Wait, is that the one with the red hair or the the short one?

Now that I have taken ample time to scare/worry/freak you out today, I think I shall write a much cheerier blog, that has been a while in coming....I want to introduce you to some of the characters I work with on a daily basis! First and foremost, there is my team of gringos (and one craaaaazy Maracuchan :) ).

Amanda Coonts, affectionately nicknamed Amandarina (Mandarina = Mandarin Orange), is my good friend and roommate! Amanda hails from the University of Idaho (go Vandals!) She was an elementary education major, and she adores kids. They adore her as well! At church on Sunday one little niña climbed up in her lap to cuddle. Amandarina has the biggest heart for students and for evangelism, and I am so encouraged in going sharing with her. Although she came here only knowing a wee bit o' espanol, she has been learning so fast, I'm proud of her! She is a joyful and encouraging teammate, which I really appreciate. She is also my bug-killer, hip-hop dancing partner, and taught me to dissect a chicken. What would I do without this girl?!?!





Ivan Bucher, El Jefe (The Boss), also nicknamed by the students "El Chivo que mas Mea" (The Goat that Pees a lot).....is a our red-headed, left-handed, cartoon-faced teammate. He doesn't really have a cartoon face, but he can make some great faces. Ivan comes from a small town in Alaska, although he graduated from the University of Montana with a degree in Communication. Ivan is a slow talker, but I've learned he almost always has something worthwhile to say. I've come to significantly appreciate his heart for the Lord and the Lord's will in his life. I'm excited to see what God will do with Ivan's life. This kid makes me laugh like none other. Ivan's sense of humor really "tickles my funny bone". He is still learning Spanish as well, but has learned that if he always says "Si" he can get along pretty well, haha.



Sarah, Sage, Sarita Cheeken, La Jefa.....Sarah Miller, my Washingtonian partner, comes from Whitworth with a degree in Spanish and Sociology. Having spent a year and half of her college career in Spain, Sarah is a fluent Spanish speaker and has a lot of interesting experiences to share with us. We have been most grateful of her translating abilities (especially in getting us through the airport). Sarah is the brains of this operation as she is in charge of all the details, and schedules things in details (which is a life-saver for me!) Sarah's calm spirit makes her a great team leader, while on occasion she lets loose and says some of the funniest things......One night during prayer she asked the Lord to "help us decompose tonight".....needless to say, that made it into the quote book for sure.




Eben, Ebencito (little Eben), Mr. Cito, Eben Antonio, La Roca (the Rock) is most recently from Oregon, The University of Portland to be exact, however he lived as a missionary kid in Bolivia for nearly six years when he was younger. A mechanical engineering major (well I'm not sure if that's relevant or not, however...) this man knows how to fix anything and everything that goes wrong with a home/computer/ipod/and I'm sure car if we had one. He is Mr. Fix-it. We have had several odd instances of needing his help, including a window that tried to jump out of the apartment and a large angry cockroach that needed dispatching. He is also our team administrator and does a ton of work making sure that all the team finances and bills are taken care of, for that we are eternally grateful, it's a really hard job. Eben is my quotes buddy, as he and I know a lot of the same material and often quiz each other as to where a quote has come from (more often than not, it's The Princess Bride or Dane Cook). Eben also comes in very useful and helpful when you need carried across a crik ;).




Claudia, La Sapa (the Toad), my arch-enemy, tan belllllllllla is La Maracuchan (she is from Maracaibo, another city in Venezuela). She studied modern languages and actually taught English for a while before coming to work with Vida Estudiantil. Claudia is one crazy chica, but she is a ton of fun as well! She has taught us to dance merengue and salsa (well, she tried, we still suck at it) as well as taken us all about town, taught us to make arepas, and keeps us entertained on a regular basis with her antics. Claudia and I have decided that living in a telenovela (a soap opera) is more entertaining than real life. So she and I have now taken on personas as arch enemies *fighting* over the same man and constantly acting out our dramatic life situations. Claudia has a lot of joy, and a passion for sharing the gospel with students that is noticeable and catchy.



There you have it, team Merida for 2007-2008. We may be a rag-tag group of gringos from scattered cities all over the Northwest, but can all agree on one thing: we are spending a year serving the Lord here, and we re thrilled with how He is using us, and how He will continue to do so throughout the year.