Spending way too much money!

Haha. This mentality I had the first week that I wasnt speanding hardly any money is suddenly out the window! I am spending $$ like theres no tomorrow, and thats not good. At least all the money I am spending is on good food and good times!

However, I just got jipped (gipped) out of $10 because I asked for a tarjeta instead of a chip for my phone....so now I have prepaid phone card when what i wanted was to be able to use my cell phone here by buying a new sim card.....Hm.
In other news. I went to Baños last night, to the hotsprings, which was fun. A group of 6 of us went and spent the evening in the hot springs and turkish baths (aka steam rooms) just chilling and relaxing. Good times.

Tonight I'm watching a movie about the invisible people of Bolivia, maybe somethign like the invisible children? We'll see! But now I am hungry and want to get something to eat before the movie, and I dont know that I have enough $$ to pay for internet, eat, and get home later tonight....haha. I should definately not have bought that phone card!

Tomorrow, I'm going to the biggest market in Cuenca to buy some sunglasses, because (sad day) I lost mine yesterday here in the internet cafe. It was seriosly a matter of about 7 minutes between when I left my computer (and glasses) and came back for them. Someone else liked them too! But I am sad, because I loved those glasses, and they have been with me to Ecuador (now), Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil, and Guatemala. They're my favs. Oh well. Life goes on, I suppose.

Everyone surviving in the frigid storms of the US? Its been a beautiful sunny day of about 78 here :) Haha. This weekend, I am either going to the national park with some of the guys to go hiking and spend the night, or go to the ingapirca ruins with the school. I want to do both, but its not possible.....Hmm. Decisions decisions!

A wonderful weekend!

This has been a great weekend here in Cuenca.Wonderful weather, good times with friends (praise the Lord) fun in the sun, and church this morning!

Friday night, I met up with a group from the school, what Im now calling the regulars, (Jamie and Peter from England, myself,and Iris, Raban, and Tonja from Switzrland.) We all went to Cafe Tranquilo for a late dinner around 9,30 (sorry, this computers keys are really funny!) then hung out there until the live salsa band came on at 11,30. Us girls got up and danced in the aisles and had a blast. Then we all left there around 1,30 or so, and I headed home while the rest went to a discoteque.

Yesterday we went to the desert, which was surprisingly,a lot of fun. After driving around a while and looking at some sites and lookout points, we went hiking. We hiked up the mountain (desert mountain) then down into the canyon, then back up, then down into the river basin, where we swam and ate lunch for a couple hours. Then we headed back, and last night, we ate dinner at an Italian place, and went to a house party. There is a group of hippie teachers that Peter from our group knows, mostly from the States and Europe, and they had a bunch of students, and us, over. I went home about 11,30 because I was exhausted!

This morning was church with the missionaries. It was really different from my home church(es) but it was good. We sang, and listened to personal testimonies of how God was working in the peoples lives, and then had a message about obediance and disobediance in relation to our faith. This afternoon then, I hung out with Jamie in the park down by the river. I did my homework and we talked and listened to music, then went and got some pizza. I got to listen to his whole life story, haha. Fun times.

Now, Im going to head home and finish my homework. Tomorrow starts a new week at school, so maybe new students. I am going to make a concentrated effort to talk to more people in Spanish this week! English has been the language of the weekend! Haha.

The Lord is really answering my and your prayers this weekend. I have been very blessed with stuff to do and people to hang out with. Even though I dont have a Christian friend here, I have been able to have conversations with both Jamie and Iris about my faith, and Iris is wanting to go to church together next Sunday! The Lord is good, and moving in wonderful ways! So thanks for your prayers, and keep them coming! Continue to pray for my safety and health, still having a bit of an issue with foods. Also, pray that I will get more opportunities o share my faith here!

Thank you friends! Love to all, and I hope everyone is doing well! -Lauren

Weirdness!

Today has been a little weird. I didnt feel so hot earlier, a little fevery, but after my nap I think I am doing a bit better!

I found out my professor talked to the director, and I am being pushed ahead a book. So, adios to my two classmates from Switzerland, and hello 5 girls from the US. She said she thinks I can push myself and learn, so we will see! Hope it goes OK.

Salsa was fun last night. I have learned a lot from a friend of mine named Jose from Costa Rica, who is an incredible dancer, so it was more of a refresher course for me. I guess now I need to practice at the discotoque! Haha.

I had a true Ecuadorean experience today. We had cuy for lunch. For those of you who dont know what cuy is, it is guinea pig. For those of you who dont know this about me, I used to have 2 guinea pigs whom I loved very much. RIP Furball and Mr. Piggy! The cuy was not a bad flavor, but I couldnt stomach it, thinking about my beloved pets! Ahhh... They seemed to not understand why I didnt love it (especially the skin, which is supposedly ¨muy riquisimo!¨) until I explained about my pets....then they gave me some chicken. The two little ladies who cooked it, friends of Suca´s, were the cutest little things ever. Neither one of them could have been over 4´8´´ and they were just like you´d expect a Latina grandma to be!

Walking over here a little bit ago, I had a water balloon thrown at my by a group of teenagers. In all my stealthiness, I was able to dodge it before it hit me. However, my stealthiness must have left, because when I got to the internet cafe, I tried to sit in my bar-stool chair, about 3 1/2 feet off the ground, and somehow managed to knock it backwards and land on my butt on the ground....Just call me Grace.

Now, off to get a little dinner at Cafe Wunderbar, a popular hangout for us students in the same building as the school, then to a cooking class. I have no idea what we´re making, but I know its not cuy!! :)

Love to all!

A bit tougher.....

Class was not so great today. I not anywhere close to where I need to be to get credit for my grammar and conversation class at the school here, and I need to get that credit to help me get credit at Union. Please pray for my fluency level! I have to test out of the class I am in now to move up to start learning what I need to know for the higher level.....complicated. So that was discouraging, and the prof. is getting on my nerves. I tend to either have great relationships with teachers or bad ones, and I dont see this one being that great...I should work on my attitude!
In other news, there is a group from the US coming tonight from some university. I dont know where, but that will be interesting. On one hand, its new people to hang out with, and more people to speak English with, and on the other hand, its more people to speak english with, which is bad. I need to speak only in Spanish.

Pray for me, as I think I am hitting the second phase of culture shock ¨dejection.¨I am ready to come home, or at least have this fly by. I am trying to remind myself that very few people are able to take a month or more out of their lives to live in another country with a family and to learn English. I think, honestly, it would be more fun for me if I didnt have to recieve credit for these classes, and I could just enjoy learning the language to expand my mind! Haha.

I was reading in Romans 10 the other day, and was reminded that there is a higher purpose behind me being here. I felt called into the ministry in hs, and I believe that this is my chance to attain those skills necessary to what I feel the Lord wants me to do. And like it says, (paraphrasing, b/c I dont have my Bible in front me) ¨How can they believe in one they have not heard of? And how can they hear of one if they are not told?¨Thats gonna be part of my job, I think. At least I am trying to look at it that way.

Tonight starts dance classes, salsa y merengue, and tomorrow is cooking. Saturday I am going to the desert to go hiking and swimming. Sounds weird, huh? Most deserts are completely flat with no water....this one apparently has mountainous terrain and a river running along the bottom. I forgot a lot at home, like shorts, bug spray, and sunscreen, and which are necessary for the trip, so I have to buy these things. I bought the shorts, a lovely pair of black ones that cost $2 and give me, what most people lovingly refer to, as a mom-butt. They come up way past my bellybutton! Haha.

Well, I think thats all for now. Everyone have a lovely evening/afternoon! Love-lauren

Cuenca in general

Classes went well today. They start at 7:45, and I get done about 1:45, so its a long day. My group for class is the hippie girl from California (who apparently is participating in No Shave Armpits in 2007....gross. More to come on her later), a girl/woman from Switzerland who is really funny and speaks English (as well as probably 4 other languages) and a guy from Switzerland about my age named Raban. He speaks 4 languages. I am amazed at these Europeans!!

Anyways, in classes today, two funny stories: We were talking about the lottery in our state or country, and the prof. ask hippie girl (erika) about a lottery in California. Erika launches into a spiel (in spanish) about how she only uses cash, so the government cant watch her. Its very corrupt since 9-11 and they like to keep tabs on everyone, so she refuses to leave a trail for them! Hahaha. Also, she is a secretary at a place where they make organic foods like Nutbutter......

During culture class the director spoke to us about the fauna and animals of the Andes and I couldnt help but get distracted. He has a large gap in his bottom two front teeth. I dont think he is missing teeth, I think it is a large gap. Everytime he says a certain consanent, his tongue pokes through and looks like a snake....random, I know. I just didnt learn as much as I should have since I kept getting distracted!

Ok, a little about Cuenca. Its a very interesting town. The area was originally settled by the Inca hundreds of years ago as a northern capital of their empire. It was called Riobamba. With the coming of Cortez to Mexico, and the eventual colonization of all of South America by Spain and Portugal, this area was settled by the Spanish, who tore down many of in Incan structures and began to build on top of them. There are churches here that still have the incan blocks at the bottom that you can see, with white stucco and blocks on top of that when they built the new churches. When the Spanish came in and settled Cuenca, they carefully planned the city structure to be the ¨perfect city¨and it is very planned-looking. There are 4 rivers, and the city lies in between 3 of them, forming its boundaries. The southern river, Riobamba, was originally the southern boundary, and it remained this way for a couple of hundred years. It wasnt until the 1950s that the Cuencanos spilled over this limit and began settlign the area on the south side of the river, outside of the original plan. However, it is still very evident, as the öld city¨and the ¨new city¨have markedly different structures.

To get to school each day, I walk about four blocks north through the new city, and cross a park, also in the new city, then cross the river into the old city. There are about 5 sets of steps up into the old city, and the school is situated near the top of the steps. Its a nice walk, once I get into the park. Otherwise, its nothing grand.

Anyways, theres your history lesson for today!! I need to go though, because I am watching a movie at school in about an hour, and I need to eat before then! -Lauren