La vida es...: ...Linda.

On Friday we went to the “grupo de jovenes” at the church and made some friends! We sang some songs (one of which I knew!), did a Bible study, prayed, had tea and cookies, played some ping pong(!), and just talked (in Spanish!). It is so satisfying to see and hear and understand and speak Spanish! I am soaking up every moment of it. It was late, so we decided we should head back to our apartment, but then we found out that someone was on their way to give us and another girl a ride home. I'm so glad we went!!! They are very sweet people. There was about 15 of us altogether; the youngest was probably 16 and the oldest 30. We saw them again this morning before going to Mary's apartment again for another absolutely delicious lunch.

Being blonde, it's not uncommon to for people here to stare at me, give me funny looks, or assume I don't speak Spanish. That's why I like Zergio, a little boy we met at the heladería in our barrio (neighborhood) the other day at lunchtime. We were paying for a delicious four-cheese pizza we had just consumed, and Zergio was sitting on a stool by the counter. He didn't stare at us like we were aliens, he just started talking to us like it was completely normal. I appreciated that.

In other news, we got to go out on the roof of our apartment the other day! It might have been just a lucky chance that the door was unlocked, but it was a lovely view.

And today, while in the barrio of San Anton, we saw a procession in the street. The “feast day” of San Anton is January 17th, so they have been celebrating this week.