It's almost been a week...

This is a long one but WELL WORTH THE READ, if I do say so myself.

NEXT is happening this weekend! I wish I could be there with you all! Definitely going to listen to those messages as soon as I can! Hope you're all having a great time, discovering the Lord in new ways and experiencing some awesome fellowship with each other. I'm with you in spirit!

The other night, Thursday, I went with Andrea to a mall inauguration. The mall is called Monay Shopping. It was the first night to open to the public so we had to fight the guards to get in early so she could prepare for her dance performance. Little did we know that this event was incredibly formal. Suits, ties, and dresses. And I there I was, already drawing attention with my hair, but also dressed in jeans, sandals, and my black Terps fleece. Fracaso (fail). I was sitting in the midst of all the suits and black hair. This inauguration was a huge deal for them- I think it's their 2nd mall in Cuenca. The first mall was built only 2 years ago. This place was squeaky clean, and bright lights everywhere. Some important VIP's made speeches, and the Ecuadorian national anthem was sung at the beginning and end. Talk about a cultural experience. Andrea's performance was at the end and it was very similar to Circ de Soleil (sp?). It was awesome. Then they had fancy little foods on toothpicks- coconut-encrusted chicken, shrimp, steak. And champagne and wine. Classy. Afterwards Andrea, her sister Cris (married with a nena (baby)), Jesica (other dancer), Andrea's novio, and the novio's cousin went out to a very Americanized sports bar/restaurant. I was quiet most of the time, trying to keep up with the convo.

That leads me to this: The main language challenge is social settings with groups. I want to be involved in conversations and jokes, etc, but at this point I just don't know a lot of vocab. So when I'm either at the kitchen table with the family, or out with a group, I'm quite, cause, well, I'm just trying to keep up with comprehension before actually speaking! I get a word or question in here and there. It's really ok by me, I just hope the rest of the group doesn't feel bad or...something. Also it's hard because I want to ask people questions as well, instead of them only asking me, but it takes me a while to formulate the right question in my head. In one-on-one convos, however, I do much better. :)

But you know what I've realized? Having this language challenge has made me see how selfish I can be back home. I often will not initiate hang-outs, or close my door to my room in Ellicott so I'm not bothered, or pass by someone with a "Hey, what's up?" instead of entering into conversation. It is SO EASY to have a conversation with someone in English! There is no excuse for avoiding those opportunities! Here, I have more of an "excuse" per se, because there is a language barrier. But back home, no way. I have every reason to be invested and interested in the people around me. So that is what I'm learning so far... though please pray that little by little I'd be able to enter into social groups, and participate more and more. Cause it IS hard. But it's another opportunity for me to trust God and be humbled in my somewhat helpless state. jaja.

I wanted to add a few more notes, things that I've already observed even after 4 days of being in Cuenca:

1) don't get pizza in Ecuador. We went to the mall yesterday for lunch and I got it... mostly dough, barely any sauce. And "ensalada de cesar" is not ceasar salad either, jaja. But I ate it. Better that than the pot of chicken parts (I saw a foot in there, no doubt about it) that was boiling on the stove yesterday morning. And they call junk food and fast food (comida rápida) "chatarra."

2) The jugo (juice) is like their soda. And it is almost always freshly squeezed/mixed in a blender. Jugo de mora (berry), de melón (cantaloupe), de tomate de arbol (not our tomatoes- these are sweet and more oval and light orange in color) and this morning it was something like a green orange.

3) Life here is relaxed in general. The Bustos are not preoccupied with having a spotless kitchen or rushing around from one thing to the next (except to work/school, of course). Their days get going around 7:30 or 8. And in Cuenca, people don't have to commute to work, either.

4) Driving is a whole different animal. So supposedly the law is to wear a seatbelt, but people don't. The driver usually, but no one else. I've been squeezed into the back of Julio's tiny hatchback with 3 other girls, and 2 in the front seat. 7 of us total. jaja. There aren't many minivans here- mostly small SUV's, cars, and trucks. Drivers are crazy, my family included. There really aren't lines on the streets, you just pass people as you please. Cars zoom by to pass you as well, and you don't know when they're coming. The neighborhoods in the city are so confusing, too. Like a maze. Road names are NOT clearly marked at all- sings are few and far between, not on every corner. Only in the center are they marked well. I could never drive around here alone, even if I knew the road names I had to turn on, because I wouldn't be able to SEE the road names.

5) The time to go running is 6am, pretty much. Un montón de gente run at that time, because it's before work. I should probably try that, to avoid honks and cars speeding past me in the afternoon. But 6am? Really, how dedicated am I? We'll see about that one.

6) Families are SUPER CLOSE. Siblings and cousins do things together ALL the time. Family is part of the core hangout group most of the time. I love it and wish our culture was like that, and not so "Oh I need to go to college to be far away from my family" and "Oh no way could I ever hang out with my little brother in public" and "Oh I only see my cousins at family reunions because they live halfway across the country." I realize these are blanket statements, but for the majority in America I think they're true.

7) Cuencanos have a sing-song accent. I think I've already mentioned this. And also in words that have double r's "rr" they pronounce it like the "s" in "closure." So sometimes I get lost... some have stronger accents than others.

8) Latinos think that gringas, white girls, are easy. One reason why Latino guys like them so much. But I am here to counter-balance that stereotype! They won't get nothin from me. jaja.

9) Cuencanos also think it's freezing cold when it's like 55 degrees. However, I'm so used to the fierce winters in Maryland. People always ask me if I'm cold if I have short sleeves on with no jacket, and I reply, "No, really, I'm used to it." :)

10) Sarah, you have no idea how comforting it is to have peanut butter. I don't know what I'll do once I run out.

11) If you got this far down the blog, here's my address. It's actually the dad's office address, because there aren't mail trucks and mailboxes out here in San Joaquín:

Av. Paucarbamba y Miguel Cordero esq. Edificio WORK-CENTER, ofc #311, 3er piso, Cuenca, Ecuador.

Thanks for reading all that, if you actually got through it all! Love you and miss you!

BESITOS & ABRAZOS!!! E-mail me about YOUR LIVES! I want to hear. linds0929@gmail.com.