It rains cats and dogs

Expressions

The title of this new story is a very British idiom and my teacher starts loud laughing when I use it. It is in the same category as "not my cup of tea" and "a penny for your thoughts". To him it sounds like I am acting Shakespeare;) Learning expressions is very helpful to get familiar with a language but it is not easy. Mistakes are made quickly.. If you say "I 'll get back on you" in stead of "I ''ll get back to you", it can bring you in an awkward situation..;)

But British or not, it really rained cats and dogs in San Diego and surroundings! American usually overreact so I got immediately a text Emergency Alert: Flash Flood Warning! Well, it rained and we had a thunderstorm, yes but a flood? Every news channel came up with excited journalists and breaking news with reports of the storm. To me it sounds pretty weird, but here it barely rains and thunderstorms are very rare, so they' re not used to handle some showers like this. After 30 minutes rain the ceiling of our hallway started leaking and the alarm sounded too. They 're still working on the damage. And in front of my door is a huge fan blowing night and day because it smells awful, Yay

Toys for Joy     Saturday Dec 8th   7.15 AM

I signed up as a volunteer at a big December event to help the low income families in the neighborhood. I was anticipating serving over 10,500 people! The majority was of Hispanic origin and they started waiting in line, the night before..Everything was for free this day. Like toys (over 10,000!), groceries, haircuts, manicure, pedicure, food and drinks and I was on the face painting team. Never seen kids so happy with only a snowflake on the cheek. It touched my heart. Even some adults asked for a face paint..  And it is so funny, me painting faces with snowmen and penguins, while the sun is burning and the paint is melting;) But it was a great experience, I 'm thankful for I could 've been part of this.

Sunday  Dec 9th

The Rock church is a big church (very similar to Hillsong), located in Point Loma and I start feeling at home here. I am attending the "life classes" which is a 4 Sunday course to become a member and to find the place where I fit the best to volunteer. I tend to opt for the most familiar choice... kids church;) Challenges enough in my daily life, though?

Locked myself out

Yes this happened to me..:(!  Even though I double checked, made sure that I had my keycard... Because this is a very important action since the office hours in this small building are only 4 hours a day. And if you are stupid enough to forget your keycard, you need to go to the bigger Vantaggio suites to get a temporary card. So I grabbed my card, went out of my room, just to use the kitchen for a while, cooked some stuff, went back, took my card... that turned out to be my Starbucks card...NO! Okay, the good news was: I was wearing my shoes. The bad news was: my phone was inside, the letter with the address of the other Vantaggio suites as well and it was evening. I started an inspection, looking for other living creatures with a phone, and lucky me, I found a Brazilian girl, just arrived and willing to help me out. I called the office and found out that I had to walk for 25 minutes to get the card...And back. I can tell you, I did it much faster because I ran, jumped over the homeless people on the streets and ignored all red traffic lights. I don't like to be downtown at dark on my own and without a phone.. 

After these wild adventures of thunderstorms and floods and alone in the dark downtown, I can report me safely hahaha!