Where Did October Go??

Hello friends and family!

     I miss you all dearly and am so sorry that I am just now blogging. I had every intention of being more consistent with this process but the constant adventures make it a bit difficult!
    Lets see... since the last post I have gone to some more Penarol games! I love soccer and it is amazing to watch players who have such incredible talent. My birthday was on september 28th and as I went to bed on september 27th, I suddenly heard fireworks (which at the time sounded like gunshots) and screaming outside of our house! I will not lie, I panicked a little! I though there was some kind of violent riot going on out in the streets! I soon came to find that September 28th is also the birthday of the Penarol soccer team! SO... once it hit midnight on the 27th, every penarol fan went absolutely nuts. There were fireworks and flare guns, confetti, screaming, flags and other things that are illegal and shall not be mentioned! So the next day (my birthday) I woke up and went to class...during the middle of class the doorbell rang and I was told that there was something for me at the door!... My AMAZING boyfriend had sent me flowers! How does he do these things?? It made me feel incredibly special, along with all of the cards and emails I received. That night, Penarol had a huge party to celebrate their birthday (the 120th actually) and so obviously we went along. I just pretended that everyone was there for me! ;) It was a blast, but it was difficult to avoid inhaling all of the marijuana! People were definitely celebrating...
     I have also been going to the Alianza once a week. This is the college that teaches english, and they use the ACU students to teach classes during the week. I absolutely love it! The students have so many questions about american culture. It is interesting to hear their perspective and it makes me appreciate the things I have in the states.
    I have been getting sick a lot over the past few weeks but I am feeling much much better now! I think I was still trying to adjust to the different foods here. At one point I had some sort of stomach virus that was just not at all pleasant. I was sick for about a week :( The hospital here is really nice though!
    There are a lot of stories to tell but now I want to focus on my recent trip to Brazil!!!! It was by far the favorite thing that we have done all semester. We went to see the Iguazu falls, which happen to be the most beautiful things I have ever seen. There were rainbows and trees everywhere. It made me think of what I had imagined the Garden of Eden to look like. The first day in Brazil we went to the Argentina side of the falls (the Iguazu river is bordered by Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay). It was absolutely beautiful! The second day we went to the Brazilian side. You would think that after spending an entire day looking at waterfalls, you would get bored...NOPE. They are just so incredible. I could have stayed there all day. After the falls that day we went to the Itaipu Dam in the Iguazu River. It was pretty interesting but the falls were way better! ;) On the third day we had our "free day". So all of us went to the national Iguazu park and went to the bird park inside. It was PHENOMENAL. There were parrots, toucans, snakes, turtles, butterflies, monkeys, and so much more. There were certain rooms that we got to go inside of and just stand in the middle surrounded by hummingbirds, butterflies, toucans, and parrots. It was unreal. After the zoo part we went and took pictures with a snake!! SO awesome. After we left there, all of the kids headed to a place called "canon Iguazu." It was basically a outdoors activity adventure heaven. We did a rope obstacle course throughout the tree tops, zip lined, cat jumped (where you climb a hug pole and then jump off of the top and attempt to grab a trapeze that is hanging a few feet away), and rock climbed. Now here is the best part....Will and I decided that we also wanted to go rappelling. Where you are harnessed into a rope and you lower yourself down the side of a cliff. So thats what we did! We got to rappel into the Iguazu River, with the falls all around us...It was the time of my life. While I was doing all of these activities I thought about only one thing...how much my Dad would love to be there with me. So when I felt scared to try something, I would think of my Dad calling me a wimp and I just went for it!!
    Now I am back home at Casa (trying to recuperate from this week) and getting a ton of overdue work done! This blog being one of those things... Sorry bout that :( Well I will be home in a month and a half and I hope you are all ready for me! I have changed quite a bit...In many many great ways. You should all be happy to know that I workout regularly WITH MY BRACE ON. And my knee has been feeling awesome! Maybe I should get back into soccer?? Thoughts?? Hey fourth times a charm right? :) Love you all, see you soon!
(PS I have added the links to all of the albums from this past weeks trip to Brazil below, please enjoy!)


Rappelling
Iguazu Day 1: Argentina
Iguazu Day 2: Brazil
Iguazu Day 3: Free Day!

So Many Stories

I am so sorry that I am just now blogging! Time flies here and I get so behind, but from now on I will be more consistent I promise! Well, there are a million stories to tell you. We went to La Rambla (the beach here), we went to the Rural Expo (much like a state fair), we have been spending a ton of time with the youth, we went on a tour of the city, and the most amazing thing so far happened last Sunday, but I will save that for last :) ...

Here is La Rambla...

                                        

Photo Credit: Will Beasley

The Rural Expo was something like a state fair... There were huge animals everywhere, a ton of food, and a lot of different vendors selling everything you could imagine. It was a blast but it was COLD.

Martin (from church) and I before the Expo!

Albino Bunnies

We also went on a tour of the City. We went to a museum, a cemetery, some statues, and the "Monte" (mountain) of Montevideo..

The Garden at the museum

The Cemetery walls, it was beautiful

The Cemetery, absolutely gorgeous

The Art Museum

This is the view from the highest point in the city...this is my home!

Now for the best part of my trip so far....FUTBOL. The youth group took us to a Penarol game here and needless to say, I was in Heaven. I can't wait to get back there to watch another game!!

The Stadium

Waiting for the game to start

All of the crazy fans!!

My reaction to the first goal!!

The football game was definitely the highlight of my trip so far. It was incredible to be in a stadium of people who share my passion for soccer. Well, I hope this has caught all of you up at least a little bit. Please keep me in your prayers as I have been extremely homesick lately. I miss everyone so much and cannot wait to be back home so that I can share all of these memories in person! More Blogs to come soon!! 

Love, Em

Rough Day

Well, I don't have much to say today because I spent the majority of my time in bed :( During my morning class I started feeling very chilled, and then I ended up in the bathroom throwing up. The doctor came to Casa and thinks that it is just a virus that comes with being in a new country with new foods and germs. I missed tango lessons and a trip to a nearby pool hall with the youth group :( Oh well, I am still blessed to be here at all, and to have friends all around me who care so much for my wellbeing.
    Love,
      em

Trying to figure out pictures

Hey guys,
   I am just making sure that i know how to post pictures on my blog. bear with me.

this particular one is of me with my first hamburger from Lucas! (lucas is a little hamburger joint in a trailer that is really close to casa) 

Santa Rosa

Hola Mis Amigos! 

    Santa Rosa is here! Santa Rosa is a storm that passes through the city every year around this time. It has been purring down rain and thundering all day. I love it! I have missed rain so much. It is so nice to sit in my room, by my window, hear the rain pour down, and write this blog to all of those that I love. 

     Whew. It has been a long weekend... On friday we went to the Old City. This is a more historical part of Uruguay. There are historical landmarks, government buildings, and most importantly, the statue and ashes of "Our national hero, Artigas." Artigas was a leader of the people who was exiled, lived to 90, and then his ashes were brought back to Uruguay. He is the only historical figure that every single Uruguayan would say is a hero. His ashes were displayed in a room underground, beneath  a huge statue of Artigas on his horse. I do not know much about Artigas, but one cannot help but feel reverent in that room.

    As we were standing outside of the statue, a little boy came to us and asked each of us for a dollar. He could obviously tell that we were American. While the initial instinct is to feel sympathy, you just have to remember that these kids are trained to do this and firmly refuse :( After the boy left we all went our separate ways. The leaders (Wimon, Rosalinda, and Cindy) went to Casa, while the crew (me, will, andrew, amelia, and courtnie) walked back to find somewhere to eat. We did not realize that the walk back to casa would be like 45 minutes. At least we walked off some of the delicious chocolate cakes that raquelle and mariella have been spoiling us with! While we were walking back there was a large protest going on. I could not catch all of what they were saying but it had something to do with low wages and poor housing. I guess politics are controversial everywhere, even in the relaxed streets of montevideo.

     Friday night we ventured out to find food. The leaders were not with us so we had a bit of trouble finding a restaurant. :/ However, we eventually ended up at a pizzeria. There are really two types of pizza(ish) dishes. There is "pizza" which is pretty normal but the flavors are different, and then there is "muzzarella" which is made with, you guessed it, mozzarella cheese. It was all delicious. It is just going to take time to get used to the different flavors here. After dinner we went back to Casa and slept. Hard.

    Saturday was an amazing day! In la mañana we went to a market downtown. It was so crowded and big and CHEAP!! I bought a scarf porque es muy muy frio here! Will, courtnie, and I walked together, while andrew and amelia went down another trail. It was so relaxing to stroll around, browse, ask prices, and spend time in the world of montevideo markets. I took some pictures of the more interesting things (pictures below are 1. a huge dog 2. will scarf shopping 3.fútbol 4. fresh market).

 

 

 

 After we had seen the entire market, will, courtnie, and I caught a cab back to casa. Let me just talk about the taxis here for a second... First of all, the have seat belts, but they are more of a luxury/suggestion than a law. Second, these taxis are tiny tiny and so the drivers think that they can fit through the smallest spaces. Third, these drivers speed like crazy. No one stays in the lanes. I don't even know why they have the white lines on the roads honestly. Think of the magic bus in Harry Potter...it is JUST like that. After our roller coaster ride back to Casa we walked to Lucas to get our first hamburger here. All of my friends who had gone to montevideo before me just raved about the food at Lucas and I was not disappointed. I got a simple hamburger with ketchup and mustard. The condiments here all taste and look a little different than in the states but they are really good! After such a big lunch there was a big nap :)

   Side story: Will saved my camera while we were at the market saturday morning! I was taking pictures on the sidewalk and all of a sudden he grabbed my camera and pull me aside. I asked him what was wrong and he pointed toward the street... He pointed to a guy in a yellow truck just a few feet away. He explained that as soon as I had pulled my camera out, he made eye contact with some other men and then he threw a purse out of the window. Apparently what was happening was that they were hoping I would have bent down to help pick up the purse, so that they other guys could have ran by and grabbed my camera as I was distracted... Sneaky, sneaky,sneaky! Thank goodness for will! Most of the people here are so sweet and honest, but there are many who will do anything to steal. 

   Saturday evening we were given a tour of the church that we share the building with. QUE LINDA (how beautiful)! There was stain glass, marble, wooden staircases, a 2 story library, and we were taken up to the roof, right next to the clock tower. We were standing above the city as the sunset... just breathtaking. God was all around us. After the tour, some kids from the youth group joined us for dinner. That was such a blast! We ate spaghetti and brownies. Muy delicioso! Then we just sat around and talked, shared pictures, stories, and favorite youtube videos :)

 

    Sunday morning meant church! We met around 10 am and walked about 5 feet into la iglesia. The service was beautiful but somewhat hard to follow. Might have something to do with the whole spanish thing...;) But I tried to listen to the words I knew. We even sung a song that we sing at my home church in round rock! So I sang along to that one and could easily understand the spanish words. I think that singing may become one of my favorite ways to learn spanish here. Two little girls, Mika and Yamilla, sat with us. They were about 13. They doodles all through church, giggled at the boys, and played with the girls hair. It was amusing to watch them play and I loved making such sweet friends! Now here is the big news...I cooked. What?? yes, I did. Now here is the not surprising news...it was awful! lol Will tried to make some kind of creamy vegetable soup...fail. Then I attempted to make macaroni and cheese...fail. Well, I couldn't make mac and cheese in the states so why would I be able to make it here?? It is just hard to go grocery shopping because everything is in spanish and there are not many spices here to add flavor to the food. Oh well, I will learn. Raquelle and Mariella (the cooks) already promised to help us learn. Thank goodness! 

   I think that is it for now... So much happens here. It is going to be hard to keep you updated on everything! I promise I will do my best :) I love and miss you all. Keep me in your prayers, as you are in mine. 

     Te Amo,

        Em

The first 30 hours abroad

Hello Everyone!
   If you are reading this, you should know that I safely arrived in Uruguay and all travels went smoothly. Well, besides almost missing 2 flights and sitting on a plane for 9 hours with a bum knee... Overall, it was an amazing trip here. I have experienced more places in the last 30 hours than I have in the last 18 years. Miami was insane. Everyone spoke spanish and that airport was MASSIVE. Santiago, Chile was breathtaking. I have posted some pictures on Facebook until I figure out how to put them on this blog. As we sat at our terminal waiting for the plane that would take us to montevideo, we saw the sun rising over the Andes mountains... I mean, seriously??

 I can't think of anything better to look at (well, Jason White gives them a run for their money). God's vision for Santiago is incredible. We arrived in Montevideo around 10:30 am and it was colllllllllld! I had to buy a jacket at the airport (way overpriced). However, the cold is a really nice change from the 100+ degree weather back home in Texas. Our house guides, Wimon and Rosalinda Walker, were waiting for us once we went through customs. (I was so excited to get my first passport stamp!) They are absolutely wonderful people and I cannot wait to get to know them better. ACU has provided a bus for the Casa so we took that the long way through the city on our way to the house. Montevideo is a different world... it is so relaxed and beautiful. Will and I were getting whiplash from looking all around as we sped through the streets. (Speed limit violations do not exist. (This equals scary driving!) We stopped at a little park, Plaza de la Armada, before arriving at CasaACU.

 It was peaceful and gorgeous. You could see out onto la Rambla (the beach here in uruguay), and there were PARROTS flying around! What a treat! After this detour we finally arrived at CasaACU. It felt like days since we left texas and we could not wait to see our home away from home for the next 3 months. The house is absolutely beautiful. It is in an ancient stone building named "El Chana", which used to be a coffee factory. I will take pictures soon of the inside and outside of CasaACU, we have not had much time since arriving here.

Our beautiful cooks, Mariella and Rosalinda had lunch waiting for us! We had empanadas and the most delicious chocolate strawberry cake that ever existed. (We were celebrating Dr.Ropers belated birthday) It was nice to see Dr.Roper interacting with the women here. She has not been at CasaACU since 2007, so needless to say it was a sweet reunion.

 Right after lunch we picked our rooms and thn were told to change for a scavenger hunt! In groups of three, we were led to the main market/ bus station of town (Tres Cruces) and then abandoned... literally. So the next couple of hours were very stressful, exciting, and fun! This city will take a lot of getting used to, but I have some great friends and a faithful God to get me through it! I will write more later but we are about to head out to dinner :) I love you all very very much and cannot wait to share some more stories with you!

                   In Him,
                       Em

Time flies when your terrified!

Hello friends!
     
     Im still in Texas, so no exciting stories yet. I just wanted to share how excited I am getting for this trip!! I have started on my packing list and have read a million blogs of other ACU, Montevideo, Study Abroaders! Reading their stories has not only helped me prepare for the fall semester, but has also caused me to become more and more impatient. Oh well, I know my departure date will come way faster than I think. While I am excited about this completely life changing experience, I am pretty nervous to leave all of my friends and family. I have never traveled alone and I am definitely used to my mommy being around to yell at me and make me laugh at the same time! I already miss her and she is only a flight of stairs away from me at the moment... Mom, you most likely won't read this until I am gone, but I miss you and cannot wait to see you again! Well, I will stop with the boring blogging, I just needed to get out some nervous energy :) 


       Love, 
           Em