Day 33-Februrary 12th, 2012

Day 33, Sunday, February 12th, 2012

Today was a LONG day! :) But it was good. I got up and ate breakfast. Got ready for meeting and we went to meeting. The talk today was given by David Ruedas from Cerra Punta. He is originally from Spanish so he kept saying our treacherous corathon! Hahaha! :) We took another congregation photo. :) We got everyone on the route too. :) Its a nice picture!! Then when we were all done visiting I went back to the Neals house and we hung out there for about an hour. Then Brother Will Van Westen and his wife Naomi came to pick us up. We took a VERY LONG way back to Santa Clara and then to Volcan. We made it to the meeting really close to the time it was supposed to start. We said Hi to a couple people and then we sat down. Keith gave the talk, 'The Kingdom of God is Near' its a really good talk. I know what I am going to be translating for next Sunday now. :) EXCITEMENT!! I am not nervous anymore, I know I can do it! :D Anyways, after the meeting we went to Kid's World, a restaurant that sounds like Michael Jackson should own or something… We went there and met up with some brothers that are serving in Olla. Both the Brother Will wasn't feeling well so he left. And all of a sudden I was like, Wait. How are we getting back? No busses run after 5. Uh-oh!! DUN DUN DUN!!! The brothers we met up with were going to stay the night in a Hotel, so the Neals decided to stay the night too. After a while we decided that they would drive me to Santa Clara and luckily Hermano Pedro is cool enough he drove to Santa Clara to get me. WOO!! Crazy! Anyways, on our way back they went to Hermano Nixon's house. Apparently there was a party going on there. So we went there and stayed for a bit. I was SOO tired. I was actually glad when we left, but we seriously had 17 to take home. 3 in the cab and 14 in the back of the pick up truck. It took a while. :) Anyways, the girls thought I was going to stay in Volcan so they made plans to go to their friends house here. So they left. When we finally got home I went to my room. I am dead tired!! Oh well. It was a productive day…kind of. :) Goodnight Day 33! 

Day 32- February 11th, 2012

Day 32, Saturday, February 11th, 2012! 

Today service was nice. The new sisters from Mexico went out today, Laticea from Tampico. and Rebekkah from Ebano. They seem very nice. :) After service we walked home, MAN!! It was HOT today!! :{ Hot and sweaty, I think even like the sky was sweating. Nasty! Anyways, I came home helped make some food, then studied my Watchtower thoroughly and chilled for a bit. Got everything ready for tomorrow. And then helped with dinner and then watched a little of a movie. And now I am going to bed. That's it! Goodnight Dy 32! 

Day 31-February 10th, 2012

Day 31, Friday FEBRUARY 10TH, 2012!!!!

Its the 10th of February, exactly one month ago I would be leaving Mexico…already a month! Can you believe it?!?! In my agenda Mama Llama wrote 'A whole month! Don't miss us too much! Focus on the blessing of the assignment + have lots of fun! Love, Mom' Well my response to that is…. I KNOW! a Whole month!! I am trying not to, but its kinda hard sometimes. I am doing that, for sure! And guess what?! 2 new Bible Studies today!! …Lots of fun? I am trying to do that too. :) I went to Rio Serreno today with the Neals. A new couple from Mexico got here a few days ago. They went out in service for the first time today…they are….interesting. :) (nervous laugh) Different…but interesting… I'm done! After we came back home and hung out here. Not much going on today. Goodnight Day 31!!

Day 30, February 9th, 2012

Day 30, Thursday, February 9th, 2012. 

Today was a full day of studying. I practiced my talk a few times. I helped out around the house quite a bit today with the girls and Trudy. Not a lot but it was some. Then we all looked at the clock and realized we had less then an hour before we needed to walk out the door. They kind of freaked out then. Ha! I went into my room, like usual getting ready took me SO LONG!! All of like 3 seconds!!! GASP!! I should really cut that down. Ha! Anyways, we went to meeting. Not to many people were there this week. I gave my talk…I killed it!!!! In a good way. :) I passed, brother Nixon was like 'Im impressed I didn't think you were going to be able to do it so well.' Ha! Showed them. Haha. BUt yeah it was pretty good. I got to meet the girls aunt finally. :D I'm glad she came back. After meeting we came back to the house, made dinner, ate and then it was time to go to bed. It was a pretty good day! :) Goodnight Day 30! 

Day 29, February 8th, 2012

Today I woke up at the regular 7:00 a.m. But just chilled in my room for a while. I went inside helped make breakfast then straightened my room from my weekend adventures. I got to do all my laundry including my blanket. So it was a predictive day for me. Then I came back into my room to finalize my talk and get all my timing done. I realized part of my talk had to be changed or else it would start a whole different topic. So I had to re-do parts of it. My family called today. :) It was nice to talk to Mama Llama and my Carin. We haven't talked without rushing in a while. It was just like being at home…except drastically different. We updated each other on all the new things going on, in our lives. It still seems weird to me to have to tell my sister whats I did the last few days, cause I'm used to her being there with me. After almost an hour on the phone with them, I went into the house to drop some things off. The girls  were outside messing around so I went out with them. Then I came inside and me and Yorle made a pretty sad excuse of a dinner. Since the roads were closed their were no new groceries. We are running low on supplies. I had a can of 'Pork and Beans' in my stash, ya know…just in case. So I whipped that out and shared. After dinner I made some fried bananas and lechera. The bananas they gave me weren't the right kind. And since everything here has a different name I didn't know what the other ones were. We ate the bananas anyways, they were pretty good. I helped de-shell some more beans, and we watched some Combate. Ah-Ah-Azul! Ah-Ah-Azul! YEAH!! But for some reason I am tired. So here I am at 10 P.M. calling it a night…maybe I am getting old. I am going to try my hardest to add working out in my daily schedule. Everything is still off for some reason. I don't know why. Oh well. I am tired. Side Note: I am becoming obsessed with Michael Buble's 'Put Your Head on My Shoulder' and 'That's All.' Those are some AMAZING songs!! :) Goodnight Day 29! 

Day 28 February 7th, 2012

I woke up today at 10. All that walking and sun kind of tired me out I guess. I got up and went to take a shower. Mid-shower. Mama Llama called my phone. I got to talk to her a little. Then I finished my shower and came into my room. Lots of thinking was still needing to be done, so I kicked back today. Just thinking about different things, I worked a little bit more on my talk. I know what I will say know I just need to type it all out. I predict a slow chill day today. We will see if it comes true….

Day 27, February 6th, 2012

Day 27- Monday, February 6th, 2012. 

Today was I think the longest day I have ever had since I got her to Panama. I hung out with the guys in the morning, doing absolutely nothing, just chilling. Then I figured well, I still need to catch a bus to Rio Serreno and the last bus from there back home is at 5. So I should go. So I walked down to where the bus passes, I went into the store picked out a lemon tea and waited. I waited for about 2 hours. I thought that maybe the bus was just late or something. A brother from the Spanish named, Alex, rode his bike back. And told me he didn't think any busses were working that day because of the road. Apparently not only did they block the road after Volcan but before it too, right by Santa Clara. So the busses couldn't get from where I need to be to Volcan, even if they wanted too. The only way for me to get home would be to get a bus to a different town called Caizan and walk from their to Monte Lirio. The bus wasn't leaving for a while. So I went to get some food and got to talk to my sister and my Mama Llama. :) I assured them this whole mess was NOT near us, it wasn't even in Volcan. They were ok after that. After I finished talking with them and eating. I walked over to the bus stop. The bus was there but we had to wait for the driver to come back, we waited around an hour. But it was ok, I got to translate the first page of the Sunday talk. :) Plus figure out exactly what I wanted to do with my talk on Thursday. We finally got on the road. I say a sign that said. "Monte Lirio" with an arrow. I went to get off but just to be sure I asked the bus driver if that was the right road to get to Monte Lirio. They all pretty much thought I was crazy for wanting to walk there and asked me why I was walking to Monte Lirio. I told them it was because there were no busses in Volcan. So they were like Hecha la vida! Which is the saying here…its weird. Anyways, they told me that was the impresa for Monte Lirio. But to walk there I had to go somewhere else. I sat backdown and they dropped me off at a different place. They said its this road. So I paid got off the bus and started walking. About an hour after walking on this road. I began to pray. Please just let a random shepard boy or a car pass so I can ask them if I am going the right way. I said Amen took 2 more steps and I saw a guy walking my way. THANK YOU JEHOVAH!! When I passed him I asked if this was the way to Monte Lirio. And he was like… Uhh… yeah but its far. I said how long? He said Well…probably about an hour….in a car… he gave me very country like directions. "Walk down this road for a long while, then the road is going to fork, one way goes to the left and up, the other way goes to the right and down. Don't go up, you want to go down. Its gonna be really steep there, but you can do it. Then when you get to the bottom your gonna cross a river. I think they still have the bridge there, if not be careful! You'll want to maybe put your bag on your head when you cross. Then you have to walk up…Its a long way up. Once you get up you have to walk a long way forward. But stay on this road. Don't make any turns, this will take you to Monte Lirio." haha. I was like ok! :) And he was right! A LONG WHILE!! I had gotten off the bus at 5 and it took me hiking down and then up the mountain for about 3 hours before I could recognize where I was. I had still about an hour or two to walk back, but hey at least I knew where I was! :) Luckily I had packed my flashlight that BASIL got me!! THANKS BASIL!! That saved me after about 2 ½ hours of hiking I need to use it. I kept walking for about an hour. Meanwhile it became pitch black outside. Like…everyone in a city has no idea how dark it was here. Not even in Red Bluff (holla!) Does it get this dark. This is jungle dark people, were talking, only if you have a flashlight can you see in front of you. Only if you have a flashlight can you see all the eyes of all the animals looking at you. We are talking DARK people. Like… ok I got it! Like the color of the ocean water…at night. Its black! But at least I knew where I was!! I was super excited about being able to recognize where I was. But even after known where I was I still had at least an 2 ½ hours to walk home. AT LEAST! Then all of a sudden I heard a truck coming so, I kept walking and got to the side of the road. It was going really fast when I passed I realized it was a bus. I was about to say WAIT! When I heard. "STOP!" from inside the bus. The money guy opened the door and said 'Get in sister.' He recognized me from service. THANK YOU JEHOVAH! I road the bus for about 30 minutes, and they turned the lights on, I was the closest they could get me. Now I only had about ½ hour to walk to the house. I went to pay and the kid goes. "Don't worry, jut walk fast. Cause you have a long way to go" So I got off and started walking down Hill #1 of 5 to the house. The family called then to ask where the heck I was and they came and met me about half way with the truck. I finally got home close to 9. The family wanted to know my adventure. They were all amazed I walked home so fast. Apparently it was supposed to take longer to walk all that way. ha! Imagine!! Anyways, I had a little dinner, watched some 'Combate' helped de shell some beans and went to bed! That's my adventure for today…But there are things that happened that I wasn't aware of. And this is what they are: After I left Volcan, a crowd of indigenous people walked into town and set fire to 3 government buildings and 1 car. These people aren't playing around! The meetings and service have been temporarily suspended in Volcan and Rio Sereno. The Circuit Overseer called brother Pedro later when I was already there. And he said if things continued to get worse, the branch will suspend the route for this year, and most likely strong suggest that everyone visiting here on the route go home. I'm praying it doesn't come to that. But it gave me a lot of things to think about, in correlation to what I would do. LOTS TO THINK ABOUT! That's all the intense adventures for today though. Goodnight Day 27! 

Day 26, February 5th, 2012... PART 2

Part 2- After the meeting, I visited a bit with the friends that go to English hall. Then I walked down to the internet cafe that was opened. And messaged my amigos. They had finally picked a hall to go to, apparently there are two different kingdom halls here in Volcan. There are more Spanish congregations, and indigenous congregation. They decided to go to that hall, so we finally met up and we were going to a restaurant place called Kid's World. Lame name, pretty awesome set-up. But it was closed so we caught a taxi and went down about 2 miles to a hotel called 'Dos Rios' there we watched the Superbowl and MAN!! I think the best way to describe tonight was… "TREAT YO' SELF!' We got, garlic clams, bruchetta, french fries, drinks, wings, chicken. It was AWESOME!! Plus GIANTS WON!! But it was pretty obvious they would so, it wasn't as intense as I wanted it to be. The last few minutes were super good though, but it was a predictable game. After the game we walked back to the guys house and hung out for a while. They be straight up nerds so they were talking about who knows what. But it was fun anyways. That's it for now. Goodnight Day 26! 

Day 26, February 5th, 2012... PART 1

Day 26, Sunday, February 5th, 2012 DAY OF SUPERBOWL!! 

Part 1

I did it!! I am here in Volcan, currently enjoying a deliciously sour lemonade in a somewhat fancy looking restaurant. I just finished with the Spanish meeting,  and I have an hour-ish before the English meeting starts. So since I haven't eaten anything all day. I decided hmm 1 o'clock seems like a good time to eat. :) Would you like to know why I haven't eaten anything all day? okay! I will tell you!! (Side note: The dude waiter had tap shoes on…weird? I think so! Also across the street is a mormon church….creeeeeepers!) Okay so this morning at 5 in the A.M. I woke up like 'OWW!!' My stomach was trying to talk to me, it was more like yelling at me really. Thanks to my nerves I am guessing I got myself sick twice this morning. That's not good I thought, because if I am already having stomach problems and the road to Volcan is CRAZY-CURVY!! How am I going to do it. But come on its the SUPER BOWL, for goodness sakes! So I got all dressed and packed and went inside. The mom asked how I was. And I told her because of my nerves for my talk with my theme and my 15 year old householder AND knowing I need to translate a Sunday talk I got myself sick. So what did she do? She made a tea OF COURSE!! A tea! That solves all of people's problems. haha. It tasted like I was drinking a tree! And she packed me some to take. But I didn't want to eat breakfast, one because breakfast here is SUPER greasy and two I didn't want a full stomach on those curves. She gave me two bags, just in case she said. But she folded them up super tiny so that I wouldn't waste space. Well thats nice I thought, and when I need to use them? How will I get them open in time?? She just laughed. Well then I got on the bus to Rio Sereno, the whole ride I was like don't think about the curves Don't think about the curves! I was going to buy some Saltines when I got to Sereno. BUT, when we were pulling into the city the bus for David/Volcan was leaving so I got off of one bus and jumped on another. A more curvy bus. Its the SUPERBOWL people!! The SUPERBOWL!! After the third curve I thought uh-oh. I need to unroll one of my bags. 2 seconds later. I didn't alcansar the unfolding process. But I was able to divert the other passengers. The guy that stands on the bus to charge and tell the driver where to stop looked at me like. "OH MY GOSH! She exploded!!" I wasn't waiting for him, I pulled the door open myself, almost falling out in the process. Two different pairs of arms grabbed me and held on. The bus slammed on the brakes. And strangely everyone was pretty cool about it all, like it happened all the time. Weirdos! The money guy had two towels designated for sick passengers. I would not trade my job with him EVER! He had a bottle of water for rinsing out your mouth, and hand-sanitizer, but he didn't have gum! The good thing is that I didn't have anything in my stomach except for tea and two ity bity pills. So it was like mopping up tea after an English person spilt it on their marble floor…only drastically different!! :) Anyways, my poor next seat siter was like "Uh-oh! And the whole way he was pucking into a bag he got from the money guy. he finally got off. And can I just say smells are enhanced when your at puke-capacity! Just saying. Some of those people are doing a world of hurt on others. Luckily I then had a bag that was already opened. A lady sat next to me and the clod around her sat as well. Gonna need this bag, I thought…and I did need it, a few times. One word for that lady…soap…no..more then one word. Soap and a scrubber and scented candles to carry around with you…lit scented candles! Anyways, I finally got here in Volcan. And I thought hmm…bathroom, then teeth brushing. I found a store that had a bathroom but I was pretty sure the lady hated my very core because of the look she gave me when I asked to use it… I am sorry lady that I made you do your job! MAN!  I should have just gone on her floor, at least then she would have a reason to hate my very being! >:) But I didn't! Anyways, after all that mess it was time for the meeting. So I went to the Spanish meeting here. 175 people!!! For a sunday meeting!! After the meeting I went and found something small to eat and then I went back to go to the English meeting. I found out the dates for when the Kleins the new circuit overseers here, will be here. Since he was one of my Pioneer School Conductors I am going to come down and visit when they are here. Go to the meeting with them. I met a few different families here, so I will have places to stay for a night or two. :) Should be good. I just don't have English books. Oh well. :) 

Day 25, February 4th, 2012

Day 25, Saturday, February 4th, 2012

So… its a lot drier here at 6 in the morning then at 7. Good news is that i now know that the neighborhood drunks get home at 5:30 in the morning. Which is when thanks to them, I woke up. But its ok cause I am SOO tired I feel back asleep. And I got to re-wake up to Winsin and Yandel telling me they were "enamor ado" my first thought was *sigh* luckies! hahaha. Why is time going by so slow?? I think in the morning the  minutes are longer. For instance 

i now have 40 minutes before i need to leave. But i am pretty sure i have already been up for like 2 hours…Hey! There is light outside. :) 

Part 2- I am now out the store. I am helping out a bit. My Watchtower is completely studied now. And I got another surprise. Brother Nixon passed by just about an hour ago. Here he says and passes me a talk slip for… THIS THURSDAY!! The theme? "Were there any legal formalities when Adam and Eve began to live together." Oh yeah this will be easy to do by Thursday in Spanish. My householder? a 15 year old! YAY!! Okay I can do this! And I can do the talk on Sunday… DAH!! Ay no! Lordy lordy! Nope!! I CAN DO ALL OF THIS!!! use let me go to the Superbowl tomorrow!!! :( By the night tomorrow if they haven't compromised then it will be almost a full week which is not good. Cause there are people who are sick and old that need to pass through. They had to send a helicopter to get some of them out of there. Oh man! I hope they can fix all of this craziness today! If not we will have to see how I can get to Volcan tomorrow and then back on Monday… Hmm this will be an adventure!! :) Like everything else on this route! ITs actually quite exciting!! :D At least for me it is, you guys are probably worried just a wee bit. Sorry about that. That's all for now. Goodnight Day 25! Onward with the adventure! 

Day 24-February 3rd, 2012

Day 24, Friday, February 3rd, 2012.

So today was a pretty normal day. I went out in service with Yorle. No one with a car showed up, so it was us two, Albin, and the Neals. We walked of course, to the territory. But the Neals were planning to go to Rio Sereno so they left a little after we got there, to go wait for the bus. We did a couple houses and ended service about 12. On our way back up the road, we found the Neals. The bus STILL hadn't passed. We talked to them for a minute and they decided to walk back with us. And THEN the bus came. So they got on and we kept going… We stopped at Micah's store and she asked Yorle if she could come take care of the store tomorrow morning, so that Micah could go in service. Yorle didn't want to do it alone, so now tomorrow I will be there with Yorle from the morning until around 1. Then we go back home. Before the plan was that we would come back home and around 3 or 4 a brother would come by the house and pick us up for the party in Volcan then we would go with him. Spend a night in Volcan and then on Sunday they would go do their thing in Volcan and I would go hang out and watch the Superbowl. But the plans changed with the ever-so-tiresome new developments of the road being closed. See this is how everything has worked out with this whole road closing thing. The President promised the indigenous people here that they would not dynamite the mines that had gold and silver in them. Because that is the property of the indigenous. Well, like a good politician he was shaking hands with them on his right and sign papers to allow the workers to begin dynamite-ing the mines with the left. {Movie Quote: "I'm a politician, which means if I'm not kissin babies. I'm stealin their lollipops!"} Well when the indigenous saw these new workers coming into their territory with machines and explosives they were like 'And what about your promises?!' So they decided to wait until all the workers went home for the night. And by the morning the indigenous had completely blocked the main road. Which just so happens to be the freeway that EVERYONE uses for EVERYTHING! They have vowed to not move it until the president makes a compromise for them. This was smart on their part because it is literally the road that everyone uses all the time. For everything! What I mean by that is…. The State/Province of Chiriqui (where i am) is responsible for planting, growing, selling, and sending 80% of the countries beans,rice,tomatoes,lettuce,cabbage,corn, etc. 80% of the countries food supply comes form Chiriqui. But in order to get from Chiriqui to the city and the distribution centers it has to go through this road, which is now blocked off by the indigenous. So does the livestock for farming and eating. And from the other end, the gasoline for this part of Panama has to cross through to get back here. Well the last time the president didn't comply with one of his promises the indigenous people closed the road for 3 days, then they made a compromise. Well, its been 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 days. Tomorrow will be 6. Problem Numbero Un! There are no people coming in and out. Problem Numbero Duuu!! If people aren't allowed to leave, they can't get food. Which means those their have now been without a proper meal for 5 days!!! Problem Numbero Twaaa! If nothing can get through, in or out. That means the gasoline trucks can't come anywhere here to load the gas stations, meaning as soon as the gas runs out in these brothers trucks and SUVs thats it, until they get this all fixed! Bicycles and walking is becoming the new way of travel. No Cars equals no territories that are farther out then San Antonio, Monte Lirio, and Campo Alegre. You see the problem? PLUS!! If their is no gasoline. the busses will stop meaning… If there are no busses coming back from Volcan, how will I get back to Monte Lirio? …The Superbowl is in Volcan, so I AM going there. Its just a matter of coming back, that is the problem. Problem number 4! There is a couple from Mexico that was supposed to be here in January. Well they are also stuck behind this now monstrosity of a problem. Also, Yaleka was supposed to leave today and be back home tonight. Well, until they get this settled she can't go back home, the brother can't get to their assignment, the Neals bag won't get here, I will be stuck in Volcan. So…Señor Presidente! What are you going to do about this?! Tomorrow is Day 6 of this adventure, if they can't come to an agreement by the night tomorrow. The busses will stop once they run out of gas. The brothers will again be having to wait another day, Yaleka will also have to wait another day, as will the Neals for their bag, and I might have to walk back from Volcan. or live there for a few days Ha! :) We will know by tomorrow afternoon, night at the most whats going to happen. And how everything worked out. As soon as the president makes a deal with them, even if he doesn't actually plan on fulfilling it, they will be happy. And they will open the roads. But the President is also afraid to come here in case you know by some strange happening they are ENRAGED seeing as this is the second time he has lied to them… We will see tomorrow. Its 10 P.M. and I am out for the night! I have to be READY TO LEAVE at 7 on the dot tomorrow morning! And I am super tired since the beginning of not only this but also last week. :( My legs aren't swollen or hurting anymore! YAY!! They are only now scarred and somewhat gross looking. But whatever. There just happens to be a GINORMOUS bug buzzing around my light… I am really glad that I have a bed net. Only problem is I have to get out of my bed net to turn my light off. LAME!! Anyways, thats it for tonight. Goodnight Day 24! 

Day 23-February 2nd, 2012

Day 23, Thursday, February 2nd, 2012

I didn't wake up puffy and dead. MY NET WORKS!! :) I just got a Text Message saying "En el mes del amor decora tus chats con divertidos dibujos!" Translated.. "In the month of love decorate your messages with funny drownings." Something like that anyways. So I need to figure out why February is the month of love… Hmm… This might take a while. 

Part 2- OOOOH!!! I get it now! 

Part 3- Well the ants were back at around 2. I had to do another massacre when I got back from meeting. My householder part went good. I didn't mess up at all. I looked at my notes just to make sure I was about to say the right thing at the right time. But I had all my lines down. I was nervous about it, but I translated a very last minute Bible Highlights comment and gave it. It went like this: "I am sure that almost everyone here can say what Isaiah 43:10-12 is about. So this is really only going to be a reminder for us. When it says in verse 10 'My servant whom I have chosen in rider that you may know and have faith in me, and that you maybe understand that I am the same One.' that's talking about each of us. Jehovah has chosen us. Out of all the people in the whole world, he has chosen us to be his Witness, his sons, and his daughters. Its a privilege and we should be doing all we can to show him that we appreciate and aren't taking for granted our privilege of being known as one of Jehovah's Witnesses''

After meeting, I got a Watchtower for this month. Brother Neal asked me to translate something for him, he was talking to Brother Nixon. So I went over and this is how the conversation went. 

Keith: "Tell him, I want to know if I can give a public talk one of these Sundays."

Me: "El quiere saber si puede dar un discurso en uno de los Domingos que esta aquí."

Nixon: "Ahh, si. Dile que si! El discurso va estar en Espanol entonces?"

Me: "He says yes. But wants to know if that means you have the talk in Spanish already."

Keith: "No. I will need a translator."

Me: "Dice que el va a necesitar alguien que puede traducir."

Nixon: "Ah ok…Si estaría bien, nunca hay tenemos una discurso haci. Pero si el ya tiene alguien que puede ayudarlo con esto entonces si estaría bien."

Me: "He says. Yeah it will be ok. they have never had a talk like that here before. But as long as you have a person who can help you with the translating it will be ok."

Keith: "Tell him yes I already have someone who can help me."

Me: "El dice que ya tiene alguien que puede ayudarlo."

Then Keith and Nixon both started laughing and looked at me. I smiled and then was like. "Oh!" Nervous laugh "Me?!" Both said yes at the same time… So, just like that on the 19th of this month I am going to be helping giving the Sunday 30 minute talk! :O As soon as this conversation stopped a huge pit hit the bottom of my stomach! Is this what the brothers feel like when they have to give their first Sunday talk? No I don't think so. Cause at least they know that someday they will be giving talks like this. But for sisters?! For me?! No one prepared me for this! Ha! Its ok. With Jehovah's help everything will be fine. I am just nervous now!! What do you guys think?! Can she do it?! Also how COOL is it, that I get the privilege of translating the talk?!?! BLESSINGS!!

When I got home I had to wash some clothes, and then I helped make dinner. Trudy was worried cause I guess I didn't eat anything today. I didn't realize that, until she told me. But I just wasn't hungry. The conversation at the hall, kind of took my hunger away but I went ahead and ate something. Then I went to my room and killed some more ants with poison. Actually Trudy made this mixture to use. Then after that, I started to do some more Bible Research.  I did 2 more sections just know. Since today is Day 23rd, and I have 47 sections done. I am one section above schedule! :) I think tomorrow will be somewhat of a busy day. I want to get at least 15 sections done, just so that I am not rushing to get all my sections down at the end of my 6 months, ya know?! I have service in the morning. And I need to have everything ready for the weekend tomorrow. Seeing as on Saturday after service I leave and I won't be back here until Sunday night. Then Monday I am gone in Rio Sereno. I would be SUCH a happy camper if I could get some REAL Pizza and Beer on Sunday while watching the Super Bowl. But I am POSITIVE thats not gonna happen. Oh well. At least I get to go hang out with my friends and watch it right?! GO GIANTS! WHOOP! I am going to TRY to get some sleep now. We will see if I can. Good night Day 23! 

Day 22- FEBRUARY 1st!!

Day 22- Wednesday, FEBRUARY 1ST!!!! 

Today I got up early to get ready for our adventure day. I was super pumped to go. I met the Neals on the bus and we headed to Rio Sereno. When we got their they had to go to the bank. So we decided we would meet back up for breakfast and I went to the internet to make contact with my buddies. I sent them messages but I figured they wouldn't be up yet. So then I walked back down to the restaurant. After a splendid and very filling breakfast we went back to the internet we had an hour before our bus was to leave at 11:15. The Neals were trying to figure out how to pay their CFE bill online. I got to talk to my Mamma Llama, Carin for a wee bit. And I got to talk a little to the guys. They had to work today but they were going to take a long lunch break to come hang with us for a couple hours. They told me to message them when we got in to Volcan. It was close to 11 so I signed out of the internet, told the Neals if we didn't go then, we would miss the bus, paid my internet and packed everything up, then I waited…an waited… Long story short we missed the bus about 10 minutes. But there was another one leaving at 12. So we hung out there for a bit. A couple that I met were there, so I introduced them to the Neals. Then another family came by and the were also on the route serving in Rio Sereno. So we all talked and then they had to go. While we waited for the bus, Keith got his shoes shined. That shoe shiner was GOOD! It was a dollar. Then we got on the bus. All this while since arriving in Rio Sereno we were doing informal. So we kept going, we placed literature on the bus. The guy that sat down next to me, I gave a Watchtower. He started reading and read about half of it before falling asleep, but he held onto it tight so that no one would take it. haha! Then we got to Volcan at 1:30, the last bus would be at 5. We got off the bus and walked up a block where they saw a Phone Shop. it was the company +Movil ) They went in and wanted to buy a phone, Keith said he wanted to do everything. So since their was an internet cafe right next door, I went up there and messaged the guys. We were in Volcan, I just had no idea where. Donna came up and told me Keith needed some help. So I logged out, paid and went to help the Neals. He bought this new fancy phone, that can hold 3 different chips in it, a new +Movil chip, a case, minutes, and a plan to call to the States. I translated everything between him and the clerk there. I did a pretty good job actually! But it took a while…a long while…about 2 hours! Then I told them I was going to run up and see what the guys said. "Oh! We'll go with you!" OK! We all went up, in Rio Sereno they hadn't figured out how to do the internet stuff, so they got back on. But they wanted to use their computer because thats where all their info was, so it took the internet guy about half an hour trying to figure out how they could use their own computers, apparently he didn't realize if he took the internet cable off of one computer he could plug it in to theirs. DUMB! But we finally got it all set up! During this whole time, I was talking with my Mamma Llama, My Carin, Amber, Shannon and Mali (who were out in service together), and the guys. Well, the guys internet since it is Wi-Fi kept going in and out all morning, they also needed an internet update which made it not possible to do anything else online. So they hadn't got any work done and wouldn't be able to go with us. BUT we did get to make all our finally detailed plans for this Sunday! I'm so PSYCHED about Sunday!!!!! I talked more to my friends in Mexico and the States and now in Volcan. Then Keith said 'Ok time to go!' So I said bye to everyone and signed out, paid my internet. All the while I was STARVING so I saw a little store from the window, it was next to the bus stop, I told them I would meet them there. And I went to find something to eat. I found a peach tea, which here is not Peach, its not Durazno, its something that starts with a 'G' and ends with 'TON' its weird! And a bag of Galletas, which here means Cookies AND Chips! We got on the last bus, unlike the first one this was not a nice spacious one. This was like a Monte Lirio bus and there were about twice as many people as their should have been. :( I couldn't even move my arms in front of me to unzip my bag to take out a magazine. Ha! But that also meant I couldn't eat my Galletas. :'( The bus driver of course didn't know how to drive stick very well, and thats saying something I have never driven stick and I know he doesn't know how to drive well! So every hill he tried to get up, he only wanted to use the same amount of power as if the bus was completely empty. Plus he didn't like using the clutch when shifting gears. So every time he would try to get it into 2nd we all heard this. EEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRR!!! If that bus could talk it would have very mean things to say to this guy. I almost wanted to get up and be like, "So…Can I try?" haha We got to Rio Sereno and we went shopping for some stuff. Earlier me and donna had found Mosquito nets! YES!!! We had hide them, so no one would find them, no one did. So I bought a blue mosquito net, Q-tips, a little chain for a new necklace and a shirt for Sunday. This new shirt will be my first new store bought thing in…about…wait does Ross count? Cause if it does, it will be my first new store bought thing in over a year. :) I was happy with it. More importantly, its a long shirt that comes to like lower mid thigh BUT its also….BLU AND WHITE… NY GIANTS colors man! And it matches my new bandana! Then we took a taxi back to Monte Lirio. I told the drive…"Vamos a Monte Lirio, va a hacer $8.50" he was like oh ok. Haha! No one is gonna rip me off. They Neals wanted to drop me off first, and then go back to their house. So we got close to my stop and I said how much will it be to take them around the hill to their house. Well…we had heard us speaking English so he said. $7.50. I said No. It is literally at the most a 10 minute drive. And from Rio Sereno to Monte Lirio is 30 minutes. He said it was because it was far away. In my head, I was like "Psh! Your mom is far away!" So I told him no that wouldn't be necessary I had him drop us all off at the Mirandas house. They came inside, I told the family what the taxi driver said, and Brother Pedro was like "No! That's not good. Don't worry! I will take you home! Next time too, if that happens!" So they went home, we ate dinner while watching this show about little kids singing only typica. That was also weird. So I asked as polite as possible, "Do people actually watch this?" The girls bust up laughing and I didn't now why it was so funny. Brother Pedro after hearing the show on, comes running into the room, and goes. "THis is my favorite show!!" then I had to try really hard to not bust up laughing. After dinner I went into my room, I had to unpack and put away, and set up my new things. Sister Trudy gave me a corn/milk/sugar drink…Its different but I brought it with me to my room, drank some and put it on my shelf. I was perplexed as to how I would look on Sunday, what I would wear with my new stuff. So I tried some stuff on, tried a few different hair styles. And settled for… Blue shirt, black little jacket-y, leggings, flats, hair down, bandana folded sideways holding my hair outta my face. :) It will work… :) Pictures to come of the Super Bowl party. Then I thought, ok I have wasted enough time trying to see what I will wear (about ½ the normal time of a lady, I am guessing) Then I changed into my PJ's and started putting my stuff away. But wait! I was thirsty! So… I grabbed my drink, filled my mouth with the drink and right before I swallowed I looked down, cause all of a sudden it tasted like poison and I thought. 'Hmm, there are a lot of different ways for this family to kill me, other then poison.' ANTS! About 50 of them, in my drink! And now….IN MY MOUTH! At the same time of saying DAHHH!! I spit it out on the floor. I put the drink bak down and looked around. ANTS EVERYWHERE! I ran into the house and brushed my teeth like 3 times, washed my face, and grab my handy-dandy chemicals. Game on Ants! I came back in my room, and got them all!! Every…last…one! I cleaned off everything and sprayed a bu… A LOT of spray everywhere. I cleaned my room throughly. After the massacre I went about setting up my bed net. I got it perfectly where I want it. Then I noticed it was somewhat late, so i finished putting everything away. And did a very brave thing… I put shorts on, sprayed a bit of Skin-So-Soft and decided to sleep without the covers. I want to know if this net works!!! So if I wake up all puffy and dead tomorrow I will know it didn't! :) Oh the adventures of Panama!! :) That's it for now, I guess! Good night Day 22! 

Day 22- January 31st, 2012

Day 22-Tuesday, January 31st, 2012. 

Last day of January today!! Today we did in fact have a long day…well somewhat. We started at 9 and finished at 3. Not too long but since we were walking for literally all of that. Its a LONG day! We took the Neals with us, I think they were tired afterward but they seemed to enjoy it. In service we had to cross over a creek, without a bridge. There was a tree that had fallen down, so we crossed over that… THAT was FUN!! I got to take my shoes off and walk across in my medias. Haha! Then we did 2 of my Bible Studies. So far so good. The farthest one away took about an hour walking up hills to get to. But Xcenia had already read the first Chapter of the Bible Teach Book. She likes to talk which is good. I asked her if she would like me to bring a Bible Story back for Daniela. Daniela looked at her and was like "PLEASE, MOM!" This little girl reminds me of… 'Rick! Rick! Rick!' Haha! So Xcenia wanted to know how much the book was, I explained to her how the donations work and she seemed pretty impressed. She said I could bring back the book next week. So there ya go!! :) I think each week I will try to read one story all together. It will be good for Xcenia too, she will be able to know her Bible a little more. :) We will see! After we left we went to eat our packed lunch in a caseta. No Beet-ch-os there, Can you tell I don't know exactly how to spell that word. And I am afraid of asking cause I have an idea of how it is spelt. Ha! Anyways, then me and Yari went to see Neida which is my Bible Study in the indigenous language here. She was doing good. The other girls didn't come out of the house until we were almost done, the baby was sleeping, the cows were in the their pen. So she didn't have any distractions. I find though she is suspicious of new people. Hmm…we will work through that. After that we walked down to were the kingdom hall is, Yari has a RV about a 30 minute walk past the KH so we went. The lady wasn't home. Then we walked to the Neals house and hung out. And waited for the bus. We got off at the main school, and waited for another bus to take us home. The bus didn't come but a family that knows the Mirandas showed up. So we hopped in the back of their Jeep and they drove to their house which is a lot closer tours then the store. We hopped out said Thanks and Goodbye and then we walked the rest of the way to the Mirandas. We were super tired when we got home. The family wasn't home so we just chilled outside for a while on the porch, talking. Then at the same time we were both like ''Well.." and got up. :) Yari went to take a nap and I went to shower.  After a while we all gathered in the kitchen to make dinner, i told the girls I wanted to go watch a movie and asked them if they wanted to watch an English movie with me. To my surprise they did! So we went through all the movies I have looking for any with Spanish subtitles. I only have 3 movies with subtitles, 2 in English and one in… Romanian! What?! Ha! Anyways, they wanted to watch Oceans 11 so we all crowded on my bed and we used my legs as a table for my laptop. They want to watch a couple more later on. After we finished the movie it was like 10 so we all went to bed. It was a busy day today. Tomorrow will be the same, in service today the Neals offered me a proposal that of course I accepted…Tomorrow we will go to Rio Sereno and have breakfast do a few things there, then we will take the bus to Volcan and explore there, then take the last bus back and buy stuff in Rio Sereno then go home.  It sounds like fun, I am going to tell my friends in Volcan that we are going to be there, we will see if they can do something. :) Oh I almost forgot. Today in service it was hilarious! I got a text message so I looked at it and I was like " Aww its my boyfriend!" Yari was like "WHAT?! You have a boyfriend already! But you guys just met each other!" In my own defense I have no idea who she is talking about, well I didn't know I do. But you don't and won't. HA! So I was like "Yeah! Its my Boyfriend we have been going out for almost a week now." And she was like :O I said "He is a really good boyfriend. You know he always is texting me, everyday at least 2 or 3 times. Just checkin in, telling me how I can save some money. His name is Movie Star." And then she started laughing. And she said "Oh! I though you were talking about (CENSORED SO AS NOT TO INCRIMINATE THE VICTIM) Anyways, it was pretty funny, she told Yoly what happened when we all got home. And Yoly was like "What! When did (CENSORED SO AS NOT TO INCRIMINATE THE VICTIM) ask you out?!" Then Yari told her it as Movie Star and she started laughing. We practiced our talk after that! I got it almost all the way down. We will practice it again later. Thats all for tonight! Goodnight Day 22! 

Day 21-January 30th, 2012

Day 21- Monday, January 30th, 2012

January is almost over! I have been here now for 21 days! Can you believe it? Cause I can't. This time is going by fast! Today in the morning I went to Rio Serreno with the Neals, I showed them around, we had breakfast, and then we went to the internet cafe. After that they were on their own, I got to talk with my family, Amber, Sandy, and Shannon! That was nice to talk with them. After I finished the internet I went around looking for some stuff, making up my mind on some things. I think I know what I am going to get! I bought a dark blue bandana which is pretty cool. Then I caught the last bus home. Everyone had gone on Return Visits so I took a nice cold shower and went to my room. I was able to write more. The swelling in my foot is going down a little. So that's good. Tomorrow we are supposed to have a LONG day in service we will see if we actually get to! :) The family got home when I was in the shower. So when I finished I took my stuff into my room cleaned up a bit and then we had our family study. Which this week was to re-watch the blood video and right down the answers. Medical Terms in Spanish, just like Theocratic Spanish, is a complete different language. So after they were done and they were eating dinner in the kitchen I ate my dinner while re-watching the movie in English. I pretty much remembered all the answers but still its all good reminders, so I re-watched it all. After that, we all went to bed.Thats all for now. Not much happened today. Goodnight Day 21!