President, Pumpkin, and Phase 10

The mountains on Sunday were too beautiful to have a bad day. I watched the rising and sloping of the peaks all of the way to San Pedro. Jesi, who likes to sit with me during the morning service, has figured out all of my buttons...and exactly which ones to push to get a reaction from me. She enjoyed distracting me during Rod's message. In the afternoon, Stacey and I walked out to the "Bienvenidos a Choix" arch on the edge of town to get a few pictures. The evening after the Choix service was pleasant and we took another walk...this time getting delayed by a drunk man who had a hard time deciding who he loved more--me or Stacey. It sounds funny now, but it really wasn't then. Stacey and I stayed up and talked girl talk; I'm going to miss those times so much after she leaves in February!

Monday morning we spent a long time at Don Josecito's store...thanks to many other customers. We walked over to Vanessa's house where we tried to teach Lupita and Vanessa how to play Phase 10. (Note: explaining games in Spanish is much harder than having a conversation!!!) Three o'clock that afternoon was the San Pedro Kid's Club. I am convinced that some of the most adorable children in the world live in that little village. That evening we watched Donna and Janessa cleaning Janessa's room. I personally am proud of their progress in making room for me when I move in at the end of the month (when Stacey leaves). Just before verb class, we met up with some high school boys on our street who delighted in practicing their English. The one guy didn't earn many points with us when he called out, "Hey, woman! What's your name?"

I started working on invitations on Tuesday morning for the girls' night in February. I made frijoles puercos for lunch... something I had never made before. I watched CNN online that afternoon to watch our new President make his speech. Sometimes I feel so out of touch with my own country, so it was nice to see what was happening again. Later that afternoon, we helped to stamp tracts and then went out in groups around town to pass them out. We bravely avoided German Shepherds and Dalmations and even got stalked by a group of guys....okay....little boys. Stacey, Roselina (one of the 14-year-old twins from the orphanage), and I sat out by the road at Loren and Donna's to watch the cars go by and talk. Roselina tried to teach us how to sing Mexican-style, but eventually gave up when we dissolved in laughter.

On Wednesday I made cookies and finished the books of the Bible poster of the Antiguo Testamento (Old Testament). After lunch, Stacey and I visited our landlady and gave her some dessert. She loves to have us visit because she gets so lonely living by herself. Loren and Donna left on their anniversary get-away and Stacey and I "baby-sat" their children in the evening...although they were perfect little angels and we didn't do much entertaining. We walked uptown to get better ideas for the girl party invitations, set up for the evening prayer meeting, played Phase 10, and ate sandwiches for supper. After church, we helped clean up and headed home.

Thursday equals "cleaning-and-laundry" day. And then "reading-my-book-and-doing-nothing-worthwhile" day. We did get adventurous enough to walk uptown and talk to the hotel guy. I quickly realized how insufficient my Spanish is; I embarrass myself sometimes. We sat and read at the plaza. When I got hungry (er...hungrier than my normal hungry self), we came home to make cream of wheat in our borrowed coffee maker....which works great by the way. (It's like this: we ran out of gas for our stove about a week ago and with only a little time left at our apartment we didn't think it worthwhile to fill up another tank.) We went for a walk to enjoy the evening.

Loren and Donna came home on Friday. The kids were so excited. Since it was Donna's birthday and Loren and Donna's anniversary, Janessa made tortas and pumpkin pie for lunch. I made pumpkin cookies for Saturday school and wheat bread by random inspiration. After lunch, Stacey and I walked uptown to get Donna's gift. Later that afternoon, we went to Mochiqui to visit, play volleyball, and help with the girls' school lessons. Then came fun night at the orphanage with nachos and lots of little kids. Not only was it was fun, but we got home by my bedtime!

And then came Saturday school with lots of new children. Stacey and I still were not successful in getting our little neighbor boys to come to class. They said they were coming but they were still buying their breakfast tortillas 15 minutes before class. We made lunch-- spaghetti with garlic bread (with homemade bread) and pumpkin pie for dessert. I must admit that it was delicious although I still taste the garlic on my breath... In the afternoon, we went for a walk to pass out a few tracts. We ended up on a little dirt road that took us above the city of Choix. We had a gorgeous lookout of the city and the mountains. I continued working on the girls' invitations. In the evening, Stacey and I hung out with our neighborhood boys (no worries; all are 12 and under). We wanted to play soccer, but they were more interested in practicing their English..."Won, schtew, tree, far, fife..." After that we ate some delicious pizza with Loren, Donna, and family.