Kaitlyn, shy? No!

Well, the performance went really well!! My friend Raquel told me that the people's reaction was stronger than some in the past -- some told her that they were brought to tears, especially by our human video "I Pledge." Overall, Friday was a really great night. I had a fun time hanging out with the SAVERS and I'm relieved that everything went smoothly.

To the right is a picture of me just before my "death." That's Nicko holding the gun.

Last week I was feeling a little blue -- I was discouraged, because although I am forming relationships here, none of them are really that "deep." Sometimes I feel like no one here really knows me. When I'm having a bad day, or missing home, or anything - I don't really know who to talk to. I was able to talk to someone about all of this though, and he reminded me that building deeper relationships takes time. He said to try and understand that it is just as hard for them as it is for me. I feel blessed to have made friends here, but please pray that I'll continue to *really* get to know the people here, especially the kids my age. Things have gotten better though, and I don't feel as discouraged -- I've been getting better about truly being myself around these people. Sometimes I think I seem shy and quiet to the people here -- but those of you who know me well know that I'm usually NOT! (In fact, sometimes it is hard for my family to get a word in at the dinner table!) The other night I finally decided to stop worrying about having anyone to talk to, or people thinking I was crazy. I was myself -- laughing, smiling, talking, dancing -- and it felt great! I found that when I acted more like myself, more people talked to me, too. So I'm going to keep working on that. :]

The "Still" dance is coming along - we know it all, just have to perfect it - and we finished learning our new hand mime!! The anniversary and Servantes/Mancayan trip are coming up quickly though, so we're trying to fit in as many practices as we can.

Finally finished teaching parts of speech to my English students, and we're going to move on -- I'm going to have them read C.S. Lewis' book "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe." That should be fun and will definitely be a nice change. I haven't been going to the elementary school lately due to vehicle issues - but today will finally be going again. I hope to teach them another song -- hopefully they remember the last one I taught!!

love,k