June 18, 2007

Well, I've been here three weeks now. I don't know if you received the other updates I tried to send! The internet has been sketchy at best and I tried to set up a better e-mail, but it looks like this will be the one I use most of the time. Next month, after we finish our homestay, the connection should be better.

We made several new friends! That has been such a blessing to us! And our friends introduce us to other friends, and so we have many to go visit if we get bored.

One friend is a little... well... clingy. When she calls and we don't answer, she just keeps on calling. Yesterday she called 13 times in an hour and a half while we were taking a nap. Then when we still didn't answer, she came over and woke us up. It scared me! I felt a tap on my shoulder and expected it to be Steph, but it wasn't! I opened my eyes and couldn't figure out who it was, so I closed them again! And then I heard Steph talking to her and realized that it wasn't some scary monster that came to eat me, just our friend who won't leave us alone! But then again, we have had the BEST conversations with her friends. That has been a great encouragement to us.

Stomach problems are an every day reality for us. There's also a cold going around! How a person can get a cold in 120 degree weather is beyond me, but it happens! I had a runny nose all week, and when it finally stopped, Steph seemed to be getting it. I've made great friends with some fellow Americans here too. One girl will be teaching at the same school we are. We will live with her and a girl from Columbia when we finish our homestay. Last night we watched a movie in the local language together. Not that we really know that much of the language yet... There were subtitles. I think it'll be really fun to live with those girls next month!

We begin teaching ESL this evening. I'm a little nervous, but I think it'll be good. All I'm worried about is figuring out how to appropriately teach 15 men in a culture where I should not even look them in the eye...

Things are finally becoming more normal. Every day seems to be a little less stressful. And the rain came early this year, so this week has been really cool... by which I mean in the 80s. Pray that it'll continue to stay that way. I decided that I love the rain!

Well, that's all I have for tonight. God bless!

KB