Things You Can Do Without a Voice

I am finding out there is a lot you can do without talking! I have now not talked for almost two weeks. It's crazy to think that it has been that long. I am hoping that my vocal cords will be great in a week so that I can talk!I am finding out that there is a lot you can do without a voice though. Just to give you a little idea of the things you can do...I have found that you can...
-Communicate with your roommates and others. One day I need to video record it. It often involves lots of crazy motions on my part and guessing on the other's part, or a pad of paper and a pen. I am getting fast at writing things down, and my roommate Amanda is going to be the best charade player on the continent!
-Go to the beach! A group of nine of us took the bus to Sosua, a beach on the Atlantic Coast, for the day on Saturday. It was a very good and restful time. The beach is so beautiful! The water is warm and I probably shouldn't tell you that we were hot! It was in the 80s at least. Amanda and I didn't appreciate the ride back as much--two guys from across the aisle stared at us the whole time!
-Barter with a store owner! Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I can barter and get the owner to agree to my price without talking! You're probably not too surprised :). Amanda and I found a painting we really liked while we were at the beach. We decided we only wanted to pay 500 pesos for it, which is like 15 dollars. Paintings are cheap here! She doesn't speak Spanish, so we grabbed another teacher, Christine, to help us. The first price he said was 1,500 pesos, which is like 45 dollars. Christine bargained for a while while I was just shaking my head. The lowest he would go was 1,200. I eventually took out the 500, which is the only money we had on us, and showed him that was all we had. By that point, Christine stopped talking and let me take it. He kept telling other prices but I just shook my head and showed him the money. We started to walk out, which usually does the trick. He still didn't want to give it to us, but I wouldn't back down. And in the end, I was victorious! It was great! Now I can say I bought my first painting without saying a word!
-Take a taxi by yourself. Now, before you get all worried about me, let me tell you that my roommate Robin had already called the taxi and told him where I wanted to go, I know him, and he had taken me there before. So no worries!
-Go to church by yourself, where you are already the only white person. Once again, no worries. Robin had called my friend I met there and told her I wanted to come and to please meet me. She was also going to call the taxi to pick me up. I started to get a little worried when she didn't show. I probably looked funny just sitting there, not even trying to sing. Thankfully, she got there about an hour and a half late. She translated for me and called the taxi.
-Do the teacher stare. I went to school today for the first time in over a week. Obviously, I can't teach, so I spent most of my time helping in the library. When kids in there were not being quiet and obeying, I gave them my best teacher stare, and it worked! I even did it on my own kids when they were in the library and it worked on them too! So you don't need a voice to remind students to obey!
-Talk on the phone. This one is a little more challenging, and I only did it once with our neighbor who can see me from her window. She wanted to know if I needed a ride to Bible Study. I motioned to her and she confirmed what my motions meant. It must have been quite a site, especially since it is still across the block. The buildings between us are low, but I am sure others could see us motioning to each other with the phones in our hands!
-Pray, read, and rest. Hmm, those things are pretty self-explanatory. My body has definitely needed this time to slow down. I guess God needed to get my attention to remind me to rest, and He sure did!

Well, there is a little update on my life as a mute person. I would love to hear from you readers out there, as my only real communication right now is written. I am sure I will have more stories soon enough. I am going back to the doctor sometime this week, so we will see what he says. Thanks for being interested!