I'm so blessed to have a laptop with a built in webcam. :)

Skype has to be one of the most amazing things ever. I love being able to actually see and talk to my friends and family! (Have skype? Add me!) And those photo booth programs that make you look funny? Tons of fun. Especially for a couple girls who never would have even imagined a webcam.

Last night, Noemi was watching my facebook interactions over my shoulder, so I randomly pulled up the webcam and took our picture. She was anxious to take more, so I downloaded a free program with special effects. Just look at all the fun we had last night!

So much for my new "regular blogging" like I said I would try. It appears it's been about a month since my last post...
A lot has been going on during that month. Maybe that's an understatement... But we're going to go with one thing at a time!
I received an email wishing me a happy Valentine's Day one day this month, and in the email she said she guessed that if we were doing anything for it my sisters wouldn't really understand why. It's quite the opposite, though. Valentine's Day is much bigger than it is in The States! Dia de Amistad y Amor is celebrated all over. The week of Valentine's Day, though, is also the week of the patron saint of La Palma or something... I don't understand all the reasoning for the celebration, but let me tell you that the word "celebration" doesn't quite cover all the fiesta-ness that goes on in La Palma that week. A huge festival was brought to the town, complete with candy, food vendors, candy, carnival rides, candy, rigged carnival games, candy, and all sorts of other booths selling jewelry and souvenirs. Did I mention the candy? Several blocks of the city were taken up with candy booths.
The entire road from our triangle by the church building all the way up to where the road splits at the hotel (on the 10y15 side) was shut down and full of those things I mentioned, for those of you who have been here before and know the layout of the city. Not to mention the park and market street were also filled and overflowing with people and booths. There was a full on video game arcade set up, a couple ferris wheels and merry-go-rounds, and all sorts of games involving parrots, cards, and dice. Two separate pizza vendors were there, and our time spent with them was delicious. Fire works were blasting every once and a while, starting at 5 AM and going on until late into the night.
Each night was a different event; some at the park, some in the street, and other places across town.
One especially memorable night was the RODEO.
Bull riding, Salvadorian style. Staying home that night? Not a chance.
Was it terrifying? Definitely. Was it awesome? You betcha.
The bulls were kinda lame... It seemed like they could have just been roped over from the farm down the road. The best one we saw was named "Mariposa," which is Spanish for butterfly.
Butterfly. Really?
Except, they explained that he got his name because he can practically fly because he jumps so much. Yeah, that was the most intense match.
The next night was the finale, and there was a big party at the park. There was a short parade, they introduced the "Miss La Palma," live music, more food and candy, and more vendors. Around 11 or so that night was the HUGE fireworks. I'm pretty sure my house was shaking.
I loved the week, it was so much fun. I hope all of your Valentine's Day and weeks were as good!
Blessings,
Erin

Remember how I heard Francesca Battistelli's song while I was typing my last blog entry, and it was perfect? Today the song Yesterday, Today, Forever by Ryan Stevenson came on. The line repeated throughout it is:

"Yesterday, today, forever,

all may change but You will never.

Glory to Your name!"

I thought this was perfect for all the changes going on in our house with two new sisters! Changes for me, sure. For example: My brain is beginning to hurt from an even deeper level of Spanish immersion. I am now positive that I will be returning to the States completely fluent in my Spanish, just because of Roxana and Noemi. Also, I'm loving being able to just hang out and talk with my sisters. (I'm loving being able to say "hanging out with my sisters" almost as much as actually doing it!! ;] )

Thing is, though, the changes for them are a lot more than they are for me. They've never had electricity, never had running water, and tend to live on tortillas, beans, corn, rice, etc. My family, on the other hand, has always had electricity, always had running water, and almost never have meals of just tortillas, beans, corn, and rice. Because of stuff like that, their first day was very interesting.
Last Thursday they came over for the first time, with their mom. We were planning on going out to eat with them for lunch before school. Knowing that they never have choices, and not wanting to overwhelm them with too many choices at once, we decided we could go to Eric's for pizza.
Noemi, Roxana, and their mother had never even heard of pizza.
They seemed to really like it, though. After lunch, the girls went to school. Since they'd been getting over the flu, they went back home that night afterwards. We had the same arrangement Friday, too.

When their mom picked them up that afternoon, though, she was in tears. Her husband, Orlando, is very sick. The situation is pretty grave. We don't fully understand everything that's going on with him; some kind of palsy in his face, maybe? Possible even some problems with his mind? Regardless, we got them transportation to the clinic and hospital. I'd like to ask all of you to please keep him in your prayers. Things aren't any worse, but they aren't really better, either.

The girls' first full day here was Monday. The running water was so intriguing to them both. Roxana asked me how it was able to come out and shut off so quickly. In the kitchen sink, there's hot water, which was even more interesting to them. And the microwave we used for lunch? They'd never heard of such a thing, were completely entranced at first. To start off with something simple, kind of ease into things, we had what we call Rapiditas for lunch. (Mom has a blog about them here.) During this, we talked some with them about other foods. Neither of them had heard of peanut butter, and one had heard of hamburgers, but neither had tried them. So many simple things to us, Noemi and Roxana had no idea about. Since then, we've tried to go slowly on introducing new foods. Chicken sandwiches, soup, stuff like that. I'm kind of excited at the prospect of them showing me how to cook the typical El Salvador foods!

Another new thing for them is a shower like we're used to. Since most people don't have running water, people use bucket baths or sponge baths, etc. A shower like ours was a little interesting for them to grasp, I think. They caught on to all the changes quickly, though. They're both adapting pretty well, actually. School is going well, too. We found out that my friend, Yoselin, is their cousin! Here's a picture of me with the two of them and Yoselin.

Roxana and Noemi and I ended up watching a couple short episodes of the Penguins of Madagascar last night before we went to bed. I think they had a lot of fun with that. I know I did! :)

I'm really enjoying having them here. Yeah, it's different. Yeah, there are so many changes taking place in everything we do. But, the verse that Ryan Stevenson's song is based on, Hebrews 13:8, says

"Jesus Christ is the same

yesterday and today and forever."

Lots of things change. I definitely know this. In less than a year, a whole bunch of new things have taken place. New country, new language, new friends, new sisters... But one person will never change. :)

More to be posted soon. Love,

Erin