in case you're wondering...

... today was the first day of the World Cup in South Africa. If I was in the United States I would have no idea this was going on, but here, it's kind of hard to miss everyone's TVs blaring the opening ceremonies at 7 a.m. and the green soccer jerseys everywhere. Soccer is, to put it mildly, a big deal in Mexico. In fact, as we speak, I can hear soccer commentary in Spanish. In fact, I think I now know more about soccer in Spanish than I do in English (which would not take much).

So we had school today. Two of the girls arrived at school with reports of 30+ cockroaches running around their place. Needless to say, they were less than enthusiastic about the situation. I am very thankful that my house is, to date, free of all insects except mosquitos. After school we went swimming and Emily and I treaded water for 10 minutes! My hair is turning blonde because of all the exposure to the sun. No need for any comments on that detail, thanks. :) This evening I met some friends for supper at a restaurant near the center of town. We ate basically up on top of the roof, which had an awesome view!

After supper we took the combi back to school for this "cultural event" that was so not worth my time at all. But anyway, en route to school, the four of us (me, Emily, Hillary, and Rachel) were talking and (attempting) to use as much Spanish as possible. At one point, we had the entire combi laughing at our feeble efforts, which was a little bit embarrassing but mostly just hilarious. And then we got done with this event and it was pouring down rain - thunder, lightning, the whole works - and we somehow needed to get to this restaurant in the middle of town. So we piled plenty of us into a taxi and off we went, to get cheesecake at this cute little cafe - while the rest of the group was going to some bar. I have great friends! Here's a picture of us at the cafe.

Anyway, besides that... nothing much going on. :) Tomorrow I think we're going to the silver market so that will be interesting.

Oh - exciting news of the day - we have an international plan now - so I can talk to my family! In order to activate it on my phone, though, I had to listen to this whole menu procedure - and would you believe it was in Spanish - which was great practice but also vocabulary that we don't just learn all the time - and I got to the end of it and it asked me for some key code or something that I obviously don't have. So now I'm waiting for Leah to get online so I can chat with her to have Mom and Dad email me the code, or I'm waiting for someone to get online that wouldn't mind calling my family at this hour and having them give me the code (because I can't call them yet because my international plan isn't activated yet) or I guess I'll just have to wait until tomorrow so they can email me the code and then I'll call them. Yep. Probably that one.

Also, I have discovered that my computer, which was having issues before I even left the States, now works better when it is not plugged into the wall. Enough said about that. Whatever it takes.

Anyway, as always, thanks for your continued prayers! This weekend, you can also pray for Seth, who I think is at Junior High Boys Camp, because the words "junior high", "boys", and "camp" all in the same sentence always make me a little nervous. :)