I don't know if I still hablo espanol.....

Our first week has almost pulled to a close here in Merida, in fact, it was one week ago today on a dark and stormy night (I'm not kidding) that we landed here in Merida.....This week has mostly consisted in acquianting ourselves with the culture - finding edible food, riding buses, constantly being stared at, learning to communicate in broken Spanish, and getting to know our team more. Our Maracucha (from Maracaibo, a big city in VZ that is very different than Merida) teammate Claudia, has been here with us guiding us in a lot of the things we need to learn. She is such a blessing to have on our team, I think we'd be lost without her! To the right is our first official picture together as a full team! Now, this picture was taken on a night I think none of us will soon forget....here's how the story goes.....

Amanda decided she really wanted fish for dinner. I, personally, not only detest fish but throw up when forced to eat it, so I opted for chicken instead. However, the rest of the team decided fish would be a good idea as well. Well, at the store (which is still very difficult for us to navigate....) Amanda picked out what appeared to just be some fish fillets. I, never having cooked fish myself, assumed they looked normal, and picked up some chicken for me. Later that evening (as the picture suggests, it had already been a LONG day) after we had all returned from a long day in th Centro for classes, Ivan decided he would take a stab at cooking the fish, as he grew up in Alaska and had worked on a boat. Well, from the moment he took the plastic off of the styrofoam holding the fish I knew something was wrong. It reeked! Now, mind you, I do detest the smell of seafood, but this was beyond anything I've ever smelled - fish-wise anyway. They debated the smell for a few minutes, but proceeded to be adventurous anyway and began cooking the painfully smelly fish. During the cooking of the meal, a Venezuelan friend of ours, Teo (he was also with me in Lake Tahoe 2 years ago) came to visit. He decided to stay and have dinner with us. Ivan pulled out the fish and set it on the table, for all to see. Teo said it looked okay, and proceeded to eat some. With that bit of assurance Ivan dug in, and others followed with minor hesitation. After a bite, Ivan paused and looked at Teo.....He said, "Hey, my lips are numb.....?" Teo started inspecting the fish as he ate it and also pronounced that his throat had gone numb. After asking Amanda what kind of "fish" she had bought, it was discovered that they were in fact eating "DEVIL RAY". Hence the toxins had caused their mouths to go numb.....oops! Needless to say the rest of dinner consisted in rolls and me sharing my little bit of chicken with 5 people....Also, our apartment still smells like devil ray.....boo.

Another side note, we've started intensive Spanish classes for the next week or so, until ULA (la Universidad de Los Andes) begins it's fall quarter, then we will only have class once a week. Right now we go to class 5 days a week, twice a day for 2 hours. Let me tell you....I haven't studied Spanish since high school, and this can be grueling at times! We took a placement test to see what level we should be in, and I tested into level 5 (of 9) although they wanted to put me in 6, I opted for 5, since the girl on my team who is practically fluent was placed in 6......It's not easy! Fortunately the teachers are both pretty good, and although we have a lot of homework, I am enjoying it for the most part and my Spanish is slowly coming back to me. Praise Jesus! Here's a picture of my team (minus el jefe Ivan) in front of the language school: