Saturday, June 19th, 2010
This past Saturday was quite interesting- in a good way :)
I woke up, and realized that I was only about an hour away from the city where I will be attending
college this fall. I had to work remotely, so I figured that I could stop in at a local coffee shop (where they have Wi-Fi), and work from there. It was a great opportunity to look around for off-campus housing. I think I may have found what I am looking for! I'm getting pretty excited too. My friend, Sarah, also came with me. It was a pretty chill, fun trip. We arrived & drove around a bit, then stopped in at my favorite coffee shoppe to grab some lunch (while I worked on a few things). We arrived back at Sarah's house about an hour and a half before I needed to be leaving to meet with Ronya.
Dinner with Ronya & her friend was at 6pm. We went to this cute little mexican place - very classy, yet reasonable prices too. It was delicious! We got a sampler of plantains- so delicious! I ordered a taco salad, which was also scrumptious. After we finished visiting, Ronya & I met to discuss the past couple of weeks at a dessert/coffee shop next door. I ordered a lemon bar & coffee; I sure do love citrus flavored foods. Our meeting went well; we finished up and I dropped her off at the dorm where she is staying for the two weeks of the camp.
Arrived at my 'home base' kind of late, but I wasn't tired (at all) since I had regular coffee (at 8pm!)...not the best idea. I was up for a while, but finally headed to bed once the coffee wore off.
Sunday, June 20th, 2010
Visited Sarah's church with her. It was a wonderful, powerful message. It seemed like God had me come there for a very specific purpose, so that I could hear that message. Wow, I'm still processing through the richness of the revelation that was shared.
I got an (awesome) water bottle for being a first time guest, as well as a free coffee. I tried out this s'more latte (iced, decaf!), & it wasn't bad. :) We headed back to Sarah's house afterwards, then I grabbed some lunch & rushed to meet Ronya. We went & scoped out my parking area (only 2 hour parking), then headed to the mall to look for a jean jacket or sweater for her.
She found some nice jeans (kind of look like linen jeans!), but no sweater. I think she will continue looking to see if she can find what she is looking for. We finished up by 4:30pm, and I dropped her back off at the campus.
When I came back to my host's home, we had burgers for dinner (I helped prepare them a little bit). They were dee-licious. We watched BBC's North & South altogether- I love that series! I also took a much needed nap from 5-6 (ish). When I woke up, I thought it was the next morning, which was pretty hilarious. But despite the confusion, I felt so refreshed! I believe that I will always advocate taking naps - they promote happiness & longevity.
What a great Sunday. It truly was a sabbath for me, since I was able to relax and recharge my batteries.
Until we meet again,
Lysandra
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Dance Internship Recap: June 15th-18th, 2010
Tuesday, June 15th, 2010
On Tuesday I started working (or continued working) on a brochure I had put together for all of the workshops/conferences that Ronya does. It needed some additional tweaking, so we were basically talking back & forth via phone or e-mail all day. We finally got the brochure to the point that it needed to be, and it turned out beautifully! So I had quite a feeling of accomplishment in the end.
I went to B&N (my office lol) to work on it (& a ministry engagement contract). I loved the 2 story B&N- it had a Starbucks, which was sectioned off to almost a separate building within the bookstore. By the afternoon, I had come to a stopping point. So I went to Target to pick up a few things...it ended up taking 2 hours because they lost my pictures that I had developed and I had to wait...I didn't want to leave and come back.
When I finally left Target, I headed back to B&N to finish up work on the brochure. At about 5, I headed back to the Chen's house. We had rehearsal for the performance Wednesday at the Upper Room. After that, I was glad to head to bed! It was a long one.
Wednesday, June 16th, 2010
Planned to head to the printer to have the brochures made up. We had to make sure the formatting was correct, so I had to go there in person. I met Mrs. Pauline at the printer at about 12:30pm. Before she arrived, I grabbed some pizza at Vito's- it was an interesting flavor. Still not sure how much I liked it lol. It took close to two hours to finally get the brochure to where it needed to be. The printer really needed a larger staff I think. Anyways, when we were done I had my car checked at the mechanic (tire alignment/pressure) and checked my fluid levels. It looked ok, but my car definitely needs some work when I get home, so I'll be out in the garage helping my dad replace a few things soon! lol...
I met Mrs. Pauline at the mall after a bit (she went to buy some Jamaican food :). We finished up a few things, then I headed to the Chen's house for the concert! It went really well! All of the kids put in stellar performances. I was 10th in the line-up, so definitely enough time to get nervous! It felt like it went well, but my song was a little lengthy...so I'm still gonna tweak it a lot I hope. Afterwards, we had cake & awesome chinese food to celebrate Fanny's 14th birthday. It was fun! We also talked about setting up some volleyball playing time for the next day, but we decided to kind of play it by ear. Bed time ended up being a little bit late with all of the excitement.
Thursday, June 17th, 2010
June 17th was a great day. I woke up & prepared for the day. I decided to stretch & do a "class" upstairs in the Upper Room. I invited Fanny to join me if she wanted to, so she came & we did stretches, exercises, and I taught her part of some choreography to "Carried to the Table" by Leeland. Fun stuff! We showed Mr. Jeremiah & Evie what we had learned together, and it was pretty awesome. Fanny picked up the choreography pretty quickly! I worked on some administrative things for about an hour after that, then we headed to the park where we tossed a volleyball around for a bit and I took my lunch break.
It was refreshing to be outside in the cool breeze for a change. How I love the cool climate of that town! Ah so wonderful. Afterwards, I finished up all of the work I had left - folding the brochures we had printed the day before by hand. Fanny, Evie, and James (their cousin) helped me. It was actually pretty fun, because we had to figure out a strategic way to fold them the correct way without messing them up. These brochures were full color, on glossy paper, so they can be pretty pricey to print. They turned out well and I was quite pleased with our "brochure folding party."
Later in the afternoon, I left to the dance studio where Ronya was holding her auditions for the company she is working with. I was able to learn some of the choreography, as well as run the music for the different groups when they performed the sections of choreography they had been taught. It was wonderful to be a part of the audition process; I felt like I learned a lot about running a company, as well as holding an audition. Basically, the goal is to help everyone feel comfortable without promising anything to them....it's a fine balance, but I felt like this audition met my expectations of what an audition should be. I arrived home rather late, but my host family was still awake (the girls finished school the day before). We all hung out (I gave them each a little note, and it was really special). The girls had fun on photobooth with my mac...they were falling on the floor laughing over all of the different effects. It was definitely fun to watch. I finally headed downstairs and continued working on packing and laundry for my transition to part II of my internship in a different state.
Friday, June 18th, 2010
I ended up leaving later than I had anticipated, but I left before 11am & managed to avoid the worst of the Friday lunch traffic. That is always something that should be avoided if possible...crazy traffic! Not fun. I stopped by my Grandma's work, and she gave me some little Caesar's pizza. We had a nice time visiting and took some nice photos together. I can't wait to see all of my family on my dad's side at our family reunion! It's going to be a great time.
I headed on from my Grandma's town (the half way point of my trip), and arrived at my host family's house by about 4pm. It was wonderful timing, since I was able to get situated before my meeting that night. I was scheduled to have dinner with Ronya, but it got pushed back to dessert due to a staff meeting she had to attend. But by the time we met up, we needed to run errands and that ended up taking way longer than we though it would! So it was quite a time trying to find a Target to buy a few things that were essential (toiletries, pillows, etc).
We had a fun time, but were both pretty tuckered out by the time I dropped her off where she is staying. I arrived back at my host family's house kind of late, but they were still up for the most part. We visited for awhile, then watched Alice in Wonderland (I thought I wouldn't like it, but I loved it!). We headed to bed pretty much directly after the movie. All in all, Friday was a busy but great day.
Signing off,
Lysandra
On Tuesday I started working (or continued working) on a brochure I had put together for all of the workshops/conferences that Ronya does. It needed some additional tweaking, so we were basically talking back & forth via phone or e-mail all day. We finally got the brochure to the point that it needed to be, and it turned out beautifully! So I had quite a feeling of accomplishment in the end.
I went to B&N (my office lol) to work on it (& a ministry engagement contract). I loved the 2 story B&N- it had a Starbucks, which was sectioned off to almost a separate building within the bookstore. By the afternoon, I had come to a stopping point. So I went to Target to pick up a few things...it ended up taking 2 hours because they lost my pictures that I had developed and I had to wait...I didn't want to leave and come back.
When I finally left Target, I headed back to B&N to finish up work on the brochure. At about 5, I headed back to the Chen's house. We had rehearsal for the performance Wednesday at the Upper Room. After that, I was glad to head to bed! It was a long one.
Wednesday, June 16th, 2010
Planned to head to the printer to have the brochures made up. We had to make sure the formatting was correct, so I had to go there in person. I met Mrs. Pauline at the printer at about 12:30pm. Before she arrived, I grabbed some pizza at Vito's- it was an interesting flavor. Still not sure how much I liked it lol. It took close to two hours to finally get the brochure to where it needed to be. The printer really needed a larger staff I think. Anyways, when we were done I had my car checked at the mechanic (tire alignment/pressure) and checked my fluid levels. It looked ok, but my car definitely needs some work when I get home, so I'll be out in the garage helping my dad replace a few things soon! lol...
I met Mrs. Pauline at the mall after a bit (she went to buy some Jamaican food :). We finished up a few things, then I headed to the Chen's house for the concert! It went really well! All of the kids put in stellar performances. I was 10th in the line-up, so definitely enough time to get nervous! It felt like it went well, but my song was a little lengthy...so I'm still gonna tweak it a lot I hope. Afterwards, we had cake & awesome chinese food to celebrate Fanny's 14th birthday. It was fun! We also talked about setting up some volleyball playing time for the next day, but we decided to kind of play it by ear. Bed time ended up being a little bit late with all of the excitement.
Thursday, June 17th, 2010
June 17th was a great day. I woke up & prepared for the day. I decided to stretch & do a "class" upstairs in the Upper Room. I invited Fanny to join me if she wanted to, so she came & we did stretches, exercises, and I taught her part of some choreography to "Carried to the Table" by Leeland. Fun stuff! We showed Mr. Jeremiah & Evie what we had learned together, and it was pretty awesome. Fanny picked up the choreography pretty quickly! I worked on some administrative things for about an hour after that, then we headed to the park where we tossed a volleyball around for a bit and I took my lunch break.
It was refreshing to be outside in the cool breeze for a change. How I love the cool climate of that town! Ah so wonderful. Afterwards, I finished up all of the work I had left - folding the brochures we had printed the day before by hand. Fanny, Evie, and James (their cousin) helped me. It was actually pretty fun, because we had to figure out a strategic way to fold them the correct way without messing them up. These brochures were full color, on glossy paper, so they can be pretty pricey to print. They turned out well and I was quite pleased with our "brochure folding party."
Later in the afternoon, I left to the dance studio where Ronya was holding her auditions for the company she is working with. I was able to learn some of the choreography, as well as run the music for the different groups when they performed the sections of choreography they had been taught. It was wonderful to be a part of the audition process; I felt like I learned a lot about running a company, as well as holding an audition. Basically, the goal is to help everyone feel comfortable without promising anything to them....it's a fine balance, but I felt like this audition met my expectations of what an audition should be. I arrived home rather late, but my host family was still awake (the girls finished school the day before). We all hung out (I gave them each a little note, and it was really special). The girls had fun on photobooth with my mac...they were falling on the floor laughing over all of the different effects. It was definitely fun to watch. I finally headed downstairs and continued working on packing and laundry for my transition to part II of my internship in a different state.
Friday, June 18th, 2010
I ended up leaving later than I had anticipated, but I left before 11am & managed to avoid the worst of the Friday lunch traffic. That is always something that should be avoided if possible...crazy traffic! Not fun. I stopped by my Grandma's work, and she gave me some little Caesar's pizza. We had a nice time visiting and took some nice photos together. I can't wait to see all of my family on my dad's side at our family reunion! It's going to be a great time.
I headed on from my Grandma's town (the half way point of my trip), and arrived at my host family's house by about 4pm. It was wonderful timing, since I was able to get situated before my meeting that night. I was scheduled to have dinner with Ronya, but it got pushed back to dessert due to a staff meeting she had to attend. But by the time we met up, we needed to run errands and that ended up taking way longer than we though it would! So it was quite a time trying to find a Target to buy a few things that were essential (toiletries, pillows, etc).
We had a fun time, but were both pretty tuckered out by the time I dropped her off where she is staying. I arrived back at my host family's house kind of late, but they were still up for the most part. We visited for awhile, then watched Alice in Wonderland (I thought I wouldn't like it, but I loved it!). We headed to bed pretty much directly after the movie. All in all, Friday was a busy but great day.
Signing off,
Lysandra
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Dance Internship: June 14th (Day off!)
They were jumping up and down, hanging all over me when I came in. Their names are: Aliza (6), Amelia (3), and Anita (1). They are all simply adorable little girls, with glossy black, bouncing curls, big brown eyes, and long black eyelashes that women all over the world would do anything to get. And on top of all that they have tireless energy!
I chatted with Tia Tami for a few minutes. The little girls were all ready for me to play with them- Amelia was carrying her collection of ducks around (her favorite toys), and telling me that the ducks were "dirty because Aliza touched them" and that we needed to give them a bath. Classic.
So, I told them to dress up in their favorite outfit and get their favorite toys ready to show to me. When I headed upstairs (after much urging from the girls to hurry and come ha ha), they were ecstatic. Amelia had her collection of rubber duckies to show to me, and her favorite stuffed bear (Woozy).
Aliza showed me her entire collection of stuffed animals, each of which had a name and a special interest or ability ("This is rainbow cat, when she jumps, she makes a rainbow" was my favorite description). She also showed me her favorite stuffed bear that she always snuggles with at bedtime.
Anita ran & got her "Rosy bear" to show it off and be like her sisters. She is too cute. Oh my goodness!
After this "show & tell" time, we gathered the rubber duckies, and each of us took turns scrubbing them with this special brush that Amelia has to wash them with. I wonder how many baths they get a day? :)
By the end, Amelia was satisfied that they were clean, although there were a few tears over who would get to bathe certain ducks (specifically the pink duck with the heart, that one was a favorite for sure).
At 2:30, I took Amelia & Aliza to the neighborhood pool. It was a gorgeous facility with a kiddie pool, and a regular sized pool with Olympic sized swimming lanes, a diving board, and a shallow end for kids.
We went back & forth between the kiddie pool and the kid's shallow end of the big pool. We had fun racing each other (Amelia went on my back & we raced against Aliza), playing with the ducks in the kiddie pool (even though another child "kidnapped" one, and didn't want to give it back; surprisingly, Amelia stayed calm through this ordeal). All in all, we stayed at the pool for 2 1/2 hours! The girls did great, but we took breaks throughout to have snacks/drinks. They did really well!
After we arrived back at Tio Marcos & Tia Tami's house, I needed a little bit of quiet time! I had a blast with the little girls, but I was pretty tired. I went out on the deck & journaled for a bit in the rain (I was under the shelter, but I watched the rain :). It was quite lovely.
We all went to IHOP for dinner- I ordered the international crepe passport- it was so delicious. Fresh fruit on top, bacon, eggs...coffee. Yummy! We had a nice time visiting with each other.
When we got home, the girls prepared for bed. Aliza was really sad that I was leaving; I said good-bye twice, and then on the phone on the way to downtown to see the monuments with Tio M. We finally got the the monument I wanted to see at close to 11. Detours threw us off, so that was kind of disappointing. But they looked AMAZING at night. I did get some nice pictures, so that was great as well. Tio Marcos drove back with me to my apartment. He didn't want me going in alone at night. Which is good- I felt safer because he drove with me and walked me to my door. It tacked an additional half hour to his drive, but it was so appreciated! What a wonderful day my Monday was - the best day off ever!
~Lysandra
Monday, June 14, 2010
Days 5, 6, & 7
"There's a Purpose in Every Path you Take...A Reason Why You Live." -Patricia Hunter
Day 5, June 11th, 2010
Day 5 began quite early, as I prepared to head to take a 3-hr modern class with Ronya about 1/2 hr away from the Chen's house. I left their house at about 9:00, heading to class at 10am. Parking can be a pain, since there are meters everywhere unless you find a parking garage... :/
I arrived in the area at around 9:30, but had to circle around a few times thanks to all the one way streets. I finally parallel parked (sometimes a challenge for me, but I did it! lol...), then realized I didn't have any change for the meter. Luckily, there was a bank across the street. I went to get change, and the line wasn't really moving, but there was a lady putting change into one of those change counter machines.
I asked her for change, and quickly went to my car to put more money in the meter. I had already put $3 worth of quarters in when I realized there was a 1 hr. time limit (it "ate" $2 worth of quarters :/....) So that was a bummer. I made it to class by 10:05, with a quick Starbucks run right I went across the street.
The studio was in the lower level of an office/shopping center building. It had three separate studios, and the teacher was so professional. She knows her craft, that is for certain. Her visualizations were incredible. She gave me many helpful tips & corrections.
After the first hour, I ran to re-park my car. It took awhile to get there because I had to try and get directions to the parking garage (*sigh*). To my dismay, I had gotten a $40 ticket 2 MINUTES before I reached my car. Is that not ridiculous?!? I'm going to try to dispute it. I'm pretty sure they'll take it off, from what the lady at the dept. said when I called about it.
Anyways, I finally found a parking garage, but they didn't take a debit card. So I gave the teller $2, promised to come straight back to pay him the difference after I found an ATM, parked, ran to the ATM, and came back and payed the remaining $8 for parking. They had already started back from the break when I got back to class, but I tried to catch on. We did some fun across the floor combos.
After a little while, my knee & ankle started swelling pretty badly, so I had to take a break. Sometimes it's hard to gauge whether it is a serious injury, or something you can push through. It felt like I should take it easy, so I observed the second half of the class. Pretty awesome stuff. There was a girl who was 16 with incredible extension & maturity- she looked like she could be in her early to mid-twenties. It was incredible.
After class, Ronya & I grabbed some lunch upstairs at a little deli, and chatted about the week so far, etc. When we were done, she drove me to the parking garage (where I thought my car was...) It turned out to be on the next block. If I hadn't had my ATM receipt, I wouldn't have been able to find it, but the receipt had an address on it! Yay!
I headed to a copy store to have some print work that I had worked on produced for the show (brochures, a flyer insert for the program, etc.) It was supposed to be ready for pick up, since I had e-mailed it a head of time. But it was all wrong. I had to re-work it all (formatting was messed up), and worked on it for too long. It still ended up being messed up. Mrs. Pauline & Ronya told me that it was the copy shop's fault, since the gentleman "assisting me" (letting me do all the work and being no help whatsoever) did not know what he was doing with the print work.
Later, when I headed to the venue where we were performing, I burned the cd from the program order on the PDF of the program. It turned out to be the wrong order; the graphic designer messed it up by putting page two twice, and omitting page 1 altogether. What a headache! And when I finally thought I had fixed the problem, the cd didn't burn correctly & it wouldn't play. So the rehearsal was pretty rough because of the technical difficulties. However, everyone left with their chin up, knowing that Saturday would be much better.
Saturday, June 12th, 2010 Day 6
Saturday AM I woke up at 6:30 to prepare to head to Target & Barnes & Noble to work on the music. I bought CD-RW at Target, and worked for a couple hours cutting music & editing it all together. When I got back to the Chen's house (12pm), I had the girls listen to the music with me to check it. Turned out that Anthem of Praise was too short- it had a part two on a separate track that needed to be spliced into the same track with it. I had to burn it onto a disk & re-import back into iTunes in order to work around the track protection from iTunes. It took about half an hour for me to get it right. Then by 2pm, I had burned a master copy, and 3 back up cds for the show. I literally held them until we arrived at the venue, that's how protective I was, but after all that time and effort, it makes sense!
Call time was 3pm, and we got there a little bit before 3. I ran through my solo on the stage at about 3:30, and helped everyone backstage with costumes, make-up, and hair. The show started at 5pm without a single mishap. Thank the Lord! The only things that were slightly off were: after Redemption Song, somebody dropped a hairnet and it stayed onstage for a dance, and when it was time for my solo, I thought it was still a few pieces away, and wasn't ready for a minute (ish) because I was trying to figure out who was supposed to be onstage! It was kinda funny. The finale, Anthem of Praise, was simply glorious. There was a pure joy in the room, and the company received a standing ovation.
Of course, for me, the work was far from over. I picked up the foyer, sold a book at the table, ran to find change for the person, and packed up a bunch of things backstage in order to leave in a timely manner. We were out before 8pm, which was great! On the drive home, I took a short nap. How wonderful!!!
When we got home, Fanny & I took a few pictures together with our make-up still on (I did her make-up, and she looked so pretty ^_^). Then I got ready to go eat dinner, and play some music with the Upper Room band. We ran a few songs, and I practiced "The Searching Song", since I am performing it on Wednesday. We finished up by about 10pm, then I shared a short message about dreams. I basically encouraged the kids that if they have dreams, they shouldn't just write them off and say it would be too hard, or list all the reasons they can't do it. God has given them their dreams, and they just need to seek Him about the steps to take to make it happen.
At 10:15, we all headed downstairs for some sweet snacks: watermelon and homemade cake with buttercream icing. The kids literally devoured the watermelon. One guy ate at least 3 pieces of cake- don't ask me how he stays so thin. It's crazy how fast a teen guy's metabolism works! Man. Everyone left by about 11:20pm, and I also headed down to bed. I was in bed by twelve, but I found out that the service I was going to was moved up (we were going to the 11am, now I had to be there at 8:30am)...
Sunday June 13th, 2010, Day 7
Woke up at the crack of dawn (well, Ronya called me at about 7, and that was when I woke up lol).
I packed everything for the picnic, and also for the service. It was a lovely service honoring the Senior class of 2010. They let them run the service, and it was quite entertaining. I really enjoyed it! Also met a lot of people, so that was fun too.
At 11:30, I left the church and went to Mrs. Pauline's house. We loaded up her car and went over to the park at 12:30. Everyone got there later than 2pm; they kind of trickled in. Olivia arrived with her 2 year old, William, in tow, and I happened to have some bubbles. He loved them- he even figured out how to blow a few! And Jenora, a member of the Jr. dance company, learned how to do a cartwheel in about 5 minutes of teaching her. She's a smart little girl! We also played volleyball (Jade & Jenora ran some drills with me :D), plus we ate some amazing Jamaican food and carrot cake- it was a blast!
We packed up by 6pm and headed to Mrs. Pauline's house. We took some photos, and unloaded everything. I left to the Chen's by about 6:30pm. I took a nap from 7:30-9pm, and then I was wide awake! Not the best :/...But I got some things done, like thank you notes, photo uploads...so it was ok. Today, I am going to see my uncle and his family, go chill out at the pool, and sight seeing tonight! It
supposed to be beautiful at night. I'm stoked!
Until next time,
Lysandra
Day 5, June 11th, 2010
Day 5 began quite early, as I prepared to head to take a 3-hr modern class with Ronya about 1/2 hr away from the Chen's house. I left their house at about 9:00, heading to class at 10am. Parking can be a pain, since there are meters everywhere unless you find a parking garage... :/
I arrived in the area at around 9:30, but had to circle around a few times thanks to all the one way streets. I finally parallel parked (sometimes a challenge for me, but I did it! lol...), then realized I didn't have any change for the meter. Luckily, there was a bank across the street. I went to get change, and the line wasn't really moving, but there was a lady putting change into one of those change counter machines.
I asked her for change, and quickly went to my car to put more money in the meter. I had already put $3 worth of quarters in when I realized there was a 1 hr. time limit (it "ate" $2 worth of quarters :/....) So that was a bummer. I made it to class by 10:05, with a quick Starbucks run right I went across the street.
The studio was in the lower level of an office/shopping center building. It had three separate studios, and the teacher was so professional. She knows her craft, that is for certain. Her visualizations were incredible. She gave me many helpful tips & corrections.
After the first hour, I ran to re-park my car. It took awhile to get there because I had to try and get directions to the parking garage (*sigh*). To my dismay, I had gotten a $40 ticket 2 MINUTES before I reached my car. Is that not ridiculous?!? I'm going to try to dispute it. I'm pretty sure they'll take it off, from what the lady at the dept. said when I called about it.
Anyways, I finally found a parking garage, but they didn't take a debit card. So I gave the teller $2, promised to come straight back to pay him the difference after I found an ATM, parked, ran to the ATM, and came back and payed the remaining $8 for parking. They had already started back from the break when I got back to class, but I tried to catch on. We did some fun across the floor combos.
After a little while, my knee & ankle started swelling pretty badly, so I had to take a break. Sometimes it's hard to gauge whether it is a serious injury, or something you can push through. It felt like I should take it easy, so I observed the second half of the class. Pretty awesome stuff. There was a girl who was 16 with incredible extension & maturity- she looked like she could be in her early to mid-twenties. It was incredible.
After class, Ronya & I grabbed some lunch upstairs at a little deli, and chatted about the week so far, etc. When we were done, she drove me to the parking garage (where I thought my car was...) It turned out to be on the next block. If I hadn't had my ATM receipt, I wouldn't have been able to find it, but the receipt had an address on it! Yay!
I headed to a copy store to have some print work that I had worked on produced for the show (brochures, a flyer insert for the program, etc.) It was supposed to be ready for pick up, since I had e-mailed it a head of time. But it was all wrong. I had to re-work it all (formatting was messed up), and worked on it for too long. It still ended up being messed up. Mrs. Pauline & Ronya told me that it was the copy shop's fault, since the gentleman "assisting me" (letting me do all the work and being no help whatsoever) did not know what he was doing with the print work.
Later, when I headed to the venue where we were performing, I burned the cd from the program order on the PDF of the program. It turned out to be the wrong order; the graphic designer messed it up by putting page two twice, and omitting page 1 altogether. What a headache! And when I finally thought I had fixed the problem, the cd didn't burn correctly & it wouldn't play. So the rehearsal was pretty rough because of the technical difficulties. However, everyone left with their chin up, knowing that Saturday would be much better.
Saturday, June 12th, 2010 Day 6
Saturday AM I woke up at 6:30 to prepare to head to Target & Barnes & Noble to work on the music. I bought CD-RW at Target, and worked for a couple hours cutting music & editing it all together. When I got back to the Chen's house (12pm), I had the girls listen to the music with me to check it. Turned out that Anthem of Praise was too short- it had a part two on a separate track that needed to be spliced into the same track with it. I had to burn it onto a disk & re-import back into iTunes in order to work around the track protection from iTunes. It took about half an hour for me to get it right. Then by 2pm, I had burned a master copy, and 3 back up cds for the show. I literally held them until we arrived at the venue, that's how protective I was, but after all that time and effort, it makes sense!
Call time was 3pm, and we got there a little bit before 3. I ran through my solo on the stage at about 3:30, and helped everyone backstage with costumes, make-up, and hair. The show started at 5pm without a single mishap. Thank the Lord! The only things that were slightly off were: after Redemption Song, somebody dropped a hairnet and it stayed onstage for a dance, and when it was time for my solo, I thought it was still a few pieces away, and wasn't ready for a minute (ish) because I was trying to figure out who was supposed to be onstage! It was kinda funny. The finale, Anthem of Praise, was simply glorious. There was a pure joy in the room, and the company received a standing ovation.
Of course, for me, the work was far from over. I picked up the foyer, sold a book at the table, ran to find change for the person, and packed up a bunch of things backstage in order to leave in a timely manner. We were out before 8pm, which was great! On the drive home, I took a short nap. How wonderful!!!
When we got home, Fanny & I took a few pictures together with our make-up still on (I did her make-up, and she looked so pretty ^_^). Then I got ready to go eat dinner, and play some music with the Upper Room band. We ran a few songs, and I practiced "The Searching Song", since I am performing it on Wednesday. We finished up by about 10pm, then I shared a short message about dreams. I basically encouraged the kids that if they have dreams, they shouldn't just write them off and say it would be too hard, or list all the reasons they can't do it. God has given them their dreams, and they just need to seek Him about the steps to take to make it happen.
At 10:15, we all headed downstairs for some sweet snacks: watermelon and homemade cake with buttercream icing. The kids literally devoured the watermelon. One guy ate at least 3 pieces of cake- don't ask me how he stays so thin. It's crazy how fast a teen guy's metabolism works! Man. Everyone left by about 11:20pm, and I also headed down to bed. I was in bed by twelve, but I found out that the service I was going to was moved up (we were going to the 11am, now I had to be there at 8:30am)...
Sunday June 13th, 2010, Day 7
Woke up at the crack of dawn (well, Ronya called me at about 7, and that was when I woke up lol).
I packed everything for the picnic, and also for the service. It was a lovely service honoring the Senior class of 2010. They let them run the service, and it was quite entertaining. I really enjoyed it! Also met a lot of people, so that was fun too.
At 11:30, I left the church and went to Mrs. Pauline's house. We loaded up her car and went over to the park at 12:30. Everyone got there later than 2pm; they kind of trickled in. Olivia arrived with her 2 year old, William, in tow, and I happened to have some bubbles. He loved them- he even figured out how to blow a few! And Jenora, a member of the Jr. dance company, learned how to do a cartwheel in about 5 minutes of teaching her. She's a smart little girl! We also played volleyball (Jade & Jenora ran some drills with me :D), plus we ate some amazing Jamaican food and carrot cake- it was a blast!
We packed up by 6pm and headed to Mrs. Pauline's house. We took some photos, and unloaded everything. I left to the Chen's by about 6:30pm. I took a nap from 7:30-9pm, and then I was wide awake! Not the best :/...But I got some things done, like thank you notes, photo uploads...so it was ok. Today, I am going to see my uncle and his family, go chill out at the pool, and sight seeing tonight! It
supposed to be beautiful at night. I'm stoked!
Until next time,
Lysandra
Friday, June 11, 2010
"Come to Me"
The questions that truly matter in life are remarkably few, and they are all answered by these words— “Come to Me.” Our Lord’s words are not, “Do this, or don’t do that,” but— “Come to me.” -Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest.
Day 4 (June 10th, 2010) Summer Dance Internship
Day four of my internship didn't slow down that much more than Day 3. The only difference was I didn't have to run around as much, so that was good! Whew.
I woke up early (6am-ish) and attempted to start installation of microsoft office for my mac (yet again) to no avail. Then I wrote on my blog, and did some other misc. things, including getting ready for the day. By 8:30am, I was ready to go! Mr. Chen tried to help me troubleshoot the Microsoft install, but he is not familiar with Mac computers, so he wasn't sure what the issue might be. I tried to get in touch with Microsoft for about half an hour (it's almost impossible to find a phone number on their site!). Finally, I got the number for customer service. It took awhile, but perseverance pays off!
When I finally was being transferred to the technician who would be working on my case number, I said good-bye to the customer service rep who was opening my case, and automatically hung up the phone. *Sigh*...I called back, thankfully since I had a case number, it didn't take long to get back on the phone with the technician who walked me through the installation. After about another hour on the phone, it finally worked! YAY!
By 12pm, the software was completely installed. A morning basically spent on the phone, but it was totally worth it. I started working on a promotional brochure, and finished it up by 1:30pm. Not too shabby. I had lunch at around 1:30, and prepared to head to Trader Joe's to pick up some sweet snacks for the recital this Saturday.
Trader Joe's was only about 10-15 minutes away. It was my first time going there, but some of my friends love it, so I was excited. I bought 4 packs of kettle corn, 4 bags of chocolate covered pretzels, 2 packs of granola bars, 4 bags of trail mix, a bag of peanut butter filled pretzel nubs, and a Trader Joe's reusable bag (it was red & really pretty!). All that for around $50. SCORE!
I made it back to the Chen's house by 3:10. I had to make sure to be back by 3:30 to avoid the traffic jams that ensue when all the kids get out of school. I prepared to practice/work on my solo for about an hour. I practiced in the upper room until 4:30-ish. The Chen's were my audience-and they were so encouraging too! Fanny even videotaped me, which was awesome, since there isn't a mirror in the space (a good thing sometimes when you're rehearsing).
At around 4:30, I had a conference call that lasted a little over half an hour. We had to leave at half past five to make it on time to a 6:30pm rehearsal (it's an hour away, with traffic). So I got all my things together, and we left. I had so much stuff to load into the car: purse, laptop/misc. bag, garment bag, plus the two bags of snacks for Saturday! lol.
We arrived at the practice on time. The first 20 minutes of practice, everyone prayer journals -very cool idea. When that portion ended, everyone circled up for prayers/praises, notes, and opening prayer. For the next half hour, everyone had a costume check/approval. While we were waiting, I played "Bow to your Sense" (also known as "Kung Fu") with the younger gals. After a few minutes, the younger girls worked on their West African dance. Once costume checks were over, the company started running through all of their pieces for Saturday. They put so much heart into all of it, I'm sure Saturday will be wonderful.
We finally got home at 10:30pm. I was dead tired, but still had to mail off brochures to the copier for Saturday's recital. I finished up those items, and still ended up going to bed a lot later than I wanted to...but I'm glad I finished up those projects!
Today, I am going to attend a 3 hour (Yes, 3 hour!!! :D) Modern class with Ronya-Lee. Tonight, we have dress rehearsal at the venue we will be performing in this Saturday.
Adios Amigos!
Lysandra
Day 4 (June 10th, 2010) Summer Dance Internship
Day four of my internship didn't slow down that much more than Day 3. The only difference was I didn't have to run around as much, so that was good! Whew.
I woke up early (6am-ish) and attempted to start installation of microsoft office for my mac (yet again) to no avail. Then I wrote on my blog, and did some other misc. things, including getting ready for the day. By 8:30am, I was ready to go! Mr. Chen tried to help me troubleshoot the Microsoft install, but he is not familiar with Mac computers, so he wasn't sure what the issue might be. I tried to get in touch with Microsoft for about half an hour (it's almost impossible to find a phone number on their site!). Finally, I got the number for customer service. It took awhile, but perseverance pays off!
When I finally was being transferred to the technician who would be working on my case number, I said good-bye to the customer service rep who was opening my case, and automatically hung up the phone. *Sigh*...I called back, thankfully since I had a case number, it didn't take long to get back on the phone with the technician who walked me through the installation. After about another hour on the phone, it finally worked! YAY!
By 12pm, the software was completely installed. A morning basically spent on the phone, but it was totally worth it. I started working on a promotional brochure, and finished it up by 1:30pm. Not too shabby. I had lunch at around 1:30, and prepared to head to Trader Joe's to pick up some sweet snacks for the recital this Saturday.
Trader Joe's was only about 10-15 minutes away. It was my first time going there, but some of my friends love it, so I was excited. I bought 4 packs of kettle corn, 4 bags of chocolate covered pretzels, 2 packs of granola bars, 4 bags of trail mix, a bag of peanut butter filled pretzel nubs, and a Trader Joe's reusable bag (it was red & really pretty!). All that for around $50. SCORE!
I made it back to the Chen's house by 3:10. I had to make sure to be back by 3:30 to avoid the traffic jams that ensue when all the kids get out of school. I prepared to practice/work on my solo for about an hour. I practiced in the upper room until 4:30-ish. The Chen's were my audience-and they were so encouraging too! Fanny even videotaped me, which was awesome, since there isn't a mirror in the space (a good thing sometimes when you're rehearsing).
At around 4:30, I had a conference call that lasted a little over half an hour. We had to leave at half past five to make it on time to a 6:30pm rehearsal (it's an hour away, with traffic). So I got all my things together, and we left. I had so much stuff to load into the car: purse, laptop/misc. bag, garment bag, plus the two bags of snacks for Saturday! lol.
We arrived at the practice on time. The first 20 minutes of practice, everyone prayer journals -very cool idea. When that portion ended, everyone circled up for prayers/praises, notes, and opening prayer. For the next half hour, everyone had a costume check/approval. While we were waiting, I played "Bow to your Sense" (also known as "Kung Fu") with the younger gals. After a few minutes, the younger girls worked on their West African dance. Once costume checks were over, the company started running through all of their pieces for Saturday. They put so much heart into all of it, I'm sure Saturday will be wonderful.
We finally got home at 10:30pm. I was dead tired, but still had to mail off brochures to the copier for Saturday's recital. I finished up those items, and still ended up going to bed a lot later than I wanted to...but I'm glad I finished up those projects!
Today, I am going to attend a 3 hour (Yes, 3 hour!!! :D) Modern class with Ronya-Lee. Tonight, we have dress rehearsal at the venue we will be performing in this Saturday.
Adios Amigos!
Lysandra
Thursday, June 10, 2010
"Life is...a war against your Heart"
happened to you or how to live forward from here, unless you see it as battle. A war against your heart."
{John Eldredge, Waking the Dead}
Tuesday, June 8th, 2010 (Day 2.8)
The end of day two was very peaceful. I practiced my solo for about 45 minutes in the Upper Room ; it is the perfect space for that. At about 6-ish, I started making my tacos. They were very yummy! The Chens were eating dinner at about the same time, so I got the opportunity to visit with them and learn more about their background. It was really cool to hear the story of how they migrated here from China.
While we were visiting, I suggested to the girls (Fannie & Evie) that maybe we could play music together if they didn't have homework to finish up. So we practiced a couple of different songs for their service that is coming up soon. Then, right before they had to head to bed, I played "The Searching Song" for them. It was funny, because I could not remember the chorus or my bridge. But, I think it actually sounds better without those!
They told me that it was really inspiring to hear my song, which in turn encouraged me. I remember watching Nate Fancher play his songs at War Cry a few years back, and thinking how I could never write songs that were any good. Yet, God has given me songs to sing and I am so thankful for all the encouragement from friends and family to keep writing! It kind of makes me want to ask Nate Fancher to listen to my songs, and that I used to be in his Music/ worship workshop at War Cry a few years ago...
I went down to my apartment at about 9:30, then I caught up with family for about half an hour. Annalisa has been missing me, so I chatted with her. She recently was awarded a solo in her choral group. I'll tell you- that child was made to be onstage! She just loves it. And everyone that watches her simply experiences God's joy flowing through her; her middle name isn't Jubilee by accident, not by any means! ;) I promised Annalisa that we will paint our nails and re-paint them as many times as she wants when we are at the beach in about a month...oh yeah, and we'll make "cupkakes" too, & eat them.
Wednesday, June 9th, 2010 (Day 3)
I woke up super early-6:30am. I prepared to head to the doctor (urgent care). My throat has been hurting really badly at night, and I thought it might be something left over from a sinus infection...I got ready for the day and left for the Dr's at 10:30; it only took about 15 min to get there (yay!). It was a cutting edge technology urgent care, with electronic sign in clip boards, and pagers to let you know when to go back to the exam room.
Turns out, I have a virus (most likely). So I will have to tough it out. But the Doctor was Israeli, and also a specialist in Sports Medicine. He directs a Sports Medicine practice nearby, but works at the urgent care as well. His residency was at Harvard, and he worked with the Boston Ballet dancers. It was so cool to find out that he specializes in working with dancers specifically, having that experience. I have been having issues with my leg since I injured it while doing a jump a couple of weeks ago. He quickly examined it, and said it's on the mend, but may be vulnerable for 4-6 wks after the injury.
After the appointment, I headed to Barnes & Noble across the street. It was two stories, with escalators to the second floor. I was in heaven, quite literally. I worked on some items that needed attention for a couple hours while I was sitting in the Starbucks area, sipping on a cup o' joe. Then I went upstairs to the second floor and drafted a service contract; it was kind of fun.
I ran by the bank after I left B&N, then I headed to Best Buy to purchase Office 2008 for my mac. It was the same price as wal-mart, in-stock too! Great deal. The only downside was that the Best buy proved to be about half an hour away...so a bit of a drive. I grabbed some Wendy's on the way to the mechanic (my car was smelling like gasoline, or so I thought). They said it wasn't a gas leak (thankfully), but might be exhaust fumes or something else, but it would cost too much to fix (more than worth of car). So I will be getting a second opinion on that one... :/
At about 6, I finally made it back to the B&N shopping center. I ran by Target to pick up some essentials, then to B&N right next door. I sat at the little laptop bar at the shoppe. Then, I attempted to install Office (3 times) to no avail. Quite frustrating...and sad. But did get the chance to call a few people while I was waiting, so that was nice.
On the way back to the Chen's (finally) I stopped to buy gas, but my wallet clasp got stuck (the pin that held it together lodged in a crevice), and it wouldn't open. It had all of my money in it: credit card, debit card, cash...! I tried to fiddle with it for a few minutes, then asked the attendant for assistance. We were both laughing at how ridiculous and bizarre the whole scenario was! After trying unsuccessfully to open it with a paper clip, I asked for scissors. My poor wallet.
It was rather late when I finally returned. I made myself a snack (delicious toast with peanut butter- yes, I do love PB!), and watched a couple minutes of So You Think You Can Dance? with the girls. I went back down to my apartment, then I caught up with Casiphia for about an hour. She prayed that my wallet would open, and the next time I tried, I was able to disassemble the clasp. Thank you Jesus! Finally headed to bed kind of late, but it was with peace that I laid my head on my pillow, as I thanked God for taking care of me once more.
Adios,
Lysandra
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Summer Dance Internship
For the next month, I am going to chronicle my dance internship on here! It is such an exciting time for me. I applied for this internship in March of this year, and found out that I had been accepted in May. By the end of May, it was almost time to leave for the big city!
While my hometown isn't huge, it does not in any way compare to the real big city. From the traffic jams to the cultural events, to the stores (shopping! yay!), it is so diverse. This might sound weird, but I actually like driving on the crowded, busy highways, even with the traffic jams. As long as I'm not sitting there for hours on end!
I decided to break the 6-7 hour trip into segments. I drove half way on Sunday night to my grandparents and spent the night there (6/6/10). On Monday morning, I woke up super early (even though I'd gone to bed rather late) because I was so excited to get on the road. When I said good morning to my grandma, told me that they were worried about me driving in such a busy area without a GPS, so they wanted to buy me one! What a blessing. They completely blessed my socks off with this amazing Garmin-it is so cool- I type in the address, and the GPS tells me what to do-*bam* I'm there! It's awesome.
So I left my grandparent's at about 10am on Monday morning. It took about 2 1/2 hours. I strategically left at a time that would allow me to avoid the morning rush hour- since I did not want to be driving in that traffic right off the bat! Too much stress for me. Had a great drive-didn't stop, so I drove it straight through. When I arrived at my destination (Mrs. Pauline's house, director of the dance ministry), I was early. So I ran to the store, then came back right at 1pm for our meeting.
We got acquainted for a little while, then she gave me some biographies to edit/proofread for the dance program they are sending to print this week. At about 2pm, we drove downtown to meet up with the graphic designer who is putting the program together. We dropped a packet of info off to her, then headed back to Mrs. Pauline's house. On the way, we stopped in at Wendy's and I had a frosty. It was nice, since it was so toasty outside. :)
We got back to Mrs. Pauline's at around 4pm. I continued working on the biographies, and discussing the audition announcement flyer I would be working on the next day (today). At 5:15pm, I headed to the Chen's home (my host family). They are so cool! Mrs. Chen is actually Doctor Chen- she is a practicing Dentist. They have a home which serves several different functions: their family home, Dr. Chen's practice, a large room for worship dance/ instrumental worship services or practices (they call it "The Upper Room"), and a small apartment downstairs, which includes a foyer, bedroom, and bathroom (as well as a private entry).
Funny story: As it turned out, I did not know that Mrs. Chen was a dentist until right when arrived on Monday. My appt. was supposed to be June 10th back home, but obviously, I'm gone, so they can't clean my teeth! I don't like that dentist at all anyways...lol. So I asked Mr. Chen if they take my insurance, and they do! So, not only are they hosting me, Dr. Chen will also be my dentist! God sure does have a sense of humor. I remember wondering when I would be able to get my dentist check-up in between summer vacation and leaving for school in August, but having peace that God would provide--And He has! Whoo hoo! :D
Today, I woke up at 6:30am. I had to leave by 9am, so I got up & ready for the day! I had cereal in my mini-kitehen and made a delicious PB sandwich with this amazing all natural peanut butter and whole grain bread. My favorite!
I got on the road by 9:15am, then arrived to Mrs. Pauline's at about 9:45. Traffic is so unpredictable! But I managed to avoid it this time :)
I worked on finishing up the bio editing, e-mailed it off, then began working on trying to copy a dvd...for some reason it wouldn't work for me. Anyways, then I worked on the program insert for the audition announcement (edited a picture, found a cool font, etc).
I had my lunch at around 1, then helped Mrs. Pauline with organizing a deposit she was taking to the bank. I made a detailed spreadsheet for monies collected, and verified the amounts received. I left her home at about 2:35, and made it to the Chen's house by 3:10. So, a 35 minute commute. Not too bad this time. I took a nap when I got to my little apartment. Now it's a little bit of chill time. I'm planning to make myself delicious soft tacos tonight for dinner, and I need to practice my solo for the recital this Saturday (I'll get to use the Upper Room space! It's perfect for that). So that's my agenda for the rest of today!
Until next time,
Lysandra <3
While my hometown isn't huge, it does not in any way compare to the real big city. From the traffic jams to the cultural events, to the stores (shopping! yay!), it is so diverse. This might sound weird, but I actually like driving on the crowded, busy highways, even with the traffic jams. As long as I'm not sitting there for hours on end!
I decided to break the 6-7 hour trip into segments. I drove half way on Sunday night to my grandparents and spent the night there (6/6/10). On Monday morning, I woke up super early (even though I'd gone to bed rather late) because I was so excited to get on the road. When I said good morning to my grandma, told me that they were worried about me driving in such a busy area without a GPS, so they wanted to buy me one! What a blessing. They completely blessed my socks off with this amazing Garmin-it is so cool- I type in the address, and the GPS tells me what to do-*bam* I'm there! It's awesome.
So I left my grandparent's at about 10am on Monday morning. It took about 2 1/2 hours. I strategically left at a time that would allow me to avoid the morning rush hour- since I did not want to be driving in that traffic right off the bat! Too much stress for me. Had a great drive-didn't stop, so I drove it straight through. When I arrived at my destination (Mrs. Pauline's house, director of the dance ministry), I was early. So I ran to the store, then came back right at 1pm for our meeting.
We got acquainted for a little while, then she gave me some biographies to edit/proofread for the dance program they are sending to print this week. At about 2pm, we drove downtown to meet up with the graphic designer who is putting the program together. We dropped a packet of info off to her, then headed back to Mrs. Pauline's house. On the way, we stopped in at Wendy's and I had a frosty. It was nice, since it was so toasty outside. :)
We got back to Mrs. Pauline's at around 4pm. I continued working on the biographies, and discussing the audition announcement flyer I would be working on the next day (today). At 5:15pm, I headed to the Chen's home (my host family). They are so cool! Mrs. Chen is actually Doctor Chen- she is a practicing Dentist. They have a home which serves several different functions: their family home, Dr. Chen's practice, a large room for worship dance/ instrumental worship services or practices (they call it "The Upper Room"), and a small apartment downstairs, which includes a foyer, bedroom, and bathroom (as well as a private entry).
Funny story: As it turned out, I did not know that Mrs. Chen was a dentist until right when arrived on Monday. My appt. was supposed to be June 10th back home, but obviously, I'm gone, so they can't clean my teeth! I don't like that dentist at all anyways...lol. So I asked Mr. Chen if they take my insurance, and they do! So, not only are they hosting me, Dr. Chen will also be my dentist! God sure does have a sense of humor. I remember wondering when I would be able to get my dentist check-up in between summer vacation and leaving for school in August, but having peace that God would provide--And He has! Whoo hoo! :D
Today, I woke up at 6:30am. I had to leave by 9am, so I got up & ready for the day! I had cereal in my mini-kitehen and made a delicious PB sandwich with this amazing all natural peanut butter and whole grain bread. My favorite!
I got on the road by 9:15am, then arrived to Mrs. Pauline's at about 9:45. Traffic is so unpredictable! But I managed to avoid it this time :)
I worked on finishing up the bio editing, e-mailed it off, then began working on trying to copy a dvd...for some reason it wouldn't work for me. Anyways, then I worked on the program insert for the audition announcement (edited a picture, found a cool font, etc).
I had my lunch at around 1, then helped Mrs. Pauline with organizing a deposit she was taking to the bank. I made a detailed spreadsheet for monies collected, and verified the amounts received. I left her home at about 2:35, and made it to the Chen's house by 3:10. So, a 35 minute commute. Not too bad this time. I took a nap when I got to my little apartment. Now it's a little bit of chill time. I'm planning to make myself delicious soft tacos tonight for dinner, and I need to practice my solo for the recital this Saturday (I'll get to use the Upper Room space! It's perfect for that). So that's my agenda for the rest of today!
Until next time,
Lysandra <3
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Timeless strength.
As I visited with my Abuelita this past Saturday night, I was just so content to sit with her. You know how you can just sit with someone who loves you, and it just feels so...right. I just sat there thinking
how precious it is, this time that I have with her. I have friends who never really knew their grandparents, maybe they passed away when they were young. This time that I have with my grandparents, it is a gift. Every moment that I can hear about their childhood, early adulthood,
and their lives is simply another opportunity to thank God that they are still with us.
I am amazed at my Abuelita & Papi's strength. They came here as foreigners, my grandfather as a Doctor, my grandmother as a homemaker, having already learned the language, but still having much to learn about the customs here in America. They have come to have many friends who love them as much as they love others. Just an example of how deliberate my Papi is; even today, my he always has a dictionary at hand, so that he can make sure to utilize the word with the most precise meaning in order to clearly articulate his thoughts. My grandmother raised 6 children, away from her family in a new foreign country, owned a gourmet catering business when they were older, and continues to make gourmet homemade bread and Bolivian delicacies for her children and grandchildren.
What a legacy. The close-knit family, culture, the rich language, the land, the stories, the history. On top of that, both of my grandparents love the Lord. My grandmother has the greatest faith to pray for things I have ever seen. She is such an intercessor, for all of her children, "grand babies", and friends. Papi is a fountain of wisdom, but he also keeps it light by joking around a lot. He likes to tell me stories, both humorous and moral, such as Aesop's fables. I remember walking along the Huckleberry Trail, as he told me tales from that famed Aesop, the wise story teller.
All of this is to say that I admire the strength of character that I have grown up observing in my grandparents. They inspire me to work hard to accomplish my dreams, yet also to enjoy the time that we have been given, to savor times with family while we have it. Here's to you, Papi and Abuelita. May you both have many more years, to see the grandchildren marry godly men and women, and then have some good looking offspring- your great grandchildren! I love you both so much.
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