Tuesdays are probably my second favorite day of the week. On Tuesdays we have Alpha (a class with 15 different themes about the basics of Christianity) in Villa Union. I've been doing all the teaching, which really stretches my Spanish skills, but increases my confidence. The ladies who come ask lots of really deep, great questions. We all eat ( Read more... )

One of the ladies in our small group, (8 months older than me, but already has 3 kids, 7, 6, and 4- very common here) , is taking classes to learn how to give massages. She wanted to massage me, because she's trying to earn a little money to buy more supplies. She came over to my house on Monday, and gave me and 80 minute massage for 70 pesos ( ( Read more... )

A 15 year old boy named Roberto who lives about 3 blocks from us was stabbed with an ice pick by a couple other guys from his school. The story is they mistook him for someone else. They punctured a lung. He almost died, but is recovering very well now. He's afraid to be left alone in the house or to go outside. He might move to another city and ( Read more... )

In the US, I think we generally believe that people can rise to be successful from nearly any background. Even kids that come from really disadvantaged homes can get a quality education. American universities are very generous to low income families. With the right education, anyone can have a descent job and build a more luxurious and respected ( Read more... )

6 weeks, 2 days, and counting.

I've been hard core "nesting" the past couple days. I shouldn't have watched Juno (which I loved), because it made me more baby crazy than ever! I've been washing baby clothes, buying diapers, arranging and rearranging the baby room. I spend most of my spare time trying to imagine what it's going to be like mothering. ( Read more... )

Some very concerned children just came by to make sure that tonight I'm in bed asleep when the eclipse happens so my baby isn't born deformed. 

There are 2 houses with roofs connected to ours. On the one side we have our favorite people Edit and Pablo. On the other side is another rented house like ours. When we first moved in, that house was empty. Then this crazy, super religious mixed with some form of abusive neglect, family moved in. The drove us nuts because the kids wouldn't talk, ( Read more... )

I have found that when sitting down or standing with my feet on the floor, they occasionally swell to twice their normal size- not painful, just awkward. However, as soon as my feet are horizontal or in the air, they immediately shrink back to a more typical size.

8 cows just ran past my house. -like cow galloped.  

Monday is Kyle and I's day of rest since Saturday and Sunday are usually the busiest days of our week. I love Mondays (for the first time in my life). It's so nice to sit around and do nothing and not feel guilty about it.

Last night, Karina, a beautiful 19-year old, Sergio's little sister, who also basically runs the Villa Union feeding center and ( Read more... )