Another Good Weekend

It's hard to believe how fast time is moving now. It makes me sad that we have less than 6 weeks until we leave... but I will not dwell on such things.

Saturday started as normal... that means Kelsey and I went to the gym. It was great fun as usual. On the way back we saw Eric Rama helping someone unload luggage from a van. I was a little confused because I knew that Luke's mother and cousins were coming to visit... but they weren't staying in the house. It turns out it was Eric's dad Ronnie Rama, who teaches in the art department at ACU. Ronnie is Uruguayan and started the program here. He is also the architect who designed the inside of the building (church and CasaACU) and built it. He also happens to be super fun and knows everything about Montevideo and Uruguay (which makes sense because he grew up here.) So anyway, it was a fantastic surprise to see him.

We had a double birthday on Saturday. Both Rhonda and Bio were born on November 3 in the same year... I won't announce the year in case they wouldn't appreciate it. In the afternoon, we had a birthday party for Rhonda. She had something else to go to in the evening. But the students and I took Bio out for his birthday. We went to a Mexican restaurant and had a great time. We then came back and watched Transformers, which Luke's mother had brought. (Mom's are great.) I didn't finish it though, because I had seen it before and I realized it was 1 AM!!!

(On a side note... Bio kind of cheated although we are ok with having a party twice. He was born on Nov 3, but his mother did't file the birth certificate until the 5th, so we celebrated his birthday today and Saturday. Hahaha But it did mean we got cake for lunch today.)

The 1 AM time was significant, because Kelsey and I had decided to get up early and go see one of the local markets before church. It was really fun. Our favorites were the vendors selling all kinds of birds: Turkeys, Pheasants, Ducks, Roosters, Parakeets, Love Birds, and all sorts that I can't identify. It was more or less a flea market, so there were all sorts of random things being sold like door knobs, old keys, hub caps, mate cups, clothes, old records, etc.

I pretty much always enjoy church here, even if I still don't understand much. It is a great thing to be part of this family. One of the men celebrated his 91st birthday yesterday, which was very cool. We were also excited because it was the first time we and Pablo had been there for class in several weeks. Class was also very cool because I understood pretty much everything that was discussed (without translation). I can not predict when I'm going to understand and when I'm not... there seems to be no rhyme or reason.

After church I went to eat at our favorite restaurant (Molto Bene) with Anne, Jonathan, and Bio. As usual we had a great time. It was a pretty plain afternoon, I was supposed to work... but I played and went to the grocery store.

At church in the evening, Ronnie, preached. He talked about his trip to Jordan. Again... I felt like I understood most of what was said. After church I impressed everyone with my technology skills when I got the projector to work so that it would project from the table top and not from the ceiling. (They had turned it upside down for the presentation during church.) Then Nestor wanted to know how they'd get it back the other way if they decided to put it on the ceiling. I told him I'd be here for 5 weeks to help them learn. He wanted to know about in 5 years.

After church, the Ramas, Pablo, Bio, 3 students and I walked toward the Old City. We went to dinner at a Uruguayan grill. We had salad then meat, meat, and more meat. Oh I guess we had grilled cheese (not the sandwhich but literally cheese that had been heated on the grill), too. The food was good, although I think I ate more meat last night than I had in the last week. While the food was good and the company was great. We had a mix of three languages at the table Spanish, English, and Portuguese (Pablo can speak it, too.) So that always adds to the fun. It was fun to listen to Ronnie make stuff up and Bio believe him. On the way back the students and Eric were walking on ahead and I was back with the men. All of a sudden I realized I was the yougest by several years... some how it felt good not to be the oldest or the most responsible person in the group. (Well at least the person who was supposed to be the most responsible.) And walking with Ronnie and Pablo I got to learn more about the city.

Speaking of being a responsible adult... when I got home at 10 last night I realized I still had to organize stuff for chapel, prep my lecture notes for intro chem, and do my Spanish homework... see what a good example I am?

Anyway, it was a great weeked. I'm really grateful that ACU has sent both Bio and Ronnie down here. :) And I'm even MORE grateful that ACU has given me this experience!