my frist 30 days! can you believe it?

This is a monkey at the local water park. This has been the highlight of my trip so far. this park was awesome for walking and seeing a lot of things. there were also a bunch of animals that are native to Venezuela (like the largest rodent...GROSS!), and two really awesome alligators. I also saw a termite nest and the biggest ants ever!! We then tried some shaved ice with flavoring that was really good. there were lots of people selling things at the front of the park. Fun stuff!

This is La Ceiba, it is the church's land and they are buliding a farm for some addicts (so that they have something to do durning the day). The kids love it here and think it is pretty cool. it was very scary walking up on top. The guys from church are great at working and take great pride in what they are doing.

These two pictures are of my first Empanada experience. We went to a "resturant" (the front yard of someone's house) and they were cooking them...we sat in lawn chairs and they were really good. they are like a hot pocket....i had two one was chicken and the other one was ham and cheese. the lady laughed when i took pictures and said she is going to be famous where ever i am from...it made me laugh too! the music was a guy that was playing his car raido that was parked right by us. Good times...things that would never happen in Iowa!
Yes i realize it is July and yes we did make gingerbread cookies! it was fun and the kids had never had them before. I also made a pineapple cake that i thought was going to turn out bad but a lady at church loved it so much she tells me every time i see her that i need to make another one and that she liked it! :) the only problem is that sugar is hard to find here. we did find it at one store and so we went there and bought a hole bunch of it!
This is how the kids "walk the dog". His name is Wishbone and yes she is riding her bike and he is running as fast as he can to keep up with her. Very funny to watch.
Simon's graduation from the 6th grade. Sara was an angel in her classes play. I did not understand much but it was good to be around it a listening. Also a very good cultural experience.
Sorry it has been so long but i hope you like my pictures and stories. There are more of both where these came from. I will share more when i get home but i am tired now and don't know if i could explain everything accuratly on here. One more thing...they all think i have blonde hair here and honey colored eyes! i told my friend here that i have brown hair and she laughed and told her friends at church! you never know what they will come up with next.
We have Plan Vacational this next week and the group of 11 from new jersey comes on saturday. i will not blog until that is over.
have a great week and pray that this event will touch lives and that they will see Jesus through us! thanks for your support and prayers!

to day we learned about the first Americans...Indians. Last week we learned about the American flag, the pledge of allegiance and American songs.
when we go on walks with the dog, Wishbone, we pick up cans to get money for the aluminum, our bin is almost full!

ok well that is all for now...Good night...sweet dreams!

Church

this is the band that plays most weeks at church. they use a white board for the over head screen.
This is the inside of the tent. this week it was full because we had an out reach and closing service for the soccer tournament. it is not normally this full...maybe up to 75 on a good week...
This is the trailer that they keep all of the chairs in and transport the music stuff from our house to the church. here you can see the door has fallen off! Oops!
This is where we go to church at...in a tent a block from home. it is every sunday night at 5:30pm. The first week i was here it started at a little after 6 and was over around 8...this is not unusual!
things are going well. started class with the kids...they seem to be liking it. they read out loud to me and enjoy picking books and having those 10 mins a day to read to me and have my full attention.
i miss you all very much...it is hard to be away from home but i know that God is carrying me through. Thanks for all the prayers and support. i really like the little cards you all made for me with my mom! i read one every night! :)

(Last picture) Some of these pictures are older. This is one of David and Guillermo's birthday last weekend. the cake was good. the people in the picture are (from the left) Sara, Me, David, Guillermo, Marcia, a friend's baby that came over to fix the metals, and Abuela (Guillermo's mom: abuela is grandma is spanish)
(fourth picture) Birthday's are very well Celebrated here. This is another one we went to this weekend. the woman is the one with the birthday and she and her family go to the church here. At the party a group of people my age asked me to come sit with them and talk to me, two boys here are pretty fluient in english and did really well translateing. it was fun and i felt like i belong here now.
(third picture)The rest of the weekend there was a futbol aka: soccer tournament put on by the church. we went a few times to watch. it is much smaller than real soccer and much faster and does not last as long. it was fun to watch but i did not understand anything that was going on! (second picture) the church band played Saturday night to end the fun filled weekend. they are good and the only way i recognize any of their songs is because they practice twice a week here at the house! Finally i will menton Joanna(first picture); she is the daughter of one of the families at the church. she is here at the house many nights. She is the sweetest little girl i have met here yet and she asked to take a picture with me! :)
i am doing well and hope to keep more coming your way as things begin to pick up here!

pictures!

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This is a picture of the outside of the house. Then a picture of the kitchen/down stairs. Next is a picture of the kids i am living with (my mom's cousin's kids). It is the rainy season here now ans it rains EVERY day. This afternoon they told me they were going to play in the rain....and they did! I was invited to play too but chose to stay out of the water and watch them. They had a TON of fun and were VERY wet at the end. Lastly there is a picture of all of them playing with my computer. They found a way to take pictures and distort their faces with the camera on here. This lasted them all afternoon as well...they even figured out how to make video of themselves doing this. I will tell you a little about each one. Simon is the oldest (13) and is full of energy and what ifs. He is crazy and always wanting me to listen to the latest thing he has thought up. Next is Sara (11) my roommate. She is not at all girl. She loves to read and play games with anyone willing or not (me). She also likes to teach me how to speak and read Spanish and finds is very funny that i can't roll my r's. She is my biggest help and the one i have help me when i don't understand or need to speak to someone in spanish. Last is David (10) the birthday boy and admires his older brother. They are always thinking of crazy things to ask me about, none of which pertains to my life...or anyone's life for that matter. David is funny and cute and also loves to read. These are the people that i spend most of my time with and get the most annoyed by but at the end of the day i realize i would be most lonely without them. i hope you enjoy the pictures and enjoy a peek into my life here a little bit. love ya and miss you all!

Independence Day

Hello again.
It has been a full week now that i have been here and it has been very good. I have met a lot of new people and trying to remember all their names is very hard but i am sure that will come with time.
I taught the kids how to play 'Risk' and the stories and games have not ended!! they love it...i don't play much but watch and remember all the rules.
I thought it was going pretty good until this weekend when we started going to places where Spanish is the only language spoken...then i felt VERY lost. Sara helps me translate. Everyone is very kind and friendly. They all want to learn English. At church last night Guillermo told everyone who i was and then told them that i can't leave until i learn spanish and they all learn english!! what a task i have before me!! :) It is also hard to remember when introducing myself that they don't say my name the way we do at home.
They don't do much...for their independence day...at least not like we do in the US. Their's is also on July 5th. David and Guillermo's birthday is the same day (yesterday). we celebrated with some cakes and sang to them.
Another story i know you will appreciate. Church is supose to start at 5:30...well 1st it rained and then there were problems with the power point so needless to say church did not start until after 6. All of it is in Spanish so i am very lost again. They have a time for sharing stories about God and the man that was going to preach got up and talked for a while and then sat back down... i thought we were done...nope! an hour after we started Sara tells me that we are going to begin the preaching now! he spoke for an hour and Guillermo had to stop him...he could have said more!! I laughed at this because i know that it would not fly at our church back home. LOL :)
well that i think is all for now. thanks for reading this and praying for me!

Airplane

Hola! This is my first blog from Venezuela. As you can probably tell i have made it here safely. The plane ride was long, boring, and i got very little sleep. After getting off the plane i had to go through customs and security, it took the longest time to get my luggage. After that i found the people i am staying with. It was very good to see them. After that we went to the hotel and hung out for a while...i took a nap! then we went to Caracas to get paper work for the car. the trafic was crazy. Around 12:30 we headed home, Pueto Ordaz. This trip took about 10 hours. I again slept most of the time in the car. We stoped at a mall and ate dinner...i had Wendy's. When we got home we went straight to bed.
The next morning we slept in. When we woke up Sara (the daughter) and i made lunch. In the afternoon/evening we went to the market to get a fan and some hangers. (hangers here are about $2 a hanger) Then we went to the bread store and got dinner. In the evening, before bed, we watched Andy Griffith.
I have met a few new people, it is hard to make a lot of new friends because i don't know the language yet. The kids have been very excited and helpful with everything, never a dull moment. This afternoon we will take the dog on a walk and see more of the city.
I am having a great time and am enjoying it here, however i miss home and all of you!
I will post more later...possibly some pictures...if i can figure that out!!!
ps. i called my mom and it only costs about $1.50! that is cheep!! :)