About 4 Months Now...

Well, I feel like our missionary work is picking  back up now that the hollidays are all over with and people are home. I know I feel more rejuvinated, at least. We're working hard with finding new refrences from members, and we've got several to contact this next week, so that should be helpful.

My Spanish is still coming along pretty quickly. I can answer questions 90% of the time and I can have normal conversations without straining myself. A lot of the popular phrases are starting to sound like English to me because I'm comfortable hearing them. And I'm geting more and more used to thinking in Spanish.

Once the 14th hits, it'll be 4 months in the mission. 1/6 of the way done. I feel like time is gonna pick up now that the days are feeling the same and I understand what's going on. Each day has new problems and challenges, but I feel like it's all really routine. All I have to do is think of the people and the new challenges I face, though. Because without that, this'll make for a very repetitive year...

Oh, by the way, thanks so much for the package! I really love the candy and the letters. I'm pretty sure the Jolly Ranchers taste like magic, just so you know.

As for some funny culture things:

I saw a football! A North American Football! It was crazy. That's the third ball I've seen that wasn't a soccer ball or volley ball. So that was pretty exciting.

I saw the monkey again! This time he was running around on the street and jumped up on a handrail and was walking across it. And I walked only inches away from him. That was exciting. He's probably about 2 feet tall. And makes really funny noises...

I had my first homemade pizza here in Peru. It had good old tomato sauce with cheese (thankfully, you never know down here), ground beef, chili peppers, and... beans... and... hot dog? That was totally new for me. I've never had beans on pizza before, let alone hot dog. So that was pretty interresting. It was fun to eat once... once.

So there are people who dress like japanese pop people. They have crazy hair (almost emo, but not in front of the face), big bright watches, thick glasses, pants that tuck into thier faddish shoes. I don't really know how to describe it, but they look pretty funny. I just like their name really, they call them "Pokémon." Just made me laugh a little.

I get to go to Waka de la Luna last week. It's just ruins of some crazy ancient temple where they sacrificed people to false gods. Yep, that's about the story. Apostasy to the max.

Oh, and one last thing for this week, I saw a person riding a six-foot unicycle in the middle of the road while juggling. They sometimes perform like that during red lights in busy roads. Then they go around the cars asking for money. Really, they should get real jobs, but I have to admit, that one was pretty entertaining.

But all is well here in Huanchaco. Hope the new year has started off well for everyone back home!

Hope you're enjoying some cold weather, too, because I haven't stopped sweating for several weeks now.

Elder Seth