Weekend Thoughts

I apologize ahead of time for the choppiness of this post! Some days, I feel like I've got the writing groove going on but today that groove has alluded me. But the weekend has come and gone so here we go!

Mirna invited me to go with her and her family to a concert in Santa Cruz on Saturday night. The first group to perform was pretty much the Bolivian version of the Backstreet Boys -only with matching orange and blue outfits. Their dance moves made me giggle, they were so sappy! But the sappiness was missed by every teenage girl there so I kept my giggling to a minimum. Not that I was heard over the screeching/screaming that was going on anyway.

The next group was a traditional Bolivian band and the crowd really went wild for them! They may be the equivalent of U2 in the States. They were pretty neat and I enjoyed them! But honestly, what I enjoyed most about the concert was this coconut milk popsicle thing I had. I'm telling you, these people know how to make ice cream, yogurt, and juice. Which, ironically are things that I cannot easily take back to the States with me. Rats.
 
After the concert, we headed further into the city of Santa Cruz. The last time I was in Santa Cruz was when my plane landed and I remembered not being super impressed by how nice it was. My coworkers kept saying, "Isn't this pretty? Look at that! How impressive, no?" And of course I would smile and nod but inside, I'm thinking "Yeah, it's nice but it's not amazing." Well, after a week in rustic Montero, my eyes were sure opened! Almost every store and street had me captivated by how beautiful and shiny everything was. There was even a shopping mall! Whoah, right? Country girl meets the city :)

We were able to go to a fair in Santa Cruz and it was there that I risked my life on a  ferris wheel. It wasn't until I got on the ride that it occurred to me that I was trusting rusty arms of steel to plummet me to earth just short of suicide. "IS THAT BOLT LOOSE?" There were way too many creaks and groans for my liking but it made what could have been a boring ride, anything but! I have to say though that the view from the top was incredible!

By this time, we were all hungry so we ate at a street side BBQ. And by BBQ I mean, there's a woman, with a decrepit grill, slices of meat, and a big pot of soggy rice. You sit yourself in the patio furniture and she serves you up. It's pretty crazy. It was here that I had my first taste of some sort of intestines. Folks, I cannot recommend them. Whatever the gray paste inside of them was, it was really, really...yucky. Not even Mirna's daughters ate them. I pulled the whole spit-it-out-in-your-napkin-while-acting-like-you're-wiping-your-mouth trick. Love that one.

Mirna's family was very, very hospitable and super nice to me. I cannot express in either of the languages that I know, what it means to be invited into a family for a night when you have barely known them for a week. It is definitely making me wish that I would have reached out to international students more when I was at WWU.

On Sunday, I was able to attend church here! The service was definitely different than what I am used to but it was great and I was able to understand the pastor without any problems. I also met two sisters and they've already invited me to go to a celebration with them next weekend. I'd like you to take a minute to appreciate whatever community/friends/family that YOU got to hang out with this weekend. Fellowship is something that I definitely don't take for granted here!

Ok, last thing and then I'll end this mammoth post: I had completely forgotten the custom of greeting a newcomer during church services in Latin America and so when the announcement guy started talking about "our newcomer, David" I was completely clueless -until one of the sisters told me to stand up. It was then that I caught on that I was David. The whole church then recited a greeting to me, while I turned a deep shade of scarlet. Luckily, I didn't have to say anything.

Phew, ok. Believe it or not that was my weekend in a nutshell. Good job if you got through all of that! I'll try to make the next one shorter :) Thanks for reading!