'merica

In celebration of the Independence Day of my country, you will notice the title of this post not in Spanish as has been the trend here, but in American.


If you have been following my blog, you may have observed that the members of our team here in Ecuador have many things in common. One of these things is that we all LOVE celebrating the Fourth of July. For the past week or so, we have all been talking about what we will miss about a good, Midwestern Fourth. We spent nearly the whole walk to campus today discussing which foods we would probably catch a plane home just to eat today. My list includes barbecue pulled pork, corn on the cob, strawberries, baked beans, cherries, and my mama's lemonade cake. So, if you have the opportunity, eat some for me, and think of my lunch of a meat cake (yes, that is literally the translation) and jugo de maracuya.

rojo, blanco, y azul

Tonight, for our small group dinners, my group (and others) went to the Grand Hotel to eat hamburgers, like Americans. After everybody had a couple of hours of quiet time with Jesus, we reunited in Linsey's room. The lights were off, the door was shut, and a fireworks show erupted on a laptop whilst we sang about our pride in being Americans, where at least we know we're free. 

We watched a scene from The Sandlot, we had cake, and we ate it, too. It was a delicious cake, followed by some delicious patriotic tunes. When "Party in the USA" came on (Yes, this is my jam. You win, Mr. Daniel C. Hillen.) we all jumped up to dance, like Americans, because in the states, Christians can dance. Usually poorly, but we can dance. Hannah carried the weight of the team in the country music arena. Our patriotism got a little carried away, from singing the preamble to U-S-A chants, to listening to bald eagle calls on YouTube. You may think you would never get to that point, but do not be caught off guard, dear ones, if you happen to find yourself listening to bird calls out of love for your far off country. Such a flood of passion.

While the freedom our country gives us is great, our freedom in Christ is far greater. Hallelujah for that. To have freedom purchased for us is such a gift.

Feeling Festive,

Jenna