Day 16 - Wednesday

             I woke the kids up this morning because for some reason I woke up early and was bored! They were adorable, and afterwards we had a “brushing your teeth” party, and I brushed mine again, because Zedekias and Franchellis didn’t want to. They were adorable as always!

Waking them up... Franchesca was mad!

Franchellis, Zedekias, and I

Funny Faces

Zedekias and I at the 'Party'

...and Franchellis decided to come too!

Day 15 - Tuesday

Today I played basketball with Calvin, Christian, Johnny, and others! It was lots of fun! We won a bunch of times and I wore shoes so no blisters! I also helped Eudocia clean the house. She hates pictures, but I take them with her anyway!

Basketball, don't even think I'm in this picture

Eudocia (Mammi), Franchellis, and I cleaning the house

Day 14 - Monday

                Today I helped out with preparation for Semana de los Jovenes again, and painted posters with Nata; Fun but tiring. I also went with Daicey to a “Charla” or meeting for women at the Red Cross in Peralta. They came together to discuss different ways of promoting health in the community and to their children. We walked home, which was pretty far, and stopped at the Internet Center, where any people can come, sign in, and use the internet when they need to. It’s similar to a library, but only computers. When we got home we took a ride with Johnny to buy something for dinner (never found it), but we rode around all of Peralta looking in every store. After I had dinner, Christian came over and invited me to the birthday party for Paloma and Beatrice (twins from the church) who  turned 18 today. On the way to the party, he brought me to his house and introduced me to his two brothers, one of whom is also a Christian, and his neices and nephews. They were very sweet and I liked getting to know more about him by meeting his family. The party was absolutely amazing! Everyone was there, and they played lots of cool games. One was putting the name of everyone there on a piece of paper. One was drawn at a time, and that person had to come to the front, pop a balloon, and inside the balloon was something they had to do. It was mostly Karyoke type things, where they would have to sing a song to the birthday girls. Overall, the party was really cool because it was just a gathering of all youth from the church to celebrate the birthday and the presence of God in their lives. Very uplifting! I came home and hung out with Franchesca, ate some Mango, and talked. It was really nice to spend more time with her J!

The Red Cross in Peralta

Technology Center

Dabeyli and I (She works at the desk)

Day 13 - Sunday

          Today I went with Christian to the pool at the top of Peralta… it was really tiny, and really dirty! Haha but I went in anyways. There were tons of kids and lots of splashing, but fun because they were so excited that I was playing with them. There was also a girl there who spoke english. She told me that she lives in NYC and that her family used to live in Peralta, so in the summer they come back to vacation. The other American girls who are here with some program came and hung out for a little. The pool is like a place people go to hang out because there is a bar and dance floor there too. Around the pool are tables and chairs to sit in, and drinks and food is served. Pretty cool for Peralta. We came back on his motorcycle, which is tons of fun, to shower before church. Alysa, who is somewhat of an intern with the pastor, gave the sermon tonight. She told me she would speak slowly so that I might understand some of it, but I still didn’t. During the service Nata came in and surprised me, because he wasn’t supossed to be home until next week! Afterwards we went to the basketball came with everyone. Camboya won!

Christian and I

Anna, Kassidy, Christian and I

Day 12 - Saturday

                Today I woke up and learned how to make Bananas with Cinnemon. I ate breakfast, and Johnny came over and shared with me Matthew 9, which reads:

[ ⁹As jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.

¹⁰ While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. ¹¹When the Pahrisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

¹²On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. ¹³But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrafice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”]

It was really nice to talk with him about the verses, and what he thought about them. He is truly a spiritual leader, and I am so blessed to have him as a friend. We hung out more, and the other American girls came over to eat lunch with Christian and I. They were nice girls but didn’t seem to enjoy being in Peralta much, which kind of upset me. After we ate we drove up to the hospital and visited Mercedes who is a member of the church. She seemed like she was in good spirits, but it was sad to see her and all the babies who were there. Afterwards Calvin, Johnny, and I played basketball against some other people at the school. We won! But I played barefoot and got blisters on my feet! I showered and went to church with Franchesca, Zedekias, and Franchellis, then on a date to the Camboya game with Christian! (joke, but seriously, we went) Tons of fun! Can’t wait till the game tomorrow!

Day 11 - Friday

                I learned how to make hot chocolate today with Eudocia, and she made me pancakes for breakfast! We went to Azua to her sister’s house, and she got her hair cut at a salon… we were there for 4 hours! Absolutely crazy!! We came home, and didn’t have enough time to eat and go to church, so we just ate dinner and hung out at the house. She made us Lechosa for desert, which is similar to a milkshake but with fruit. This one was with Papaya.. delicious!!! I hung out with Johnny and Christian and let them look at all the pictures on my computer from spring break, they loved it!

Day 10 - Thursday

             Today I woke up and Wendy told me we were going to work on stuff for “La Semana de los Jovenes”, which is a camp the church is having for kids in the community next week. It was fun, we created portfolios for all of the kids with construction paper, had lunch and just hung out with some people from a church further up the mountain. Aftwards Estelle and I left and went to the prayer gathering, and then I came home to the Pastor’s and saw my new room! It was beautiful! They also have a bathroom inside of there house now 
which is very nice. Tonight, I will sleep in their house for the first time! I am very excited!

Alisa and I

Finished making the file folders

Estelle looking beautiful

All the file folders! (made to look like bags)

The new kitchen! so much more space!

My room!

The new bathroom!