Betta get them electrolytes!

So I have a lot to talk about! It's not a lack of subjects to talk about about that I've been suffering from (are you kidding? I like in a foreign country, there are always things to talk about...), but rather, a lack of time and energy. (Pictured here are Yuiko leading the band in worship on last Saturday)

I think it was Jessi (whose comment I just saw today) who asked if I got my camera. Yes! I did. A week ago last Saturday. I went with a group of friends from FUSE who wanted to go on the adventure with me after the Fuse service and hang out time at the cafe. That sounds like a complicated sentence.

Anyway, I ended up getting a Canon, that, when all was said and done and the memory card also was bought was a bit over $200. Not too bad, it was about what I was expecting.

Last week the thing of note was that I took a day off in the middle of the week, after my long Tuesday, and I dedicated that day to......... sleeping! Yes, that's right. I'd been sooo tired, and going for so long (like... 2 months or so) on short amounts of sleep that I knew, especially after the group left, my brain and body needed a chance to recover. I'd even heard from a few different people that I was looking tired. So, I took a day off of school and a day that FUSE wasn't going to be doing anything, and the only responsibility that I had was homework. And in the end, I was only awake for 9 hours of it, and that in parts... I got up for an hour, and went back to sleep. Got up for 2 hours, went back to sleep. And got back up and then went to bed for the night.

Apparently, my body really did need sleep.

Let's jump to Saturday. It was quite an adventure. From what I understand, it was the day of the worst technical problems we've ever had. The microphones kept popping really loud, and the sound would go off... Joe's bass drum peddle's spring kept coming undone, so in the middle of the worship, all of a sudden Joe would disappear below the drum set... Yuiko, who has been regularly been getting sick on Saturdays (please pray for her), especially during the time when she's leading worship, was having a hard time breathing on Saturday with the moldy smell that was going on. All of a sudden during the middle of a song, she looked like she was going to throw up (like, you saw the gag)... At the end of the worship time, she asked Joe if he could do the Japanese translation of the message and she went to the back and sat down. We were all a bit worried for her. And at the end of the service, Lizzie, who will be leading worship like every 2 or 3 weeks, jumped in and took over worship for her... I don't know if the band did the song they were originally intending to do, but-- everyone went with the flow and it went okay. (Here, Yuiko translating for Mike, giving his life story, before that whole incident)

There were other adventures too, but those were the big ones. Along those lines though, I saw two cool things happen. First, it was a great example of team work... everyone just kinda helped each other and when we saw a need was going to happen, we worked on it. That was really cool. Also, Mark's message was on Joy despite the circumstances, which was really ironic.

But one cool thing about that is that I was telling Yuiko last Friday that I had been praying for a while about what God wanted to speak about when it was my turn to give the message. I told her that I had been feeling like I should talk about joy. So when Mark announced at the pre-meeting (?) right before FUSE that his message that day was on the power of joy, Yuiko started to translate and then was like, WHAT? And I did that too from what I was sitting. So, it looks like it's a theme.

Also, speaking of team dynamics, I think in my blog last time it sounded like there were very few of us, and yes, to a degree there are. But, I should probably just let you know who all's here... Tim and Christine (who oversee all the PAZ things going on... the Brazilian churches, FUSE, the Noborito church, etc.)... but they are gone to America right now and will be back in a few weeks. Mark and Yuiko, who oversee the Fuse church, Joe (who does a few other things, but helps out a lot with Fuse, particularly in street performances and in playing the drums on Saturdays at the FUSE), Mike (20, who came to work with FUSE) specifically, Lizzie and Cynthea (who are the daughters of some of the other missionaries who are working in the Noborito church), and they are very musical so they help with the same things Joe helps with, and the Stephanie, who we just met last month and who grew up in Japan but is helping us at the FUSE with various things... she'll be here til the middle of August. (Pictured bere: Cynthea, Lizzie and Joe, playing during street outreach. I think at that location, that was the most people we've ever gotten was the first day that Cynthea and Lizzie joined us! They have amazing talent for being so young!).

So, those are our American people, but we also have other important Japanese people on our team like Kengo (Kengo's everywhere and a very dedicated worker!, and my little brother), Tatsu (he is a great help in translation), Saki (she's great with translation and on the street, she's a natural communicator), Yoshi (ridiculously talented guitar player, for real, he's awesome and chill about it), Baki (our technical guru, and he's awesome at street outreach too), [smiley] Yasu (who does a lot of follow-up with new people, it would seem, and always has a smile on his face), and a few other who help out with things like greeting people and running power point, etc. (here pictured is Mark, me, Baki and Yoshi at the cafe we all go to after FUSE... the guys were all comparing their phones and the picture taking abilities... this one was on Baki's new Iphone 4...)

So, that's our team, and I love 'em.

Sunday, I did some homework and then in the afternoon I had a date with Yuiko! She had gotten free tickets to this all-you-can-eat buffet (where we were told we could be there for 90 minutes), and now, that may not sound fun for you, but these tickets are normally $40 apiece. So, it was cool that she took me! We're only 3 years apart, and becoming better and better friends, which is what I wanted and expected in the beginning.

So, we went to Ikebukuro, a downtown area in Tokyo and went shopping around, mostly window shopping, talking and having fun along the way. It was very refreshing. At dinner, they did not have fried chicken and mashed potatoes like you'd find at a buffet in the states, but different noodles and fish things and sushi and Japanese curry rice and.... some type of beef. I don't know what it was, I've had it before in the states, but, my oh my, was it good. I haven't had red meat I don't think since I got here. It's expensive, and I was very pleased to get some at an all-you-can-eat place.

Tuesday we had another test... this time 2 hours long, and included things like kanji, spelling (in hiragana), grammar (the hardest part), and another listening part. I don't think I did toooo bad... maybe a B or a C by American standards. I don't know when we find out how we did.

So, we finished the test and then I went back and headed toward my English class for my final class before break. Only, this was the class that the parents got to sit in on, so my nerves were a little racked (wracked? I don't know)...