We're Here...

So we made it! After traveling all through the night and not sleeping a wink, we were greeted by our new friend Ruben Ricca and his friend Tomas who is visiting from Ecuador. What a great man! He greeted us with the traditional Latin kiss and took us to his daughter's house where they had prepared a breakfast for us. They all went off to work and we took a 45 minute siesta and then a quick shower.

Ruben picked us up and gave us a tour of the church. And we met about 100 people. And gave them all kisses. We saw this sight on our way to the church:

We went to a celebration of "Dia de las razas" at a private Christian school that Ruben & Graciela's grandkids go to. It was fun to see the kids celebrating their history. We have a meeting set up with the director to get some insight into the school (it's not billingual, but has many positive aspects to it).

Next we went down town and got a glimpse of a big city. Not so sure I am a big-city girl. Chris had 4 emanadas and I had a lomita for lunch. At 2:30. We had a great time talking with Ruben & Graciela and learning more about them and their journey of faith.

We went back to Noela & Ezekial's house for a 45 minute descanso and then Herman, Ruben's oldest son, came and picked us up to take us to see a private billingual school. It isn't what we're hoping for.

We toured around other parts of the city and got to see some neighborhoods that we could potentially live in. It was great to see the potential. One thing is for sure, there is mucho poverty here. Much much more than we anticipated. I accidently fell asleep in the car, but Chris was kind enough to wake me up when we were in the pretty neighborhoods.

Then, we visited Juventud Con Un Mision (Youth With A Mission - YWAM). What an amazing ministry. Around the city are shanties called "Villas" that are homes that very poor families build with whatever materials they have. It was oppresive poverty and it reminded us of our time in Guatemala. When we walked over to the "neighborhood", about 10 kids ran out and gave huge hugs to their friends at JCUM who serve them food and provide a fun place for them to hang out. I loved watching them smile, listen to their funny banter and see them hold their heads up high. It is Christ's love and mercy working through misery and poverty.

Now we're back at the house and looking forward to dinner with Noela & Ezekial. And I'm really looking forward to a nice long sleep.

And don't forget that we were speaking Spanish all day. Estamos cansados!

PS If I owned an airline this is how I would run it:

1. Everyone would be considered "first class".
2. There would be no loud talking allowed during a red-eye flight.
3. All the seats would be made for people who were 7 feet tall instead of making them for people who are only 5 feet tall (my legs fell asleep on our flight from Lima, Peru to Cordoba).