Today was a good day.
This morning was spent, primarily, on laundry and organization. With so much rain and being busy outside of the house the last few days, laundry piled up in various stages of completeness. We also acquired some other furniture to help with the organization and these were being set into place and utilized. Which brings me back to Saturday.
Saturday morning was pretty uneventful until just about after breakfast. I was still working on my lesson for Sunday, but we had some more shopping to do and we were heading out the door as Sister Reina and Amanda came in. Amanda had been asking when she could come play with Erin in the playground since we got here. We kept telling Reina to call us to find out if we were here and then send over Amanda. That hadn't happened yet. So, she brought Amanda over and asked if she could play with Erin and Nathan. We were okay with that, but that meant she'd have to go shopping with us first.
It is a very interesting experience to go shopping as an American with a young local girl. At first she would not go into any of the stores we entered. We had a shopping list and we were stopping by various stores that all carried items we'd need because we were looking for the one with the best price. -- Side Note: all of the Coke products (and most other sodas, junk food, and other items) are priced the same in every store because the price is printed on the label, and unlike the U.S. it is not taken as the MSRP, it is the price asked. For example, a 2.5 liter of Coke is $1.50 pretty much everywhere in town, except restaurants. --
Eventually (after prodding from me) Amanda understood that she was welcome to come with us wherever we went, but she still mostly hung back at the doors of the stores. When we stopped by Lilian's for a drink (and a snack for Erin who had skipped breakfast) we literally had to tell Amanda she had to pick either a drink or a snack or we'd buy her both. She picked horchata. Agua for me por favor muy mucho. We did our shopping, including the aforementioned furniture, and then headed back to the house. We again stopped by Lilian's on the way to pick up some freshly made (but not baked) personal pizzas to take back and have for lunch.
While Lori got lunch ready, Erin and Nathan joined Amanda outside to play. The playground didn't hold their attention very long. They came out to the courtyard to play futbol. They pulled a couple of empty trash cans and some rocks to mark off goals and then played. They played what Nathan calls "Monkey in the Middle" (what we used to call Keep Away) for a brief time. But the soccer proved more entertaining. So there it was Amanda and Erin against Nate. Not exactly fair, but fun to watch. Then Nathan had the bright idea of evening the playing field. "Dad? Will you come play with us?" So now it was 2 on 2. You should have seen Amanda's eyes when she realized she was playing against the Jolly American Giant!
We had fun though until the pizzas were ready. Amanda had to go home after lunch, though, so it was back to work on my lesson. However, until late that night I probably didn't have a straight 20 minutes to focus on my lesson due to numerous interruptions. They were all legit, but interruptions just the same. Church members need to talk. Jose needed to talk. I don't even remember now what all the conversations were. Eventually though, I did get to finish my lesson - which I taught the following afternoon.
I was under the mistaken impression that Jose and I were to team teach this new class for young men and teen boys 15 and up. Jose had agreed he would translate, but he wanted to be a student. The class went well. We started about 15 or 20 minutes late so we will finish the introduction next week. I had 4 students. Jose, Carlitos, Adonis, and Gerardo.
After class it was time for dinner. We have standing reservations at Sister Reina's house on Sunday nights, as she informed us when we didn't go to her house last week. No problem with us! Oh, the pupusas! Good food, good conversation, and a good walk home.
Today the children started back to school (after a nation-wide vacation where even banks and post office were closed the entire week).
Worship tonight was great, though some of it was drowned out by the rain. Tomorrow I am to start visiting all the families of the program children. I am to accompany Jose on these visits. I have learned more Spanish, but mostly understanding. I still have a very hard time putting the words in the right order to make a sentence come out of my mouth. So, I will do a lot of listening and maybe some speaking through Jose.
Tomorrow promises to be another good day.
This week please be praying for the leadership of the churches in this area. Specifically mention Jose, Jesus, Jorge, Marcos, and Marvin. Pray that they will make the best decisions for the future of the church in this area, and that they will continue to develop their Christ-like examples to all they encounter.
This morning was spent, primarily, on laundry and organization. With so much rain and being busy outside of the house the last few days, laundry piled up in various stages of completeness. We also acquired some other furniture to help with the organization and these were being set into place and utilized. Which brings me back to Saturday.
Saturday morning was pretty uneventful until just about after breakfast. I was still working on my lesson for Sunday, but we had some more shopping to do and we were heading out the door as Sister Reina and Amanda came in. Amanda had been asking when she could come play with Erin in the playground since we got here. We kept telling Reina to call us to find out if we were here and then send over Amanda. That hadn't happened yet. So, she brought Amanda over and asked if she could play with Erin and Nathan. We were okay with that, but that meant she'd have to go shopping with us first.
It is a very interesting experience to go shopping as an American with a young local girl. At first she would not go into any of the stores we entered. We had a shopping list and we were stopping by various stores that all carried items we'd need because we were looking for the one with the best price. -- Side Note: all of the Coke products (and most other sodas, junk food, and other items) are priced the same in every store because the price is printed on the label, and unlike the U.S. it is not taken as the MSRP, it is the price asked. For example, a 2.5 liter of Coke is $1.50 pretty much everywhere in town, except restaurants. --
Eventually (after prodding from me) Amanda understood that she was welcome to come with us wherever we went, but she still mostly hung back at the doors of the stores. When we stopped by Lilian's for a drink (and a snack for Erin who had skipped breakfast) we literally had to tell Amanda she had to pick either a drink or a snack or we'd buy her both. She picked horchata. Agua for me por favor muy mucho. We did our shopping, including the aforementioned furniture, and then headed back to the house. We again stopped by Lilian's on the way to pick up some freshly made (but not baked) personal pizzas to take back and have for lunch.
While Lori got lunch ready, Erin and Nathan joined Amanda outside to play. The playground didn't hold their attention very long. They came out to the courtyard to play futbol. They pulled a couple of empty trash cans and some rocks to mark off goals and then played. They played what Nathan calls "Monkey in the Middle" (what we used to call Keep Away) for a brief time. But the soccer proved more entertaining. So there it was Amanda and Erin against Nate. Not exactly fair, but fun to watch. Then Nathan had the bright idea of evening the playing field. "Dad? Will you come play with us?" So now it was 2 on 2. You should have seen Amanda's eyes when she realized she was playing against the Jolly American Giant!
We had fun though until the pizzas were ready. Amanda had to go home after lunch, though, so it was back to work on my lesson. However, until late that night I probably didn't have a straight 20 minutes to focus on my lesson due to numerous interruptions. They were all legit, but interruptions just the same. Church members need to talk. Jose needed to talk. I don't even remember now what all the conversations were. Eventually though, I did get to finish my lesson - which I taught the following afternoon.
I was under the mistaken impression that Jose and I were to team teach this new class for young men and teen boys 15 and up. Jose had agreed he would translate, but he wanted to be a student. The class went well. We started about 15 or 20 minutes late so we will finish the introduction next week. I had 4 students. Jose, Carlitos, Adonis, and Gerardo.
After class it was time for dinner. We have standing reservations at Sister Reina's house on Sunday nights, as she informed us when we didn't go to her house last week. No problem with us! Oh, the pupusas! Good food, good conversation, and a good walk home.
Today the children started back to school (after a nation-wide vacation where even banks and post office were closed the entire week).
Worship tonight was great, though some of it was drowned out by the rain. Tomorrow I am to start visiting all the families of the program children. I am to accompany Jose on these visits. I have learned more Spanish, but mostly understanding. I still have a very hard time putting the words in the right order to make a sentence come out of my mouth. So, I will do a lot of listening and maybe some speaking through Jose.
Tomorrow promises to be another good day.
This week please be praying for the leadership of the churches in this area. Specifically mention Jose, Jesus, Jorge, Marcos, and Marvin. Pray that they will make the best decisions for the future of the church in this area, and that they will continue to develop their Christ-like examples to all they encounter.
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