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