Culture Experiences

The weather this weekend was nice and cool. [Praise God!] And we even had rain on Friday night! [More praising! Except for the fact that the little baby puppies squealed all night. Haha!] It was a nice vacation, though, because today was unexplainably hot.

I´ve learned that the weekends are going to be my favorite time of the week. It´s so busy and filled with activity after activity. Close to how I´ve lived all my life - one activity after another. It´s been a challenge for me to get settled into this ¨slower pace¨of life. I´m getting there, but there are days when I really wish I had something to do. On the bright side of that downer, I am enveloping myself in the Word and in the presence of God. It has been such a blessing to fill myself up with Him, and if given the chance to change things, I´m sure I´d rather have more time for God than no time at all!

I was reminded, recently, to be content in all circumstances. Not just by the word of God, but from a friend who just so happened to hear God´s voice when writing me an email. As I laid down for bed last night, I began to go through all the different culture experiences I´ve gone through since I´ve been here. I wanted to share with you a few of them -- to let you in on how life is here, and how I´m having to daily challenge myself to accept them as they are.

Culture Experiences:
1. Contrast to what I´ve been taught, horn honking is acceptable here. I was practically ¨forced¨ to honk my horn to let someone know I was outside waiting for them. I think I thought the car would blow up if I pressed that horn! But it didn´t. :) And I´ve been honked at numerous times while driving around town -- for example, if you don´t go IMMEDIATELY at the green light, you WILL be honked at.
2. You DO NOT skip meals here. That may not seem so different than the States because we´ve always heard ¨3 Square-Meals A Day¨ since Kindergarten, but here - skipping a meal is like a sin. I learned this first hand. I will NEVER miss a meal again! Hah!
3. The church I attend believes in greeting each other with a ¨holy kiss.¨ Except I´ve yet to figure out when this ¨kiss¨ is appropriate and when it is not. For example, what happens when you shake the other person´s hand, expecting the ¨holy kiss¨ but they had no intention of giving it?! Sounds awkward, right? Well... it is. And it´s happened to me a lot!
4. Salsa goes on everything! Tacos, burritos, soups, pizza, french fries, rice, beans, cheese, hamburgers, ice cream, chips, bread, tortillas -- if it is food, then it NEEDS salsa. Now, I love salsa -- and delicious mexican food -- but the salsa here is smokin´ hot! My tongue just isn´t used to it yet!


And that´s about all I can think of right now. It´s not terrible here, and I haven´t been frustrated or upset over any of this stuff. But I just wanted to share with you a little of what life is like here for me -- and how sometimes I´m out of my comfort zone. Missing all of you!