September 6, 2009

Day 6, September 9, 2009

I can’t believe all that has happened in just the six days that I have been here. It feels like I’ve spent a month here already! I can’t begin to explain all that I have learned, there is just so much. I had an exciting experience last night, there was a WOL Missionary from Argentina that came to our room and gave her testimony. With WOL, this is a normal experience, but, for me, it was a very new experience. This is solely because she only knew how to speak Castillano. Of course, there was a lot that I missed, but there was also a lot that I understood! That is a great encouragement to me. From deep within me, I long so badly to speak the language. I can’t wait to fit in and just be able to have a comfortable conversation. I see other Americans that have gone through the PBB program and it makes me so happy! Most of the time, you wouldn’t even know that English was their first language. As I spend more and more time here, I forget english! I wonder how I’ll be by the time I come home in December!

I’ve already started exploring the town with the rest of the group. The town of San Miguel del Monte is about a 25 minute walk away. It’s very cute, quaint, and a nice place to go when you just want to get away. The other day, I had amazing ice cream, best I’ve ever tasted! I also tried Mate the other afternoon, it tasted like really strong tea, but was delicious. Mate is a cultural drink here in Argentina, I’m so happy I got to try it! Some of the American students have been hanging out with us. I actually like that a lot. They can help us learn, but they already know where we’re coming from and can sympathize with everything we face, whether good or bad..or just different!

The food here is very strange. Argentina is known for it’s beef, and I’ve gotten to try little tastes of it. I’m pretty picky, so it’s been a little bit of an adjustment for me. At first, I really wasn’t eating (or drinking) much, but now I’m doing better. They have excellent Cafe con Leche that I absolutely love every morning. It’s so nice to drink something warm on those freezing mornings! One thing I didn’t expect when coming here was how cold it would be! I knew that it was winter, but I guess it didn’t really click in my mind how far south I was. Yesterday, it was a balmy 48! Even the native people were freezing! It was a bit of a shock coming here when we left 85 degree weather. Lucky for us, that is soon to come ;-)

The other night, the gringos got together and ordered food from a place called “Mama Rosas.” It was super delicious and very cheap. There were about 15 of us who ordered, and it cost about 340 pesos (around $100). There was so much food! People got sandwiches, pizza, fries, and soda. It was funny, because the other day at chapel, one of the speakers mentioned that the workers at “Mama Rosas” were praying for the Americans to come here! They knew that we would give them lots of business, and it’s true!

This past week, we’ve had so many classes about the whole program like standard of conduct and statement of faith, pretty much just everything. We also took a few english classes. That was hilarious and humbling at the same time. I found out that I really don’t know anything about my first language. Nothing! It was funny, because our teacher, Gabriel, knew more about english than we did, and it’s his second language! He knows so much more, very impressive!

My roommates have been very nice to me as I get settled. There’s one girl that speaks only spanish, but took a few classes in English a while ago. She remembers only a little in it. That has done both of us very well, I’m able to teach her english while she teaches me spanish. We both make on that deal!

It’s time to get ready now, I have something called UME (uh-meh) tonight. It’s a student led program where we get together and learn about a specific country of our choice. We also spend time together just praying for them and their ministry among the people. This will be my first time going to one of these meetings, so it will be a new experience for me. I’ll also get a chance to be mixed in with other students :) Can’t wait to see what I learn!