Chips!

I wouldn't say that going without tortilla chips is a bad thing. Especially for those of us that can't stop till the bag is gone. But sometimes that craving for crispy, greasy goodness dipped in salsa overwhelms you. In Jamaica, a bag of Tostitos will cost you around $6, this is definitely not the super-sized bags either. Out of desperation for our cravings for chips and salsa, we've discovered that we can make it right at home!

Roll out your dough and cut it into chip size slices.
Fry 'em up!
Enjoy!

Unrest in Jamaica

Jamaica has been making news for all the wrong reasons. The short version of the story goes like this. Years ago, political parties set up small areas, garrisons, of political support in certain communities. A "don" is put in charge of the community to ensure support and manage the area. The "dons" get more and more power. One particular "don" named Dudus, gets alot of power in a small area of Kingston. The Prime Minister represents his constituency and is affiliated with his party. The US thinks Dudus is selling drugs and smuggling guns. They ask for him to be sent to the states for trial on these charges. Jamaica refuses for 9 months. Jamaica gets lots of pressure from here and abroad. A small scandal happens regarding Jamaica trying to lobby the US to cancel the extradition request. Pressure Increases. The request is approved. The community decides to protect Dudus and use all their guns in support. The government decides to go in anyway and a war breaks out. The army and police overpower the community and many lives are tragically lost. The violence has been severe but thankfully has remained fairly isolated to the gang controlled areas of Kingston. They have yet to catch Dudus, and the country remains glued to the story.

A Welcome Sight!

WATER!


We have just had a few good days of rain and this afternoon the water pump was turned on for the first time in a loooooonnnng time. While we were getting sporadic water before, we have water with pressure. It may be hard to see in the pictures, but water is actually coming from the pipes. Amen!

Happy Labour Day!

"Labour Day seeks to foster and promote the Spirit of voluntarism within the nation. And this year people will be encouraged to demonstrate care and support for our children, by complementing the usual physical works with activities that target the mental and social development of children – mentoring, teaching and other forms of intervention."

Today is Labor Day in Jamaica! I have always been confused as to which is the Spring Holiday, Labor Day or Memorial Day. I always knew they were important for what they represented and for the fact that they bracketed in summer time, but I would always get them confused. So, now I will probably forever be confused because in Jamaica they do celebrate Labor day in the Spring. And, in Jamaica, many people actually labor on Labour day. Growing up, I was always "deceived" into pulling weeds out of the garden, washing the car, or mowing the lawn on Labor day because it was "a day to Labor." Well, soon enough, I found out that the joke was on me as I got old enough to realize that the day was celebrated by people as a day not to work and to celebrate with parades and festivals. In Jamaica, people often congregate to nursing homes, schools, and other institutions for service projects. As you can see from the mission statement above, it is very intentional in its focus. Happy Labor Day!

Easter Bugs

Here is a little story from last month that I thought was worth sharing. Daisha is crawling all over now and getting into greater and greater trouble. There is a little beetle in Jamaica that they call "Easter bugs," and they come out for a short time every spring. Well, when we arrived back to Jamaica, they were everywhere and there is no way to keep them out of the house. They have an uncanny ability to find their way in the front door. As you might imagine, it wasn't too long until we caught Daisha sucking on her first Easter bug. We have pulled three out of her mouth now and we don't even want to the think about how many we didn't catch. At first we were a bit scared and then we realized that this certainly must be a part of the diet of every crawling Jamaican baby.

May Mini-Vacation

Ok, not a vacation. Actually, we are not calling it a vacation. I've been thinking lately that when we get the opportunity to take a trip, that we are not calling it a vacation, unless it is an actual vacation. Let me explain. As we have stated so many times, we really miss our local public parks and places to go to for the day. We miss being outside and spending time with the kids. In Jamaica, that is just not an option. So, we have to find alternatives. We have tried to be intentional about getting away with the kids. Last Thursday, we had a team that was going on their free day to the falls and then staying overnight in Montego Bay. We decided that we could pack up the kids, get a hotel of our own, and take the opportunity for a get-away. We packed our bags, took the trip down to MoBay with the team, and went to our hotel. We had a great time. Maybe we will call it a "trip to the park" or "get-away," but not a vacation. If we call it a vacation, it means that you cant do it very often, but if we call it a weekend trip, then we can do it regularly. Or, maybe we will try to come up with a creative name for something that looks like a vacation but is really just a necessary get-away for the kids. I don't know, but I do know that it was a great time and we created some awesome memories. Here are some pics.

Mr. Ozzie Update

A week or so ago I told the story about Mr. Osbourne "a.k.a. Mr. Ozzie." Today, I had the opportunity to run over to his house and I thought I would give you a quick update. Yesterday, he went back down to the hospital in Kingston and got his stitches out. He looked really good. Not necessarily normal, he still looked weak, but he looked as if he was recovering. He stepped out of the house, laughed, and praised God. All are thanking God for His goodness.

Happy Mothers Day!

Oh, today's not Mother's Day? Does it really matter? Honestly, we know how it should go, every day is Mother's day. Keri and I can both say that regarding our mothers as our gratitude for them will never match their blessing on us. And, I can testify on behalf of our kids, that they are in the same boat as Keri is an awesome mom. But, again this year, Mothers Day in Jamaica was more than just about Mothers. At church, we did try to honor the Mothers, but in honoring the mothers, it was a reminder of so many of the issues that are a part of daily life in Jamaica. #1 - Where are the fathers? I know that this is a mothers day post, but, the same as last year, in looking at all of the mothers gathered together for a picture at church, you have ask about the absence of fathers. #2 - Even if the father is still around, the reminders are ever present that in this culture the mother is often asked to be both father and mother. #3 - Where is Biblical mothering? There is a huge hole that needs filled and we see it everyday. We appreciate so many people telling us that they are praying, it is very humbling. Often, we get the feeling that our work is not always worthy of the prayers. But, I hope and pray that our family is capitalizing on those prayers in such a way that our family can be used as an example, testimony, and witness to God's way of doing family. We have been so blessed and we need the prayers to be that witness. By Grace!

Watch Me!

"If you want to know what I think, watch how I live"



Today, this quote jumped out of the pages of the book I was reading. It makes my mind run like that proverbial chicken. So, rather than trying to corral all of those thoughts into a comprehensible paragraph, I will just let it sit with you.

R-E-D

This week is "Education Week" and consists of different activities for the kids. On Thursday, there was a spelling bee. Keri went down to the school to pick up Drew at lunch time and Drew came out and explained to her that his teacher told him that he needed to come back after lunch to spell "mosquito bite." Keri was confused. Come back to spell "mosquito bite?" Well, the poor boy does still have some things that get lost in translation. At CCCD, they used Signed Exact English. This means that they focus more on English word order more than context. So, the way they sign "Spelling Bee" is to first use the sign for "Spelling" and then use the actual sign for "bee," which is the action of getting bitten by a bug and swatting it away from your face. In ASL, they would spell the word bee. So, Drew kept seeing the sign "Spelling" followed by a sign that looked like they were swatting a mosquito from their face. So, why not conclude that his teacher wanted him to spell "mosquito bite." Anyways, Drew did go back after lunch and proceeded to get 2nd Place in his class. We were ridiculously proud. We were experiencing all of the emotions of "Overly Proud Parent Syndrome" and probably still are as we post his second place finish to our blog. More on OPPS later.

Mr. Osbourne

Mr. Osbourne is a dorm father here at CCCD, he works with the older boys. He is a gentle man, a farmer, a husband, and a father to 2 boys. Yesterday morning, Mr. Osbourne was over at the farm where he keeps his cows. Two men walked up to him and asked him for some potatoes that he was presumably gathering. As he was reaching down to get them some potatoes, they attacked him. They put two large cuts on his head with a machete. They demanded his car keys, but he shouted out and they ran off. He had the strength to start driving his car down the road until he reached some people. They then took him into Mandeville to the hospital. He is coherent and has been talking with those who visit. Today, he did have a CAT scan done, but I don't really know what it showed as it is so hard to get information. Everyone who visits says that he is stable, but that they may need to take him down to Kingston for further checking. This is the story that I have pieced together, it is all hearsay, but I think it is accurate. Please lift him up in prayer. Lift Jamaica up in prayer.

Water Revisited!

Another quick water update
I hear a few sprinkles outside. As I have mentioned before, we returned to Jamaica in a huge downpour and had water for a couple of weeks. Well, I dont know if we are to blame or not, but since we have returned it has hardly rained again. So, this weekend we were without water again. Back to bucket baths, saving water in jugs, conserving, and praying for rain. It has threatened rain all day and every once in awhile there are a few sprinkles. I was going back through my notebook the other night and saw a note about one of God's favorite "fertilizers" for our growth being "waiting." So, we will wait.

March/April Update

Plattner Family Jamaica Update (March/April)

“So, how are things in Jamaica?” Oh, if I only had a dollar for every time I heard that question over the three weeks we were in the states. It is a good question, I am not criticizing the question, it is most natural and appropriate. This is no criticism of the question; it is a critique of the right answer. How do you answer that question? Honestly, it depends on who is asking and a thousand other variables that my brain would try to calculate in the microseconds I had before the asker expected an answer. I guess the question is, how do you summarize all of the events of an extended period of time into socially appropriate response? Is the answer mathematical, do you calculate that since 55% of all of the events of the past 6 months were positive, you round up and report that all is good? I have an aversion to the pat answer, which is the easiest and often the most desired response. So, back to the question, why when trying to summarize history, does the whole always end up less than the sum of the parts? How can we make a quick summary of all of life’s events properly represent reality? I don’t think we can, there is not enough time, not enough brainpower, there is no way to capture all of the beautiful intricacies of the ups and downs of life. So, what is the answer? I have no answer for how to rightly summarize 6 months into a 2 minute conversation, but I have been thinking about another application for these ideas. For all young families, the mantra most often heard is to, “cherish the times when your kids are young because they will soon be gone.” We have really tried to take that advice to heart. We believe it is true and we do not want to suffer the consequences of ignoring its wisdom. So, this is my conclusion, since trying to appropriately summarize long periods of time to represent the beauty of the moments is impossible, don’t try it. Now that we are back in Jamaica, we are answering the same question again in reverse, “How was your time in the states?” While my verbal answer may still represent an over generalized summary of our experiences, I hope my heart is remembering the little things. The joy that we experienced in sharing that meal with friends. The laughs that we shared as a family watching old home videos. The kids building relationships with their cousins, laughing, playing, crying. The little things. Encouraging conversations. Simply sharing time. The list goes on and on, and that is the beautiful thing. Trying to do the addition yourself is impossible, but by celebrating the little things, reality can be properly represented. So, lets forget trying to capture time in such big chunks, but remember the little things, His faithfulness in the smallest moments, His beauty being revealed in the littlest ways, and His love being shared in the sweetest of times.

Ok, maybe that was trying to wax a little too eloquent there at the end, but you get the idea. We had a great time in the states. It was our desire for this trip to be very intentional and purposeful. We know that with time, quality does not always beat quantity, but we wanted to give it our best shot. There were a few curveballs thrown in for good measure. We wrestled with some sick kids and all of those accompanying joys and as we have stated before, there is just no way to connect with everyone. It is our intention to continue on the plan of trying to make a trip to the states every 8 months. But, as we have experienced before, it is impossible to predict those things and we make all plans against the backdrop of “Lord Willing.”

We are settling back into the swing of things in Jamaica. We love Jamaica, but Jamaica can also make us crazy. During our Cross Cultural training, we learned about this experience of having these two conflicting emotions simultaneously. Well, I am not so sure what we learned about dealing with the conflicting emotions, but just that it is a common reality and to not let it scare us or to run away from its presence. So, that is our life right now. We are excited to be back, its good to be with friends, but we continue to wrestle with the craziness that we find as an ever-present reality of our lives in Jamaica. I think that is our biggest prayer request, that we would not let the fogginess that can come from the emotional fatigue of our conflicting emotions affect our clarity for what we are doing and how we are to be serving.

Again, thanks for your love and prayers. To the many that we were able to connect with, it was awesome, thanks for your time. Thank you so much for the encouragement. Also, a quick water update. As many of you know, we have been without consistent water for several months. For a week or two after Easter, Jamaica got some really good rains. So, while our water is still not always there, it is better. We do want to give thanks for all the little things and remember them. We know that our God is into the little things and we pray that our lives can also reflect that nature in gratitude.