Fire, Fun and Fellowship

Here at CIT we have "Mayors" for the week. That is the adorable couple pictured above. They have 2 children and their youngest was 2 weeks when they arrived here! you can say that I am getting a nice fix! OK...so the mayors responsible for setting up any activity for us, they are in charge of the keys (and there are a lot of them) They are basically on call when all the CIT staff is gone for the night or weekend. We will not had the privilege of being mayors while we are here, our time is too short. They planned a camp fire Sunday night they provided the fixin's for the smore's and they were yummy!!!! (I know the pictures are late, I have been busy!)
Here are some of the pictures from the evening. Notice the we have our Boston Pride while we are still in the south! Enjoy...



Phil took the kids to a bluegrass and clogging event last week. I was at a birthday party for one of the ladies here. I did attend last nights festivities though. It is in a town about half an hour away as most things are here :) They hold it in an old train station. The kids loved it, got some great energy out! and slept great that night! I guess last night was a lot different that the week before. Oh well, what can I say. We will just have to go again next week before we pack up and start heading north! well...here are a few pictures of the events from last week, the pictures were given to us yesterday which is why they are all being put up here tonight! I know you will forgive me for being late and you will still enjoy them right??



Aside from all the wonderful fun we are having with our new friends here we really are doing our school work! Our time is too quickly coming to an end, it is going to be hard to say good bye to so many that we have become so close with! We are spending a wonderful day tomorrow at the town fair here where we are with a family that lives below us! And then the mayors this week have planned a cookout and volley ball tournament! should be a good, fun day!!
thank you all for your prayer through these past few weeks, we are certainly being sustained by them. The crazy school schedule and making sure that we are having great family time as well can be overwhelming at times. Keep it up, we are coming to the end of this time and will begin yet another adventure all too soon! thanks for your love and support!

Look what I found when I googled our name!

I googled our blog site and saw that Mark Sohmer had put this on God Tube. I think he may have told me...but being the summer/fall that we have had I think I forgot!! Well, for those of you who have not seen our presentation video, here it is! Enjoy it!

Ethnography and Ethnocentrism

Did I lose you there? How many of you knew what that was before you stopped and looked those two words up?

Ethnocentrism means Regarding ones own race or cultural group as superior to others.

Ethnography means learning from people finding out what makes them tick, expressing interest in the things that are important to them, and inviting them to teach you to see the world from their point of view. It is focused, yet informal.

This has been the topic of our learning for the past few days! WOW...so much to grasp! We have seen first hand how this whole culture is different just being down here in the south. NH and NC are very different. The culture here is very laid back, slow, polite and in general a "christian" atmosphere. Where NH in very quick paced, uptight, courteous and in general not "christian".

Example, we were on our way to church yesterday morning and we were half and hour early, I didn't finish my coffee before we left the house and I asked if we could stop for coffee...Phil noted that ALL the stores were closed. (which we noticed the week before as well) hmmmm what else? well, we went out to dinner on Friday evening to celebrate 16 years!!! We went to a very nice resteraunt, and I quickly noticed that they did not serve alcohol. We would never find that at home.

Culture is everywhere we look, from the next state to the farthest continent. So, what am I saying with all of this? That we need to be open to the differences that are around us everywhere we go. We were made in the image of God, He created each and every one of us and He loves us all. Why should we treat someone differently just because they do things differently? Does it make it right or wrong? So what if they drive on the opposite side of the road. To them it isn't the wrong side. So what if the men can walk down the street holding hands. In some cultures it is accepted and even looked at as a form of mentorship.

Does this mean that we accept what they are doing when it is wrong? Not at all! But before we can go in and tell them that they are doing something wrong and why it is wrong, we need to understand their culture. We need to be active listeners and watchers of what is happening so that we may be used to our fullest capability!

This is the quote that started our day today:

"Culture is not good
it is not bad
It is just different

and it is definitly not weird!"

that is the thought for today...