Day 2.

I have never ever done anything in my life that has ever felt this right.

This morning I went to the devotional at the CFCI office and got to see people that I hadn´t even thought about in years. We had a little celebration for Mother´s Day that happened here last Saturday--it started with a delicious breakfast with tortillas, vegetables, beans and cheese, and some fantastic shiskabobs that had wonderful fruit and one big ol´ marshmallow. Then we sang some songs, Don Oracio (the Argentinian pastor who baptized Luke while we were here last) shared a message about Hannah from the Bible, and finally we concluded with various games including bingo! It was just grand.

There I got to talk to Dana, a girl who is going to be a sophomore at Sojourn. She is Don Oracio´s daughter and I can remember us playing together when I was here as a twelve-year-old. Now she speaks great English and is incredibly interested in studying in the United States, particularly her senior year. I think that´s something that I really want to see happen.

From there I said goodbye to Kellie, Orlando, and Luquitas as they call him and headed over to La Pacifica, my new home for the next nine months. It´s fun to see parks and houses that I remember from our first house here which is only a couple blocks away.

My host family is incredible and already I can tell saying goodbye to them is going to be impossible. Dona Beatriz is the mother and spunky leader of the clan and her husband comes home late in the evenings from his work where he owns his own laundrymat. They have three children, Marco the oldest who just got married two weeks ago, Raquel who is an electrical engineer, and Laura who is studying to become a preschool teacher and will be gettied married in March. Already they have invited me to go with them to Panama City for Christmas, something I am incredibly excited about.

Tomorrow I will be going to La Carpio for the first time and can´t wait to see all the changes I´ve heard about.

Bueno, I need to get to sleep, but I just wanted to let you all know that I feel very safe here and that everything is magnificent. I have already smiled tremendously countless times from the amount of love directed towards me and I´ve only been here for one day. Wow.

-Hannah

PS I meant to type this earlier, but last night when I was with Orlando and Kellie, they decided that it would be best if I spent the night in Orlando´s parents´house because they had an extra room instead of me sleeping on the Alvarez´s couch. So, just like that, Orlando walked me down and asked if I could stay--he didn´t ask the week before, the day before, he didn´t even call ahead. He just showed up and they welcomed me into their home and I had quite possibly the best sleep I have ever experienced. I also woke up and didn´t know where I was. :)