Are We Really in Tucson?

When we say we are in Tucson, Arizona that is not being very specific. Tucson is big! Specifically, we are in an unincorporated area known as Catalina. If you look on a map follow highway 77, also known as Oracle Road, north past Oro Valley. The Center where we work is in this area and my cousin’s house is about 5 or 6 miles from the Center. If you want to see where we live on Google Maps, put in 37850 S. Escocia Lane, Tucson, AZ. The house is actually on the corner. See the RV parked in the driveway on the north side? That’s not ours. Jim has other people visit with their RVs and apparently the Google camera was overhead at that time. Just pretend it’s us. See me waving?

There we are all set up and settled in - top photo.

The bottom photo is taken from the road we drive in on. Our RV is off in the distance just to the right of the road. It's not as far as it looks.

To see the Center put in 16131 N. Vernon Drive, Tucson, AZ. The Center has a large study building with about 20 or 25 small rooms that were used by the translator and Mexican national as they worked through the process of making a written language and then translating the New Testament into that language. This was/is a long, arduous task. On Google maps this is the U-shaped building on the south. The U-shaped building on the north is the Administration building with a chapel on the right. I am in a room at the top of the U. The smaller building between these two houses various other offices including the volunteer office. Joyce does her stamp thing in this building. The other buildings to the left are for auto repair, construction, rug weaving, a boutique, and other things.

This lovely young lady is standing is front of part of the study building. Our break room is to left out of the picture. This is an important room with it's coffee and cookies!

Administration building in the background.

Joyce heading toward the building she works in.

This area which we all call “The Center” was originally built as a place for a translator to work with people from the village of the particular language the translator was working on. This was because the Mexican government kicked all religious foreigners out of the country (back in the 70s or 80s). So this Mexican branch center was built. Instead of us going to them, they came to us. The government has since changed and now translators live with the people they are serving.

Just to be technical we do not work for (nor volunteer for) Wycliffe Bible Translators. A couple years ago the IRS stirred their fingers into the mix and made all this volunteering a problem. For instance, in certain situations a person would have declare value for volunteer work received. And other complicated things. To navigate through that quagmire a new non-profit organization was created. So we are now working for Volunteers for Bible Translation (VBT). On the surface nothing has changed but the IRS in now happy. Well, are they ever really happy?

I hope this helps you understand a little better where we are. Enjoy the pictures. Blessings.

Hard At Work

We are settled in and hard at work. Well, “hard” is probably an overstatement. In fact, “work” is probably at overstatement also. It’s important you understand the definition of “working” here in volunteer land. Our daily schedule goes like this: Up at 7:00 (yikes, that’s early for a retired guy), get ready for the day and drive to the Wycliffe Center (about 6 miles away). Chapel is at 8:00. This consists of a hymn, announcements, maybe a very short devotional, prayer requests and prayer and a presentation by someone about Bible translation or whatever. It’s usually quite interesting. This morning a fellow explained about Bible translation for deaf people – yes, they really need that. He explained there are about 240 different sign languages in the world.

Ok, now it’s time to go to work – about 9:00. We work until 10:30, take a 30-minute break (coffee and cookies), work until noon, eat lunch, go back to work at 1:00, take another break at 2:30, and quit for the day at 4:00. Tough, huh? Sometimes we shorten the break time and lunch time. And sometimes we knock off for the day at noon or at the afternoon break – like today. We needed to shop at Basha’s Grocery. So while we are grinding away at the treadmill for these hard five hours, what do we do? Excellent question.

Joyce is busy in the stamp room. Right now she is pricing a pile of German stamps. Someone wants to buy them so, of course, the question is, how much? There are books that list the standard prices for all stamps. So she goes through this book, finds the correct stamp and writes downs the price. There are pictures and various numbers to help her. Most are worth less than a dollar but she found a $14 one today. Who decides the value? Who knows! Some stamp-god in the sky and he publishes a book, I guess.

Meanwhile I am installed in front of a computer in a different building. Maybe I better start the story at the beginning. The heart languages of the many indigenous people groups in Mexico have been put into a written language and the Bible has been translated into that language. Think American Indian tribes with all the languages represented. Mexico is kind of like that. This translation work is not complete but many, many languages have been written. These languages are now digitized (on computer) and available on line. The ones translated in recent years were done on computer but older ones were only hard copy. Putting them on computer is what I did during our visit 3 years ago.

Okay, they are on computer and available for someone who understands that language to read it or hear it read on their own computer (some do have computers), or at an internet café, or on their smart phone. As they hear the scripture read it is a lot easier to follow if the verses are highlighted. The process of highlighting each verse as it is read was done “magically” by computer. Except for four or five languages that are not accurate. 

Enter me. And 5 or 6 others.  I sit at a computer, wearing head phones, listening to a man read Zapoteco Yaganiza while I follow along on the screen. Do I know the language? No. Do I understand what he is reading? No. But after a little practice I can pick out enough words to tell if the color of the highlighted verse goes to the next verse the same time he does. If it doesn’t I adjust the timing with either a plus sign or a minus sign in the right margin. After a while it gets pretty easy – mostly. Certain words stand out like the words for Jesus, Christ, God, Spirit, and proper names. So that’s my day. Five hours of that is plenty!

Imagine me hunched over a computer. That’s the picture of me. 

Getting Caught Up

Beginning to blog again after almost 2 years off was not supposed to be this hard. Getting the post which follows this one to work was not easy – at least for me. (Remember, the latest post always appears on top). The internet connection was so poor nothing was working properly and the end result was it didn’t go up until yesterday. Now this brings things up to date.

We retired at Fountain of Youth RV Spa near Niland, CA from Sunday the 3^rd until Sunday the 10^th. It was simply a good time of rest and sitting in their hot mineral pools. We watched movies, took naps, and played in the water. They have lots of activities but we were not there to be active. The RV park is large – over 800 spaces – and many of the people are there for the winter season. Of course most from northern climes. We saw lots of Oregon license plates and plenty of people from Canada.

Sunday we got up early (usually we did NOT do that), prepared the RV for travel and then went to church. They have an interfaith service attended by about 150 people. I thought that was rather impressive. There is also a Lutheran service which I assume is more liturgical plus some meetings for a couple of the cults.

That's us right in the middle

We took two days to get to Tucson traveling down California 111 to I-8 then to I-10. We did a stopover in Gila Bend, Arizona. Boy! There is nothing there. But the rent was cheap. We are now in Catalina. It is north of Tucson (but with a Tucson address). If you look on a map it is north of Oro Valley on highway 77. It is higher than Tucson (elevation 3300 feet) and it is cold. C.O.L.D. Cold. Not down to freezing at night but getting close. Sixty-ish during the day. It better warm up! At least the sun is shining with no rain in sight.

As I reread the last post it seemed like I was saying I was overwhelmed with stress. That was not the case. I usually handle stress pretty well but this was a lot of things building up until we began to wonder if we should really leave. As I mentioned, when we unhooked at the church all the tension melted away. We’re glad to be here.

Tomorrow we start our work with Wycliffe Bible Translators. More about that in the next blog which will probably be Sunday or Monday. Until then, blessings.

Getting Ready to Leave is Stressful

This blog is being written on Monday, January 4, 2016. Our internet is inconsistent so I’m not sure when it will be posted but blogging is on again. I know, not many people blog anymore unless it is for a business or something. But it is the easiest way to let people know what we are doing if they are interested.

I was thinking about this blog last week and wondering what one word might summarize the last two to three weeks. The word that comes to mind is “stress.” And the stress can be broken down to about three words: computer, diverticulitis, and weather. Oh, add Christmas celebrations to the list also.

We had been planning for several months to leave on Monday, December 21. All our preparations and planning was aimed to this date. But first, we had to do two major things with the church. One was the Senior Adult Potluck on the 18^th. This was a special Christmas meal that required several hours of decorating the night before. We didn’t do this alone. Arlyn and Barbara were prime movers and we just helped them. It was a great Christmas potluck, beautifully decorated in a Victorian style. They also surprised me with a birthday cake and a dedicated song. I was thoroughly embarrassed! Add a little stress.

The second thing we did was host our share of the Staff Open House the afternoon and evening of Sunday the 20^th. This is kind of like a progressive meal. Our portion was the dessert. We made (mostly Ginger made) bread pudding Saturday. After church Sunday we made toppings for the bread pudding. I made butter rum and butter vanilla. We also had hot caramel, cream, and ice cream with raisins and chocolate chips. Your choice. Have fun. Yum. We had about 60-65 people come through our door. Then of course, we cleaned up and returned the borrowed tables and chaffing pans. By the way, Pastor Doug had appetizers and Rachel had the main course. Add a little stress.

Ok, so we are working to make these occasions great but early in the week I felt a pain on my left side. It didn’t go away so I figured I had a kidney infection. Better go to urgent care and get some medication for it. Well, I didn’t diagnose it very well. After lab tests and a CT scan they determined I had diverticulitis. I was prescribed 10 days’ worth of the worst tasting pills I have ever had. After getting sick on them I deducted I should space them out through the day and eat food with them. I was not in great pain but we wondered if we should leave on schedule – or leave at all. Add quite a bit of stress.

Just to make this more dramatic my computer decided to begin acting out. First it was no connection to the internet, then the screen going blank, then the method I had for fixing the screen no longer worked. Of course, I needed my computer to finish up things before leaving. I managed to salvage what I really need by booting it up in Safe Mode. The end result: I got a new computer for my birthday. Then put the programs on it that I needed (Thanks, Phil). The biggest problem is that it has Window 10 and the programs are 2016. I am used to using Windows 7 and my programs were 2007. Big change. Big learning curve. I got what I needed for the moment and took both computers to son-in-law Korak to update documents, email, etc. Add more stress.

So Monday the 21^st comes. We were going to leave late in the day, travel to Grants Pass and park in Mike and JoAnn’s front yard. Then leave early Tuesday going down either I-5 or 101 depending on the weather. But it was very rainy and windy and I was still undecided about my newly discovered medical condition. Add more stress.

We waited until Tuesday to leave. The RV was loaded (probably should put that in caps; it definitely was LOADED) so all we did was get in and go. We departed Salem at 7:25 and arrived at the Olive Pit in Corning, California at 4:30. Long day, lots of stops (we only missed 2 or 3 rest areas!), off and on rain but no snow. As you can see, we went down I-5. The next day was easier. We took our time to get to Lost Hills, California and the next day on to Los Angeles. We parked (“camped”) in Marina Christian Fellowship’s back parking lot. This is the church our kids attend. We arrived about 2:00 Christmas Eve.

We had electric but no other hookups. Nice and cozy – and cold at night. The kids were at Korak’s parent’s house for Christmas eve so we had an enjoyable evening unwinding and attending a really good Christmas Eve Service at the church. Christmas day we had a great Korak-made breakfast and then open gifts with the family. Much fun.

As soon as we setup in the church lot all my tension went away. What a relief just to be there. I’ve decided I don’t like driving the RV on LA freeways. It’s not the traffic so much as the bumpy ride. We rattle and bounce over the broken and uneven pavement. (No, Jim, they did NOT repave the right lane!) But we made it with no major incidents, only one close call when a semi driver figured he had the right of way when entering the freeway from the entrance ramp. He won, I braked hard.

The eleven days in LA were all kids and grandkids. It was lots of fun; lots of going here and there. We said goodbye after church on the 3^rd and headed east on the I-10. We had to leave that day because the church rents the parking area and surrounding buildings to the Los Angeles School District and the Charter school using the facilities started the next day.

Sunday afternoon we pulled into the Fountain of Youth RV Spa on the east side of the Salton Sea. We will be here for a week enjoying the hot water pools (they have about six), reading, and resting. Then off to Catalina. Sorry there are no pictures. Maybe next time. So until the next blog – blessings.