Bailando y Cocinando!

Dancing and cooking! What a day. So many things I am trying to remember to write down. I got a book for the ride home: A Civil Action by Jonathon Harr. Micah gave it to me.

After lunch we were planning on exploring the city, but it's just sooooo hot. We napped instead. At about 7 we went with Rob to the river to hang out and relax. Phil met up with us. Afterwords, at about 9 Micah and I made it back to cook for Ana. After getting some supplies earlier in the day, I made a salad with lettuce, spinach leaves, nuts, carrots, tomatoes, green peppers, and turkey. The only problem is that Spanish grocery stores don't have any type of American dressing. We used a mixture of vinagre and olive oil. It was delicious. Micah is the better chef, he cooked sliced eggplants, with tomatoes on top with mozzerela and tomato sauce on top. It was incredible. Ana was impressed.

Ana received the thank you card that Joel and Dawn sent today. I read it to her, she loved it!

Anne made it safely to Florence, is loving it, and has already consumed gelato.

After dinner Micah and I joined Rob, Andree and Phil to grab some tapas at a nearby place I'd never visited. They had two Spanish guys and four spanish girls with them. It was a great interchange of Spanish and English all around. Where else in my life will I find this kind of experience?...Where ten people can speak in either language and all can understand? At about midnight we wandered over to a club I hadn't been to, for salsa dancing! I didn't really dance very much, I don't know salsa. But some members of the group taught me the basics. Also, each night they have a "birthday dance" where if it's your birthday you go the center of the dance floor while everyone watches. There were two men who had birthdays, and therefore women would wait in a line to dance with the birrthday guys until the song ends. It was great.

I left at about 1:45 and walked 25 minutes home, by myself! And it's crazy, you feel completely safe! There were couples or individuals in front of me and behind me all over the streets. You don't see that in the US.

Oh yeah! And, Ana out of the blue told me she knew an evangelical christian. She then told me that she was going to buy a Bible and read it! She said she'd tried before but didn't really understand it. I don't think she knows much about Catholicism, even though she weekly attends mass. Catholics, I think, believe Mary's mother was also a virgin. Ana didn't know this. Good for her! Praise God allowing her to have a heart and motivation and thirst for his Word!

That's all I can remember. Goodnight!

Austin