I'm in Minnesota!

Some things that I've learned the past two days in Minnesota:
- Dinner is called supper
- Soda is called pop
- Bag is pronounced "beg"

And...that's all I've learned so far. [Just kidding]

(Sidenote: I wrote a lot, but prayer requests are at the bottom!)

CTI has been a very interesting experience so far to say the least. It a few words, it's been tiring, really inpsiring, and frustrating. Tiring because after having woken up at 3:45am, traveling or in transit until 5pm, we had an orientation with a lot of talking, sitting in a room that was pretty warm. Needless to say we were kiiiinda sleepy. We've had 12 hour days so far. Lots of teaching. Lots of rehearsing. I've been drinking so much water that I've had to pee more often than we have breaks for haha.

It has been frustrating for a number of reasons. I knew I was going to be the oldest person on my team, but I was hoping that I would be able to get along and relate to my teammates in some capacity. With a very extroverted and loud group of late teens, I had very little energy to put into trying to be relational. Also, it's harder for me because I want to be a part of the team, and feel like I have peers, but given their age and maturity level, I'm not sure what it'll end up looking like. I'm not going into leader mode because I don't think that would be appropriate (although more comfortable). Thankfully it's getting better, as we've gotten more comfortable with each other...having been together for 48 hours instead of just 24. The team leaders and the staff are REALLY awesome. I've gotten to talk to more of them today, which was really wonderful.

And last but NOT least, CTI has been pretty inspiring. Though the team might be younger but OH LORD we are a talented group of people. The staff and team leaders have been pleasantly surprised at our progress thus far which leads me to believe that we may be doing alright. The stressing out I put myself through the two weeks leading up to CTI has paid off...having 75% of the memorization down has really helped my progress and confidence as we've been putting the songs together. Woot.

Host family!
Oh, I really love them. They are SO hospitable, and so welcoming it's ridiculous. Not only have they made us welcome in their home, they really have treated us like family. We've talked and we've felt comfortable around them. They've even had their grand kids sleepover last night (two girls, one 8 and one 4). Even now as I write this, we're all sitting in the family room, watching extreme chef, chatting it up, and playing with another grandson (he's 8 months old and adorable). So yay! Babies. I will forever be around them.

Prayer requests!
1. Energy. Between processing a lot of how I'm doing and rehearsing and trying to get to know people and feel comfortable with them, I'm constantly tired. I find myself spacing out and I'm quieter than usual. Pray that God will give me energy so that I can be present with people and for practice!

2. Patience. It's been hard with...extroverted teens. You know you're older when you get frequently frustrated with high schoolers/early college students. I want to stay open and really embrace opportunities to get to know them.

3. Health. So, I got sick at the end of the school year and even though I'm NOT sick, I've had a cough ever since. I was hacking away at summer con, and now that I'm singing and talking constantly, my throat is REALLY dry. I'm drinking a lot of water, but I seem to be coughing a lot. I don't know what to do to get rid of it. Perhaps this cough can only be driven out by prayer?
Hehe.

Props if you made it through this whole post! More updates to come (probably).

PS, random sidenote...I've only taken two pictures. One of the sunset tonight (THE SUNSETS HERE ARE BEAUTIFUL. THEY DON'T MAKE 'EM LIKE THIS IN CALIFORNIA) and the baby at my host home right now. hehehe.

Goodnight! Or good late-afternoon? I'm two hours ahead. Kbye!