Video Blog 2

Here's another video Blog. I put it on youtube because I'm just that high-tech, and now I am sharing it with you guys. You're so lucky. I'm going to go brush my teeth while it uploads and then put in the embed html jazz. Love you all
Good Night

Nora

ok, I brushed my teeth and changed into my PJs and everything and it has only uploaded half way...woops...

Loss in the Family

I was going to tell you all about my wonderful relaxing and fun weekend at the Oliva's (Keila's house) but today I got news that my first-cousin-once-removed (aka my dad's cousin) died today, suddenly. She was only 47 years old and left behind 3 kids and a widower. My family is all in shock and saddened by the news and I've been having a hard night dealing with being away from all of them. This is the 4th death in the past 5 years in the Barth family, and it's a tough blow for all of us, especially my dad's generation. She was so young. Tomorrow will be hectic and crazy, and since we don't know why she died it could be a very long time before we get the results of the autopsy and everything.
I have class in 11 hours and still want to try to chill out before going to sleep, so I should get off of my blog, but I just wanted to put this up and ask for prayers to be sent out for the Barth family and for the Van De Voorde's in particular, who have suffered a great and unexpected loss. Thank you for your love and support, again. I will try to write soon with happier news about Mexico.
Love,
Nora

Distrito Federal - Mexico City

This weekend I went to Mexico City (A.k.a. D.F. - pronounced de efe) with Susanna and Moi to see our friend Moi's house and meet his family and go to a lock-in for the youth group at his church. The church is an American church and Moi's best friend runs the youth group (Jaaziel - Ha-si-EL). He was really really cool. The lock-in was fun, although I think that Susanna and I ate about 7,000 calories each that night, I'm not exaggerating too much there either. Although, we only got about 3 hours of sleep Friday night. Then Saturday during the day we walked around Mexico City. We went to the center of like "old city" if you will and walked around - they had a lot of vendors set up which was cool and I got a nice black purse for 50 pesos (like $3.75) which was sweet. We then went to the cathedral in the center of the city which was built by the Spaniards basically on top of where there used to be a pyramid and where they did sacrifices and stuff (Aztec). Pretty crazy. Then we went to see the ruins from the pyramid, that was also nuts. Then we walked back from there to the car and went and ate crepes which is a tradition for Moi and Jaaziel, and a few girls from the youth group leadership met up with us there (they were very sweet) and then after that we went and ate tacos. Which were good. Susanna tried intestine tacos (they look like intestines - EW) and she said they had the texture of clam or calamari, which I would compare to a balloon but she didn't think that gave it justice I guess. Either way, Jaaziel and I thought it was pretty weird. Moi ate like 3 of them, intestine tacos that is, gross. Anyway then we took Jaaziel home and went back to Moi's house where his brother was watching a movie and so I half was watching it half was reading for European Union (which I didn't really understand anyway so I mostly just watched the movie - Jim Carey in Yes Man- is that what it's called?). After the movie Moi and Susanna and I decided we'd play golf (the card game) and we were like ok, best out of 3, then best out of 5, okay best out of 10 but in the end Susanna (who taught us the game) kicked our butts and we knew it. Although Moi's massive amounts of luck are definitely worth mentioning. We went to bed late and then got up for church in the morning after about 7 hours of sleep (A grand total of 10 for the weekend - woo hoo). We ate tamales for breakfast - my first tamal in Mexico. It was really really good. I liked it a lot. Then we got ready and headed out (I left a container of hummus at Moi's house, which is kind of sad but oh well - the part I feel bad about is that it wasn't my container...woops). But oh well, point is we went to church. The service was done by the youth group and they performed a skit that one of the girls had written and it was good minus the fairly overt references to certain things that kind of irked me and Susanna a little bit (but not a lot). They did a great job though and the service went really well. It was all in English which was weird because I haven't been to church in English in 2.5 months now, but I liked it.
Then after church we went out to eat with Moi and his family, Jaaziel, his brother, and two girls from church Kate (who wrote the skit) and Rachel (who had gotten crepes with us on Saturday). They're both American and Kate's uncle is a professor at Eastern - WEIRD right? lol. It was really funny when she said that because immediately I was like, WOW you look like Dr. Sparks too!!! Haha. It was funny. Anyway, we went to a buffet at a hotel that had like everything, and it was really good. Moi's parents paid for me and Susanna, which was so sweet, and we got to eat such good food. It was really good. They had great desserts (except the cheesecake was sub-sub-par) and it was fun. Susanna and I have decided to fast this week due to our obscene amount of calorie intake this weekend, so that's good.
Then we dropped Jaaziel and his brother off and came back to Puebla. We had a really good talk on the way back which was about 1/2 in Spanish and then the other in English. Mostly because I failed at one point in expressing what I wanted to say in Spanish so I said it in English and then it just kept going from there. It's frustrating that Moi is better at expressing himself in English than I am in Spanish sometimes, but he has had a lot more time speaking English than I have Spanish.

Overall the weekend was fantastic. I put up the pictures on Picasa and the link is http://picasaweb.google.com/PerfectlyMade/KeilaYDF if you want to see them. :)
It was a great time!

I have class in 20 minutes so I should get ready to go to that. I hope you all have a very blessed day and I'll try to write smaller entries more often, rather than these huge rants every 10 days ok?
Remind me!
Love you all,
Nora

ViDEO BLoG

Hey guys, this is my video blog update - I just got bored this morning and didn't really want to get ready for classes. I have a big exam today in Translation so obviously I'm really studying a lot for it (heh) - no, I studied already don't worry. I hope you are all doing well. Remember to skype or email me. Especially you, Daddy!!
I love you!
God Bless,
Nora

October, Crazy!

Hi everyone!
Sorry it's been more than a week. I'm kind of a slacker.
It's been a crazy week though. I had a lot of stuff going on and I thought that it would calm down by Monday but that didn't happen because my professor who was supposed to give us an exam on Monday, totally (TOTALLY) forgot and didn't even know what day it was so we're taking the exam in 25 minutes. I studied with Liz in addition to making a huge outline and study guide of the book, so I should be ready, I'll just look over the notebook before I go to the exam.
I have decided to rein in my self control because I think I've lost it. All last year I didn't eat sugar more than once a month on average - really. Now I eat chocolate a LOT, and that's so bad, so I decided I am not going to eat any more chocolate, not for awhile at least. I want to at least go 2 weeks without touching any and then I'll decide if I feel well enough to eat some. I have had such hard times getting up in the morning though, so I think it will be better to just, not eat chocolate and hope that makes it easier. I also decided to avoid sugar and caffeine, unless absolutely necessary and to not eat after 10pm (that's really hard here though because people don't eat the last meal of the day until really late, but usually the last meal is a lot smaller - or at least it should be).
In any case, that's what's going on. I have been doing lots of homework, yesterday I had a stye developing in my eye, and it hurt really bad so I couldn't get much done at all, Liz and I studied but that's pretty much all I accomplished in like 7 hours, other than play bejeweled with one eye open and talk to my mom on skype. Haha. Pathetic, what a waste of life. I held a hot compress on my eye though and that seemed to help a lot. So that's good. It hasn't hurt me yet today though and I got up almost 3 hours ago! YAY for that!
On Sunday I went to Keila's family's ranch (her dad's siblings are all doctors and politicians so they have this huge beautiful ranch and her cousin is getting married there in Novemeber) and it was awesome. I met her family and her cousins and was invited to the wedding in Novemeber and told that I had to go, which I would never argue with, lol. Keila is like my best friend here, and even though she's 16 and a junior in high school, she's like, really stinking awesome. I love hanging out with her and her brother, although it really really makes me miss Nolan a lot.
I might go to Keila's tonight and go into school with them tomorrow morning because she's going to sing in a ceremony thing that's like traditional Mexican stuff and she wants me to see it (really bad) so I might do that, the only thing is I have class tomorrow at 10am and have to make sure I get all my stuff done before then and will be able to make it to class on time. The other option is to skip that class and just go to the one at 11, which is translation, and I can't miss it because we're going to have our exam on Tuesday and so we'll need all the practice we can get - plus I have homework due tomorrow. We'll see what I decide. Either way, I love Keila <3
Also, today Josh (Liz's boyfriend) arrives and will be here for a week. I'm not thrilled but I'm not upset either. Liz's birthday is on Sunday and so he's coming to celebrate with her. It should be an exciting thing for her so I'm happy. I think I'm going to a concert with Keila on Sunday (even though it's Liz's birthday) because Liz will be with Josh, and I think we're going to have a big party for her like Friday or Saturday.
We'll see what happens, plans here just don't get made so we'll see some other time. I think we'll have a party somehow, not sure how, but it will be fun. I can't disclose what I might give her for her b-day because it's possible that Kathy Myers reads this and if so she would tell Liz, so I'll just keep my hands (mouth) shut on this one jaja.
Anyway I should get going, I have my exam in 10 minutes.
I love you all, thanks for your help and prayers!
Nora

Keila, and nothing else in Spanish starts with K....jaja

Okay so I don't even remember the last time I wrote but I bet it was awhile ago. I looked it up, a week. Wow. Okay so I went to Band Practice a couple times last week, which was awesome, and I even stayed over at Keila and Joha's house on Monday night to translate the song "east from the west" by casting crowns - btw, we did an awesome job and I'm SO proud of it! I love this whole translating songs business, it's really really fun and I feel SO proud of the work when we're done. I think I'm pretty good at it, even INTO Spanish, yay! Anyway so then on Thursday I got to go see my friend Moi's house, he has this cute little condo and it's number 8 (which is my favorite number) and I spent like 2 hours doing a tavern puzzle that he had and had forgotten how to do...lol. I did it 4 times in the end, just to prove that I remembered how haha. Friday I barely got any work done and then Friday night I played with the Basile boys (their parents had been out of town so there was another family staying at their house) and then I stayed the night there. Saturday I went to practice and was at church all day (as usual) and ate at Keila's house. Keila was at home all day doing her homework - she spent 15 hours on her homework for COMPUTER class. Isn't that insane? She had to make a like 20 page book thing on Word that included all these parts and stuff and it had to describe her life and everything, it was ridiculous. Anyway, she did it and it looked really good at the end. She'll definitely get an A+ (she's also smart and probably didn't have to work as hard as she did, but I'm glad she did). Then we had Saturday night youth group, which was fun. Afterwards I went home with the Basile boys and we celebrated Caleb's 16th birthday (Sunday) and ate brownies and ice cream (yum) and that was good. Then we watched get smart and then I went back to my room. Then Sunday we went to church, and as I was leaving Keila was like...*sadface* you're leaving? ...so I told her to tell me if she was going to do anything fun, but I had homework (which I didn't do until today). So she texted me like at 2:30 saying to come eat pizza with her and some young adults (like the young professionals group or whatever) and so Liz and I went and that was fun. Then we dropped Liz off and I brought my laptop and went to Keila's house again (I practically live there now haha), and I shared a bunch of my music with her which was really fun and we just talked for awhile. She thought some of PDQ Bach was HILARIOUS and we just couldn't stop giggling hahaha. It was great. Then we talked some more and I ate the best donut (not homemade) of my life which I don't even know what it was but it was AWESOME. Then we were going to write a song, but we came up with (at least) a really cool chord progression (which I don't remember at the moment but I think it's AE x3 F#m C something?) I can't quite remember. Either way we're going to write some music together. Yay!
Keila also said to me (she's only 16 by the way) that she was really glad we were friends because she's been really wishing she had a friend who she didn't feel like she always had to remind not to be a stupid girl (if you know what I mean). I was really glad she said that, it just made me feel like I was really pouring into someone here, even if I have been feeling a little less than useful.
Also, she let me rip her demo CD and I am addicted to it. She is such an amazing singer, and she's eclectic with her styles. She's just the most incredible 16 year old in the whole world.
Anyways so I stayed at their house last night I woke up with them at 6:15 or whenever it was, drank some juice and then went back to sleep for an hour and a half (that was great) I tried reading but I was falling asleep so then at like 9 Juan Manuel took me back to UDLA and I took my meds, ate some pasta for breakfast (I know, weird) and have been doing homework and stuff mostly all day. I should be studying for my little test tomorrow in literature class, but I don't really know how to study except read my notes over and read the poetry again. We'll see. I will talk to Mollly tonight (she's in that class too) and see if she studied.
Also today, Keila sent me a text after school and invited me to go with her and her family after church next Sunday to eat lunch with her Uncle at his ranch, which sounds really fun so I told her I'd love to. I'm going to have to get a lot done before then though, because I have a bunch of stuff to do by Monday (maybe Tuesday too, I'll find out tomorrow).
I'll try and put up a recording of Keila that I think is really good, she's so awesome guys, really. Anyway, I should get going. I have class in 20 minutes and should probably try and to at least do a couple more things on my to do list before I go.

Love you guys, thank you so much for always keeping me in your hearts and prayers. I really appreciate it!

God Bless,
Nora

PozoViaje etc.

I had a wonderful time on the Casa Verde retreat this weekend. We went up into the mountains (Malinche is the name of the mountain we were on) and we stayed at a retreat center/hotel kind of place in Cabins and it was really fun. I stayed up until 3 both nights and it was a crazy little amount of sleep I was living on but I had a wonderful time. I ate so much food, this trend is stopping now though, seriously. I am adamant about fitting into a wedding dress (i.e. they won't make them big enough if I keep eating like I am - but purple is really slimming, right Pat?). Anyway, I got to get to know a bunch of people and we had a really great time. I totally loved it. I noticed though that I really depend on English a lot mroe than I want to, so I'm going to try not to say a single word in English for the rest of the week (I know that sounds absurd, but if you call me on skype, sorry, I'm speaking Spanish). Good luck. I am really really going to try to go for a whole week without speaking a word of English. We'll see if I can (I hope so). Also, I think I'm just going to try and be more self-controlled from now on, I've been really bad with what I eat, and how much I really exercise and stuff like that, so I'm going to really try and work on those things. Speaking of exercise - we had a scavenger hunt kind of thing on the retreat on Saturday and we had to go up and down the retreat center (which is in the side of the mountain) and so now my legs hurt SO BAD like, we didn't even do all that much but my thighs hurt so bad I couldn't stand up long enough to take a shower last night. I was so gross but I couldn't stand so I just went to bed.
Also, since the altitude changed from like 2,000 kilometers to like 3,500 kilometers it was totally hard to breathe and stuff, and now my sinuses are freaking out for going BACK to 2,000. Crazy right? I know. Anyway, so I don't really feel that good and I have a big chunk of homework to do because tonight I get my take home midterm and have to start that asap. (Tomorrow after classes I think). It's a little crazy here, but I'm having fun and I got a ton of sleep last night (like 14 hours, seriously) so hopefully I will be good to do work today and then will be able to chill out before my classes and doing my mindterm tomorrow.

Love to all, xoxo
Nora