Seriously, has anyone noticed how bad aloe vera smells? About twice a day I have a battle between what my nose and therefore my gut can handle and how bad the pain and flaking redness on my shoulders actually is. Usually the pain and flaking redness wins and I just suffer through the application and hope that the smell disappears really fast.
I've been posting a lot of my deep, internal thoughts lately, but now I thought that I should update you all a little bit on what I'm doing outside of the emotional and spiritual realm.
Well, so you may have already picked up by now, but I am currently in Nicaragua.
Have been for the last month and a half almost, and I don't leave for another, oh, over a month and a half more.
My job here is to create the content for a website that the ministry REAP Granada is having designed to show their supporters what they have been doing. This includes taking pictures, filming and editing videos, and doing some writing.
My time here has been absolutely incredible so far! God has been teaching me so much in so many ways, I have made some pretty amazing new friends, and my thirst for adventure has been ignited to the max. Not to mention that this has given me a chance to use my photography for something meaningful and important.
Some of my favorite photography experiences so far have included watching the natural environment of the Pacific Ocean, volcanos, and a rainforest, but also street photography of the buildings, the lives, and the culture here, and (probably the one that I hold dearest) getting to take pictures at a jail.
I'm a people watcher and storyteller at heart.
Leave me alone in a mall for an hour and I will have the backstory, hopes, dreams, aspirations, and ancestry figured out for the people standing across from me. We pass by so many people on the street, I'm always wondering what lives they hold and what their stories are.
I try to pull this mentality into my photography as well.
You'll have to tell me whether I succeed or not.
In the midst of taking pictures, shadowing the missionaries around, and experiencing the culture of Nicaragua, I have succeeded in scorching both of my shoulders and the tip of my nose during a two hour ride in the back of a truck followed by a walk on the beach to get a bunch of pictures. Although I had thought that I had been smart and put sunscreen on, apparently it wasn't quite enough as the worst sunburn I have had in my entire life can act as proof. Now, despite the awful stench (that reminds me a whole lot of what vomit smells like), aloe vera has become my best friend. The bottle of "Darmacare Gel De Zabila Aloe Vega Gel 100% puro" migrates around my room with me, remaining within arms reach at nearly all times.
I'm going to end this post on these notes:
1. I am having a wonderful time in Nicaragua stretching myself, learning new lessons, and using my talents to bring God glory.
2. Never underestimate the power of the sun and especially, never underestimate the soothing powers that something of seemingly toxic smell may have. "Don't judge at first whiff" if you will.
Assr vísa ykkar brand.
(May God guide your sword.)
Elizabeth Marie Kauffman
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