So yesterday we were driving Jose´s car home from the kid´s soccer and swimming training when all of the sudden Chochy pulled up onto the median. I didn´t know what she was doing, when I realized that the engine had gone out. Thankfully, we were in traffic so we hadn´t been going very fast, and we were able to come to a stop somewhat safely. She tried several times to start the car again, but it wouldn´t. The alarm went off and she couldn´t stop it. We were only a block or so from their neighborhood, so when she called Mr. Ruano for help, he came on foot, along with Jose. But before they came, a motorcyclist had stopped to help and got the engine running. We thought it was better but when Chochy tried pulling into the street, it died again. The boys got out and they all started pushing the car and eventually it was able to coast, since it was downhill. Because the car wasn´t on, the only brake Chochy could use was the emergency brake which squealed like crazy and I´m sure was awful for the car. I was kinda scared that we would hit the car in front of us, but we didn´t. When we turned into the neighborhood, they really had to push the car because it was a little uphill. So we got home safely. Feel bad for Jose though, not sure how fast the car will get fixed.
Right now I´m in the clinic but we don´t have any patients, so while we wait I´m blogging :) I like going to the clinic, though this is only my fourth or so time. I get to practice my Spanish with Kevin and Dr. Ruano.
This Saturday is Guatemala´s Independance Day, so we don´t have practice for the kids camp, youth group or homegroup. I asked if we are going to do anything, but it doesn´t sound like we are. They have in past years gone into the city for the parades and marching bands, but Dr. Ruano told me that he doesn´t like to go because there are so many people and it is difficult to find parking- sounds like the 4th in D.C. But I´m dissapointed becuase they only do fireworks for Christmas! Well hold that thought- I just asked Kevin about it and he said that yes, they do have fireworks for Independance Day. So I guess I´ll just have to wait and see what happens.
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Monday, September 10, 2012
Chochy concert
So I only uploaded a couple photos...I would post more but it is way faster to post them via facebook...sorry to all you non-facebook people. Both of these are from the first Chochy concert I was in.
Cumplo 19
Last Wednesday was my 19th birthday and my request was that we go shopping in the market :) I really didn´t want a party even though they wanted to give me one, because it´s awkward to have a lot of people come for your birthday when you can´t really talk to them, right? We went to El Mercado Central, where we had gone before with the Chantilly team in the beginning of August. Wow, even though that was only a month ago, it feels like forever! Anyway, I had a lot of fun shopping, though I am so indecisive...it´s worse in a market because you´re trying to focus on what your looking for amongst all these colorful things, you´re trying to make choices between items and you´re trying to bargain for good deals. Oh, and on top of that I was trying to think money in Spanish, though most of the vendors know how to speak a little English. I still have trouble with numbers in Spanish, and then it messes up my adding abilities when I try to switch over to adding in English. Eventually, I made up my mind and bought a purse with hand-embroidered pink roses on it and I also got some earrings and scarves. Pretty good deal-I got my bag for $5. :)
Annnyway...the rest of the day went as normal, we hung out at the house in the afternoon, I made a gluten free ``cake`` for myself, and then we all went shopping for groceries and the boys got some new soccer shoes. When we got home from shopping, I helped a little to prepare for dinner by making guacamole. We were going to eat taco salad. Rossanita had finished cutting up the other vegetables, so we went upstairs to watch TV and wait to Chochy to call everyone to dinner. I checked my facebook and email, responded to the birthday wishes, and still, no call to dinner. It was 8:30, not very late for eating dinner around here. I thought, ``Oh, she´ll call us in a half an hour or so.`` But then I heard her and Mr. Ruano practicing their song for the kids camp, and still no dinner. Finally, at 10 minutes before 10, Chochy called me down. ``Feliz Cumpleaños Rachel!`` shouted Kitty, Gaby and Monica as they jumped out at me. They all gave me a big hug and then I heard firecrackers in the front of the house and Alan (Kitty´s boyfriend), the other Alan, and Edgar (Monica and Gaby´s brother) came in. So it was a good sized party, they invited only people that I knew pretty well. It was awesome! I was so thankful to be able to spend my birthday with all of them.
Even though I can´t eat gluten, they had to buy a cake so that I could blow out the candles! And, what´s a party without cake? Dennis J. tried to face-plant me in the cake after they finished singing- that was funny. You could see my teeth marks in the cake, but it all got eaten anyway!
Annnyway...the rest of the day went as normal, we hung out at the house in the afternoon, I made a gluten free ``cake`` for myself, and then we all went shopping for groceries and the boys got some new soccer shoes. When we got home from shopping, I helped a little to prepare for dinner by making guacamole. We were going to eat taco salad. Rossanita had finished cutting up the other vegetables, so we went upstairs to watch TV and wait to Chochy to call everyone to dinner. I checked my facebook and email, responded to the birthday wishes, and still, no call to dinner. It was 8:30, not very late for eating dinner around here. I thought, ``Oh, she´ll call us in a half an hour or so.`` But then I heard her and Mr. Ruano practicing their song for the kids camp, and still no dinner. Finally, at 10 minutes before 10, Chochy called me down. ``Feliz Cumpleaños Rachel!`` shouted Kitty, Gaby and Monica as they jumped out at me. They all gave me a big hug and then I heard firecrackers in the front of the house and Alan (Kitty´s boyfriend), the other Alan, and Edgar (Monica and Gaby´s brother) came in. So it was a good sized party, they invited only people that I knew pretty well. It was awesome! I was so thankful to be able to spend my birthday with all of them.
Even though I can´t eat gluten, they had to buy a cake so that I could blow out the candles! And, what´s a party without cake? Dennis J. tried to face-plant me in the cake after they finished singing- that was funny. You could see my teeth marks in the cake, but it all got eaten anyway!
Monday, September 3, 2012
Week 11
Haruko de Japón
The past two Sundays I got to deliver a few lines in a little skit for the kid´s church. They have a different story for each month, and this month the story was about a little girl from Japan called ``Haruko``. They had a girl from church dress up like a Japanese girl with the chopsticks in her hair and even make-up on her eyes to make her look Asian. It was so cute! haha. They needed someone to be the missionary, so, of course I was perfect, being the gringa that I am. The first Sunday, I had to memorize my little paragraph in half an hour. This Sunday, I had read over my lines beforehand, so even though I memorized them that morning, at least I was a little more prepared, and Chochy said that I did a good job. Yay! My last line this Sunday was ``Si ustedes son sabios, leeran la Biblia para conocer a Jesús como su amigo y Salvador.`` (``If you all are wise, you will read the Bible to know Jesus as your friend and Savior``)
Bible
Speeaaaking of the Bible, how have you all been about reading? Have you been challenged? I am trying to get in the habit of waking up and immediately reading my Bible- I have a stool next to my bed that I just leave my Bible open on. That makes it easier. Also, I like to read a little before bed, so that I have the Word fresh in my mind at night, as well as in the morning. It´s hard because I´m like ``Noo- I´m so tired!`` But then I think to myself,``You know, if I have a feeling I should read my Bible, I should never say no.``
Halfway!
So it´s already been over 11 weeks- out of about 21. Crazy! I feel like it´s been going slow, but then when I realize that it´s halfway over, I´m like ``Whoa! How did that happen!`` I had two dreams recently that my family came here to pick me up- early. I was relieved when I woke up to realize it was a dream. I mean, I am looking forward to being home, but I´m not ready to leave Guatemala yet.
The past two Sundays I got to deliver a few lines in a little skit for the kid´s church. They have a different story for each month, and this month the story was about a little girl from Japan called ``Haruko``. They had a girl from church dress up like a Japanese girl with the chopsticks in her hair and even make-up on her eyes to make her look Asian. It was so cute! haha. They needed someone to be the missionary, so, of course I was perfect, being the gringa that I am. The first Sunday, I had to memorize my little paragraph in half an hour. This Sunday, I had read over my lines beforehand, so even though I memorized them that morning, at least I was a little more prepared, and Chochy said that I did a good job. Yay! My last line this Sunday was ``Si ustedes son sabios, leeran la Biblia para conocer a Jesús como su amigo y Salvador.`` (``If you all are wise, you will read the Bible to know Jesus as your friend and Savior``)
Bible
Speeaaaking of the Bible, how have you all been about reading? Have you been challenged? I am trying to get in the habit of waking up and immediately reading my Bible- I have a stool next to my bed that I just leave my Bible open on. That makes it easier. Also, I like to read a little before bed, so that I have the Word fresh in my mind at night, as well as in the morning. It´s hard because I´m like ``Noo- I´m so tired!`` But then I think to myself,``You know, if I have a feeling I should read my Bible, I should never say no.``
Halfway!
So it´s already been over 11 weeks- out of about 21. Crazy! I feel like it´s been going slow, but then when I realize that it´s halfway over, I´m like ``Whoa! How did that happen!`` I had two dreams recently that my family came here to pick me up- early. I was relieved when I woke up to realize it was a dream. I mean, I am looking forward to being home, but I´m not ready to leave Guatemala yet.
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Challenge
Ok so I´ve been super blessed in my quiet times lately, even if they are just simple, me reading my Bible and praying. Nothing crazy, life changing. But it all adds up. Day by day, continuing in the Word. So I want to challenge you, are YOU reading your Bible?
Skipping reading your Bible is like not eating food...you are going to starve spiritually. Without even knowing it, you are going to be living on your own strength, which is living in the flesh. Not pretty.
For a while, I was kinda making my way through the New Testament, but I didn´t really have a plan. Then, I started the read through the Bible-in-a-year plan in the back of my John MacArthur study Bible, and it´s been really cool. Currently, I´m reading through Psalms and 1 Corinthians. There really isn´t much to read every day, it´s like 1 chapter in 1 Cor and 3 Psalms. And it´s set up that you read the NT in the morning, the OT in the evening, so that breaks it up even more. I like it that there is only a chapter to read in the NT, because then I can really meditate and focus on what is being said.
So, I challenge you. Read your Bible. You can be excited because everytime you open your Bible, you are opening your mind to the Word of God, which is the Truth. As Christians, we are called to hunger for God´s Word.
1 Peter 2:1-3 NASB ``Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.``
When you spend time in the Bible, you are giving God an opportunity to shape you. Starting your day with the Bible is awesome, if you are able to. It gets your focus right, and reminds you that you can be cheerful and full of joy because of Christ living in you!
Psalm 119 is so good! You should go right now and read it. Here´s a little tidbit.
Vss. 65-67 ``You have dealt well with Your servant, O LORD, according to You Word. Teach me good discernment and knowledge, For I believe in Your commandments. Before I was afflicted I went astray, But now I keep Your Word.`` Maybe that´s you, maybe you have gone astray. Maybe you think you don´t have enough time to read the Bible. Well, let me tell you that is a lie from Satan to discourage you! Pray that God will provide the time. Even a few minutes, start with that. Is there something else that you daily do that might be taking time away from your devotions? I am convicted when I go check my email before reading my Bible- that just isn´t right. I tell myself ``Oh, I´ll get to reading my Bible...later.`` Well, later never comes. And then the day passes, and no Bible.
Here are some more verses from Psalm 119 regarding Bible reading:
``I cried with all my heart; answer me, O LORD! I will observe Your statutes. I cried to You; save me And I shall keep You testimonies. I rise before dawn and cry for help; I wait for Your words. My eyes anticipate the night watches, That I may meditate on Your word. Hear my voice according to Your loving kindness; Revive me, O LORD, according to Your ordinances. Those who follow after wickedness draw near; They are far from You law. You are near, O LORD, And all Your commandments are truth. Of old I have known from Your testimonies, That You have founded them forever.`` Psalms 119: 145-152
I love those verses because the author is talking about ``rising before dawn`` to ``wait for`` God´s words. Then, he writes of meditating on God´s word at night. Obviously, reading the Bible is important! The Bible is Truth! Fill your mind with it, and you will be changed. Don´t be discouraged, but keep on going.
Skipping reading your Bible is like not eating food...you are going to starve spiritually. Without even knowing it, you are going to be living on your own strength, which is living in the flesh. Not pretty.
For a while, I was kinda making my way through the New Testament, but I didn´t really have a plan. Then, I started the read through the Bible-in-a-year plan in the back of my John MacArthur study Bible, and it´s been really cool. Currently, I´m reading through Psalms and 1 Corinthians. There really isn´t much to read every day, it´s like 1 chapter in 1 Cor and 3 Psalms. And it´s set up that you read the NT in the morning, the OT in the evening, so that breaks it up even more. I like it that there is only a chapter to read in the NT, because then I can really meditate and focus on what is being said.
So, I challenge you. Read your Bible. You can be excited because everytime you open your Bible, you are opening your mind to the Word of God, which is the Truth. As Christians, we are called to hunger for God´s Word.
1 Peter 2:1-3 NASB ``Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.``
When you spend time in the Bible, you are giving God an opportunity to shape you. Starting your day with the Bible is awesome, if you are able to. It gets your focus right, and reminds you that you can be cheerful and full of joy because of Christ living in you!
Psalm 119 is so good! You should go right now and read it. Here´s a little tidbit.
Vss. 65-67 ``You have dealt well with Your servant, O LORD, according to You Word. Teach me good discernment and knowledge, For I believe in Your commandments. Before I was afflicted I went astray, But now I keep Your Word.`` Maybe that´s you, maybe you have gone astray. Maybe you think you don´t have enough time to read the Bible. Well, let me tell you that is a lie from Satan to discourage you! Pray that God will provide the time. Even a few minutes, start with that. Is there something else that you daily do that might be taking time away from your devotions? I am convicted when I go check my email before reading my Bible- that just isn´t right. I tell myself ``Oh, I´ll get to reading my Bible...later.`` Well, later never comes. And then the day passes, and no Bible.
Here are some more verses from Psalm 119 regarding Bible reading:
``I cried with all my heart; answer me, O LORD! I will observe Your statutes. I cried to You; save me And I shall keep You testimonies. I rise before dawn and cry for help; I wait for Your words. My eyes anticipate the night watches, That I may meditate on Your word. Hear my voice according to Your loving kindness; Revive me, O LORD, according to Your ordinances. Those who follow after wickedness draw near; They are far from You law. You are near, O LORD, And all Your commandments are truth. Of old I have known from Your testimonies, That You have founded them forever.`` Psalms 119: 145-152
I love those verses because the author is talking about ``rising before dawn`` to ``wait for`` God´s words. Then, he writes of meditating on God´s word at night. Obviously, reading the Bible is important! The Bible is Truth! Fill your mind with it, and you will be changed. Don´t be discouraged, but keep on going.
Friday, August 24, 2012
Internet al fin!
So the couple nights stay at the cousin´s house turned into almost a week...yeah I guess things change last minute like that around here. Haha I was not expecting to be away that long! Thankfully I had enough clothes. The place that I was at was called Pantaleon, there is a sugar factory there and a river by the same name. The neighborhood I was in was really nice and they had a ``club`` that had a pool with palm trees and all. It was like I was on vacation all week! It was unexpected for me. I missed the rest of the Ruanos a lot, since only Rossanita went with me. And when we came back this afternoon, I realized how much I missed the city and all the people! Pantaleon is about an hour away from Guatemala City, it is sort of in the country.
The cousins have a maid who does all the cooking and cleaning, so we didn´t have to wash our dishes or anything. Or do chores. It was weird, because Rossanita and I are both used to helping out. They always had a newspaper, so I would read that everyday and try to pick up new words. During the day the cousins were at school, so Rossanita and I would go to the pool in the morning. Oh, by the way, I named this post is ``internet`` because they didn´t have any internet at the cousin´s. Not sure why. So when I got home this afternoon and got to facetime with my family it was awesome! We talked for an hour and a half...lots to catch up on over a week!
I´ve been learning how patience goes a long way...God always provides! I am used to getting a lot of fruits at the Ruanos, because they go to the market close to their house almost everyday, but at Pantaleon, the market isn´t within walking distance and they get their produce delivered to them because it is so far away. So I was like ``How am I going to live without fruit?`` but I shouldn´t have worried, silly me! On Thursday, Rossanita went to visit the school, but I stayed home with the aunt. We went in to town, a little town called Santa Lucia and we picked up a few things at the store. She asked if I wanted anything, and of course, I wanted fruit! Guess what I found? Guavas! She was surprised, she said that it wasn´t common to find them. Lately for some reason the markets don´t have them, and when they do, they do for only one day. So I felt like God was just blessing me with them. They were perfectly ripe, too. We also bought bananas, only 4 though because she said nobody in her family eats them. So funny for me, I can´t imagine not eating bananas! They are like a staple for me. It was probably the smallest quantity of bananas I have ever bought in my life.
I almost forgot! I learned how to make tortillas! The little, thicker corn tortillas. I have great respect for the ladies that make them now...it tain´t no easy task, let me tell ya. But I managed to make a few actually circular ones that didn´t have holes in them, and I even managed to flip some of them with my fingers on the hot griddle! Sucely, the maid at the cousin´s, taught me how to do it. She kept telling me to not be scared, in flipping them. I burned my fingers- that griddle was HOT! It was fun. I hope to find some Maseca (that´s what the flour is called to make the tortillas) in the US and make some fresh tortillas for my family. There´s nothing like fresh tortillas, kept steaming hot wrapped in a towel on the table. Mmmm.
So God totally dropped in my lap a witnessing opportunity. It was a 16 year old neighbor named Carlos who had a Catholic background. We started at first, talking in Spanish, but then I found out that he had been to the states a few times, once for 4 months, going to school there to learn English. So he knew English pretty well, and he asked me to speak in English (because my Spanish was so bad, haha). He asked me why I was here, and if I was a priest. Yeah, a priest. Are there even girl priests? I don´t know, maybe he didn´t know the word he was looking for in English. Anyway, since we were talking about church, sort of, I asked him if he knew where he was going when he died, and walked him through a few of the 10 commandments. I think he understood that he was a sinner but then he was giving me excuses, like ``Everytime I try to read my Bible, I just get distracted and watch TV or something.`` Pray that God will work in his heart, convict him and that he will be saved. It´s out of my hands, God does the work, I am simply the instrument. I am so thankful for the Way of the Master course that I had last summer, it is so helpful in sharing my faith! I hope one day to be able to do it in Spanish. :)
The cousins have a maid who does all the cooking and cleaning, so we didn´t have to wash our dishes or anything. Or do chores. It was weird, because Rossanita and I are both used to helping out. They always had a newspaper, so I would read that everyday and try to pick up new words. During the day the cousins were at school, so Rossanita and I would go to the pool in the morning. Oh, by the way, I named this post is ``internet`` because they didn´t have any internet at the cousin´s. Not sure why. So when I got home this afternoon and got to facetime with my family it was awesome! We talked for an hour and a half...lots to catch up on over a week!
I´ve been learning how patience goes a long way...God always provides! I am used to getting a lot of fruits at the Ruanos, because they go to the market close to their house almost everyday, but at Pantaleon, the market isn´t within walking distance and they get their produce delivered to them because it is so far away. So I was like ``How am I going to live without fruit?`` but I shouldn´t have worried, silly me! On Thursday, Rossanita went to visit the school, but I stayed home with the aunt. We went in to town, a little town called Santa Lucia and we picked up a few things at the store. She asked if I wanted anything, and of course, I wanted fruit! Guess what I found? Guavas! She was surprised, she said that it wasn´t common to find them. Lately for some reason the markets don´t have them, and when they do, they do for only one day. So I felt like God was just blessing me with them. They were perfectly ripe, too. We also bought bananas, only 4 though because she said nobody in her family eats them. So funny for me, I can´t imagine not eating bananas! They are like a staple for me. It was probably the smallest quantity of bananas I have ever bought in my life.
I almost forgot! I learned how to make tortillas! The little, thicker corn tortillas. I have great respect for the ladies that make them now...it tain´t no easy task, let me tell ya. But I managed to make a few actually circular ones that didn´t have holes in them, and I even managed to flip some of them with my fingers on the hot griddle! Sucely, the maid at the cousin´s, taught me how to do it. She kept telling me to not be scared, in flipping them. I burned my fingers- that griddle was HOT! It was fun. I hope to find some Maseca (that´s what the flour is called to make the tortillas) in the US and make some fresh tortillas for my family. There´s nothing like fresh tortillas, kept steaming hot wrapped in a towel on the table. Mmmm.
So God totally dropped in my lap a witnessing opportunity. It was a 16 year old neighbor named Carlos who had a Catholic background. We started at first, talking in Spanish, but then I found out that he had been to the states a few times, once for 4 months, going to school there to learn English. So he knew English pretty well, and he asked me to speak in English (because my Spanish was so bad, haha). He asked me why I was here, and if I was a priest. Yeah, a priest. Are there even girl priests? I don´t know, maybe he didn´t know the word he was looking for in English. Anyway, since we were talking about church, sort of, I asked him if he knew where he was going when he died, and walked him through a few of the 10 commandments. I think he understood that he was a sinner but then he was giving me excuses, like ``Everytime I try to read my Bible, I just get distracted and watch TV or something.`` Pray that God will work in his heart, convict him and that he will be saved. It´s out of my hands, God does the work, I am simply the instrument. I am so thankful for the Way of the Master course that I had last summer, it is so helpful in sharing my faith! I hope one day to be able to do it in Spanish. :)
Sunday, August 19, 2012
No big deal but...
A lot of things to blog about, so little time to blog! I am leaving for a few days to go to the Ruano´s cousin´s house, about an hour away from here. Probably won´t be on the computer until then, so let me do a brief highlight on what´s happened this week.
Concert
I was in my second Chochy concert this Saturday! The church we had it at was a lot smaller and wasn´t new looking like the church we had last time. It was super hot inside because it wasn´t opened up like most buildings are here. There was only enough room for the kids to sit or stand- the concert took up half the room! I was the heart again- ``El Amor``. I was so excited because this time, I took my time speaking my lines and I didn´t mess up! Also, I was expecting to hear my voice over the speakers, so it didn´t scare me like last time.
In good and in the bad
I had a couple bad days- just being really homesick and being tired of being here, but I hear that is normal...
I am doing sooo much better now. Thanks to first, Bible and prayer time that God blessed me with and second, tons of encouraging emails that came all at the right time. It is so exciting to open my email and have so many to read! Lots of wise words were spoken to me the past few days- even Bryan told me ``Don´t be sad, enjoy your time here, because when you are in the States, you are going to be sad and wish you could be here.`` At the time, I didn´t want to hear that, but I knew it was true. ``I love English so much! The US is awesome!`` A little mini-bout of cultural withdrawal. :)
Amusement park
So I went to a Guatemalan amusement park! Usually I am not scared on amusement park rides, but I wasn´t really sure about how safe they were, at first, so the first ride I was actually scared. Scared for my life! But nobody else seemed concerned, and they always checked seat belts before the ride, so I just trusted that God would protect me and stopped worrying. There was a ride really similar to the log ride at King´s Dominion, and then there was a drop tower and a roller coaster. It was a pretty small park, and there weren´t too many people, so we went on some rides like five times! It was awesome. There was this big group of gringos and so the group I was in was teasing me about asking them where they were from. But then I heard them speaking, and it wasn´t English. Somewhere in Europe, I knew.
``Hey, maybe they are the Vienna Boys Choir!`` I joked, since I knew that they had come to Guatemala recently for a concert. ``Yeah, maybe it is!`` the kids in my group said. They were all getting excited about it and telling their moms that Rachel said maybe it was the choir, and I felt bad, like I had lied to them because really I had no idea. But then, we had finished playing bumper cars and I asked one of the European kids where he was from, hoping he understood English. ``Vienna, in Europe.``
``Like, from the choir?``
``Yes,`` he answered.
Whoa! I was like ``Guys! It IS the choir!``
Later, there was another group from the choir and the girls in my group had me ask them in English for a photo- the funny thing was that the kid I talked to knew more Spanish then English, so I ended up speaking Spanish to him instead.
Yeah, so no big deal, but I spoke Spanish and played bumper cars with part of the Vienna Boys Choir.
Concert
I was in my second Chochy concert this Saturday! The church we had it at was a lot smaller and wasn´t new looking like the church we had last time. It was super hot inside because it wasn´t opened up like most buildings are here. There was only enough room for the kids to sit or stand- the concert took up half the room! I was the heart again- ``El Amor``. I was so excited because this time, I took my time speaking my lines and I didn´t mess up! Also, I was expecting to hear my voice over the speakers, so it didn´t scare me like last time.
In good and in the bad
I had a couple bad days- just being really homesick and being tired of being here, but I hear that is normal...
I am doing sooo much better now. Thanks to first, Bible and prayer time that God blessed me with and second, tons of encouraging emails that came all at the right time. It is so exciting to open my email and have so many to read! Lots of wise words were spoken to me the past few days- even Bryan told me ``Don´t be sad, enjoy your time here, because when you are in the States, you are going to be sad and wish you could be here.`` At the time, I didn´t want to hear that, but I knew it was true. ``I love English so much! The US is awesome!`` A little mini-bout of cultural withdrawal. :)
Amusement park
So I went to a Guatemalan amusement park! Usually I am not scared on amusement park rides, but I wasn´t really sure about how safe they were, at first, so the first ride I was actually scared. Scared for my life! But nobody else seemed concerned, and they always checked seat belts before the ride, so I just trusted that God would protect me and stopped worrying. There was a ride really similar to the log ride at King´s Dominion, and then there was a drop tower and a roller coaster. It was a pretty small park, and there weren´t too many people, so we went on some rides like five times! It was awesome. There was this big group of gringos and so the group I was in was teasing me about asking them where they were from. But then I heard them speaking, and it wasn´t English. Somewhere in Europe, I knew.
``Hey, maybe they are the Vienna Boys Choir!`` I joked, since I knew that they had come to Guatemala recently for a concert. ``Yeah, maybe it is!`` the kids in my group said. They were all getting excited about it and telling their moms that Rachel said maybe it was the choir, and I felt bad, like I had lied to them because really I had no idea. But then, we had finished playing bumper cars and I asked one of the European kids where he was from, hoping he understood English. ``Vienna, in Europe.``
``Like, from the choir?``
``Yes,`` he answered.
Whoa! I was like ``Guys! It IS the choir!``
Later, there was another group from the choir and the girls in my group had me ask them in English for a photo- the funny thing was that the kid I talked to knew more Spanish then English, so I ended up speaking Spanish to him instead.
Yeah, so no big deal, but I spoke Spanish and played bumper cars with part of the Vienna Boys Choir.
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