Headin' Back To Saskatoon...or Brighton

Hey all, just letting you know that I'm heading back to my parents' place in Brighton in about an hour. So if you need to get a hold me you'll have to do it there. If you need the number you can email me.

My parents have dial up internet too, so I'm not sure how many posts there will be.

I'm getting pretty excited with only a week left till we leave. More and more details are coming together, and they seem to reveal more. I'm sure I'll spend the first hour of the flight reviewing things I forgot to bring. Oh Laura!

I think almost what is more exciting than the traveling is having the whole team together again. We have a habit of laughing a lot. So I'm looking forward to more memories than I'll be able to handle.

Feelin' It

People have been asking me if I'm getting stoked for the trip. Stoked I am, ready I am not.

Mark is back from tree planting! It is so nice to have our leader in the same area code. With Mark's return comes the release of small details that make anal retentives like me happy.

So let me see...some details that I can pass on to you...

This is from an email from Mark, which I'm guessing he pasted from an email he got or that was passed on to him:

Greetings from Raxaul. We are looking forward to the Canadian team arriving in Raxaul on Saturday the 17th July. Sunday 18th will be a rest day & an opportunity to meet folk, attend church, discuss the VBS program and generally relax and settle in. 19-20th July- Preparing for VBS and it can start 21st July and continue for 10 days. .... In addition I have arranged that someone from the team will speak at the English
service on Sunday 25/7/04 and Sunday 1/8/04 ( a 20 minute message suitable for Adults & children). As well as this I will arrange for each of the team members to have a tour of the hospital, go out to a village with the Community Teams to see the kind of work we are doing & to get an idea of village life.

At this point I'm trying to get the small details nailed down for this adventure. It seems that all of my cards expire in August while I'm gone. I also need to get my plate renewal stickers and my drivers license renewed and an e-test for my car. All of that stuff just kinda snuck up on me.

Truthfully there isn't THAT much to do. I think I'm just thrown off by my altered work schedule. One of the other managers at work is on vacation so I'm working mostly closing shifts. Through the week we close at 3am, and then we have to clean. So, lets just say I don't have a lot of motivation to get out of bed during daylight hours.

The End.

Not Helping

I would like to state that the unseasonable coldness that Ontario is experiencing is not helping to prepare our team for the crazy-go-nuts heat that we will encounter in India.

Itinerary

This is the exact email I got from Simon...

So. as the official team treasurer, I got our budget...with dates of where we will be and when!!! WOOOOOOOOOTT WOOOOOT! So, feel free to post these on your blogs, to mass e-mail them to people who might be praying for you, whatever you want to do. Perhaps people knowing where we will be will give them more focus for their prayers as they know when we will be travelling and such. Without further ado...OUR ITINERARY (based on the dates given...i think it might be subject to change, i dunno).

July 7: departure for India
July 9-11: Delhi
July 12-13: Haridwar (with day trip to Rishikesh on the 13th)
July 14-15: Delhi (Agra Fort and Taj Mahal on the 15th)
July 16: departure for Raxaul
July 17-August 5: Raxaul
August 5: leave from Raxaul
August 7-10: Delhi (tour of Delhi on the 9th)
August 10: spread the joy back home!!!!

Left Hand

Howdy all,
Its a rainy day in Hamilton, so what better time to update the blog? No doubt my landscaping and sod laying buddies will read it today as they have an unexpected day off.

We're sort of getting down to crunch time. I'm finding that I almost have more things to do for my life surrounding the trip, than for the trip itself. ie getting my car tuned up, doctor's appointments, seeing people etc. And this nasty thing called work gets in the way of it all. ha ha.

I got asked about the name of this blog. Don't Use Your Left Hand...its a reference to..well, uh, you wipe yourself with your left hand, so you don't use it, or rather its very disrespectful to use it for much else.

Vell I need to be in communication with other team members about various small details.

Come back soon!

Comment System

I've received some questions about how to use the comment system. I am hereby going to try and make it a little more clear.

Where is says comment - click there and another window will open which will allow you to post a comment for all (and me!) to see.

Email Response From Alaina

I sent Alaina the same email that I sent the rest of you. This is how she responded:

"Wouldn't it just be easier to keep me abreast of the details of your trip to India by just telling me, while we are in India?"

This was followed by a LOT of laughing by me!

Another team member

Introducing....Sandy Newbigin



Sandy is a toddler sized, stuffed puppet made from recycled denim. My Mom constructed her (and many others), but poor Sandy was the only one left. So, she is immigrating to India! I'm sure she will fit in!

The Team

I thought I'd let you get to know the rest of the team a little better....

(left to right)

Dylon Nofziger: Dylon grew up in north of Lethbridge, Alberta. He had no electricity or running water. I don't know if they have running water now, but he said that he parents have solar power. He has at least two siblings. He spent part of his highschool years in Oregon, which is where both of his parents are from. Dylon LOVES learning. He is seriously one of the most focused people I have ever met. I'm pretty sure he is a Religion major. He was an RA (residence assistant/advisor) this past school year and will be one this coming year. On the team Dylon is both the medical man and the luggage watcher.

Brian Raidt: Yes Brian is a few years older than the rest of us, but he is still very much a kid at heart. Brian studies art and is darn good at it. He spent eight months in the Philippines on a missions trip and brings a lot of that experience with him to this trip. He is from Goderich, the home of radar. He is a very generous and caring guy. He is also the king of editing and can often be found with someone else's paper and a red pen in hand. On the team Brian is the VBS co-ordinator.

Alaina Frankruyter: Alaina is pretty. We have been told that we will be best friends by the end of this trip by virtue of being the only females on the trip. I think Alaina is studying English at Redeemer. If not, than she should be. She is also quite gifted in the area of Theatre Arts, which could be why she is the teams Drama Co-ordinator. She grew up in Brampton, which she calls India jr, and has endured a lot of ribbing from her neighbours about paying so much to go to India when half of its population lives in her neighbourhood.

Mark Sinke: This man is our fearless leader. And I really mean that he is fearless. He has such a strong trust in God. This could be why he is tree planting in Thunder Bay until one week before the trip, going on the trip, and then leaving us in Hong Kong, where he'll fly on to Japan because he's teaching English there for at least a year. Mark did go to India last year with a group of Redeemer students. They traveled to a different area, but we have been thankful for Mark's experience in the country. He just graduated from Redeemer in May and is from St. Catherines.

Laura Stewart: that's me. I am going into the second semester of my second year at Redeemer. I am a Religion and Theology major and I am minoring in Theatre Arts and Missions. I am a lactose intolerant dairy farmer's daughter with one brother, John. I am from Brighton, which if you travel on the 401 is near the big apple. I am a manager at the Pita Pit in Hamilton. After highschool I spent 5 weeks in Ghana, West Africa on a missions trip with Youth For Christ. I am the teams music co-ordinator.

Simon LeSieur: Simon is coming back for a return engagement at Redeemer. Meaning he's sort of coming back for a fifth year. He'll be picking up some cool extra credits and R.A'ing along with Alaina and Dylon (almost makes me wish I was a first year again). Simon lives with his Mom in London, ON. His Dad lives in Quebec (I think in Montreal). Along with Dylon and Alaina, Simon has been to Amsterdam (and Mississippi?) with Redeemer. He was the Church In the Box treasurer this past year. Simon is also our team treasurer. I think he may weigh the least on the team, so we hope he doesn't blow away with the money.

One Month

So in one month and 25 minutes we'll be wheels up out of Pearson and on our way!

Easier

Howdy,

In anticipation of the trip to India that I am a part of I thought I would start this blog.

Hotmail isn't too fond of uber mass emails, so the hope is that when I can get internet access I will update this blog. Then you can come and read the update and be..updated!

I will try and post at least once a week before we go, just so you can be up to speed on our last minute preparations.