Patricia is Outtatown

Notice of Address Change

2007-05-31T14:50:00.000-07:00

I've moved to facebook. You should too.

If I go on another adventure then I'll probably post on here more but while I'm in Victoria it seems funny to me to post on here.

home sweet home

2007-04-30T09:20:00.000-07:00

I'm back here in Victoria as of a week ago (April 20th). So far I've just been recovering from what felt like 6 months of cabin leading. My job was a joy and a challenge and i'm thankful for some time to rest and reflect on the happenings of this past year. I've learned so much about leading people, mentoring, and myself, mostly through my mistakes. It's a tough and painful way to learn, but possibly the quickest and most effective (oh darn). I've learned that when you are leading people your words are so important so pick them carefully and think things through before you speak. I've learned to listen more and ask good questions, while saving advice for when it's requested or absoultely necessary (I tend to be an advice giver just like my mom). I've experienced my weaknesses and my limitations through being at the very very end of myself, many times. That's not a happy place to be . . . it's pretty ugly actually. I think I'm at the beginning of learning how to let God do work in people rather than try to over advice them out of their problems. Mentoring is a delicate dance between standing back and letting God do the work and challenging people to grow. I haven't perfected that dance but I know that it is a very prayerful process. Overall I had a fabulous year amidst community, adventure, service, and learning. I'm finding that I'm missing my students and the friends that I've made in the other site leaders. They have blessed me and have been a big part of this special time in my life. If you're reading this, I love you guys (yes, all 35 of you site twoers). Leave a comment so I know where you're at.

For now I'm just chillin at the casa de mis padres (my parents house). I've rummaged through and wittled down everything that I own so now i finally feel like I've moved in! I've made a couple of trips to the thrift store with garbage bags of useful things for someone else. I've done lots of mending and i have more sewing to do as I bought patterns and material for 2 dresses. One must be prepared for the battery of summer weddings that are swiftly approaching (congrats Meg & Frank and Ruthie & Matt!). I've visited with a few friends Megan, Frank, Marijka, Rachel.....and of course Mr. tspray himself. All I can say is it's good to be off the phone and in person. phewf!

So I'm looking for work. . . but not too soon. I just want odd jobs for the summer and a real grown up job in the fall. I'm looking for a condo with my parents . . . and I'm looking for a roomate (anyone interested in livin' with lil ol me?). I'm looking to connect back up with friends and in many cases am waiting for them to come home from wherever they are. I'm looking for a bible study, the right group of people for this time in my life.

That's all for now cause I gotta do my taxes. Yippie!

Debrief in the Peg

2007-04-18T10:22:00.000-07:00

I'm back in Canada! Right now I'm in the computer lab at Canadian Mennonite University (CMU), the wonderful institution which gives me employment. We have finished grad and the students are gone so now we are debriefing as staff. This includes everything from spending time in the board room talking about how things went logistically, to walking through the park to a coffee shop to chill and chat. I'm going to miss my fellow leaders who I've really grown to love and appreciate.

I'm coming home soon.... in 2 days to be more specific. I'm really looking forward to spending time hanging out with people and reconnecting with my family, friends, and church. To all my friends out there in Victoria, are you still there? I think there's always some uncertainty as to
who is still around and how lives will (or perhaps won't) fit back together. I know that God has been faithful to bring people into my life and I know He will remain faithful.

I can't wait to see you all! (I really have no idea who reads my blog so perhaps there are some people who are reading this who are not from Victoria so I'd like to give a lil' shout out to you. thanks for tuning in wherever you are)

Coming home

2007-04-09T08:41:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone!

I have 2 more days in Guatemala (in a high security facility mind you) and then I´m flying back to Winnipeg for grad and debrief. I´m super tired so if you´re one for praying, please pray that i can make it through and not just that but conclude this whole year well with my fellow staff and students.

I´ll be back in Victoria soon but I know that I´m going to be hibernating for at least an entire week. i´m going to be watching ALOT of movies and sleeping.

sweet

Coban and Travel weeks

2007-03-31T14:46:00.000-07:00

These are photos from the past 2 weeks of my life. We have one week left in Guate and are using it to debrief our whole year together and enjoy the grandious festivities surrounding Semana Santa (Easter week). There will be lots of processions and el fombras.....wait for the pix to understand what those are. This is also my last week to catch up with the fabulous chicas that I mentor. I'm looking forward to some good chats and yummy food. After this we will be returning to Winnipeg for a few days of grad, then staff debrief and then VICTORIA for me! Exciting much? This has been an incredible adventure but I am looking forward to some well needed rest and some "normalness". (these photos are in order from most to least receint)

Becky (a student) and I are having the boat ride of our lives along with the rest of our group. We were getting very wet and sore bum-ish on the ride between Livingston and Porta Barrios. Fun times indeed.

Had the time of my life riding this horse....something Blanco was it's name. I got to go really fast...a gallop perhaps? Evidently i know very little about horses.

Riding in the back of the pickup (cause that's legal in Guate) at speeds that I should not share in case my mom is reading this (hi Mom, I'm being really safe here in Guatemala and I'm taking my vitamins every day :). On our travel week we set up an Amazing Race for the students and we had a tough time staying ahead of them!

The staff team: Patricia, Lina, Lars, and Steve

Site 2 in front of the famous ruins in Tikal, Guatemala. Where's Patty?

My group was doing 3 different service projects in Semesche. Here we are planting forage crops to feed this Mayan family's animals (chickens and rabbits) so that when they eat them they will get more nutrition. These crops also prevent soil errosion and as a result the family doesn't have to spend half a years wage to buy chemical fertilizer. It was really cool to be a part of this project cause this is the stuff that i learned about in my degree....finally there's some practicality! Oh, and we were living in a very traditional community so the girls had to wear skirts....later you'll see my lovely (and by lovely i mean ugly) 50 cent skirt which i will shockingly not be bringing home. boo hoo.

Lina (my co-leader) and I shared a hard wood bed for 3 days. Unfortunately she got bed bugs from the blankets she used. Check out the corn drying! Corn is HUGE in their culture. They eat it every meal in various forms.

Our whole site piled on to this big truck and hung on for dear life down the rough windy road between Semesche and Coban (the major city close to the little village we stayed in).

sitting around the fire with my Mayan host family. no electricity, just candles.

My Mayan host family in the little remote village of Semesche. There's that skirt I was talking about!

The past 2 weeks

2007-03-27T17:07:00.000-07:00

I´m coming back to Vic at the end of Apirl. I´m really looking forward to being back home. I´m missing Tim lots and am getting pretty tired eventhough the things that we´re doing are really really cool. Last week we stayed with Mayan families in very minimal housing, with food being cooked over a fire and very cold and rainy conditions. despite this it was a fantastic experience. we were helping in some development projects and really being cared for by the people in Semesche. the family that Lina and I stayed with was incredible.

This week we´ve gone caving with candles (most amazing experience of my life!), floating down rivers in tubes (and through more caves), lots of cliff and bridge jumping into the water, hanging out in Semuc champy which is a beautiful place to swim and hang out in pools of blue water in the jungle, and hanging out at a cool hipy hostel in the bush. today i went horse back riding and it was so fun. I got to gallop which i have never done before! In the past week we have been doing the amazing race with the students as we´re traveling in the north of guate. The students have raced through tikal (famous Mayan ruins in the north of Guate), and cities further north like Poptun. we´ve had kayaking races, bean and torilla eating contests, crazy cheers and mascotts, photo taking challenges, riddles, and running and swimming races. it´s been pretty cool.

After this week we are heading back to Antigua for a debrief week where all the students and leaders are going to share what this year has ment to them. then we´re returning to Winnipeg for some grad stuff.....staff debrief and then home!

I can´t wait to see all of you amazing Victoria folk. you´re pretty awesome. I´ve get some great photos which i will share later!

PHOTOS!!!!!

2007-02-22T13:35:00.000-08:00

Tina and I having breakfast at the fanciest hotel in Antigua, Casa Santa Domingo. It was a beautiful place!

Somehow I always take out my camera when I'm with Kim. Here we are in Antigua at a roof top cafe called the Sky cafe. You can see the volcano behind us (faintly) and a very typical run down colonial building.

This is the cutest kid in the world. i don't know how she does it. Her name is Elizabeth and we played little games on the work site lots like putting rocks in a basket and pretending it was food. This is an incredible memory for me.

This is my small group and the family that we built a house for with Habitat for Humanity. This was an incredible experience for me. I was so honored to be welcomed into the lives of the people in this family. They are amazing.

This is my JOB! I'm mentoring one of the fabuloso students on our site. Kim and I are in Monterrico and our whole site is staying in beach bungalos. Needless to say I'm living a tough life ;)

Hanging out on the street in Antigua with a lady.

Tina, Lina, and me at the beach in Monterrico.

My co-leader Lars and I had a fancy dinner at Las Palmas

I'm making tortillas in a Mayan village. This was a really cool experience. We learned how to make coffee (right from picking it off the plant to ground coffee).

still in guate

2007-02-18T12:19:00.000-08:00

hey everyone

I was meaning to put photos up today but I am trying a new internet cafe and it really sucks. I spent the last 2 weeks in a little town called Rio Hondo which is a 6 hour bus ride from Antigua. It is in the dessert so it is dry and really hot (41 plus degrees celcius on the hottest days). We were building homes with Habitat for Humanity. It was a challenging experience but ultimately a really good experience. The family that we built for was really in need and really awesome, quiet, and humble. It was an honor to be part of their lives for 2 weeks. Other than working hard in the hot sun and the dust we had a great time swimming in the river and a water fall and playing around at a water park. we were staying in some of the sketchyist accomodations i have ever stayed in. so dirty and smelly with cockroaches. yuck.

it was a cool time to learn about serving God and growing with eachother. it was tough work but i was really proud of the work that my small group did.

I am going to try to post some pictures soon but keep checking the site that i am working on for outtatown (the link is on the right side of this page i think). I put more time into that one cause it is my job.

i have 3 more weeks in Antigua to learn some more spanish and mentor my girls. i am really looking forward to it! ok bye

Still Guate-in it up!

2007-01-31T14:28:00.000-08:00

Hey Friends!

I'm still here is Guatemala. I'm learning a bit of Spanish every day and having lots of adventures. Today I went with my small group to a small village where a group of women have started to cooperative to raise money to send their children to school. They showed us how to make coffee (all the way from the plant to the coffee grinds), how to weave and how to make tortillas. It was definately a cool experiece. I supported them by buying some handy crafts. One of the highlights of that trip was standing up in the back of a pickup truck the whole way there.

Next week we are moving to a hot hot hot and dry area of Guate and we are building Habitat Houses for 2 weeks. should be good!

I've put alot of work into posting pictures on our site's blog so you should check that out.

I'm coming back to Victoria mid April so I'll see lots of you in no time at all. hope all is well :)

http://www.outtatown.com/photos/06site2

God bless.

Off on another adventure!

2007-01-08T18:21:00.000-08:00

Well my friends, I had a lovely and restful Christmas. It was really great to be home for a while and I slept a whole lot (so if you're thinking "why the heck didn't I see her?" it's because I was trying to catch up on sleep and do the holiday season stuff all at once.....and I'll see you in the summer!). Now I'm back in Winnipeg doing a bit of staff prep stuff and I'm off to Guatemala with my students in 3 days. We're going to be there for 3 months and if you're wondering what we're doing then I suggest you watch the new video on the Outtatown website cause it shows what we are going to do better than I can explain it. http://www.outtatown.com/video/

I'm going to try my best at updating the blog but I know I'm going to be putting more work into our site's blog . . . cause that's my JOB! (but don't start hounding me about it cause I'm a very busy lady!) . Here's the student blog that has pictures and stories about our adventures in Guatemala. http://www.outtatown.com/photos/06site2/

I hope that whatever you do, whether it be school, work, or just hangin out, that you're doing better than totally awesome coolness.

2006-12-22T21:42:00.000-08:00

Meghan, Patricia, and Lina tobbaganing in Winnipeg, Dec 06

2006-12-01T12:38:00.000-08:00

where I'm at

2006-12-01T12:10:00.000-08:00

hey everyone. sorry I haven't been posting. this program is really busy and it is hard to find time and internet to make that possible. Right now I'm in Hope BC. We just had a speaker come and talk to us this week about idols in our lives. it was a pretty amazing week for our community. There's tons of snow here. 3 guys made a Quincey and slept outside in it last night. Crazy guys.

On Saturday we are driving back to Canmore Ab for a few days of debrief and SNOWBOARDING at Sunshine Village. Should be fun if I can kick this cold. This semester has been a brutal one for sickness. I started out this year with mono and because of a weak immune system I got sick every month with whatever has been going around. yikes.

After our ski week we'll be driving from Canmore to Winnipeg in one day (maybe 10 hours of driving?)...it's going to be brutal, especially in this snow. then the students are off for christmas break and the leaders have a few days of debrief and then I'm flying home.

My mom has promised that she is going to lock me in my room until I'm rested and free from sickness because after Christmas break we're going to Guatemala for 3 months to finish off this program. If you're not sure what I'm doing then click the Outtatown link. I'm on site 2. check out our blog with photos and stories!

I can't wait to see all of you fine folk when I get back to Vic but you may not see me until after my hiberbnation!

here's proof that i'm still alive!

2006-12-01T11:23:00.000-08:00

This is my small group: the firey ice Ninjas

My small group made crazy designs on t-shirts with spray paint and bleach.

This is my whole site. We made an altar and shared with eachother what God has been doing in our lives.

In Hope BC we got a big dump of snow. This was a beautiful night.

Where have I been?

2006-10-29T13:12:00.000-08:00

Ok OK. I know that it's been so long since I've posted that everyone has stopped reading this thing but I thought I'd try to redeem this blog but putting up new stuff. As of yesterday we arrived in Hope BC. Tim came over to visit so I'm spending some time with him today (yeah!). Tonight I'm back with my 31 fabulous students and 3 co-leaders. Last week we were in Canmore Alberta learning about the Old Testament and the previous week the girls were in Banff and the boys stayed in Canmore for our respective Girl/Guy week.

I LOVE MY JOB. I'm really enjoying this program and I'm especially enjoying 1 on 1 mentoring times. I have the pleasure of spending quality time with 9 girls in this program. I love hearing their stories and the things they're thinking about/struggling with. I've been very blessed by these relationships already.

I'm glad to be back on the west coast! We have a speaker coming to talk to us about the New Testament. Next week we're doing Native ministry and learning alot about First Nation culture. The week after we are doing another Urban Plunge but this time it's in the downtown eastside of Vancouver. So that's the news.

I miss Victoria a little. Mostly the fabulous friends I've made and having my own bed and closet, but I'm so glad I'm out on this adventure. I getting excited about going with this group to Guatemala! I taught the group salsa dancing last week and they were really good!

All the best!

*Patricia

The past 2 weeks in 60 seconds

2006-10-10T20:08:00.000-07:00

I've been having an amazing time. I LOVE MY JOB. I'm really enjoying getting to know the students and we are starting formal mentoring sessions this week which I'm very much looking forward to.

The past 2 weeks, our site of 31 students and 4 staff has been at Camp Arnes (1.5hrs North of Winnipeg). We had 2 speakers share with us for a week each and 2 service days. The speakers have been awesome and it's been a real pleasure reading the students' journals to hear what they are learning. If you want more details about what this program that I'm apart of is all about, click the "Outtatown website" link on the sidebar. If you want to hear students stories and see the best of the pictures we've been taking then click the "Site 2 blog" cause I'm on the media committee so lots of my favorite pictures go up on the site 2 blog (no use repeating a post)

Tim came to Winnipeg to visit for Thanksgiving and we had an incredible weekend. After an early morning (5:30am wakeup) and a long day of driving through sunshine and snow (I'm not joking) site 2 is in Saskatchewan. Tomorrow we are arriving in Canmore Alberta for a couple days of "knowing yourself" activities lead by the site leaders. Then the girls are off to Banff for girls week!

Hope everyone is just peachy and still enjoying turkey sandwiches (yeah leftovers!)

Canoe trip at Pioneer camp...brrrrrr

2006-10-10T20:00:00.000-07:00

The best pictures from the canoe trip are posted on the Site 2 Blog (see the side bar for the link). Check it out!

Urban Plunge in Winnipeg

2006-09-22T15:17:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone who has left me little comments. I appreciate that you're thinking of me and reading about my adventures. I haven't figured out how to respond to you from my blog...maybe I have to do it the old fashion way...email.

The start of the program has been incredible. I'm enjoying my new job very much. Our canoe trip at Pioneer camp was bitterly cold, rain every day but the first and temperatures dropping down too low for what we were prepared for! Dispite all this, the students' attitudes were incredible! They were singing, playing games, huddling around the fire and having a great time. I really felt the grace of God on this trip because I was really tired (because I have mono) and a freezing cold canoe trip is really not the place for someone with mono, but I felt that the community was bonding together so well that I was able to duck out and take a nap when I needed to. Debrief times were great when we got back. I'm super impressed with how awesome these students are. It's going to be a good year!

Now we're in Winnipeg doing an Urban Plunge (serving and learning about urban poverty and what this means for our faith). I'm still tired lots eventhough I'm getting lots of sleep so I would really appreciate the prayer for my health and the health of the group (we have a number of other students who are sick right now). On sunday we're off to camp Arnes for service and our first 2 speakers. should be fun. I hope everyone is settling into the new semester (for those in school) and just having a good time (for those in the workin' world).

The students are coming!

2006-09-12T16:17:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow the students are arriving in Winnipeg and after a bit of stuff here at CMU (Canadian Mennonite University) we are heading out to Manitoba Pioneer Camp! We will be going out on a 3 day canoe trip in a landscape that holds many memories for me (for those of you who don't know, I worked there for 6 years). On another note, I found out that I have the mono virus. I was really sick 2 weeks ago when I first arrived but got significantly better in 4 days. Now I'm not 100% but I'm doing well. Really I'm not feeling that sick or strangely tired but for those of you that pray, I would really appreciate your prayer on this one since I'm embarking on a pretty intense 3 month adventure.

thanks!

prarie sunsets, grandparents, and friends from camp

2006-09-12T15:53:00.000-07:00

Can I say that I live in Winnipeg now?

2006-09-08T14:37:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone

So far I've been in Winnipeg for 2+ weeks doing staff training for the Outtatown program. We've been talking about mentoring, going through all the details of the program, hearing each others life stories, and having alot of fun (ie. Go Carting, 4-wheeling, lots of meals out, games and movies). For the first 5 days I was really sick with tonsilitis... caused by some unknown virus. Thankfully, I miraculously healed quite quickly and only missed 2.5 days of training (thanks for praying everyone who knew about this). I just got my class 4 licence today so I'm ready to drive the 15 passenger vans! The students are coming on Wednesday and I'm really looking forward to meeting them and going on our canoe trip at Manitoba Pioneer Camp (the one I've worked at for 6 years and love so much).

That's what's up so far. :)

*Patricia

Is my second attempt my first success?

2006-09-08T14:18:00.000-07:00

This is my second blog page. the first one I made I couldn't find it for the life of me. I hope this one works or else I might just have to give up and never use technology again.