It doesn't look like mom and I are going to be traveling much this summer with my dad.  Because of that, we are reflecting on the past year of travel and the things we've learned.

- Because Latin America is predominantly Catholic, we have had the opportunity to visit many Catholic churches.
- We learned that Catholic churches are built in the shape of a cross and are much more elaborately decorated than churches we're used to seeing.

- Because my mom drug me to a grocery store in every city we visited, we learned that Coke is universal, as is rice, bread and pasta.
- My dad loooooves tortilla soup and would order it at every restaurant we went to in Mexico.  He even had a rating scale for the different places.  I enjoyed ordering spaghetti, and of course my mom ordered nachos every chance she got.
- I enjoyed drawing on napkins on the plane flights.  Some napkins even had Sudoku puzzles on them, which my mom loved!  She also liked doing the Sudokus in the airline magazines.
-I learned how much I loved big cities, especially Mexico City, Madrid, and Istanbul.  My parents didn't like them as much as I did, probably because they were envisioning trying to drive in those crazy conditions.
-We visited about 15 museums, everything from stamps (the picture I'm looking at is made entirely of postage stamps) to Alaskan wildlife to ancient sarcophagus to intricate wood carvings.

-The different currencies we used on our trips were: pesos, dollars, euros, lira, and nuevo sol.
- We have done school everywhere from on the hotel beds to the Bible Society offices to tables to libraries.
-We spent approximately 65 hours in buses and combis (mini buses).  We haven't figured out how many hours we spent on airplanes, but we did have over 40 flights.
- We learned that some airline personnel are very friendly (like this Alaska Airlines employee who volunteered to take my parents' picture), and others weren't so friendly.

-We have gone through airport security more than 30 times.  Sometimes we had to take our shoes off; other times we didn't.  I got searched once even though my parents didn't!  I almost got in trouble once for having my school scissors in my carry-on.  And my mom got yogurt and my contact solution taken away on different occasions.
- With all of our traveling, we never missed a flight, but we did have to run through the Houston Airport once.  We never lost any luggage, but somehow my mom lost her computer cables, my dad lost his nice headphones, and I almost lost my iPod.  I left it in the seat pocket, but thankfully that plane was still at the gate and my dad could run over and get it before our next flight left.
- After going back to Oaxaca in May, we realized how much we miss Mexico!
Thanks for being our faithful readers!  We've really enjoyed writing about our adventures.  Rachel

Highlights of Oaxaca

Last week, we had the privilege of going back to Oaxaca. We had been there in January when Brian worked with the Mixe translation team. This time, it was the annual meeting of the Bible Societies of the America Region. We got to stay in a hotel very close to the downtown. That was fun and convenient because we could walk to different places after we finished our school work. These are a few of the things that we did:
- went to the Zapotec ruins Monte Alban. It was a very different visit from when we went in January. That time it was just Rachel and myself, and it was a cool and rainy day. This time Brian went along and it was hot and sunny (as you can tell in the picture above!)
- visited the Cathedral, Santo Domingo Church, Zocalo, and a former convent turned into a museum
- shopped at the Benito Juarez indoor market for souvenirs like leather goods, bags, and food
- saw a demonstration of beautiful black pottery being made by Don Vicente (see picture) who has been working on this craft for 60 years.
- enjoyed the Cinco de Mayo festivities happening throughout the week including speakers and singing groups.
- ate at several different restaurants serving traditional dishes like tlayuda (Oaxacan pizza), tasajo (beef), and salsa de chapulin (grasshopper salsa).
- celebrated the 60th birthday of one of the Bible Society Consultants, complete with a mariachi band
- Rachel got her daily fix of frozen coffee to offset the 95 degree daily temperatures (sometimes even drink two at a time)!
Brian enjoyed the meetings during the week. He was in charge of several hours of Paratext training, and he felt that it went well. He also gave a report on Paratext deployment in the Americas this year. It was exciting to report on all of the places we had gone the past 10 months to help get this software to the various translation teams.
We don't have a lot of travel planned for the coming months. Brian will be going to Panama in June for 10 days, but Rachel and I won't be accompanying him. It's a relief to be "home" again, but a bit sad to think of our year of travel coming to an end. Thanks for coming along with us on this journey! Donna and Rachel

Bethel!

My dad, mom and I were very excited to be back in Alaska again.  We spent two weeks in Bethel and a couple of days in Anchorage.  Last Sunday in Anchorage, we wanted to take one of the day or half-day cruises to see wildlife and glaciers.  But none of them had started yet, so we rented a car so that we could drive around and sight-see.  Even though it was cloudy, windy and rainy, we got to see many beautiful views of the mountains. During the whole ride, we saw four moose, two bald eagles, and a mountain goat in the wild.
The three of us went to an outdoor wildlife center where they rescue hurt animals and those in danger of extinction.  It was a very convenient place to visit. You could stay in your car the whole time to view the animals, or you could go out and walk around. It was very exciting to be a couple feet away from moose, bison, and bears. We also got to see a bald eagle. It was sad to watch it because it only had one wing, so when it tried to fly, it fell down. :(

We also went to an aquatic sea life center in Seward (about two and a half hours away from Anchorage). They had sea lions, puffins, fish, octopus, seals, and a lot more.  The museum had interesting facts on different kinds of salmon, the Bering Strait, changes in fishing, sea anemones, and a ton more. One of the male sea lions on exhibit was gigantic! It was about 8 feet long, and it weighed around 1200 pounds.

Now here are some facts about Bethel and Alaska in general.
- Right now the daylight increases five and a half minutes everyday in Bethel until the summer solstice when the sun never sets.
- It's also interesting, because the sun there rises in the northeast and sets in the southeast.
- Because there are so many small airplanes in Alaska, many of the roads are used as runways. 
- In places in Anchorage, an earthquake made the ground sink down. Since the ground was lowered, salt water from the sea came up, and killed all the trees. But the interesting part is that instead of knocking the trees over, the salt from the water preserved the trees dead.  Now many different types of birds nest in those trees.
- We learned that "hello" in the Yupik language is "cama-i" and "what's up" is "waqaa."

Back in Bethel

Yes, we're back in Bethel, Alaska. We flew here from Anchorage on Wednesday afternoon. We had a new experience while we were boarding the plane for that flight. Just as we were standing in line to board, the airline personnel told us to have a seat because there was an emergency situation. They called several passengers up to the podium to give them new seat assignments. Brian saw an ambulance go to the plane along with several TSAs. We eventually found out that someone was being transported from Anchorage to Bethel on a stretcher, and that isn't a quick or easy task! There was no jet bridge for this plane, so all of the passengers needed to go outside and climb the steps into the back of the plane. This obviously wouldn't be possible for someone on a stretcher. In addition to that, many commercial planes in Alaska have passengers in the back half of the plane and cargo in the front. So the cargo needed to be unloaded, the individual on the stretcher was taken into the plane through the cargo area, then the cargo was reloaded. Three rows of seats were "flattened" to allow the stretcher the lie flat. All in all, the process took about 40 minutes, and we were soon on our way.
When we got to Bethel, Peter, one of the pastors of the Moravian Church, was there to pick us up. He had told us ahead of time that we would be staying in a house that his family is moving into in May. But we didn't really know what to expect. When we got there, we were pleasantly surprised to find a fully furnished house with a full kitchen, family room, and two bedrooms for us to use. The one thing the house doesn't have is internet access, so we're making good use of the public library's free wireless internet!
The work with the translators seems to be going well. Even though Brian just worked with them six months ago and has gotten some updates of their progress, it's always a bit of a mystery to know exactly what work they've done. There are always surprises (both good and bad), but all in all he feels they should be able to meet their deadline of finishing the project this year. Bob Bascom is here as well this week, and it's been fun catching up with him and getting together for meals.
Speaking of food, we've been buying quite a few groceries and cooking at the house to avoid having to go out to eat all of the time. I know I wrote about this last time, but it always amazes me how expensive food is here! I'm just not used to paying $7 for a box of cereal, $2 for a pound of bananas, $8 for a gallon of milk, or $7 for a small bag of chips. We pretty much just buy whatever is on sale and eat that! But that's better than going to a restaurant and paying $12 for a hamburger!
The weather has been cold and windy everyday with some snow. Good thing we were prepared and brought along mittens, boots, stocking caps, and winter coats. I know no one in the Midwest feels sorry for us having to deal with blizzard warnings right now after we avoided most of their awful winter! Despite the cold, the days are incredibly long already with over 14 hours of daylight. It seems so strange to have the sun still shining at 10:00 p.m. I can't imagine being here those months when the sun never sets.
Well, the library is about to close, so I better close as well. We're looking forward to attending the Moravian Church tomorrow morning (see picture), relaxing in the afternoon, and then preparing for a full week with the Yupik. Please be in prayer for Mary Jane, one of the translators who was admitted to the hospital here in Bethel yesterday with possible pneumonia. We constantly see how the devil does not want this work to be accomplished! Thanks for your support of Bible translation! Donna

On the Road Again

After being home for a little over two months, Brian, Rachel and I are traveling together again! Since we came back from Mexico on February 2, Brian has gone to Guyana and Paraguay in recent weeks. He was supposed to go to Pakistan this past Thursday, but he didn't receive his visa on time. He was disappointed that he wasn't able to help with the translation workshop taking place in Lahore. But there's a possibility he may travel to Pakistan at a later date for a follow-up to the training they're receiving this week.
Since that trip was postponed for now, we were able to go to Alaska earlier than expected. So yesterday (Tuesday) we woke up at 3:20 a.m., drove to the Omaha airport, and after a connection in Minneapolis, made the 6-hour flight to Anchorage. We checked into our hotel, then headed over to The Sourdough Mining Co. This restaurant housed in an actual gold mine is a popular Anchorage destination. We shared a delicious meal of salmon and halibut, did some browsing in the gift shop (and Rachel made some friends, as you can see in the picture below), and made our way back to the hotel. By 10:00 we were ready for bed - after being awake for nearly 22 hours!
This morning we woke up to over 3 inches of snow on the ground and snow still falling. Our flight to Bethel is at noon, and Brian will start working with the Yupik team tomorrow. It will be interesting to see how much progress they've made since our last visit in September, and also exciting to think that they plan on finishing their translation this year.
By the way, Brian has been in contact with two of the computer consultants in Pakistan that did get their visas. It sounds like the training is going well despite the change in plans. It was reassuring to see how God put other people in the position to assist the Pakistan translators.
Thanks for your prayers as we spend the next two weeks in Bethel and as we prepare for other trips this spring and summer. Donna

Back in Sioux Center

    Living in Sioux Center again has been quite different than the past few months when we were gone.  The weather is very cold here compared to Mexico.  A lot of the snow has melted now, but huge piles of snow covered the ground when we got back in February.  No more going for long walks in the afternoon to Spanish tutoring, restaurants, or the grocery store.
It's also a big change that we can speak English to people in restaurants, stores, and church.  It's a relief to just hear English and understand it instead of hearing Spanish and always having to mentally translate.  We miss the market places in Mexico and being able to buy the handmade items such as bracelets, necklaces, and belts.  We also miss the tortillerias where we could get fresh tortillas everyday, and being able to buy homemade tamales every Saturday night.

For the five months we were traveling with my dad, we did not have a car.  So we got very used to traveling by buses, taxis, and combis (mini buses).  The picture is of me waiting in a combi to go back to San Cristobal.  Most of the buses we rode were very comfortable with movies, snacks, restrooms, and three or four reclining seats in a row.  The bus rides we took varied from one hour in length to six hours.  That gave us lots of chances to watch Spanish movies!  Now we drive our car to get to different places, and we don't have to depend on public transportation.
While we were gone, I mostly just talked with my mom and dad and a few other missionaries.  But now since we've been back, I've been able to spend time with people my age again.  It's been fun hanging out with them at our house or at church or school activities. 

Even though we're back in Sioux Center, my mom is still home-schooling me.  Sometimes when we were traveling, we didn't have a desk to study at, so we studied on the bed, like the picture of us in Oaxaca.  Now we have a big table in my bedroom where we study.  Homeschooling is fun and everything we do is related to school. :) My mom and I are reading The Little House books together; we are on The Little Town on the Prairie  right now.  One reason I'm not attending the local school is that for some of the classes, we're using different textbooks than they are.  So it would be hard to transition into the books they're using.  And for the books that are the same, we're at a different place than they are.  Another reason is that we plan to travel again soon, and this way we don't miss any schoolwork.
I got started with my school's band, since homeschoolers can go too.  Last week we had a band concert that I got to participate in.  I am also taking piano lessons again while we're here.  That way I don't lose a whole year of practicing.
So all in all, it's been great to be home, even though we loved the traveling.  We look forward to going back to Alaska next month as well as Mexico in May.    Rachel

Left Behind

That's a little how Rachel and I felt this week - left behind. Brian actually went on a trip without us! Even though that has been the norm for the past 14 years, it seems strange not to accompany him after traveling together for the past six months.
He is spending the week in Georgetown, Guyana. Many people are not familiar with this country. It's in South America and borders Venezuela, Suriname and Brazil.
The official language of Guyana is English, having been a British colony until 1966. It's very unusual for Brian to work with translation teams in English. On previous trips to Guyana, he has actually started training in Spanish, and then quickly realized the translators didn't understand what he was saying!
Brian is working with two different New Testament translation projects in the languages of Wapishana and Patamuna. There are approximately 10,000 speakers of Wapishana and 5,000 speakers of Patamuna. Both projects will be completed by 2011. It's always exciting to see projects coming so close to completion.
After Guyana, he will be home for one week and then he's off to Paraguay - again without us! This time he will be traveling with our home church's pastor, Rev. Mark Heijerman. Brian is very excited to show Pastor Mark first-hand the work of translation and his role in that exciting ministry.
If he gets his visa approved, in April Brian will be spending almost two weeks in Lahore, Pakistan, assisting with a translation workshop. He began work on the visa in February, but was told it could take 3-4 months. So please pray that the process goes more quickly than that, and he is able to participate in this very worthwhile training event.
As always, thanks so much for your continued interest in and support of our ministry! Donna