chiquillos en el collegio

the andes mountains near mendozakatie and i on the horses in the foot hills of the andes

i got up this morning at 6:50, struggling to motivate myself to get out of my warm bed because our house is so cold in the morning (well... and now for that matter, but it's worse in the morning). i got ready (without showering...) and then took the bus to meet another another gringo student and a teacher who's in the ISA office alot in the town center of viña. we met up, because robert (the other gringo) and i had volunteered to go to class with david, who's an english teacher at a high school here, to talk to his students and help them with their english. it was quite an adventure! the schools, or collegios as they call them here, are a little wild. you would have thought two celebrities had walked in when robert and i arrived. we went with david to all of the morning classes he teaches, four in total. one was segundo medio (sophomores), another was tercero medio (juniors), and the last two were primero medio (freshman). in the first two classes, with the older students, were relatively calm. there's always the student or two that talks the whole time or cracks all the jokes, but nothing too crazy. but the third class that we went two, the only one that was an hour and a half (the others were just 45 min.), was loca (crazy). robert's not exactly a bad looking fellow (i'm not personally attracted to him like that, but i'm not gonna lie), so all of the girls were practically swooning for him. it was pretty funny. it was also interesting because i had felt like in the other classes that the students at least somewhat understood what we were saying, but the younger ones... no cacharon nada (the didn't understand anything). i really did enjoy it though. it was cool to talk to people about our culture and hear their questions and their curiosities. so that was my morning! i then went to the ISA office for literature tutoring (yuck) and then came home and here i am now!

so i don't have too much else to tell, but i did realize just a couple of minutes ago something terrible simple, but so important. soy bendecida (i'm blessed)! definitely wasn't the first time i've realized that, don't think that that's what i'm saying. i try to realize that every day. but sometimes the blessings of the Lord just hit me. all the things He's given me. that i've done nothing to deserve. that i could do nothing to deserve. yet He gives them abundantly none the less. just a few minutes ago i read an e-mail from a dear friend (one that i just happen to share my name with :) and it was just so... good. reminded me of all the wonderful friends i have at home. and then that got me thinking about all the other blessing i have. my family, who i'm not nearly as thankful for at times as i should be, but i'm so thankful for them (i'm so thankful for you! and i'm not just saying that!!). all of the great people i've met here, and the ways they've all touched my life in sooo many ways. all the things i've been blessed with. yeah, things aren't that important, but i've still been blessed with them in abundance. money, clothes, education, books, house, dorm, job, scholarship, and so many other things. so few people have those. and experiences. geez. i've experienced in my nineteen years of life (almost 20!!) more than so many people get to in an entire lifetime. blows me away. and i know that really, the experiences have just begun. so thank you for all of you. i know that if you're reading this, you've probably blessed me in more ways than you know. what a great God we serve that He gives so abundantly. He is good!!

so that's all. i don't really know what the weekend has in store, but if anything of note happens, i'll keep you all posted. hope your summers are off to a wonderful start for those of you who are done with school and for those of you who are now traveling to all parts of the world, i pray for safety and beautiful, blessed experiences!! love you and miss you all!