Cena con mi familia

I have been in Antigua for one week now. It kind of feels unbelievable. After preparing and talking about this journey for almost a year, it seems surreal that it has become a reality. My life has already changed so drastically and the realization I'm having to get most used to is it's not going to go back to the way it was - not after six weeks or the next couple of years. I am really focusing on embracing that and praying that the thoughts and feelings I have during the day are from the LORD only.

Antigua is such a nice place! I really like the people, and just love how each calle (street) looks like a rainbow with each house or building being a different color. Antigua actually means "old" as mi maestra told me, and there is so much of this town that holds that meaning. There are ruins and beautiful old cathedrals that I'm looking forward to checkin' out during the next couple days - mi primer fin de semana aqui!

Darby and I are really getting along well. God is so awesome. She is from South Carolina, and is in language school because she will begin her journey as a missionary at an orphange here in Guatemala starting in September. Perfect! We have had lots to talk about, and she is definitely a woman persuing the Lord and His hand in her life - someone I certainly want to spend time with.

We are so enjoying our family and one of the most interesting times of the day are meals with them, and specifically dinners, where we seem to spend the most time chatting - en espanol! Ellos hablan no mas ingles. Desayuno is at 7 am, almuerzo at 1 pm, and cena at 6:30 pm. We have had some really interesting meals over the past few days. I have enjoyed everything I've eaten, especially pan dulce (sweet bread), which I dip in mi cafe (gotta watch that as I've been doing it several times each day :) ) Desayuno is a pretty normal size, almuerzo is huge, and dinner is small. Very opposite from the US, but I love that I'm practicing what I believe to be a great way to eat meals. One example of an interesting meal we had a couple nights ago was hot dog... with avacado, ketchup, mustard, and mayonnaise all over it. They put ketchup and mayonnaise all over our breakfast sandwiches too. Besides the hotdog, we eat very traditional Guatemalan food here - lots of tortillas, especially at lunch, and beans and rice and fresh veggies many of which come from their garden.

A couple of funny "bloopers" during dinner. Jaime and Silvia spend a lot of the time laughing with us as we try to conquer this language. For example, when trying to tell them that the song on the radio, which plays either 50s/60s American pop music or traditional Spanish music, was not new to me, I told them that the singer was not my boyfriend. They abrupted in laughter. I also was trying telling them that I hoped Darby would stay an extra week with me during language school, and I called her my spouse... which will probably be sort of an accurate description by the end of this.

I'm hoping to post pictures of Darby and the family soon. I keep forgetting to take them and I'm having to really discipline myself to being prompt with posting pictures! As I have never been the "best" at that... Looking forward to another week in Antigua where I can learn lots more espanol and discover more about this awesome city and country! Que te vaya bien!