I had a cool experience the other day.
I took my mandolin with me to the music room where Marcel and Chicho were, naturally.
They were working on recording some things for a cd of a nearby church and asked me to play my mandolin for them.
Next thing I know I am playing parts of the song they were recording.
Then they ask me to record.
So I am set up with a mic and giant headphones and am asked to play over and over again.
It made me so nervous, but I am glad I did it.
It sounded so great.
I love that mandolin so much!!
Hopefully they do not ask me to sing. I would freak out!
Friday, November 11, 2011
Thursday, November 10, 2011
How do you even begin to explain a language that makes no sense?
Last night I was sitting in the hammock with the mother of Andres and she was going over English phrases with me.
She would say "Sing" then "Cantar".
"Run"...."correr"...
and if she did not know a word in English she would say it in Spanish and I would try to translate it.
"cielo?"..
"sky."
Some things in English sentence structure make no sense.
Here is something that I did not know how to explain.
"I am going to worship God."
"I am going to pray to God."
Why do we say "Pray to God" and not also "worship to God"?
I did not know how to explain that one to her.
I need to figure out ways of explaining these things and soon.
Last night I also met the oldest Brother of Andres.
I had met his brother Josue and I am sharing a room with his twin sister.
I really love this family. They are so crazy which makes me feel right at home except that I only understand about half of what they are saying, especially when they start talking really really fast.
The good news is that my body seems to be having no trouble at all with any of the food yet.
One of my favorite things to eat here (and I will try to duplicate it in the States) are the street hamburgers.
There is a street vendor near the house here and you can get a hamburger with everything on it for $1.50.
These hamburgers are made of the meat, naturally.
Then it is topped with a slice of ham, some bacon, cheese, a fried egg, cucumbers, lettuce, tomato, Onion, Mayo, ketchup and mustard.
It is without a doubt the best hamburger ever!
If you come to visit, I will buy you a hamburger and some yogurt.
The food served in the house is excellent as well.
We eat rice with every meal and a lot of it.
My family here (this is how I will refer to them now) learned quickly that I do not eat like an Ecuadorian and always give me much smaller helpings.
It is always the joke that they will point to a loaded plate of food and tell me that it is my plate. :]
I feel so well fed, and so loved.
Whenever the family is home I will walk into the room of Andres's parents and his Mom, Angela, will immediately make room for me to snuggle with her on the bed and watch tv with them.
I hope that soon my family can meet my family here.
That will be great!
I think I am going to take a nap now.
Maybe I will actually remember to take my camera places and share some pictures.
Last night I was sitting in the hammock with the mother of Andres and she was going over English phrases with me.
She would say "Sing" then "Cantar".
"Run"...."correr"...
and if she did not know a word in English she would say it in Spanish and I would try to translate it.
"cielo?"..
"sky."
Some things in English sentence structure make no sense.
Here is something that I did not know how to explain.
"I am going to worship God."
"I am going to pray to God."
Why do we say "Pray to God" and not also "worship to God"?
I did not know how to explain that one to her.
I need to figure out ways of explaining these things and soon.
Last night I also met the oldest Brother of Andres.
I had met his brother Josue and I am sharing a room with his twin sister.
I really love this family. They are so crazy which makes me feel right at home except that I only understand about half of what they are saying, especially when they start talking really really fast.
The good news is that my body seems to be having no trouble at all with any of the food yet.
One of my favorite things to eat here (and I will try to duplicate it in the States) are the street hamburgers.
There is a street vendor near the house here and you can get a hamburger with everything on it for $1.50.
These hamburgers are made of the meat, naturally.
Then it is topped with a slice of ham, some bacon, cheese, a fried egg, cucumbers, lettuce, tomato, Onion, Mayo, ketchup and mustard.
It is without a doubt the best hamburger ever!
If you come to visit, I will buy you a hamburger and some yogurt.
The food served in the house is excellent as well.
We eat rice with every meal and a lot of it.
My family here (this is how I will refer to them now) learned quickly that I do not eat like an Ecuadorian and always give me much smaller helpings.
It is always the joke that they will point to a loaded plate of food and tell me that it is my plate. :]
I feel so well fed, and so loved.
Whenever the family is home I will walk into the room of Andres's parents and his Mom, Angela, will immediately make room for me to snuggle with her on the bed and watch tv with them.
I hope that soon my family can meet my family here.
That will be great!
I think I am going to take a nap now.
Maybe I will actually remember to take my camera places and share some pictures.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Sunday, October 30, 2011
I think I'll take a stroll around the block
Just because I used an Aladdin reference as the title, I thought I would share the video.
I laughed so hard watching this again!
So this is it. I leave tomorrow morning.
I am trying to be calm and level headed but I don't think even my best efforts will help me sleep at all tonight.
Friday, October 28, 2011
I have a camera again!!
So that means I can show you pictures of the last two days.
Henna
TODAY
Today Jessica and I took a walk along the river walk in Batavia.
This was a first for both of us.
It was beautiful!
It was wonderful to catch up with one another, but we definitely missed Julia being with us.
It has been so wonderful to spend time with my dear friends again.
They have been a breath of fresh air!
:]
Sunday, October 23, 2011
This is happening
I have sat down and attempted to update on my life a good 5 times over the course of the last month but have absolutely no desire to blog.
I will try again.
I don't remember where I left everyone off on my life.
I flew out of Boise Sept.20th. I left on kind of a whim but I knew it was time.
I flew into GreenBay, Wi and naturally had a crazy flight. My last flight was canceled, I got on an earlier flight via standby. My bags did not arrive at the airport with me (they were carrying most of my possessions). I spent two weeks in with my sister.
For a while it looked like I would have a short term job. That fell through.
I then spent almost 2 weeks in Northern Wisconsin with extended family there.
It was really good to spend the time with family.
I went on motorcycle rides with my Grandpa.
I spent a weekend camping with my Uncles, Aunts and cousins.
Went swimming in a cold Wisconsin lake with my cousin.
Got to watch one of my little cousin's gymnastics practices.
Sat in the hot tub with family.
Had important talks; had terribly encouraging talks,
and got some much needed rest.
I returned to my sisters house on a Friday morning and within hours was back in the car driving to Southern Wisconsin. We spent the weekend in S. Wisconsin with Kyle's family.
It was my first time meeting them. They were really great people though.
I also had the chance to meet with Pastor Shelli whom I have known for almost half of my life. We met up to catch up on each others lives as well as talk about Missions opportunities.
She does a lot of work in Ghana Africa and has a friend there who wants to build a clinic.
I was so excited by the time I left. I was so excited to hear what was happening in Ghana and I am already thinking of a time to visit.
Within that week we made a trip to Green Bay and spent the night at our Grandma's house. I had a number of boxes that I needed to add to the many boxes already stored in her basement. It was a really great walk down memory lane. I also was shocked by how much junk I have.
While in GreenBay I went to buy my airline ticket for Ecuador and found that the price had jumped by a hundred dollars since the day before. I had a small freak out but then decided to fly out a week later.
I now have my ticket to fly out to Ecuador on Oct.31st.
I am getting terribly excited.
BUTTTTTTT WAIIITTTTT!!!
There is more to this story.
This last Friday, Ania picked me up from Julia's house and we drove down to the Chicago area.
SO now I am in the Chicago area.
I am seeing a lot of friends and I even learned how to dance the cake walk last night.
I now leave in a little over a week and have only a few very small things to get in order.
This is happening. I am very excited.
That is my update for now. Sorry it is entirely lacking in eloquence and reads more like a time line.
Sometimes life just happens that way.
I will try again.
I don't remember where I left everyone off on my life.
I flew out of Boise Sept.20th. I left on kind of a whim but I knew it was time.
I flew into GreenBay, Wi and naturally had a crazy flight. My last flight was canceled, I got on an earlier flight via standby. My bags did not arrive at the airport with me (they were carrying most of my possessions). I spent two weeks in with my sister.
For a while it looked like I would have a short term job. That fell through.
I then spent almost 2 weeks in Northern Wisconsin with extended family there.
It was really good to spend the time with family.
I went on motorcycle rides with my Grandpa.
I spent a weekend camping with my Uncles, Aunts and cousins.
Went swimming in a cold Wisconsin lake with my cousin.
Got to watch one of my little cousin's gymnastics practices.
Sat in the hot tub with family.
Had important talks; had terribly encouraging talks,
and got some much needed rest.
I returned to my sisters house on a Friday morning and within hours was back in the car driving to Southern Wisconsin. We spent the weekend in S. Wisconsin with Kyle's family.
It was my first time meeting them. They were really great people though.
I also had the chance to meet with Pastor Shelli whom I have known for almost half of my life. We met up to catch up on each others lives as well as talk about Missions opportunities.
She does a lot of work in Ghana Africa and has a friend there who wants to build a clinic.
I was so excited by the time I left. I was so excited to hear what was happening in Ghana and I am already thinking of a time to visit.
Within that week we made a trip to Green Bay and spent the night at our Grandma's house. I had a number of boxes that I needed to add to the many boxes already stored in her basement. It was a really great walk down memory lane. I also was shocked by how much junk I have.
While in GreenBay I went to buy my airline ticket for Ecuador and found that the price had jumped by a hundred dollars since the day before. I had a small freak out but then decided to fly out a week later.
I now have my ticket to fly out to Ecuador on Oct.31st.
I am getting terribly excited.
BUTTTTTTT WAIIITTTTT!!!
There is more to this story.
This last Friday, Ania picked me up from Julia's house and we drove down to the Chicago area.
SO now I am in the Chicago area.
I am seeing a lot of friends and I even learned how to dance the cake walk last night.
I now leave in a little over a week and have only a few very small things to get in order.
This is happening. I am very excited.
That is my update for now. Sorry it is entirely lacking in eloquence and reads more like a time line.
Sometimes life just happens that way.
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