UNESUR.....

I realize that a few days ago I posted my worries about my trip to Santa Barbara. Well, now I've had a few people ask how it went.....so I thought I'd let you know....I WENT REALLY WELL! Praise be to the Lord. I went into the trip with a lot of trepidation and worry, however, it was all completely pointless. I was very well taken care of and blessed to get to spend time with and get to know the Vida Estudiantil-ers in Santa Barbara. The day began at 5:45 AM catching the bus at the Terminal across the street from my apartment with 2 students from Mérida´s Vida Estudiantil - Neptali and Jonas. These students were such a blessing to have with me on the trip, they never left my side and made a huge effort to make sure I knew everything that was going on and was taken care of. Jonas even carried my backpack for me - how nice :)

We arrived in El Vigia, a town about 45 minutes away (also where the airport is) and waited in a Plaza there for about 30 minutes or so. Deisy and Alvaro met us there. They are the two professors who are involved with Vida Estudiantil at UNESUR. How cool!! I've never heard of having professors who were interested and/or a part of the Campus Crusade movement before. It was really exciting to meet them, they are both very positive people who are passionate about the Lord's work at UNESUR. They were already giving a ride to another of their professor friends, so we squished into the car (Jonas, Neptali, and I) as well as this other man in the backseat. That was....interesting, albeit a little painful. It was good though. It was a blessing to be driven in a car rather than continue taking the bus allllllll the way to Santa Barbara (it's in another state than Merida). Along the drive, there were some interesting sights to behold, including pig flesh and pig heads hanging along the side of the road. Which, of course, everyone in the car excitedly pointed out to me, eager for my reaction - ewwwwwwwww.

We arrived in Santa Barbara (which by the way is much more hot and humid than Merida) fairly early. Deisy went in search of the students for the leadership meeting and then led us on a tour of the campus. There were fun hedge sculptures along some of the roads and walkways, meriting these pictures of course. The students (and professors) were all eager to have their picture taken. In fact, I didn't take a single picture the whole time, and yet somehow when I got home I had 40+ pictures on my camera!! That was pretty sweet. We also got to tour the walkway where Vida Estudiantil is going to get a piece of wall to paint a mural on. How cool is that!!? They are still determining what to paint, but I know they want to put the Great Commission verse on it, should be awesome.

We finally began the meeting once all the students had arrived, in a very air conditioned part of the library (I think). It was so air conditioned in fact, I had to wear my fleece! That's a first since being here! Once the meeting began, I was soooooo grateful for Nepatli. He took charge completely, he had brought hand-outs for all the students, information and fliers about the retreat, sign-up lists, and absolutely had taken care of every detail. I didn't even really do much, except for listen, add a scant amount of comments, and pray! Neptali is very excited and passionate about the movement, and it was so cool for me to get to see him in action and motivating the students at Santa Barbara. It was truly a blessing to have him in charge. Basically, although they kept referring to me as being "in charge" Neptali did all the work and I just smiled pretty and got to make new friends!

After the meeting, we went back to their office for Vida Estudiantil and they cooked lunch. It was arepas (which is I haven't explained before are like fried corn patties) and carne asada (bbq-ed steak of sorts). Neptali, Jonas, and I had a lot of fun trying to eat with our hands (Something I NEVER do!). It was quite entertaining, they were especially enthralled with my fear of the fat on the edges of the meat and my trepidation at eating with my hands. However, all in all, it was really yummy. The boys also tried to convince me that I was eating dog meat, however, I didn't buy it. I really hope that's not true!

The trip home was longggggggg. However, I used it to teach the boys valuable phrases like "How are you?, What did you do today? I ate dog meat and arepas. I drank coke (this one was my favorite, it was difficult for them to say, it came out more like I dracht cupt)" their favorite was "Just kidding!". Anyway, all in all, I had a great trip, although exhausting. By the time I got home at around 8:00 pm (making it a 15 hour day) I was completely ready to crash. It was a great trip, very encouraging, and I am so excited to see what the Lord is going to do this year at UNESUR and how He is going to use me, and the more importantly the students and professors there for His glory. Thank you so much for any and all prayers, things went far better than I even hoped for. Praise be to God!