algun dia...

Well good friends...
It has been about 5 weeks since we got back from the good ol America del Sur. All week I have been thinking about Uruguay like crazy. I mean the whole time since I've been home, not a day has gone by without something of the last semester popping into my mind. But this week...it's been like that TIMES A MILLION!

I have started to blog several times since I have been home, but I haven't been able to get very far. I am always thinking about things I want to say on here and thoughts to share, but there are too many so I always feel overwhelmed. I have put this off so that I can sit down and collect all my thoughts and write one really long post. Well, this is me throwing that idea out the window. There will never be a time when I can just think about everything I've learned from being there because I continue to learn from being back. Last semester will continue to teach me for the rest of my life-just like my semester in Oxford. There are constantly things I think about from that trip as well. So this Sunday afternoon, I decided to light some candles, listen to "Jesse y Joy" for a little Latino inspiration, and camp out on the floor of my bedroom to collect just a few of the thoughts that have been racing through my head.

My goal for today's post: To compare my feelings from leaving Oxford to leaving Montevideo.
There we go- that last sentence was mainly for me. I tend to go on tangents so if I can clearly see my goal then maybe, just maybe I can stay close to that topic. I'll let you be the judge.

People ask me all the time, "So which did you like better? Oxford? or Uruguay?" I thought by the end of the semester I would be able to give an answer. But the truth is, the experiences were both literally and figuratively worlds apart. When someone asks me that question they might as well ask me which I like better, chocolate or cheese. Impossible. I like them both for different reasons and I eat them at different times. I would never fill a plate with chocolate and cheese and enjoy them at the same time. Yet separately, I can thoroughly enjoy them and I can certainly compare them, but I couldn't tell you that one is better than the other because they are two completely different types of food. They accomplish different purposes, so to speak. Wow- I kind of can't believe I'm using this as my metaphor. Hopefully you can sort of see the point I am trying to make. God used both Oxford and Uruguay at different times in my life to accomplish different purposes.

The experience I had in Oxford was fabulous. It was an enchanting place to live, almost mystical. The group of students I went with became family to me and to this day many remain my closest friends. I traveled to eleven different countries and experienced cultures from Morocco, Africa to Greece, Portugal to Sweden, and many places in between. I traveled almost every weekend and bonded so closely with the other ACU students. We saw the world together, or so it felt. Those people will never be forgotten, and the places are moving pictures in mind. I saw the beauty of Almighty God all around me. As the semester came to a close, I was sad to know that these deep friendships and connections were forced to part, at least a little. There was no denying that those dynamics would never be the same again. It was the sad but true reality. I knew we would all still love each other so much, but we wouldn't be living life together. I could no longer run over to House 9 to the "GSP room" and Jam to music with Ben Rogers and Jason Toy. I couldn't sit with KrisAnn Christian in the empty room of House 10 and sing and play guitar. I couldn't make breakfast, lunch, and dinner with my precious roomy Daley Niederhofer. I coundn't sit in the stairwell until the wee hours of the morning just waiting for passer-byers to snag and chat with until they were sick of talking. I would no longer have two houses full of students to complain with about the papers we had to write because we had just spent the entire weekend in another country. I could no longer make midnight runs to Ali's for burgers 'n chips with Grant Vickery. I would no longer have Zach Smith to make sure I made all my buses and flights and had all my confirmation numbers and important documents. Little did I know, however, that I would STILL have my precious little Jessalyn with me...I miss you already mi compañera de cuarto. (I have only seen her twice since we've been back. It's rough.)

I could go on forever about the things I continue to miss from that semester in Spring 2008. I loved every moment of it. I didn't even want to leave. I felt like I could come back to the States, spend some time with the fam, and head back to Oxford and keep living with the same people, in the same house forever. It was truely an incredible experience and I learned so much about myself, my strengths, my weaknesses. I learned about art and architecture, government, war, and the common threads that tie history together. I saw God in some of the most beautiful places my eyes have ever seen. It truely was altogether beautiful.

When I first sit down to think about the two experiences, I realize it was harder to leave Uruguay than it was to leave England. En serio, I realized that the last few weeks we were there. I wondered why I so badly wanted to stay and I realized what set this semester in Montevideo apart from the semester in Oxford was the relationships with the Uruguayan people. I had incredible relationships with the people on my trip to Oxford, but those people were coming back home with me. True, I didn't want to leave that wonderland with those people, but I knew I would see them again. This time, there was no guarantee to see my precious friends again. Not only was I leaving place and experience, I was leaving relationships. Strong, tuggin'-on-your-heart-strings relationships. When that reality began to set in the last few weeks, it made me want to stay there even longer. It made my heart even heavier to spend time with them. I didn't want to leave. I don't know when Jess and I will get to take Mikaela to a Spanish movie. When will I play volleyball with Mathias in the courtyard again? When will Andrea, Martin, and I sit and laugh in our room impersonating the "gangstas" of Montevideo? When would Morgan, Lawson, Stefanie, Ema, Grady, Diego, Jessalyn, Rachel, Andrea, Martin, and I go back to the steps of the banco to take mate and watch Diego dance? When will we get to go spend the night at Andrea's house? When will I ever go back to the Vino Nuevo Church and sing songs and play guitar with Pablo and Andree? Every day I think about one or more of those times. A few nights ago I stayed up until 2 a.m. just watching video from the semester. Why would I do that to myself??? SHEESH! And no, I did not tear up...

The pretty places I visited all across Europe and into Africa were incredible. The moments I shared with those people from ACU, I would not trade for the world. The things I learned about the world outside the United States and the sheer knowledge I attained while abroad in England are invaluable. It still makes me sad to think about times I shared with people there that, even though we still go to ACU together, life and circumstances don't allow the same types of bonds and memories to be created. (I realize that last sentence is poorly structured, but I don't feel like thinking about how to rearrange it- thanks for your understanding).

The relationships with the Rodriguez family, Andrea, Emanual, and the people at Vino Nuevo are eternal friendships. I am confident in that. We will remain friends and will think upon each other forever. Sure I still talk to them via email and facebook, but it's hard because you can only go so deep with a computer screen. There was just a peace about when we were all together that just fit. It just made sense that we would be close. And those of you who followed us all semester know so many of the things these people taught us that are things I never would have learned had I not "done life" among them. I am eternally grateful to my Uruguayan friends.

It's funny because when I got home from Uruguay I spent the first few days in Abilene. Guess who the people were that I first went and visited after family time...my fellow Oxfordians. The people I went to Oxford with are the ones who I've talked to most this summer. I have found they are the most interested in my excursions to Suramerica. They ask questions about what it was like in comparison to our semester together in Oxford. Then we laugh and tell stories of OUR excursions abroad and make fun of each other for all the embarassing character quirks we uncovered about one another- all in good fun of course. And there is a depth with those friends that I don't have with others.

SO...I did a pretty terrible job at telling which was "better." The truth is, I was swept off my feet by both experiences. I have grown tremendously and a lot of that growth is simply realizing how much more growth I have to go! Isn't that exciting? I'm halfway facetious, halfway genuine.

Throughout the summer, as Jess and I go through more pics and video we will be posting more goodies for you faithful followers. Actually, I have one video already in the making and I plan to work on a lot more stuff on the 20th during our drive to Port Aransas, TX for a little family vacation. I mean, IF I'm not thoroughly enjoying the 7 hours of all 7 us sitting on top of each other in my momma's Suburban. So keep checkin back for more fun Uruguayan LOCOS!

home again home again.

Well here we are in the U.S. of A. Home again you could say, but that is a hard line to draw these days. Adjustment is hard, the pain of missing friends is real and we all left to our respective homes to deal with the changes without one another. Not only are we missing our friends who we will see again in the fall but we're missing the people we left behind that we won't see for an amount of time that only the Lord knows.

Leavin on a jetplane

Hiya guys!

Well it's 10:20 a.m. and we are packing up to head out. We have a devotional at 11, lunch at 12, and the bus gets here at 1.

I did, however want to post again and let you all know that you should still keep looking at the blog occasionally over the summer because we will be posting some follow-up blogs. Maybe even a video, and some photos.

It's been a crazy couples of days...well- weeks really. Lots of tears. Lots of laughs. The usual. Such is life, dear friends.

We have been blessed beyond measure this semester. I hope that we've been able to bless Uruguay in return.

Pray for our safety so we can be sweetly reunited with family and friends.

We just found out that some of our friends are riding with us to the airport. We are some of the more excited people on the planet.

It's hard to believe that a year ago this time we were preparing to leave Oxford. It feels like forever ago. As Jess and I have talked, we feel that the transition back home will be harder to make this time. We have both been learning so much here and have encountered and been a part of this culture at a different level than we did in England. We have deep personal connections here. It seems that the more we change homes, the less at home we feel in any one place, because we are always missing a little piece. But, hey- our citizenship isn't on this earth anyway.

We are excited to see the faces on the other side of that plane ride.

Hasta pronto,

Face

and a month later...

I give up. I hope this video isn't such awful quality that it's unwatchable. (made that word up.) Brazil

no lo puedo creer...

Still in a state of unbelief down here in UY. A week from this moment I will have been in Texas for almost 12 hours already. Nuts.

Just wanna give a rundown of this week. We have been so busy with preparations for finals, dinners with friends, and activities with the group. They are keepin' us busy down here. Jessalyn and I both have already started packing things up and setting aside piles of things to leave here. Today Andrea came over and I happened to be putting some things in my suitcase. She made a sad face with eyes pleading me to stop, so I quickly kicked the suitcase back under my bed. Jessalyn told me today that she's really hurting for Andrea because Andrea told her that she doesn't even want to meet people anymore because they always leave. I don't claim to know exactly how she feels, but I do know how it feels to leave many relationships. Leaving Oxford, to name one, was extremely hard. Yes, some of those people I went to Oxford with are still some of my best friends and all of them will remain close to my heart, but the reality is that things are never going to stay the same. You get close to people, learn beautiful things from each other, and then take those things you've learned with you and sow them into the next relationships and the next places you go.

This time last year I did NOT want to leave my house on Canterburry. It didn't even seem fair that people would move into MY home, only a week after I left. They shouldn't get to call it home...They surely could not feel about this place the way I feel for it...These are the thoughts I had. But the truth is, it was someone's home before me and it would continue to be after me. It's crazy how, in four months time, I can be so in love with a place and a people I hardly knew existed before my arrival. But that is how I felt about Oxford, and that is how I feel about Uruguay. I call them both home. And though things and circumstances were very different, they are both places I will never be able to completely separate myself from.

Okay...we need to quit talking about these things for a bit. I can only handle so much. I need a break from my mind because I seriously think about these things all day long. It's rough. Today was especially bad because I went out walking. Note to self-don't go walking while listening to your "chill" mix on your ipod while in an emotionally unstable state unless you want a bunch of strangers to stare at the tears rolling down your cheeks. Especially if you have no sunglasses to cover them up.

By the way, I wrote a song yesterday morning. Also, I decided I am going to record some of my songs and the Spanish versions of them on CDs to give to some of my friends here. Shout out to Garage Band!

This blog is a whole bunch of randomness, but that's how things get when you are about to leave home. Things get hectic and crazy and if you don't make notes to yourself as you go throughout the day, you will never remember everything you need to get done. That's how I feel about this blog. There is no theme. There are only things I do not want to forget to say. So I will deliver them as they come. If the lack of fluidity bothers you, get someone else to read it and summarize it for you or something. In fact, I'll just go ahead and outline some of the highlights.

LAST NIGHT- we had an evening tea at a fancy little tea parlor and we invited all of our teachers and lab professors, as well as Raquel and Mariella. They all looked so beautiful and so did all my little classmates. We all joke that we are not going to recognize each other around campus because we will actually have make-up on and wear clothes other than our PJ's to class. And if we are feeling really crazy we might even take showers and do our hair. Okay, so we're not that gross down here. All the time, at least. Anyway, all that to say that everyone looked lovely last night. Not that they don't always. But... uh....ok I'm diggin' a ditch.

TODAY- was dia de muerte. DEAD DAY. Yesterday was our last day of classes and today was our prep-for-finals/cram study day. Just kidding. We college kids never cram for anything. We are always efficient with our time. But seriously, it's been a fun day. I have been sitting right here on my bed for most of it, editing essays to submit in my Travel as a Narrative English portfolio. We have all been sippin' on coffee and maté all day long. I try to like that maté mess because I think it looks really cool and legit when people drink it, but I'm afraid I don't enjoy drinking something that tastes like grass (sorry Uruguayans... and Jessalyn). Go ahead and dump a handful of sugar in it and I'll sip it down like water, though (Here they say that only women and babies drink maté like that- "con azucar"-Well I'm proud to be a woman, thank you). I did buy a maté gourd but I'm afraid I am only a poser, and I'm pretty sure I'll be sippin' coffee out of it when I go home.
ALSO TODAY- we had a special lunch for Mariela and Raquel. Wimon and Rosalinda, with the help of many vegetable-choppin' maniacs, cooked up Beef Curry as a way to bless Mariela and Raquel for cooking for us all semester. Zanessa made rice crispy treats for dessert (don't worry, Mom- yours still win, hands down) and Lawson saranaded the ladies with a beautiful Spanish song he had learned. What a sweetie.

TOMORROW- we have FINALS! wahoo! Not only that, but the whole town is basically shut down. It's Labor Day here. Uruguayans do it right. Literally NADIE works and NADA is open. Raquel and Mariela made Shepherd's pie for us to heat up for lunch tomorrow since they have the day off. Wimon and Rosalinda volunteered to cook us all dinner if we'd pitch in. They are cooking up some kind of African Stew. They sent us an email telling us not to worry because they would be make a less exciting, more bland pot for the not-so-adventurous eaters in the Casa. So thoughtful, those Walkers.
ALSO TOMORROW- night we have a pajama party at the Casa! There will popcorn, bonding, lots of laughing, and a slideshow that Lawson put together from pictures that everyone submitted. I forgot to submit pictures. But I can imagine myself in most of the pictures- I know pretty well what I look like because, believe it or not, I have lived with me for my entire life. Crazy, I know.

Well, that's about as far as I will go for tonight. I need to get back to revising my essays and then get some good shuteye.

Paz y Amor,

~Face

no need for coffee this morning

This morning I went with Halie and Kortney to the little private school around the corner to teach English. Turns out this 6th grade class knows a good bit of English. I was quite impressed. Many of us here at Casa ACU have gone to help teach and play English games with the kids at the elementary school and have had good feedback from the school teachers. Though we had to wake up a bit more "temprano," the kids were certain to wake us up. I had forgotten how much energy such little beings are capable of exerting. Kortney, who had been to the school three times before, said this was one of the calmer classes- I sure am glad I picked today to go. En serio, this morning was loads of fun and, not to mention, an enjoyable way to earn service hours.

One of the requirements of study abroad is volunteer hours. I think the purpose is to make sure students are getting involved in the community and it ensures that we will work side by side with the Montevidean/Oxfordian people. Some students have volunteered teaching English in an institution called the Alianza. Others have helped with conversation clubs with the Iglesia de Cristo next door. Sweet Sarita has been spending time with a young boy with Downs Syndrome. I have been helping with a church youth group, which unfortunately started only two weeks ago, so I have only just barely scratched the surface with these teens. I wish it had been going on all semester because I would have been able to establish relationships and trust with the girls I've met.

Anyway, this short video shows just one of the many opportunities we've had to get involved in our community. That's right. OUR community.


SCHOOOOOL from Kara DuBose on Vimeo.

From my home on Colonia,

Kara "Face" DuBose

por fin...por FIN!

por fin! tenemos un video! Finally, we have a video. It isn't the best quality upload but hopefully you will allow it to suffice and grant me forgiveness for my insufficiencies. :) !!!

lugares que son hogares.

OK, I've made some changes to this post- and its going to be a long one... Last night Kara and I were obviously on the same page. We both posted and when i went back and read hers i got a kick out of their similarity. We're so cute. I'm going to combine both of our posts from last night.

(Kara)
I'm sitting upstairs in an empty classroom with my laptop, my guitar, and a Pepsi. Que mas necesito?
I have been playing my guitar a lot this week. I think it's a comfort thing. I can be alone and sing sappy songs like "leavin on a jetplane" without anyone judging me. Seriously though, playing and singing this week has been theraputic. Two weeks from today I will already be on a plane back to Texas and as much as I want to be there, it is getting harder and harder to want to leave. I didn't expect to feel this way and I think there's a few of us others who feel the same way. Our nights out with friends have been incredible and I feel like we are just now getting comfortable enough with each other and with speaking Spanish to each other and it is hard to want to leave them, knowing that I very well may never see them again.

Andrea asked Jessalyn and I to spend the night with her tonight. We couldn't tonight because it was such late notice that we didn't get to ask Wimon and Rosalinda for permission, but I think we are going to stay with her on saturday night and then we will all come back here for church in the morning. I can't believe she asked us to come over! Here, it means you are very close friends if you are invited into a home. Jessalyn has said a few times this last week, "I could just kick myself for not inviting her over more." We feel that way about all of our friends. We could have spent more time with all of them. Andrea has come to hang out every day this week...even without Martin (her boyfriend). Andrea doesn't speak any English and she is a little shy so it has been fun to see her come out of her shell. We have really enjoyed getting to spend time with her.

Tonight they had an English speaking conversation club at the church and a bunch of the Casa ACUians went next door to help our church family with their Inglés. I didn't go, but it is something that the students are quite enjoying (they had one last Wednesday night too). One of the cute little old men, Ruben, is an artist and he brought everyone little keychains he made with Scriptures on them. He is so sweet and happy ALL THE TIME. He actually looks a lot like my great uncle Jim...but a little más tan.

I went to a different church tonight. I usually go with Zanessa and sometimes Carolyn and Sarita on sunday nights and wednesday nights. It's a church, but it's almost like a rehab of sorts to help people get off the streets and to become free from addictions. Zanessa and I always stay afterward and talk with our friends and I usually play guitar and sing with my friend Andrés. Rosalinda helped me translate a song into Spanish so I could teach it to Andrés and once I had taught him the Spanish version, he wanted to learn the English version. He speaks zero English, so it was fun trying to teach him how to pronounce English words-so cute. I enjoy being with my friends from that church so much, and I feel like I am just now becoming really close friends with them too. After church tonight, one of the worship leaders was talking to me and telling me how much they were going to miss having us there and how blessed they feel. It was so ironic to me, because they don't even have a CLUE how blessed I have been by watching them serve the Lord with such glad and sincere hearts. They have truely shown me the love of God. Let me offer you a brief example of the type of things they teach me every week...

Primero, a little background...Since I have been here, God has really been teaching me about giving and also showing me what it looks like to follow Jesus, not worrying about clothes or money or any of those things. Side note-I could do a whole series of blogs on this subject alone. He has taught me so much through his Word and his people here. I am constantly being challenged in many areas and I pray that he gives me the grace to be able to put into action the things I have learned.

Okay, so last wednesday night I was sitting next to my friend Laura (Andrés' sister) and thinking that when I leave, I want to give her a few shirts. In my head I was going through the clothes I have here and for almost every option of what I might give her, I thought, "well...but I'll want to wear that at home," or, "mmm...maybe I could find something I don't like as much." And even as I was thinking those thoughts I thought how silly and selfish of me to be thinking that way. It was like a mini-battle in my mind. It's ironic how stingy I can be, when I have been given so much. Anyway, once the service was over I was talking to my friend Gabriel and he had pulled a shirt out of his bag and I mentioned "oh me gusta tu camisa" (I like your shirt). It was a nice pearl snap that looked brand-spankin' new. He said "this one?" I nodded. He said "regalo" and handed it to me. I tried to refuse it and told him that I just like it but I wasn't asking for it. He kept shushing me and just saying "regalo- es un regalo para ti"- it was his gift to me. Again I told him he didn't need to give it to me and he just kept right on saying "por favor" JUST EXCEPT THE GIFT! He gave me his new shirt. May I remind you that he lives at this church and hardly has any clothes. Yet, he gave it to me like it was nothing. Nothing. Wow. Talk about a SLAP in the face. Now THAT, friends, is a disciple of Jesus Christ. These are the kinds of things that happen here all the time. This is just one tiny glimpse into the way God is teaching us things through his Uruguayan people. They are precious. Irreplaceable. Unforgettable.

Friday night we are having an "Open House" here at Casa ACU so we can invite all our friends to come share our home with us. We are going to whip up some snacks and even put on a little "show de talento." It should be lots of fun. I'm sure there will be pictures and/or video footage of the event. We have some funny and albeit extraño (strange) characters living in this house, so it should be one interesting talent show. Maybe I'll write a funny song in Spanish...I would hate for my hilarity to be lost in translation ;-)

Jessalyn has aquired quite the fan club from the little girls from the Iglesia de Cristo next door. It's pretty precious. She has a gift with these kids, that is for sure. I'll let Jess tell you more about the girls, but she has invited the little twins over a few times this week and she lets them play "Barbie" on the computer and draws with them. I love the pictures they draw for her. Maybe she can take some pictures of the pictures and put them up here for you. I bet she would do it if I asked her to. I mean, I'm only the best roommate she's ever even thought of having.

Well, once again, it is past my bedtime as I click "publish post." Luckily, I don't have class tomorrow morning, so I can sleep in. Oh how I love to sleep. OH! And tomorrow is hot breakfast day! I love to sleep, but I really do love food. Tuesday we had banana pancakes. Jealous? Should be. The sooner I close these eyes, the sooner morning will wake me for some good home cookin'

Hasta pronto,

~Face~

(start jessalyn)
there is still no video. It already feels like so long ago. Tonight i am sharing my journal entry for our class. Usually it contains a cultural observation about what we learn or see or feel or stub our toe on in Uruguay. Tonight though, I had a little trouble coming up with something observant.


my thoughts instead, posted as such-

I don't really have a cultural observation to commentate this week. I am however very much fighting the feeling of the unstoppable end quickly approaching, not necessarily with dread but with a healthy mournfulness brought about by change. I had to turn down a friend's invitation to stay with her for the night, morose doesn't make for a good house guest.
I left Europe after 6 months and felt like it made an impact on me and I loved it ever bit as much as I love Uruguay, it was a very different love, a much more complicated love, but love all the same. However I knew that after I left there wasn't but one or two people who would even know that I was gone and they probably didn't even know my name. I gave months of my life to England and I know that when I make it back there, there won't be a soul who will even know that I ever called England home. I loved England, but England never loved me.

Knowing that I can leave Uruguay and Uruguay will miss me just as much as I'm going to miss it makes leaving much more like cutting off an appendage then simply letting go of its hand. I've done this twice now but I've been pulled between two homes for a long time. I've done it every year since the third grade. I dream of one, find it and then miss the other. I see the same things happening with some people who come to Zambia with us that I've seen happening with the study abroad experience. (I feel like in my experience I'm warranted an opinion, and in my opinion) There are many people who come with ACU to live in Uruguay or England or visit one place or another and leave profoundly impacted, but they leave and the place that they leave behind continues on without them as if nothing ever changed... like England continues on without me.

I realize that not everyone gets the opportunity to be pulled between the five different countries that were called home in one year or the chance to make more of their time in Uruguay this year than they did in England last year, but my advantageous life situation makes me feel no less accomplished for what I see as being one great accomplishment. That is to have really lived in Uruguay, to have not simply visted for four months wishing that I could find somewhere that sold Heinz ketchup. I feel like there is more I could have done, and things I could have done better, but even now I am sucking my last moments dry because I didn't just come and stay in this place for a while and love it as an outsider, but I met Uruguay and I'm going to miss it when I'm gone not as a stranger but as a friend.
Some people are counting down to when they can leave this still foreign place to return to their friends and their lifestyles, but I count the days only so that I don't miss a single grain of sand that siphons through the neck of the hourglass that's end will for me once again mean packing up the the heart that I haven't given away or left along the way... and ripping in half as part of me stays on the runway while the other half thinks about seeing my granddad's face.

Such is the life of an itinerant. Así es la vida de un ambulante... but better an itinerant than just a stranger.

wait for it...

ok listen. there will be a video within the next two days. Once again it's done but there are problems with the upload. It's because where I am, there they (technical problems) will be.

nada mas.
Chau
j

Diego

Today we have a special treat for you. For Kara's 'Travel as a Narrative' class Prof Shelli Sanders had them all write a profile about someone they've met here in Uruguay. Kara wrote about our cooks here at the casa. Our lovely housemate Lawson Soward is also in the class and he chose to write his profile about one of our good friends from the adjacent church, Diego. Lawson very generously is allowing us to use his profile about Diego for the blog. Kara and I thought that it would be good because Lawson did a good job showing the impact our friends here have made on us... and even it barely begins to show the depth of it.
Note: remember that all quotes from Diego have been translated from original rapid Uruguayo Spanish for your enjoyment.



Lawson Soward

A Mountain Next to a River

“Happy Birthday, dear Diego! Happy Birthday to you!” and the chorus died to resounding applause. In true Diego form, he pulled out his lighter and blew out the flame, smiling and bowing to the friends that surrounded him. People began eating and Diego eventually retreated down the hall and as I followed I saw that the typical maté group had been whittled down to the bare bones. Jessalyn, Stefanie, and Emanuel were all assembled near the entryway steps talking, making Diego the even fourth and me the fifth wheel. Nonetheless, I exploited every chance I got to go spend time with Ema and Diego, my best Uruguayan friends, regardless of group makeup. Our group assembled, we walked out the door towards the statue of Artigas.

We walked past three hamburger stands, without stopping once unusually enough, and arrived at our typical two benches next to the weathered statue of the Uruguayan hero. We began chatting and passing Diego’s maté around, taking refreshingly warm sips of the from his perfectly crafted, green-tea-esque yerba drink. Diego’s matés were always more tasty somehow. He had it down to an art. “A mountain of yerba next to a river of hot water.” I could remember his instruction but never get it quite right. He was Uruguyan to the bone. His tanned skin looked darker under the streetlights, but his ever wet half-mohawk-half-mullet glistened in the poor lighting as well as anywhere else. He was a solid guy of medium height, but you could barely see him behind his Jessalyn-shaped shield from the cold.

Conversation continued. “My dad called me today.” It was a rare occasion where I was able to understand part of Diego talking to Ema at native speed. “He told me happy birthday and couldn’t believe that I was 19 and that it had been so long since we last talked. “ I asked him when the last time he saw his dad was. “Christmas. It was a lot of fun having everyone together. I miss him sometimes but it’s not a big deal.” Diego lived with his two brothers, two sisters, and grandparents. His father lived in Barcelona, Spain. I asked him about his mother. “She left about two years ago. I don’t really know why or where, but she left.” He went on to discuss how she now lives back in Montevideo, but they didn’t seem to be in contact. Momentary pensions out of the way, he put his arm around Jessalyn’s shoulder and talked about how glad he was to be out with friends.

We talked about friends back at home, how crazy the weather was in Uruguay, how we should all probably exercise more, and everything else that popped in our heads. I actually took a moment to remove myself from the situation. As I took a warm sip of yerba; I was struck by the realization that I was hanging out with friends – real friends, not just people who I lived near in a foreign country – goofing off, and talking about whatever. Holding Diego’s maté I realized how at home I felt in an entirely foreign place because of the friendships I was sharing on a cold bench near a rusty statue.

Diego was hungry and I was glad that his usually omnipresent hunger had returned. As we approached the stand and warm blood began flowing through my veins again, I told him that I would buy him a hamburger. All the stores were closed by the time I got out of classes and I had not been able to buy him a present, so I insisted that a hamburger was the least I could do. He laughed, gave me a friendly shove, and refused. I insisted; it was his birthday and he had bought me food at the football game over the weekend. “It doesn’t matter that it’s my birthday, I can pay. Plus, I bought food for everyone at the game, so you don’t owe me.“ I stood amused, impressed, and frustrated by the unwaveringly generous force that was Diego and his equal stubbornness to accept the generosity he so freely gave out. Less than two minutes passed before Diego asked me if he could buy me a hot dog. All I could do was laugh.

I decided I wanted some chocolate so we walked to the store and I bought the biggest bar I could find. Sharing with friends was a subtle way I could get him to accept a gift. As small as dessert was, I was desperate to do something for my friend who had done so much for me. I was sure to divvy the chocolate in waves so that he would be inclined to accept more without hesitation. I was finally able to give something to my friend, from whom I was always receiving.

When we got back home I asked him for a few insights into his life. While every question revealed more about a man who filled his life and the lives of everyone around him with joy, one stood out more than the rest. When asked whether he viewed life as half full or half empty, Diego had the following to say.

“Full. Above full. It’s overflowing. I am lucky enough to have many friends, a happy life, and to enjoy studying [the culinary arts]. I love and have felt loved in everything that has happened in my life, everything I have been able to do, and the people I have been able to do it with. I have never felt forgotten by anyone.”

Hearing his answer, the rest of my questions were of little consequence. I knew why he never felt forgotten and why he would never be forgotten by me.










Emanuel & Diego

From left: Rodriquez brothers Martin, Mathias & Diego

it's that same time of year

Easter Sunday from Kara DuBose on Vimeo.

Video by Carolyn Howell.

Here's a short video of our Easter Sunday Festivities here at the Casa ACU. It is important that you know that Carolyn Howell filmed and put together this video. It was neither Jessalyn nor I who constructed such a beautiful project.
THANK YOU CAROYLN HOWELL!

Also, here are two blogs you can look at to see professional videos and pictures of our trip to Brazil. This crew was sent to capture footage with legit cameras. Don't worry- we're making a video too. Though ours may not be the same quality of video, it is undoubtably quality footage!

http://scottinsouthamerica.blogspot.com/
http://ronnieruizblog.com/

Three weeks. That's virtually all we have left in this peach of a place. I'm in a weird place- and by place I am not referring to location. Oh no, folks- I am referring to a state of mind. I've been here before and I remember the feeling well from Oxford. I am looking forward to what's ahead (Texas soil, Harold's Barbeque, TexMex food, family, friends), but overwhelmed by the sad reality that this time in my life will never be repeated. This time last year I was in Oxford in the backyard of House 9 on Canterbury Road eating a cajun chicken sandwich from On the Hoof, drinking a strawberry juice box from the "9 to 9" convenient store, enjoying the company of some of the best ACUians I've ever met just playin' guitar and singin' improv songs about each other. Oh man. Those were some good times. Even then, I missed the same things I am missing right now. Yet I was torn between two worlds, both seemingly knowing nothing of the other.

Three weeks left. Have I said that already? Well, this year the things I am going to miss are different from those of enchanting Oxford, England. I am going to miss the precious people I have met here- the Uruguayan people and all the things they have taught me. I have loved being a part of their lives. I am so blessed by them and I don't even know how to show or communicate how much they mean to me and how thankful I am for them. I'm sure I will give you guys a list of things I have learned from them and from being here on the last week here or the first week I'm home. But if I go into it now, I'll get all mushy and nobody likes that. Plus, I am sort of trying not to think about it so much just yet. Which is also why I am watching a marathon of "The Office" tonight. Some of us in the ol' Casa ACU (including both professors and spouses) are on season 3 of The Office and loving every bit of it. I never have time to watch TV at home, so it's been fun to have Office parties. In fact, Shelly and I were talking about that tonight-- the fact that it's been so nice here to not have to juggle a million different things or balance hanging out with friends and family. At the same time I do miss all those different activities to be involved with back in Abilene and going to friends' houses and getting to see me brothers and cousins whenever I want.

We've had some great community things here at the Casa since Brazil. Raquel, the fabulous cook we've mention many-a-time, invited us all to her house this last Saturday to have a cook-out. We got to meet her husband, one of her sons, 2 of her 5 dogs, and see a traditional Uruguayan house with the Asado pit built into the backyard. Some of the kiddos then went to the Uruguayan rodeo that was in town. They all really enjoyed themselves as well as the Latin American fair foods such as churros and tortas fritas. I wish I would have gone, but at the time all I could see was mi cama (my bed) eagerly awaiting me. Nap time always seems like a good idea, but in retrospect often seems like time waisted. Anyway, I think it was something like $4 (that's US currency) to get into the fair. Add that to the list of things I am going to miss about this place.

Side note- Raquel has a son that lives in Fort Worth. COWTOWN! My home sweet home. She told me that she'll be there on May 10th for Mother's Day. It gives me joy to think that if I keep in touch, maybe we can get some Latin America Study Abroad Alum to road trip to Forth Worth the next time she is in the States. Zanessa has a lot of Raquel's recipes written in a notebook because she often helps Raquel cook in the mornings. I have only helped a few times, but Raquel is so eager to teach and so patient with us. Anyway, tonight Morgan is typing out Raquel's recipes and she's sending me a copy. If thou art wise, you will get in touch with me when I get home and get the recipes from me.

Tomorrow some of us are going to the zoo with nuestra profesora de español- AMELIA! She recently discovered that a bunch of us do not have classes on Wednesday afternoons and so she invited us to hang out with her. The week before Brazil Stefanie and I went out with her. She took us all around the city to different museums and interesting historical sites and told us stories of her childhood here and how different life is now in Uruguay. Then we went to a little outside café and she treated us to El Chaná coffee (El Chaná is the name of the coffee factory that used to be where Casa ACU is today- same brand of coffee). She really is a rare and precious treasure of a woman. We decided that every Wednesday until we leave, we will do something with Amelia. Hopefully tomorrow more people will come to the zoo with us.

Today a handful of us reregistered for the YMCA for our last 3 weeks here. It was fun because we saw our friend Mauro's mom there- the lady that first signed us up- and she was so happy to see us. We talked with her and she congratulated us on our Spanish improvement. She was very helpful today. It felt good to be back at that gym. I can't wait para escalar (to climb) again! Hopefully I can go Thursday night. Also, on Saturday they are taking a rock climbing day trip. If someone else will go with me, I am definitely not going to miss that. Or maybe I should just brave up and go by myself- it would be a challenge, but I would get to have a lot of conversations in Spanish and I am sure Mauro is going, so I would at least know him and a few other people from the Wall.

Well, it is now 12:30 a.m. and I am a bit tired. Plus, I haven't seen Jessalyn in like 2 hours and I'm starting to have withdrawals (this summer is going to be rough) so I'm gonna post this sucker and head back to the room. (Side note- Stefanie is cooking dinner. Just now. Did I mention it's half past midnight?). This is another reason to hurry to bed because the smell of fried rice is now permeating the loft, so conveniently over the kitchen. Ok...Maybe just a bite ;-)

Once again, Shout out to Carolyn Howell for making an INCREDIBLE Easter video!

stay tuned

So it's 4 a.m. and we are BACK from BRAZIL! We would have written while we were there but I'm afraid Jessalyn and I decided at the last minute not to lug our laptops along. We heard that there was no Wifi in the hotel. We were wrong. Wifi there was. Anyway, because of the current time, I will not be narrating our "viaje" just yet. I will, however, have you know that we once again have a smorgasbord of photos and video for you fine folk. Our lack of blogs in the past week is in no way directly proportional to the amount of blogs to come. So stay tuned because were are definitely lista para asombrar with our tales of Brazil. Oh, and also- you guys missed Jessalyn's birthday. It was April 9th. This was her second birthday in a row to be in transit from one country to another. Last year we were one a train from Paris to London, and this year we were on a 20 hour bus ride from Brazil to Uruguay. Rough lives, we know.

Anyway, we will be posting early this week, but maybe not this weekend because we have LOADS of homework to catch up on. I guess they have to make up for the time we aren't in class by giving us readings and essays. Oh well. I don't really feel like I have much room to complain. Others in the house may disagree, but to each his own.

I said it once, I said it twice, and yes I will even say it thrice. STAY TUNED. or else!

con mucho amor

Kara Dawn

PS-As beautiful as Brazil was, it feels good to be home. Uruguay, dulce Uruguay.

The video lives.

It's here! whew, just when I was about to get angry. :)



You can thank Kara for this video.

happy birthday to me.

It's a week for doting on Raquel and Mariela I suppose, because it just so happens that at Casa ACU today it was my birthday and man... they did good. Really it's not today it's the 9th but we're going to be in Brazil then and so today was my day of celebration and choice foods from our lovely cooks. I wouldn't expect much but it was definitely more than I did expect, and of course our visitors from ACU added to the fun. If you're not jealous you should be. :)

Here we have two wonderful helpers Kara and Sarita rolling and cooking tortillas. (and not pictured-Zanessa. Who constantly is a HUGE help around the house... if you don't do your dishes you're really a jerk... cause you KNOW that Zanessa will do them for you.) I chose fajitas for my lunch because there are three things that you really can't go wrong with when it comes to Raquel y Mariela... Fajitas, chivitos, and chocolate. Actually... there's really nothing you can go wrong with but I was under pressure to make a decision.

(that's Zanessa in her pj's... hehe)

The lovely and wonderful Raquel and a lovely set up.

... ok, ok so we might have set up this nice little display because the ACU guests were here, but you can't discredit how awesome that cake is and I'm sure would have been just as wonderful simply to celebrate how awesome I am. Right?...
Raquel came to get me when it was time for the desert and singing part of lunch... but she told me I had to wait "porque Mariela fue a obtener una cosa especial" because Mariela went to get something special... it just so happened to be small rockets to top the cake. Wicked cool.
I told them I didn't really want to use the birthday song for celebration but they sang it anyway. However, Stefanie and Kara did make good on their promise to sing the Fresh Prince of BelAir song after I blew out the candles. I was pushing for a song from the Cranberries but I was denied. Oh well, I was definitely satisfied on my fake birthday.



Whoah... just whoah.


I've never been thanked so many times for being born... so thank you God for making me, but more importantly for making Mariela and Raquel who made this cake.

Now I have a short video of the other night at the Uruguay vs. Paraguay World Cup elimination game. The video from Peru is coming... please have patience. :)
oh... and Please do not watch this if you are a victim of motion sickness. Neither ACU, Kara and I, or Study Abroad Montevideo will be held responsible for any illness that occurs from watching my poor filming skills.


¡SOY CELESTE! from jessalyn massingill on Vimeo.

"almuerzo" means lunch

Good evening viewers,

I am taking a "Travel as a Narrative" English composition class here (I'm sure I've mentioned this before). But I decided that I want to include some of our class writings in the blog so that you can read a little bit of what we students write about this beauty of a place. So the first one is from yours truely and it is my assignment due tonight. Yes, I do have a night class in study abroad. But don't worry because I actually really enjoy it. Plus, we change it up and go to cafés and such to have class sometimes. It's a grand ol' time.

Oh side note- we have had our Peru video ready to post for 3 days now but our internet (the awesome one that you guys get to hear about at least once a week) will not stay connected for long enough to download the sucker. Pero, no preocupadan (Don't worry). Pronto. Pronto y muy pronto.

So here's my essay for the day. Disfrutan! Enjoy!

"I can smell it from all the way up here in the loft. I am in the middle of typing a paper for my English class, but it is now 12:29 and I cannot help but smell the occasion that awaits me in only one minute’s time. We have lunch promptly at 12:30 every weekday and today is my professor Nathan’s birthday. Every birthday boy or girl gets to select his or her very own Happy Birthday lunch, complete with a delectable dessert of choice. Thus far, there has not been one meal served here that I have not wanted to dive into, swim around, and slurp up. And I do not anticipate today as the day for change because Nathan gave me a sneak-peek of his Birthday menu.

I do not how I am going to finish this paper in one minute, though all I lack is a closing sentence. I cannot get my mind or my nose, and not to mention the saliva dripping from my lips, off of the heaven that I smell downstairs. Final sentence, you must await my return. Who says you can’t have your cake and eat it too? I am going to have mine right now and I am certainly not leaving it to be eaten by any of my other voracious classmates.

I turn the corner of the kitchen and who is there to greet me with a “Buen Dia!” and a big smile, but the infamous Raquel and Mariela. They are our cooks here at Casa ACU. Raquel is a head taller than Mariela and both Uruguayan women wear ACU T-shirts hidden by a well-used apron, hair tied back with colorful handkerchiefs. Every weekday they arrive at around 8 in the morning to set out the breakfast food. Immediately thereafter they start cooking lunch and the aromas of oregano and garlic often fill the house, making it near impossible to focus during Spanish class. They use oregano in Uruguay like we black pepper in America.

Today the table is filled with toppings for the chivitos, which are Uruguayan oversized sandwiches with everything a creative mind can come up with piled on top. Nathan requested grilled chicken chivitos. Good thing grilled chicken is healthy because I certainly make up the calories and fat with the olives, bacon, cheese, ham, French fries and mayonnaise stacking up to the apex of my sandwich. My chivito is officially un-bite sizeable. Lucky for my mouth and belly, I have encountered this “problem” too many times before. I simply practice the squashing technique and voila! A Panini!

I better not eat the whole thing because Nathan told me what he requested Raquel for dessert—“anything with a whole lot of chocolate.” He might as well have told them, “just go ahead and make me some heaven.” Raquel and Mariela make the best desserts I have had in my young adult life. Even foods I do not think I like turn into love at first bite when consumed from the hands of Raquel and Mariela. They have had years of experience. I cannot wait to sink my teeth into the “anything with a whole lot of chocolate” dessert because I know Mariela worked in a chocolate factory for seventeen years before she got this job.

Both of these women have been cooking their entire lives and they both have big families to feed every night when they leave the Casa. They have worked here for about nine years now and only started taking cooking classes when they got the job. They cooked and cleaned the Casa for the ACU students and took cooking classes in the evenings. Raquel told me that in even during her childhood she made little foods for her baby dolls and all through school she always molded cooking equipment, the majority of which were broken by her brothers’ roughhousing. I know how she feels. I find it odd that Mariela does not like cooking much because since I arrived here just three months ago, her food has found plenty of ways to make it’s claim on my body. Raquel, on the other hand, is so passionate about cooking that she cannot even name a favorite type of food to cook because they all bring her so much joy. If she could cook one food after another, after another for the rest of her life she would be happy. I once asked her if she had any other favorite hobbies besides cooking and she just laughed and said, “watching cooking shows.”

There it is—the chocolate heaven. If it were a light my pupils would definitely be burned out right now. I make my way through the maze of chairs and up to the kitchen counter, my eyes fixed on the goal. This prize is more like a surprise. Not only does this chocolate cake contain four types the richest, gooiest chocolate ever to set sail on my tongue, but Raquel and Mariela baked dulce de leche into the middle of the cake. Wait- there’s more. Raquel just pulled hot fudge off the stove to pour over my mound of chocolate. Father, forgive me for what I am about to do."

one and one makes two.

MORE ABOUT PERU!

We chose to do the Machu Picchu trip later in the week, so Thursday morning we woke at 5 and went to get our tickets for the bus ride. The woman at the hostel had advised us when we checked in that before we did anything we should go and make reservations to climb Wayna Picchu. Wayna Picchu is the Mountain adjacent to the ruins and only 400 people are allowed to climb it per day. We ended up being numbers 32, 33, 34 onto the mountain. When we signed out, the girl who came in as number 250 signed out before us and person number 300 something followed us out. Needless to say we stayed a long time. Five hours in fact... but it was exactly what we were looking for.


Along with pictures of Machu Picchu you'll find other random pictures from the trip.... enjoy.

-shmessalyn.

Peru

First stop- LIMA
We left the house at 3:30 A.M. to get the airport in Montevideo. We made it to Lima by 9:45 (Peru time) and had a taxi driver and a sign with Kara's name on it waiting to take us to our Lima home. Our first hostel was in Miraflores in Lima. interesting fact about Miraflores- The fog you see in the picture is a regular occurrence and it causes that part of town to be about 20 degrees cooler than the rest of Lima... which is good... cause it was pretty hot.(in Lima)
In the next picture we have Stefanie playing the out-of-tune hostel guitar as we wait for our accommodations. When you only pay 10 dollars a night sometimes you have to be willing to wait on your service. We switched hostels 5 times in the course of our week. They ranged from really COOL to "I should've payed more money so I could've stayed somewhere with better blankets cause I'm freezing COLD."




The first day we hung around Miraflores and at night hung out at the hostel with the people staying in our room. Stefanie had the symptoms of an on coming cold before we left Montevideo and her influenza hit its stride the second morning we were in Lima. She opted to stay in because none of us had much sleep under our belts from the traveling and really the best cure for her was rest. Kara and i went into the world of Lima. We took the map the hostel worker outlined for us and headed by taxi to the Plaza San Martin.

(Kara D. Dubose hangin out in the Plaza San Martin)


(Plaza de Armas, and Cathedral in Lima, Peru)





Let's be honest, shall we?-Kara and I are terrible tourists.
It's painstakingly true. With nary a guide book and very little desire or intention to find the Rick Steve's crowd (no offense) we got out at the Plaza San Martin ready to slowly make our way through downtown. After I made Kara stand with me for a 5 Peruvian Soles polaroid, we turned onto the suggested pedestrian street that took us to the Plaza de Armas. We genuinely enjoyed these main attractions and we even voluntarily opted to enter the Cathedral like a good tourist would. (mom would be so proud.) Admittedly, as we stepped out of the sun and under the high ribbed vaults the cool air of the Cathedral was comforting and reminiscent of our semester in Europe where cathedral visits came with every trip... but by that time the main attractions were seen (and honestly a little mundane, though no less awe inspiring) and we really thought it time to venture in to the part of Lima where a blonde and a dreadie became the strange minority... and my camera was the only one to be found.
(Note: I'm speaking in the past tense, so no amount of cautionary advice or warnings to be heeded will change anything I narrate... we know we stick out. All is well and I got some cool pictures.)

CUSCO
I imagine watching us in as we had our first day in Cusco would've been somewhat like watching the three of us win the Miss America title, except with out the dresses and makeup and more like three messy haired girls wearing the same clothes they wore the day before. (which allowed for more jumping up and down than a prom dress would have... and nobody cried.) Luckily we were very intuitive in our trip planning and assumed based on our personalities that we would much rather spend the majority of our days in Cusco and simply visit Lima. It just so happened we were very right. We stepped of the plane into cool air and a mountain range as a backdrop to the runway. We contained our excitement all the way to our hostel... but as soon as the helpful desk woman left us with our key and our room jubilees, celebratory bed-jumping commenced.



Some of our hostels may have been a little rough (a night with no water, concave beds, smelly mates) the first hostel in Cusco was the best welcoming we could have had. We sipped on Mate de Coca for the altitude and looked at the skyline of downtown Cusco. wicked. We spent a lot of our time in Cusco relaxing and enjoying the place... we didn't shop, ever... at all.






















CUSCO day3

Day three in Cusco we were picked up from our glorious hostel by the adventure agency. We wound through the mountains for 45 minutes to the place we were going to run off the side of the mountain... like dummies.
This is the random and beautiful spot we picked up our instructor.




We spent the day Paragliding and waiting. It's a slow process but it was a beautiful day and what is there to complain about when you're taking naps in the Andes mountains? I went first. Everyone thought it was really funny how hard it was to fit the helmet on my head. I personally wasn't amused as it seems to be a reoccurring theme in my attempts at head wear. I won't hold it against them. We also though it was pretty funny that in his instructions I was told to "don't sit, no jump... run off of mountain. Run off of mountain." All I want to know is, what idiot discovered how to do this? As it were, my super wonderful parents bought me a new telephoto lens for Christmas. We used it to take pictures while we were in the air. You can't tell but in this picture that Kara took, I have on awesome socks.



If you think thats all we have. It's not. In fact we're not even halfway through, but for both of our sakes I'm going to let this story be continued. I'm going to get one of Raquel's cookies.

chau.
jessalyn

regresamos a la Casa

¡Amigos! ¡Familia! ¡Hombres! ¡Mujeres! ¡Y niños que tienen todos los años! We have just arrived back to the Casa ACU at 5 a.m. this mañana! We have a countless number of pictures and videos we took while on our travel break to peru. Between the both of us I think we have something like 2000 photos and and an hour of video. We paraglided over the Sacred Valley in the Andes Mountains, hiked up Waynapichu in Machu Picchu...TWICE! (stay tuned for the full story a little later this week), and successfully navigated around Peru, serving as our own travel agents. We met people from Australia, the Netherlands, Germany, and Israel (to name a few), and stayed in a total of five different hostels.

We even met a young lad from the good ol' state of Texas who just might be a future Wildcat. We'll just go ahead and give you the story. So the Hadas del Aire (our team name, if you will remember) were chillin' in the Plaza de Armas in Cusco one night. We were about to retire for the eve because we needed to wake up at 4:30 the next morning for our train ride to Aguas Calientes (the town below Machu Picchu). Then, lo and behold! Kara's purple and white radar started beeping at an incredible fast pace. There right in front of us stood a blond young lad wearing black basketball shorts and a purple ACU Wildcats T-shirt. Kara whispered to Jessalyn and Stef with astounding excitement, "Dude! That guy's wearing an ACU shirt!" To which they responded, "nooOOoooOOOoo waAAaaaaAaaY!" So...long story short...well, really it's not a long story at all- the guy ends up having a brother that is a Freshman at ACU right now. We talked to him and his dad for a few minutes, told them to say a sweet hello to Texas for us, and carried on with our travels through this small little world. We were so pumped about the encounter that we stood in a little cirlce and began to sing "Oh dear Christian College, we loooove you-our dear Alma Mater today..." Ok, so we didn't actually sing it. But, you can imagine how cool it would have been if we did. ACU is legit.

We've been talking a lot about how little time we have left- 6 weeks, we calculated. This has FLOWN by and we're sure it will only get faster from here on out. AHHHHHhhhhhhhHHHHHHhhhhh. Crazy.

Anyway, this blog post is mainly to tell you to brace yourselves for some rockin' pictures and videos that we both will be working on so that you can pretend you were an Hada del Aire too.

So...we are excited to be home, but LOVED Peru.

More to come. VERY soon.

Con amor,

Los Dos
(the both of us)

las hadas del aire

I feel like it has been ages since I have actually talked in depth on this blog about what is going on in our crazy study abroad lives. I'll tell you one thing- no two days are ever alike. One thing you learn, whether by will or by force, is the lesson of a little thing I like to call flexibility. Ah mi amor! Flexibility! It is something that I am very much accustomed to, having grown up with the Grizzwalls for a family. And how I loved every moment of it. But I get the feeling that on our travel break this week, my previous lessons in flexibility are going to have ample opportunity to be excersized

Team Hadas del Aire (Stefanie L, Jessalyn, and yours truely) will be making our way to the country of Peru for our 10 day free travel break. And yes, of course, we have a team name. Hadas del Aire. Fairies of the Air. Jealous? Should be.

If we so choose to change our team name at any point we have reserved the liberty to do so. But I feel the name is sufficient considering we plan to do quite a good bit of "following the wind" in Peru. Did you know that the Greek word for "wind" is the same word used for "spirit? Nooma. SO I guess if we wanted to have a trilingual name we could be "Las Hadas of the Nooma," but it just doesn't have the same ring to it.

We depart tomorrow morning at 4 a.m. for Lima, Peru where we'll stay for a few days before heading to Cusco. We have a few things planned but we decided to leave our days open so we can pick and choose what we want to do when we get there. We are changing hostels almost every two nights so I am sure we will get to meet a lot of interesting people in the hostels during our journey. Who knows? We may make friends and go white-water rafting with them. We also want to go bungee jumping or even try this human slingshot thing we saw videos for online. Cusco is our oyster and we plan to milk it for all it's worth. We will be ending the trip with a "tranquilo" trip to the ancient Inca ruins of Machu Picchu. If you haven't seen or heard of Machu Picchu, I suggest you go ahead and open a new tab right now and pull up a pic of this beauty. Or I guess you can just wait till we get back and Jessalyn posts thousands of AMAZING photographs. You know, on second thought you should just wait for her pictures because hers will contain something that the pics on the web will not contain...ME, of course!

There is another group here who is really following the wind. Carolyn, Benjamin, Dorothy, Zanessa, and Sarita Peters are going camping in Cordoba, Argentina and they planned to have an UNplanned trip. We are all excited to hear about the people they encounter and the things they end up doing. They want the focus of this trip to be learning how to trust God to lead them where they need to go and to the people he wants them to encounter. Don't worry- they have their tickets and the campsite organized, but they have left from for some direction along the way. Flexibility, my friends.

Everyone else is going to Peru as well, but we are all going different ways once we get there. A large group is going to LAS AMAZONAS! They are going on a four day boat trip through the Amazon river basin on the border of Peru and and Brazil. They are also going to Machu Picchu and I think they are going to Machu Picchu the same day as us! woot woot! The other group going to Peru had everything organized by a travel agent here in Montevideo that has worked with ACU students for years. Maybe we will get to hang out with them in Cusco a little bit. Who knows in which direction the wind will blow these fairies.

On a completely unrelated note, the past few weeks have been more than a little hectic, yet I have thoroughly enjoyed myself. I think we mentioned something about having a Ministry in Latin America class last week. Our professor, Bio Nascimento, flew in from Brazil on a Sunday night and left this past Sunday. We had 40 hours of class last week. 40 hours of Ministry class. Some of the other classes were canceled for the week, but I still had Spanish and my composition class. It sounds like a brutal schedule, and had it been any other class it might have been just that. Last week, however, was far from brutal or boring. This class was so stimulating for all of us. I have some video footage from the class to show you a piece of our discussion and I am going to put up a video after our travel break. Having Bio in the house was like a breath of fresh air. He brought thought provoking concepts to the table and showed a genuine interest in all of us- even those who were not in the class. I am confident I speak for the whole class when I say I was sad to see him go. I will take you folks deeper into the class when I return from Peru.

Remember friends, we will be blogless for 11 days. I know you'll miss us (well, me at least). Fear ye not, I will take video footage with you in mind. Voy a extrañarles. I am going to miss you all! Please keep us in your prayers. We want to be salt and light!

Con mucho amor y mucho alegria,

Kara AKA Face