Feliz

850PM

Sitting at the kitchen table in shorts and a T...with the fan 12 inches away.  Elissa is on my computer and has the other fan pointed on her.  We just got home from church.  I went to Escuela Caribe alone this morning and Templo Bautista tonight w E.  You definitely get stickers in heaven for attendance like that.   The church van picks us up out on the Ave. It looks like it should seat about 12. I counted 27 tonight. We go around the neighborhoods picking kids up for church.  A few parents come with the kids. Templo does a night service because in the morning Haitians borrow the building for hours of worship. Pastor Jeff is leaving to receive medical treatment for his condition in the States, so we made food to bring and send him off.  I wasnt sure if we had enough food so E and I were going to go to the colmado. Jaci said we did, so we headed there anyway to grab drinks. It was so crammed in the van, I was beyond hot and parched. A Sprite, Gatorade, and an apple juice juice box was 60 pesos.  I'm typing on my Kindle and can't figure that out in dollars. Think more than a dollar and less than 2.  The cooler holding these had a mess of drinks all mixed in a dirty fridge.  There sbout 4 other pple at the store sitting around in chairs, which is very common. I asked for a diet and she told no diet while running her hand down my side saying something about not needing diet. Atleast, i hope she said that. Baha. Girls are thicker here and she was shaking her head. I'm not so sure why she thought it was okay to touch me, but it seemed normal.  I need a diet coke! Why is it so hard to get diet in the stores??  First restaurant in the States I am getting a diet with lemon! Where are the lemons in this country? I haven't seen any at my veggie markets/supermercados that I frequent. 

We go back to church.  My hair is in a ponytail because it is too hot. My hair is longer than I've had it in years (really because of the FL heat, I tend to cut it before summer) and as much as I love it, I think it is time to chop it to stay cooler! Their entire service is all Spanish.  There are two windows on the right side of the church only. Along the very top off the wall is a screen portion about a foot wide with air coming in. The backdoor is open to help air circulate. Everytime a breeze would come through, I could feel it slip up the back of my shirt and I would say, "Thank you,  Jesus." I wasnt being silly.  I was serious! "Thank you for the wind!"  Not too sure if I have ever thanked Him for that this reason.   I kept using my forearm to blot my sweaty face.   My skin was so clammy. Everytime (here or in the USA) I wanted to complain about no a/c or just anything while in church, i hear my Pastor Timm say "we are worshipping God. Music doesnt have to be perfect and you dont have to have everything to your liking.  This is about Jesus." He isnt harsh in his tone in my head, he is just true.  I'm sure I paraphrased that.  If Timm only knew how many times he's told me that!  Haha!  So, we do that whole meet and greet others thing. I love hugging, but strangers arent my thing, and I really can do without the greet the person next to you thing.   I get up anyway and start cheek kissing the other females and shake male hands, unless i already know him, then I'll kiss.  The kids always amaze me how they hug you. They squeeze you like you're related! They aren't shy! This little boy came over first. He rambled 3 sentences in spanish and then said his name and bear hugged the junk out of me. You just squeeze them back, of course, like it is a renunion!  Hey, buddy!  I dont know what the heck he said, but he had a big grin! I told him my name and he thought I said Feliz. I have accepted this new name. My name  is "happy" here.  I tried to get one friend to say it right, but he still can only remember Feliz, so i just say yes when a Hispanic repeats feliz, i smile. Sure. Ill take it.  Oh her name is Happy!

So, this time in church I hear more of what the pastor is saying in Spanish. The first time I came, I was overwhelmed and swore I couldn't church it in Spanish. I think I am good now. I don't get the clear message, but I get main points. It's hard for me to focus. I hear a new word and I try to look it up, and then I've missed the next few sentences.  I will learn.  I am so eager to learn the language. I've spent a few nights staying up late into the night taking notes on Spanish, then hrs during the day studying since school got out.  I've loved this language since 7th grade :) I know a lot of people just make up Spanish sentences with English grammar rules, but I want to speak correctly. So, invited some of the barrio girls from that back neighborhood (i took pics at earlier this week) to come over for dinner. They don't speak English. They take an Eng course at school, but it is public school, not like my school that is English speaking.  I joked with one of the little ones to teach me Spanish and she told me to teach her English. Great idea! So I told them in Spanish, "I'll cook dinner Tuesday and we can start practicing."  I'm excited!