Introduction to a New Place

I have been here since Wednesday evening! We arrived in the country on time as planned and went to a hotel for a few days. Each day so far has been briefing about what we'll be doing and cultural norms. So our normal routine will start Monday. Today we moved into the apartments (it is beautiful and spacious) and I am with the two year-long interns with another girl from my team. One of the interns will be discipling me this summer and I'm really excited about it. I was hoping she would be the one mentoring me because she and I talked a lot Thursday night going from dinner to ice cream and from ice cream to walking along the seaside. Oh and the sea is beautiful! Thursday we crossed it by ferry during our "scavenger hunt" of the city. Don't worry, they didn't let us out on our own without knowing the language for 6 hours, but they didn't give us a lot of help on the hunt either. That forced us to ask people if they knew English and then ask to find things such as the "bull statue." It was lots of fun and the people here are extremely friendly. Many times people would walk across the city with us to show us where the bookstore was or where the buses were.

Yesterday we were learning the language trying to get just a few phrases down pat and then go out and use them. It was hard enough trying to get the sounds right, but I also have a cold right now (I can't say I'm sick because "sick" is a bad word in their language! So I have to be very careful =) ). My cold isn't bad, but my throat is sore causing pain when I talk. It's probably due to jet lag, being in a city, and general adjustment to a new culture which has been draining to us all.

Our group has 4 women and 3 guys for students, two staff women, one male director and 5 interns. I've enjoyed getting to know each one of them and I have already learned a lot from conversations.

Well, we're off to dinner soon. The interns have something "special" for us tonight. They told us to bring cameras and jackets (meaning it's going to be awesome and by the sea).

If you want my address, send me an e-mail and I can find out what it is.