week one

Well this was week one. Everything is so strange it is hard to grasp. After a week of language school I am getting a little better at Spanish but I still can't really comunicate which is really frusterating. I miss everyone but I am still in the vacation stage so I haven't had much homesickness. Although I would love to take a long hot shower. The food here is definitly different from what I am used to eating. It's not wierd or anything it just has a lot of vegetables. I no longer believe that eating vegetables will keep you from getting sick, because I have eaten more veggies in the past week then i have in the past year and I now have a cold.

Our group hasn't been able to connect well since we've been here. Two of the girls and one of our support dads have school at night so it is hard to make sure everyone knows what is going on. I think we all feel separated because we had such an amazing week in LA when we were all living in the same place. Now we are all in pairs in separate houses. We are starting a weekly Bible study so that will help a lot. I am so thankful for our support families. They have fallen in to the role of parents so easily, it is amazing. They make sure we are all healthy both pysically and emotionally. They are there if we are sick or if we need emotional support. I am still amazed at the connection this group has made in such a short time. Our drifting in the past week has hurt everyone.

We all got together for one of the guys' birthdays. We had so much fun just playing random games and hanging out. I am now the only 18 year old. Everyone is so much older than me it is crazy. The majority of our group is in thier mid-twenties, but they still bring me into their group. It is wierd listening to them talk about school because they mean college not high school.

Well that's all I can think of for now.

Arequipa

I have been in Arequipa five days and I am loving it. It is so different from home. There are few personal cars, almost everyone takes taxis or combis (buses). There are no stop signs or stop lights, and the lines in the street mean very little. The buses don't stop at regular stops. When you want on you wave at one as it goes by and when you want off you tell the door person. It will definitely take some getting used to. The cars don't stop for you when you want to cross the street so you have to run. You hear horns going everywhere but rarly because someone is impatient. The taxis and combis use horns to get walkers attention to see if they want a ride. They also use horns as they come to a blind corner. They don't stop they just honk.

We went to church on Sunday and the only way I knew what Sunday School was about was because I have a Spanish/English Bible so I could follow along. The sermon however went in one ear and out the other. I can't wait until I can sit there and understand what is being said. Hopefully it won't take to long. I have started language school. We are learning very fast which is good but stressful.

If you want to see lots of pictures check out my facebook page. I haven't figured out how to put them on here.

Day 2 of Orientation

God is moving so much already. At the beginning of orientation we did an excercise that made me think, "What am I doing here?" but at the end of the night we watched a video that showed how great our God is. He created this universe by doing nothing more than speaking and yet He loves and cares for each of us. I know that no matter how hard the next two years are going to be I don't have to do them alone. He is my strength when I am weak.
Orientation has been a great experience and all the people here are fantastic. It is hard to imagine we all just met two days ago. Today we went to the beach for a little break. I got to see Santa Monica pier and hang out with everyone.
I have been doing so much it is hard to write about it with out writing a book, but if you want to know I can try. Just let me know. I will post pictures on here as soon as I figure out how.

LA

I arrived in LA Saturday afternoon. After flying out of North Bend about an hour late, I flew to San Diego and then to Los Angeles. When I flew into San Diego I got lost and had to ask for help because I didn't realize my plane came into the wrong terminal. So I had to go out of security, ride a shuttle to another terminal and then back through security. once I got to LA Brent Deakins and I wondered around Venice Beach while waiting to pick someone up at the airport.
Most of the other 40/40's got here yesterday. There were only three of us for a while, so we played eucre and ping-pong. We had a great time getting to know each other. Today we get to meet everyone else and start our orientation.
I hope I'm not boring everyone. I will try to get some pictures on here as soon as I have them.