Toto, We Aren’t in Central America Anymore

After spending 3 months in Central America with Team Homeward Bound, I expected a bit of culture shock with a new continent and a new team. There have been many times where this adjustment seems easy and natural. However, there are those moments when the realization crashes into me like a dump truck with no brakes. Below are some of those moments, and the moments of my fellow C-Squaders, when we woke up and realized… “This is Bulgaria.”

When on the bus, you aren’t touching 12 other people at a time.

You don’t automatically start sweating as soon as you get out of the shower, wake up, breathe, etc…

When you say “Gracias”, “Si”, or “Quanto es?” to the sales clerk, they look at you like you’re insane.

Your learning of the alphabet involves you asking questions like, “What sound does the rocket ship say?”, “Is that a blocky pi or a swoopy pi?”, or “So B is V, and upside down V is what?”

You eat cucumbers, tomatoes, and cheese everyday instead of beans and rice. Gelato has replaced ice cream, and the new street food is a slice of pizza as big as your head. ¿Dónde están las tortillas?

You log onto your blog and the faces on the left side of the screen are different.

You call your grandma in the middle of the afternoon and wake her up because it is 5 am her time.

You walk constantly through a crowd of other people’s smoke, because it is just what people do here.

Oh, you like to wear bright colors and bold patterns? Not here you don’t.

Remember all that PDA in Central America? You don’t have to deal with it here.
Just kidding. That’s still the same.

You recognize and miss the smell of Dermetics lotion.

The shower works. All the time. And has water pressure. And heat.

There’s a washer, a dryer, AND a dishwasher. A DISHWASHER.

You have a month long sleepover with your co-ed team in the living room of a 7th floor apartment.

Driving is not a life or death situation.

You sit in the bathroom frantically searching for the trash can when it hits you that the toilet paper goes IN the toilet. What is this life?

Cold. Snow. No.

Your. Team. Has. Boys.

All joking aside, ministry looks different in Europe. I was incredibly excited about Europe, because I had no idea what I was signing up for. This month, we are living with a pastor’s family and working with International Baptist Church of Sofia. This church serves people and refugees from multiple countries across multiple continents. Though the things we do are different than previous months, we serve the same people. We serve God’s children, especially those who are lost and abandoned by men. We serve people who are at the end of their own strength and remind them that there is still hope, that God is their strength and their anchor.

I miss Central America and all of its craziness every single day. I miss my Honduran pulperia family and my Alejandro, the beautiful colors of Guatemala, and my YWAM family and the village kids in El Salvador. I continuously look up expecting to see one of my HoBos, and instead see a sea of “new” faces. But God is doing something amazing here in Europe and something amazing with this team. I can’t put my finger on it quite yet, but I am excited for the possibilities.

And finally, I would like to introduce the Doots. This hodge-podge of 5 previous teams has very naturally become my family. Nothing is forced, nothing is pressured, we simply are. So everyone, meet Deep Roots. Read their blogs, support them, and love them. You won’t regret it.