Brain drain in a happy home full of produce

Hello All!
A lot has happened since I wrote last, or at least that's how its felt. Let's see......Krysta arrived safe and sound! The Monday after she arrived (last Monday) we started language school. The first few days we were still staying at the Dixon's house, so we had to hop on 2 buses, taking about 30 minutes to get there. It wasn't too bad, but we thought that having somewhere closer would make it a lot easier and save on bus fare. Our classes go from 8:15am- 12:15pm. We begin with 2 hours of grammar class, in which Krysta and I are the only 2 students, which makes it pretty much like private tutoring- its nice! Then, we have a short break to grab some coffee if we like and then we go back for 2 hours of conversation class. There have been a few times in which we've had this class with one or two other people, but for the most part, it's just us 2 in that class as well. This is good too, it's just a little more difficult for me. Can you imagine or even picture me talking for 2 hours straight?! Yeah- me neither, which is why I'm glad that Krysta is in the class and our teachers tend to talk quite a bit. No worries- I do talk, I just practice listening maybe a little bit more ; ) It's good- we're going over stuff that's kind of review, but also going over the rules is good for me to ensure that I continue improving my Spanish. Usually by noon, my brain has been drained of all of its functioning juices, leaving me in a catatonic sort of state---and then I go home and attempt to let all that we just learned sink in. I think its working ; )

Outside of all the school stuff, we've been pretty busy. Last Tuesday, Krysta and I were able to check out an apartment that Jeff Dixon had found for us. We'd really been hoping that this apartment would work out, as its super close to our school- you just go down the street from the school and turn left at the giant cactus to get there (I love that the directions include a giant cactus). We met the landlord, took a look and decided that it would work out great for us! So, the landlord, who is this super nice, older, American man drove us around the neighborhood in his car showing us all the good places to shop and whatnot. He did this on more than one occasion. So, Thursday of last week, Jeremy Janzen and a guy, Roni, that they know from their language school, helped Krysta and I move in! The next few days we spent finding places for everything and stocking up on food and everything. It's been SOOOOOO good to have a place of our own to come home too- it definitely makes it feel more permanent. If you'd like to see pictures prior to our moving in, you can check them out here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/krystaleanne9/Apartment#


I also made a little video tour after we moved in, which you can check out here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJDtQykhzsg

On Sunday our landlord, John, offered to take us to the feria (farmer's market), which takes place once a week. One of the biggest ones happens to be right down the street from us! So, we took off Sunday at 7am to check out what all the feria had to offer. John was super sweet, kind of like a grandpa type. He bought bags for each of us to carry all of our purchases around. And when we arrived, he took us to a little stand and bought us churros! Then, he took us around to the hundreds of stands, giving us little tips and showing us who had the best prices. So, we stocked up for the week, collecting a varitable cornucopia of fruits and veggies. Needless to say, we will not be suffering from scurvy any time soon!

Because we now have a more permanent living situation, we have also set up a phone line through our magic jack (via the internet) and it is a California number! I also have my skype account set up and sign on fairly often, and we are also able to receive regular mail through our language school. So, if you would like to have any of this information, just let me know and I'll e-mail it to you! Please continue to pray for my support to come in, as well as this time of preparation for the work that we'll be starting in January. Thank you!!!

Con cariño,

Cailah =)