Author: Chad
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Rockin’ Guat 2009: Episode 12
PEELING, PAINTING, AND PACKING Hello again! Day 46 of the trip. We’ve been in Guatemala City for the last week hanging out with Jeanette and Juan Carlos and enjoying the much cooler temperatures. Some good news: the sunburn on my back has finally gone away! There was some major peeling going on, but thanks to…
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Rockin’ Guat 2009: Episode 11
SUNBURN, SWELTERING HEAT, AND SURF Hello hello! Sorry for the space between posts. We’ve been in Chiquimulilla for the last two weeks with no Internet connection, but now we’re back in Guatemala City with Jeanette and JuanCarlos and have lots to share! Denis and Alvira, our friends in Chiquimulilla, essentially became our Guatemalan aunt and…
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Rockin’ Guat 2009: Episode 10.5
So yesterday Elise and I got the chance to visit As Green As It Gets, an independent Guatemala cooperative that works with local farmers to produce all kinds of products, coffee being it’s primary bread and butter. We talked with Franklin, the founder (who is originally from Wisconsin), and he gave us a tour of…
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Rockin’ Guat 2009: Episode 10
SUBJUNCTIVE, SANTO DOMINGO, AND SPANGLISH So we’ve been in Antigua now for about two weeks. Today we walked over to Santo Domingo, a super super nice hotel and villa. We just walked right in and explored the ridiculously beautiful scenery. There were hanging gardens and fountains at every corner and tropical birds nesting. We wondered…
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Rockin’ Guat 2009: Episode 9
HIKING, HOT SPOTS, AND HARDCORE PATRIOTISM Hey all, we’ve been in Antigua for the week helping Hector and wandering the town. We connected with Gerber, mom’s friend down here whom I will hopefully be accompanying to the jungle in northern Guatemala sometime during this trip. Yesterday we visited a school where Gerber’s sister is the…
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Rockin’ Guat 2009: Episode 8.5
TIME, TUK TUKS, AND TACO BELL Since the last post was getting kind of long, I didn’t get a chance to add some other things we’ve discovered while living in Guatemala. First, the concept of time. Very different from that in the States. Americans are very gogogo–on the clock and always moving. But life in…
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Rockin’ Guat 2009: Episode 8
ROJO, RUINS, AND REHAB Hello, readers, thanks for stopping by. We’ve had quite the eventful weekend. But first, some belated pictures from last week’s excursion to Chiquimullia with Denis and Alvira. Elise and I helped them with their presentation while mom and Jeanette talked to the village midwives. In more recent news, we went to…
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Rockin’ Guat 2009: Episode 7
DRAMAS, DISEASE, AND (TERRENTIAL) DOWNPOUR Hey readers, sorry for the lack of updating. I have caught some form of sickness and was too weary. I’m still sick with some diarrhea and aching, but hopefully it will pass. We have had a pretty cool last few days. We’ve been working with a middle school/high school group…
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Rockin’ Guat 2009: Episode 6
CUTE KIDS, CLOTHES, AND CANCIONES Hola, readers! We’ve had a pretty cool last few days. Yesterday we had lunch with Juan Carlos’ family after church. His brother, Alejandro, is the lead singer of the Guatemalan Christian band Vertical. Apparently they’re the Guatemalan equivalent of the Newsboys or something like that. We ate Domino’s pizza and…
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Rockin’ Guat 2009: Episode 5
SUSHI, SHOPPING, AND SURPRISES Today we visited a local indoor market in the city. It was full of trinkets and clothes and fresh food and lots of people. Since it was indoors all the vendors are packed in like sardines, so claustrophobes may have a tough time. Still, it’s an adventure in itself to walk…
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Rockin’ Guat 2009: Episode 4
NICKNAMES, NOT UNDERSTANDING, AND REALLY NOT UNDERSTANDING Yesterday was day 2 in Guatemala City. We’ve mostly just stayed in our host family’s home preparing for last night’s event. Juan Carlos and Jeanette hosted an all-night praise and prayer session with about 10 of their neighbors and friends. Jeanette prepared a humble feast of authentic Guatemalan…
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Rockin’ Guat 2009: Episode 3
PAN DULCE, (UN)PACKING, AND PELICULAS Estamos en Guatemala! But it took a long time to get here. We had to wake up at 3:30am for a 6am flight. Luckily we had a friend in Chicago who was willing to drive us to O’Hare at that time. Our whole reason for the early flight time was…
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Rockin’ Guat 2009: Episode 2
TARGET RUNS, TIGHT FITS, AND TOOTHPASTE Our bus to O’Hare leaves tomorrow from the Memorial Union at 11:30am, so tonight was Pack Night. I’ve got my trusty small blue backpack for a carry-on as well as my Eagle Creek Hovercraft 22, which is really a suitcase but is small enough to be a carry-on —…
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Rockin’ Guat 2009: Episode 1
TWEETY BIRD, TYPHOID, AND ‘TE ALABARE’ I’m going to Guatemala this summer with my sister Elise and my mom. My mom has been down there already for weeks now, having led a group of nursing students from Edgewood College on a mission trip to Guatemalan clinics and hospitals. Elise went down to the Guat in…
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You Should See ‘Up’ Right Now
Yeah, it’s good. Great, even. It’ll be another hit for Pixar, and deservedly so. I thought making a movie about a rat in a kitchen would be a tough sell, but alas, they made Ratatouille. Then came a largely dialogue-less movie about a robot stuck on a trash-riddled Earth in the future. Wall-E was the…
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Rumsfeld’s Biblified Briefings
Last week, GQ magazine reported that the top secret intelligence briefings that were sent to President Bush by the Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld during the run-up to the Iraq War in 2003 were often adorned with inspirational Bible verses and images meant to influence the president, who is a self-described Christian and often liked…
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Twilight Bites: How Dazzling Vampires Distort Masculinity
Published in the North Central Chronicle on April 24, 2009. Let’s pretend I’m a teenage girl and that you’re my best friend. I’ve just told you about this guy I started dating. He’s perfect in every way, I say. He stares at me while I sleep, he alienates me from my friends and, among other…