Though I had tried my best to stay away from the making of a blog, I knew it was finally time to get one when my 85 year old Grandmother asked me to. So here goes nothing....
There is nothing like moving to a new place and culture (where there are literally no other redheads) to remind you of how small you are. I was very hesitant to make this blog because I in no way want to make it seem like I am anything other than a filthy sinner in need Jesus' grace daily. If anything I want to simply show how God is incredibly faithful, and is working in Puerto Rico. The church plant here (Iglesia la Travesia) is small and there are about as many kids as there are adults, but the community is incredible. I can't tell you how welcomed and loved I already feel here.
Well I've been here for a week now. The Lindsey kids are so so great and we are already great friends. We just got back from the park where we had an hr leaf fight. Hudson (4) was "Leaf Man," Sophia (5) was "Leaf Woman" and I was the evil "Tree Monster" (I'm always the bad guy). Brielle (18 months) is probably the cutest baby I've ever seen and loves run from the other side of the room as fast as she can and give you a huge hug. She also has the cute habit of waving and smiling at you whenever anyone looks at her. I love when the kids say words wrong. For example, the other day Hudson kept saying "matato" which I was eventually I discovered means "tornado". And Sophia can never seem to get the word "shuffle" and says things like "scuddle" or "schmuttle."
A normal day goes a bit like this: In the mornings I get up and watch the kids for a bit while Jack is at work and Misty has some time to herself (which usually ends up being interrupted by the kids if she stays in the house). Then I do some housework cleaning stuff while Misty does home school with the kids. After lunch I help with the kids some more and then I'm "off." The kids don't really understand when I'm working or not, but I don't really mind because other times when I play with them I just consider it as me being part of the family. In the evenings I usually eat dinner with the family, and then hang out with Peggy (a nanny for another family in our church that live nearby) and some other friends.
I've already gotten to see a lot of the island. When I got here Misty's parents were here and we did a lot of sight seeing. We went to Old San Juan, which is the historic touristy district. And on Friday we did a tour of one of Puerto Rico's bioluminescent bays. It was really really cool! Then on Saturday I went with some friends to the other side of the island to see a downhill longboard race (longboarding is pretty big here). On the way we stopped at these caves by the coast and played around on those. And after that we hung out at the beach and watched a surfing competition, and then saw the sun set. The last couple of days I have actually gone out driving and attempted to keep up with the very aggressive driving that goes on here. Its true when they say that Puerto Ricans are some of the nicest people, except when they drive.