Wednesday

I’m not exactly sure what I was expecting this trip to be like, but this is definitely not it. This day was so full of new, wonderful, unexpected experiences I don’t even know what to write about. Brandon and Mark tried to teach me how to surf, but let’s just say my surfing career is short lived. After we got lunch at an authentic Taco shop, we took a boat tour around the Ensenada harbor. There was a patch of really rough waves from the surrounding speed boats and it made the boat bounce quite a bit, to the point where the sea splashed back up into my face. It was so moving and powerful yet so simple. Everywhere I go here, I am astounded by the beauty of creation and I feel God’s presence in every beautiful sight.

In the morning, I got the opportunity to help Abby teach an English class and help JJ teach an Art Class to young kids today. It was such an amazing experience. I opted to take French in school instead of Spanish, so all of my Español comes from Dora the Explorer. So during the Art class, I struggled a bit. You can only say “Muy Bien!” so many times without the kids realizing how clueless you are. The class was supposed to be practicing drawing what they see and drawing things to their actual size. I was sitting next to this small girl, who was drawing a vase. But because my drawing talents are about as limited as my Spanish, I just drew a cat on the corner of my paper.  The girl giggled, and drew a matching cat on the corner of her paper. I then awkwardly signaled to her, “I like cat,” by pointing to myself and then to my heart and then to the cat. I felt rather foolish. But she laughed and somehow knew what I was saying. She then taught me my first Dora-free Spanish phrase. Me gusta el gato! I like cat!

-Rachel Arnold