Video Link Up

It's the weekend and you ran out of good tv shows to watch online? Me too. It's okay though. Enjoy these videos instead!


Fast Food Folk Song? The guy at the window is astounding.

Purity/Sex Talk Video Rap. It's real and awesome.

Nature is incredible. Digging the stars especially.

I knew cycling was intense, but wow.

I can't tell if I like this music video or just the dogs. Decision? Both.

Superbowl commercial love = only reason to watch the game.

Bustin' a move.

Love this mash up of TV theme songs.

Tearjerker. Makes me miss my granddad.

I kind of want to see this movie: Goodbye, First Love.

So true.

Jaguar. Jaguar. Jaguar. Children are so funny.

Did you know you can buy Carl & Ellie's house from UP? Watch the video at the end for a tour.

Set free.

Way to go veterans! I love the idea of an eat in for a peaceful protest.

Who knew organizing bookcases could be this cool and this awesome?

Impressed.

Really Cute Nativity Scene

Today was the Journey to Christ Lunch. I've really enjoyed doing that every Monday night. I'm definitely going to miss it. Tonight was also Live Nativity at the church and our youth did wonderful as always. I saw this video last week and still can't get over the cute-ness of these children.

Get Excited!

Y'all may remember something awhile back about Shaun Groves and Compassion International doing something excited for Haiti, well this is it! Get excited!

Compassion is also heading to Kenya this week and one of the bloggers that I follow, Brad Ruggles, will be heading to Kenya with the crew and blogging about it. You should go read his stuff. I'm definitely excited about following the trip to Kenya.

Call+Response

Screen the whole thing tomorrow night at A&M UMC, 7pm.
Hope to see you there!

I Want To Play

Someone asked me what excited me the other night, what I wake up in the mornings and desire to do. I've got a few answers to that question, one of them is simpler than the rest though: I want to play.

It's very rare that I get to build a carboard or blanket fort these days. It's not always "appropriate" for me to wear a Batman costume and pretend my car is the Batmobile. I can't even tell you the last time I got incredibly muddy because it was raining and I thought it would be a good idea to roll around in the backyard.

Children are the ones who get to play. Well, I'm going to get to play soon, even if it will be through the eyes of a little boy named Max on the big screen, I'd like to think of it as an opportunity to place myself inside of the wolf costume he will wear.

If you are unaware of what I am referring to, Spike Jonze and Maurice Sendak have collaborated the childrens' storybook, Where The Wild Things Are into a motion picture film that comes out tomorrow. I'm not sure if I'm going to go see it tomorrow, but I can definitely say I am very excited about it and the glimpse back into childhood that it seems to be.


If this doesn't play, click here to view the trailer.

I've never really studied a popular culture film or book that's come out. I mean, I studied Peter Pan, but that came out in 1918 and 1927 I believe. If those are the correct dates, I'd be rather surprised I remember that from my Fantasy Literature class fall semester freshman year. For some reason though, Where the Wild Things Are has captured my attention in a way that I've been somewhat studying it. I can't tell you how many times I've watched the trailer, or listened to the soundtrack previews, but I can tell you I have yet to attend either of the two Maurice Sendak exhibits at the Rosenbach Museum in Philadelphia. It might be because I'm not in Philadelphia, but I can't 100% deny the fact that I might go if I was in Philly. I have read a few articles on the film, such as a Spike Jonze biography in the New York Times and an article containing 7 reasons to see it by some film critics. Spike Jonze's photography skill and innovations is a driving force in my desire to see this film.

I can't wait to go watch Max play and explore his world.
If only I could go play...

La Chureca is Holy Ground

Nicaragua is going to be told through a series of posts I believe. It's hard to just sit down and know where to begin. I looked through all my photographs of the trip yesterday and have selected a few that I just feel are captivating in a certain way. (The picture of the tire was taken from Leah Wakefield though.)

Driving into the dump was best explained by Patrick Brown as heading into a warzone. I couldn't find a picture of that, although this is just after before heading into the bulk of the dump. In the background, a dump truck is on its way out. This is a world that is just unimaginable to our minds as people line up in the trash waiting for the dump trucks to dump their goods for the people to go through and get out anything they might be able to salvage and sell. This is how they make their living. Think about that.

This is probably alongisde the "road" of the dump. The dump is called La Chureca and was difficult for us to get through because of the stench. It's difficult for me to think that our brothers and sisters live here. I met one lady, who introduced herself as a lady of God instead of her name, whom didn't have any family members and was just so happy to see us although we weren't working on our house. She just loved the fact we were there. She was really sweet.

The people collect all the trash into bags to sell. I believe that's what's going on in this picture. The water in the back is most likely contaminated beyond all reason. I'm not certain whether it's Lake Nicaragua or Lake Managua, but one is contaminated with mercury. This lake with its' location of being in the dump, I fear is far worse off. People drink and bathe in it.

This is just the land or garbage. I'm not sure if you can really separate those words. They've become one. We were looking at photographs on different cameras and in some, they looked beautiful because when they are small, it just looks like a landscape.

Thse are two of three children who were bathing in the yard next to one of the houses we worked in. These kids were precious. The children are standing in the midst of houses.

This is kind of a rooftop view of a group of the houses. During our time out in La Chureca, we put five tarps up on houses. This will enable the families to be able to stay dry at night. The primary reasons children who go to school often miss days are because they are helping their parents wade through trash to get money for food or because they are wet from the last nights' rain and dont' have a change of clothes to attend school in.

This is the front yard of the last site we worked at and these are some of our workers. I believe they are sorting through the two types of nails we had. Meanwhile, I am holding a very unsturdy ladder for two Nicaraguan boys who were helping us lay the tarp on the roof of their house. Aren't those flowers beautiful?

One of the girls at worship one night reminded us of the hope of La Chureca that she'd seen throughout the day by seeing butterflies everywhere. This picture took awhile to get, but hope is there just as this butterfly is.

This little girl is adorable. This was taken at the school in La Chureca during one of our puppet show/coloring times. I'm not really sure what she's gazing at. During this time we also performed a few songs for the kids.

This is the group of children and teachers that were at the school. There is about 350 of them I believe. Unlike most schools, they don't have to have uniforms or supplies to attend school. Oftentimes, costs such as these prevent many students from attending school altogether. They also get a lunch at the school, sometimes the only meal the child will get that day.

Bubbles. Burbujas. I believe this is almost as international as the smile. Someone started this at the school and the kids went wild over it. They loved it. I just love how the joy on their faces was captured in this photograph. They've got a tough life, but they can still find joy.

I had to put this in. Shower time. "Sweet shower time. Scrub! Scrub! Scrub!" These were fun times. You'd be surprised at the deep conversations that take place in the girls' bathroom. Haha.

Yes, that is a squirrel in a cage. Squirrels aren't native to Nicaragua so they are exotic pets and in the zoo. We worked in the afternoons doing VBS and painting at Casa Havilah, a girls' home. The girls' in this home were taken out of their living situations for a variety of reasons. These girls are all from the dump and I can't even begin to explain the horror of what they've lived from. The girls' ages range technically from 3-16, although the 3 year old (Anacelli) was getting lost in the shuffle, so they moved her to Casa Robles, the boys' home that was just started a year and a half ago. While we were there, Maria Elena, got the chance to celebrate her 8th birthday. It was her first birthday to actually celebrate though. It was a really sweet moment and Brian Coats has a video that you should check out by clicking this.

This is Lily. She's from Casa Havilah. The last night wee worked, the girls and boys came over to the Buzbee's complex and we had a puppet show and concert followed by a pool party for them. It was a really sweet time. Lily was exhausted but she loved her pizza.

The last day of the trip, we went to the beach to kind of process the last few days and get ready to come back to the USA. The bus ride was amazing with the scenery that flew by of towns and Ometepe, the volcano island the '06 team went to. At the beach, Don Macune, Shelley Harwell, Jessica Sarpu and I explored the town of San Juan del Sur and investigated what these men caught in their boat that day.

This is Guillermo and Kristen Jones. They are two of our fearless leaders. Guillermo or Sr. G is our fearless bus driver who is so much more than a bus driver. He was amazing.

This is Cathlyn Leonard and Leah saying goodbye to the girls and boys from Casa Havilah and Robles. One of my favorite memories happened a few minutes later as much of our team ran after the bus trying to catch it, just as children always do for us. I can't explain it.

Amidst all the garbage, one of the families planted these flowers. There is hope. There is hope in La Chureca. It is Holy Ground. La Churecha is Holy Ground.