TNESA, Episode II: Incredible Highs and "Biggest" Disappointments

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Day Uno of ministry in El Salvador is in the books now and what a full day it was.  To start it all off, we rolled out of our beds around 6:30 this morning and put on our Sunday finest to head out to local churches.  They (whoever they is) always say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day.  Therefore, we headed to the local burger chain, Biggest for desayuno before doing anything else.  Now, I had never been to Biggest before and wanted to keep an open mind, but those members of our team that had didn't necessarily enjoy it.  Take note of the strong irony that Milton, a local, despises it.  Once inside, I could see and taste why.  It was easy to compare to our beloved Mister Donut in San Miguel, but the food wasn't up to par with what we were comparing it to.  However, I did partake in my very first pupusas of the trip and they weren't half bad.  :)

Following breakfast, our team split up for the morning.  Half of our team, including myself, went to Pastor Rene's church in Usulutan and the other half went to another local church.  For myself, this was an interesting experience as my role for the morning was to assist Sharilyne, Amanda, and Team Thomas in the running of Sunday School for the youth of the church.  I'm not what you would call great with kids.  In fact, they frighten me at times.  It's probably some combination of the big eyes, small bodies, and inherent cuteness that I find fearsome.  The morning started with a meal that was hosted by the church for the youth that we helped serve.  It consisted of rice and beans, fried plantains, hearty rolls, and hot chocolate.  The kids were happily with a full belly and then joined us for Sunday School while Joe delivered the message to the big people.  We led the kids in some Americano worship songs followed by the normal leaders leading some Spanish tunes.  After a rousing game of Pato, Pato, Ganso (Duck, Duck, Goose for the unenlightened), we sat down to the lesson.  One quick note from the game, I'm sure it's relatively hilarious to see myself and Matt Thomas as two grown men chasing each other the circle with furious intensity.  Sharilyne led a lesson designed to use colors to show off the message of the Gospel and put together an additional craft which I was able to help.  After church was over, the congregation surprised us with a cold Coca-Cola as a thank you.  This was impressive just b/c it showed their appreciation for us in a way that could have been small to us, but was probably a lot of money to them.

Following this, I had one of my most interesting experiences in El Salvador thus far as we were invited onto an El Salvadorian military base.  Not going to lie, It's rather intimidating to see armed guards walking down the streets with assault rifles and ski masks one.  If you say you're not thinking terrorists, you're lying.  Joe, with Walter's help, shared the Gospel with the aide of one of our Mission Balls (a soccer ball with important verses about the Gospel printed in Spanish).  After that, it was time for a little futbol, Team Americano vs. the El Salvadorians.  If you're curious how it went, we got stomped until the El Salvadorians felt sorry for us and gave us three of their guys to even the odds.  LOL.  However, you should have heard the cheers from all around when Randy (aka Felipe, Randall, the Great Randito) scored the lone American goal of the game!  GOOOOOOOAAAAAAALLLLLL!

That evening, we drove to San Miguel to take part in another church service.  It was basically more of the same from earlier.  After the service, we were presented with pupasas, slaw, and Pepsi as a thank you.  Best ones of the trip thus far.  On the way home, we stopped at the San Miguel mall and walked around for a bit and got a dessert.  Once home, we had our team meeting for the night and prepared for bed.  Interesting note for the day, Jason seems to have lost the key.  We're hoping it turns up before we leave.  (ed. note, the key turned up and Jason was absolved of all guilt.  I'll share that in a couple of days.)

The New El Salvador Adventures, Episode I: Fly Like An Eagle

In an attempt to better chronicle my time in El Salvador this time, I decided to journal each and every day about my experiences there.  Hopefully this shall be el beneficio for those amigas y amigos y ninos y ninas that were not present there with me.  There will be a new entry each day this week that chronicles the corresponding day from the previous week.  And thus, it begins!!!

Saturday, April 14, 2012

 Our El Salvadorian adventure began bright and dirty early on Saturday morning.  While it's no 4:00 am or whatever like last time, 8:30 was still a bit early for a flight that didn't leave until 11:10 am.  Only mildly excessive in our eyes (Sorry Joe, LOL.)  I will say that it was nice to spend some extended time together like that prior to our flight leaving.  Once we touched down in Dallas, TX, it was definitely munch time so we all went our separate ways and ate.  I personally joined a group of nueve for an excursion to to Blue Mesa Taco Bar.  After that we headed to our terminal where we were greeted by the pleasing sight of 20+ atomic green t-shirts.  At this moment, we all decided that we owed our leaders a big thank you that we weren't made to sport matching t-shirts while traveling as that does nothing but make you stick out.  Once in the air, we were pleased to find a nice in flight meal (ed note, i.e. eatable) consisting of turkey sandwich, Fritos, and a Twix bar.  Also, free in-flight movie is always good even if the comic highlight of Journey 2 is Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson popping his pecs in dramatic fashion.  Yay for questionable movie greenlighting!

We touched down in El Salvador a little after 6:00, hightailed it off the plane, and right into a lengthy customs line.  I know it's surprising, but we all managed to survive the customs line without succumbing to boredom.  Following the purchase of our visas and our bag pickups, we headed to the last part of our customs experience, the dreaded game of Red light, Green light.  This random procedure decided whether you get flagged for additional screening.  Basically you push a button, green light you're good, red light you're bad and your bag gets checked.  We all survived and headed outside to meet up with our old friends/translators Milton and Walter, as well as a new amigo (probably should use Spanish), Jacob.  Once loaded up, we "hit them mountains" and headed to Usulutan.

Once we headed into town, we stopped at one of the most popular eating establishments in town, Wendy's (Yes, you heard/read that right, Americanos)!  We were psyched to see the other members of our team who had spent the previous week in El Salvador waiting for us there.  After partaking in an awesome Frosty Float with orange soda, we headed to our home away from home, Hotel Campo Real.  Myself and my roomies, Jason, Luke, and Steven, checked into our "luxury" hotel suite.  We then met as a team and discussed our expectations, thoughts, dreams, motivations, etc. for the week together before hitting the proverbial hay for the night.  Big day of ministry starts tomorrow with church in the morning.  That's iglesia for my Spanish speaking friends.  :)

Leaving for El Salvador

As I'm leaving for El Salvador in, oh, 15 minutes, there's no time like the present to chronicle my thoughts and prayers getting ready to leave.

- As the team that's already down there has already been used by God immensely, I pray that He would use us as well to communicate the Gospel and the love of Christ effectively.

- I pray that the girls at the orphanage would just soak up all of the love and attention that they get to receive during this week.

- I pray that our team would communicate well and work together effectively.  Save the high school drama for your mama!

- I pray that we would grow closer as a group on this trip as far as our "White bible study" goes.  LOL.

- Of course, safe travel and transportation from sight to sight.

- That wife would not be lonely here at home and would find opportunites to distract herself easy to come by.

- We would solely put our faith in God while down there and not be afraid of the unknown.

- And of course, that God would be glorified by our time down there; It's not for us, It's all for him.

Phil 4:6-7  Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

#NotAFan

All*Star Fallout

It is now July 11^th and the All*Star Game has left KC so things around the Metro will regain some normalcy now.  However, I thought it important to wrap up my post from last week prior to the game with one post game blog just to comment on some of the events from the week, fan and local reaction to the city, and the rapid emergence of “BillyMania” or “Butler-sanity” or the “Country Breakfast Platter with Bacon.”  (I can go all day here, somebody stop me, please.)

Fanfest officially opened to the public on July 6th continued on through the 10th  However, there were plenty of events at Kauffman Stadium to keep people busy.  On Sunday the 8^th, the Futures Game and Celebrity Softball Game was played out before 40,000 strong at the K.  Also, point of interest, this was the first time that this event had been sold out in any city.  Point of interest #2, As George Brett was the manager of the USA in the Futures Game, he took the opportunity to leave Royals prospect Wil Myers on the field throughout the entire game which further endeared the legend to local fans (as if that’s more possible).  The USA ended up winning the game over the World Team of Futures 17 to 5.   Point of interest #3, in the Celebrity Softball Game, two of Kansas City’s most visible sports figures, embattled Chiefs QB Matt Cassel and KU basketball head coach Bill Self, endured the surprisingly loud booing from the fans in attendance. 

The Annual State Farm (shout out to the Boy's employer) Home Run Derby was held on Monday, July 9, at the “K”.  While normally, the only story out of the Derby is who hit the most home runs and who hit the farthest, this date would mark the appearance of the most unlikely of heroes of this All*Star Week.  As the defending winner of the Home Run Derby, NY Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano received the “honor” of being the captain of the American League Team and therefore was able to choose his fellow participants in this event.  When interviewed in June regarding this team, Cano stated that he would obviously want to pick a local athlete (i.e. Royal) to represent the AL in the Derby.  However, when the time came, Cano chose Prince Fielder, Jose Bautista, and Mark Trumbo.  All were good choices, however not exactly who the crowd was wanting to root for.  That would be the hometown hero, Billy Butler.  As Cano, the defending winner of the Derby last season in Arizona, stepped up to the plate to take pitches from his father, a small plan flew overhead.  The plane, which was chartered by 810 WHB featured KC's new favorite slogan, "Congrats Billy!  You Blew It Cano."  The chorus of boos rained down over Cano only to be stopped by the cheers whenever he fouled off a ball or came up short on a possible home run.  On two occasions, the proceeding were stopped by Yankee teammates of Cano having a short powwow with either Cano or his father.  Cano would finally record his 10th out and was eliminated from the Home Run Derby with 0 home runs.  Ironically, the three players that Cano handpicked would go on to be the final three in the Derby as Bautista and Trumbo participated in a 5 swing playoff for the right to face Fielder in the finals.  Bautista would advance but was clearly worn out going on to hit 7 home runs in the final to Fielder's 12.

Tuesday, July 10th would bring the final crown jewel event of the weekend, the 2012 MLB All*Star Game.  Luke Bryan opened up the proceedings with the National Anthem in front of the 40,000 plus fans in attendance.  The National League representatives got off to a quick start in the 1st inning by putting five runs on the board against Detroit pitcher, Justin Verlander.  This opened up a deficit that the American League could never hope to recover from as they did not put up any runs during the course of the game.  Melky Cabrera of the Giants, a former Royal, put the icing on the proverbial cake with a 2 run homer in the 4th inning to essentially seal the win and the MVP award (along with a nice crystal bat and new Camaro) for his trouble.  Also of note was the continued booing of Robinson Cano as well as the relentless cheering for Billy Butler.

Overall, the All*Star Game was a great experience for our fair midwestern city.  Local fans definitely proved that they will turn out in droves for baseball if they have something to cheer!  The only negative news about this time in Kansas City is the Robinson Cano issue.  While traveling between destinations could be a minor hassle, ultimately Kansas City worked hard to ensure that difficulties were kept to a minimum.  Bud Selig himself called this one of the best All*Star Game experiences that he has ever seen.  Great work Kansas City!

Stars & Strikes: 8th Annual Base Ball

All*Star week got off to an unofficial kickoff on July 5^th with the 8^th Annual Base Ball which was held at the All*Star FanFest at the KC Convention Center.  For those who don’t know, the Base Ball is put on each year here in KC in a joint venture between Major League Baseball, the Royals, and the local Boys & Girls Club as part of MLB’s RBI (Revitalizing Baseball in Inner Cities) program.  In the mission statement directly from BGCA.org, RBI is a Major League Baseball initiative whose mission is to increase urban and inner city youth interest and participation in baseball and softball by re-introducing, reviving, and rebuilding America’s pastime in underserved communities.  This year, with the All*Star Game in town, the venue was appropriately chosen as the host site for this fundraiser.  

I took the opportunity to volunteer for this event and much to my initial dismay, was placed at the registration table.  Little did I know that this was where I probably would have had the most fun considering that I could be my naturally charming/dorky self (Clearly synonyms, right?).  On the front lines, I was able to see first hand the 600 plus human beings rolling into Bartle Hall.  What was interesting to me was to see the diversity of places that people had come from to take part in this event.  People from Las Vegas, Denver, California, Arizona, as well as many locals from the region were among those I checked in.  As this was a fundraiser, each entry ticket was $150 to get in the door to experience the event.  In addition to that, there were great silent auction items such as sports memorabilia from the Chiefs, Sporting KC, and of course the Royals, as well as great vacations and trips that could be bid on.

After my job was finished, I took the opportunity to take in the sights, sounds, smells, and tastes of the Fanfest and enjoyed every minute of it.  Great ballpark style food was provided via buffet tables.  The salty taste of the pretzels and peanuts, the meaty flavor of the hot dogs with choice of toppings, the create your own salad bar, the pulled pork (of course, we are in KC).  Aramark did a great job on the food preparation for the event.  Following the filling of my stomach,  I checked out the rest of the event.  After taking some mean home run swings in the batting cages and honing my fastball in the pitching booth, I decided to take in some of the historical exhibitions.  Baseball truly does have a great lineage as an international game as you can see plainly when looking at a roster for a Major League team.  Also, seeing a visual history of the minorities who have meant something to the game was inspiring  (BTW, everyone who is a baseball fan owes it to themselves to check out the Negro Leagues Museum at 18th and Vine; it's a great museum hosted by wonderful people who truly love the sport).  Following that, I topped off my night at FanFest by stepping into the "Locker Room" and listening to some live music in the "Diamond."  Overall, I would say that this was a great event in Kansas City that brought out some passionate fans for both baseball and charity to start the weekend off right.

All*Star Summer

This is an exciting summer to be a sports fan in Kansas City with the All*Star Game heading to town in just a few short days.  What’s really exciting is that the Royals are flirting with .500 so at least our city maintains a small amount of relevance in eyes of MLB faithful who will be descending upon our fair little Midwestern city.  This is really a great opportunity for Kansas City both from a national and local standpoint.  Not to mention being a potential economic boon for the city.  Seeing as how I’ve never honestly been through a sporting event like this in my lifetime, I thought it might be interesting to chronicle some of my thoughts on this. 

As baseball has no Super Bowl which is awarded to a different city each year, the All*Star Game has taken on that role.  Cities submit proposals years in advance to gain the notoriety that comes with hosting.  Kansas City has previously hosted 2 editions of the Midsummer Classic; one in the old Municipal Stadium and again at what is now known as Kauffman Stadium in 1973 when the ballpark opened.  Both editions were won by the National League. 

After the 2007 season ended, Kauffman began renovations on the stadium to bring it up to par with some of the best in MLB with the intention of hosting the Game again.  The $270 million renovation would be completed in 2009.  The iconic fountains would remain but the large dot-matrix style video board and adjoining Jumbotron was replaced with a top of the line HD screen which at the time was the largest in the world.  It has since been eclipsed by the screen at Cowboys Stadium in Dallas and a HD screen at Charlotte (NC) Motor Speedway.  In addition, new amenities such as Rivals Sports Bar, .390 Bar & Grill, and Sheridan's were opened around the stadium, the Hall Of Fame was expanded from a hallway at the old K to a full interactive building, and the previously vacant outfield has become a true midway experience complete with carousel, video games, mini golf, and the "Little K."

The All*Star Game is truly a national event and people will be here from all over the United States.  The fever has reached a peak all around the city as banners are hanging all over the Plaza and downtown area commemorating the game.  The FanFest is currently going on at Bartle Hall bringing in fans from all over and also bringing great awareness to the Boys and Girls Club of America.  The Power and Light District will be hopping on Monday evening during the Home Run Derby with free concerts by Luke Bryan, Little Big Town and many more.  Oh wait, we can’t forget about the big event of July 10, the All*Star Game.  Between taxi fees, restaurant bills, and hotel rooms to be booked, this may truly be an event that will serve to bring great economic ramifications to the city.  I think those are all of my thoughts save for one last one.  Go Royals and make us proud in the All*Star Game and Home Run Derby Billy Butler!

Jesse Write!

Attention People of Earth,

So after much careful consideration, I have decided to start a blog.  Writing was always something that I greatly enjoyed while growing up and even in college.  That has kind of fallen by the wayside in the past years and wanted to get back to it.  Basically, I just had all of these thoughts and ideas and thoughts and dreams trapped up inside me with no where to go.  So therefore, I decided to gain a positive outlet for it, hence the blog.

I don't expect too many people to check this out for a while but it's still funsies.  There shall be musings from a fabric covered box on occasion.  Perhaps some raging social commentaries.  I may throw out a movie or TV show review at times.  Don't worry, I'll talk about my faith as well.  If this was my blog, I would definitely just make sure I was doing it for my own entertainment...Oh wait, it is my blog!!!

Welcome to the randomness that is my life.  Don't be scared.  LOL.  

Sincerely,

Jesse.