Day 38: Soggy

Today was aight. I stayed up far later last night than I should have, so I slept in pretty late. But, I still got a little time with God this morning, and I had already swapped my Monday run for my Tuesday rest, so I had no urgency. Katie wasn't feeling well, so Matthew, Izzy and I brainstormed a bit about the devotional/discipleship time for the kids today and came up with something much better than the bones I had. 

We walked to the CDI a little early, because we wanted to check on our tree. One of the branches had drooped a little, but by-and-large, it was ok. Izzy fixed the branch, but we decided to get duct tape after our time at the CDI today.

I felt nervous for today, because it was just going to be Izzy, Matthew, and I, with Doña Maria and however many kids decided to come. But! Esther came today. She even came early. Also, Reychel was there, too. I don't know why, but I just figured if Georgen was gone, she would be too. Also, only 8 kids came today, and they were largely very well behaved. 

They engaged pretty well in our "love other people" activities today, though I worry the bigger kids won't really go for it. One thing that was cool was, as we talked about "what are ways we can show love to others?" The kids basically laid out the 5 love languages:
"Un regalo"
"Un abrazo"
"Decirles 'te quiero'"
"Ayudar a tu mama en la casa"

"Jugar con ellos"

We helped them along a bit. In our conversation about our next two pieces of the verse, Reychel y Doña Maria were very helpful. They helped us understand definitions for "self-seeking" and "rude" (in Spanish, obviously).

Andres y yo worked on division during the homework time, since he didn't bring any homework. He took to it really naturally, even though subtraction is still super hard for him. He worked hard though. I told him I was impressed and proud of him as he was leaving and he lit up. I try to tell that a lot to the kids, because I wonder if they hear it often from men. 

Most of the kids left early, so I cleaned around in the CDI while Izzy and Esther played with the kids that were still there. 

It rained a LOT today, and fairly hard. After the kids were all picked up, Izzy went to spend time with Esther (I like their friendship a LOT), Matthew headed home, and I went to hunt for Duct Tape. I walked a lot in the rain, which was nice until my socks got wet. I like the rain. The first store didn't have any, so I went to the trusty little hardware store that is far closer to where I started. I got there and couldn't figure out duct tape, so I asked for "cinta fuerte" and the guy got me exactly what I needed.

Walked home, set my shoes out to dry, did NOT take a nap (since I regretted my Sunday nap last night). I cleaned a little, organized a little, microwaved some dinner. I watched about an hour of the movie Baby Driver (which is probs in my top 10 all-time. if you watch it, sorry about the language).

Alexis and I got to talk on the phone for a little while, which was really good. It's hard to have deeper talks over the phone though, because you can't really read the other person's body language, you know? Everyone came home and is now in bed.

I got antsy and swept the house and did dishes and cleaned more before I wrote this post. But now, it's much later and our neighbors are doing dishes rather loudly. I hope my teammates don't think that's me.

Tomorrow, Matthew leaves for a few days, so everything may fall apart. Who knows?

Tomorrow is Day 39. Last year, including travel, we were only in Costa Rica for 38 days. Which now seems so short. I can't imagine if we went home today. So, as of tomorrow, I'll be setting records for my time spent in Costa Rica. Also, since in 2011, I was in Monterrey from June 1 to August 3; as of July 17th, it'll be the longest I've ever been out of the U.S. (my friends who live abroad for 5-year stints may indeed laugh at this). Not the longest I have spent out of Texas though, because my second time to go to LT, I think I spent 11 weeks in Colorado. Though, maybe I came back early for leadership retreat. Hard to tell; Summer 2010 is foggy to me.

PRAYER

-for us to walk in step with the Spirit

-for good team dynamics

-for safe travel for Lagos and Ana Raquel and Georgen and Matthew and...everyone

-for things to go smoothly with our reduced team

-for wisdom in how best to engage our soon-to-come new team
-for good connection with the CDI kids, especially the older ones

Updated List