You Don't Wear Underwear?!

I dont remember what I wrote in my last update, so dont shoot me if I repeat myself. The last 3 students have finally arrived after that massive inconvenience with the volcano... our Cali girl and Argentina boy arrived on Thurs night/Fri morning I believe? And our Bermuda girl arrived Sat morning. We are complete at last! It feels good to have everyone here because for 2 weeks there was a constant, metaphorical 'gap' in our group that was bridged with our new arrivals. It's only been a few days since the last stragglers got here, but already we have bonded like glue. It's evident even at this early stage that we are a very close group and I'm looking forward to growing and learning with these amazing people!
I was talking to Stephanie the other night after our bonfire and we were laughing about some of the different quirks we all have. Cassie is our singer - you can literally walk around the house and always know where she is because you can hear her voice. (Which is beautiful, by the way. I love being on wash-up with her because we just belt out the duets.) Elizabeth, or 'Liz', is our German girl who often is off in her own little world and you'll ask her something and a few seconds later, she'll snap out of her daydream and say 'Hmm, what?' (with her accent). Marie-Laure is our Swiss girl and she always says 'mmm, yes'. Karissa has a habit of never listening and then later in the day always asking 'so, what are we supposed to do?' Stephanie is no good at hiding what she's thinking - her face completely gives her away! Also, when she's excited or finds something weird, her voice goes really high pitched! ahah. Gonzalo (Gonzo) is from Argentina, our only boy, and amazing musician. Extremely gifted with any sort of percussion. Often him n' Paul (one of the staff) will jam with piano n drums n guitars n such. So great. Alexa is our sporty girl n I love her cuz she likes being crazy. Lastly, Anna - our Bermuda girl - is just a sweetheart. Great sense of humor and can do a wicked donald duck impersonation. I love how even with all our different personalities, we mesh so well as a team. =)

So... sometimes I forget that words here mean different things than back home. With a minor slip up, I managed to broadcast to my team that I dont particularly care to wear underwear. My bad. I forgot that here, 'trousers' are pants, and 'pants' means underwear. I had meant to say that I prefer wearing skirts and dresses, but I think everyone was laughing too hard to hear my futile attempt at digging myself out of that error. It happens.

Last night we watched Avatar on the big screen using the projector - I wanted to see what all the hype was about. I was quite disappointed, not going to lie. Yeah, the animations were good, but the storyline was terrible. Ah well.

Tonight we have our weekly community outreach. We have one team of 6 plus our two leaders who partner with a church in a nearby town and serve food/minister to homeless people, drug addicts, etc. The other team, which consists of Steph, Lexa and myself, go with one of the ladies here on staff who is starting a youth group for girls 12-15 years old and just love on them. Most of the girls are coming from rough backgrounds and just need somewhere safe to go on a Friday night. I don't know exactly what all we will be doing yet, but I'll be sure to let you know after today.
Im so tired. To those who think this is just some vacation with a biblical twist, you couldnt be more wrong. We actually have a very full schedule and only get a few hrs of free time during the week. If you wanna know what a typical week looks like, here it is:
Mon:
worship (whole base)
class
--15min break--
class
--dinner--
dinner clean up
work duties
--tea--
clean up
7:30pm - free time

Tues:
personal/class devotions
class
--15min break--
class
--dinner--
dinner clean up
outreach prep/team time
work duties
--tea--
clean up
worship & intercession (which we take turns leading)
9:30pm - free time


wed:
intercession(whole base)
class
--15min break--
class
--dinner--
dinner clean up
Journal/Homework time (we have to do a certain journal to hand in every week)
work duties
--tea--
clean up
school time (team projects)
9:30pm - free time

thurs:
worship (just the class)
class
--15min break--
class
--dinner--
dinner clean up
First 6 weeks = bible study/worship class (you sign up for one) and the second 6 weeks is outreach prep
outside work on the grounds
--tea-- (the staff hosts groups of 2 students and u rotate 'homes' each week)
7:30pm - free time

fri:
intercession (class)
class
--15min break--
class
--dinner--
dinner clean up
work duties
Local Outreach (bring packed tea)
7:30pm - Free time (except the girls group im in doesnt get home until 9:30pm)

then our weekends are free =)
They dont REQUIRE you to go to church because we're already doing so much during the week, but if you want to go, you just talk to one of the staff and go with them on Sunday mornings. They all go to different churches so I've tried out two different ones so far. It's interesting to see all the different dynamics. I'm trying another new one next week. Last week it was a South African church that was held in a WWII bunker - pretty sweet!
On Sundays we also take turns cooking 'Sunday Roast'. We split up in pairs and sign up to make a big dinner for after church. Whoever is on for the meal that day can't go to church because they have to stay home to cook. Im on this week with the Bermuda girl, Anna. I think we're just going to make some chicken and baked potatoes/parsnips with a homemade salad dressing.

Tomorrow is Cassie's bday so we're going into Brighton. Im super excited - it's going to be fun! Brighton is right on the water and apparently has this huge massive pier with rides and shops and stuff on it. They also have really cute little vintage stores and coffee shops!