Day 36 (29): A Count

Well, I just spent the last several minutes trying to fix my day count. You see, keeping track of two numbers at the same time proved to be too much of a strain, so I did it wrong. But it's fixed now, because I noticed the count wasn't adding up.

Anyway. We got COVID tested today. You have to get that negative test to get back into the States. We had some breakfast, had some conversation, got ready, got an Uber, and went to the lab. The nice lady stuck a swab up our noses (it was different swabs, not just one) and sent us on our way. My credit card didn't work at the lab, which was concerning, but we used Katie's. 

To reward ourselves for our nostril swabification, we stopped at Starbucks on our way to the CDI. We walked the rest of the way, because, why not? It had been raining really hard, but it stopped just in time for us. My card worked at Starbucks, so we're gucci. I almost got something there, but decided I didn't want to talk in Spanish right then, so I didn't.

We got to the CDI after a lovely walk and got everything set up for the day. Ana Raquel agreed to lead our DBS, which was exciting. Because we have such a big team right now, all of the kids came today, which was a lot of fun. We danced and played and acted out the story of the Good Samaritan (Ana Raquel had us act as she read, which was a cool new way to do the story), and practiced recognizing Major 7 chords (?) and practiced English being verbs and some math and some reading in English. It was a really good day. 

After the CDI time, Matthew taught our last Guitar Lesson. It seemed to go really well; I was playing a Memory game with Saul and Katie. I lost. Tonight was the last time we'll see Derek before we leave, but he handled it well. He friend-requested me on FB, which is cool. I don't remember the last time I got on FB though (y'know, before today).

We ended the guitar lesson about 10 minutes early, which means we got everyone out and ready to go by 6:30, hopped an Uber to Duke's for the friends-and-family trial-run. We ate us some BBQ, I tell you what. It was really good. 

We hung out and hung out some more, then caught an Uber and got home jusssst before COVID curfew for vehicles. We watched a movie and laid our best plans for tomorrow.

I did some admin-y, organize-y things involving money and flights and emails and stuff. I downloaded some apps and signed up for some stuff, almost all of which will be irrelevant in 2 days, but matters for now! Now I'm listening to the Party Rock Anthem and typing this blog. 

I noticed my posts have become increasingly just summaries of what we did each day and less of rambly rants full of uninvited (though possibly welcome) vulnerability and "filtered external processing." I think it's because I'm just in Get Done mode right now. I don't really want to process through Things Ending right now or think about Next Steps or Being Home. I don't think it's in an avoidance way, at least not primarily; I mostly just feel tired and want to rest. But I also need to be scheduling the days I have back in country before we head to Monterrey on the 28th. I almost would prefer to go directly to Mexico and figure out Texas stuff when I have time to be in Texas. 

When I have time (??), I'll post a final summary of my experience here as a wrap-up post for this year's trip, then I'll forget this blog exists until we have our team formed next year. If I'm feeling bloggy, I may post a post or two from our mini Mexico trip on my Monterrey STM blog. I'd love the continued prayer. Shoot, I just took a peak; that blog's so old they don't even have the format any more. Maybe if I ever go on a Monterrey STM again for real, I'll fix it up pretty.

PRAYER:
- for the church here to grow in love and depth of passion and faith in following God

- for the leaders here to be always Bold and Spirit-led
- for our partnership to grow and deepen over the next years
- for our last day with the kids to go well. Yikes.

- for our last day with maybe everyone to go well.

- for our trip home to be more betterer than my last trip home
- for our team as we transition back to our regularly scheduled lives (sort of)

- for me as I start thinking Bigger Picture Partnership Stuff WRT Mexico

Pictures: Yea, my camera is officially deaded. I could probably have gotten you guys a picture or 7 from my team here, but I imagine I said at least 1,000 words here, so that has to be worth something, right?

Our egg count is at 198 right now. We have three eggs left. They're in a coffee mug. I'm not sure why. But it looks nice, I suppose.

Update: my word count up to this point was 894, which, it turns out, is less than 1,000. There's those counting skills again. By the time I finish writing this disclaimer, we may hit 950, I don't know. I may check, but I won't tell you. You can count if you want to. But, all that to say, I didn't get to 1,000 words, so I added a picture of The Count. I hope that placates you.