I hate packing!

Which is ironic because I love to travel so much, but I really hate it and always put it off to the last minute. That's what I'm doing right now actually, but it's for good reason, right? I wanted to put up an update from all of my adventures last weekend in Rocha before we leave out for Buenos Aires in the morning so heeeere you go! By the way, pictures are up on Facebook if you want to see the beautiful sights I'm experiencing!

So last Friday we headed out early on this suuuper nice private bus that had this magical effect where every time I sat down I just melted, and fell asleep. 30 minutes in I was out! We traveled out of Montevideo and headed to a place in Uruguay called Piriapolis where we got to get out and see this amazing view. We visited a chapel up on a hill overlooking the shore where you're supposed to come a pray for love. I peaked inside, but the whole thing seem sad and pathetic to me, haha. We took some beautiful pictures though and talked about coming back to another part of Piriapolis for another famous landmark we all want to visit maybe on one of our free travel weekends. It was great! We stopped visit a place called Casapueblo (see the big white structures in my pictures) that seriously took my breath away. It's this resort that reeeally wealthy people stay at, but also holds the architect's art inside of it. He's a famous Uruguayan artist named Carlos Paez Vilaró. His art reminded me a lot of my dad's parent because it was all about the sun, fish, and beachy stuff. I would love to come back there with them one day! Next on our trip we stopped to see the famous "Mano" in Punta del Este and took pictures. A lot of people laughed at us and were talking about how we're just such Americans. It's weird because it bothered my a lot at first to stand out so much and look like a bunch of tourists, but now I kind of love it. Plus the pictures were great! Then we finally got to our hotel in a place called La Paloma, which was this cute, simple little beach town, headed to the beach to lay out for a while (a 30 second walk from the hotel, by the way), and went to dinner. I loved this hotel even though it had nothing at all but our beds and a bathroom. We just slept with the windows open and enjoyed hanging out with each other.

The next morning we enjoyed a deeeelicious breakfast of all these different kinds of sweet breads, yogurt, coffee, totally simple, but it was like having dessert for breakfast. Then we headed out to a super remote part of Uruguay first on our bus, then on this tiny boat for what felt like forever. Uruguay has the weirdest landscape. It reminds me a lot of like East Texas or Arkansas with all it's really tall trees, then you'll have giant oceans all of a sudden, and then prairie land with cattle. It all sneaks up on you. The boat ride was especially peaceful though because we were traveling through a salt water marsh, but there were cattle on the banks. It was perfect weather and so fascinating to see God's creation moving and breathing in harmony. Finally we docked at this lone house where we were greeted by a small group of people who offer tours of what's called the "Ombu forest." The Ombu is this type of tree that grows up with a hollow trunk, limbs break, and the tree rebuilds itself a new limb from the broken one. It doesn't seem that interesting, but the forest was amazing! And I loved our guide. She was this absolutely beautiful native who lived on the land in a tent during the summers, just living life, and teaches astronomy in Montevideo during the other months. She was so brilliant and had such a passion for nature and creation. I seriously considered what it would be like if I did that with my life!  Probably not, haha, but that would be an adventure. Plus I always love people's broken English. It's so endearing. Next we headed out to another part of the state of Rocha where we had an amazing steak lunch waiting for us at an isolated beach hostel. We had the whole beach to ourselves, they served us chocolate cake, the weather was perfect, and needless to say, I was in heaven. I would go as far as to say this was one of the most amazing days of my life. I felt so much joy and peace that day I can't even describe it. After lunch the girls and I walked down to beach to these giant rocks lodged in the water by the hillsides and just spent the day laying/sitting out there overlooking the water and contemplating everything. Literally hours passed where we chatted here and there, but mostly just sat together in silence, meditating, and taking in God's indescribable creation. I loved it! Then that night we headed back to La Paloma after a long day of wonderful memories and headed into town for supper. That night, the girls and I enjoyed another restful evening in the cool of the ocean breeze and stayed up late talking away.

When we woke up Sunday morning, we enjoyed another great breakfast, but found that, like it always seems to do at the beach, it was raining! We enjoyed a lazy Sunday morning in the rooms, made it outside for a little fresh air and cards once the clouds had passed and headed into town for lunch one more time. After we had eaten, my friend Stefanie and I had lingered away from the group a little and found these random beach chairs set up in front of a souvenir shop and just took a seat. I wish someone had been around to take a picture, hah because I'm pretty sure we looked goofy, but it was so nice. I sat peacefully there with the sun on my face and processed all that I had gotten to do so far that weekend. I thought about how much I appreciate being here and how wonderfully blessed I am back home. It last only a few minutes before we had to gather up to get on the bus and head back, but it was the perfect end to our trip. Just a moment of stillness, of course in the sun, to thank God for being such a good and faithful God. Heading back I snoozed a little, and upon arriving at Casa I felt this fullness and gladness I have been seeking for weeks. It was the most wonderful trip and I'm so glad I got to share it with the amazing girls I'm here studying with.


SO! I never know how much detail want to have, so I'm sorry if I bore you, but I wish I could show you just how great this trip was. This last week since getting home, we've just continued to enjoy each other, get some homework done, and let the Sing Song buzz die down. It's been a good, restful week and I'm still slowly, but surely waiting for that breakthrough where I can get through the day without getting bummed at all about missing something back home. It's hard to be fully present here, but I'm still working towards it because I know I'm getting to experience something amazing that not everyone gets to do. I'm so thankful for that! and weekends like this last one make me realize how great this whole opportunity is. Slowly, but surely!

Last, but not least, I'll share with you where my heart has been this week. I just touched on it a lot and clearly it's been a good week, but I love sharing especially where my studies have led me and that's Romans 8. Now of course this is one of my absolute favorite passages of all time, but last night in girls' devo one of my roomies read it aloud to us and it shook me in a new and fantastic way. As I listened, the words washed over me and I felt God speaking directly to my heart. It was great. One part I especially loved was 8:26 which reads, "In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans." This jumped out at me because I just feel like I've been in this funk since I got here, not distant from God, but just like I don't know what else to pray for! Saying, I know you here me, God, but do you hear me? What am I trying to say or ask for? Do I even know? but this reminded me that even if I'm spiritually tongue-tied, if you will, the Holy Spirit moves and breathes within me to intercedes in my wordless groans! Even if I can't quite articulate what I want or feel, the Holy Spirits takes the cries of my heart straight to the Father for me. I just love that we get these safety nets; that God says, yes, you have these profound weaknesses, but I'll give you the tools you need if you just choose me- I will meet you half way. The other part I'll touch on was 8:37, where God reminds us that we are not just these weak, nothings to be torn this way and that by suffering, but instead "we are more than conquerors through him who loved us." This verse reminds me that yes, I will have "trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword," but in these I can be a confident and fierce woman of God, who knows my worth and knows my purpose in getting up each morning. I know that through Christ I have been reconciled with God and for the entirety of my life I will never be separated from the love he offers. Now, I've never doubted this, but it's so empowering to remember this and say it out loud! To remember that I am insanely loved by the Creator of the universe and through Him I have the power to live as a conqueror. Whether this be a real heartache or tragedy in my life, or just this stupid mood I can't seem to shake completely, God gave me the power through him to determine how I face each morning. I just love that.

Well as 1am has come and gone, I still have to finish up my packing and get some sleep before our long day tomorrow. We'll get going early and be back Tuesday evening. Look forward to more stories and pictures and in the meantime I hope you all enjoy your weekend!

Thanks for sticking with me until the end of this wiiiicked long post and caring enough to read it to begin with. I miss you and hope this post finds you well. I am thinking of and praying for you!

Love you all so much!
Hailey

"But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."

Hello everyone!

Just a quick update from here way down South. Not a ton has been going on this last week, just working hard at getting homework done, walking out in the city, and going to the beach as much as possible! We've begun scoping out our plans for our 10 day free travel coming up in March so that we can book tickets and everything which has been fun, but stressful. Yesterday we went to the Legislative Palace of Uruguay, which was absolutely beautiful. I took some pictures, which I'll post soon, but they don't do the architecture justice (sorry for the pun). We also went to a naval museum the other day with our Spanish teacher Amelia. She is so precious. It was cool though because it was out by the ocean and afterwards she took us to these shops down by the water. They had a fish market and some stands with cuuute little things to buy. I loved it! This area of Montevideo was very nice and upscale. It was absolutely beautiful! I really enjoy our little outings. It just shows me how diverse the city is, plus riding the buses is always an adventure. There are so many characters to observe. Sometimes there are musicians who will ride and collect pesos, I always love that, and sometimes we have to chase down buses we need. You never know what's going to happen. We've spent some time with the youth too in the last week. We will go out and get dinner or go play pool. They're a really great group and it's always good practice for my Spanish. Oh! and last Sunday I got to go play with some kids at an orphanage here in Montevideo. It's just volunteer based, and the children were absolutely crazy. I have never said no! so many times in my life. By the end of the afternoon I had made some little buddies and I really hope to go back once we're back in a few weekends from our travels. We also kicked off our first girls devo last night which was a great success. One of my new best friends Jaime spoke to us about the story of God telling Abraham he was going to finally give him children. She talked about how in the story God leads Abraham out of the tent they're talking in to look up at the sky and literally show him the magnitude of his promises. I loved how she compared it to our experience here, where God has led us out of our little tent to physically show us all he is and all he can do. It was a great night with the girls.

This weekend we're taking about a three hour bus ride to a beach town northeast of Montevideo called Rocha. We'll leave early in the morning and come back Sunday. It's supposed to be one of the highlights of the trip so needless to say I'm really looking forward to staying at our beach hotel. It will be nice to get out of the city, plus its our first real trip together so I'm just thrilled. I really need a distraction from Sing Song anyways. Even all the way down here, we are buzzing about costumes, rumors we've heard, and the endless possibilities! Sunday night we've already decided we are going to split up into a Siggie room and a Kojie room to find out the results. We're all super nervous, and of course the people not in club think we're crazy, but I think it's fun! Then next weekend we will head to Buenos Aires for a five day trip. This coming month is going to be FILLED with experiences and fun times. I am veryyyy excited, duh.

Well I chose Matthew 6:33 as my title tonight, not only because it is Siggie's club verse (STC! and GO PIGS for all of you Sing Songers), but this has become one of my very favorite reminders these days. I've talked a lot about the growth I've been experiencing here and something I get from this verse is a reminder that if I am seeking, and I mean earnestly seeking God, all the blessings I will ever need will be given to me. I listened to a sermon the other day about identity and the message made me realize that part of the reason I have felt so confused in my transition here is because at home I've stored up so many treasures and I've placed my identity in those things. Not bad things! Just things that I can't carry with me everywhere. I have told myself that those things are what make me who I am and so when I've "just not felt like myself," it was because I was clinging to those comforts of back home. Following? So I've realized, though the things I've invested in are good and admirable, they cannot satisfy me like the Living God! Duh, but seriously! So upon arriving here, where I know no one and nothing, it was a good reminder that God promises us nothing more than himself and a relationship with him, and everything else will be taken care of. What a brilliant idea! And one of the things that I love most about our God is that every time I learn one of these little lessons he's not only proud of me, but he gives me a fresh new chance every day to move forward with it. So that's what I've been doing. I've been attempting to seek first His kingdom by choosing Him each morning, and learning that all He sees that I need He will make it happen.

Of course I have a lot of other thoughts and wonderful things to share, but I just want to ask that you continue to be praying for us here as we are overwhelmed with our homework, continue to rely on each other as a family, decipher the lessons God is revealing to us, and all the while are making amazing memories to last us a lifetime.

I love you all very much and appreciate you so much for being apart of my life.

-Hailey or "Hailz" as I have come to be affectionately known by the girls.

Guess what! Guess what!

Today one of my housemates got a package from home! In an earlier post I said that mailing packages here is really unreliable, which is still true, but she said her family sent it Saturday through FedEx specifically and it got here. Now, I don't expect anything because it's kind of expensive, but I do looove getting packages so if you would like there are the details! If you know me well, you know I love sweets soo just saying :)

Today has been good, by the way. Blueberry-chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast, a nap, class, lunch, class and now homework! Today will be really relaxed, just working on a fat project for bible and maybe some sun time.

Love you all,

Hailey

"Es una broma"

^This is my new favorite Spanish phrase! It means, it's only a joke! I love it. 

Hello everyone! I'm sorry it's been so long. This last week has been crazy busy. We've been going to events for Carnaval like the offering to the Uruguayan sea goddess last Wednesday, and the candombe parade last Thursday- which is this drum festival with dancing and costumes. It was all really fascinating. We also got to go to el teatro solís Friday, which is a symphony hall here in Montevideo. The performance was of all American movies' songs and made me love American culture that much more. I thought it was interesting that they used our movies too. It was so fun to get all dressed up and hear all the talented musicians. Then this weekend, I spent some time at the beach, got some homework done, and visited the open marketplace on Sunday. On Monday, a group of us payed to go spend the day out in the Uruguayan country side at la estancia (a ranch house) and we celebrated one of the girls here's birthday. That was one of the most wonderful things I've done here in Uruguay so far hands down! That day we got to ride horseback (my first time), lay out by the pool, have a huge, delicious lunch, go canoeing, swim in a heated indoor pool, use the sauna, get a mini massage, and enjoy another delicious meal. Our group had the most wonderful time and took some great pictures. The birthday celebration continued the next day when Stefanie got to choose our breakfast (mm, blueberry pancakes), and the cake (traditional spice cake with cream cheese frosting). We eat so well here! I have really enjoyed the last few days. 

I am feeling alot better about being here, and slowly but surely adjusting. I've begun to feel more comfortable walking around the city to take my laundry to el lavadero, go by the mannyy bakeries around town, and going out for supper with the youth from church. I've been here officially three weeks, which is crazy because I feel like I've been here forever. God has given me many things to be thankful for here including the wonderful group of girls I've become friends with and my sweet and supportive house parents. My Spanish is improving too! Even though 10ish hours of Spanish a week is brutal, I feel a big difference in my vocabulary and sentence formation, plus I love our teacher Amelia. I still have alot of work to do with speaking, but I feel like I'm getting better and better with comprehension. The only thing I am super overwhelmed with is our total homework workload. The girls and I have been doing homework for hours the last couple days and I can't imagine adding travel to all of this!

It's just all very new, and I am prayerful that each day I come to like South America more and more. I love that God brought me so far from my comfort zone to show me and teach me things, and already my eyes have been opened to so much. I'm excited to see what happens next and have such confidence in the transformation I'm going to experience this spring. Sometimes I get really distracted about what's going on at home or what I have coming next later in the semester, or when I get home this summer, but I've tried to adapt my attitude and understand that what will be, will be and I just need to concentrate on being present here! Please continue to pray for our spirits here as we have ups and downs, homesickness, and as we try to focus on our studies, as well as safety when we begin our travels here pretty soon. 

I love you all and appreciate your interest in my life. Thank you for that!

Hailey

Growing Pains

Hello everyone!

It's been about a week so I have.. wait not very much to say. That's a joke. The last week we've just been going to class here in La Casa and trying our best to get adjusted to everything. I've been working hard at practicing my Spanish, keeping up with my heavyyy reading and blog posts for my literature class, and spending alot of time with the girls- which is awesome. The time I've been here has been really challenging so far, to be perfectly honest. I didn't know how much I was going to have to get used to, and how homesick I would be. The thing is, I don't exactly want to be in Allen or Abilene, I just love and appreciate all the people and things I have there. Like milk! I absolutely love milk. See, they have milk here, but it's more like sweet I guess you could say. And! they only refrigerate it in our house because that's how we, Americans, like it best. I mean I have never been more excited to pour myself a tall glass of cold milk in my life.. weird right? It's just the little stuff.

City life in general is just alot to get used to as well. I talked a little about it in previous posts, but the whole way of life moves and breathes differently here. I've just lived in my bubble forever and have never been challenged to see things quite like they are here. It's not bad, it's just different. I have every option of a restaurant, every brand I could ever need, and an entire team of people rooting for me along the way back home. It's cliche, I know, but I live in suuuuch a blessed community. Duh, right? Adults reading this are like clapping that I figured it out, haha. I mean, I've known it all along, its just experiencing it this way is completely moving.

Just a few things I've gotten to do, by the way. Last Thursday we went to the opening "desfile," or parade for Carnaval, which is a huuuge celebration Uruguay and other South American countries celebrate each year. I haven't exactly figured out the reason for celebration yet, hah, but mostly it's tradition. It lasts about 6 weeks and its wild! They have different events every night and we will get to go to some of them. A few of us girls also got to go to un club privado el sábado. Which means, we got to go to a private club on Saturday.. you like that? Haha, anyways. It was on the beach, they had a restaurant, work out facilities, outside pool, and it was just absolutely wonderful. We payed $13 for a day there and we spent 7 hours in the sun... Neeeedless to say I got scorched. I put on sunscreen, I really did, and high numbers too! but the Uruguayan sun is deceptive because it's not that hot here so you don't realize how much exposure you're getting. I didn't get as burned as some of the other girls, but it was just enough for me to learn my lesson.

All the times in between classes, homework, and the bigger events, we just spend time together and continue to learn one another. We make an effort to go out in the city atleast once a day and not hide in the house all the time- which would be really easy, and also get pretty regular interaction with the locals because there's a group of students that attend the church we're associated with here. They're all around our age and love learning English and teaching us Spanish so it works out really well.

Overall, only in the week and a half that I've been here- which by the way feels like a month, God is moving me in insane ways and showing me things I would have never been bold enough to do on my own. It's been really hard and very thought provoking, but I am so psyched to see the transformation that comes from this trip.
The last thing I'll leave you with is, well first of all, Mom I now officially eat broccoli, even though it's sick nasty, and I take a multivitamin- so that's good news, right? And second, last night we had our weekly devo and Wimon talked to us about Psalm 23. Now of course, I've heard this passage a hundred times and love it, but last night was different. He used one of  my favorite exercises where we read the passage aloud 3 times with a minute in between to process. For the first time I heard the psalm as almost a love letter. Even though I know it's written to God from David, it's like David is confirming the promises God offers us. I heard alot last night, but the two things that struck me most was the confidence David had in saying "surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life."  I just love that reminder that in all the valleys and all the hills God is chasing after us relentlessly, and working for the greatest good. And the second was the last line, "and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever," which, if you know me, you know how much I worry about what is coming next this semester, this summer, this fall, and how should I plan, and what should I expect and on and on, but this, this promise says, "Hailey! Ultimately you get to be with me! Isn't that exciting? Isn't it worth it?" Wimon reminded us that we're alive on earth to cultivate that yearning for God so that by the time we've run the race and get to hang out with him we are absolutely thrilled. Needless to say, I'm growing alot. It really stinks alot of the time, I neverrr get why things go the way they do, and my attitude isn't always the best, but the coolest thing about it all is I don't have to get it. I cannot control it but I can take comfort in HIS taking care of everything. What a good God we serve.

I hope this post finds you well and I'm praying for your safety and health while I'm away. Miss me just a little bit, and know that I love you all so much!

Hailey

Did I Mention We Don't Have Air-Conditioning in La Casa?

Because we don't! I didn't notice it the first few days, but it's like once I found out I just started burning up! I mean, it is HOT here! But I guess I'd rather that than the chilly Abilene weather right now. By the way, I'm not doing the best at taking pictures here, but if you're interested in seeing some, you can look at some of the other girl's Facebook pages if they're not private. They are really great photographers. Their names are Catie Baird and Leigh Foith. Both of them have really fancy cameras and beautiful pictures. They might have links to their photography blogs too. I will put up pictures soon though, I promise!

We started classes yesterday. It was very relaxed, but let me just say, I am going to do more reading this semester than I ever have. For those of you who are wondering, my schedule will be
Mondays: Spanish Lab (11:30-12:30), Latin American Studies (2-3:30)
Tuesdays: Spanish Lab (11:30-12:30), Spanish Class (2-4)
Wednesdays: Spanish Class (10:30-12:30), Latin American Studies Activities (2-5)
Thursdays: Spanish Lab (11:30-12:30), Spanish Class (2-4)
Fridays: Latin American Studies (9-10:30), Spanish Class (10:30-12:30).
Plus, I'm taking an Major British Writers online and a class called Christianity in Culture online. It's going to be a big work load, but I know I can manage as I develop more of a schedule here.

Also, On Sunday at 9pm, Monday at 9am, and Thursday at 9am we have Chapel/House Meetings. I don't know if anyone cares to know that much detail, hah, but there it is.
Between all of that, we've just been enjoying bonding and getting to know one another. A group of us went on a run around La Rambla yesterday which is the path along the beach, and it was awesome. It's going to be so easy be motivated here!

All in all, I'm pretty stressed, think I'm adjusting well, and sleeeeepy! But I'm enjoying the ride. After just finishing my classes for the day, we're going to start on all of our reading while we wait for the other girls to get done with their class. Then it's off to the beach and leftovers for supper.

I love and miss you all very much!

Sunburns in January

Yesterday I finally got to put my toes in the sand! They showed us another part of Montevideo yesterday which had more open-air markets with everything you can imagine. The funniest thing was probably the video games and movies. I saw the Sims! Which, I haven't played since elementary school, but it was funny to see it here in this setting. We also got to go into Punta Carretas, I think it was called, which is an American looking shopping mall that was originally a prison. It was beautiful and, well of course, I saw so many shoes I wanted. It was weird feeling like I was walking around Stonebriar Mall or something back in Dallas. I got to speak with one of the girls working in one of the stores and she was so sweet. After a few sentences in Spanish she asked me if I wanted to speak English. I laughed out loud because she knew! Anyways, then we got to walk down to one of the nicer beaches down in that wealthier part of town for a little bit and took the bus back to the Casa. After hanging around here for a while, a few of the other girls and I walked down to our beach and spent an hour or so napping in the sand. It was so wonderful and I'm already getting sun! Then last night we got to meet the youth from the church we're connected with and have more pizza! It was deeelicious. They have really simple pizza but its great and cheap.

Today we went to church at the Iglesia de Cristo next door and our house dad spoke. I didn't understand everything, of course, but it was nice to go and meet the people. Then I passed out for the last couple of hours, hah. I'm still just catching up on my sleep and getting used to the time change. I wonder how long it will take before I stop looking at my watch and doing the math to think what time it is there for all of you. I miss home alot, but I'm doing better today. I listened to this sermon online last night about God listening and hearing those who love, worship, and pursue him. The lesson encouraged praying in confidence and being put at ease in knowing that he hears me, not just us the believers, but me as an individual. Me, Hailey! So as I rest up today, get some reading done, buy some groceries, and well probably hit the beach again, I'm reminded of that and at peace. I know he's taking care of me here- shaping, molding and amazing me, and! he's watching over everything back home and lacing my life together perfectly. What a sweet deal.

Please keep praying for my group and me as we start classes tomorrow and find a rhythm here. I love you all and appreciate you keeping up with me!

-Hailey