get out of the city!

Each weekend there is a "feria" (farmers market) that I really enjoy going to and checking out all the local produce. It is great Spanish practice for me to talk to the vendors and learn about the variety of produce. I love trying new fruits that most of the students here are too afraid to try. I might try setting up a little tropical fruit workshop for the students here to help demistify some of these amazing fruits. This past week we tried Caimito/Star Apple (in the photos) and Mamey Sapote. I thought both were delicious fruits. The Caimito had a very mild, flowery flavor with hints of persimon. The Mamey Sapote is a bit harder to describe. It was kind of like a cross between sweet potato and pear with hints of carrot.

If you go early in the morning to la feria, you will be the only gringo (person from the USA) there among lots of Ticos (Costa Ricans). Later in the morning there is a funny shift, most of the Tico shoppers have left and there are mostly Gringos shopping. I guess we just like our Saturday morning sleep-in more than the getting the best produce.

Last night we had a visitor, a tiny little visitor. A bright green colibrí (hummingbird) flew into the house. I must admit I took great joy in catching the little thing. It was so small and delicate, it is amazing that they can move so fast. They are not easy to hold onto either! God has so many cool creatures out there, I love any opportunity to get up close to one.

One thing that has been fun about being a part of the community here is the diversity of skill people bring and the opportunities to share or exchange these skills. Jenna has been offering her hair cutting skills, much to the delight of many of the women here. Recently we have had a lot of computer problems so Jenna traded hair cuts for computer repairs from a tech savey missionary. I think I like this bartering system better than money, well it is atleast more fun.

Back to Kindergarden

2009-01-24T15:09:00.001-05:00

Life here in Costa Rica has calmed down a bit and we have settled down into the school routine. All that is left of my virus is a cough that gets a little better each day. Updates on the earthquake are still on the local news. It created quite a mess and they are still trying to clean things up. I'm not sure what the death toll is at right now but last I heard it was going on 100.

School has been going well. I have three classes; Grammar (2 periods), Language, and Phonetics. For the first time in my life I am enjoying learning Spanish and feel like I am understanding it. It is nice to not feel like I am just barely hanging on for dear life like I did in high school. Maybe it is because I am slightly more motivated to learn it this time around. Jenna has two classes; Grammar and Language, both are two periods long so we both end up with 4 periods of classes. Classes end by 1:00 so we have a lot of free time in the afternoon which is nice. Of course some of this time is devoted to homework, but there is still a bit of down time. I have to admit, I am feeling a bit boxed in here in a city after living on a farm for a year. I am itching for a chance to get out of the city one of these days.

We spend a bit of time with our fellow students/future missionaries. We have reunited with Joe and Heidi DePuy who we knew from back in high school. There are also a few other SAM missionaries here who we have been getting to know. We also spend a lot of time with our host family. The other week, our host mom Aida had a birthday and what a birthday party it was! We were told it would start around 6pm. We left the house a little before 7pm with the daughter who was hosting the party. We then proceeded to buy food for the party from Price Mart which is the local equivelent of Sam's Club. When we got to the house, we sat around for several hours while people gradually trickled in and the party got set up. As the party geared up, Jenna and I debated with Reinko, a fellow from Holland who was staying here at the house with us, about how long the party would go. Reinko thought the party would wrap up around 10. Jenna and I guessed it would only be getting started around 10pm. It turned out Reinko's gross underestamate was because he did not realize it was a birthday party, much less a party for our host mom. At one point we mentioned the purpose of the party and it took Reinko a minute to wipe "You're kidding!" off his face before the embarasement set it. Needless to say we had a bit of fun with that.

During the party we had live music from a musician playing the Marimba. When he left, Jenna, Reinko, and I decided we were becoming too exhaused to hang around much longer and called a cab. This was around 11pm. Soon after we called the cab, a Mariachi band showed up to serenade Aida for about half and hour. That was fun to watch. Once they were done, the cab driver showed up for which I was quite grateful since I was feeling rather ill at this point. Then to my surprise, the cab diver sat down with a plate of food and proceded to eat dinner. I soon learned that the cab driver was actually a relative of the family who's wife is dying. I guess it is always a good idea to get the whole story before I get too frustrated.

The photos above are of the house we are living in (the green and white one), a sunset view from our house, and the Mariachi band from the birthday party.

Earthquake Update

2009-01-09T09:27:00.005-05:00

Apparently the quake yesterday was a bigger deal than we thought. It was the biggest Costa Rica has had since 1991. It was a 6.1 and the epicenter was about 20-30 miles from here. It was a shallow quake so it did a bit of damage. In some places the ground split open and in other the land folded over on itself. All that happened here was a light fixture detached from the ceiling. Something like an earthquake makes you realize just how small we are and how little control we have.

As far as our health goes, Jenna is doing much better and went to orientation today. I am still home sick with a fever. I hope I kick this thing soon.

Volcanos, Earthquakes, and A Virus

2009-01-08T15:38:00.004-05:00

Well it has been quite the adventure despite the fact we have only been here a few days. Our trip down here went without a hitch but was a long and tiring journey. It was really sad to have to leave ECHO. With tears in our eyes, we left Fort Myers, Florida at 9pm on Sunday night and drove 3 hours to Miami airport. We had to sit around for quite some time since out flight was not until 4am. We then landed in Managua, Nicaragua for a little layover. From the airport we watched a volcano in the distance spewing smoke while we waited for our plane. We then flew to San Jose, Costa Rica and arrived at our host families house at about 11am on Monday. Needless to say we were exhausted once we got here and were soon to pay the price for stressing our bodies.

Tuesday began the orientation at the Spanish Language Institute. It is a nice little campus with a great staff. I am actually looking forward to learning Spanish, believe it or not. During one of the orientation meetings we had a little earthquake. The teacher did not even notice until the uproar among the students who had just experienced their first earthquake became too much for her to keep going. Once it was explained to her what everyone was so excited about, she said "Oh that, that was just a little tremor, we don't consider that an earthquake." Well it was certainly the biggest one I have ever experienced, that is until today.

Tuesday afternoon I began to not feel so well. By nightfall I had an extreme headache and just could not seem to get myself warm enough. I had a small fever when I went to bed and several restless hours later it peaked at 102 degrees Fahrenheit which is really high for me since my average body temperature tends to be about a degree lower than average. I finally went to sleep around 3am and then took some meds in the morning. I spent the day...

Whoa, there is another earthquake!

Where was I, ah yes, I spent Wednesday resting while Jenna went to orientation. Then in the afternoon it hit Jenna. Her's started with nasty stomach issues then the fever. She has been resting today and I went to some of the orientation since I am feeling a little better. Our host mom had a doctor come and visit us. He said it was something we picked up in our traveling since out bodies are stress, which is what we figured. It is probably the flu. At least we are sick before classes start. They start on Monday so hopefully we will be back to health by then. Usually you hear about people getting sick from being in a foreign country but this is the second time I picked up something before I arrived in country and went through the symptoms abroad. The last time was in Nicaragua when I had unknowingly picked up Whooping Cough in the States before I left.

I little earlier today we experienced a good size earthquake. We all huddled in the doorways for protection in case it became severe. It was a strange feeling. It does not seem possible that something as solid as a house can feel like a rippling wet noddle.

Well it certainly has been an adventure. We are enjoying our time here despite being sick. Our host family is wonderful and take good care of us. The earthquakes will take some getting use to, apparently they have over 100 quakes a month.

If for any reason you would like to send something here, we do have an address. If you do send something, make sure it is sent before April to make sure that it arrives before we leave.

(Our Names)
Instituto de Lengua Espanola
Apartado 100-2350
San Jose, Costa Rica
America Central

Of course the easiest way to contact us will be by e-mail. Check back later for more updates on life down here.

Charlie Brown Christmas Tree

2008-12-25T23:30:00.008-05:00

This year we cut ourselves a Christmas tree from our backyard. We cut down an Australian Pine Tree (invasive in Florida), but it was too thin and we had to cut another one. Yes, that is a machete I am using to chop the tree down. We twisty-tied the two trees together so that it would look like a more full tree. It still looks like something from Charlie Brown.

We had a great, 80 degree Christmas down here. It felt like one continuous Christmas party here at ECHO. All the ECHO folk got together for a brunch at one house, then dinner at another house, then desert and carols at another house.

This is a year that we will probably remember for the rest of our lives, not because of some huge event today, but because of our Christmas Eve experiences. We decided to accompany some of our friends to their service at an Evangelical Free church. After the service was over Jason and I both agreed that it was the most informal Christmas eve service we had ever attended. (After it was over we walked out of the sanctuary to the tune of Jingle Bell Rock)! Needless to say after that we kinda want to have a more reverent experience for Christmas Eve, so we accompanied our friends to an episcopal service that started at 11:30pm. As we sat down and began looking through our 28 page program, we began to wonder how long this service would be. It was very traditional and filled with beautiful music and pipe organs (quite the opposite of our first service) however after 2.5 hours we were totally exhausted. We didn't leave there until 2am. It was definitely an experience - and one to remember at that. Overall it was a fun friend filled holiday.

Let the packing begin!!!

Our New Friend

2008-10-30T21:35:00.005-04:00

Yesterday we met a new friend. Jason met her first around the library building here at ECHO. Later that evening he introduced me and I couldn't believe how much I actually liked her! Shocking I know, but I found myself softening to this orange striped kitty who was unbelievably friendly. She was very thin when we found her and she had a tick on her neck that Jason pulled off. We brought her some food to nibble on since we could feel her ribs and she just chowed down. She couldn't decide whether she wanted to eat or to be friendly with us- always rubbing against our feet. We guided her to our house where we could keep an eye on her and keep her a little more fed. She is obviously an old house cat- she jumps at any noises from outside things, and she keeps trying to get into our house. We set up a little bowl of water and food for her in our laundry shed. She is one of the most friendly cats I have ever seen- in fact, she kind of reminds me of a puppy. Perhaps this is why I like her so much- she's like a dog. :-) We named her Agatha. If you want to adopt her- please let us know, since we can't keep her ourselves. Caution: when you walk, she is always under foot. :-)
Jason and Agatha - She sat with Jason cuddling for more than an hour today!

Agatha being photo shy!

Pure contentment.

A day in the life of an ECHO intern

2008-10-26T15:33:00.003-04:00

My replacement arrived the other day. It was nice meeting her and it will be fun training her but I must say I am not eager to say goodbye to my internship here. I still have so much I want to do and learn here! I know there are a lot of you who do not really know what all is involved in the life of an intern here. I will do my best to outline for you what life here at ECHO looks like.

Mornings:
Every morning starts off with a meeting. Mondays the meeting is with all ECHO staff for worship, devotions, prayer, and announcements. All the other mornings the meeting is just with interns for a time of prayer and to go over the plan for the day. After the meeting every intern has to complete their chores before continuing on to the activities of the day. The rest of the morning on any given day I could be doing one of the following options: demo time, giving a tour, answering "tech requests", cooking intern lunch, or selling plants in the nursery. I'll explain these activities more in a moment.

Afternoons:
Afternoons are a little more consistent. Mondays and Wednesdays all the interns get together for a seminar put on by either a guest speaker, ECHO staff, or one of the interns (every intern has to give at least 2 seminars). Tuesdays and Fridays four interns work in the seed bank and four work in the nursery. I am a nursery intern so I work in the nursery on these days. Thursdays is farm work so everyone gets together to work on one large project on the farm or several small projects. At the end of each day we also have chores to complete.

MORNING ACTIVITIES:
Chores: Every intern is assigned a farm animal to care for. I take care of the ducks and the geese. In the morning I let them out of their pens and clean their cages. In the evenings I bring them back into their pens and feed them. When I got here there were about 7 ducks in the flock and I have grown that flock to over 30 now. Trying to feed 30 feeding frenzied ducks under your feet has been an interesting task. Raising most of them from eggs was quite a fun experience. I have quite a few of them trained to follow me when I whistle. Having a supply of fresh duck eggs is nice too!
Also part of the chores is taking care of my assigned nursery area. My first 6 months I was assigned to taking care of "Pre-Sale". This is a rather large area of potted trees and other plants that are basically waiting to be sold. Making sure this area is well watered is a difficult task when you have overgrown pots of bamboo that need lots of water and seedling papayas that can't take much water. I have to say I am glad I no longer have that chore since I am in my second 6 months. Now I take care of watering and caring for seedlings in the greenhouse.

Demo Time: Most morning are spent filling this task. Each intern is responsible for one of the simulated eco-regions on the farm. My area is the "Tropical Rainforest Clearing". Demo Time is time to work in our assigned areas. My area is a little over an acer in size and packed with all kinds of Rain Forest crops. Many of the plants in this area are perennial Rain Forest plants such as Cacao, Vanilla Orchids, Miracle Fruit, Bananas, Black Pepper, Passionfruit, Jackfruit, and all kinds of other stuff so my focus with these is maintaining their health and harvesting fruit. I also have garden beds scattered around the area where I grow a variety of perennial crops that could be grown in a rainforest area. Every season I am assigned a list of crops I have to grow in my area and so I have to learn how to grow crazy crops like Winged Bean, Luffa Gourd, Cassabanana, Amaranth, Purple Yams, and countless other things. Some of these things are grown just so I can gain experience with these while others are grown to harvest seeds that are then sent to our network around the world. Demo time is probably my favorite time since I have a lot of freedom to try new things but this time is also overwhelming trying to keep up on all the required growing and caring for what is already there. With all the sun and water, fighting weeds in this area is a constant battle.

Tours: Tours are a great opportunity to share what ECHO is doing to fight hunger around the world with the general public. While sometimes giving tours is frustrating to us interns because it feels like it takes away from all the million and one things we have to keep up on, tours are a great opportunity to educate others and practice teaching what we learned. Tours last about an hour and a half as we take guests through the farm giving them a quick overview of hunger and malnutrition issues around the world and some of the solutions to those problems. Through tours, awareness of what ECHO does has been spreading like wild fire and this year we were visited by a variety of news crews and reporters including a nice story done by BBC and a rather lengthy program done by PBS. One time someone showed up asking to take photos of me working on the farm, next thing I knew I was on the front of a magazine.

"Tech Requests": These are questions we get from our network around the world. People working in community development around the world can send questions to ECHO and sometimes the interns have to answer them. One of my most memorable questions was "How do I keep Elephants out of my garden. I am thinking of building an electric fence." Any guesses? Well an electric fence in Africa is not practical for several reasons; it is extremely expensive, electricity is not reliable, and Elephants will pull up trees to knock fences down. After I did some research, I found out that Elephants cannot tolerate the smell of hot Chili Peppers.

Intern Lunch: Every Monday and Wednesday one of the interns spends the morning cooking lunch for all the other interns. We usually use a lot of produce from the farm for these meals so it takes a lot of prep time to put these meals together. Sometimes we commit to what we call "Farm Challenge Week". During this week we eat only things gathered from the farm for every meal.

Nursery: We have a small nursery here where we sell some of the unusual plants we grow here. It is only open in the mornings and one intern runs the nursery every morning. The nursery is usually fairly busy with customers. We get all kind of interesting questions from customers about our plants so this is actually where I have done a lot of my learning since I have to track down answers.

AFTERNOON ACTIVITIES:
Seminar/Library Time: Every Monday and Wednesday afternoon feels more like college. We listen to various lectures on all kinds of agricultural topics from grafting to cultural challenges. Time that is left after lecture is used for personal study or catching up on paperwork.

Nursery: Afternoon nursery duty consists of taking care of all the plants in pots or propagating plants to sell. This is where I have learned all kinds of techniques for propagating seeds, grafting trees, Air Layering branches so that they become small trees, and making new plants from cuttings. Propagation is my favorite part of nursery but we spend a lot of time maintaining the thousands of plants we have in pots.

Farm Work: Once a week all the interns get together to tackle some of the big projects on the farm. Sometimes this time is also used to help an intern that has a particularly large project they need help with. I have used farm work quite a few times to get extra help on my Papaya and Sweet Potato experiments.

OTHER:
Variety Trials: Each intern is suppose to oversee one large experiment while they are here. I was "fortunate" enough to end up with two variety trials. I am testing 7 varieties of Papaya against each other and 17 varieties of Sweet Potato (you didn't know there were so many kinds of sweet potato did you?). Maintaining the plot of land I am conducting this experiment on takes a lot of work and it all has to be squeezed into morning demo time or farm work. Soon I will be harvesting all my sweet potatoes to see which varieties performed the best and which we should recommend to our world wide network.

Field Trips: Occasionally we get to get off the farm and visit other places dealing with tropical agriculture. Recently we went to a missionary training facility called HEART where they were digging a well using an old boat motor. Some of us also were able to attend an agricultural conference down in El Salvador.

Well I did my best to describe what life is like here at ECHO. I do not think I really did it justice. The only way for you to really get to know what ECHO is all about and what I do here is to COME AND VISIT! You will not be disappointed, this place is amazing (and we will put you to work too).

Dr. Seuss Party

2008-09-21T17:34:00.004-04:00

I've always wanted an excuse to dye my hair blue. This weekend afforded me the first opportunity; Jason and I were invited to a Dr. Seuss party. Jason came up with the best idea ever! We decided to go as Thing 1 and Thing 2, which meant red shirts with labels and best of all- blue hair! OTher party attenders included the Lorax and her Truffula Tree, several Sneeches, 'The Pants', another pair of Things, and green eggs and ham. All in all it was a very interesting and creative evening filled with snacks, dramatic readings, vow renewals, and the feature presentation: Horton Hears a Who.

Today I tried to cut my finger off

2008-09-10T19:35:00.008-04:00

Today was a first for me, I got my first stitch (Plus 4 more). On Mondays and Wednesdays, interns here at ECHO are responsible for preparing lunch for all the interns. Well today was my day to make lunch. Last night Jenna and I threw together a tasty 16, or maybe it was a 17 bean stew, which stewed in a Crockpot from 2am to noon (yes I woke up at 2am to turn the silly thing on).
Since the main course had been prepared the night before, all I had to do was make some rice and put a fruit salad together. I diced my way through all kinds of yummy fruits from the farm; Pummelo, Carambola (Star Fruit), Banana, Cercropia Fruit, Strawberry Tree Berries, and Mango all made their way into my salad. It was nearing lunch time and I was about to put on the finishing touches, some 'Purple Possum' Passionfruit. If you have ever worked with a passionfruit before, you would know that these fruits have a very tough rind. Well I lined up to slice through this rind with a wonderfully sharp Wüsthof Chef''s Knife. I applied the necessary pressure to penetrate that tough rind, however, my Wüsthof ended up sliding across the smooth, tough rind of the Passionfruit and into my not nearly as tough finger.
I've never had stitches before, but I knew immediately without even looking I was going to need a few. I ran across the kitchen yelling (Jenna uses the term "scream" however I prefer "yell", it sounds a bit more manly). I ended up curled up around my finger next to the kitchen sink. I think I managed to mutter the words "paper towel" to Jenna between yells which I then used to wrap my gushing finger. Jenna asked me if I wanted to go to the ER, but I decided to call on our resident surgeon, Vic Estoy.
Vic volunteers here at ECHO and once worked on another finger of mine when I had a rather nasty infection from working on the farm. I figured his friendly, meticulous, and humorous medical care would be a bit more enjoyable than sitting in the ER for who knows how long. Well he set up a little sterile operating table, numbed me up, and put five stitches in. Not an adventure I care to repeat. Well at least lunch turned out alright, no one found any pieces of my finger but unfortunately I never got to add any Jackfruit to the salad... oh well.