First Day of Classes

Hello there faithful readers!

Today was the first day of classes for us here at Casa ACU. We started off the day with some breakfast and a chapel service at 8:30 and 9:00. We sang songs and talked about household things that we need to get accomplished. Obviously a lesson about servanthood was implied. Then I had a break and actually got ready for the day. It was warm and sunny until we went outside, then it got cold and rainy. We went to the store about a block away called America Latina and some of the other students got some supplies.

It was interesting because the only group that could go were those of us not in first year spanish. So because of that, we were all fairly good speakers and listeners so there was not too much translating for each other.

On our way back it started raining and the rain was really cold. We ran back to Casa and I had some chill time until lunch. We had pasta and tortas fritas (like giant sopapillas). They were delicious.

From there I went upstairs to biochem and for the majority of my readers, explaining all of that would be too much. Dr. Sutherlin tried to let us out early and then remembered that we had class all the way until 3:00 and not 2:30. Since we are all here in Casa, she just called us back for another thirty minutes.

After that thrilling class, we had a three hour class of INTS about Uruguayan and South American Culture and stuff like that. I think that that class in particular will be good to have in order to remember why I am here this semester. I am hoping and praying that I can dive into my studies and into this culture whole-heartedly.

We are going to start a class for english speaking on Thursday nights for people at the church. I am hoping to be able to converse in some english and spanish and really grow through that experience with a conversation partner. I am also hoping to volunteer at the elementary school once a week to read and stuff to the kids there. They are in english from the time that they are little, but much like spanish in the US, it's not reinforced at home and so they forget easily. What an opportunity is that to break stereotypes of Americans and such for little kids!

Please be in prayer for my ministry here as it is with our group and with the Uruguayans that I am blessed to interact with. Tomorrow I start class as a foreign exchange student at the University Catolica here in Montevideo! Pray that that goes well.

Love and Blessings!

Last Day of Summer!!

So today officially marked our last day of summer here in Uruguay. That is because of the fact that we are starting school tomorrow, not because the weather is changing. Although, it is in fact changing. Apparently it is turning back to winter tomorrow. We are going to be having highs in the fifties instead of the eighties like they have been.

Today we got up and went to church which was of course, all in Spanish. It was sweet magic, but naturally, I couldn't understand much because the men that were speaking spoke so fast! I am so excited about being able to understand more and more as the semester goes on.

After church, we greeted everyone (with a kiss on the cheek of course) and then went back to Casa. We decided to go to the other feria, street market and walk around for a while. We all spent about an hour there in small groups of about three. I got some lunch from a bakery for about $2 and kept walking. We saw all sorts of things at the market: puppies, bunnies, plants, clothes, household goods, knicknacks, and much more. It was all very cheap and the streets were very crowded. For me it was like being in a giant, downtown, Ross, the day before Christmas. (for those of you who don't know me, I don't like shopping that much, Ross, or the day before Christmas eve). Honestly though, I enjoyed the experience. When in Rome, right?

After that we walked home and while some of them went out to lunch, I took a nap. Thrilling, I know.

Then when I got up we went to the mall at Tres Cruses, the bus station. I got some school supplies, like a folder that is the size of Alaska and some cool pens I might have to stock up on them before I get home. We decided to take a little excursion after our time with the youth from the church this evening. We went down to the beach and threw around a frisbee for a while. It got dark so we headed back for about an hour long walk. Ben, Abel, and Taylor kept Linley, Dara and I safe though.

Finally, we had our worship in english tonight at 9:00. Wade leads a nine-o-clock worship in Abilene so it is ironic that we have them here too. We discussed the people in the Bible that had cross-cultural experiences and discovered that most of anyone who is anyone in the Bible had those types of experiences at some point during their lifetime. So cool to think about.

Well, kids, classes start tomorrow so I am going to have to sign-off here. I hope and pray that all of you are doing well! :)

Slideshow of Pictures!!

Yerba Mate and Being Four Again

Hey-0!

Well today was a blast...again. Our first adventure started when we went to the bakery to get some delicious things for breakfast. There were about six of us went and set out around 9:30am, having to be back and ready at 10am. Thankfully, the bakery was not very far away, about three blocks. We walked in and being the type a that I am, I ordered first. I was one of the more advanced people that were on this little excursion so I had good pressure to make sure that it went okay. I asked the lady a couple of questions about the baked goods and then decided I was not going to be able to understand her anyway. I pointed and said a couple of numbers and she piled them all into a bag. I got to the register and the man talking to me said the number so fast that I had no clue what he said. It ended up being about 75 cents in US dollars and I got breakfast for like 3 people. Awesome!

Then the next girl, Allie got up to the counter and he asked her which one of us spoke the best spanish. She didn't know what he said, so she said, something like, "My spanish is not so good." The sweet patient man said, "Does anyone speak better spanish than her?" (pointing to me). She said "No" (I don't think she understood the question) and he had like an "Oh dear goodness if that one is the best...I quit."-face going on. So I laughed and took my treats outside.

Then we went to the mall, Puntas Carretas, and then the Ferria. The mall was very American, the market was not so much. We didn't like it and we were getting hot (a group of about half of us) so we decided to look for some food and get a bus to the beach for the rest of the afternoon. We just randomly started walking (safe, I know) and ended up at the mall again. We had lunch and decided to go back to CasaACU then and chill for the afternoon. Since we have being going and going and going since we got here, it was a good break.

After a short nap, some House, some unsucessful school supply shopping, and talking to Collin, we had a tour of the rest of the building that we are staying in. We walked all around and even went up on the roof at sunset. We actually, four of us, got stuck in the old elevator that goes up to the roof, kinda sketch. It was beautiful though.

Then we came down and met some of the youth from church. We drank mate (ma-tay) and tried to communicate. It was getting late and we were hungry so we had some pizza that the church had ordered for us. We got to sit and try to talk to the youth, but it was interesting because they speak no english, for the most part, and we speak reletively little spanish. Good times in another language.

When that was all over and cleaned up, we came back to Casa, and watched the Disney animal version of Robin Hood. Good times. Then we went and worked out together (again about half of us). We started kicking a soccerball around, and then added a football, and then added a couple of other balls and it got crazy. Linley took one for the team and I can honestly say I broke a nail... :( It's good though.

So after about 30-45 minutes of acting like four-year-olds in daycare, we have gone back to our rooms and are writing about the day.

Thank you so much for your prayers for me, my family, and our group as we are growing closer together all the time.

Blessings! Let me hear from ya!

And I would walk 500 miles and I would walk 500 more...

Today has been a very exciting day! We started off this morning with breakfast with eggs, bacon, sweet breads and breads with ham and other stuff in them! Delicioso!

Then we had our orientation where we heard all about the city and our schedule and trips and stuff like that. It was long but definitely worth the information that we got. We talked about safety and classes and such. Then we had a prayer meeting and talked about our hopes and fears and roadblocks for this trip. After lunch of something like Shepherd's pie, we set our for an adventure of a lifetime.

Wimon took us on the bus to the Plaza de Indepencia which is like downtown. If Montevideo was NYC, this would be the Time Square. In this middle of this square is the statue of the Uruguayan overall military and otherwise hero, Artegas. More on him later. This statue was quite impressive and showed the obvious admiration that the Uruguayan people have for this man.

After that, Wimon gave us a paper with some things to find and write down the answers: our first assignment for our international studies class. After that point, the set us all free in groups of three to four and we had to find the answers and wonder slowly back through the city to the Casa. We went a little bit further, into the old city, and walked along the walking streets. It was beautiful and incredible! Then we went into a cathedral and were amazed by the art: sculptures and stained glass. That was as far down as we went. My group then split off and walked though a handcraft market and back to the square.

From that point on we wondered along the main street of this side of town, 18 de Julio, and took pictures. One big thing in Montevideo and Latin America as a whole is the plazas that they have every so often that are like parks with a statue in the middle of it. There were about 4-5 on the way back to Casa (about 2 miles). We had a lot of fun people watching at one point. We just sat down in a plaza and discretely took pictures of people and watched them as they went along. After about an hour of sitting and being still, resting our feet, we kept going. We walked along 18 de Julio all the way home. We passed the national library and a lot of shops. In front of the library there were two statues that we were asked to take note of: one of Cervantes and one of Socrates. Pretty impressive, eh?

It was a long walk home, but we finally got back to casa safely and were glad to have some water and a seat. My group was the first ones home, after about 3 hours of "walking home from the plaza" and we decided to go and get some food, even though it was very early for Uruguayans.

On our way out, we met Dr. Sutherlin, our faculty, and some other people at the door, they were going to the supermarket to get some food to cook for dinner and so we all went along together. I got some shampoo and other stuff, but we decided to make dinner all together. We got some pasta and sauce mix for dinner. We got back to casa and discovered the GIANT amount of leftover empanadas and shepherd's pie, so we only cooked half of what we got. We still had SO MUCH leftover. It was fun and good. We have to light the oven (el horno) and the stove (el estufa) by hand, but I think I can do it now. I got some video of us cooking and I will get it up as soon as I can.

After dinner, we got together and several of us walked about 3 blocks to get some helado (ice cream) and it was DELICIOUS! The cone was the best part. There is so much good food here we are going to have to find a gym soon. Although walking almost everywhere helps!

Currently, we are watching the Goofy Movie in english with several of the students. Wimon, Rosalinda, Rachel, and Dr. S all went to dinner and we are left to our own devices. We have had a great day and I can't wait to see what comes next. I think that this will feel more permanent when we start classes on Monday. As for now its like a vacation on crack and in a different hemisphere!

Love yall!

Estoy Aqui!

Hola y Bienvenidos a Montevideo, Uruguay conmigo!

Porque estamos en Uruguay necesito habla en espanol solamente. ?Ta?

(Because we are in Urguay, I need to speak only spanish. Ok?)

No just kidding. I thought it might be fun to have a little spanish intro for all you blessed bilinguals out there. I hope that everyone's day is going well, but since this is my blog I am going to talk about what my day has been like!

We said a good farewell to Abilene yesterday at 11:00AM and got to DFW about 1:00PM. We were questioned about our visas and got all of that cleared up in time for our 5:00PM (CST) flight.

We then went to Miami and had some Cuban food at the airport. I had a turkey sandwich. Ok, not for more pertinent information.

We boarded the flight and then were told that we were actually going to Montevideo instead of BA as originally planned. So the Montevideo-bound passengers were elated. The BA-bound were quite upset.

I got some good Spanish practice on the flight. The lady next to me was from Argentina and the lady on the other side of my study abroad friend Jamie was from Uruguay. Jamie's new friend spoke only Spanish.

I had taken two advil PM in order to help me sleep but in the middle of the night there was this lady behind me that decided to stick her foot between Gracie's and my seats and flail her foot around a bit, knocking over my Sprite. So then I was awake and I decided to go ahead and walk in order to avoid the much dreaded and potentially fatal DVT (deep vein thrombosis [blood clots in your leg that break off and travel to heart, lungs, kindeys, etc.]). So I was getting up and Jamie's friend asked nicely, "?Pasar?"

I responded mentally, "Why the heck are you speaking Spanish to me? I just woke up and my brain is not on. Being bilingual requires my brain." Then I remembered, "Oh, you don't speak English. Perfect. Okay, brain, please turn on, Spanish, please!" So I responded, after a short blank stare, "Si. Por favor."

Did I mention that our flight was supposed to stop for three hours in Buenos Aires but they rerouted the flight and took us straight to Montevideo? Oh, yeah. That happened and we got to Casa early. Awesome.

We had a great lunch of empanadas (pastry things: Delicious) and then headed out for a scavenger hunt in Montevideo. We walked the whole way and it was great. My main observation is that this is a big city. On the order of New York City. It smells like a city too.

Anyway, we got some time to rest after that and then went to dinner at Marcada de Abundancia. We got to go shopping when we first got there. We were too early for dinner: 7:30PM was too early. We finally sat down to eat about 8:15 I suppose and we weren't joined by any other dinner guests until like 9:00PM. I can't wait until I am adjusted enough not to be hungry until 9:00PM. Crazy! I had a chivito which is like a steak with mozerella cheese and ham and a fried egg on top of it, all on top of a giant bed of french fries served with mayo and a small salad. It was crazy good, but crazy high calorie too. We are going to find a gym...tomorrow! :)

Then we took another crazy taxi ride back to Casa and he didn't know where we were trying to go and didn't speak any English. We got some practice and some at dinner too because I sat by Sandra, an Uruguayan lady that works with our program and she said I needed to practice. After that point, naturally, she refused to say anything in English to me. Praise God! This is what I need to take the next step towards fluency!

When we got back, we went on a brief adventure through the house/building and found the workout room. Good thing. Then we talked for a while and the girls really bonded a bit more.

I can see that God is working out wonderful and amazing things for this trip and the group that I am with. I pray that He remains visible in our lives and that we don't become so busy in learning this culture that we forget the One who sent each of us here.

Let's Go to Montevideo

Hello everyone!

Welcome back to my blog of my travels around the world. If this is your first time reading this blog, I would encourage you to take a peak into the "Samoa Files" which start directly after this post with a video of my kids there. Most of you will already know how incredibly important American Samoa was and is to me. Those of you who don't, take a quick gander and let me know what you think.

This post isn't about Samoa though. This post is about the incredible journey that is knocking at my front door right now. The time has come to pack up and depart for a semester of Latin American fun and Spanish practice. I am departing tomorrow for Montevideo, Uruguay, to chill down under for about 3 and a half months. My next fifteen weeks are bound to be fun, exciting, challenging, and who knows what else.

Please pray for me and stay up with me as I will miss all of you back at home dearly. I pray for a safe and transformative semester for all of us. There are 16 of us going, with a guest faculty, Autumn Sutherlin, and two program directors, Wimon and Rosalinda Walker who are already there.

Pray for safe travels and please comment to let me know you are following. If you are not a member of Blogspot and do not wish to join (it's free) please email me (kah07a@acu.edu) or skype me (screen-name: wildkathugs).

Blessings!

Kate