an epic journey

Every once in a while a person will take an epic journey to a far away land. And sometimes even a quilt will get to come along for the ride. 'Tis the tale of a quilt made a few months ago, sent to a neighboring county for a yardsale, then packed away as my father and sister trekked to Nicaragua (por avion) for a week-long experience making friends and building a church.

"We gave a gift of a quilt to the church that Pastor Dan’s daughter Joy made. There was a joke about how they don’t need quilts here with all the heat. They are planning to hang it on the wall inside the new building." (from the church's blog)

Now, I must be honest. Had I known that this quilt would become a gift from a North American church to its Central American counterpart I probably would have crafted something a bit more beautiful, and a bit less decorated with baby turtles. However, I'm glad that this project has gone farther than expected and symbolizes something beautiful: like two groups of people with two very different cultural experiences converging for a week of hospitality, hard work, and awkward moments.

Though I continued my normal existence here in the States while my Dad and sister discovered the wonder of rural Nicaragua, in some ways their journey was my journey as well. Incredibly (and with a ton of sleuthing) my dad was able to locate my host family from my studies in Nicaragua 4 1/2 years ago! He spent time with them on two occasions, delivered a letter (that I wrote in butchered Spanish and my beloved Kristen edited for me), and took a bunch of pictures that I can't wait to get my hands on! He wrote me yesterday, "We saw your family again yesterday in Masaya. Grand baby y two sons y son's wife y momma and papa.". I quote him so all can witness his astounding grasp of conjunctions in the Spanish language! :)

I suppose this is my 2nd quilt in Central America, seeing as I gifted one to my Costa Rican host family in 2005. Maybe I should start sewing something less warm and cozy for our friends from the tropics. Like quilted speedos?