No water and avocados and teaching...oh my!!

Hey everybody!

So many things have happened since I've been here that I wasn't sure where to start this time!

So, clearly, coffee was the way to go.

On Sunday evening Shelly and I enjoyed our coffee on the front patio while it was raining.

 It's funny to me to think that when I left Texas, I was so happy for the sunshine. But being here, it's so hot and humid all day until it starts raining, so I can't wait for it to start!

Sunday afternoon, after the church service was over, we ended up staying up at the church until around 5 helping to redecorate for the month of June. Because Shelly is an art teacher, they had her drawing and cutting out flowers and letters to decorate the bulletin boards with.

Here she is hard at work drawing the letters backwards so that the right side of the foam would show on the board.

I was mostly there for moral support (and to take pictures of her working) since I have almost no artistic talent.

Dayanis' husband Wide brought us huge slices of avocado, and I ate it. Which is a huge deal for me because I usually really don't like them.

They were soooo delicious! They tasted so much more fresh than what we have in the US. Also, I have proof for those of you who wouldn't believe I actually ate it.

Really, Sunday was full of delicious things.

We were given something called Duro de Nance (a lot of the time we will just be standing there and someone will pop out of no where at the perfect time when we are dying of heat and hand us something delicious to eat or drink...we never say no.)

It tasted like honeysuckles and was amazing. It was pretty much a popsicle made out of this fruit growing on the trees outside of the church.

We had seriously just been talking about how hot we were and out come the popsicles! It was great.

We didn't realize that we would be spending most of the day at the church. That's something we've been learning...just go with the flow.

Also, schedules are just a guideline.

In Cristobal's words "don't worry, be happy". But I'll talk more about that later.

Oh, one more thing we've learned is how to deal with no running water at random times during the day.

Apparently they are doing some sort of water line repairs, so every day from around 9-5 or 6, there's no running water in the house.

Luckily, they have a reserve tank in the backyard, but running water is nice to have when you need to wash the dishes or your hands.

Ok, moving on.

So that brings me back to the coffee from the beginning. Shelly and I enjoyed our coffee, the sound of rain and the cool breeze that came with it after the long hot day.

Sunday was really the turning point (for me anyway) when I decided I was actually really excited and happy to be here. Ready to do what we were called to do.

So, we drove 45 minutes up the mountains to Cañazas which is where Bro. Cristobal lives. It was a beautiful drive, but because the school we are teaching in is in Santiago we decided on Monday that we would stay with Dayanis and Wide.

Monday morning brought the first day of teaching. I was a little bit nervous but mostly just so excited to see what the Lord had in store.

That was on the drive from Cañazas to Santiago Monday morning.

So, here's that schedule thing I mentioned earlier. Cristobal got his days mixed up and thought that the first class started at 9 Monday morning...it actually was supposed to start at 8.

So we were an hour late on our first day. What a great first impression right? That was my first thought, but Cristobal told us not to worry but be happy! And our students were very gracious with us and are just happy to be there learning!

The hardest thing was, and still is, trying to figure out exactly what level each person in the classes are.

But it has been so awesome because we have been teaching them English using verses from the Bible and the story of Joseph. I love that we are able to do that so freely here.

Because the people want to learn English, they don't care where they are learning it from. And while they are learning English, they're learning truth. I still get excited when I think about it!

Monday and Tuesday were learning curve days for Shelly and me, but we have gotten the hang of things and the classes are so much fun. Shelly is a teacher in Arkansas already, so I am learning a ton from her.

She is so sweet and lets me take the lead whenever I have something to add. It's been awesome working together.

I think that catches you all up on what's happened so far this week.

God has been so good, and I've been stretched in more ways in one week than I thought possible. And you know how when you stretch, it hurts while it's happening, but when you're done you feel great? That's how I'm feeling right about now.

Being this far out of my comfort zone...doing things I never thought myself capable of..it's crazy. But I know the only way that I am here and doing what I'm doing is that God is using me. I'm just the vessel He chose to get the job done, and I'm so honored that He chose me to do so.

Thanks again for reading!

Here are just a few fun pictures from the past week!

Our gecko friends hanging out on the window! They sing to us sometimes and I don't know how I feel about it.

The huge avocados!

They had an Arkansas flag on the wall already, so I decided Texas needed to be represented too!

"Me muero por un helado"-Wide taught me this saying. It means I'm dying for some ice cream! They said that is my saying because anytime they ask me if I want ice cream my answer is "always". So we enjoyed some Dairy Queen last night.

And this is my favorite picture of Panama so far.