Baby, Broccoli, and a Black Eye

[Breakfast buffet]
[Mourning the loss of loved pets at the cemetery]
[Miguel's foot in my sandal and my foot in Miguel's sandal... almost the same size!][Rosalina drawing]

Sunday: As we set up for the service in the morning, Janessa and I grabbed the same broom. As we swept the floor together, Caleb (who was standing around not doing anything at the moment) remarked, "You two could work faster if you didn't do that together." "Well, at least we're working," I snipped. I was delighted that Ana came to the morning service; it was good to talk with her again. Miguel snooped through my Bible while I wasn't looking. I pulled out the calendar to show him the date my visa expires. He told me "¡No te vayas!" (Don't leave!). These poor children are probably tired of workers popping in and out of their lives. We ate lentil soup for lunch. The afternoon ride to San Pedro was hot. The service was full and people kept coming, PTL. After the service, I sat in a group of ladies and tried to keep up with the rapid conversation circling around me. But I was lost every time someone asked me a question. We got home around 9:00 and barely had enough water for showers.

~~~

Monday: I woke up with a sore throat and a cold. How dumb in 100* weather! (The computer said that the temperature was 97* and that it felt like 112*.) I studied verbs, but not even two espresso truffles could keep me alert enough to concentrate. When I made my weekly trek over to Vanessa's house, I played Memory with Vanessa, Gabi, and Lupita. Playing Memory with them is challenging since they rarely put the card down in the same spot that they picked it up. Soon the game is a big, messy pile of cards and has nothing to do with your memory and everything to do with luck. Furthermore, Vanessa and Lupita were blatantly cheating. I guess it was fun in a twisted sort of way. In the afternoon, I worked on posters and drank lemon juice with honey for my aching throat. I helped chop vegetables for cebiche. After dinner, Kedric, Kyle, Janessa, and I played freeze tag in the front of the house. It was fun, even if we did get all hot and very sweaty.

~~~

Tuesday: I managed to make lemon bars for the prison and lunch while my throat and nose screamed at me. I tried drinking hot tea in a 300+* kitchen, but nothing worked to ease the inflammation. After listening to "skateboard and straw hat" Odyssey over lunch, I finished laundry, cleaned my room, and had time off. Then I worked on a new verse poster for Sunday. Scott told me that all I ever do is work on posters. Rhonda and Lenn stopped by to show off the new motor scooter. Rhonda looked so cute on it, but she didn't want to take me for a ride. I called home after dinner. I tried to hide out on the roof, but the glorious rain chased me inside. I decided to go to bed early, but was in the beginning stages of drifting off when Donna came into the bedroom. "Are you ready to go?" And Janessa and I quickly packed our bags and headed over to Rod and Christa's house where we spent the night while Rod and Christa headed for the hospital.

~~~

Wednesday: I didn't sleep good because of my cold and because of the trash man that banged the gate open early in the morning. Rod and Christa's kids were thrilled to discover that the van was gone and two babysitters were sleeping in the livingroom. While we were all getting ready for the day, Rod called to proudly announce the birth of Grace Karina. Loren picked us all up and we went home. I walked uptown and didn't find any orange juice. Then I came back to try to sleep without electricity; not a good idea because of the lack of fans. The electricity was off and on all day. The most adventurous thing I did all day was play with sidewalk chalk with Kassie, Alyssa, and Janessa. But it was so hot that I eventually opted for indoors. Inside felt like AC compared to outside. I checked the weather in Illinois and was dismayed [and jealous] to find the temperature was only in the 70s. Fortunately, the electricity was on during prayer meeting. We went to Mochiqui to drop off the villagers. Out of the seven people in the back of the truck, two were from Mochiqui and the rest were just along for the ride. Janessa and I made our usual two trips to the store for smoothie ingredients.

~~~

Thursday: When I got to the orphanage, Roxina pulled me over to look at the graves of two recently deceased pet birds. The kids (especially Roxina) were very sad. The morning went fast. I made lunch and tried to keep noise level at a minimum. I was struggling a bit with my cold, and noise was making me lose my concentration. Suzanne jumped in to help me out before the boys came down for lunch. None of the kids liked the broccoli salad much. Domingo told me not to make "that food" anymore! Leobardo sat at the table for a long time, trying to finish his portion. Rosalina ate a pile of it and then decided that she didn't really like it after all. Diego made a comment about how I feed them dog and donkey. It was all very humorous. After lunch, I happened to discover that Diego and I have the same size of feet and Miguel's feet are just a tiny bit smaller than mine. Some of the boys hid my sandal in the Rotoplas water tank until Sam made them give it back. Suzanne and I had part of our time off together which was fun. I started dinner prep until Debbie came home. Suddenly, children were everywhere and it felt they were all yelling. (I think my cold was magnifying the noise level slightly). Regina and I ate early and Lenn took me home.

~~~

Friday: Happy birthday, Wendell! I should have stayed in bed. I didn't feel good in the morning. By the time I arrived at the orphanage on bike, I could hardly breathe. Debbie kindly offered to take me home, but I stubbornly started with laundry instead. I was ready to start the machines, but discovered that the electricity was off. "Perfect time to test drive the moto," I thought, not-so-brightly. (Most of you probably know what's coming.) On my second round, I got off the road enough to tip the poor little motor scooter over and send my face into the gravel. I'm still not sure what happened... I'm missing 3-4 minutes of my memory. But, some things are very clear: my mild concussion, my purple eye, my scraped face, elbow, foot, and hands, my aching bruises, etc. Rhonda and Ian, with the help of a driver I'm not sure I even thanked, got me and the moto back to the house. I didn't feel any pain, even when I saw my bloody face. But I remember trying to spit the gravel out of my mouth. Debbie and Rhonda had to cope with my blabbering away while they cleaned me up. I talked and talked even after Debbie took me home. Donna took good care of me as I tried to sleep the rest of the morning and early afternoon away. By then, I was more coherent. I helped a little with getting ready for the evening's modesty seminar... but I wasn't very helpful, I'm sure. Marlen and I messed around on the computer trying to make handouts for the evening. People stopped by to see me... I think I scared most of them with my ugly face. During the seminar, I stayed in my room, emerging only to help clean up afterwards.

~~~

Saturday: Happy birthday, Michelle! [I've been gone from home for 11 months.] If I thought I was ugly on Friday, I was even uglier by Saturday morning. My black eye had spread and was almost swollen shut. Regardless, I enjoyed scaring certain people... like Ricardo: He came to the window, "Tía! Tía! Come here!" "Do you really want me to come?" "Yes!" "Okay." *GASP* "Tía! What happened to you?" The kids were very fascinated with my face and I got lots of attention at class. I was pretty tired of being a freak show by the end of the morning. The only one who didn't act scared or grossed out was dear little Chuy. He looked at my eye and decided he still loved me. After class I went to the orphanage to help with lunch and lay down; I was exhausted. In the afternoon, Rhonda told everyone to behave and set everything up so that I could lay on a bed and still be "on duty." That was the extent of my day. Roxina would NOT look at me without my sunglasses, so I tried to remember to wear them as much as I could... for everyone's sakes. We had dinner and then I helped with clean up and hung out with the kids. Lenn took me home. After a long day of doing nothing, I was exhausted!

~~~

Update on the face: It's getting better. The black is spreading to the other eye, but the swelling has gone down considerably and the scratches are healing. The wound on my hand re-opens when it gets wet. It's frustrating to try to keep it clean! I've been doing a lot of resting and not a lot of work. I'm praising God for taking care of me and sending people into my life who are looking out for me! Pray that God would give me patience to be a "freak" for a little while yet...

Leftover Soup, Genealogies, and Tucson

Sunday: Ricardo came to church. He sat in the front row right in front of me. When I propped my feet on his bench, he pinched his nose and gave a dramatic "PEW!" I spent most of time during the service looking up references for Ricardo, Carla, and Tita. Ricardo would look on his own for awhile and eventually hand me his Bible hopefully, as if he had somehow happened upon the general area of the reference. After church I was watching the dodgeball game when he came up behind me and tucked behind my ear a huge leaf from Donna's new plant. How touching. Chuy was dressed up in jeans, a plaid shirt, and cowboy boots; he was so cute! Once he fell down and got dirty, Rhonda and I decided that he looked like a REAL cowboy. In the afternoon, I was determined to get a few things done, so I forfeited precious napping time. As a result, I was soooo tired for the afternoon service. The little front porch church in San Pedro was full, PTL. I was excited about the people who had come to hear God's Word. But by the end of the evening, I was ready to fall into my bed.

Monday: I decided by the afternoon that I should've stayed in bed. My morning was full of unpleasant surprises: you know, those days where nothing happens how you want it to. Spanish verbs and I have come to a agreement. I'll pretend to learn them for an hour and a half every Monday morning if they promise not to make me remember them. Maybe not the best agreement, but I'm feeling a tad unmotivated in my language study. I'll blame it on the heat. I walked over to visit Lupita's family and ended up sitting out under a tree talking with the grandmother. I wish relationships would be consistent; not, we like you/we don't want to talk to you/we'll be nice to you/now we really don't like you. We had most of Reina's family for lunch. I took my time off until Rod came to pick us up for the San Pedro kid's club. The class was fun except for the fact that Mario picked me to hold the song. Rod thought that I should sing a solo. Not a good idea for the sake of everyone else! After class, I cleaned up and then went down to watch the children playing games. Sam and Marlen were around for dinner. After dinner a discussion ensued regarding Marlen's life. In fact, the entire episode lasted for quite awhile, even until Janessa and I walked her home. Oh yah, and Ricardo came to the window wearing his Lindolfo Reyes shirt inside out. I asked him if he was wearing it that way because Lindolfo had lost the election and he said "¡Sí!" Crazy, loveable boy.

Tuesday: Tuesday was hot, hot, hot! I got up early to do laundry. I started late on the cookies and lunch, but I ended up with a nice array of cookies: too done, well-done, medium rare, and rare. I finished lunch, some sort of soup made from various leftovers (it turned out a lot like chili). Caleb found out what I was concocting and said, "You'll make a good mom." I decided to take that as a compliment, regardless of the intention. After time off, I worked on posters in Loren and Donna's air-conditioned bedroom. It was all well and good until I stepped back out into the real un-air-conditioned world. I could hardly breathe! I finished the laundry and then helped Loren start dinner. I spent the evening on the phone and catching up with emails.

Wednesday: I made a useless trip to the post office, discovered it was closed, and bought myself a consolation gift for walking all of the way uptown. Mmmm... strawberries 'n' creme for breakfast. I came back home to sit in front of a fan and finish the book I had started that morning. That was pretty much my day. Oh, but I made a quick trip to the store to buy a Fresca. Two men were pushing a truck up the side street. I opted to wait until they were past rather than get run over. But they spotted me and stopped pushing so I could pass. I tossed them a grateful smile and continued on my way. On the way back, the truck was all of the way to the main street, but still wasn't running. As I skirted around the front end, one of the men was crossing the street and coming towards me, right in front of a car! His partner yelled "¡Aguas!" (Look out!) and the man quickly stumbled out of the way. When I crossed his path, he laid a heavy hand on my shoulder and gave me a couple pats. "¡Tucson!" he declared happily. I didn't stick around to find out how an Arizona city pertained to anything; I just continued on my way. While I was munching on a sandwich for dinner, the skies opened up and it POURED for a half hour. What an answer to prayer! We stood out on the front porch and drank in the sight of flooded streets (no drainage system) and waterfalls streaming off of gutterless roofs. We cancelled prayer meeting and the kids played in the puddles instead. I read my book on the front porch until Janessa, Mari, and Marlen made some sort of hot chocolate from a little chocolate bar called an "abuelita" (literally: grandmother). After the rain and driving wind had stopped, I grabbed a sweatshirt and a pillow and climbed up onto the roof to enjoy the freshness of the evening and talk with my Creator. That night I was dreadfully naughty and left the water on during my entire shower. I felt so guilty when I was done... but it was a happy sort of guilt.

Thursday: The morning was deliciously chilly. Lunch at the orphanage went very smoothly. I played with the kids and hung out with Suzanne in my free time. Miguel swept and mopped the floor after lunch. He took forever. When he was finished, he came in for a cookie reward and left big, dirty footprints on the wet floor... and he didn't even care. After my time off in which I slept and had strange dreams, I drank some iced tea and took Jeffrey and Chuy outside. Chuy wanted to see the chickens and he stood right up to the fence, his big belly pressed against the wire. He was startled when a hen reached through the fence and tried to pull a button off his shirt. Dinner was so HOT! We sat inside and sweated. After dinner we flocked the outdoors where at least we had room to breathe. Miguel kidnapped Chuy and Jeffrey and gave them a wild ride in the wheelbarrow. When I got home, I was delighted to find out that someone had accepted Christ that afternoon and another had rededicated her life to Christ. Janessa and I were up late discussing genealogies. Read Titus 3:9.

Friday: I rode my bike most of the way to the orphanage. Laundry went fast. I tried to keep moving to keep the gnats out of my face. They constantly swarmed me despite bug spray. I helped Rhonda cut up vegetables for lunch and I visited Suzanne who was busily sewing in her room. I plopped Chuy on my lap, discovered his diaper was leaking and went in search of his primary caregiver: "RHONDA!" After lunch, Domingo did the dishes. He told me that he had an uncle or a cousin named Prospero. Then he threw water on me when I belted out "¡Feliz Navidad! ¡Prospero año y felicidad!" I worked on the laundry for a bit and then Rhonda and I tried to take our time off together in the bodega. Unfortunately, since it was Scott's day off and he had exclusive rights to the bodega and soon chased us out. We left sheepishly, claiming that we'd just wanted to start the AC and get it cooled off for his arrival. Maria and I walked over to Mochiqui. We visited with Ana and some little girls who wandered through the gate. We had fun studying with the girls; they were all well-behaved for once. That night was power fun night (with the entire church). During the meal, Carlos asked me what my last name was and then he, Jorge, and Santos had to test it with "my first name": Salchicha. Santos and Jorge came around a little later asking for my autograph. Jorge gave it a disdainful look and decided that it wasn't worth anything since it was illegible. After clean up, Maria and I sat by the soccer field to watch the game. Santos kindly offered me some oil to keep the bugs away. I say that tongue-in-cheek because I knew it wasn't out of the kindness of his heart that he offered me some and he didn't just "offer", he dumped it into my hand before I could react. When I put it on my face, it soon began to burn. He was laughing and handed me a shirt to wipe it off. I found out later that I had been furiously dabbing my forehead on Carlos' shirt. Thanks, Santos. I moved to a safer part of the property where I wasn't such an easy target for torment. Suzanne joined me and we talked. On our way home, we crossed a soldier checkpoint. According to Marlen, they were looking for drugs and weapons. It was a teeny bit unnerving to have a grim-faced soldier shining his flashlight around the truck and studying us curiously.

Saturday: I had a brutal awakening in the morning: I heard voices... voices I'd never heard before. Janessa quickly shut the door and told me that the visitors from Ahome were here. So I got ready and took my bleary-eyed self out to meet the visitors. I took care of Chuy during class. He spilled his pop-ice all over his hands and his shorts and then slobbered on his che-chis before spitting them back out or wiping them on me. Then I had "shy" children hanging around me, begging for introductions or facts about the two new girls that I was talking to. We all ate lunch at the orphanage. After we cleaned up, we had segregated conversations under a big guamuchile tree while we swatted at the gnats. The breezes were so few and far between that the men started naming them alphabetically like hurricanes. "Breeze Albert. Breeze Beth, etc..." I was so hot I could hardly work up the energy to tell them all goodbye and make my way into the house for time off. I fell asleep despite the heat. When I woke up, Rhonda was already done making dinner. So basically, all I did was eat and do dinner clean up. Diego stuck his hands in the scalding dish water and griped and whined and finally pointed out that the dish soap proclaimed: "¡Poderoso en agua fría!" (Powerful in cold water!). I told him that it was "Más poderoso en agua caliente" (More powerful in hot water), but he didn't fall for that. The electricity went out so we sat outside. Chuy concentrated on moving the stones from the driveway to the lawn. He kept saying, "Uh-oh!" and "¡Juta!" (Wow). Loren came and picked me up and I studiously went to my room to work on my blog rather than enjoy Superman birthday cake from Santos Manuel's birthday celebration in the living room.

Politics, Birria, and Soccer

FOR SALE

MALE CHIHUAHUA

BLACK AND BROWN

BARKS ALL NIGHT

5 PESOS OR BEST OFFER

~~~

I got ready for church on Sunday morning and graded Ana's Bible study test. I had to consult Donna on some of the answers. Then by the time I ate breakfast, it was almost time for church. Marlen sat with me. Alma and Jaciel came in and sat on the other side of me. Alma had combed Jaciel's hair into a point; it was so cute! Marlen and Mario were around for lunch. We discussed Mexican politics. The town was eerily silent... everyone was voting. I called home in the afternoon. It felt good to talk to Mom for a bit. During the San Pedro service, Janessa, Marlen, and I watched a cat throw up three times. The cat looked at its vomit in surprise, sniffed it, tasted it, and finally walked away. After church I saw a chicken eating it. Nice, huh? We had a windy ride home with a tiny bit of rain. There was a mouse waiting for us in the kitchen under a dishtowel in a basket. Dumb mouse! Donna brought the cat inside. The cat sniffed around and finally settled down to sit in the basket on top of the towel, oblivious to the escaping mouse. Dumber cat! I ate dinner and sat out in the living room to journal. I heard a truckload of people go by, shouting one of the candidates' name: "¡Oscar! ¡Oscar! ¡Oscar!" But I didn't find out until the morning that he had won the election.
~~~
Monday I almost felt sick. I didn't feel like doing any of the things I needed to do. But I did them anyway. I studied verbs after breakfast. I even had the chance to test out a new verb tense with Ian who was sitting on our front porch. He retorted with a fancy "hubiera" tense that shot down all sense of accomplishment. I visited Vanessa's family. We played Phase 10 and talked. I got home in time to help set the table for lunch. I almost slept during my time off, despite the noise of all of the children. We didn't have the San Pedro kid's club since Rod and Christa were in El Fuerte. Instead, I helped Donna by writing out verse posters for a "modesty seminar" we're having this month. Unfortunately, my creativity was zilch. I helped with dinner when visitors came to the porch to talk with Donna. That evening I had a pathetic shower that was little more than a trickle. The water actually stopped in the middle of my shower; I hardly noticed.
~~~

I was in a hurry to get my laundry done on Tuesday morning. A plumber was coming to fix the leaky pipes (Hurray! A real shower again!) and I wanted to make sure that I didn't get in his way. I went to the store and bought a lot of stuff from Don Josecito who seemed pleased with so much business. I made cookies. I got distracted by some people at the window while I was making them and added too much flour. The dough felt sorta spongy. I burnt some and quickly disposed of the evidence on all of the happy victims scattered around the house. I made lunch and after we ate, I did the dishes, finished my laundry, and cleaned my room. The man working on the pipes said something to me. When I didn't understand him the second time, I just smiled dumbly and hoped he hadn't asked a question. In the afternoon, I worked on two projects for Donna. Marlen came over and helped me make some posters. We discussed Sunday's cat/chicken episode over bean burritos for dinner; Marlen hopped up from the table and ran into the hallway with her hands over her ears. I talked on the phone after dinner. I was up on the roof until it started raining. Then I took a heavenly shower! I felt like I was in the States again.
~~~

Must I admit that I stayed in my PJs for most of the morning on Wednesday? Part of it was sheer laziness and part of it was due to the fact that the plumber was working in the bathroom again. So I sat on my bed and ate Cheerios and worked on the computer. I got ready for the day so that I could walk to Marlen's house and take her out to eat for birria. Birria is a soup with some very delicious spices and goat meat. I've been told to eat it hot, because once it gets cold, it's very greasy. I was having enough of a problem trying to work up the courage in the first place! Marlen waited until I took my first bite. It took me awhile. The restaurant ladies watched us curiously as we giggled over our bowls of untouched goat soup. Finally we started eating... and it wasn't bad. The meat didn't taste like goats smell, like I had expected. And with fresh, homemade tortillas, I even might have been able to call it good. On our way to the post office, we met Diego the post office man, on the sidewalk. "Where are you going?" he asked us. "Ummm... the post office?" So we hung out at the plaza until he returned. I got a box! That made my day! Marlen helped me open it at the plaza. I walked home in the hot sun. A while after I got back, I realized that my neck was tender. SUNBURN! I ate a sandwich and talked with Kyle about the green men living under his fingernails and about how healthy chocolate is. After all that, we had prayer meeting. It was raining just a little, but enough to get us wet on the way to Mochiqui and back. We made two separate trips to Don Josecito's store before Donna had enough ingredients to make the smoothies.

Birria...the goat soup.
Marlen with my package. She claimed she was more excited than I was.

This picture explains itself, I think.

The boys raced around the yard, catching chickens on Thursday morning after breakfast. Kedric sneaked up with a net on the featherless adolescent hen; he reminded me of the pink panther. At the orphanage I was in charge of lunch. It went smoothly with nothing noteworthy and definitely nothing exciting. I started lunch clean up before I took my time off. I got up in time to get Chuy up. He reeked! Poor, suffering little boy. I took him outside once I cleaned him up. We were hanging out on the back step with Suzanne and Rhonda joined us. We talked for a long time. And then I went in to start getting things ready for dinner. Debbie finished dinner and then we all sat down to eat. After dinner I went outside and Roxina announced to the rest of the world that I was going to play soccer. I am? So I humored her for a bit, or maybe I was the only one humored. Nothing I did helped my poor team, so I played with Jeffrey because he was at my skill level. Lenn brought me home. I was walking down the hallway when I saw the cat nestled on top of Loren's clean pile of laundry. I tried to execute justice and now the cat hates me even more. All in a day's work, I say.

~~~

On Friday morning I made my way out to the orphanage, no thanks to Lenn. He passed me up on the moto with a guilty chuckle that tells me he still has a conscience. I also saw a dead cat, mostly eaten except for the head which was posed in an open-mouthed, wild-eyed scream. When I arrived at the orphanage with sweat dripping off my weary brow, Lenn was eating breakfast and fearfully hiding behind a cereal box to avoid my evil eye. I started in with the laundry right away. Something was in the air outside that made me sneeze and my nose run, so I hung out inside as much as I could. I had a headache when I left after lunch and by the time I got home under the hot sun, it was throbbing. So I laid down for a nap with a fan blowing on me. I felt much better when I got up! Marlen joined us as we left for Mochiqui. When we got there, Ana wasn't around. So we joined Donna at Salvador and Enriqueta's house. Tita accidentally pushed Delia into a wooden cot. Delia was crying and then got angry and stood up to beat Tita with her fists. I physically held her back as everyone else looked on in amusement. I felt dumb, but I would rather feel dumb than watch a girl fight. We studied with Carla, Tita, Alma, and Delia at MariCruz's house. Rumaldo fed us tortillas and some sort of soup that he said contained iguana meat (he was joking). That night was our singles' night out. We wanted to eat at a nice restaurant, but we ended up where we usually do... the taquería. We sat and talked until the restaurant started to get busy. Then Lenn picked us up and we went to the orphanage to hang out in the bodega. Scott bought ice cream lasagna (capuchino flavor) and we played scum. We ended just before the round that I would have been scum. Whew! Lenn took me home.

~~~

I woke up early on Saturday morning and decided to get a few things done before class. I was alert during breakfast for once, and the Yoder family marveled that I could talk so early in the morning. They're used to my typical glowering morning face. After breakfast I swept the floor while brushing my teeth. Of course, several people chose those three minutes to enter the house as I performed my multi-task. "BEENBIHNITHOS" *slobber *spit *foam. Just before class started, Santos plunked down beside me and Jorge sat across the table from me. T-R-O-U-B-L-E. They wrote "Salchicha Fud" on their papers. After class, I had a little run-in with Santos that got him in trouble and me feeling like a little kid. Lunch went good. Clean up went badly. We had two problems happening simultaneously: one that included soap in an eye and another that included a bad word. Fortunately, the guys took care of one while I took care of the other. Roxina mopped the floor and I couldn't get into the bedroom to get their Saturday afternoon candy out without traipsing across the wet floor. Fernando wanted his candy really badly, so he propped the fan on his sandal so that it blew directly on the walkway to the bedroom. Roxina counted to 100 in English for me as I relaxed in front of a fan. When I got Chuy up, he entertained us by trying to stomp on the ants on the floor. The children prompted him with "Kill it, Chuy! Kill it!" I had AC for my time off in the bodega. I took a nap before I emerged from my cool cocoon to help Rhonda with the final stages of dinner prep. After dinner, the children went out on the property to find worms for the chickens. Rhonda and I sat and talked until Loren and Janessa came to pick me up. That's when I heard the news that made my day: Reina's husband accepted the Lord!

"Kill it, Chuy! Kill it!"

Lemons, Bubbles, and Hamburgers

I went for a walk on Sunday morning. I met some of MariChuy's cousins. I meet her cousins no matter where I walk; she must have a million who live along the boulevard alone. Or maybe I just keep "meeting" the same ones over and over again. I dropped by Marlen's house to talk with her and her grandma for a bit. At the Choix service, Loren preached a sermon about "To Judge or Not to Judge", a political thriller with a Shakespearian twist. Okay, just kidding; the text was from Matthew chapter 7. I was sitting beside Ana, but she left immediately afterwards to go to the store. Uriel came up to MariCruz and asked for pesos to buy some chips. I tried to convince him that he wanted besos (kisses) and not pesos (money). I filled up my afternoon with emailing, facebooking, etc. Mario and Marlen were around for most of the afternoon. In San Pedro, Doña Artelmia was back for the first time since her surgery and it was good to see her again. The weather got a little dark during the service. Fransisca sent us off with glasses of coke. During the night, the electricity went off for awhile... and so did the fans. I remember waking up soaked with sweat. The air was dead and the night was silent.

I made myself some tea to go with my Monday morning verb study. Yippee. The 8th tense was much easier than the 5th, 6th, and 7th tenses. I took my practice verb sentences over to Vanessa's house with the groceries. Vanessa looked over my sentences while I helped the rest of the family with house cleaning. I mopped the two-room house and the front porch. Then I helped Lupita with lunch. I came home, happy. Reina and Davíd ate with us for lunch. I studied more verbs during my time off. Janessa was helping me when Rod came and we left for San Pedro. The day was beautiful and more children came to the class than last week. After class I cleaned up and talked with Fransisca, Nayely, and Jesús. Loren had cebiche almost finished when we got home. YUM!

On Tuesday morning, I started in with my laundry and making lemon bars for the prison. Then I made baked fish marinated in lemon juice for lunch and some lemonade. Donna keeps buying bags of lemons from whoever walks by selling them. So we have lots and lots of lemons in the frig right now and I am trying fruitlessly (pun intended) to use them up. After lunch I did up the dishes, finished up my laundry, and then took my time off. I wrote out a song for prayer meeting. Suzanne was on the front porch and wanted a tour through Facebook. Then I helped get ready for dinner. Well, actually all I did was find a fan... which is a very important part of dinner preparation. I talked on the phone for two hours after dinner and I had a blast! (Very unusual for someone who generally dislikes talking on the phone.) The rain chased me back inside.

Wednesday was my day off, of course. But I got up early to work on my quarterly financial report and get a few more things done before I goofed off for the rest of the day. I walked up to the plaza and spent time just sitting, writing and relaxing. I saw a lot of people I knew and/or recognized. On my way home, I came up behind Santos, Jorge, and Sergio. They were walking veeeeeeeery slooooooowly. I said "¡Apúdense!" (Hurry up!). They tormented me as I passed them up. "¡Salchicha!" "¡Fud!" "¡Nana!" When I got home, I relaxed and talked to my mom and my sister online. I tried to sleep, but I had a headache...which disappeared when I got up. I ate dinner with the others. About ten minutes before prayer meeting, the electricity went out. Donna passed out the Antorcha magazine to everyone to use as fans. That helped, but I felt like I was suffocating by the end of the meeting. I kept an eye on Chuy afterwards. Janessa and I hopped in the back of the truck to go to Mochiqui. When we got back, we bought smoothie ingredients. There was a big political fiesta in town. The election is on Sunday and then the "Lindolfo Reyes es como tú ¡gente de trabajo!" and "¡Oscar Lara! ¡Oscar Lara!" will finally stop. Janessa and I went up onto the roof to watch the PAN group go by in their cars. They wildly waved flags out of their windows and honked and yelled and were having tons of fun, apparently. Some man stumbled by on the sidewalk waving a PAN flag. He gave a cheer for PAN at a passing car and got a response something like "¡Somos de PRI!" (We're for PRI). It was funny, even for someone who does not understand Mexican politics. Janessa and I stayed on the roof for awhile, talking about cars and ghosts. I enjoyed the gently cooling night rain.

Then came Thursday. Suzanne had things well under way when I arrived at the orphanage. All I had to do was take over. I got done in time to play with Chuy. He loves bubbles so I let him play with bubbles from the dishwater. Sometimes he'd just get so excited he couldn't touch the bubbles; he'd just giggle and stamp his feet. The girls dressed him up like a little girl. He wasn't too impressed until he realized how much attention he was getting. After lunch, (and no, the potatoes were not crunchy) Miguel amused himself by playing with a doll. I watched as he gave the doll a spanking, set it on the couch and gave it, "Quince minutos" (Fifteen minutes) for time out. I took my siesta time in the bodega after clean up. It was a nice break from the ovenlike outdoors. After break, I helped in the kitchen and then sat outside with Chuy and the visitors. We went to admire the chickens. Well, Chuy admired them, I gazed on them disdainfully. It started to sprinkle. After dinner, Lenn took me back into town.

[My bubble boy]

Friday mornings are those mornings that I set out, determined to do what I least like to do. And I did it. I biked all of the way out to the orphanage...except for the two HUGE hills *gasp!*. The laundry was awaiting me and it smelled as bad as ever. I only did six loads, and entertained Chuy in between. He liked to watch the bubbles form under the spray of soapy water. He had to taste them too. Rosalina decided she wanted to sit on my lap and crush me with a mighty hug after she'd finished the laundry. The twins were in excellent moods and did everything we asked them to do without complaining. We ate delicious taco salad. Then I found out that Domingo's new favorite phrase is "What the world?" I was hot and sweaty when I finally got back into town on bike. I didn't even have enough energy to respond to emails. (Sorry!) We left for Mochiqui after 4:30 despite the fact that we were "leaving in ten minutes" at 4:00. We dropped off a puppy at Doña Aurora's house. Suzanne accompanied Donna and I. We didn't have much time to visit. Ana wasn't home, but we studied with Carla and Tita. MariCruz fed us cake and Rumaldo fed us Zuko. Suzanne and I bought viejitas with Chamoy on the way out. Mmmmm.... When we got back to the orphanage, the hamburgers were still on the grill. We were celebrating the 4th one day early. Jorge and Santos were picking out their puppies. Jorge told me that he was going to name his puppy "Salchicha" after me. After the delicious hamburgers, Johan set off some fireworks for the kids. Then the kids set off some of their own. I lit one and quickly threw it so it wouldn't go off in my hand. I know, I know; I'm a chicken. We had a "punching piñata" because we were too lazy to string up the piñata in the rain. Everyone took a swing at it with their fists, but we discovered why most parties use sticks; it wouldn't break! Lenn finally just pulled out the candy bags.

[Yum! Hamburgers! Almost consisting entirely of beef!]
[Two troublemakers, Santos and Jorge, with their puppies]

[Me, Domingo, and Miguel]

[Jesse pretending to eat Miguel's burger]

[The evening sky was gorgeous!]

[The Three Stooges, Suzanne, Janessa, and Regina, with their watermelon]

[Teo with a piece of the piñata]

We took our time getting around on Saturday morning and then we suddenly realized how late it was. We quickly got ready for class. After class, I asked Jorge if his puppy had died yet. He gave me an incredulous look. I bit into my ice pop and the juice squirted on my skirt and dripped down my chin...not a good omen for my day. Rhonda and I made lunch at the orphanage. The fan blew the flame out under the cooking rice... so we had crunchy rice. I overheard Miguel whispering to Diego, "¡Es duro!" (It's hard!) and then he gave me a guilty look when he saw that I'd overheard. Domingo complained and Johan told him to try to make rice for dinner. "No, I would burn it!" he admitted. After clean up, the boys tried to drag me outside and lock me out. I managed to hold them off for a while before Miguel discovered that I was bracing myself against the door with my arm. Rosalina told me she'd help me, but she didn't really want to get involved. When the boys left, the girls, Fernando, and I drank lemonade and Zuko and hung out in the kitchen. The twins took Fernando out to pick some sort of weed to cook up. A very sweaty Rumaldo came in from the property for some water. I took my time off and even managed to sleep a little. We had a quick and uneventful dinner. After clean up I went outside to play soccer with Fernando, Roxina, and MariChuy. After a couple of wild kicks that made passerbys chuckle, I made a goal! I went inside to talk with Rhonda. Chuy stepped out onto the freshly mopped floor just after Rhonda had said, "No, Chuy!" He managed a mischievous look our way before his feet flew up and he banged his head on the tile floor. We felt sorry for him, but I won't deny that we laughed just a little. When I got home, I took pillows and a dark chocolate bar on the roof to enjoy the evening. The waxing moon peered down at me as I thought about my little problems and my great God. The chocolate kept me awake for awhile after I crawled into bed. I finally fell asleep after midnight. But I woke up when Charco, the Yoders' dog, was barking. He wouldn't stop even though both Loren and Kedric when outside to check what was going on. After an hour or so, I started dreaming of chihuahua barbecue. I think I also authored an entire book... "101 Reasons NOT to Own a Dog!"