Seminary

Today is my first day of seminary at Covenant Theological Seminary. I will be taking Greek for the summer. I woke up at 5am and couldn't go back to sleep because I'm so excited. I had a nice run around a lake near campus. My prayer is that God would humble and teach me about him through the next three years. More to come soon!
Peggy Ellen

Xmas in Puerto Rico

We all love Christmas. I've been really excited this year to hear and read about a lot of folks who are really getting down to business with celebrating Christmas for what it's meant to be. Here are some of them:

http://jenhatmaker.com/blog/2011/11/29/the-christmas-conundrum

http://ac.wcrossing.org/

I am ALL about Jesus. There is nothing that moves my soul more than a powerful rendition of Oh Holy Night. My favorite verse is, "Long lay the world in sin and error pining; Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth." It's like, finally the soul was satisfied! That's Christmas! But a lot of us, myself included are letting materialism take over! (No!) Puerto Rico is not unlike the U.S. in that a lot of folks have lost the true meaning of Christmas but what I love about PR is that they have a ton of awesome traditions for Christmas focused on spending time with people and enjoying each other. To celebrate God's coming to redeem this world I want to give, laugh, praise Him, sing, dance, and just be with my dearest friends, family and hopefully even more people.

I'm making a big effort this Christmas to get into as many Puerto Rican traditions as possible. Learning how to make Coquito is my first pursuit. Here's an intro to what will soon be a full blown lesson. Thanks to my friend Gabriela (Gaba) for helping me out!

Can I do your hair?

"You look beautiful in my headband." The girls are very into hair, make-up and princess dresses. This is not my area of expertise but I do what I gotta do.

The Green Jackets

Brother is the ring leader of all this. There is A LOT of footage of him singing and I'm debating whether I should let it hit the web or not.

Here's a small compilation of some of their performances...

I'm back...

Ok I know I quit blogging months ago but I figured out my video problem so I'm back. At the very least you can come here to get a link to my youtube videos.

Quick Update of Today

1. Mia just called me "a hater."

2. Eating 8 small cookies is close to an appropriate amount right? I learned a recipe that involves only peanut butter, egg and sugar. It makes cookies. I made them small so I wouldn't eat as much.

3. Today is Ronnie's birthday. Amanda just made a cake.

My New Fashion Line

I cut some of my old jeans into shorts today and decided to use the left-overs to make bracelets for the girls. This turned into entire jean outfits for each of them. The video is messed up but you'll get the idea...

I'm domestic and I don't care who knows it.

That's right folks. The long awaited arrival of my domestic qualities is here. I cook. I clean. I wipe butts. I host dinner parties. I wear aprons. I hold crying toddlers for extended periods of time each day. I could go on but I'm so accustomed to all of these 1950s house wife actions that they no longer seems strange to me.

I've gotten pretty into cooking, mostly because I don't want my parties to be lame, but also I'm enjoying trying new things and learning to cook without box kits. The girls love watching in the kitchen and when I'm prepared for what will come from them stirring, pouring, etc, I let them help. Here's an example of how that normally turns out...

Coffee

They serenaded me...

This is just a taste of what happens at my house on Tuesday nights.

That means "I love you"

Kids learning to be Latino

Big brother has recently realized he can roll his R's very well. The girls also think they can do it. Brilliant.

New Years Resolutions

I have a few. I plan to work on them all with medium to low effort.

1. Read more books. Since picking up Brave New World at Becca's apartment and reading it the first weekend of the month I realized I have the capacity to read books. Yesterday I walked all afternoon while reading Slaughter House Five. Both books were excellent. I'd like to keep up the trend and read one book every weekend. I'm also reading my bible and theology books so getting behind won't hurt me too badly.

2. Learn to speak a bit of french. This is really just a ploy to hang out more with my Canadian friend Mariana. But learning other languages is really challenging (for me at least, I think for everyone). So I know I will benefit from any time spent practicing français(no, I did not copy and paste this from a translating website).

3. Call my grandpa every week, at least. I spoke with Pawpaw today and the end of our conversation went like this, "I could listen to you talk all day but I need to go, I'm tired." Ok Pawpaw, I love you very much. "I love you very much too...long pause....I'm crying. Can you tell? Thank you for calling me. I miss you. Bye." He always asks me when I'm going to come visit him.

4. Try hard at stuff. I haven't exerted myself in sports since high school. The other day I ran 4 miles. I think I remember now why I like trying hard at stuff. So maybe this soccer season will be better for me.

5. Get better at spanish. I think I am getting better.

New Years!

Good Vibrations

Just played soccer with some strangers then walked to the beach and let my feet rest in the ocean.

Feliz Navidad

My baby bro made me this ridiculous video that perfectly captures what I'm missing in Alabama.

YouTube is forcing me to write about myself instead of rely on the kids' cuteness....

Youtube is failing me. Thus there is a shortage of cute little kid videos lately. My apologies.

The kids drain me. But I love them. They are adorable. They trust me and love me. They come to me when they need me and want to spend time with me. Even the youngest has been sweet on me lately. Helping raise children is a lot more difficult than I thought it would be but I'm learning a ton.

I tell the kids stories a lot and they have started telling stories of their own. It's so cute because they get really animated like I do and then just talk and talk and talk. Then randomly say THE END! The stories are ALWAYS about princesses.

I spend a lot of time talking to my "family" here. My bosses if you will, my best friends. They are a blast and help me work through life stuff. They always encourage me to address situations according to my heart. I'm growing a lot I think. I also learn a lot from our church, which I LOVE.

We had a church Christmas party this saturday and I had an amazing time. I got to try Coquito which is a typical puertorrican christmas drink and got to spend time with some of my favorite folks.

Below is a picture of me with the rule-following twin. Notice how she's terribly cute but is holding a knife towards me. This is the paradox that is my life.

Futbol.

So this soccer team I'm on is pretty legit. I'm a huge wuss, get tired when I sprint and never want to go to practice but they keep me around. We are in the semi-finals today(Saturday, Nov 20) at 4:30pm. The game is in Mayagüez which is on the whole other side of the island. See map...

I live in San Juan. Far. Away.

You can actually watch the game online here:

http://www.prnet.pr/

It's at 4:30pm, which is 3:30pm Central time I believe.

i love maps.

Salsa

I've been trying to learn salsa for some time now. I went to a few classes with my buddy Dickson and several of us have been out dancing salsa at a place called The Nuyorican. It is not uncommon for me to practice at home and I've been trying to teach the girls a little.

The little one has surpassed my teaching.

Kentucky

Being in Kentucky for a week was so wonderful. I got to see so many people and spend a ton of times with my best friends. Kelli got married and it was so beautiful. It made me miss home a lot.

Safari Jungle

I made up a game. It is called Safari Jungle. It includes:

1- Me wearing a towel that looks like a lion

2- The song "Lion sleeps tonight" by The Tokens

3- Me "hiding" all the stuffed animals we have

4- Children finding them and returning them to their "home"

5- Me chasing the children and "trying" to eat the animals

6- Me roaring like a lion

7- The children winning every time

8- A dance party to celebrate the children's big win

We play this game every week when A and R go on a date. Here is a quick taste of this beloved game:

Brother is really competitive and asked that their team have uniforms. You'll notice they are all wearing his clothes.

Puerto Rico

I love Puerto Rico. I pretty much want to stay here forever....we'll see.

San Juan has this crazy cool culture that's completely spanglish. Most of the people I know are bilingual. This is super fun but my spanish suffers because I often am not forced to speak spanish.

I'm generally intimidated by puertorricans and definitely feel like an outsider/foreigner but I have made a lot of really cool puertorrican friends. My soccer team has been super fun. The girls accept me despite my weirdness. I have so much fun with them. We're the best team in the league for sure.

I love church. I seriously look forward to it every week. It's always so encouraging and challenging and I love being with our community. We are small but it doesn't even phase me. I love church.

I have several close friends now which is a huge answer to prayer. Every week people come over and watch Glee on Tuesdays. We usually spend the first hour or so listening to our current favorite songs while dancing and singing our hearts out. It's a blast. Sometimes I make grilled cheese.

I love my family here. The babies are so cute and sweet and my affection for them grows daily. I'm learning so much and always having fun with R and A. Doing life with them is awesome but challenging because I'm generally more selfish than living with 6 people allows for. I'm growing though.

The youngest and I listen to the LOVE Song often and I wanted her to sing it for the camera but that didn't happen. This is two minutes of us just hanging out and her not singing the song.

Servitude

I've been reading Jane Eyre and in the book Jane wants a new job. She says that she can't imagine trying to do something extravagant but she can allow herself to look for an opportunity of servitude. I thought about my dreams and what I want to accomplish in my life and I realize what more can I ask for but to be a servant. I'm in a perfect position for that. I daily wipe poop out of panties, wash other people's clothes and clean their toilets and am by all accounts fairly unimportant; but every day I serve. I'm finding more joy in the day to day since I've sought this attitude. I wonder how Mother Teresa and others like her found joy in servitude.

Nanny Skills

The parents were gone for the weekend so me and Abby(the nanny before me) took care of the kids. It was fun and went as well as one could hope. We had a great time and I think I really got closer to some of the kids because they needed me for so much. But I'm really glad the parents are back because it has been stressful. Taking care of kids is hard and I'm glad I'm normally just the nanny alongside of parents!

The number one activity for the girls is playing dress-up. When my other friend Abbie Riley visited she noticed that the most-often asked question in our house was, "Can you put this on me?" They have tons of princess dresses, ballerina tutus etc. So I fashioned some costco sized cereal boxes into robot costumes for the twins then tried to teach them the robot. This is the outcome:

A bit about the girls

A lot of days I spend several hours with the girls. We try to give them structured things to do like color, play with dolls, read books(I read to them or they look at the pictures) etc. I like hanging with them and it's hard to teach them to obey and be kind to one another but it's rewarding to see them love one anther and learn. They often will walk up to me, hug my leg, kiss it and say, "I like you Peggy! You're a princess." It's so sweet but I think they are more the princesses than me, they wear snow white dresses, high heals and crowns every day from their costume box.

I told them each to smile and these are the pictures that came out:

I'm making friends!

That's right ladies and gents, friends are on the horizon! The transition from college life to family life in a place where I don't feel totally comfortable has been difficult at times. I've felt lonely at times and have been learning to give my heart to the Lord and find joy in Him. But I'm actually starting to connect with some people! I joined a women's soccer league and the girls on my team are super cool. This Thursday we are starting a women's group for our church!

Sad Things

Wow. The past two years there have been several significant deaths for me. I'm figuring out how to process them. At this point it's just tears and anger. My dear cousin Maegan died yesterday. I'm leaving tomorrow to go to the funeral in Alabama. The task of attending this funeral is daunting.

I need prayer please.

I can't handle how cute this is.

Peggy Poppins Vlog 4

My Day of Birth

Around 22 years ago I was born. This weekend we celebrated.

We had a big breakfast and my BFF and I went to the mall. I got a new dress and we had fish tacos for dinner! We had a great time and ML made a sweet cake. Conversation at dinner went from joking and laughing to deep gospel talks. I loved it. Felt very loved.

After dinner we went to Old San Juan and ended up in a karaoke bar where I sang Toxic by Brittany Spears. The majority of the people there were laughing at me not with me. It was blast. Good dancing too!

Tomorrow we're headed to the States for a week. I'll be visiting Sambica :)

Church Make-Up

Poop

Today while I was watching the kids by myself someone who shall remain nameless pooped in her pants...twice. These are the types of things I am NOT accustomed to dealing with.

Just to be clear, I still love it here.

Peggy Poppins Vlog 3

Today

4th of July FIESTA!!!

At 6pm people started arriving and by the time it was all said and done at least 40 people had showed up. Our small get-together turned into a happening party. I had the privilege of making the playlist for the night so of course the music was rockin'. A guy from church was reminiscing with me on the good ole' days when he listened to classic american rock(before it was classic, haha) on the radio so I put a KISS song on and we may or may not have danced to and sung the whole song together.

The whole night was super fun and a really cool way to reach out to friends and our neighbors. Our church wants to engage people who wouldn't normally go to church but would come to a party, it's right up my alley. This morning Brother told me they had a big party upstairs for the kids. There were probably 10+ kids hanging out.

Peggy Poppins Vlog 2

Here's a pic of me in my cool new shirt from Ronnie:

Then me and the kids, please note the headband:

Today

Today we went to Krispie Kream!

Today we got good work done.

Today the girls danced...

Today Brother hurt his eye(no harm, don't worry) and one of the girls loved on him really sweetly and wanted to care for her brother. It was so cute.

Tomorrow we are having a girls night with some of the chicas from church.

La Noche San Juan

Last week I went out with a friend from church. Every year on June 23 hundreds of people hit the beach and at midnight run into the water backwards. (It's supposed to get rid of your bad luck, I doubt if anyone still believes that...maybe) After getting drenched we went over to a crowd of people surrounding some dudes playing drums and got right up close. Everyone was clapping along and doing chants and songs in spanish that I didn't know or understand, it was great! When the drummer dudes finished a huge dance party ensued right there on the beach as the DJ started up.

As I'm writing this Little Sister is having me blow up a Whoopi Cushion then asks me to watch her and she sits on it and cracks up. This process has happened 4 times since I started this sentence.

Hangueando con las chicas

Tonight the girls hung out in my room while I straightened my hair and got ready. We had a party with the church for the Burch's, a missionary couple who are moving home :(

Here's them singing the ABCs...kind of.

PP (Peggy Poppins)

A few events from today:

1- A child handed me some poop.

2- I texted and chatted on the phone with my new friend IN SPANISH!

3- Connected with a minister from a town near us and hope to visit their church this summer.

I'm toying around with the idea of changing my name to Peggy Poppins in honor of the most famous nanny ever, Mary Poppins(seen right). You can call me PP for short.

Making friends in a new place

Peggy Poppins

I'm here in San Juan, Puerto Rico living with Ronnie and Amanda Garcia and their kids: Brother, Twins and Little Sister.

Here's my first Vlog:

Brother and I had fun with Photo Booth.

Not quite my Home Alabama

My family now lives in Brewton, Alabama so here I am. I'm visiting and packing and watching Seinfeld with my family. I'm picking blackberries with Dad, meeting people with Matt and cooking and talking with Mom.

Nanny passed away several months ago but I'm still getting used to her not being here. It just doesn't feel right. What's the good in being in Alabama when there are no grandmas? I'll find out eventually I guess...

It's been nice to rest for a few days but not really. I'm bored. Ellen says it's because I can't, "Just be." Well I say we weren't meant to just be!

Despite the nagging feeling that tells me I need to learn how to slow down I'm excited to get going this Friday, here's the docket:

Go visit Rhonda and the girls for a day

Lexington for a week including Molly's bachelorette party and wedding, whoop!

Begin Road Trip:

--Mount Rushmore

--White Water Rafting in WY

--Yellowstone

--Take Dawn to sambica-yes!!!

--The Redwoods

--San Fransisco - visit Golden Gate Seminary

--Drive down The Big Sur (Highway 1)

--LA

Go to Texas for Coach's wedding/sambica reunion!

Come home for a day or two and pack

JUNE 15: Move to Puerto Rico to live with the Garcia's

I guess I should rest a bit.

Speaking at the BCM

Last night I spoke at the BCM about my life and the gospel. I was of course so nervous the whole day I thought I might die but once I stood in front of everyone I felt peace and was able to share freely. Praise God, it was a great time. If you'd like to hear it check out this link:

http://sweb.uky.edu/StudentOrgs/BCM/feed/media/2010-06-17_peggy_worship_night.mp3

Disappointing News

Supporters and Friends,

Today the Director of Edge Outreach called the BCM and told us they were pulling the plug on our trip. In his words, "we are feeding our teams on faith," and he no longer thinks it wise to bring teams of college students in this early. We knew this could happen from the beginning but I'm terribly disappointed. Thank you so much for your support and please continue to pray for Haiti and the Edge Outreach teams. I hope to take a trip this summer when things are more stable. For those of you who donated to my trip I will contact you soon about what you would like to do with your donation.

Grace and Peace,

-Peggy Ray

Haiti Update

Hello friends of Haiti! Through your generosity I have already received all the funding I need for my trip to Haiti. Thank you so much to all of you who have donated. Any donations I receive from now on will go to our trip in general or Edge Outreach--the organization we will be working with in Haiti. Please be in prayer for the people of Haiti. Praise God and thank you all again.

Grace and Peace,
Peggy Ray

Going to Haiti

I've been presented the opportunity to go on a one week trip to Haiti to help install water purification systems for my spring break. The trip is through Edge Outreach (see www.edgeoutreach.com) who already has a team in Haiti now.

Last year I was in Costa Rica when there was an earthquake and I saw how Edge Outreach responded. They are familiar with disaster relief and I trust in their ability to help the people of Haiti. One of the most dire needs right now is clean water and Edge Outreach has simple systems that I've already been trained to put together and run.

The trip will be March 12-21. I hope things in Haiti will be much better by the time I arrive in a month and a half but there is no way to know. Please pray for this trip, that we would be able to serve the people of Haiti and bring them hope and joy. I need to raise $2,500 in about a month. This money will pay for parts of the water purification systems, transportation and any supplies needed.

I truly believe the Lord will provide for this trip if there is a need for me to be in Haiti to help. Please consider giving a donation. If you would like more details please contact me. Any checks can be made out to "UK BCM" and sent to 429 Columbia Avenue
Lexington, KY 40508

I started French 101 today so I will be able to communicaite some while I'm there. (Most Haitians speak french but I hope I will get to use my spanish as well)

Haiti

I don't think I comprehend the tragedy in Haiti. It's too big and far away for me to

Betty

I have this friend, her name is Betty. We met about a year and a half ago at Homestead Nursing Home. By all accounts, she is quite offensive. She's always complaining about the food or nurses and I'm pretty sure she thinks the name of the home is, "This damn place." But I like her.

I visit her once a week. Every Tuesday at around 3:30. Every week she tells me she didn't expect me. The routine is usually that I sit down with her in the sun room and she rants and raves for a while until I tell her to quit gossiping. Then she might tell me a story from her past or ask me why I'm still not married.

A couple weeks ago I went to see her and couldn't find her, not in the sun room or her room, not taking a smoke break... Finally a nurse told me she was in the hospital. I visited the hospital a couple times but couldn't catch her awake.

I found out she had a stroke.

I went back to visit her and she could not speak. I could tell she wanted to because she would move her mouth but words wouldn't come out. I visited her with a couple friends.

Last day of finals I visited her again by myself. I greeted her and just began to talk about myself. After a few minutes I got tired of this so I just sat and stared at her for a while. I'm not comfortable with silence. I'm used to Betty filling this silence. I wanted to fill her time with joy and purpose. My petty stories didn't seem to be cutting it. I know old people like Christmas carols so I decided I would sing to her. I asked if she would like me to sing and she just stared at me. I told her to pretend to sleep if she didn't like it.

So I started singing. Just me. A few nurses were joking in the hall and they stopped. I prayed that their silence was a coincedence and that they couldn't hear me trying my best to sound pleasing to Betty's ears.

The physical trainer came in and was really sweet to Betty. She seemed a lot more comfortable with Betty's state. The trainer moved her legs around and tried to get her to move on her own a bit. I tried to talk her through it. I knew at this point she would normally be complaining and rolling her eyes. I told her I knew she was being funny right now and I miss her jokes.

Seeing Betty so helpless made me really think about how short life is and how our bodies just fall apart on us. I hope I can learn how to show her love more in this time. I feel helpless too.

Violence

1 in 3 women at UK are victims of violence.

Yet I am overwhelmed with optimism and hope for the safety of women on this campus. This semester I have come in contact with a group of people who before were to me just another organization at UK. Mission statements and goals abound in a university setting but I have finally found something different. The team at UK's Violence Intervention and Prevention Center recognizes the problem of violence and believes it can be reduced.

It's ridiculous. Perhaps you are so accustomed to believing that change can't happen, this doesn't mean anything to you. Let me reiterate. They speak and act as though what they do is going to change the injustice around them.

The 1 in 3 statistic is the same nation-wide. That doesn't keep them from seeking to change it on UK's campus. This just gets me excited. I have a research paper due and a mid-term tomorrow but I just can't stop thinking about this movement.

http://www.uky.edu/StudentAffairs/VIPCenter/au_center.html

The website is very informative if you are interested in learning more.

UK BCM

We had our leadership retreat last week and our first event, Midnight Pancakes, last night for BCM. I am ecstatic. My vision for the BCM is that we would experience and share the gospel.

Community is Here

This summer I learned a lot. This video is something our team put together to highlight what we learned.

The Hole

This is in a community in Santiago, DR. It is built around this trash dump that is in and around the river. I was given the opportunity to work on the quite needed water purification system here. I also got a chance to explore a little on the other side of the river via this bridge,


I spoke with several people around the area that gave me some insight into the community and I also got a chance to talk with a pastor across the river. It was unbelievable to see the filth the people live in. You could also see where complete houses had fallen into the river. The man I am speaking to in the next picture had two or three family members lose houses to this foundational problem.Our last day we spent several hours teaching adults and kids health education. This is an awesome opportunity because a little information and clean water can prevent parasites and the like. I was in a skit showing the harmful effects of unclean water. The people in the picture represent germs from dirty water(like from the river).

What is Poverty?

In Heina Abajo many kids were without clothes. Most of them had a least underwear but shoes were rare. Several of the younger kids had pooched out stomachs and belly buttons as a result of probably parasites or malnutrition. The kids loved having their picture taken...The kids were crazy. They loved it when we sang english songs like, Singing in the Rain with them. They would try to speak spanish to us and couldn't understand why we always responded with, "No se"(I don't know). They didn't seem to know they were in poverty. They loved life just like kids in the US. They had fun with what they had and loved to be held and smiled at.

Brett Dennen says in one of his songs, "In a world of suffering, why should I be so blessed." Even though the people in this community were not living as if they needed more, it's difficult to understand why or how I have so much more than them.

First few days of the DR

Currently I'm sitting in an air conditioned restaurant enjoying some sweet tea and quiet. This is quite the contrast from my 11 days in the heat of the Dominican Republic. There was no air conditioning and no quiet while in a poor community giving out free eye exams and glasses, doing health clinics, playing with children and installing a water purifier.

My first two days were spent being the organizer/bouncer of the vision clinic in a community called Heina Abajo. I had a chance to speak a lot of spanish while in the DR but during these times my comprehension was at an all time low. I must admit that at times my frustration got the best of me. Later in day two I realized that no one could understand me if I spoke english so when anger began to rise I would just "express myself" in english. Many of the older women were very sympathetic to my stress and when I began "expressing myself" they would pray for me. No joke, they would just start praying in spanish. It was an interesting contrast.

Day three I got dehydrated and barfed. That's pretty much all I did. But I saw some beautiful qualtities of care that the Dominican people have. My helpers from the past two days, sat with me, held back my hair and took care of me. There were several others that cared for me by giving me water, gatorade or offering to take me to the hospital. I hardly knew these people and they truly cared for me(despite my grossness).

I'm going to split up the trip into a few posts. Thank you for your prayers and encouragement!

Once again departing from the States

9pm I'm about to go to bed. Breakfast is at 3:45am. This time tomorrow I should be in the Dominican Republic. I'm excited and honestly, nervous. We've been warned that we will sweat continually, we will get sick and we will experience poverty in a new way. I feel unprepared.

Thus far the summer has taught me a lot. I've studied the bible more in depth than possibly ever before and it has really been amazing. The words jump out at me as I read or hear teachers speak of the truth of the scripture. Passages of the bible that once gave me trouble are now speaking truth into my life and pointing me towards my need for a savior and the hope I have in Jesus.

I believe the Lord will teach me much in the coming days. Please pray for the safety of our team and that I would be willing to be used by God in bold ways. Thank you for your prayers.

The Great Baptist Experience

I am now in Louisville, KY. That's Loo-uh-vull. Day 4.

My low expectations for this summer have of course been shattered. Thus far the people, the program and the food have been more than wonderful. My favorite has been learning about what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. The scripture is really challenging and teaching me. I've thought a lot recently about church and what seems to be missing. I'm discontent with a simple belief in the bible that doesn't lead to actually following Jesus. I'm learning that Jesus said to almost every person he met, "Follow me."

I'm looking forward to seeing more of the city and hopefully capturing some Loo-uh-vull culture.

Father-Daughter Road Trip

Yep that's right. Last Sunday my dad and I hopped in the car and hit the open road. Our agenda was to visit a few seminaries, a BCM and a good friend. It was a fantastic trip, on the last stretch back home I mentioned to my dad that I didn't feel like we had arrived yet where we were going. It was too quick! I'll give you the highlights:

First Stop: Fort Worth, Texas
We stopped to visit the seminary he went to. The best part was him showing me an area downtown called the Water Gardens. There were all these cool fountains and a lot of open space. He used to spend time with homeless men in this area and have worship services.

Second Stop: Waco, Texas
Truett Seminary brought us here. The tour started at Starbucks where my guide bought me a drink and sat down and said, "Tell me about yourself." This conversation, like all that I have these days, ended up with me going on and on about the gospel and my excitement about being known and loved by God. It was so great to be given the opportunity to be heard and known.

Third Stop: College Station, Texas
The first sign of being in the home of the Aggies was a huge barn that had, "Gig 'em Aggies. Whoop. Whoop." painted on it's side. Dad and I laughed about this for a while and were later informed that "whoop" is more than a word, it's a lifestyle. (I have no desire to attempt at explaining this concept further) I was reunited with my friend Coach(Becca) and got to meet some of her friends.
The big event here was going to a bar and singing karaoke in front of around 200 Texans. I was so nervous that when I walked on stage my southern accent pushed it's way out as I said, "Hi I'm Peggy Ray and I've never sang karaoke before. This song goes out to all of you who are still in love. Don't give up hope!" Then I proceeded to sing from the depths of my soul the song Total Eclipse of the Heart. If you do not know this song, immediately go to this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=840B27zYfOk It was one of my more proud moments. The rest of my time in Aggieland was focused on bonding with Coach and her friends who were surprisingly about as weird as her.

Fourth Stop: Baton Rouge, Louisiana
I've heard a lot about BR from my friends Salsa and Grapevine. *These ridiculous names are from a summer camp called SAMBICA. It has brought me some of my best friends.* I got a hold of the director of LSU's BCM and stopped by to chat. He was a networker. I just about cried I was so excited to hear his ideas and get the connections he had for me. Random fact about me: I love networking. It's my life. That includes meeting strangers on the bus and getting their email. I've considered signing up for e-harmony just to take advantage of the network... I suppose facebook is sufficient.

Fifth Stop: New Orleans, Louisiana
We went to a great seafood place for dinner. Our waiter's name was Shane. Dad likes to ask people how he can pray for them. Shane said he needed patience. After dinner we walked around the French Quarter. This is a 20% enjoyable experience. I just about cry when I see the all the half-naked women. I think if I go to New Orlean's Seminary I will make an effort to reach out to those women. I wonder if they feel objectified or if they are just accustomed to it.
Despite the obvious discomforts of that visit, there was some great music to hear. My favorite being a ten person jazz band playing in the street led by a guy smoking a cigar and dancing around. I wish they did that at UK.


Now I'm in Brewton, Alabama for the last week before I start Acts 1:8 my summer program. I'm trying to do some BCM prep and catch-up with people but mostly spend as much time as possible with the fam. Holla.

Home Sweet Home

I was met at the airport by my three bffs. What a wonderful homecoming(they had a sign with an indian on it that said, "Welcome to our country"). My first two weeks in the states were crazy. I held a few meetings for BCM and met with everyone on our leadership team for next year. Every one has a great vision and I'm super pumped about what we are going to try to do. I honestly didn't have time to miss Costa Rica because I was so busy. I also made it up to Grand Rapids to visit some friends.

I also got to check out Club 3:16 which is a kids ministry for hispanic immigrants in Lexington that we started. It was really nice to speak spanish again with a couple of the moms. We do tutoring at the local library and go on saturdays for a bible club. I'm looking forward to picking that back up in the fall.

Now I am in Alabama with my family finally! I am so happy to be with them after so long. I am going on a road trip to Texas with my dad next week to visit friends, BCMs and seminaries.

I'm pretty focused on this passage currently, Colossians 1:21-23 (gospel...woop!)

BCM=Love

I'm home and every minute has been wonderful.

Holy Crap, I'm going home tomorrow.

Last night in CR. Spent the day at the beach. Slept at least two hours in a hammock.

I didn't attain any of my goals for the last two weeks and I haven't packed yet.

I can't possibly explain what I've learned since I arrived. I would love to sit down and take about 5 hours to get to that with anyone willing(Mama here I come). So I'll just settle with this...

Top 5 Best things about CR:

5-Gallo Pinto: You may think it's just beans and rice but it's more. I don't know what they do to it but I could eat it everyday for breakfast, lunch dinner. Add some pure Costa Rican coffee, huevos y tocineta and I'm in heaven.

4-Pineapples and Palm Trees: Yes, my stomach cries out in pain when I eat pineapples but I can't help but have my little serving from the fruit stand for less than 50 cents. And honestly I don't really like coconut but busting one open from the tree on the beach and drinking from it in Panama was pretty cool.

3-People who don't speak English: Making oneself speak spanish to a person that could actually understand me fully(if I just spoke english) is an impossible task. I love meeting people in town and just striking up conversation. I've found that the best way to corner them is sit in the aisle seat on the bus and turn completely toward them. This way, their only other option is jumping out the window.

2-Pura Vida and Tranquilo:These words describe what I want to be...chill, just living. This is the tico lifestyle and I love it. It was said at graduation that I am intimate friends with the Tica hora. Which means I'm always late and it's all good.

1-Presbyterians(presbos): This may seem arbitrary, and it pretty much is. The Garcia's, Abby, the Jones and Millers. These people made my life. They loved me. They taught me about grace. It was amazing.

Me voy hasta dos semanas...

I'm coming home two weeks from today. Goals before I leave:

1-Go to Nicaragua
2-Become totally fluent
3-Run for President of Costa Rica as a write-in candidate

Last week was Semana Santa which is a week here where all the Catholics do stuff every day and everyone else goes to the beach. I don't know if it's disrespectful to just say they do stuff. If you feel like it is, you can look it up on Wikipedia and be more informed and norant(opposite of ignorant?)

So I went to Panama with all my friends from school. We had a blast. This is all the girls.

Also last weekend I went to a volcano with Julia. Apparently it's the second biggest crater in the world. But that could be a lie...check Wikipedia.


Kelly: I'll be in Murray probably May 10.

Cinderella dressed in amarillo

Last week we had culture day at school. The teachers taught us to dance and play some kids games. I of course couldn't dance at all but dominated jump rope.

A couple weeks ago I met my friend Julia and some of her friends at a beach house in Guanacaste. It was a really long beach with huge waves. We had to walk a few miles from the house every day but (being three gringas) we got rides most of the time.


This beach trip felt a little different for me. We had been at this really cool coffee shop for about half an hour when I suddenly just said, "I don't like it here." In this shop, no one spoke spanish, it even said, 'open' on the door. That's not terribly uncommon at the beaches or even in the city but it began to really bother me. There was absolutely nothing tico about this place. Everyone thinks of Costa Rica just as the perfect beaches and take away the culture. Going to the beach is bittersweet.

Pura Vida: Vlog 2

Go...or stay

The man formerly known as Saul had a mission. Go from town to town and share this experience, share this life you´ve been given. Share the life-changing revelation that is Jesus Christ. In hindsight his purpose is quite clear. Go. Go to the ends of the earth. Go to your neighbor.
And yet we know that he spent a lot of time in jail. I wonder how he must have felt there. After the initial excitement and checking off my bucket-list of getting arrested...I would have felt useless. But he wrote letters. The best he could do. No matter where we are we can be used by God and learn more about Him and this life.

Inspired by words from Ju... to EJ.

La conocì en el bus

Last Wednesday I saw Slumdog Millionare (amazing) and then had to catch a bus to downtown San Jose to meet Julia for coffee. I met a girl that helped me get on the right bus and ended up talking with her a while on the bus. I ended up inviting her to coffee and she spent the evening with Julia and I. It was really cool and she and I are going to get together to practice language together. She's from Nicaragua.

This weekend I went to Playa del Coco and went scuba diving. It was really scary, especially Saturday because there was little visibility but Sunday was really cool. I saw tons of cool fish, some sting and mantarays and go stung on the face by a jellyfish. Friday night was the best though because I met a group from Denmark and played soccer with them for an hour or so. Me encanta futbol.

Here's a cool pic of an island we saw. Looks like a monkey!

Nada a una isla.

I went to Manuel Antonio this past weekend. There is a national park that has beautiful trees and cool animals. I saw some monkeys and sloths and cool flowers.
This is a picture of the beach at the end of one of the trails. *Mom Stop reading here*We tried to swim to the point around the far right of this picture but when I tried to climb up on the rocks I got sea urchins in my hand so we had to swim back. We ended up swimming for an hour straight without rest aside from floating on our backs(the water was so salty it was easy to float). I was kind of afraid we would drown or get eaten by sharks.
*Mom start reading again*
This picture is my class having a party. My teacher is the one with the headband. She cooked us some good Costa Rican stuff. I don't remember what it was but it was good. I made sweet tea, haha. I like school.
I gave a bible study in spanish a couple days ago and actually feel pretty good about it. I'm speaking in chapel in less than a month and I'm really excited to share with my peers. You can pray for me as I prepare what I am going to say. I really want the Lord to speak through me. I have been reading from Matthew and Galatians and praying a lot about it.

I want to give a shout out to The Slant. Lindsey Bell=Beyonce.

For my bird loving amiga

Upon the insistence of Kelly Doran I went ziplining this weekend in Monteverde. This is a pic of me coming in. It was absolutely fantastic. When I learned about the rainforrest as a child this is what I envisioned it to be.

There was so much wind on Friday night that I actually lost one of my flip flops and proceded to walk the mile or so back to our hostel with one bare foot.

We saw a Quetzal(This too is for KD)


Sunday I went to Jaco Beach and learned to surf. Finally! All is right in the world.

I have to present a bible study in spanish next week which will be difficult but fun too. I found that it is best for my spanish to stay in town because everyone traveling seems to know english.

Big update: I actually have friends. It's pretty exciting.

I met a leprechaun.

Pura Vida: Vlog 1

To begin with...



Another thing I haven't mentioned is the fact that there is a girl in my class named Abby who remotely resembles me and our teachers get us confused all the time. We decided to switch outfits and she busted into class late. Our teacher had a couple double takes and then started cracking up. Here's a pic:

Mi Casa Es Su Casa

Yep, it happened. Someone actually said to me, "Mi casa es su casa." I feel like I really can't top that experience.

Family Picnic

I went to a nearby park called La Paz Thursday with the EDGE team. I saw some kids jumping rope and thought it looked like a good opportunity so I walked up and just stood there. They asked me to join so I jumped for a while then they wanted to play soccer. This is my "in." I have found that in Latin America futbol is the key to the heart. We played until I couldn't anymore. I found out eventually that what I thought was some people hanging out at the park was actually a family picnic that I had just busted into. They had welcomed me gladly though, how strange and wonderful.
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I've been spending a lot of time talking with my roommate Tatiana who is from Colombia. This has been the best help for my spanish. I'm so thankful for her, she is so patient and helps me out a lot. Last night she asked me what my favorite foods are and as I listed them off she would say, "Como una buena gringa(like a good american girl)" after I said hamburgers and such. She said all gringos like brownies and I considered singing, "And I'm proud to be an American cus at least we know we love BROWNIES." I refrained, people here think I'm weird enough.
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A few days last week I ventured into a panederia(bakery) and a soda(small restaurant) to talk to people. I buy a bit of food and make small talk with the workers. The second time I went to the panederia the owner gave my friend and I a free cookie and coffee each. I also met a woman that was asking for food for she and her three children. She got a ton of bread for free from the panederia, it was cool to see how giving they were. I've forgotten the woman's name but please pray for her. I hope to see her again there and will ask her name again.
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Shout out to Brent and here's a random pic of CR...

La Gringa!

My friend Julia from SAMBICA is in CR this semester too. We met up Sunday and went to church with some friends of mine. I enjoyed the service because many of the songs were American praise songs with the words switched to spanish. It was nice to know what I was singing to the Lord. After the service there was a picnic. We shared food and the men played soccer. I desperately wanted to play but had on a dress and nice flip flops.
Julia and I decided to be bold and try to speak with some of the Ticas at the picnic, we were excited to be invited to play soccer with them. Still a bad idea but I tied a jacket around my waiste and went for it. At one point someone on the opposite team stopped the game and brought to everyone's attention the fact that all girls over the age of 10 had left my team aside from me. It was a bunch of people my age against "Los niños y la gringa" (kids and the white girl). But no one on the other team would switch to the bad team. I spent the rest of the game hearing "La gringa! A la gringa!" and trying to encourage my team of niños with the little spanish I have.

Tranquilo

In orientation we learned that ticos are generally much more laid back than americans. The word they use to describe this lifestyle is tranquilo. Almost every time I've been either late or worried about something before I can get my excuse out I hear, tranquilo. It's actually fantastic.
There has been a group of around ten here at the house with me for the past two weeks. I have enjoyed hearing their stories of eye-glasses clinics and installing water purifiers. Right now they are doing disaster relief work in the area near the recent earthquake. Until they return I will be living with one other girl named Tatiana, who only speaks spanish. I'm glad to be forced to speak in spanish.
Last Thursday I went to an impoverished neighborhood called La Carpio. It was insane. There were probably fifty kids. Honestly, I don't want to go back. The kids were so rough, it made me nervous. But the more I've thought about it the more I think that is all the more reason to go. The kids loved being played with and held.

Here are some pics from my school, ending with the view.

La Primera Aventura

I'm enjoying being a foreigner. Today two girls blatantly stared and laughed at me as I passed them. Many of the women here wear high heels and nice outfits but my lack of femininity doesn't stop the cat-calls and whistles(not a joke). I took off after school to explore my neighborhood. I found a couple of neat shop(tiendas) and met some kids that wanted to ride my skateboard. It started to rain so I headed home but ended up in a dead end with 5 dogs barking at me. I had hoped there would be no animals in Costa Rica.
There was a slight tremor today and I went to an ice cream shop(heladeria). The people at my school are from all over the states and going all over the world, it's an absolute dream. My campus is beautiful. I climbed a tree my first day and found some flowers that remind of of Nanny(my grandma). I suppose it's too early to tell how much I will learn or enjoy my time here but it seems the Lord has provided me everything I need. I am so thankful.

Going to Costa Rica

This blog is for all the lovers. I am leaving the country in less than a month. I want to keep up, so if you are interested, watch out for posts, pics and vids. Holla.

P.Ray