Cuba: Day Five

Today was a great day! We got to the house church at 9:30 and we headed out to evangelize. The first group went to Eduardo #2's house, while the second and third group went to Santiago de Las Vegas. I sat with Leonel on the bus and we talked some. We also got lots of snacks from Margaret and we talked about eating popcorn! Yay! We went to one of the poorest places I've ever seen in my life. People lived in shacks with tin roofs and there were homeless dogs everywhere. But even amidst the darkness Jesus was at work. We had a bunch of people get saved which was great! We walked around until about 2:00 and then we left to eat lunch. The lunch was SUPER good! We then sat around and talked to Juan Carlos because everyone else was gone. Me, Ashleigh, and Juan Carlos talked about college and school. Somehow we got off on a story about a woman that was really ugly, and she looked like a monkey! (that's what Juan Carlos said!) He said that people called her the monster! Then she got plastic surgery and was beautiful! He said she had a beautiful face, like mine, and a "sexy body!" (this is what he said!) We also talked about a Cuban singer that had plastic surgery, and I won't get into that, but it was HILARIOUS! After that we went to a kids club and we mat a lady that had been waiting for 12 years for the government to give her a house! It was so sad! We then came back to Alamar and at tasty food and I hung out with Juan Carlos and Leonel. Tomorrow is our last day! :(

Cuba: Day Four

Ok so I haven't written in 2 days which means that I get to write extra! Yay! Yesterday we went to Pinar del Rio and we swam! On the way there me, Juan Carlos Jr., Keren, Diana, Ashleigh, Ashley, and Braden played cards. We had a lot of fun! We got there and we took some pictures and then we all jumped in. It was SUPER cold! Eduardo got in and shivered! Juan Carlos Jr. hurt his foot when he was going to jump off the rock. We all swam and had so much fun! We got out to eat and I didn't have a towel! I stole Maureen's and me and Leonel held each other and shivered! It has been very cold the past two days. We all ate and had fun and then Juan Carlos Jr., Leonel, and I went to the bus to give David and Andres some food. We all talked and got to know each other and laughed! They made fun of me when I would sigh because I was tired. Me and Leonel hung out for a while and I love him! They are all great people. Today, we were the first ones to breakfast AGAIN! We all piled on the bus and went to Alamar where we got assigned our house church groups! It was me, Ashley, Bobbie, Suzanne, Brent, Daisy, and Miriam. All of the people we talked to got saved! Six people! Gloria a Dios! We got finished and had to wait for the bus for like a hour! We thought they left us! We were the last ones back for lunch and it was good! Juan Carlos Jr. gave me a bracelet today also! So now he has my bracelet, and I have his! After lunch we went with Juan Carlos to visit and we ended up sleeping! Ha ha! We then went to a kids group where we sang songs and told our little story! The waves were so big outside that they came up over the malecon onto the street! It was scary! After that Brent, Kevin, and I went with my "aunt" Miriam to her home group and man was it scary! We got there and we had no translator at all! They made Brent say a testimony and they didn't know what he was saying! It was crazy and fun! Then they brought out this thing of tea and Kevin drank it all! After he drank it, Alfredo told us to read this passage first. It was about poisonous snakes and drinks! Ah! It was scary! But in the end, it was all a joke! I so don't want to leave yet! I'm so happy where I am! I love it here and I want to stay forever! I'm so tired! Goodnight! Gloria a Dios!

-Bye the way, these are my journal entries from March when we were in Cuba. We're not actually there now! :)

Cuba: Day Two

Today was another great day in Cuba. It was a late start for us four girls, three of which had to take a shower!! By the time we got to breakfast we were late! But it was all good in the omelet line! Yay! After we ate, we planned everything out and we decided what needed to be taken. We then gathered at the pool to leave, and found out that we had only one bus. David didn't come and so Andres came to pick us up. Ashleigh, Erin, and I were in one kid's group. Unfortunately, we were split up. So Ashleigh and I panicked because Erin was supposed to tell the story. By the time we got to Alamar, we saw Juan Carlos, Leonel, Daisy, Karen, and even Isaac. It was great to see everyone again and be home. Cristian and Jordan came later with Rosanna. After we got there, we started out lesson. We decided to do the bear hunt first, along with the chicken dance. Everything went great and it was HOT!!! Especially when we went to play beisbol it was very hot. That part was fun also. We were on a totally different field with a kung-fu stage! Yay! Ashleigh got hit in the leg which wasn't fun! Maureen, Leonel, and I walked down to the post office but we had to come back or else we would have had to wait thirty minutes! After that we headed to the house church to eat because I convinced Juan Carlos to take us back. The food was great (as usual)! Then it rained for three hours straight! We had the party outside at first and then we had to move it back inside because it rained. The dance party was GREAT!!! They played Rihanna, Sean Kingston, and Elvis! It was great! I got to dance with one of Juan Carlos Jr.'s friends who was really good! He told me that Juan Carlos Jr. was my boyfriend. The one thing he could say in English was "boyfriend." We also got to play some fun games!! I played one where I had to hold a bowl of merengue while Juan Carlos Jr. had to eat it without hands! I shoved the whole bowl in his face! The bowl stuck to his face as he pulled back! It was great! That was the most fun I've ever had! Once we got home and I took a shower and of course I couldn't get it to turn off! Lucky me! Well it's late! Night! Gloria a Dios!

Cuba: Day One

Today was a long and hard day that started at 12:47 am for me, and 4:00 am for the others. Of course of all people I'm the one that doesn't sleep, and that rolls around all night long. My aunt snored all night, so that didn't help either. We left at 4:00 am from the airport and headed out to Atlanta! The airport was packed with people moving to their planes. We got all of our luggage in without a problem and we boarded the plane easily. Take off was a little nerve racking, but Erin's laughter and support cheered me up! I seem to have a constant theme for this week. PEACE. The whole time on the planes I prayed for peace; and God gave it. We landed safely in Miami as we hurried to our concourse to meet Magaley. It turns out that the concourse is closed, and we are approached by a police officer with two guns. They weren't just any guns! One of them was a machine gun! It turned out that we were lost, and he escorted us around. His name was Heath, and he loves Jesus! How amazing! We sat and sat for an hour and a half. Magaley calls and says that she had a family emergency but is on her way. She finally showed up, and again they changed the concourse! We had to go halfway across the airport to get to the gate! And, by the time we got there, we had 15 minutes to get all of our baggage checked! It turned out that we all made it and got on the plane without a problem. Our plane was different this time; it was bigger. It held like 60 passengers! It made me a lot better about our flight. We arrived in Cuba at 12:08 pm and we preceded into the airport. We all got through quickly and smoothly. No problems at all! We got all of our luggage and prepared to meet Eduardo at the van. We met them and put our things in the two buses. It was really cool to be back again with "mi familia" in Cuba. Eduardo treated us to a special dinner of Cuban pizza! Delicioso! After we had fun and ate we went to see the Christ of Havana and we prayed over the city. It was a long, stressful day but a fun one. Gloria a Dios!

Strange Dreams...

Have you ever had a dream that was so real to you it was scary? You lay in bed at night thinking you are somewhere else, in another time. Well lately, I've been having those dreams often. Last night was really the first time in a long time I've had one of those dreams. Now that I think about it, it seemed like a vision. Like I got a second chance to do something, or accomplish something I never got the chance to do. As many of you know, my heart is in Cuba. I left it there many months ago on my first trip there on spring break. Ever since then, I have been dreaming about being there. Smelling the air, feeling the cool breeze of the ocean on my face, and the warmth of hugs and kisses from our brothers and sisters in Christ. I miss them dearly, and to this day I'm already excited about going back. My dreams have been so real, and when I wake up, I get up so happy because I think I'm in Cuba. Then I look around and my heart sinks to find that I'm at home in my bed. Well my dream last night was very bizarre. As everyone knows, our friend Leonel passed away. It happened so fast, and no one got to say goodbye. I dreamed that we were all in the funeral home sitting around. But what was weird was Leonel was sitting there with us. He wasn't dead, or in a casket; he was sitting there. And all I did was latch on to him. I could hear him talk, just like he was really beside me in real life. I sat there and just hugged him the whole time. We all knew he was going to die the next day in my dream. We all knew that we'd have to say goodbye to him. Everyone from the team was there and Juan Carlos, Rosanna, and the kids were there also. It was like everyone already knew what was going to happen. Now back to reality. After we got the news about Leonel, I would wake up in the mornings with wet eyes. I cried in my sleep. I was so sad, so empty. It's funny how you can be so close to a person that you barely know. It was like a family member passed away. But now after this dream, I have peace. I think that this was God's way of telling me that everything was ok. That I got my chance to say goodbye to him. They always say that God works in mysterious ways, and the Lord knows what I need. The whole trip I prayed for peace; and I got it! God is amazing! Gloria A Dios!