First Blog!

Hey hey hey!!!
Wow this is my first blog ever! and i guess it is fitting that in the process of making it, everything was in espanol! haha.
To everyone who reads this- i'm going to be filling you in on life in Buenos Aires! I'm going to be living and studying here for the next five months or so. And i still am living in a surreal state, I just cannot believe that i am here writing in a cafe in the capital of Argentina.
I don't really know where to start, but i arrived yesterday and the plane flight was a piece of cake! 13 hours and i probably slept 9 of them. Except for the times the Argentina man named Pablo just kept practicing his english on me while i dozed off haha but he had lots of good things to say!
But i arrived and met Silvia, the woman I am living with, and she is the sweetest little abuelita. Staying at her apartment literally feels like staying at my own grandma's house! She is constantly preparing food and encouraging me to eat and eat and eat! But it is great. My first day- yesterday after eating lunch with abuelita and taking a little nap, I put on my scarf and jacket (because it is winter here!!) and took my camera to go explore!
It is crazy adjusting to k=not only being in a Latin American country- but realizing that i am in a big city!! There is a park across the street which is really nice, and i can't wait to sit and read there once the weather starts to warm up!
But i took my map in hand and basically wandered down the streets. I foudn my favorite streets Echeveria has lots of good tea shops and cafes, and Juramento is the street that has a Feria- like a craft fair every single days with handmade crafts from 8 en la mañana until 6 en la tarde! I talked to the nice woman and her husband who sell the homemade yerba mate gourds!- i can't wait to buy one from them. Its funny- walking around the parks, everybody has their mate gourd and a thermos of hot water to keep it filled up! Yerba Mate is a type of tea that is very popular in latin america- its highly caffinated and is an acquired taste because at first it tastes like grass. But the drinking and preparing is part of the culture. Sitting down and drinking it with someone is like sharing a cup of coffee or tea but 10times as significant in Argentine culture. They drink is out of these wooden gourds, with a little metal straw called a bombilla that has a strainer at the bottom.-Erin schulz would refer to it as "drug paraphanalia" which i could understand.
Anyways, bare with me as this is the first blog with a lot of extra details hopefully i'll become more concise as a write. I just wish everyone could be here experiencing it with me!
Last night when i got home from exploring and eating dinner with Silvia i went to my room and read for while figuring i could give myself a break and stay in since it was my first night there. I was reading Crazy Love for a while and the i started to feel that feeling that i am alone here in a foreign city with no one that i really know. Doing my own thing is fun but only for so long. And so it was time to get into the word. After reflecting on the day- Jesus had been there fore me in every action thought and emotion providing me with the courage to speak a different language, explore an unknown city and to look forward to the adventures he is going to take me on. Ever since i've been here i have just been praying for the city, for mi abuelita, for the students in my program waiting on Jesus to flood every conversation or action in love. Since thinking abotu this trip- i've been preparing myself mentally like i'm going on a mission trip and sometimes i think- well that's silly its just a trip to have fun and study no big deal. It's not like this is a earth shattering realization, but it is becoming rooted in my heart that every single place we go as believers- whether school, home, vacation whatever- we have the love of Christ and there are people all around us that need it. So as i'm here i am focusing my eyes on Jesus because he is what i have here- and i want to be listening to his voice wherever i go and whatever i do. And i am excited. last night i was starting to get nervous, but he just keeps reminding me I am not alone. Never, because the God of the universe is holding me hand and the adventures will be great.
"Find rest O my soul, in God alone
my hope comes from him.
He alone is my rock and my salvation
He is my fortress I will not be shaken.
One thing God has spoken, two thinngs I have heard:
that you O God are strong and You O Lord are loving"
Psalm 62:11-12

I'll write more about day 2 later- but today i made friends! haha its great I can't wait to get to know the people i'll be studying with- God is already answering my prayers they are great!
I love you all so dearly-i couldn't help but look at pics of all the people i love last night and am continually reminded i am so blessed.

ANNNDDD...For the record as I was writing, Justin Bieber's Eenie Meenie has been playing on the tv in this cafe. not only does that say something about the presence of American culture- but let's face it, Bieber fever is international. (shout out to Lindsey Ellison and her love for that song)