One night down one to go...

Well last night was opening night for Eth05! It was fantastic!

Our rehearsals this week were exhausting but the show went GREAT!

I have video of our tango (thanks jules!) and our brazilian dance. I am SOO proud of our tango I feel like it turned out really well. My partner rules! hahah..

It is so amazing to be a part of something so great! I feel like I have gained a thousand new friends from all over the world. Oh wait I have! Friends from India, Africa, Brazil, Madagascar, Colombia, Guatemala, Argentina, Mexico, Honduras, and so many other countries I cant remember right now! Craziness!

Well tonight is our last night, afterwards is the celebration and I am so READY for it! man!
Starting tomorrow I am in work mode again for this term paper. I really have to buckle down and get something written. Im hoping to turn in my Intro/Thesis for review fromt he Professor on Tuesday but I dont knwo if Ill get that far..

Well I need to start cleaning my house.. Its a disaster after this week!

See ya!

Clearwire rules.

I am at starbucks. i have been here since about 5pm. it is pushing 8:20. I will be here another couple hours. I am on a study break right now. My mind is a flurry of spanish grammar... I have a test on tuesday and I am superdee duperdee nervous about it.

Friday night I went to Freshman Follies. No offense to those of you who were in the show.. but it wasnt worth 9 dollars. It was fun however to hang out with James. Hes fun.. itll be nice to have another crazy friend next semester.

After that I went over to Isaacs and watche he, jeremy and austin play some starwars video game. It was a blast. I miss watching Drew play for hours on end. Its like a movie I can get involved in. Plus it was fun to make fun of them when they sucked like I couldve done better... hahah not likely.

Saturday morning I went to Healing hands to help fold close for my Service Hours. I love it there. Kat is amazing and the girls that go from our class are so funny. I think Ill keep going to help out even after my hours are done. Kat has great stories and it is an amazingly impactful and passionate non profit!

I hit the Homer Hiccolm concert on Sat night.. that despite the crappy beore and after bands was SO worth the 10 bucks to get in. THey are amazing in concert. Wow. And great guys too!

After THAT.... the fun began. I went with jeremy and austin, to meet up with Isaac and a bunch of people I didnt know at this girls house who I didnt know. They were having a Salsa party, and it was SOOOOOO MUCH FUN. It has been so long since I have been in the social scene... let alone with a group of people I dont know. I didnt realize how much I missed hanging out with new people, groups of people, doing social things. Something God has pushed me to do this semester is spread out my time between lots of different people.. push my bubble a little bit to include people Im not used to, people that think differently, and people that intimidate the hell out of me. I have learned so much. I am so grateful to all the opportunities I have had to do it thus far this semester. It is busy and hectic, but I wouldnt trade it for anything. Its nice to have the challenge of a schedule, work, school, social..

crap ok Im off to studying again.

A hard day to be alone

Today was a hard day. I had a bummer of a test this morning. Ithink I did alright but it was really depressing to feel so stressed and unprepared despite the hours of studying I put in.

I also realized that this week is roughly the five year anniversary of the death of Ryan, Adam, David and John. Those of you that dont know they are four friends who died in a car accident my freshman year of highschool. I havent really thought about it in a long time. I havent really had to. Along with that comes every thing else. Dan and Andy who drown freshman year of college, my friend adam who died of cancer, my grandma whom I miss so dearly. It is hard to have them all within the same couple months. It just lumps together and hits so hard sometimes.

I sound like a downer. I am a downer. Oh well.

The past week has been a week of odd emotional rollercoasters. One minute I feel content and confident, the next I am in a sea of confusion and emotional inadequacy. Usually my feet land on the ground but today has been a tough fight for it.

I missed my mom last week. I needed one of her wonderful back massages soooo bad. I hated that I couldnt go home and get one, and then talk for hours. I miss my mom. Dearly.

Take Two

Abilene is taking in evacuees again.

Prayers for the families and the people still stuck in houston and surrounding areas.

More,..

Things just add up so quickly...

So I in October Youthworks is coming to promote the summer employee stuff.. which means I "get to" help with promo stuff for their showcase meeting. Basically just fliers etc. and then going to the meeting and fielding questions.

Im also on the Costume Design team for Ethnos now. The crew is awesome and these designs are kickin! Its gonna be an amazing show! Itll be busy though. They want a photo shoot on Sunday. That seems pretty pronto for putting a whole design together but we'll see how it goes..

I have a test in my Mexico Growth and Culture class on monday. Not excited about that.

Oh yah.. singing went pretty well on Wednesday. I think we sounded pretty good. The perfectionist in me has to say we screwed up pretty bad on our third song.. they also apparently didnt know we were doing a closing song and turned off our mikes.. Oh well. It was a good first performance. We sing for Hispanos Unidos Chapel tomorrow.. hopefully that will go better.

It has been so amazing getting to know all these new people this semester. It is really liberating. I dont think I realized how much I sheltered myself. I think thats what I needed the last few years. But right now I can feel that I am right where God wants me to be. Busy and courageous, initiative and completely humbled...

ESL was fun today.. we dont have class on Friday. That makes me sad. But I also dont have nutrition class so its a free afternoon for me. I think. Oh yah except we have a Majors retreat this weekend. So if I dont answer my phone thats why.

My cats are cute.

Today I was looking through my pics of this summer and miss Juarez SOO much. That was the hardest summer ever, and I dont know if I will ever have the strength to do it again, but man it was amazing!!!

I updated some pics onto my webshots... check em out. Ill put apt. pics up soon too. I promise!

News

Lots of new stuff has come about this week:

I aced my tests in French and Nutrition. That was quite exciting

I am going to be in the Culture Show.. Support Ethnos! Woot Woot! Ill be dancing with the Brazilian group and maybe acting/singing some as well. We'll see.

I am on the Praise team for Hispanos Unidos. Our first performance is wednesday in chapel. Yah thats right. I and my 7 or so teammates will be singing in front of hundreds of people. Im sorry but that is really weird. It has been years since I have sang in public.

We had a tango "workshop" on Friday night in the UP parking lot. It was a blast. Word to Isaac, Maria, courtney, Tisha and Alex who caught on quick! Y'all rock!

This week is the Study Abroad fair... I get to be susie studyabroad again..

ESL has been going great... We learned colors this week. Try explaining the difference between silver and grey, tan and offwhite, chocolate and brown, and why grey isnt light black or dark white.

My apartment finally smells good again. That makes life easy. Im not going to explain why it smelled so bad.

Thank you to Justin something freshman kid who found my cellphone outside of moody and called Ali. If you want her number gimme a hollah... Alibear rocks. Hahah.

I have no food in my house right now. none. literally. Ok well except soup, stale tortilla chips, and potpies.

I am sick of studying already.

Its been awhile

Man it has been awhile since I have posted.

Classes are going pretty well.. it has been a crazy busy couple of weeks. On top of classes I am assistant teaching an ESL conversation class. It is a lot of fun.. I have three students . Alberik from Burundi, Serge from Rwanda and Pascal from the Congo. They are all sweet guys. Their english is pretty low but we are working on it and they have already improved!! It is weird having an actual job. But it feels really good on the same note.

This week has been a week of new things. I have been trying to go out on a limb socially.. you know like I went to a concert friday where I wasnt sure if I knew anybody going. I have been going to Hispanos Unidos chapel.. where I know people but have met many new faces. I went to the first Study Abroad interest meeting this week and yucked it up about Study Abroad with freshmen, alumni, what have you. It has been really cool. I have made some really good friends, and I am excited about it. It is nice to meet people who are excited about the same things.

God has been stretching me these past few weeks. In so many ways. I have been tested a couple of times too. That has been interesting. Some of you know what I am talking about. Some of you dont..

My mom got hurt last week and I didnt know about it. That is a terrifying feeling. I hate living so far away and being out of the loop. It is so hard to know how she is doing. I worry.. a lot.

My dad is in China. I hope he is enjoying it.

I love my apt. I love living alone. It is amazing. It is messy right now and that drives me nuts.

Un Dia Normal

Pues, hoy decidí que quiero escribir algo en mi blog pero en honor de mi tarea, mi tarea del español, voy a escribirlo en español. Entonces...


Mis clases empezaron ayer.. tengo alguien que conozco en cada clase, y por eso mis clases estan bien. En mi clase de relaciones internacionales, vamos a trabajar con una organizacion que se llama Healing Hands. Esta organizacion ayuda a los misioneros de la iglesias de cristo en todos partes del mundo. Estoy animada que puedo trabajar con esta organizacion.. tambien quiero trabajar con International Refugee Committee, pero no se si voy a tener bastante tiempo por los dos.

Estoy hablando con Eilleen por MSN. Con todo mi ser les extraño a mis amigos en Juarez Mexico. A Juan, a Chiquis, Eilleen, Rosa, Anahy, Raquel y Uliel, sus hijos, a Octavio y Blanco, mi otro novio Viktor y Isai.... y todos! Al Pastor tambien! Quiero visitarles pronto pero tengo que esperar hasta octubre cuando tenemos vacaciones.. que lastima.

Lo siento a los que no se pueden leer en español! Pero que divertido!

An odd day

So this morning I drove back home from a great two days with mom. The drive home was amazingly easier, despite having the cats too... Yay for having cats now! They will come especially in handy now that I am single. Yes that is right.. stephen and I broke up. It was a hard ending to an amazing relationship. But I really felt God calling me to a season of singleness that I have never had, that I really really need, and hope will bear much fruit. Stephen know I love you dearly. It is my own fault for not taking this time before. I was selfish. I pray for you and your continued wrestling match with God. I hope to see you on the Frisbee field.. I would hate to miss opportunity to be blessed by such awesome role models as the grad guys.. aka you and your roommates and friends. But I understand either way.

I have cats in my apartment.

I have an apartment.

I have a 19 hour semester coming up.

Livin it Sola!

Well I made it back from J town to A town on Tuesday. Stacy and I drove into Abilene from Juarez, got here around five, spent some time with dad and chillaxin around town then eagerly went to bed early. My new apartment is awesome! I love it! And it is amazing being alone! I hope I dont get sick of it! I dont think I will! I have gotten to see brooke, ali, stev and marcus, oh and luke but not really anyone else. Its still kind of early and people are crazy busy.

Our farewell to our community was so hard. I have such amazing relationships with our community in Juarez. The church families, my little KC monsters. It was just an amazing summer with lots of love poured out of all directions. I have been recieving emails from youth all summer, and now from community members!!! I miss Eilleen my favorite enemy! She is like 17 and feisty.. I had such a hard time breaking down her wall but once it crumbled we had so much fun. I miss Rosa, her friendship, our sisterhood and beautiful Anahy. I miss Chito, Chiquis, Reyna, Raquel and Uriel. I miss all of our weekend fun with clubs and soccer games. It is so strange to know the amazing family I have in that city. I hope they come to visit! I hope I can go back soon! Once I get some of these pictures on my computer Ill post them. I dont know when that will be my camera is in the shop again. But hey it has had a rough couple of months ya know?

It is strange to know that I am not going to be living in another country in two weeks. I feel like I should be leaving again. Well tomorrow I am going to missourri but I mean to like you know LIVE. It has been an amazingly challenging 7/8 months.

Spiritually I have really been faced with a lot of challenges. God has been showing me some things.
First is that 4 years ago, one spring break in mexico he ignited a fire in my heart that will never go out. It is a fire for hispanics, spanish, mexico and everything regarding that. God showed me that this passion is a gift and something I need to regard as precious. I see that now. That is obviously something that I need to remember when making decisions and thinking about my future. It is a factor. It is God's will. I don't know what He is going to do with it, but I can't wait to see!

Second I need to find out who I want to be in Christ. Christ is supposed to transform my life into something lovely. I have never given the chance for Him to do that. I need to take time to figure out how my life is integrated into His eternity, not how I integrate or fit Him into my lifestyle.

Third. God is all about relationships. I knew that but this summer made that so clear. This summer I often was running on about 2 hours of sleep because I had been up with community members and then had to keep working the next day. I always wondered when I would be tired. Then it hit me. These relationships are filling me more than actual rest. They are so important that I dont need sleep to ill me all the time. not necessarily that I can abuse my body with the expectation of his continual strength. But that when it comes to building relationships and loving on people, God will always fill you up more than you could ask for.

Four. I know nothing. I am weak. I struggle all the time. I am poor in spirit. and I absolutely do not deserve Gods faithfulness. And yet. He gives it freely. I am still wrestling with what exactly that means. But I do know that it is beautiful.

Five. God is in the midst of it all. He is in my school, my town, he is in Juarez, he is in the clubs, he is in the churches. He was in my Kids Club, and our worksites. Man. He just IS. Thats why he is the I AM. Cuz its true.

Prayers

My sister was in the hospital last weekend. I am still pretty frazzled. She was basically paralyzed from the neck down for a decent period of time. I flew mymom out to Phillie to be with her last week. I almost had to go myself. It was a hard hard few days not knowing what was going on with my family. Now my mom is still sick and out there. She is talking about possibly moving/staying in phillie for good. That makes me happy, My mom needs to be around family and friends. More than just gma. Prayers for strength, healing and a good finish to the summer are coveted.

Here I go start the end week of summer.
I love you all.
See you soon

Dios les bendiga!

Tired, exhausted, encouraged, and hopeful.

So we calculated today that we are literally working about 100 hours a week. Despite being exhausted, roasting, farmers tanned like woah, and dirtier than possible, life is amazing in Juarez/El Paso. We have had two weeks of programming at our site so far and it has been amazing. We have had some amazing youth come in, some amazing adult leaders, and an awesome community. Last week we talked about the protection God gives us. We enjoyed dramas and crafts and games about Daniel and the many times God protected him. Our kids have been so adorable in kids club. Some days there are 10 kids, some days there are around 50. Ages range from 1 - 14, and It has been awesome.. I got three full days this week without having to kick anybody our or really discipline much.. it has been great. Our thursday nights we do a footwashing ceremony where we wash the feet of the adult leaders, and then the adult leaders wash the feet of the youth. Every week some of the youth and even adult leaders have washed our feet and prayed over us! What a blessing!!!!! What an encouragement! This week two senior guys named pat and chris washed our feet and prayed the sweetest prayers.. I had been so discouraged but after his prayers, again God showed me why I was in Mexico! It has been so amazing!

I talked to brooke today, bryant this week, and the padres a couple times.. it is good to share stories and let them know Im doin ok.

Stephen left for Africa on Monday and I have already gotten an email saying he is safe that is good to hear. We are in a strange season right now. Doubts about our future are in the air but it isn't a hostile thing, just possibilities to think through. God only knows what will happen and thats the truth.

Well I need to go to the pool and relax... many prayers and much love to all!!

Greetings from Juarez

Man this place is so amazing. Our first week of Youthworks training its over and we are chillin in El Paso before our first week begins. We will be working with site one this week .. Im totally pumped I feel like I am pretty ready to get started. Our community is so awesome.. I love them all so much all already. My staff is awesome. Stacy is amazing.. she is a great girl with a heart striving for God. Josh is awesome, he is such a punk and has a big heart for the people and social justice. Matt is a crazy kid and is so much fun. It is a perfect team.

I got my final grades.. all A's and a B in Pensamiento.. which really infuriates me but Ill deal. The other class that I had to do for the study abroad semester.. the one where I had to write a paper over xmas and a reflection at the end of the semester.. well he didnt ever get my paper when I sent it.. I have no idea what happened. I am really frustrated because I cant get my blasted ACU account to let me send emails.. ugh I hate MyACU.. anyways.. Kevin if you read this I sent you an email from my hotmail account... crap I just realized I never attached the paper.. hahah.. ok Im about to resend it.. heheh

Weirdness

So I am sitting here at Melody/Deborah's house on the computer with two of the 4 dogs licking my toes and 3 cats running around.. its like heaven.. hahhaha

Yesterday Deb and I went apartment hunting.. by that I mean for about 6 hours we drove around town and got info from like 8 different Apart. complexes... saw some apartments.. and then eventually despite our previously made decisions are now considering being roommates because..like my dad is right.. BLAST... it is So much cheaper.. so now we are waiting for my dad to come into town on monday and help us decide which complex would be the best.. we narrowed it down to two places.. Parkridge Place and Willow crest Apts. They are totally different.. like TOTALLy.. but one is more expensive and nice.. the latter is cheaper but we got to actually see an apt and they are nice.. plus it has a creek! Which is so uncommon in Texas that we want to sign a lease today! hahahahha.. anyways..

Other than all that I got to play disc last night..so much fun.. it felt good to play well.. although I lost energy about a third of the way through and was a lazy bum...

Today we leave for Dallas for my First Aid class tonight and hangin with Bret and Summer this weekend.. I am pumped for that.. I hoep I have neough cash in my account to pay for gas, FA and Six Flags.. Im rather worried actually.. We'll see.. either way itll be fun

I leave for Juarez in Two weeks.. less than that actuallya nd it is making me really nervous...

Ahhhhh.....

Ok.. it is like 7pm sunday. The past few days have been fantastic!

Thursday night.. post Trabajo Final Turn in for Pensamiento.. we frantically searched the Net of Inter for a cabin to stay in when we arrived in Dayman Springs the next morning (the bus left 4 hours later.. 11:30 we were frantic).. at about 9pm we called the lady we had made prior arrangements with and turns out we had a cabin all along. We packed, caught our bus, and 6 hours later deboarded the bus.. turned around and realized we were in the middle of nowhere.. One way was a bridge, the other two streets.. and nothing open. It was afterall 5 in the morning. We walked around the itty bitty town of dayman, picked up some stray dogs, and eventually got invited into a reception area of a cabin that we.. eventually.. ended up staying at because the other place wouldnt let us come in until like late that evening.. SO we got into our newly acquired amazing cabin and slept... ahhh.. then off to the Termas.. which were all pools heated by Hot Spring water and amazing.. for like 10hours we just chilled, sat, talked, laughed, roughhoused in the water and had a blast.. Later we got dinner and jsut all sat around talking and laughing and listening to music..

Yesterday morning I got a Professional MASSage.. it was A - Mazing! then off to the Parque Aquatico. We had a blast there running around, breaking rules on the slides and gawking in nausea at the old OLD men in speedos.. SICK.

We eventually caught our bus back home and arrived early this morning. It was amazing to just chill out and not HAVE TO DO ANYTHING!

So the week begins.. I am tired, but I can sleep and sleep and sleep.

Today we watched Dead Poet's society.. I miss that movie.. it is SO good.

I talked to my mom on the phone I miss her

Sometimes I wonder if I fell off the face of the planet with my friends in Atown.. I know that Jules, Phil, Stephen,Brooke etc didnt forget me.. kristen too.. but I remember when somebody fromt he group left and I didn't hear a WORD about her til she returned, and even then it was different. Maybe this is just me being stupid.. probably... Im alright with either.. it was just a thought..

I miss my mommy

Finished finished finished!

Just finished my paper and all of the homework I still had to turn in.. Now all I have to do is go to the Catholic University and turn in the paper. Woot! We leave tonight for the Termas.. which is like a ton of pools and waterparks that use the water from the hot springs.. its exciting.. Ill be back sunday morning ready to start packing and relax! I can't believe it is almost time to go home! I am actually kind of nervous to go home which is strange. I am excited to see stephen and such, but I am not looking forward to entering the real world again. I know I will start ordering food in spanish, or answering questions in spanish or the like.. It should be interesting.. I am in the process of making a Compilation CD of pictures from everybody and it is kind of depressing.. we have an amazing group of people here, I will miss everybody so much. It has been an awesome experience and place to spend four months of my life...

On another note.. I have a Spanish interview on Monday for Youthworks. I got an email a few days ago from Leah (YW) asking when I would be home so I can do the interview. I don't get home until the day they send out final placements so they are pulling some strings and calling me all the way in Uruguay to do it. That is insane to me. Five days before final placements are sent out they are interviewing me for the possiblity to work in either Juarez or Tijuana. Thats insane. Oh well.. It is in God's hands and whether I get to work in MX or not Itll be an amazing summer. I was already assuming I wasn't going to be able to. We shall see.. it would be so awesome! and a great way to keep my spanish up. That would be a real test too!

Avid Mate (mah tay) Drinker..

I am officially Uruguaya... Dont know what Mate is? Check it out.. awesome.. you can try some when I come home.. its so good... the only tea I have ever considered enjoying... yummmm...

Merienda Fun!

The past few days have been really awesome.. Thursday night a bunch of us went out to a restaunt called the spaghetteria 23 that had amazing Italian food and awesome service. Despite leaving my purse there (of which I retrieved today) it was great and then we all went home and watched Gladiator.. Great movie.. A nice lil chill night. Then last night ... Friday... we all went to a hill down by the beach that has an amazing view and had a merienda.. aka mate, snacks and such. We sang some songs, played funny games like the HA HA game and then went over to a little lake and rolled down hills.. it was great.. We came home to the guys setting up the projector in the foyer to watch Man on Fire on the CEILING. it was so weird but cool. We layed out mattresses with blankets and pillows and all layed down and watched. Half the people fell asleep at some point but we ddnt start watching it til like 1am so it was warranted..

Today has been a day of homework. I am trying to get my Pensamiento paper started. Ive already had to change my topic, of which im not even sure I can do.. I had to email my teacher to find out if it is ok. I hope it is cuz I have already been researching it.. anyways.. Im pretty pumped for the next week to be over. Cuz its exam week so when it is over I am so almost home! We have some small travel plans but other than that its all relaxing, and packing!!

Levelling out

Is that spelled right? Levelling? oh well.. it looks like a cool word. The point is things are going better this week. Getting homework done. Studying hard. We went to the beach and played frisbee some yesterday. I feel sore and its great. We had a scavenger hunt around town for our Art class today. We went around town to go find buildings of certain architectural designs. It was fun. I was with Jeremy and Quaid. We wouldve won.. maybe.. if we hadn't taken that slow bus.. but then again spending more money on a cab for the sake of the victory (of which no prize was given) wouldnt have been worth it.

Oh yah. I woke up this morning went to the bathroom and Haley was like uhh.. go back to the room and look in my bed. I did. Daniel slept in her bed last night. She slept in his. He wanted to hear this so called "phyllis talking crazy in her sleep" for himself. It was a very strange morning. Im a little off. It was really funny though.. Samanta wants to sleep in here tonight. I feel like a freak show. It doesn't feel too great. But atleast my life has purpose. hmm...

Projects Galore...

We got back grades on our first big project of the semester.. It was a presentation on MERCOSUR.. not an interesting topic at first, but you add in some jeopardy and you got some flare.. we put a LOT of work into it, and I was proud of the powerpoints I made for it.. we had a great group who worked hard to get it all together.. We got a 100%. Crazy what hard work'll get ya. I have my second big group project this afternoon.. I still have a lot to research and get prepared but it should be interesting. The project is on New Age and how it relates to Christianity and Culture. I went to a Santeria shop yesterday with Cristina and bought a deck of Tarot Cards. Haven't seen any in about 7 years or so.. kinda nostalgiac for me. It was funny to walk through the store and go we had that book, we had those candles, that insence, those oils are good for this ailment, Runes! It was funny. Cristina was a little bewildered by it all. I am so grateful for all the epics of experiences I have had. It is amazing how much I more I appreciate the faith I have come to claim in my life. Being able to see it in relative to other things and faiths I myself have been a part of. It really helps you see why you believe what you believe. My faith has a foundation I have never experienced before. There is Truth there, not just ideas swirling around... Anyway.. I am allowed an opportunity to share a little bit of these ideas today.. I hope we can do a good job of representing New Age Spirituality well and what Christians should consider when thinking about it. Its another easily generalized religion lumped in with wicca and satanism. It is very much different from those although its histories can be traced to both and other neo pagan religions. If you want info... email me.. ask me.. whatever.

What it all comes down to is that God is my shelter, bedrock, salvation. Thats all. And I am glad.