Summer Vaca part 2- to the beach!

My first week back home has been really great, lots of hanging out with family and friends, which has been a HUGE blessing. Catching up with friends (in person and not just skype) is always so awesome. This has been a really good break for me to see loved ones and hear lots of English. Although, several times, Spanish phrases have slipped out. Once again, I am reminded how precious one's native language really is.

Today we are setting off for our family beach trip, which I am really excited about :) I am hoping to get at least a little tan to prove to all of the students I study with at CILTA that I'm really not always so white. Because they didn't believe me. hahaha

David is doing well...trying to stay warm in the below-freezing weather of Bolivia. He has never experienced such cold his whole life! They seem to be really enjoying the beautiful views of the mountains in Bolivia and other touristy stuff. In one of the places he visited, he was wearing a Carolina hat, and tourist from the US came to talk to him and said she studied at UNC! small world! This weekend they will be sharing with several churches about Bible translation and they have received invitations to speak in other churches in different cities of Bolivia, so please pray for their time sharing with churches and safe travel. They will be back in Lima on August 14th.

I will also be speaking at Corinth Baptist in Vale, NC next Sunday night, the 8th, at 6:00 if anyone wants to come! I will be sharing about what we are studying, like Bible translation and more. Please pray for this as well.

Hope you are enjoying the summer, and enjoy this last day of July!

Summer Vacation part one

I am happy to say, I have safely arrived to NC! Yesterday was an eventful one- in a 24 hour period, I traveled from Lima to Miami then DC then Raleigh, and then Chapel Hill, and then Vale. My Dad and I worked out a "birthday surprise" for my mom since her birthday was yesterday. She and my bro thought I was going to arrive at 5:30 to the Raleigh airport, but my oh-so-sneaky Dad left them at Southpoint Mall while he picked me up at the airport at 2:30. So then we went to the mall and I snuck up Mom at the mall, which was fun. Needless to say, I did surprise her!

Although I miss David (He is well, they made it their first stop after a 18 hour bus ride, and tomorrow they'll cross over to Bolivia), I am enjoying my time home. It has been so good to see family. And smelling the smell of summer. A mix of humidity, sunscreen, grass, and more. I still kind of feel like I'm in a dream...I'm not sure if it has hit me yet that I'm here.

The First Semester has Officially ended...

Yes, the title is correct. We just finished our final class, officially ending our first semester of CILTA. Now I am kind of in shock because I actually have some free time. Well, of course I still have a list full of things I need to do before I leave for the US in approximately one week. But there isn´t any immediate need to do anything in the next few hours, which is a good feeling!

And so I thought I´d make a post in my almost abandoned blog. Just to say that we are alive and well, both tired, but relieved after finishing this semester. And now I can focus all my energy on getting ready for dear old north carolina.

here are some of the things I am most excited about-

-spending time with the fam. I have missed them so extremely much.

-spending time with friends. They have also been missed a lot.

-the hot summer weather (yes I do miss the sun, the winters of Lima are very gray, and chilly!)

-family beach trip---which combines family, hot summer weather, and the ocean. all awesome.

-being in the country (Vale), breathing fresh air and not hearing cars 24-7 (our apartment is right beside a busy highway, and big city equals pollution)

-playing my guitar

-playing with my dogs, Molly and Lucy

-food. Here are just a few entries in the list of foods I hope to enjoy.

-sweet tea. My wonderful mother has mailed me sweet tea bags, but I just can´t make it as good as bojangles.

-(homegrown) tomato sandwich with duke´s mayo

-chilis-anyone ever tried their quesadilla explosion?

-sushi-Shiki sushi in Durham is great.

-sweets- brownies, chocolate chip cookies, dirt cake, you get the picture.

-cookout milkshake

-sonic cherry limeade slushie

etc etc etc