Sometimes you just have to laugh.

It is hard to think about giving an update without sharing a not so fun story...

Last Wednesday I left Montevideo to go to Buenos Aires to meet up with the other YAGMs and Kate to do our second retreat. We were meeting in Buenos Aires then going on an 8 hour bus ride to a town called Sierra de la Ventana. While walking around Buenos Aires, I felt something fall on my head... yep! It was bird poop. Here they say it is good luck if a bird poops on you, but I never really believed that... nor did it prove to be true in my case. I walked around Buenos Aires for a few hours carrying a pretty heavy backpack that I had to go camping and clothes for a week. Well, we got to the bus station about 45 minutes early, so we had some time to waste. I left my backpack with a couple of the volunteers and went to check the Internet. While there, one of the girls came in and told me that my bag was STOLEN! So... the bus was leaving in 10 minutes... I went camping with no backpack and the clothes on my back. Thank goodness my passport and camera were in my purse that was with me! When we got to Sierra de la Ventana, Kate (our coordinator) was waiting for us and we had to tell her what happened. Then we went to a second-hand store to buy a couple things that would get me through the days camping.

This is me shopping for my camping clothes and the place where we went camping. We camped at the base of the mountain. The little hole in the mountain is where they get the name "Ventana" or "window." It was a beautiful place, but it got unusually cold and without my clothes and little tolerance for cold weather, I was chilled to the bone most of the trip. The day we hiked up to "La Ventana" was however a gorgeous day. I borrowed tennis shoes so I could hike in something other than flipflops. On the way down the mountain (that is very rocky) I fell on my face. Literally, ON MY FACE. It hurt.

The end.

While in these moments, I was not a happy camper (literally), I can now laugh and have some stories that I will remember for the rest of my life. I will just say I am happy to be "home" in Montevideo for now.

Carnaval and Artilleros Photos

I am putting up some pictures from Carnaval. This is celebrated throughout the month of February.

This is the parade of Las Llamadas (The Calls) Slavery existed here as well and the owners let the slaves get together occasionally and they would play drums and dress up on the same street where the parade is today.

The costumes are a little more intricate now than they were back then.

My favorite part of the night was seeing this guy in a WVU hat... I am sure he had no idea how awesome his hat is (I see lots of University shirts here but no one knows cares what team or university it is) or why I was taking his picture.


Saturday I went to Artilleros with a few people from the young adult group in the Waldensian church. It is a town on the river plate that is very small and relaxing.

Maria Noel, Karin (Pastor Wilma's daughter) and Me on the beach in Artilleros.

Right after sunset

Marcos, me, Maria Noel, Karin, Sara and Victor

A beautiful moon right before we returned to Montevideo

Loving your neighbor

One of the members in the congregation shared with us a Bible study a couple weeks ago and the questions at the end of the Bible study were simple, but they caused me to reflect, so I thought I would share them with you all.

What does it mean to love my neighbor AS MYSELF?
Am I doing enough to love my neighbor?
Have I chosen the neighbors I want to love and forgotten about the rest?

Living a life of faithful Christian service...

Living in Uruguay has taught me a lot, but do I think that to live a life of faithful Christian service a person needs to leave the country or even city where they live? Absolutely not.

I often find myself getting caught up in tasks and trying to make myself useful by DOING these things that I think will help someone. I have come to realize that this attitude has probably prevented more than one conversation that would have been worth more than anything I could DO. It is not easy to admit that I have not taken advantage of every opportunity that God has presented me with to engage with the people I have encountered. Being more proficient in Spanish also helps with engaging, and I have found it easier to have conversations beyond my ability level in 2008. I look forward to what God has in store for me in the last four months here. I have made a promise to myself to put the people I encounter in front the task that is before me. I have a lot to learn from the people I encounter and pray that I will make more opportunities to do just that.

Just an Update

Things in La Obra are picking up with the end of summer vacation. Students who did not pass exams the first time around have a second chance in February to take them. We are currently preparing these students like crazy in la Obra Ecumenica. I have been tutoring lots of Math and English for the past week and a half to students who are still on summer vacation. It is not any easier to teach students in Uruguay in the summer than it would be to pull a child from a swimming pool in the United States and put them at a table to study. I have found myself being able to communicate a lot better now than when I left la Obra in December.

In Nuestro Salvador, we have moved the office to open up a space for student housing. There are currently four students living in the church now. I am excited to see more activity here. I am friends with a few of the people living here and we have eaten together a couple times and spent some free time just hanging out and talking. The congregation of Nuestro Salvador is sending six members to Minnesota in May to visit their sister church, Good Shepherd. They are preparing now a bit of history and information to take to share with the congregation there. I am excited for this opportunity for them. It is great to share faith with new people in a different context and I think that the members going will have a great experience that will strengthen their faith and I am excited for them to come back and share with us what they learned and experienced.

February also begins a month-long celebration of Carnaval. There are parades and murgas and tambores. To see more about Carnaval, follow this link: http://www.carnaval.com/uruguay/