Pupusa Grande


Pupusas Grande
Originally uploaded by keithrbrinkman.

What is a pupusa? It is to the El Salvadorians what hamburgers are to the Americans. Made from MASECA corn mill, it will have cheeses, vegetables and sometimes chicken in the middle. My friend Lilian and her husband invited us to dinner at her house. She is El Salvadorian by birth and raised in California. She is married to Ciaran and they have one daughter. We all enjoyed the time together. Lilian is teaching Alicia how to make them. Reminds me of our time in La Union, El Salvador in ’99 and ’00.

Desk Location in Education


Desk Location in Education
Originally uploaded by keithrbrinkman.

My work station where I serve with Udo and Alicia as we are finalizing the proposals for the Caribbean Mercy. Sometimes it can be a little loud and so I put my headphones and listen to the radio over the internet – something I just learned about in the past couple months – as on the ship this is not possible due to our satellite connection.

Hurricane Rita

Hurricane Rita – we have found ourselves in the path of this strong storm. I have recently learned how to listen to a radio station over the internet – so I found KSBJ Christian Radio from Houston. As I watched on the television the response of the Texan people to those evacuees from Louisiana and heard of the hospitality of Houston in particular, I heard the same over the radio. Then just this week, the communities of Galveston, Houston and others have evacuated out of the area themselves, many have come up to North East Texas (for those who were not sure where Lindale, TX is located). The entire community living on the base gathered together and we reviewed our disaster preparedness plan so we know what to do in situations of flooding, loss of power & water, wind damage, and medical injuries. We do not know at this time what type of response we will have to the Texas Gulf Coast, we will evaluate on Monday, depending on the local affect.