One Week Later

I looked down at my watch and read 12:00pm.

"Oh, it's noon back home."

Then I realized I actually was home. My heart sunk. I miss you Argentina. I still haven't changed the time on my watch. I feel that I'm not ready to let go of that memory.

I've been home now exactly a week. It doesn't feel real at all. I've been quite the hermit just staying in my room, on my computer talking to the people I miss.

My heart broke that early Monday morning when I had to say goodbye to everyone at the UAP. I was still making friends up until the last night of us being there. I cried saying goodbye because I honestly don't know the next time I'll see any of them. Sure, there's Facebook and Skype, but it's just not the same. Saying goodbye at the airport was even harder. These guys and girls were my rocks while I was down there. We all live in different states and go to different colleges. Who knows when I'll see them as well.

I haven't really seen any of my friends that are back from college. I don't know if this is culture shock or what. But I miss the life I had down in Argentina. It was so simple. I didn't have to worry about trying to get the drug screen test done for my job this summer, or the fact that my license expired and having to study for the test I'm taking tomorrow.

Everyone's life is on the fast lane and I just want to be cruising again. I used to be the one with a plan for everything. Part of that will never leave me, but I've chilled since being in Argentina and just letting things happen. It's hard trying to adjust back to this fast paced life.

But what I miss the most are my friends. They got me through a lot while I was down there. Thank God for texting, but it's still not the same. I'm used to living in a dorm with my closest girlfriends. Where I can just walk down the hall and ask if they're going to lunch. I was so used to spending so much time every day without them, that I'm somewhat depressed without them here with me. I'm stuck in Illinois where I don't have a lot of friends because of the distance of going to another college out of state and it's the year of internships. Spanish is constantly flowing through my veins. Any time I hear that latin beat in a song, it reminds me of all the fun times I had, learning the culture and watching my Argentinean friends sing the lyrics to all the songs and us Americans pretending to know the lyrics. The other day, I was going to ask someone a question and I almost asked them in Spanish, but then realized that they could speak English.

I feel out of place here. I don't know how to fit in, but I think it'll just take some time. But suddenly I miss everyone. I want us to be all in the same place and just having fun. It's funny how even after 9 months, I know some of these people I'll be friends with for the rest of my life.

I'm still getting used to the food. Since it's summer and I don't have a car I have to make all my food. I don't remember how to make a ton of what I could from last summer. It's a rough life because I can't just go to the comedor and pretend to enjoy my meal.

It's so good to be home in my own room and my own bed, but there's a part of me that will always miss Argentina. Argentina will always be apart of me for as long as I live. I guess you could say I could call it home, since I did live there for a year. Argentina opened my eyes to be the person that I really want to be. How I want to live my life. I love you Argentina!

The Time

As cliché as this song is, it literally is so true. This year, literally was the time of my life, but not just this year, but this time of my life right now.

I'm so thankful for all that I experienced this year. Argentina, I'll never forget you! :)

The Lasts

Last soccer games.
Last time eating in the caf.
Last time eating out.
Last time going to church.
Last time staying out late.
Last time going to the 3rd floor lobby and making a ton of noise.
Last time dancing the night away.
Last time having class.
Last time speaking in English and no one really understanding what you're saying.
Last time eating bland food.
Last time seeing my name appear red because I broke curfew...again.
Last time to spend with all these amazing people.

Tonight is the last time for...well everything.

ACA Amen

I started getting a cold Wednesday night. Usually I'd be okay with it, but I was asked to lead out in worship Friday night for the ACA Amen program we were putting on after the usual vespers program.

I got a list of songs together and asked people to play with me.
I picked us to sing:
My Redeemer Lives
Famous One
Mighty to Save
From the Inside Out
How Great is Our God
Nothing But the Blood
I was really excited because I had only done praise songs for camp or week of worship here. But this, this was a big deal. Every year, ACA puts this program on and tons of people from the UAP come. I was prepared, but not for what was going to happen.

Friday came. The choir, the drama, our praise band, we practiced ALL afternoon. I was exhausted and drained from this cold and not getting enough sleep, but I took a short nap after dinner. We had planned to meet again at 9pm to run quickly through some trouble spots before the service started. Imani and Sabrina were the only ones who showed up early, so while Chris and his band were going through their song, we went in the back and was working on some stuff, then we heard a lot of ruckus outside. We opened the door and people were there. No PEOPLE WERE THERE. It was only 9:30pm! The choir wasn't there, I had no idea where my piano player was, I immediately started to calmly freak out. Imani told me I looked stressed so I went to the back room and prayed.

I won't go into great detail, but I'll say this. The beginning was rough. I mean ROUGH. I had no idea if we were going to make it through the first song. But slowly as the night went on, I could just feel a calm in the room and I knew HE was there. I wasn't nervous, actually the whole time I felt calm. I knew the Holy Spirit was in my heart. It was an awesome experience. I lost my voice, hopefully that comes back for our choir tour tomorrow, but God just continues to prove Himself to me as I'm here in Argentina. There's never a doubt in my mind that HE is God.

I am so thankful to be able to come together and worship in another language. I have grown so close to God while being down here. There have been some rough spots while being down here, but those just led me closer to the God who created me.

the Final Countdown

I have 12 days left until I leave Argentina. I'm beginning to realize how much of an impact this country and these people have had on my life.

I'm really going to miss this place.

:(

breathe

Spontaneous vespers will always be awesome.

Elisa and I were talking at lunch today about what we were gonna do tonight. She threw out the idea of having our own vespers. So I went around telling people.

i went on with my day and decided I was going to say a little something. So I got some songs together, threw a powerpoint together and went to the gazebo.

I just played a couple songs waiting for everyone to show up then we started. I could just feel God's presence there. I spoke on Rob Bell's Nooma called Breathe. It talks about how his name, YHVH (Hebrew) or LORD (English), is essentially unpronounceable because the vowels are breaths. Y-H-V-H.

A baby's first cry is really that child screaming the name of God. And when you take your last dying breath, it's because you can no longer say the name of God. I wanted proof that God was alive and He gave it to me. Every breath I take is God giving me proof that He is alive.

We sang some more and then went on a singing spree of OLD school songs we grew up singing in Cradle Roll and Primary before hitting the Pathfinder songs.

I am going to miss having these people around to spend my Friday nights with, but I just thank Jesus for the blessing we all received.

Another sneak peek!

Another addition to this project I'm working on. Thanks to the girls who got glammed up on this freezing cold night. I had a lot of fun, but don't worry there's still more to come!