Fun loving people, spanglish, chicken fights, swollen ankles because of bug bites...and that's just the start of it.

  So Tuesday was when I got to go to my site for the first time. I had met my site leader Geidy (pronounced Hayti) a little before but it was literally just a brief 'Hola' and slight hug then back to where we were eating. So I got to my site, which is Social Work in Los Higos and la ciudad es muy muy bonita!!! (very very pretty!). The hills are all just rolling green and yet I've really only seen them with lots of cloud cover and rain haha Yet it still made me think of the Sound of Music LoL I could only imagine what they looked like when the sun was over them and this morning driving in I got to see a little piece of that. But as soon as it shone through, the clouds rolled right back in and threatened lots of rain. When we parked our car I noticed a group of teenage boys standing around in about a 3 foot circle and and yelling and screaming. Kind of thought it was a fight but then realized they were all looking down at something. To my astonishment it was 2 roosters and they were fighting. Now we walked right passed them and I wanted to stay and watch but more because I could not believe what I was seeing and that I was so intrigued that they would do such a thing. I almost wanted to go and yell at them! I then made the connection that the yelling and screaming was all taunting them to keep fighting or kill the other one. So then about 10-15 minutes later we were sitting in our building and our door was open and happens to look right at where they all were. I watch one man walk away with a rooster held under his arm and looking down at the ground...slowly I see the wing of the other rooster kind of waving and then he just stomped on it!!! I couldn't believe what I just saw...but he just picked it up and carried it away with the other one. It literally was one of the craziest things I have seen here. 
  So my site leader Geidy does not speak much english at all - which #1 puts me in a very tough and sometimes uncomfortable spot...okay maybe that a little lie...it's very uncomfortable. She doesn't really try to include me in a lot of conversations we have when we go see people at their houses, so I am often sitting in a chair just looking around and trying my best to understand and be polite and considerate.
  A boy 16/17 years old named Elvis (but pronounced Elvi) showed up while Geidy was trying to give me the orientation and ended up doing his best to translate, she along with I were both very happy that he showed up. The sad thing is because of all this I can feel myself closing up and basically hiding in an invisible shell. Why do I do this? It makes me mad and uncomfortable with myself. I think the only way that it can be fixed is #1 to pray about it, #2 start studying spanish at night and #3 keep my head up and smile...while doing my best not realizing I am being eaten alive by bugs. Because of this particular bug, which just so happens to be called a noseeum bug (say it real slow and laugh ;P), and my ankle is now starting to swell and it just doesn't feel good =/ oh well haha
 So anyway after writing the above ^ in my journal I had gotten cut off and Geidy and I, after drinking some coffee with our sugar, headed back to the base. While I journaled I was praying and the second we got in the car it was like my spanish (very little of it) came back to me and then we had some pretty good conversation just getting to know each other and our backgrounds. So I got to come back and write about it and was very uber excited about it. 
  So going back to Sunday night (trying to catch you all up) I gave my testimony along with a couple other people. After each person went someone would volunteer to pray for that person. Vicki (our beautiful Team Director) prayed for me and gave me a 'word of encouragement' before she prayed. It went a little something like this..."Wanting to get to the place you were with God in Fiji and wanting to go back there is a great thought but in reality it will only discourage and disappoint you because you should only be trying to go passed that and getting even closer with God. Don't do something you have already accomplished it won't get you anywhere. Strive for something more." I almost wanted to cry hearing her say that and with such joy and encouragement toward me I really took it to heart and realized how true it really was. 
  Then since the first group of teams are happening these 2 weeks we as interns are expected to go to the chapels in the morning with them just so we know what they will be talking about all summer (since with every outreach it will be the same). So this morning the Art Site Leader, Fransisco (we call him Fran) did his talk on Sin. Now I got more out of the part after he talked about sin if that makes sense...and this is one of them (sorry it's a backward image but you get the idea) That if we know God. If we have a relationship with God; There is no reason you shouldn't run to God every single time. And he gave an example of him and his son, who respects him as a father, wouldn't go running to some stranger calling out his name but would stay close to his father or run to his father calling his name versus the stranger. He also said that if we consider ourselves a disciple, we have to be discipled by someone, as well as us having to disciple someone. If you fall in love with God it will last forever. 
  Then tonight we got to be a part of staff bible study, which is every single person who works for SI down here and their significant other and/or kids. An american man who has been living down here for about 2 years and now has a four month old boy named James - love that name! So he talked to us about 'calling' and our calling from God. He says that our calling is how we determine how to live our lives. like David in the bible he was called to be four different things throughout his entire life. Though we do live in an imperfect world and times happen when we hear the wrong thing and may understand our calling as the wrong thing. And if that happens it is something that we should fess up to and realize what we had interpreted wrong and then go on and fix it. We may suffer if we choose to do what we want or what God doesn't have planned for us. Yet when we do fulfill the calling God has for us we understand who we are. If you are being called by God to do something, he is the only one who could fulfill it. God knows us better than we do ourselves - and we need to accept that. And those are just some insights to what he talked about which was amazing. two great sermons in one day was really cool to be a part of. I feel like as interns we sort of get an in a sense better side of things because we get to participate in these sorts of things. 
  So now I have to go off and finish my bible readings for the day. It is quite the bible study we have going on for us interns this summer and it will be an adventure. Almost reading the entire bible! Great things happening and it's only been a week here =]
  Keep your eyes open for any little thing God could show you.