Friday, December 28, 2007

Little Parts of Ourselves

We leave parts of ourselves behind. I've been feeling this intensely since leaving Holden, which now seems a bit like another world. Right now, in the embrace and care of family, with a totally new set of surroundings, it's been difficult to feel connected to either where I've just come from, or where I'm yet to go.

That's why I need Jenna in my life. Jenna my dear office mate, who got to endure my moods (good and bad) over the last year ... we did lots of laughing together, and she helped me quite a bit with a particular problem: my rather disgusting habit of accumulating coffee cups around my desk. Jenna emailed the other day with news from Holden Village, including the following:

"I've passed through the craft cave a few times since you left and
everytime i left i would think of you because there was a to-go coffee
cup right by the door. then i started to think... hmm... that looks
familiar... is that matt perry's frikkin mug? matt perry. i feel like
your forgotten mugs will be with us for years to come. a surprising
gift indeed."

We leave little parts of ourselves behind, it is true. I just wish Jenna didn't have to clean them up. Here's my girl with the offending receptacle:



-MP

Matt L's Canadian Initiation

Last night, Matt L took another step in his "Canadianization" by attending an NHL game with Matt P's family, who are all rabid Vancouver Canucks fans. It was fun ... lots of hits, goals and yelling. Testosterone. What fun.

Good 'ol Canadian fun:

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Leaving Holden

Our final exit from Holden the other day was an ultimate reminder of just how far removed from the rest of the world Holden is. Already, less than 24 hours after getting off the boat for the last time, our Holden is experience feels like a dream; surreal, and I wonder how I will integrate the experience into the totality of my life. Holden is a place apart, and we were smacked with just how far apart it is almost immediately after the boat.
Between the Village and the Field’s Point dock, the only departure from “normal” was that, after the drumming and loading and waving and hugging and crying that accompany most long-term goodbyes, we had to switch buses because the brakes in the original bus didn’t work. Having brakes is always helpful, especially for navigating the notorious Holden switchbacks, and on this day, with the snow pummeling the Village and all of Lake Chelan, the delay was understandably appreciated. Nancy RB still got us to the A-frame well before the boat’s arrival.
We made it to the dock with 2 full large suitcases, a large stuffed duffle-bag, one packed box, and a half-filled carry-on suitcase. Not bad for 2 people after 18 months. I packed up our bags in one of the Field’s Point carts while Matt P. went to get the car. After loading up the car, Matt took off to meet me by the office. But the front-wheel drive Saturn couldn’t make it up the road. The engine overheated and died about halfway up the road. When I arrived, there was Matt yelling obscenities at his now stuck car amidst the smoke and strong smell of burning rubber. We shoveled and pushed, but couldn’t get the car out. Finally, Jacci pulled up, gave us a jump, and Matt guided the car back down the road, ready to start further back.
But, to gives us the best shot, we decided to put chains on the tires. After this relatively brief fiasco, Matt gunned the car and amazingly made it up the hill. I felt hope we would finally get on the road. But, what was Matt doing? He cut the engine. Why? As I approached the car I realized the chains we had just put around the L front tire were now only on the lower half of the tire. The other half or the chain was wrapped around the wheel axel.

- ML

(Matt P continues) … yes it was true, I was pretty upset because of our car fiasco. There were a couple of reasons for this: one, I was feeling very overwhelmed after our departure and its attendant emotions … two I was really really ready to get over the mountains, and this whole thing delayed us by a couple of hours. Three, I really want t sell that car and not have to worry about it anymore. This seemed like a step in the wrong direction. In any case, I cut the chain loose (with a pair of garden wire clippers, thanks to Jacci) and we finally got going. After replacing our destroyed chains in the Wenatchee WalMart, we made it over Stevens Pass, through less than Ideal conditions.

Thanks be to God we are safe and sound on the west side now, among family, tired and dazed, but grateful.

I’m thinking constantly of my Holden friends and family, spread far and wide. Peace be with all of you … I hope you had a wonderful Christmas there. We miss you.

Tonight our family here in Vancouver is taking us out to eat Sushi. Life is good.

-MP

Sunday, December 16, 2007

Welcome

Greetings,

This is the first post of the blog we intend to keep (as much as possible) during our journey out of our current home at Holden Village to South America and back. Matt and i have lived here at Holden for almost 18 months. We have grown to love so many in this place, and so many that are now gone. It has been a place of great gifts. We also know that it is time to go, so in less than a week we will climb into the big yellow bus that brought us up that costly road and allow it to take us back down.

Everything has a beginning and an ending, and that is how it should be. At Holden, everything is just compressed. People come and go so much more quickly than in most places, so the sense of transition is always in the air.

Earlier this snowy evening, our friend Rachel showed us a whole lot of photos she'd taken on her own, earlier trip down to Bolivia. We are in for a real experience ... so many amazing places, so many different landscapes and ecosystems in one country. The overall feeling is one of excited expectation, mixed with a little bit of fear as well -- Bolivia is undergoing some turbulent times, which have brought with them the possibility that the country might split apart. And there is also the matter of the extreme poverty of the place. This is -- at least in part -- why we are choosing to go there. Rachel told us stories of wild landscapes, crazy mountain-to-jungle treks, puzzling encounters with locals, warm welcomes and frightening political protests. It is into this swirling environment that we have chosen to step.

And if you feel like it, you can read all about it here.

-MP

** By the way, we will be implementing a sort of short-hand signing mechanism. If it's me (Matt Perry) posting, I'll initial my posts "MP". Liechty can do whatever he decides (ML?) ... see you on down the road, after our week of goodbyes here in our mountain home.

**Nice Holden photo credit: Daniel Sullivan. Sorry Daniel, for stealing your photos all the time.