Como estas

¨Como estas¨ is the common question... How are you?

Well to be quite honest I feel like a child again. To be thrown into this new place is pretty much like regressing into childhood. Right now all my time is spent trying to relearn how to communicate and it is not easy. I spend my days in class for four hours speaking in spanish, playing spanish games, listening to spanish music, and reading spanish books.

I have to learn the customs and ways of a new family. I couldn´t have asked for a better host family. I have a mom, dad, and little brother who´s 9 years old. My dad is a professor at the University here and my mom works at the hospital. In the mornings they walk me to the bus stop like a child on the first day of school, and pick me up in the afternoons. The evenings are difficult in Guatemala because once it gets dark it´s too dangerous to go outside, so I usually play with my brother. We play pingpong almost every night, sometimes we build a house out of cardboard boxes, sometimes we play soccer in the kitchen (how many mothers in the states let their kids play ping pong and soccer in the kitchen). I am thankful for my brother though, because playing games doesn´t take much communication and when I´m tired and don´t feel like trying to mumble through broken spanish it is good relief. Meal time is very important here, we eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner as a family. This is where I try to get some conversation in, but it is difficult because they speak more quickly than my teacher. This weekend was nice. I spent the whole weekend with my family. I went to my brothers soccer practice in the morning. It was good to be in my element so to speak. A place where I felt comfortable and actually good at something.

Although don´t get me wrong! All in all I am doing quite well. Besides the constant fustrations with language and learning I really am enjoying my classes and family. It´s a slow process but every day I can pick up more and add a few more words to my vocabulary.
Continued prayers are needed!

Also to all those who thought I would be getting mad tan here you´re wrong... it rains every single day at 2pm and doesnt stop till the next morning!

Orientation Week

Mom, Dad, and Bryce dropped me off in Akron, PA at the MCC headquarters, said our goodbyes, and I was immediately forced into a room of 100 people. The week was full of many sessions on how to live cross-culturally, be respectful, be safe, and learn about MCC's goals and purpose. Although these sessions were helpful, I feel like I learned the most from my interactions with other people. There were people FROM 30 different countries, including Egypt, Zimbabwe, Brazil, Cambodia, China, South Korea, Jordan, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Colombia, Bolivia, and many others. MCC does a program called IVEP (International Volunteer Exchange Program) where these young adults come to the US and Canada to serve. I got to have several long conversations with some of them and learned a lot about other cultures. This is very helpful for the SALTers, as many of us are going to these countries. So we could educate them about what to expect in the US and vice verse.

We had sessions during the day and some free time at nights usually. It was a long week so I'll just mention the highlights...
The first night I met a girl from Nicaragua who hardly spoke English and so right away the two of us were sitting in our house lobby and trying to communicate in Spanish. After a while more and more girls joined until there were probably 15 of us from several different countries speaking Spanish and English, showing pictures of our friends and family, and getting to know each other. Second day there was an E-coli warning for the Akron area water wells, so we had to drink bottled water pretty much the whole week... good practice for living in another country anyways. Each morning we had a worship service from a different area- first American, then Asian, Middle East/Europe, Latin America, and Africa. I helped out with the Latin America worship service... I made the PowerPoint slides and helped stand in front to sing. On Sunday we had a lot of free time so me and some of the other girls saw a movie and went to dinner. Then Monday we had a tornado warning, which was kinda crazy and we all had to pack into the basement. The Latin American crew got along really well. My favorite times by far were the last couple nights we had Latin American dance parties with the SALTers who were going to Latin America and then some IVEPers from Colombia, Nicaragua, Bolivia, and the Dominican Republic. We learned some Salsa and Merengue moves! Soon some guys from Zimbabwe showed up and we watched as they felt the music and danced! It was awesome! The last day, Wednesday we had a commissioning service as well as a talent show. Everyone left on Thursday morning...

Except me of course! Me and my two traveling mates Anne and Kristen are still in Akron. We went to the pool on Thursday and went hiking today (Friday). We leave at 3:30 a.m. to catch our flight at 6:30 a.m. tomorrow. Sooooo here I am about to leave in a few hours, just relaxing and taking it all in. When we arrive in Guatemala city the three of us will have Spanish lessons for the first month before splitting off into our individual assignments.

Overall it was quite an overwhelming yet fun week. It was nice to be able to talk with other people who are going to be doing the same thing I am, and to know that they are feeling some of the same fears and worries that I'm experiencing.

Keep me in your prayers... the real adventure starts tomorrow! Adios Estados Unidos!

About that Time

Well time really does fly when your having fun. This summer in Harrisonburg was filled with many delicious meals, game nights, good concerts, DC visits, family vacation, carrying food up and down 3 levels, Cryfest 2010, good books, and all sorts of other 'CoMotion'!
The countdown has quickly expired and already I leave tomorrow for PA. I guess you could say I'm all packed, although how can you really pack for a year?
Right now I'm eager to get this journey started, I'm tired of talking/thinking about it and ready to roll!

I'll begin orientation in Akron, PA along with about 130 people from 30 different countries! Orientation lasts a week and then I will fly out on the 21st for Guatemala City. I will actually live in Guatemala City with a host family for a month doing language study before heading to my assignment in Santiago.

Thank you so much to everyone for your donations, prayers, and support. I have felt so loved during this whole process and have seen now more than ever how blessed I am to have such great family, friends, and church.