SURPRISE!!!! We're still here!!! :)

We woke up early on day 5. We went to the same panaderia and, this time, got arepas with jamon y queso. After finishing, Samuel drove us back to the seminary. We brought the printer and printed out pictures to give to the kids, while they made frames in which to put them. They were really cute... too cute. Around noon, we got in a taxi and we rode to the new Seminary property. El taxista bought us some bon-ice from a street vendor; they were pretty much really good.
We had our second pizza party with the rest of the team when we got there; they had been cleaning the new property all morning while we were with the kids. After finishing, we drove back to the mission house to change clothes. Phanie braided my hair so we were twins.. too cute.
On our way back to the new property, we picked up the medals for the graduates and also keychains for graduation. Our last stop was at the bakery to pick up the cakes. They were pretty cakes, ut they had no plastic cover on them, so Stephanie and I carried them in our laps, one sharp turn away from smashing our faces into them, while Samuel drove very slowly and carefully. We arrived back at the new property early, in order to fill about a hundred little glasses with oil for the dedication. A band played, and Warren Lathem told the background story of how the Seminary was established in Venezuela. Then, we went outside and poured all the oil on the ground and prayed over it. It was really a neat process. Our team was in charge of serving the drinks and the cake, so we were kept on our toes.
We left with Samuel and went home for dinner of potato and chicken soup with lots of fruit and bread.

So, day 6... We left the house early that day also. We picked up Dan and David at the Cosby house and made our way to the seminary. The kids and us made these things... look at the pictures... they are "door signs." we also made kites. The kids prepared a play all week and presented it today in front of the seminary students. It was really precious. :) We said bye to Osney, enen though we were going to see her again; she made us cry because she said we were in her heart. Then, we left with David and Dan and Dan had a cravin' for Mickey D's, so we had McDonalds for lunch. Yes, it tasted the same! heha.
We met the rest of the team at the new property and we helped set up for the dinner. It was Chinese themed. We filled our boxes with candy and a bible verse and put umbrellas and chopsticks in them. It looked really nice.
When we left there, we dropped Carol off at home and went to get last minute things for the dinner. We got back to the house at 5:45 and we were supposed to be at the new property at 5:30. Phanie took a shower and got ready in record time! 15 minutes. We left the house at 6:15 and got to the new seminary just in time for the cook to not be there, and nothing was happening. We helped serve the food with Jose Luis, we worked REALLY hard. We didn't get to eat dinner that night. We did have empanadas, and again we had the best flan in all of Venezuela. During the dinner, we handed out our gifts from McEachern for the graduates. After the dinner we cleaned and set up for the graduation. We went home and Rah passed out while Phanie stayed up and read her book and chatted with Samuel.

Now day 7. The Graduation. We woke up at 8 and got ready. We had oatmeal for breakfast and went to the new seminary at 9. The graduation was really nice. It was a great and very proud moment for the Venezuelans, being that it was the graduation of the first class of Methodist pastors in the country to complete seminary. Johan arrived on this day, and we were very excited to see him. Phanie gave him all his gifts, and he really liked them. As the graduates recieved their diplomas and we sang last songs, the time came when we had to say goodbye to the new friends we had made. We exchanged emails with many and hugs and kisses with all, as we made our way to the van and left with the Mt. Pisgah team.
It was suggested, from the back seat lol, that we go to a panaderia all together, since it would be our last day in Venezuela. We drove to Arco Iris in the big van, and we had a lovely meal. After eating, we went to Quibor. an outdoor shopping market. Everyone got some good souvineer by which to remember this trip.
We drove with Samuel out of Yolanda's church, Lugar Altisimo (High Place). This is a highly appropriate name (you can see from the pictures) because the church is atop a mountain and resembles a giant gazebo. The view from the church is absolutely breath taking. The Mt. Pisgah team had been working on this church and adjacent orphanage while we were with the kids at the Seminary. The spirit of the place felt much like Punto Fijo, in that the people have little material posessions, but have giant hearts. The team sang one last song with the Yolanda and left with a prayer.
Kev Kev wanted to go to a really good steak restraunt, and it was really good. Then, we went to get ice cream at the Obelisco hotel again.
Phanie suggested to Samuel that he drive us up the mountain to see the city at night...good suggestion. It was stunning to see the lights of the city from such a height. The pictures cannot do justice to such a sight.

Sunday... Day 8. We left at 6:30 and drve to Valencia just to miss our flight. So we are still here, having fun with Samuel. We will be back on Tuesday. See you all then.

Day 4

Today we left earlier than ever, at 6:45 AM... believe me, it was rough. We drove over to the Cosby house and picked up Dan to take to Seminary. Samuel decided to take us to breakfast, and so after attempting to eat at two other places, we went to a 24 hour place(kinda like Dino Pan) and had arepas stuffed with cheese.
Upon arriving at Seminary, we realized that Osney y Rosi weren't there yet, and so we were left alone with the kids. I brought a few yoyos with me, and so I showed them some of my skills and let them try. It was really funny to watch.
When help arrived, we played that game where you pop the balloon by sitting on it and laughed a lot. The older kids and the younger kids were then split up, while los pequenos made fish by pasting pieces of tissue paper on an outline of a fish to make scales. All the kids also made bible covers out of felt and cut out shapes.
We went to lunch at the Obelisco Hotel again, but this time accompanied by the Cosbys, Warren Lathem with his wife and son, and Samuel. It was a good meal, once again.
When Samuel dropped us back off at Seminary, we got in a very crowded van and were taken to the mall to see the movie "Wall E." I can definitly see now how it would be hard to live in a country where you do not know the language.
We got back and had spaghetti for dinner, accompanied by the men's devotion. Kevin, John, and Joe helpd Phanie finish the Chinese take out boxes, and so now we are off to bed... paz

Day 3

We left the house around 8 this morning and arrived shortly at Carol Cosby's house. She jumped in and we flew over to the Seminary. From our arrival until noon, we played many games with the children. I tried to teach them "gato-gato-perro" (duck dck goose). I think they understood the concept, but you can never be sure because they nod an agreement either way lol. The women that are in charge of the kid's camp, Rosi y Osney, brough supplies for the kids to make "perritos" (little dogs made out of foam).
A little before lunch, a young man came and sat near us, watching the kids... or something... and we went to talk to him. His name is Gilberto, and he is a student at the Seminary school. He knew a little English, so we were able to have a pretty decent bilingual conversation, each of us stumbling a little bit. He asked me, "What you think about God?" I realized, this is a very broad question, and so I just went with what I was feeling. I told him, in English, that the Christians of my country often times only go to church for maybe two hours and then leave and forget everything. In Venezuela, church lasts all day. It is a place where people have true fellowship with God, where they love each other and themselves, where they serve others with whatever they have. He said he believes God to be "great, amazing, wonderful." In life, he says, there are many hard things to go through, but with God, all things are possible.
Around noon, we said goodbye to Gilberto and went to lunch at el Obclisco hotel, along with Samuel y Carol. This is the hotel that the missionaries used to stay in before the mission house was erected. There, we all had fine meals and even had amazing ice cream for dessert.
After lunch, we took the kids to a park; I would say it is alike Montasia, without the putt putt. There were paddle boats and rowboats in the water, a lot of playgrounds, an old-school jungle gym, and a petting zoo, but there were also pretty good size statues of random kid's characters such as Scooby Doo and Tom and Jerry. We had a lot of fun talking to the kids, but also talking to Osney y Rosali. Osney told me that she teaches 5th grade. She came to know the lord through Rosali, as she was Rosali's son's teacher. I thought it was really amazing how the connections are the same as in the US. We are missionaries where ever we are. You don't have to travel hundreds of miles to talk of Jesus. There are people everywhere that don't walk in the light.
On our way home, Samuel took us to the most amazing panoramic view of the city. The view stretched as far as the eye can see from left to right. It reminded me of God's amazing power in creating such a beautiful world.
We rejoined the Mt. Pisgah team and had pollo con arroz para la cena with a lot of fruit as well. PhanieRah led the devotion tonight after dinner. It was a different style than the Mt. Pisgah team is used to, I believe, but I love to hear what every person is thinking and feeling during the trip. It is a blessing to others to see growth through Jesus in a person.
Samuel got more calls from people who needed his help, so we accompanied him to Rosali's house to pick up his computer charger that he forgot at Seminary and also to the church to drive Pastor Alexander y otras personas a sus casas. We packed 8 people into a 4-seater car... Venezuelan style.
Kevin helped us work on the Chinese take out baskets for the Seminary dinner on Friday, so now they are almost ready, but we have to leave in less than 7 hours so we need sleep lol.

Day 2

We began our morning at an early hour; Phanie had to straighten her hair. We picked up Carol Cosby and made our way to the Zerox store, the copying store, the diploma store, and la pandaria for breakfast. We ran errands with Samuel driving Venezuelan style down the roads. We dropped off sound equipment from the church at the seminary. On our way back to the house, there was a really bad car accident, and we saw los bomberos (fire trucks) close up once again. We then ate lunch at Arco Iris with Samuel; and we are off to the seminary.
At seminary we worked with two other ladies to lead the kids in VBS and sports. There, we only had Sarah as a translator... good times. So we both had to speak a lot of Spanish. During the seminary students break we saw Juvenal and Nohely and talked to them briefly. Josuea, Benjamin, y Jonathan were there as well. Johan is coming on Friday.
Afterwards, we went to eat at the best chicken place in Venezuela, Pollo Sabroso. We had "that green sauce", Guasacaca, Yucca fries, chicken, and coleslaw. For dessert we had Torta (cake). It was all very delicious.
Then, we made our way to la farmacia, where Phanierah chilled in the Blazer while Samuel was buying medicine, and we played a modified version of the "haha" game where one laughes with different vowel sounds. Sarah is partial to "huhu".
Because the water is out at the mission house we had to stop by Carol Cosby's house to take showers. Now we are filling goodie bags with stuff from Janet's store and candy for the kids.
Tonight Phanierah did our own devotions because we didn't meet up with the Mt. Pisgah group until much later. It went over very well. We were proud of ourselves. hahehahe

The Beginning.

Hello Everyone!
Well, we arrived in Barquisimeto just fine. All the flights went well. We slept a lot. No one got wandeded...much...Judy. Our night in Curacao was fun. We got there and went out to look for a place to eat, and we found a place to shop a little. We asked the locals where the best place to eat was, and we enjoyed a very delicious but expensive meal right on the beach. When we returned to the hotel, Sarah and I passed out, while some of the Mount Pisgah group went swimming. It was a nice night.
The next morning we woke up early and ate breakfast at the hotel and then made our way to the airport. The airplane was really small; that's fo sho. It held about 16 people. We(PhanieRah) wore the same shirt... it was cool. We got to Barquisimeto and had to wait a long time for our luggage; the searcher people thought the clown shoes were funny lol. Then we seperated from the Mt. Pisgah group and headed to Samuel's church with him. We got to hear the last few minutes of the service and then met a lot of members of the church, while having a lunch of soup.
We are staying at the mission house in Barquisimeto. It is very nice and located in a gated community. Samuel has he cutest dog ever, named Gala. She's a golden. PhanieRah, Kevin, and Sarah Elizabeth, went to the grocery store, while Carol Cosby made us amazing lasagna and coleslaw.
Today is Samuel's cousin's 15th birthday. So we, along with Kevin, went to la casa de los abuelos de Samuel, Anna y Luis, to her Quincinera. PhanieRah danced with some Latino hotties... We had the best flan in Venezuela... made by Samuel's grandmother. Then we dropped Joey, this kid that plays bass guitar and speaks English, off and left. Now, we're writing the blog and then going to sleep for an early start tomorrow running a lot of erands for Seminary.