Andrea & Kyle's San Juan Adventure

We are in San Juan! I'm sitting on the bed in the hotel typing this while Kyle is just a few feet away, doing some last minute studying. Well, he studied yesterday morning before we left for the airport, he studied the whole plane ride, and then studied up until we went to bed last night. And surprise! He's been studying since we woke up this morning... I really don't know how he does it! (He just randomly hollered "Study Machine!"... the room has been silent for the past hour.... Folks, I think he's losing it. )

The drive to the airport and flight were smooth sailing. It felt so weird to be leaving Dominica and not going home. But it was nice to have a short hour and half flight instead of a whole day of flying. As we stepped off the plane into the airport, our hungry stomachs instinctively led us to... McDonald's!! I was never a huge fast food fan, but oh my goodness, I don't know what they started frying those mcnuggets in since we left, but everything was SO good! For us, it was the equivalent of a steak dinner. After devouring our meals, we left the airport and caught a taxi to get to our hotel.

Our hotel is... all right. I researched a lot of hotels close to the testing center where Kyle will be taking his test tomorrow (We still can't believe it's so soon!). And there are plenty of questionable hotels in San Juan. We ended up at the Best Western Hotel Pierre. It's in the middle of renovations, so the exterior and lobby look amazing... I'll post pictures when we get back. I knew they were remodeling, and I also saw pictures of newer rooms that looked so nice! So we just hoped we would end up with a room in the nicer part of the hotel. Well, we get to our room, open the door, and find two double beds in an older room. So we venture back downstairs, talk to the man at the front desk, still hoping we might get a newer room. We go back up, and find out our room isn't new. But it's alright. After first inspection, we were a little leery to actually touch anything. I got over it quickly, and praised God for a bed to sleep in, a study table for Kyle, and a great deal to top it all off!

We aren't in the most bustling part of San Juan, but this place was hopping last night. All the festivities were for... a grocery store! Last night we ventured across the street to find crowds of people, police cars, and even a band setting up. We found out the new 24 hour Super Max would open at 10pm (I mean naturally, everyone goes shopping at 10pm, right?) As we were getting ready for bed, we start hearing loud cracks and bangs, and I think, Holy cow! Is this what they meant my "Please pardon the noise as we remodel the hotel?" We look out the window to find that they're setting off fireworks for the Super Max! It was a pretty big fireworks show, too (We just considered it a late 4th of July since we missed out on fireworks then). I was intrigued by all the hoopla they were making for this store, and couldn't to check it out the next day.

So I about had a heart attack when I walked into this grocery store, because I realized I haven't been in a real store in 6 months. I was amazed by everything. I mean, they even had a mariachi band playing as you entered the store! Then people started coming up to me speaking Spanish, and all I could say was, No Spanish, English? and then they would yell across the store to hunt down someone who did speak English just to tell me if I bought a loaf of bread, I got a "prize" when I left the store. And then of course there is a "sample-lady" in every aisle. I avoided all of them but one. This young girl starts this whole speech in Spanish, and I'm so flustered I don't even look down to see what she has. All I say is, Sorry do you speak English? With that, she takes a tooth pick, stabs something on the plate in front of her, sticks it out and says, "It's a waffle," and moves on to the next person. I couldn't help but laugh at myself as I walked away...

And even though Kyle does speak Spanish, he was able to experience a little bit of awkwardness in San Juan as well. We just went out to grab something to eat. Kyle wanted to be adventurous and try a small restaurant we saw last night. Well we walk into what looks like a little diner, and Kyle doesn't recognize anything on the menu, written on a dry erase board propped up against the wall. After about 5 minutes of standing there and just looking around, a man behind the counter yells to Kyle, Chico! and points to a door. The door clicks to unlock, and we walk in to find tables. We sit down, not really knowing what to do, but realizing we don't have much time for our lunch break since Kyle needs to get back to studying. After a few awkward glances from our neighbors at the table behind us, and still having no idea how we were supposed to get food, or even know what we were ordering, we made the executive decision to ditch the "cultural experience" and head to Subway.

Everyone told me not to worry about coming here without knowing Spanish, that everyone speaks English as well. I would definitely say that's not the case, at least for the area we're in. And with the tan I picked up at the pool today, it seems as if people think that I'm from Puerto Rico (2 girls from New York introduced themselves to me, and assumed I was from San Juan.) Kyle has been writing down phrases for me to say, but I'm just looking forward to going out tomorrow after he's done, so I can take my translator with me!

Those are our adventures so far! Please keep Kyle in your thoughts and prayers! Specifically,please pray for:

• A good night's sleep! (He said he's setting four alarms to make sure he wakes up in time!)
• Getting a taxi in the morning and getting to the testing center.
• Also, the test is all on the computer, and Kyle loves having scrap paper when he's studying and when he took practice quizzes. They do give you transparency paper and a dry erase marker, and I know it doesn't seem like that big of a deal, but just pray that wouldn't throw Kyle off.
• The test is 8 hours long, and with so many questions, I'm sure it can get monotonous by the end. We got him a Red Bull to get him through the last block of questions, but pray for energy and focus throughout the whole test.
• He has studied so much material and has to recall so much information - pray that God would be refreshing specifically what will be on the test as he studies right now!
• Finally, this is what I've been praying this past week for Kyle (especially for God's peace! I want Kyle to go take this test with full confidence!):

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:4-7)