Buenos Aires: Day 1 and 2

25 September 2009: After getting up at 7 in the morning, our bus left Casa ACU at 8 am. We took a two hour drive to Colonia-I slept most of the way :) We stopped at a place where a man had a pencil and keychain collection that made the Guiness Book of World Records!! We also just tried some home-made jams (onion, pumpkin, banana and grape) were just a few. We explored the town for three hours-taking pictures and playing at the parks. After getting everyone back together we drove to the port and got on the ferry. This ferry was completely different from the Statton Island ferry in NY. It was almost like an airplane, but in boat form. The ride was an hour to BA and the rest of the night was spent getting settled. We also found an ATM, ate dinner and swam in the heated pool.

26 September 2009: We woke up for breakfast at 8 and left at 9:30 to go on our tour of the city. Plaza de Mayo, San Telmo, La Boca, Puerto Madero, Palermo and Recoleta. There are lots of places to shop and buildings to see! If you want more details about these places, please ask. At five we went to a art museum...for a long time. We then changed to go a Tango show! That was lots of fun :)

Level 2, Box 4

Estoy cansado! Last night we went to Teatro Solis to hear a Philharmonic Orchestra and before that we heard a lecture from a sociologist named Javier. Javier had a lot of interesting things to say about living in Uruguay and the United States for a time. We were also able to present the information we had researched about Buenos Aires, Argentina. It just so happened that I drew the question about futbol! I talked about Maradona, Argentine national team and the imoprtance of the sport in that country.
At Teatro Solis, we were all seated in the second level. It was amazing because they were box seats and on the railing, just like in the movies! If any of you have ever seen Anastasia, that is what I thought of (I just wasn't in a full length formal dress). The music was beautiful, a little long a times. We all got into the last song! Instead of taking taxis back to Casa, we walked and my heels have large blisters on them now. It felt really nice to get dressed up wehn you're used to wearing sweats or pajamas to class ;)
I have enjoyed late night conversations with my two roommates! We are all changing and can see those changes in each other. Please continue to pray that we will place our trust in the Lord and not be afraid to step out of the boat!

Earth, Wind and....Ice?

I apologize for not updating as frequently this past week. Thursday was full of preparations for our trip coming up...we're going to Buenos Aires, Argentina! I'm excited to see another new country :) We all went to get our Yellow Fever shots and Brazilian visas because our trip to Brazil is only a week after we return from BA. Everything is coming up very quickly! One of our assignment for our INTS class was to research things to do for our free day in BA. Some of the options included Japanese gardens, horse races and skydiving. I haven't decided what I want to do yet, but skydiving sounds pretty adventurous to me.
It is officially spring here in Montevideo. The weather is getting warmer but with that comes "tree droppings" being picked up by the wind. For me that is not a good thing beacause it means contact trouble and allergies. Warm weather is nice though.
Yesterday a group of us went to Montevideo Shopping to ice skate with one of our Uruguayo friends. It was 200 pesos to skate for an hour. We had a lot of fun even though the ice was really choppy. No zamboni at this rink, it was in part of the parking garage. Supposedly I tripped one of the guys while skating, but I'm pretty sure I didn't. For one, I would have fallen too but i didn't! I'm also too kind to do that to someone ;)
Hope everyone is doing well! I would love to hear from You!

Deseo Un Gaucho Guapo (I want a handsome cowboy)

It felt good to wake up this morning. I think it may have been because I went to bed at 10:45pm the night before. That is a good 2 hours before I normally go to sleep. The week is going to get crazy on Thursday, so I need to stay ahead on sleep and homework.
In the place of our regular beginner Spanish class, we took a trip to the RURAL at El Prado. It was a fair type of event for farm type things. There was food, leather wares, machinery and lots of animals. Cows, sheep and horses were the most abundant but I think there were rabbits too. The gauchos dress very classy in my opinion. Their pants are tucked into nice knee high boots and they wear a beret looking hat. Their shirts are most of the time button down in a thin plaid pattern. Our task was to find five words we did not know before, that we could ask about in class. I think it was worth the 95 pesos we paid to get in.
The bus ride was long to get back, but my group knew the way there had taken relatively 20 minutes. I recognized a buliding I had passed several times and was able to warn the group before we passed our stop. After resting my feet a little, I went to take pictures of balconies. For my world literature class, we were assigned to take a picture of a balcony that inspired us. We had just read a short story about a balcony, so it wasn't just out of the blue.
One funny thing that happens often here involves Uruguayan men and U.S. women. They stare or say smething to us or whistle. It is not the way our culture works for the most part, but it is nice to be noticed. Most of the time we're in a pack and we just laugh it off.
I'm looking forward to tomorrow because my classes end at 2:30 and I will have time to run errands. Walking everywhere is one of my forms of exercise now. 8 blocks seems like nothing now...who knows maybe I will walk more when I get back to the states, I just may need new shoes!

Wide Long Deep and High

I do not have any exciting events to report today, but just some thoughts that I've had in the past couple of days.
After talking to my roommates and another friend from back home, I've realized something. The people that I am here with in Casa ACU are Jesus in the flesh for me. We were created for relationship and whenever we're away from what we've known, they become our family. I want to be completely engulfed in what God has to show me in Montevideo (or wherever I might travel). Only when I have my eyes fixed on Him can I follow His path for me. Both Jacob and Thomas in the Bible had a time where God became theirs. It became a relationship that was like no one else's. I've always felt that I was on my way to knowing God better, but now I'm questioning. Being taken from my church, some of my core friends and even my town is like starting over again.
Will I gain confidence? Who can I turn to? How drastically is my life going to change? Am I ready? I honestly don't know, but i do know that Christ's love for me is Wide, Long, Deep and High! He will stick by me when I feel lonely, when I choose to risk and fail, when I want a hug and when I am joyful.
As the train tracks cross each other or run parallel, so are my life experiences. I will trust that He will say to me You are mine and You are loved always!

Thanks for listening to my thoughts :)

Aw It's Like Texas

Estancia! It is once again Saturday and we had another eventful day. After an hour bus ride, we got to a ranch complete with cows, sheep and horses. We enjoyed taking pictures and being goofy before having a very large lunch. There was salad, asado, bread, deli meats and cheese. For dessert was crepes with dulce and ice cream. The rest of the afternoon was spent touring the land and going for a horseback ride. It defintely reminded me of Texas! The day was beautiful and the open land was a nice change from city life. Our group attempeted to make a human pyramid, but it was only semi-successful :)
It was a day where I missed home a lot. So far I've had a "homesick moment" once a week. Do I see a pattern forming? Who knows. I just know that God is defintely here with me and is who i enjoy talking to most in this house.
I hope everyone is doing well back in Abilene, or wherever you may be! Somebody in Uruguay loves you....that's me!!

Soy celeste!!! U-RU-GUAY

Tonight was unbelievable!! It was our night to go to a World Cup qualifier futbol (soccer) game! almost the entire stadium was full of people. There were flares, confetti and chants always going. Uruguay was playing Colombia. Uruguay scored withing the first 12 minutes of the game...beautiful shot! We went wild. It wasn't until second half that Colombia scored to tie the game. For a while we were nervous, but then with 20 minutes left to go Uruguay scored twice more to end the game 3-1. The second was scored off a header and the third was a shot on the ground. I really wanted to buy a jersey there, because there were several stands but I was unable to. Our group was trying to stay together. Hopefully I will find some more at a feria, maybe cheaper too.
This week is half over already. It's going by faster each day and I am not sure if that's good or bad. I am most definitely enjoying every minute!!
P.S. I did get my laundry back if that was not clear before :)

Counting to 8

As I in my previous post, our group learned about and danced some Tango last night! It was interesting to say the least. The first 30 minutes or so was used to tell some history of this dance. I am a big fan of Dancing with the Stars, so I have always been curious about the dances they do. After our history lesson we went into our patio classroom to actually learn the basic steps.
They had us move on own to begin with (which felt pointless and silly), then we were separated into guys and girls so that we could learn our specific movements. Doing the 8 steps by yourself was a breeze, but of course the next step was with the boys! Our intructors demonstrated a tango and a milonga (two types of dances). They are the pros and none of us looked nearly as smooth as they did :) There is a shortage of guys in our group so we had to share. The boys did a wonderful job of dancing with every girl, even though they may not have been happy to be there. Hey they got to control the girls movements and we had to obey, so that's what they always want right? Just kidding.
Hopefully we will have at least a few more tango lessons! I really enjoyed learning the little that we did, and I think I was pretty good at it. If any of you want me to teach you the steps I can....obviously I will know the girls' steps better than the boys' but it's easy to figure out.
Raquel, our main cook, is back and her food is amazing! The food that we had previously was stil great but hers has topped all of it. For people's birthday's she makes whatever kind of cake they want, and I think they get to choose what's for lunch too.
Today I went to pick up my laundry and was expecting 2 loads back, but only recieved 1. I went back later in the afternoon and the owner of the place remembered my name. She realized that my second bag wasn't there when I came that morning. I was afraid I would have to explain what clothes I was missing! Just the fact that she remembered my name was awesome...yet another thing that makes me feel at home. God is so great to all people, not just me.

Sing Me Sweet

Update from yesterday: A few of us went to one of the Catholic churches in our neighborhood, just to see what it was like. I had only previously been to a Catholic funeral, but not Mass. It was interesting not only because it was in Spanish but because there were three baptisms. If you know anything about the way they do things, you know its nothing close to the CoC. The church was beautiful on the inside. It was definitely an experience, but I think I will be going to the Iglesia de Cristo from now on.
I'm doing better on keeping up with my assignments and finding specific times for each subject. I get frustrated more now when I can't push what I want to say out of my mouth. My brain knows the words but just can't do both tasks at once yet. The friends that we've made at church are very patient with us. I really enjoyed drawing pictures to help one of the preacher's twin girls learn some English words. I think we're going to bring colors this week :) I love how God allows us to communicate cross-culturally even without the having the correct words. Just with small 2nd grade drawings, I was blessed.
I will say that I haven't gotten a whole lot of sleep...but that's just because of the great conversations with my roommates! My voice is also a bit hoarse....that's because of the endless singing that we do in this house! Doesn't matter where we're going or what we're doing, if a song is started people jump in and sing the whole thing. It does my heart good :D
Tango is in about 45 minutes and I'm excited!! We only have five boys to share among eleven girls, but it will be a hoot. Who knows, maybe we will all catch on quickly.

Oh! It's a bus...

Not just a whole lot has happened in the last few days, that hadn't happened before. We finished our first week of school and slept in til 11:30 today....it was much needed! My Spanish is coming back to me little by little and I'm trying to gain the confidence to speak it myself. This afternoon some us went to an arts and crafts exhibition that featured artists from only Uruguay. A lot of the things you could buy were either too expensive for me or things that I would be unable to carry back. I enjoyed looking though. On our way back, we tried to catch a bus back to our house. The only ones that passed were to other places :( So that's where the phrase "Oh! It's a bus..." came from.
The relationships between my peers in the house are growing. We enjoy eating, singing and walking together. There are times when we almost overwhelm the people working at the place where we go! We have even invented our own game....Flail Ball. I'm not entirely sure its an original invention but we have fun with it.
The only thing I truly miss right now, besides my family and friends, is football season! The upside is that I get to see real soccer here. We are going to the Uruguay and Colombia World Cup Qualifier this next week :) Get excited!

Combat! Hoo Ah!

World Literature is going to be my relaxing class this semester, so I am very excited about it! We also had our first beginner Spanish lab, which is with a small group (3) and an instructor. It was intimidating at first and took all of my concentration, but I think it will be beneficial. Then this afternoon we took a bus tour of the entire city that we had not yet seen. We went to the cemetary, the bay, the hill and several parks. It was good information to know, but it took too long in most people's opinion.
At 8, a few of us girls went to attend fight/combat class. It was the best workout I've had in a while. Pretty much non-stop movement! I was glad I brought water this time :) Fabricio was our instructor and he was great! We are all determined not to gain weight on this trip.
This week has seemed long so far...I hope things speed up somewhat, but not so fast I miss everything.
I can't think of anything else right now. Knowing me I probably forgot something...ridiculous.
More tomorrow!

Getting Comfortable...Mostly

I am so excited to be here!! Hopefully you all know that by now, but I just thought I'd say it again. This morning was not the best. I had trouble in my Spanish class and got a little frustrated. After that, I tried my best to perk up and tell myself to keep going.
We took our laundry to be washed for the first time here, which made us feel like we actually belong. Things like finding somewhere to eat and realizing where you are in relation to the casa are large parts of feeling "at home". This evening a group of the girls went to Gimnasio Urbano, which is a gym that our instructor likes and has friends at. We all participated in an Aerobics class. It was a blast! Not only were we working off all the food we'd been eating and attempting to follow along in Spanish, we were also finding another place to belong. I have never done aerobics class before, so I looked ridiculous at first but after awhile I got the hang of it. Each of us paid only 200 pesos ($10) for a month's membership!
I have enjoyed getting to know the people I live and go to class with. We are finding that we click and also sing very well together :)
To all of you who have been reading these blogs, I really enjoy writing them but also would love to hear your comments, questions, etc.
Mucho amor!