Oh...um, hi.

As always, I was trying to evade typing into this empty white box, but I promised myself that I'd write something here over Thanksgiving break (after all, break is supposed to be when you're, you know, NOT busy and such...).

So, here I am, flopped on my own bed at home, trying to sum up everything that's happened since October 26th. I have to say, it's actually pretty impressive how recently I've blogged.

Basically, this college student's life has been predictable: homework, class, work, repeat. I won't bore you with the particulars, but if you're ever wondering what I'm doing, chances are it's one of those three. Ohh, also sleep. I do sleep. Really. Sometimes in bizarre places like the laundry room, as previously mentioned, or at weird times (seriously, who falls asleep in the lounge at EIGHT PM?? heh...).

Actually, that reminds me. Sleepwalking...I thought I had outgrown it because I managed to sleep like normal people the whole time I was in Mexico. But nooo....I think it's something about the stress of deadlines. Anyhow, twice this semester I've sleepwalked. Once I managed to shower and get partly ready for class before realizing that it was like, 2 in the morning. Good thing my roommates are sound sleepers.

And then a week ago, I actually managed to call the PHC security desk...and then awkwardly hung up on them...while sleepwalking. See, I was working on homework down in the D3 lounge and fell asleep around 2. I became vaguely aware around 3 that I should be sleeping in my bed, so I stumbled up the stairs to my room. As I was opening my wing door, I woke up rather abruptly to the sound of a guy voice...coming from my phone, "hello? hello? security!" and I stood there, blinking at my phone screen: "Call with PHC Security: 0:13...0:14...0:15..." Knowing that I am incapable of forming coherent sentences when I'm barely awake, I hung up. And then I was embarrassed and went to bed, feeling like a little kid who had called and hung up on 911 or something.

Haha, right now I'm sitting here wondering why I transcribe my most ridiculous moments on a public blog. :P

Anyhow...I should probably wrap this up. The suitcase I dragged home with me is only partially packed and it needs some serious attention before we start the trek back to college in about three hours.

So, quick summaries of college and break...

-Emily G. and I have learned that it is possible to listen to the same song on repeat for literally hours on end while writing papers.

-Fall break was...intense but so good. I was in Sterling, VA (not that far from college), helping lead a Generation Joshua Student Action Team. We had a great team (AND THE HOTEL HAD A HOT TUB) and I felt like I was in my element...campaigning. <3

-Even getting up at 3 AM to put up signs (and staying up all day) on Election Day was so worth it.

-College is a growing experience, in more ways than one. Apparently I grew a half an inch this semester (YESS! I always wanted to be 5' 6"...that dining hall food must be good for something... ;))

As for break, it's been SO good to be home. Coming back is always surreal but awesome. This time I hadn't been as far away or gone as long as the trip to Mexico, but I definitely still missed my family and friends.

Home has included:

-a starbucks eggnog latte, shopping, and so much catching-up with Jenn. :)

-laughter

-good conversations

-sploshing through puddles with the little kids

-being treated like a celebrity in my own home, haha.

-singing with siblings at the Thanksgiving eve church service.

-two Thanksgiving dinners

-an abundance of cranberry sauce

-making a lemon meringue pie with Katrina.

-listening to Annetta, Lydia, and Hosanna's piano recital pieces that are being frantically practiced.

-testing my mom's new coffee experiment (pretty amazing, btw).

-going out to lunch with Annetta and Rachel and feeling way too grown-up (since when can we do this stuff by ourselves?! haha)

-"hosting" a bridal shower. Hosting is in quotes because although I'm the maid of honor and technically threw the shower, Erika, Annetta, and Elizabeth did all the preparation work while I was at school. (I love them.) They briefed me when I got back so that I'd have some clue about what was going on. :P

-cleaning the bathtub and washing dishes...is it weird that I missed that?!

-sleeping (yeah, I think I'm caught up now...).

-being an in-person big sister again and calling Katrina by her old nickname ("I like it when you call me punk." aww...she remembered!)

That pretty much covers break...as for looking forward: 16 days until the semester is OVER and my family comes down to get me. SO looking forward to Christmas break and Arielle and Matt's wedding!

Knowing me, I probably won't be blogging again until I'm home for Christmas. So STOP REFRESHING THIS BLOG. A new post will not appear, I promise. ;)

My life as a semi-stressed, caffeinated, sleep-deprived, ON CAMPUS student. :D

Guess what, everyone? I'm in college!!!!111!!1!1 [insert obnoxious emoticons here]

There, consider yourself updated.

...

...

Honestly, if I posted that, I think I would be legitimately concerned about lynching. Or something.

But I'm really not sure where to start. Obviously, I haven't blogged since I left for college. Which means that a lot has happened, although at least not a whole semester has gone by. But basically, I moved in, was orientified, spent a stressful first week trying to drop and add classes and figure out my schedule, started my job here, studied like mad, met lots of cool people, studied like mad, went to two dances, studied like mad, took exams, experienced the phenomenon known as homecoming, studied like mad, wrote papers, and made it through midterms. And also, studied like mad.

So that's the Reader's Digest edition.

Sadly, it's just not possible to exhaustively cover every week and every experience I've had. Which means I'm gonna resort to the shortcut that I seem to always fall back on: bullet points of the highlights.

What I've learned so far:
-It is possible to act civil and even talk coherently on 1 1/2 hours of sleep.
-I've broken my record for staying up late studying...5:30 AM is the new record. Heh.
-Study groups are awesome.
-Coffee is also fantastic. (Even if it doesn't actually keep me awake, it's good for the studying atmosphere, you know?)
-Seniors and their wisdom are invaluable. Especially their study guides and exam advice.
-I can drive a golf cart without killing anyone.
-I have learned how to mop with sooo little water and to tie beautiful looking trash bags. Don't ask...
-The radio that I use for work makes me feel important, even if I never use it...
-I've only lost my key card once...and then found it in a classroom. :)
-I haven't failed anything. Yet.
-Capture the flag in the dark is way cool.
-It's weird how exciting a kitchen and the potential for making REAL food is after so much dining hall food.
-Swing dancing is epic.
-High heels should be more comfortable.
-It's hard to remember to turn off my phone in class. The only time it's gone off though was Christian Study Group...during prayer...while I was praying. Kind of distracting...
-Study sessions right before midterms are the best. And whiteboarding (filling white boards with info for exams) is super helpful. You should see my Public Admin drawings... :P
-I literally fell asleep in the laundry room the other night. Totally disturbed my roommate who found me in there and thought there was something seriously wrong with me...
-It rains a lot here. Aaaand guess who didn't bring an umbrella?
-Also, the fall leaves are not nearly as bright as NY. Not that I'm complaining about the weather...it's been SO warm and sunshiny!
-I've only slept past the beginning of my 7:15 work shift once...and I managed to be clocked in within six minutes of the wake-up phone call. :P
-I got to go campaigning!!!! (I missed it tremendously.)
-My major (American Politics and Policy track of the government major) is officially declared, and I'm registered for spring classes!!
-Market Street coffee shop is a happy place. And it's within walking distance. And I neeeeever get lost walking back to campus from there. Oh no.
-It's totally possible to do three midterms and two work shifts within twenty-four hours. God is good.
-Homecoming is fun. I dyed my hair black and dressed like a hipster...(temporary dye, btw). :P
-It's nice to have real-life professors. And I definitely go to their offices and bug them.

Aaanyhow, I'm going to leave it at that for now. Hopefully I'll do a post with pictures sometime this semester. :)

A summer of twos...

[Twos is a funny-looking word. It looks spelled wrong...but it's not! Moving on.]

Basically, I need to blog. I promised I'd write about my summer, but I think I should also do an update on my life coming up...the next chapter that I've been so eagerly anticipating for...about four years. Wow.

So, first the wrap-up of summer/day in my life...

I feel like my summer has been divided into two parts.

I've had...

...two jobs

...two time clocks (I enjoy clocking out. Muchly.)

...two work schedules to balance (I like how both of these schedules have "last day" written for me. YAY!)

...two bosses (heh, I don't take pictures of them.)

...two sets of co-workers (I get to work with Erika at Comfort! Which is nice because she packs lunch. And as for the other picture...let's just say I like feeling tall and NO I was not standing on a chair or anything!)

...two work uniforms (I know, I know...I look creepy in both of these. All black is really not me, and the mirror picture is such a fail. STOP LAUGHING.)

...two sets of work policies to keep straight...

...and two paychecks (Fridays are doubly good!).

It's been rather exhausting, actually. But I don't want to complain! I definitely realize how blessed I've been to have two jobs in an economy where many people can't even find one. Even though the two work schedules have conflicted occasionally (I can only work one at a time!!!), it's been pretty perfect as far as money-making goes.

Lat Friday was the day that I chose for the "day in my life," so I will proceed to tell you all how that day went down...

Because Erika had to do breakfast at the hotel, we got up a little earlier than normal because she had to clock in by 8:00.

I think we were up by 7:00, showered, ate breakfast, packed lunch, and out the door by 7:30 or so.

I drove so that Erika could finish eating her breakfast...

Erika headed into work at 8:00 and I had an hour to kill before I was allowed to clock in to start cleaning rooms.

So, I did my makeup...
wrote a letter...

and read my Bible.
At 9:00, I headed into work (normally housekeepers can't clock in until 9:30, but they made an exception for me because I have to be there early with Erika anyhow).

I got my housekeeping list...

12 rooms to clean....pretty average. And the most awesome thing in the world is finding a Do not disturb sign on the door, meaning that I can cross the room right off the list!
Basically, each room has to be stripped (the sheets, pillowcases, towels, and trash taken out) and the laundry taken downstairs to the laundry room. Then the beds are made, the bathroom cleaned, the room stocked with everything it needs, everything dusted, the floor vacuumed....and voila, a clean room. Not the most exciting job...but hey, a pay check's a paycheck!

After my rooms were done, I helped Erika with hers (usually it works the other way around because she's faster), and then we clocked out and headed home around 3:15.

We got home around 3:30, giving me an entire hour to eat, change into my other uniform, and head out to the restaurant.

As it turns out, that night (of course) was completely different than any normal night, so telling you what I did wouldn't give a very good picture of the average night at the restaurant. (I had to take care of a family reunion that was being held there of about 30-35 people, so I kept about 8 running tabs for the different families represented, bringing them everything they needed. It was so. much. running! And kind of difficult because it was my boss's family and...yeah.)

So, on a normal night, I'll have anywhere between 2 and 9 tables (two being a REALLY slow night and nine being an awesome night in which I fly around non-stop).

On Thursday through Sunday, we have a hostess who takes care of seating people in each of our sections. When she seats someone in my section, she writes out a ticket with my name, comes and finds me and gives it to me. The ticket tells me how many people are at the table and where they are...

Next, I go to the table, welcome them, introduce myself, tell them the specials, and take drink orders. Pretty standard. Generally after I take their drinks to them, I'll take down their meal order and turn it into the kitchen. Most meals come with salads, which the servers have to make themselves (that can get interesting when I have a table of twelve and have to make...twelve salads while everyone else is in the tiny salad space, trying to make theirs!) Also, each table automatically gets bread and butter, so I generally carry out the salads with the bread.

When their food is ready, the kitchen calls me ("JESS, YOU'RE UP!!") and I run the food out. After that I basically babysit the table...bring more drinks...bring dessert...bring the check...bring whatever...

And sometimes I have really cool tables like this one. :)

I kind of love this picture.
and then when they finally leave, it's the fun part: collecting money from the table, haha.
Nearly everyone tips with one dollar bills, which is why I end up having to torture the bank tellers by depositing literally hundreds of singles. They tell me they don't mind...

So there you have it: Waitressing 101. :P

To sum up...a day in my life this summer was roughly twelve hours of work. But it wasn't horrible...I actually enjoyed some aspects of both jobs and I had great coworkers, which always helps.

But now...it's all over! As I write this, it's Saturday morning and last night I clocked out at the restaurant for the last time (my last day at the hotel was Wednesday). Not gonna lie, it's a good feeling.

And now I have today to finish packing because we leave early tomorrow morning for Washington DC for a two-day family vacation, and then I'm getting dropped off in Virginia at PHC. So excited about that!!!

I feel like I should also mention that my summer wasn't ENTIRELY filled up with work...I did have days off to do fun stuff like sleeping--oh, I mean, see friends and such. Don't believe me? Here's a link to my summer facebook album which captures some of the fun stuff that happened this summer, including driving to Ohio with Erika to see the kids from the family I stayed with in Mexico. We totally surprised them. :)

Also, since I kind of left everyone hanging as far as the Spanish tests that I was so terrified of, I should probably mention that I passed them both at intermediate high, meaning that I'm totally done with PHC's language requirement. :) I'm so thankful.

God is way too good to me.

Thanks for reading; I'll try to keep you all posted about my college life!

PS: This makes me laugh.

Thoughts on worth...fueled by vanilla chai... ;)

So, it's Tuesday morning at 8:07 and I'm sitting in Dunkin Donuts on my laptop, soaking up the wi-fi and enjoying a hot vanilla chai with a bacon and cheese bagel. Highly healthy. (Oh, and yes, I had to break my no-buying-coffee-all-summer vow. In case anyone I told about that is reading this and raising a skeptical eyebrow at the vanilla chai mention....)

See, Erika is doing breakfast and laundry this morning over at the hotel (across the road from here), meaning she started work at 8. But since I'm housekeeping, I'm not allowed to clock in until 9:30. But we drove together, meaning that I have about an hour and a half to kill before I can head across the road and start work.

So I'm here, blogging.

This isn't actually going to be the "day in my life" post that I asked you all about in the last post. I haven't taken the pictures for it yet, but it still is forthcoming! Promise.

And this isn't actually going to be the newsy, updateish post either.

Instead, I'd like to talk about something that's been on my heart lately and just needs to get written. I haven't used this blog to rant or express my opinion much lately. I haven't even posted my numerous papers! It's more become a blog about my life. Which might be a good thing, because I think the old blog persona was a little dry. And just...blargh.

But today is different.

I need to talk about something.

Actually, I hesitated about writing this because it's a rather uncomfortable subject. But this is the life we all live...real. unedited. raw. So I'm going for it.

First: what got me thinking.

About a week ago, a conversation at my second job--the restaurant--really made me think. I was back in the kitchen, making salads for one of my tables, when one of the kitchen workers started talking about the cost of, well, hiring a couple girls for a night. (I'd use more direct wording but I want to avoid getting weird google searchers, if ya know what I mean....).

He turned to me and asked if I thought two thousand dollars was too much. Trying to stay out of the conversation, I just replied that I wouldn't know. So he turned to another guy and asked, "Is any woman worth two thousand dollars?"

As I carried out the salads, I was mulling over his question in a broader sense. Not just for a night, but in general...is any woman worth two thousand dollars?

And instantly I knew. YES.

And then I was frustrated, because it bothered me a lot to think of a woman as simply a body with a price tag over her head. I started thinking about Proverbs 31 and how the virtuous woman is far above rubies...priceless, really. And how the woman whose value can't be quantified in dollar amount is the one who wouldn't sell herself for any price.

So I started thinking that I should write about the crazily messed up mindset that prevails today.

[Aaand this is where the Dunkin Donuts wi-fi and blogger's autosave feature absolutely failed me and I lost the entire rest of this post as I tried to publish it this morning right before heading into work. Soo, I'm typing it again...my thoughts make more sense the second time through anyways. I hope. :P]

See, lately, I've been feeling kind of objectified. It's hard to explain, but through recent comments, glances, and even inappropriate physical touch [don't freak out, people! I'm fine], I have been experiencing what it's like to be viewed as not much more than a body. As if my measure of worth comes from my degree of conformity to the world's standards of physical perfection and by the number of partners I could land.

And it bugs me.

Especially because I am surrounded by the tragic results of such a mentality. I work with so. many. single. mothers. One girl I trained told me her story...when she got pregnant, her boyfriend told her that if she didn't get an abortion, he would leave her. Now she's a single mother working three jobs to support herself and her (adorable) 3 1/2 year old daughter. She and so many other single moms my age and younger have a long, difficult life ahead of them, balancing work with being home to actually raise their kids. I'm not saying that these girls aren't at all to blame for the mess they're in...they are. But I feel like the girls are partially victims, especially when they are left to deal with the consequences and the guys shrug off their responsibilities. That happens waaay too often.

It's also ridiculous how it's pretty much assumed that girls even much younger than me are sexually active. Virginity is rare at my age, and there is that constant, not-so-subtle hinting that it's necessary to live a fulfilling life NOW.

I've pretty much always known about that mentality. But head knowledge and real life experience are completely different.

So, I want to give some words of encouragement to the girls. Maybe none of you feel this pressure...maybe I just need to write this for myself. Either way, I just want to say...

Girls, your worth is not measured by your looks.

You are not merely an object or a price tag.

You are not defined by your body.

No, your existence is hidden in Christ.

Let His love and His glorious purpose for your life define you.

Don't cave.

It's not worth it.

Remember, you have already been bought with a price (so glorify God with your body).

You've been redeemed. You are loved with an everlasting love. A love that's endless and independent from the circumstances of your life. A love that reached out to you even before you loved Him (cf. 1 John).

He paid the ultimate sacrifice for your redemption--giving His life. And what earthly man would do that? (cf. Romans 5).

So be that priceless, far-above-rubies, passionate woman of God.

Follow after Christ, not the approval of the world.

Anyhow, that's the encouragement I have.

And for any guys who might have made it this far: kudos. I just want to say that I am blessed to know so many of you who treat girls in a pure, unselfish way. And it is SO very appreciated. Keep it up!

And that's that. Now we return to our scheduled programming....sometime. ;)

Just wondering...

...would anyone be interested in a more updated day in my life post? Like, pictures and stuff about my jobs and what it's like to be a housekeeper and a waitress?

Because my life isn't excessively interesting right now...work is pretty blahh...(and this post would be a far cry from the day in Mexico one!) but I'm willing to write it if anyone would read it.

Comment away!

:)

After Mexico...

Ok, ok...Yes, I do realize that I have been home for *cough* a little while now. Roughly 17 days, actually. But the title still stands because I need to write a wrap-up post from Mexico and make a weak attempt at catching this blog (and presumably, its readers) up to speed on what's going on now as well as future plans. That sort of thing.

Also, while I'm still thinking of it...this blog totally needed a makeover. Hence the background and picture change and such. Feel free to tell me what you think, but I think by now you all know how well I follow the suggestions so helpfully offered in the comments. So if you write "YOU LOOK LIKE A TOTAL MORON IN THAT PICTURE JESS!!!" (not that anyone would, but it needed to be said...haha), you will be sadly disappointed by my response...or lack thereof. Because I have a feeling that picture and this template will be there for at least a year. I'm terrible at updating! The last, bright green one was up since like, April of last year...and I said it was supposed to reflect my excitement about spring. Ha. Aaaand then it was there through all the seasons, clashing horribly with winter. So this time it's (hopefully) a more generic background so that it won't pain me to look at it through Thanksgiving and Christmas and such.

Speaking of failing miserably to take the suggestions of commenters, I was informed some time ago that I needed to write "a very long summary post."

Right.

How do I summarize Mexico?? It defies a neat categorization or definition.

*sigh*

I guess that's where the "long post" part comes in.

Well. Mexico was wonderful. I am so thankful that I was given the opportunity and I would go again in a heartbeat if there was a need and I felt God was leading me. I loved the people, the break from the routine of life here in New York, the challenge of trying to communicate in a different language, the changed perspective that my surroundings gave to my government and literature studies, the feeling of having two families, and the chance to see what daily life is like with a missionary family.

I had extremely mixed feelings when it was time to pack my things up and fly home. I never experienced homesickness (although I always figured I would), but at the end of the four months, I was ready to go home and see my family. But at the same, I really didn't want to leave Mexico behind.

I hate saying goodbye...the uncertainty of whether I will ever see someone again here on earth...the feeling of finality... Yet it makes me thankful that there will be a day when we won't have to say goodbye ever again!

Moving on...here are the last of my Mexico pictures for the poor facebookless souls...you all know who you are. ;)

As for life after hopping off the plane...I think I can provide a pretty quick overview of that.

All but three of my family members were waiting at the airport for me...pretty sweet. :) The other three woke up to see me when we got home. I had told Josh that I bought him a turtle in a market and he was stoked about it. So, when he woke up and saw me, his only word was "turtle." Yeah, I see how I rate. :P

(I am in this picture...although it's hard to see.)

It was cute, Katrina told me (after despairing that I'd EVER return..."You ALWAYS that you're coming home soon!!") that she would do a tap dance for me when I got back...and she did:

When I first got back, I had to unpack, re-organize my room, study for and take two finals, write one final paper, have a sleep-over to say goodbye to a dear friend who was leaving for the summer just a couple days after my return....

make a presentation at the mother-daughter banquet...

(Actually, the church was just starting to fill up in this picture...by the time I actually spoke, there were about 120 people. Have I mentioned that I am not a fan of public speaking?!)

...wear strange-looking sombreros with my sisters at aforementioned banquet...

...and finish a bunch of other random things...all in the course of six days.

It was slightly insane, but I have lived to tell of it...

Life has slowed down considerably since then, fortunately. :)

Yesterday I took the Exam of Horrors: the oral Spanish ACTFL test. I really don't know how I did, but it wasn't as difficult as I had been expecting.

I was terrified of it though, and had been for the last year at least, since the first time I realized I would have to take a foreign language proficiency test in order to avoid Latin, Greek, or Russian (the 3 foreign languages PHC offers). If I had been any more petrified I would have fossilized. Really.

I mean, I'd been studying Spanish seriously for less than a year (the little bit I took in high school hardly counts because I was only trying to finish it, not learn it, and I forgot it all almost immediately) and here I was supposed to talk to a complete stranger...on the phone...in a foreign language...for a half an hour...about any topic she chose. AHHHH!!!

But, as always, God was faithful and I didn't die!

After getting home from the test (I took it on a local campus because I had to find a professor there to be my proctor), I went for a walk with Joanna, trying to come to grips with the idea that I was done. DONE! Free from studying for almost 13 weeks!!

It obviously wasn't sinking in very well, because I kept talking to Joanna about college- and exam-related stuff. Finally, after I said something about wanting to know my grades, she turned around and said severely,

"You are ten years old and there is no such thing as college!!"

That settled it, of course, and we ran around in the fields...

...picked flowers, talked about her bird-feeder plans, and took pictures.

(yeah, failed picture, but I find it amusing.)

Summer break is AWESOME!

Aaaand no post of mine would be complete without a random list of...things. So without further ado...

Weird but amusing things about being home:

-My parents and siblings freaking out about letting me drive again. They honestly thought I had forgotten how and would wreck the van. (FYI...it came right back to me!)

-I've been basically a celebrity in my own home. I should go away more often...jk, jk.

-I hate pillows. This is because I have discovered that I am incredibly bad at stuffing pillows into pillowcases...and I have to do it over and over at work. I need to work on getting faster...

-I am once again unable to see the tops of most guys' heads! ;) It's nice to wear heels and not feel too tall...

-I feel that I am living life on the edge simply because I drink water from the faucet.

-I can understand the conversations of random people in stores! (yay, eavesdropping.) I missed that...and the ability to talk to just about anybody. So I made up for it by striking up conversations with people in the airport.

-I am no longer an albino in comparison to everyone else! In fact, my sisters were jealous of my tan when I got back. :P

-I've got my pandora back!

-I'm loving being back with these people...

(Katrina)

(Erika--This picture amuses me greatly.)

(Joanna in a tree)

(I think they love me...even if they welcomed me home by dumping water on my head. :P Actually, we were just pretending, in case that's not obvious...)

(Lydia)

(Erika, Elizabeth, Annetta, me, and Jennifer...the day after I got home.)

(Jennifer, Annetta, Rachel, and me, catching up on life...)

-I love spring. And lilacs. And the cool thing is that I basically had two springs this year!

Finally, as for my summer plans? Basically, work. Right now I technically have two jobs, although one of them doesn't start until this Friday. In the evenings, I'll be working as a server (waitress) just like last summer, and in the mornings/early afternoons I've been working as a housekeeper at Comfort Inn. Yep, where Erika works, as documented here. The nice thing about starting work where my sister works is that everyone already knows all about me. ("Hi Jess, nice to meet you...how was Mexico?" Me: "Is she a mind reader?!") And the bad thing about starting work where my sister works is that everyone already knows all about me, haha.

The nice thing is that I'm not taking any classes this summer, so I can just work as much as possible in order to earn the necessary money to go on campus in the fall.

Anyhow, I think that about covers everything! I hope to check in here once more before I head to campus in August...

*creativity fail*

[Yeah, once again, I CAN'T THINK OF A TITLE! This post covers like a month of happenings...and there's just no way to sum it up in a blog post title.]

All right.

It's most definitely time for another update. I've been adding things to this post for probably weeks, but you guys will never see it if I don't publish it!

Since I'm kind of in a rush to get this--along with a literature post--finished in about a half an hour, it's going to be rather random.

So, these are all little random occurrences and thoughts that I've had that might be semi-amusing or interesting, in no particular order:

-T.S. Eliot's "The Wasteland" and roughly four hours of sleep don't mix well. Although today I'm much more cognizant, I think... That's not to say that Eliot wasn't brilliant, but I think I could write something that randomly abstract on four hours of sleep. :P But seriously, try analyzing it while falling asleep! It was pathetic.

- While we're on the topic of lack of sleep...I have decided that I should talk less when I'm extra-tired. Unfortunately, I tend to talk more...which is why I informed Rachel that I can "cook by ear" and that she should put the dishes in the dryer. (Yeah, I'm confused too.)

- My self-esteem has taken a nose dive after trying on clothes in Walmart in downtown Mexico City a couple weeks ago. The Mexican sizing scale is most depressing... Yeah, extra grande was too small. AHH!!!

- The Spanish adventures continue...let's just hope I'm learning from my mistakes!

- Funny story: I was at the playground with the kids and a little girl came up to me and asked a random question that I totally didn't understand. After I asked her to repeat it and still didn't get it, I told her I didn't know, and she walked away looking as perplexed as I felt. I'm not really sure why I didn't understand, because I later found out, thanks to Carissa, that she'd only asked where I was from. And then I died laughing, because she must have thought I was such a moron for not knowing where I was from!

- Word to the wise: it's easy to confuse horse and hair in Spanish. Well, for me...I'm just special like that. And going up to someone and telling them you like their horse is both confusing and embarrassing. (I'm pretty sure her thought process was something like "Huh?! I don't even HAVE a horse...") I don't intend to repeat that...

- Oh, I have fulfilled a life-long dream. I have always wanted to feel a buzz cut...but my brother's hair has never been cut like that and I've resisted the temptation to go up to a random stranger and ask to feel the top of his head. ("Excuse me sir, your hair looks fuzzy...can I feel it? No, I'm actually a very normal person. No, really! I'm not weird at all! Wait, where are you going??") But, thanks to Matt, I have now officially felt a buzz cut. He's charging now (like 10 pesos per touch), so I had to stop. :P

- I feel very loved.

- On Saturday, I was the stereotypical American tourist, complete with camera, dazed look, excessive pointing, horrendous fantastic Spanish, and souvenir shopping. I feel that I totally lived the part, haha.

-I've started a new facebook photo album--including pictures of our trip to Chapultepec with Jason and Danielle--which you can see here, even if you don't have facebook. (I completely filled the previous album.)

-It's not very comforting to get into a taxi and see the word "borracho" written across the rear-view mirror. Great, not only can he barely see through his mirror, but he's possibly inebriated on top of that?! :P

-When we went to the zoo in Chapultepec, the security guy at the gate was so excited to be able to practice his English on us. Keep in mind that we got there at about 4:30 PM, about a half an hour before closing. He said, very enthusiastically, "Good morning!! Good morning!! Open! Pass! Goodbye!" It was cute (and I was trying not to laugh...and failing).

Moving on...

A while back, I promised to blog a Sunday. About a month ago, I took a bunch of videos and pictures at church but never got them blogged.

So, here's what a Sunday is like (although we don't have the matrimonios class every week, but most Sundays we have people over after church):

On the way to church... (Carissa, me, Rachel, and Vane)

This picture is a failed attempt to show how cram-packed the van can be on the way to and from church. Most Sundays we have people sitting on laps and sitting in the far back...up to around 22 people in the van. It's...cozy. :P

Walking into church...

Mr. LaBelle, who plays piano for the Sunday morning services.

Cara, before the service started...

Sunday school...we're studying how we can know that the Bible is really the Word of God.

Not pictured: during the last 15 minutes or so of Sunday School, Rachel and I head over and teach (well, Rachel does most of it...I just try to look helpful ;)) the children's choir.

Between Sunday School and the main service we have a break to eat and talk...

This particular Sunday, the children's choir performed the song we'd been practicing for weeks, "Gracia Admirable."

So, this is Rachel L., waiting in the nursery before they headed out to sing their song.

The children's choir singing "Gracia Admirable."

This video is during the main church service...we're singing "Su Manto Por El Mio."

Mike preaching about truth and lying (girding our loins with the truth, from Ephesians 6).

(Heh, don't mind the siren...welcome to Mexico City? :P)

After church, everyone headed to the Goldfuss house to eat lunch (here, the ladies are making the pambazos).

It rained...

Making the pambazos... (Sarai, Vane, and Marcos)

Adriel, waiting for the food....

Marcos and Ruth...
Fail...I can't remember their names... :(

Eating lunch (Vane, Carissa, me, and Rachel). Haha, I'm in the midst of lecturing Mikey about something. :P

The matrimonios class...basically a class for the couples of the church. We're studying the book Cuando Pecadores Dicen Acepto (When Sinners Say I Do).

Memo, teaching the class...can you tell why I have a really hard time understanding him? It's almost dizzying trying to keep up with him!

Anyways, that's basically what a Sunday here is like...catch you all later!