Gather How Coffee Saved My Life: And Other Stories Of Stumbling To Grace Constructed By Ellie Roscher Textbook

have some issues with this book but it is still well written Amazing, I have IBS, so understand how hard it was for this young lady, I liked the idea of "How Coffee Saved My Life," a collection of journal entries and reflections on a young woman's time in Uruguay with the Lutheran Church.
But I did not much like the book itself, The book is organized by themes more than chronology, but it's not written quite well enough for this to work, Ellie Roscher jumps from story to topic to story to topic without leaving the reader time to catch her breath, And each short chapter begins with a quotation more than a few also end with one which I found very distracting, It read more like a journal than a journal that had been shaped into a book,
Parts of Roscher's story are very interesting, and she makes some solid overall points about crosscultural experience, finding oneself, and grace, It's just that none of them were really developed as much as I'd have liked, I keep getting excited for these spiritual memoirs and then finding them flat, An excellent book that I read for book club, A young woman's story of going on a one year mission trip to Uruguay, Really puts life in perspective, Awesome book by an amazing Gustie! Very fulfilling indeed,Education for Mission

At age, Ellie Roscher left her pampered life to spend a year in Uruguay, She did not paint a bright and happy picture of her adjustment to the poverty and isolation of her position, Pg."articulate English gt stumbling broken Spanish eating bagels gt cow tongue havingjobs gt none feeling successful/powerfulgt useless, invisible surrounded by friendsgtisolation, By thend half, she had gotten moved to a different family, made connections with other workers, and came to appreciate her experience,

She inserts quotes Pg,"setting out to do something with your liefe is like sitting down to eat a moose, do something with your day, Each day . "

PG."seeing Tom afterst two weeks, . . I knew someone someone knew me, made a habit to get ice cream, . . few hours of English speaking feast,

Pg."sharing mate' Uruguayan people knew no higher priority than to sit with each other converse, pass the mate, . . communion happened . You experience a special connection, create space to share each other's reality, Mate' levels us invites conversation, and capitalizes on each moment we are given, " PG.writing and a contemplative life,

Pg.children in a children's homeadmins, tutor, psychologist, cook, cleaner, farmer, and two "aunts" who stayed fordays/nts and otherfordays/nts,

Pg,moved fromst home young, single woman should not have been placed in a family with history of infidelity! Pg".
. . year stopped being about church, mission, learning, justice and relationship and started being about interpersonal survival, " "expectations gtgt reality"

Pg,developing eating disorder. Pg.new family with Mariana. Pg."I learned . " The book was good as a post latin American volunteer, It allowed me to think of different ways that I saw the culture, impacted those I worked with and interacted with on a daily basis, and see how my experience transformed my life.
If I was not an exlatin American volunteer I don't think I would have cared for it too much because I would not have been able to relate to it as well.
The timeline was also all over the place, but it fit well into the chapters that the author did, Really enjoyed this book, quite perceptive insights from a young person experiencing such a different culture from her own, Great quotes thruout the book,

Ellie starts off slow and perhaps a little preachy, The second half of the book is better, This was another United Methodist Women's book for their reading program and I really liked it, My aunt gave me this book to read and at first I was reluctant because it has this religious bend to it, About ayr old missionary who ended up in Uruguay, I brought it on vacation with me, . . I knew i had to read it before giving back to her, why not at the beach I plowed through thisdays, Yes, an easy read but it so incredibly paralleled my experience in Paraguay it was uncanny, Although a mission of a different sort Colby and mine doing ecoreseach, I could so relate to the feelings of isolation associated with not speaking Spanish perfectly, of looking "different" than peers and people and the vulnerability of that in a poor country, the newness of the air and food and plants.
As with Ellie, I recall being adopted by families who would take us on trips to see their aunts and uncles in remote places, . . eating unknown parts of animals and halfunderstanding conversations, smiling to make it through, I seemed to embrace the adventure more than the author did, at times it seemed painful to her, But like her, I used my time to be very selfreflective and during the long walks in the cerrado at night with the milky way brilliant in the sky sometimes with someone special, I really determined who I was and what my life path would be.
Stepping out of one's comfort zone, . . and truly opening my world to bigger purposes,

Beautifully written and smart use of quotes throughout, . . may have to steal some!

"And maybe it is only on the trail to nowhereinparticular that you find the most important thing of all.
Yourself. " Douglas Wood Having just come out of a yearlong volunteer program similar to her experiences, I can attest to much of what she says in here.
She really does a great job of conveying the struggles and challenges inherent in that type of living, Lots of humor but also lots of sadness, Both are an important part of her story and I am glad that she chose to include everything, the good and the bad, It rang very true because of that, Sidenote: I actually met the author way before I read her book and found her to be such a sweet, caring person, This book should definitely be read by anyone considering international or even national service but should probably not be read until after the service is finished.
A bit heavy on the Christian influence for my personal taste, Also, having lived in Montevideo, Uruguay myself formonths in college, I can say with confidence that it is not coffee which should have saved her life there but actually, yerba mate.
It's slim pickings to find books set in Uruguay or Ecuador, I know this because I'm always looking, If you know of any, please do recommend! I had to read this for the UMW reading program, The book shows the difference between life here amp life in another country Uraguay, We take so much for granted in this country, So enjoyed reading this book!! I knew about her time in Uruguay, but this was another look I had never experienced and it gave me all the feels for this amazing person who I have been lucky to call a friend.
I read "How Coffee Saved My Life" with the eyes of a well seasoned traveler who has experienced culture shock and knew some of what to expect.
This memoir was organized around themes, which I didn't enjoy, with journal entries that were totally out of sync with their place in time,
Miss Roscher presents clear examples of the issues that rise with cross cultural interactions, misunderstandings, culture shock, and losing sight of spiritual purpose before finally finding grace.
However, a lot of the juicy and expository aspects of this tale which are in my opinion are the most valuable for sharing her spiritual journey, are lost in the organization.
It wasn't until I reached the last chapter that I was finally struck with why I felt so off about this read, It felt like it wasn't complete, like aspects of her tale were missing, and it was due to the theme organization that this occurred, So, while I liked this book it is not on my best reads list,
This book chronicles one year in Ellie Roscher's life spent as a missionary in Uruguay, She was shockingly open and honest about her physical and emotional struggles there she candycoated nothing, I found this to be both enticing and offputting, There were times when she whined, A LOT. Yet, it would not have been as authentic a story without including the many moments of selfpity and loneliness, and frankly, until I have volunteered to spend a full year in a tiny, rural South American town where no one speaks English, I don't think that I or anyone else has the right to judge those moments.
Overall, I just loved this story and would highly recommend it, This book is about a young women's journey to Uruguay which leads to, as most stories of this type mine own included, a deep understanding into self.
There were so many parallels to both my Peace Corps and Exchange Student experience it was uncany, I certainly was not as selfdestructive as she was but my pain at the stress of being so far from home and lonely and misunderstood certainly is mirrored in her journey.
I would definitely recommend this boo for people searching for self, about to travel overseas or for those who have and will

enjoy her journey.
Favorite book by former Gustie gymnast :

Seriously, it's very good read it! Great introduction to missionary life and the deeper theological reflection that comes with it.
An interesting read. We read this for our church's book club and we all agreed that living as a foreigner in a foreign would certainly give one a new perspective on our American culture, for good or bad.
I would recommend it to those considering embarking on a longterm mission trip, I also think the way the book was writtensmall vignettes with wonderful quotes from famous thinkers,

Based on the author's true life experiences, How Coffee Saved My Life is a funny, tragic, provocative and touching story of a rich, white, North American overachiever who spends a year in Uruguay in hopes of becoming a more responsible and sensitive member of the global community.
Throughout the book, vignettes tied to the Spanish language flow from observation to theological analysis, Ellie Is an incredibly talented writer! I was awestruck by her tenacity, courage, and will to continue even when things were hard, She is an epitome of courage! I love her! Looking forward to reading more, . you are an insanely gifted writer! Beautiful reminder of how easily we get wrapped up in our lives and think what we are doing is of the upmost importance.
It's really quite laughable when you stop and think about it, Ellie keeps it real in these pages and I appreciate her story, Ellie Roscher is the author ofTiny Things, Play Like a Girl and How Coffee Saved My Life and the host of the Unlikely Conversations podcast.
She teaches writing at The Loft and Minnesota Writing Project, Her writing can be found in the Balti , Inscape Magazine and elsewhere, She edits the Keeping the Faith series: Keeping the Faith in Seminary, Keeping Faith in Rabbis and Keeping the Faith in Education, Ellie holds a masters degree in Theology/Urban Ministry from Luther Seminary and an MFA in Creative Nonfiction Writing from Sarah Lawrence College and is a certified yoga teacher.
Ellie Roscher is the author ofTiny Things, Play Like a Girl and How Coffee Saved My Life and the host of the Unlikely Conversations podcast.
She teaches writing at The Loft and Minnesota Writing Project, Her writing can be found in the Balti , Inscape Magazine and elsewhere, She edits the Keeping the Faith series: Keeping the Faith in Seminary, Keeping Faith in Rabbis and Keeping the Faith in Education, Ellie holds a master's degree in Theology/Urban Ministry from Luther Seminary and an MFA in Creative Nonfiction Writing from Sarah Lawrence College and is a certified yoga teacher.
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