Rosary Beads, Baby Clothes, and Popcorn

Baby Chuyito

Lucky Kedric got a chicken from Ian.

Watching and waiting their turns....

Nice handkerchief, Rod.

The kids put on a program for us.

Fighting over the leftover popcorn.

Diego and Miguel with their stashes...

Hey, it's me again. It's Sunday night and I'm bored. After a long and basically relaxing day, I don't have much that I need to do. This morning I enjoyed the trip to San Pedro. The mountains are stunning this time of year: a little green lingering amidst the ruggedness. The people at the San Pedro service always act delighted to see me whether they are or not. Days like today make me wish that we didn't have a language barrier. I took a nap this afternoon. It was delicious except the obvious pillow creases I carried all of the way to the 4:00 Choix service. I had a headache during the service and walked home for some ibruprofen. I talked to the little boys on my street and overheard them discussing me as I walked away: "Ella dijo 'Broma'!" I walked right back over after swallowing my pill and then Stacey and I prayer-walked around town. What a refreshing end to a relaxing day!

Monday. I wanted to smash my alarm clock like Garfield always does. But I knew that taking my anger out on an inanimate object wasn't the answer. As soon as we got to Loren and Donna's, I ran to the store to buy some groceries. Stacey and I studied language a little and then headed over to Vanessa's house to drop off groceries and show off the pregnancy photos of Lupita. We spent most of the morning there visiting. When we came back, we finished preparing lunch, ate, and had siesta time. We left for San Pedro at 3:00 for Kid's Club. Forty-two children came. Rod forgot the guitar so we sang a cappella with children who didn't even know most of the songs. When we got home, Donna had greenbeans, potatoes, and bacon-like meat waiting for us. (I guess you always want what you can't have; I LOVE American food since I've been here.) I managed to squeeze a cup of hot chocolate between dinner and verb class, trying desperately to stimulate my tired brain.

I'm tired again. I'm always tired. Today was a long day. Loren and Donna went to Los Mochis so Stacey went to work at the orphanage and I went to help Christa for the day. The "muchacho" came to sweep our lawn. He asked us for our broom, but Stacey indignantly told him to use the broom "afuera!" outside! Stacey left on the bike, and Rach came for her day off. I spent the morning finishing a quilt, sewing on a few buttons, and making muffins for Christa. I felt very appreciated although I am one of the most inexperienced seamstresses. In the afternoon I got to see some of the children I don't see much anymore-- Jesus, Jose, Amaris, Adryan, and Rojelio. I wrote out verses and worked on Christmas gifts for Christa's children. I was walking home alone in the semi-dark when I heard "Watzup, Baby?" I didn't turn around right away, but I couldn't help but grin because I knew the little voice was coming from Salvador. We stopped and talked at the intersection. That's a 14-year-old boy who desperately needs Jesus; please pray for him... I was barely home when Marlen walked in and wanted me to walk her home. I did. Stacey and I went out to eat together, and found a lot of things to talk about since we had been separated ALL DAY! As we walked, we met up with the "muchacho" who insisted on giving me rosary beads. I have no idea what to do with them...any suggestions? We ate at a little out-of-the-way restaurant and found a little girl who spoke perfect English. And hurray for tacos dorados!

I did my Spanish verb test today. Ian stopped by in the morning and sympathized with me, but wouldn't help me conjugate "leer" to read. Then Donna sent us uptown to go baby clothes shopping. I thought it would be a fun adventure. Fun? No. Adventure? Yes. Each store sells every item separately and hides them behind counters and far out of reach so that you have to ask for assistance when you're not even quite sure what you're looking for! But we found diapers; lots and lots of diapers. In the afternoon we wrapped up baby bundles for new and expecting mothers. After prayer meeting, I tried to take care of a fussy Chuyito. I called home and talked for a nice long time. When I went to bed, Stacey and I were both up coughing and coughing until late. Grrr...

Another day off. The week comes around so fast. We cleaned and did laundry as usual. I walked uptown to the post office and to finish my Christmas shopping. The man at the post office loves to practice his English. He kept offering me the peanuts he was eating. I told him my address and he pointed to a box on the counter. "Tree-see-uh Kay-nell," he said. I was so excited! Thanks, O'tilia! He went through the long process of having me sign papers multiple times. In the meantime another man stepped inside, and the post office man proudly told him that I spoke Spanish although he had yet to hear me speak it. I finished my Christmas shopping and came home to finish laundry and cleaning. Then, feeling restless again, Stacey and I went for a long walk. Dinner and then bedtime.

Studying verbs actually made some sense today, despite the fact I'm working on compound tenses. Phrases like "he decidido" and "hubiera sido" are starting to make sense! We left for Mochiqui this morning because we couldn't go in the afternoon. Stacey and I planned to play with the little girls, but they had their school Christmas party. So instead, we visited the adults like normal adults (despite the fact that Donna did most of the talking). Then we wandered off to watch a nearby volleyball game. Soon Salvador and his son Jaciel came to watch too. Salvador volunteered us to play, but we quickly declined. He claimed he could not play because he was holding Jaciel. When I offered to take care of the baby while he played, he guiltily admitted that he didn't like to play anymore. I was content to sit in the sand and watch the Mexican youth interact. Afterwards, we walked up to MariCruz's and I pushed Uriel around in a box on the ground until all of my blood rushed to my head. We came home for spaghetti and then time off. Marlen came over so we went for a walk around town and almost got attacked by scary dogs. Of course, I was the only one who thought the dogs were scary and the only one who took off running and the only one who almost got ran over by a car in the process and the only one who got stared at... Such is life. We went back to Loren and Donna's to make pizza and then loaded up to go to the orphanage for our Christmas celebration. The children's gift exchange was the highlight of the evening. They were so excited to get their cheapy, plastic toys. The adults did a grab bag with a vicious twist that included stealing gifts back and forth. Fortunately I liked the gift I ended up with. After all of the gifts were opened, some of us had a popcorn battle which included stuffing our mouths full of leftover popcorn and making little kids hyper. Johan marched the boys out saying, "It's going to take six months to undo what you guys just did!" We laughed.

It was so hard to get up this morning! Stacey and I went over to set up for Saturday school and then picked up some kids. During Saturday school, I got my first Mexican kiss-- a big, slobbery one from Chuyito. Yuck! We made lunch early and had the afternoon off. We chose to go for a walk to pass out some tracts. Several men and a lady tried to talk to us. One guy even acted surprised that Stacey knew English...lucky girl. The most encouraging part of my day was handing a tract to a man and returning down the same street 20-30 minutes later and seeing him still standing there, reading. In the evening we helped Janessa babysit for the Yoder and the Schwartz children. Mac 'n' cheese, games, mud, high energy, and no tears made for an interesting evening!