Siblings, Cells, and Chili #2

Mom...look, pictures of the apartment at the end of this post! (Oh, and even though it says Monday, it really was posted on Wednesday, October 22)

Friday:
Big/Little Sib Day at ECA. I went and helped out at the school during the morning, and then enjoyed their festivities during the afternoon. There was a cookout and then field day type activities shared between big and little "siblings", paired up by the school. Unfortunately, there were too many brownies, so I was forced to eat two. The second was just as delicious as the first. I enjoyed seeing the kids dressed up like their "sibling" and the camaraderie between the older and younger ones. I put some pictures on the link below so that you can enjoy. I also met the piano teacher for the school, a Korean lady living in Spain. She said she'd help me find a song for the piano to play, and I'm going to play on the school's piano each Friday. I'm very happy for this opportunity to not go a year without making music. As a picture I have says: Music tastes like happy.

At 8:30 this evening, the célula (literally, cell, or our small group) for the older young people at the church began. There are about 9 of us, and three Americans within the group. One is Alba (Dawn) who shares the responsibility of leading the group with another girl (Sara), and the other (Kristen) is an conversation assistant like me. It was wonderful to meet the group. In a small group, I can actually participate some. We made collages, which I enjoyed too much, and planned for the year. We will alternate Bible Studies with movie/dinner/game nights. The only bad part was that after a few hours listening very intently to mostly follow the conversation surrounding me, my brain hurt. Literally. Hopefully I'll get used to concentrating so hard and won't get a headache every time!

Saturday:
I finished planning lessons and activities for the week, bought crayons, and made photocopies at the book/paper store. This afternoon, Angelita's daughter, Maria Ester and granddaughters Raquel, Mar, and Stefani came over for lunch. In the evening, we went to a church in San Fernando (next town over) to see a mime. I liked the way he interpreted Psalm 23 and explained the mime to us.

Sunday, Chili Round 2:
After Sunday school (since the Calderwoods forgot to tell me that they were going to first service and I went to class instead of service), I went to their house to eat lunch. Lynn had invited me along with some of the other single people from their school. Since Becky and I arrived earlier than the rest, which happens when you ride with the host, we made ourselves useful chopping vegetables to munch on. Lynn had made chili and taco soup and a delicious apple crisp. I really enjoyed talking with the others. After everyone left, I stayed and watched "Stranger Than Fiction" with Lynn. I didn't go to youth group, but I feel more rested after this Sunday than I would if I had. Perhaps it was the long stretch in English; perhaps it was the long talk Lynn and I had outside over a cup of tea. They took me home when they picked Andrew up from youth group.

Apartment