my journey contines

that liquid that so many people line up at tim hortons for… or for non-Canadians, Starbucks… although yea that’s EVERYWHERE in Canada too. i never understood why people drank it. it’s bitter. you get stinky coffee-breath. lol… it stains ur teeth (and clothes).

well let me tell you that grad school brought everything into perspective. lol… or at least brought coffee into my life. it’s true… i STILL think it’s bitter. i STILL don’t particularly like it. but i had my first cup of coffee here. and have had several since. they do a great job at keeping me awake when i need to work haha (note: i am writing this at 2:30am). mind you i add this GREAT flavoured cream and more than a little sugar. haha… but it does its job.

maybe i can have coffee make a graceful exit from my routine when school ends on thursday. lol…

right.

it’s almost over! it’s been great. i think my mind is reeling a little bit from information overload. buttttttt now i just have a few things left to do.
- research paper for final submittion
- project proposal
- project proposal presentation
- cultural orientation research paper for final submittion

as of thursday (that’s the goal), i’m officially done the first semester of grad school!!

… yes homework, for you the reader.

your task should you chose to accept it is to give me some suggestions of organizations that i can look into for possible field placements. i am interested in both Latin America and South East Asia, but open to other possibilities as well. my field placement involves a minimum time period of 3 months but since I really am open to wherever God might lead I am open to a longer commitment.

in terms of what is needed… my internship requires I find a placement where the organization can provide:
1. Room and living stipend (though this will not always be possible.)
2. Be responsible for on-ground supervision and guidance for the field experience.
3. Part-time use of a computer and Internet access.
4. A one page written job description citing the expectations of the organization and what the intern will be doing. The job description should include the intern supervisor’s name, title and contact information.

any information, contacts, or suggestions you might have are welcomed! flood my inbox (most of you have my email) or leave a comment.

thanks for reading!
shannon

i don’t know what it’s been like back home in Toronto, but we have just had the most amazingly beautiful weekend here! it couldn’t really be much better - perfect temperature, blue skies, sun shining, etc.

friday i worked and then came home to enjoy a fun lil’ BBQ in the backyard with a lot of people from our floor. that was nice, relaxing, mingle mingle type. then afterwards a few of us went to Beth’s place a little ways from here for a bonfire. it was so beautiful to just look up and see the stars! there were lots of trees and it was like a little escape to the country. then saturday was another gorgeous day so i went for a walk for a couple hours and enjoyed the weather, came back and watched a movie with some friends and then relaxed last evening. today i went to church and afterwards sat out on the fire escape-slash-balcony (haha). then i went down to the river w/ Rebecca and we walked around some more.

anyways random ramblings of what all my weekend entailed. i just needed a break.

now back to reality… homework time.

thanks for reading

So I’ve decided that I am going to come home on the break, May 8th-15th. It will be so nice to be home. A big motivator asides seeing my parents & bro (which are coming here to see me the first couple days of break, then I’ll drive back with them) is to see my grandparents.

Then I’ll be starting back to school for the 2nd semester May 16th. Press on.. haha

I’ve also been seriously looking and praying about where to go for my field placement. So far there are a couple of positions I’m really interested in… just waiting for call backs and to get more information etc. Please keep this in your prayers as August is coming quickly!

Thanks for reading. Btw, I’m at 17 countries now… haha
Shannon

P.S. For many of you that know I went to Honduras last year in January, please check our Manianga’s blog by clicking here. Manianga Samuel was a fellow-student of mine that I met at Tyndale and he was part of Tyndale’s Micro-Enterprise Development class with Jannalee Anderson this past January. He keeps a blog and has a section where you can check out the pictures from this year! The doctors to which we gave the donated medicines last year now have their clinic established and you can see that in some of the pictures. God is good! (Thanks for sharing this with me Manianga!)

“It’s always darkest before the dawn…”

I was reminded this by my good friend Jacob today. He’s an amazing man that I’ve met here since I’m moved to Philly… really wise and we often sit around and listen to his stories. He has many and has experienced so much.

Even during all this stress, there’s never a dull moment around here… You should see there’s lists all over the place! “To do” lists… including walk outside 3x, drink coffee, laugh, etc. those are fun ones. but then the other to do list lingers…

However, just when things get dull…. you look up the ingredients of red bull. (eww)… Mary baked us some delicious brownies!! (yum!), Dawn had a line up for back massages… Janell spilled water on her laptop and now, at 12:42am, they are taking it apart and blow drying it. (it will work janell!!!)

Anyways, the night is still young as we press on, keep on keepin’ on… presentation tomorrow and lots of other fun things.

I love my cohort, even in these stressful times. Shadows and all… haha.

what do you do when you get stressed? i think my body likes to sleep. lol. and i really do think there’s a fine line between working well under pressure and crumbling beneath it.

the next couple of weeks - due:
- program evaluation of “born into brothels” (Monday)
- presentation on “The Mystery of Capital: Why capitalism triumphs in the west and fails everywhere else” (Tuesday)
- 5 pg paper on economic policies (Tuesday - can be submitted next week)
- evaluation for group project - Community Disaster Preparedness (Wednesday)
- 15-30 single-spaced research paper - cross-cultural orientation/training (Thursday)
- critical review (next Monday)
- draft of research methods paper (cultural orientation) - (next Monday)
- presentation of research project - (April 28th)

coffee. sleep. and some good, hard, work. i love grad school - but this isn’t my favourite part. ahhh… haha

You’re HOW old?! I would’ve put the “I’m too sexy” picture up where Noel and Brandon were dancing but unforunately I don’t have digital copies of those pictures…

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today is my good friend noel’s 25th birthday. noel - how does it feel to be a quarter of a century? you’ve witnessed a lot, my friend, as the world has changed

You know you were born in the 80s if…
- You ever ended your sentence with “psych”
- You can sing the rap to “the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”
- Three words: M.C. Hammer
-You remember when it was actually worth getting up early on a Saturday to watch cartoons
- You saw the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on the big screen
-You played the game “Mash” with friends at school
- L.A. GEAR
-You know the profound meaning of “Wax on, Wax off”
- You wanted to be a Goonie
- You ever wore fluorescent, neon if you will, clothing
- You can remember what Michael Jackson looked like before his nose fell off
- You took Lunch pales to school
- You have ever pondered why Smurfette was the ONLY female smurf
- You remember the craze, and then banning of slap bracelets
- You still get the urge to use “NOT” at the end of every statement you make
- You remember Punky Brewster
- You thought Sheera and He-Man should hook up
- You thought your childhood friends would never leave because you exchanged “friendship bracelets”
- After you saw Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure you couldn’t stop saying “I know you are but what am I?”
- You remember “I’ve fallen…and I can’t get up!”
- You remember going to the skating rink before there were inline skates
- You ever got seriously injured on a slip and slide
- You know not to mix poprocks and soda
- You have played with a ’skip-it’
- You had or went to a birthday party at McDonald’s
- If you’ve ever wanted to go to Degrassi High
- You ever sat on or used one knee on a skateboard
- You learned oldies songs by watching Alvin and the Chipmunks
- You had a Glow Worm or watched the cartoons
- You remember dancing along with the Bangles in “Walk Like An Egyptian”
- If you remember Heath Cliff the orange cat
- You saw the California Raisins Christmas claymation special
- You’ve gone through this list occasionally saying “That wasn’t from the 80’s”
- You remember Popples
- DON’T WORRY, BE HAPPY!!!!!!!!!!!!
- You wore socks over tights with high-top Reeboks (okay so maybe not this one… lol)
- You wore like 8 pairs of socks at once, scrunched down (OR this one…)
- MISS MARY MACK MACK MACK ALL DRESSED IN BLACK BLACK BLACK….. (? perhaps ahaha)
- You remember boom boxes instead of CD players
- You remember watching both “Gremlins” movies
- You remember the gimp fad
- You remember the Transformers
- You knew what it meant to say: “Care bear stare!!” and you had a favorite
- You remember Rainbow Bright and MY Little Pony
- You remember watching TV thinking doogie howser was cool!
- You remember Alf, the little furry brown alien from Malmac
- You remember the large amounts of hairspray people used
- You remember the beginning of New Kids on the Block
- You remember watching The Cosby show
- You remember Mr.Belvadier
- You remember Michael J. Fox in Family Ties and Back to the Future

I met Noel when I was 15 at youth group. He was SUPER friendly and wearing this bright red sweatshirt. Since that “Hey there! What’s you’re name! Welcome!!!” we kinda hit it off and Noel’s been a great friend and source of encouragement to me. Noel thanks for all the laughs, encouragement and conversations. I really do appreciate your friendship and wish you all the best as you pursue your next steps and continue to strive for God’s will in your life. I’m still open to that microfinance certification in New Hampshire - i’ll see if i can twist your arm in June 2008.

Noel’s tall or I’m short. One of the two…

Friends for life

Prayer taken from “Ruthless Trust” by Brennan Manning

Abba, I surrender my will and my life to you today, without reservation and with humble confidence, for you are my loving Father. Set me free from self-conciousness, from anxiety about tomorrow, and from the tyranny of the approval and disapproval of others, that I may find joy and delight simply and solely in pleasing you. May my inner freedom be a compelling sign of your presence, your peace, your power, and your love. Let your plan for my life and the lives of all your children gracefully unfold one day at a time. I love you with all my heart, and I place all my confidence in you, for you are my Abba.

today is my dad’s birthday. he just turned __. (hehe) happy birthday dad!!

it’s the first time i haven’t been with my family for one of their birthdays. although i’ve had a productive day, so far… been in the library for a couple hours this morning researching cross-cultural orientation and training methods.