What would you miss the most?

What did you wake up to this morning? I woke up to the sound of children laughing, workers hammering, and a tornado alarm (which turned out to be aschool bell). As I sit here writing this in my room, I think of all the great things that I never thought would be here: a beautiful room, wonderful girls to chat with, a great café to hang out in, and so many people to meet! With all the things that are wonderful there are also those things that you forget are different in other countries… let's take the internet for one…Who would have guessed that speed and accessibility of the internet would be something one would miss so much? Today I tried my hand at an internet café. One of the girls I live with, Gabi took me to one that works… sometimes (meaning more often than the other ones!) There I met a cute lil' lady named Carmen who ran the café. It took me a good 15 minutes just to get into my gmail and another 15 minutes just to send 2 emails! Carmen was so cute! She refused to make us pay anything for the time we spent there since it didn't really work. Last night as I was praying before I went to bed, I prayed that the Lord would help me find a café that (a)works J (b) has people I can connect with and (c) I can use my internet phone at! I made one out of the three. Maybe the rest will come later. (So if it takes me a while to respond to your emails PLEASE don't take it personally.. i'm working on it!)Then there's clean water… I was at a restaurant the other day and asked fora bottle of water. I twisted off the cap and took a big swig only to realizethat I forgot to say "sin gas" so it was a carbonated water. Quite a surprise to the taste buds that are expecting normal water! Then there are just the little things like flushing toilet paper and speaking English! Even with all of that, I am so excited. The longer I am here the more excited I get about what the Lord has for me here in Loja. I've been told that there are some high expectations for me since I have previously worked in a coffee shop. Please be praying for me as I learn Spanish… my first lesson is on Friday with Maria, my cute Spanish teacher who I met last night. Please also be praying for relationships with nationals and with other missionaries that the Lord will lead me to the people of peace. Pray for me as I start working at El Sendero tomorrow. And finally pray that I will have appropriate expectations for myself. So what do I miss the most? All of you. Thanks for listening to my heart…