Mi Departamento Nuevo

     Katrina and I finally moved into our apartment which is just 3 minutes away from the church by walking. (The picture is taken from the church and is of our apartment. The room Katrina and I share is the third window on the pink side.) We live with the youth director for La Iglesia en Las Aguilas. She is so sweet and very fun to be around even though we have a language barrier. She works with both Katrina and I but I still find myself smiling and nodding a lot which I assumed would happen!!  Being so close to the church has definitely allowed Katrina and I to spend more time with los jovenes and other people from the church.
    We got our first chance to play futbol with some of los jovenes right outside of the church and let me tell you I am really out of shape and spanish is not the only thing that I need to improve on!! One of los jovenes, Oscar, really made me feel welcome on the field; he is extremely energetic and loves to make others laugh! Every time his team would score a goal he would yell my name and flex his muscles! It got to the point where I was talking smack in Spanish.... at least attempting too!! I put up a fight when we arm wrestled too but I wasn't strong enough! I think that the joy that all of los jovenes have is great for this community and for spreading the love of God.
    Today, we also got to experience la tienda (grocery store) because we are making our own food most of the time. We had a good time but it also was a bit stressful for me! When you are an indecisive person, you don't speak the language well, and you are trying to work with pesos, it makes for an interesting shopping experience. But we all three came out alive and with food to eat for the next couple of days. I think that tortillas are either going to become a permanent part of my diet or after this trip I may not want to eat them for awhile, but that is yet to be decided! (Oh and I got to try Mexican helado (ice cream) which doesn't not taste the same as in the US)! Going to la tienda, was definitely a good experience for me! Hopefully by the end of the summer I will walk in there and be able to understand what people are saying and not feel out of place. I know that to do this I really just need to keep praying to God for help and He will continue to provide for my team and me!
   Finally, today we got to play some card games and more futbol with los jovenes before returning home to eat our first real meal of the day at 5pm (all we had eaten was a muffin and coffee but surprisingly I haven't been hungry at all). Then to finish the night off, we watched the movie "13 Going on 30" in spanish to help us practice listening to and comprehending spanish! It has been a great time so far and I am looking forward to experiencing church here in Las Aguilas tomorrow!

(Just a side note, as I type out these blogs it is already hard for me to use only English because I spend most of the day talking and translating words into Spanish)