touchdown!

Miami airport

What trip is complete without Starbucks? Well, I'm sure a great many are, but in Miami it felt right to have a cold drink from Starbucks with all these business people and holiday-ers getting off the plane with me. And after an early morning with a 3.5 hour flight, I was ready to stretch my legs.

Miami is beautiful. Those clear blue skies, the waving palm trees…  Definitely worth a return. And a nice airport too! That may or may not have had anything to do with the enticing outdoors that were a security check away.

Miami airport

A 2.5 hour layover brought me to the next flight: a 3 hour trip to Panama. With that came the a gorgeous sunset over the fields and waves of clouds.

sunset somewhere over the Caribbean Sea

The airport in Panama is HUGE, slightly stuffy, and just a little confusing. Instead of adventuring as I did in Miami, I stayed near my gate and waited for the flight that was scheduled to leave 2 hours later.  A restless overnight flight of just short of 7 hours (time change included) dropped me off in Recife, leaving me at the mercy of the passport officers. Thankfully, they gave me no more trouble than to simply ask for my passport, stamped it, and handed it back.

dawn over South America 

A friendly couple was there to greet me - Ryan and Rachel - and brought me to this beautiful compound. First impressions of this country include: Recife is not Toronto (to state the obvious). No lines on the road mean that it is every motorist for himself, whether it is bus, car, or motorcycle (oh those handy machines that dart in and out of the traffic!). The compound is a very bumpy dirt road off of a nicely paved one. 

I have met all the children here and think I have their names down-pat, and I'm getting to know the pets as well. A word to the wise: bringing dropjes to a Dutch family brings you many friends. However, a long nap and a quick shower were much needed in order to be able to feel halfway human again. 

view from the front porch.

No sweaters are needed here! My desktop picture is still a photo of the apple orchard covered in snow -- it feels a little out of place at the moment. Good thing the landscape is so photogenic: I'll have plenty of pictures to choose from!

sunset

perching on the precipice

Ah the joys of flight check-ins! Extra early mornings (it's not often I begin my day with a coffee [oh I'm going to miss my parents' espresso machine! {and them too, of course}]), mixed communication of where to go and how things work, an appropriate amount of running around from check-in point to another, worrying about whether or not my bags will go straight through or if that over-sized tupperware container would worth its weight in trouble…

And yet a surprisingly easy trip through the customs. It's all in the anticipation, really. Why worry about one thing when you can worry about seven?

So here I sit, looking at all these people about to go on a nice holiday in the sunny south of the States while I am simply passing through. Apparently there is a direct flight to Brazil this evening -- thank you Google flights for not providing that information. But where is the thrill of the adventure in a single flight? No, it is much more fun to hop, skip, and jump my way down South.

My opa read Psalm 121 with me when I visited him this past Tuesday. (There are so many people I don't see for longer amounts of time while I am in Canada, but as soon as I am about to leave it is imperative to visit as many as I can.) And this is my prayer, for myself and for all others who are travelling, whether it is merely a short trip down the road or halfway around the world:

The Lord will keep you from all harm -- He will watch over your life;  the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore. 

something old, something new

It's the time of new resolutions, the ones made with the best of intentions with every hope that we won't break them this year.

With my upcoming trip to Brazil, it is time to dust off the cover of this old blog and time for my fingers to meet the keys in order to share my new experiences and adventures with you.

it isn't easy being green

Birthday boys deserve the best. Enter a request for a Hobbit cake, introducing research. Et voila: 

I found the idea for this cake on a blog called Shower of Roses, which was a brilliant way of doing the cake. Besides, it looks impressive after all that sugar has been liberally iced all over the cake. Granted, we had to get a little creative with the decorations and the Hobbit Lego characters had to be rescued from a balcony (long story), but the end result was much appreciated. 

[Way to go me, for setting a high standard for future cakes.]

textiles

a gift stitched, hammered, woven:

• the curtains and pictures hung on my wall by my dad when I first moved in to this apartment

microscopic perspective

3 gifts found when bent down:

• a distinctive bootprint found in the snow
• a photograph that has fallen to the floor
• being eye level with a younger sibling

february joy dare

I'm three days behind, but here is a wonderful challenge for the month of February: to find things of joy each and every day.

So.
February 1:

• Pigs - technically, they're pink, but my little brother was so excited to show me the pig cards he has been diligently working on for the past number of days
• Love - generic, but such a blessing!
• Heat - as someone who is frequently cold, the gift of heat is one that I truly appreciate (particularly in the form of a hot water bottle, a hug, or a fireplace)

February 2:

• Books - I love books (if you haven't noticed), and love getting lost in them
• Music - music has been a point of bonding with my father (going to see Les Miserables with him this weekend was one of many highlights) and a gift I don't think I would be able to live without. It fills my day, from eating breakfast in the morning to doing homework through the afternoon and evening
• Pictures from my siblings drawn with love

February 3:

• How appropriate to find gifts in writing on a Sunday, for where else does one find a gift in writing but in the Scriptures? We stand back, amazed at the gift of grace that is demonstrated page after page
• Singing the Psalms - there is such comfort and joy to be found in these words
• Writing itself as an action is a gift - I tend to grow anxious about things and store them up inside of me. Writing serves as a way in which to give up these cares of the day, whether that is through journaling or in finding comfort in the words of others who continually support me

screaming english major fan girls

In preparation for a class in three weeks, I have begun to read Charles Dickens' Little Dorrit. Now, as much as I adore A Tale of Two Cities and swoon at the ending every time and enjoy my soon-to-be-annual reading of A Christmas Carol, Dickens' diction in Little Dorrit is phenomenal, eliciting giggles as the result of ridiculous passages.

Sometimes, I love my homework. What's not to enjoy (besides the pressure of getting it done) about reading 3 books every 2 weeks?

academic procrastination

Some have Facebook, some have Twitter, I have When In Academia.