On a different note

I have discovered that trying to keep a blog while in living in another country and keeping those at home informed about what I am doing, is like trying to empty a boat that is leaking tons of water with your hands. 

More and more keeps coming in, but there is only so much I can get out. 

Here is my attempt:

Two weekends ago, my fellow interns, Sara and I went to the beach for a "Intern Retreat". The expected drive out there was only supposed to take about 3 hours, but because of rain, groceries shopping, tr

affic, and five people and all of their stuff packed in a little Honda, it took about 4-5 hours for us to finally 

reach the house. That's a long time to be in a little car.

We had SO much fun at the beach, even though the first night there was a HUGE storm that caused the hous

e to lose electricity. It was creepy because we were in a ginormous house without a way of turning on the lights. Yikes.

The next day however, the storm was gone but there were still a few clouds. I forgot that even when there are huge clouds, you still need to put on just as much sun screen. 

I got fried. If you want a good mental picture of how I looked, imagine my face on a red tomato. 

It was rough.

Since our beach adventure, we have played more cards with the Guinto family, attended more cell group meetings, hung out with our teachers in the centro, gone to the mercado, and met 

various members of Richland Hills Church of Christ and friends. 

Last weekend, Rick and Jamie Atchely (the preacher and his wife from Richland Hills Church of Christ- the sponsoring church of Río de Vida) came down. Rick preached Sunday at Río de Vida and another Christian church, Filodelfía. He is an amazing 

speaker. 

In the morning, he preached about how Paul in the New Testament refers to the church members as "saints". He then made a strong argument about how anyone and everyone who believes in Christ has been called a "saint". 

That's you and me. 

This was especially meaningful because in the Latin America culture, Catholicism is overwhelmingly dominant. Rick pointed out that in this culture, there is a different connotation to the word "saint" that what it really means in our faith. 

He then preached about our identity in Christ. He mentioned that once God changes our name, he never refers back to our old names (for example 

Abram to Abraham). In Christ, we have a new identity. Just see 2nd Corinthians 5:17. 

THEN, he gave the best example of this ever. He referred to another idea that Mexicans and Latin Americans in general can understand. He discussed Don Quijote.

Don Quijote was a man who was a little crazy. He thought he was a knight when he was really just an average guy, he fought things that weren't there, and he met a prostitute and acted as if she were a real lady. In fact, he referred to her as "Dulcinea" (the sweet one). Well, by the end of the story, Don Quijote is dying and Dulcinea is there at his side. He finally takes his last breath and from then on, the prostitute no longer refers to her old name. Because she has encountered love, she realizes that she is new and she has power in the love that she found. She is forevermore Dulcinea. Her identity has been changed through the understanding of love.

That's us.

Maybe it's not as powerful in writing as it was in real life, but I thought it was really cool. It was also really fun watching Rick speak and then Sam translate right after, they kinda got into this rhythm that looked as if they were almost dancing with each other. Very funny. 

This is long, and it maybe a little boring, but I hope to add more later this week!

hasta luego

Emily