Tia and Kevin's Amazing Race 2013: the first pitstops

When we set out for San Juan yesterday, we were looking forward to having a get-away and getting back to tasting Latin American culture.  Once landed, we discovered a few other treasures and adventures, and immediately, this became our version of the "Amazing Race."

Being that Kevin is no longer able to walk long distances, we do take wheelchair transportation through airports. When we arrived at the Luis Muños Marin Airport in San Juan, we realized that this had greater benefit than just physical aid.  A young man with a wheelchair started out with, "English or Spanish?" And we eagerly went with "We need to practice Spanish please," and thus our escort began a whisking through the airport with such a welcoming spirit. He helped us through a myriad of walkways, hallways, and elevators, right to our luggage area. He helped get the baggage off the carousel, and took us all the way to the Enterprise van, speaking with the driver so that the van was most accessible. And all the while, we practiced Spanish. Yes, we tipped the young man, but our appreciation went well beyond the material value.

Puerto Rico reminds us a lot of Costa Rica, except that the buildings are taller and many seem newer. The Enterprise shuttle took us to the company and after signing off on a little red Suzuki Vitari, Tia gets to drive out into the city -- oh, wee.  In most of our travels and adventures, Kevin has been driver, Tia the navigator. However, no vehicles fit Kevin's prosthethic leg needs because of those consoles put between the two front seats.  Trucks are good, but that is not an option here. So Tia gets to drive.  That certainly elevated the trip to the "Amazing Race" status for me.

So I got out on those "Island of Enchantment" highways and followed the voice of the GPS as she tried to pronounce Spanish names in English pronunciation.  Suddenly "calle" ("street," pronounced kai-yeah) became "call." So it went. We aimed for the army base, Fort Buchanan, where we intend to stay at Caney Lodge the first few days. Many of you know how it is to drive around areas unknown to you, following directions and dodging city traffic as you get on and off exits that you didn't even know were there. Needless to say (but I will have to admit it here), I did miss a turn here or there, but eventually the GPS and the Suzuki led us to the gate we were headed for.

As another "many of you" know, getting to the gate of an army base does not guarantee access.  Bases have dozens of gates sometimes, and in this case, we arrived at a working gate, but its hours of operation did not match up with our arrival.  A sign indicated that when the gate was closed, entrants were to pass to the gate at PR28.  Which, of course, meant nothing to us.

Correction. I did recognize it as a route, but where was this route and on which direction do we go when we find it. You get the picture.  Again, very "Amazing Race."

So as soon as we could, we stopped a gentleman at a restaurant called "Fiesta" and asked directions. Oh, yes, he was glad to help us. He knew just what we were looking for. "English or Spanish?"  "Spanish."  So he began to direct us.  At first, no problem; we could follow everything he said. But by the time I got to his fifth or sixth turn and road description, I knew there was no way we could remember all these directions. He continued on, and then asked if we understood.  "Oh, sí, sí, sí." Understanding was not the problem.  Remembering would be the problem.  His last comment:  "If you do it wrong, you'll end up back here again."  Major foreshadowing.  

So we left him, started following the directions, saw a Denny's and decided to have lunch.

We enjoyed lunch, but decided to call the Caney Lodge and get directions from someone there.  I had to borrow a pen (can you believe I didn't pack a pen--even in my personal bag!?), and we were on the phone for probably 20 minutes getting directions--in English--from someone who knew where we were at (or so she thought). We scribbled the directions down on a napkin, and using those directions, two different GPSs, and reading signs (that are not continuous in their direction), we wandered around the area for another hour or so.  The directions given were just not working.  Finally, we stopped at a Dunkin Donuts (just for coffee, bathroom, and directions), and another young man was called over to help us.  "English or Spanish," he asked.  "English this time," I replied.

WIth this young man's directions, we discovered that our original napkin directions were not quite complete, but now we were at least on the correct path. We were no longer passing the Fiesta. We still had another "detour," but on the return from that last missed turn, we finally saw a sign for Route 28!

Exhausted and excited, we were happy to see some of the landmarks (the federal prison, for instance) that the first gentleman had indicated.

Once on base, all the napkin directions worked just fine, and we arrived at the day's final pit stop: "El Caney Lodge." ("Caney" is the indigenous tribal word for the house of a chief).  Once settled, we explored the base some and then ate barbecue on an outside patio. Nice breezes, birds singing, a bit of humidity, but not too bad.

Tia and Kevin's Amazing Race 2013

“Los exploradores.” – Missing the cultures and language that we grew to love over the years lived in South and Central America, Kevin and I decided to explore the one spot in the US that still holds strong its Latin legacy and lore—and even nationality.  Puerto Rico has been a territory of the United States since 1898, and advocates for statehood constantly confront those loyal to maintaining commonwealth status in order to guard culture and history.  

As for the Reillys, we desire to visit and explore this spot in the world because it is a taste of our old home within the fronteras of our new home.  In actuality, when we decided to take this vacation some months ago, we began our exploration with a tour book. Through the Midwest evenings of late winter through spring, we have read of the history, language, fauna, culture, food, and places.  

This morning, we boarded a Airtrans jet (business class!) and flew to Baltimore, and now on Southwest (not in business class) we’re headed four hours south to San Juan, Puerto Rico.  And for all those who always thought that when we lived in Costa Rica we were living on an island, this time we are going to an island.  Puerto Rico is part of the Antilles, between Hispaniola (Dominican Republic/Haiti) and the Virgin Islands.

Goals for this trip:  see palm trees, listen to the ocean, check out the army base and VA medical center, PRACTICE SPANISH, visit a local church . . . . 

And when we arrived in San Juan (our first "pit stop" in this Amazing Race), the Spanish flowing full and free from voices all around me almost made me tear up.

Tomorrow I will tell you why this trip is now called our "Amazing Race."

Another Library Missions Trip -- New opportunity in leadership!

¡Qué emoción!  How exciting—our first foreign library ministry opportunity.  Well, yes, the other library trips have certainly been in foreign countries, cultures, and languages, but this year’s library project branches our ministry into our first Spanish-speaking seminary library.

To date, retired Cedarville University professor Dr. Beverly Monroe has taken over twenty trips to English-speaking, Bible-teaching seminaries and schools around the world to assist in cleaning, organizing, and cataloging online campus libraries.  I have had the privilege to work on three of those projects with her and her colleagues—first in Costa Rica, where we worked at Sojourn Academy (elementary and high school), and then two trips to Santiago Christian Academy in Chile.

This new chance to minister to evangelical seminary professors and students is the first time our team has ventured into a second-language library.  As the team-leader this time, my responsibilities include putting together a team and budget, investigating the library’s inventory and needs ahead of time, arranging room and board, transport, budget, and project supply preparation. 

I am excited to see how the Lord is leading this project.  Already since starting communications with the library, I have seen the following blessings:

• The seminary business manager is someone with whom I worked closely during our ministry years in the country
• The team has come together almost automatically from the very beginning: two long-time, fellow-Spanish-speaking friends have been wanting to help with the library ministry
• I was able to chaperone a high school missions trip to this same area and had the opportunity to see the library and its needs first-hand
• …which meant that two of us were able to meet with the administration and already have set processes in motion so that the project this summer will be further along and ready for us to get more deeply into the project.
• The seminary has offered to provide food and housing for us so that we can concentrate on transportation (flight, etc.) and material costs. 

With the goal of updating and providing better student and professor access to materials, the teams bring along and render days and weeks of work to help these schools and seminaries better operate for God’s glory and in His kingdom. 

We also have opportunities to visit churches, encourage missionaries and students who attend the school.  All of the team, too, looks forward to using abilities in both library services and in the Spanish language.   

A right-of-passage:  Galen's first Young's Run!  September 18, 2011.

March 12, 2011

We have been busy—but good busy. Kevin has a good job with the DAV (Disabled American Veterans) at the Dayton Veteran’s Association Medical Center. As a service officer, he helps fellow veterans complete and follow up on paper work for claims and such. He really does a good job at it.

I have been teaching at Xenia Christian High School. Last year I taught Spanish at the Xenia Nazarene Christian school in Spanish, but I needed a fulltime job, and Nazarene did not have anything to offer. So now I work at a nearby, larger Christian school working with kids who need tutoring and intervention services. I would never have picked it out myself, but the Lord knew what I needed and He got me the spot via a friend who I’ve worked with in master’s courses at Cedarville University these past few summers. It’s a good fit and I’m learning loads.

Sean is in Afghanistan, while Christina and baby are in Clarksville, TN, at Fort Campbell. Just after Sean was deployed, Christina found a good church that she likes—a Christian Missionary and Alliance church. Plus she has joined a group of women who exercise together, and that helps her along. Please pray for her. I’m sure it’ll be a long year for her.

Katy attends a local college. She’s in her second year and just got a letter stating that she is the top scholar in her class. She will have an award ceremony –along with other honorees—in April. She studies secondary education and literature.

Colleen is a senior and Tara is a junior—both at the school where I teach. Next year will be the last year that my kids tag along to work with me. Man, I’ll miss that. I better enjoy every minute of these last two years. Colleen looks forward to being done, and she’ll probably go on to study teaching like Katy. Tara’s not sure what she’ll do yet, but she’s a good student, and I am sure she will do well in college.

Colleen just began a relationship with a young man in our church. His name is Ben, and we’ll see how this goes.

Both the “little” girls did cheerleading over the winter, and now life has slowed down as that is over. Now Colleen has to focus on getting a job and getting into college. Tara needs to focus on getting her driver’s license and maybe getting a summer job.

At church, Kevin and I are on the missions committee (can’t imagine why they asked us J), and I sing in the choir. I also play the piano for two singing groups at school. I had asked the Lord to find me a place to use the piano playing again, and about a week later, the choir director at school asked if I would help. I love it.

This summer I will take another missions trip to Chile to help work on organizing a Christian school library. The group of library ladies with whom I’ve worked were supposed to go to Cameroon, Africa, to do something similar, but that trip fell through. I prefer going to Spanish-speaking places anyway.