Playing catch up

My Dad politely pointed out to me the other day, that Christine and I haven't blogged at all in the month of December. Oops! I think where we last left you was at Thanksgiving a month ago and we were about to head out of town to the beach. All 13 of us who are studying in Antigua left Thanksgiving afternoon for Monterrico beach for 3 days of R&R.
We had such a great time cooking and eating American food, playing at the beach and in the pool, and speaking English for 3 full days. It was a much needed break from the first 6 weeks of language school. We stayed in this great house (above) that the Lord provided. The top floor is an open air, covered patio with a view of the ocean. It was so peaceful and tranquilo. For some, this was their first Thanksgiving away from home, and while we didn't cook the traditional Thanksgiving dinner at the beach, a sweet MAC region couple invited us all over for Thanksgiving dinner and prepared a feast! I always like Thanksgiving, but I don't remember the last time I was so excited to see cranberry sauce and a honey roasted ham! It was absolutely delicious! The Stamps have been kind enough to invite us over again on Christmas day.

Speaking of Christmas, we had the opportunity to hear Handle's The Messiah in Antigua about 3 weeks ago. I wish you could have all been there to experience it with us. We went into a gorgeous 5 star hotel that had lit candles and white christmas lights everywhere and walked to the back portion of the hotel where there are ruins of a cathedral. This was the most professional group I have ever heard sing and play The Messiah and I don't really have adequet words to describe how good there were. It was an awesome way to get into the Christmas spirit, and be reminded of the real reason for Christmas.

Not everyday is like the events I've just described. I promise! I thought some of the special events would be more fun to share about than the normal day to day routine.

Spanish is coming along for Christine and I. We have started learning the Subjunctive Mood which is the last major part of Spanish and is also really complicated. We don't have a similar tense or mood in English, I don't think, so it's kind of hard to wrap my head around. With time and practice it will come.

We have just under 3 weeks left in Antigua, which is a little intimidating. I only have 10 days of class left, and there is no way I can possibly learn all that I want too. Please pray for continued focus for us as our time here comes to a close. It's becoming more difficult to focus on studying with my birthday, Christmas and New Year's being so close. Also please pray for our group here as we are far from our families during the holidays. This is a first for most of us, and while we have a great place to go, and people that we love around, it's not the same as being at home.

Merry Christmas to you and your family! I hope you have wonderful day off from work, being together with your families, and celebrating Christ!