Day 5: Today was VERY eventful

...just not for me. If you want the eventful version, I think Izzy posted a blog about their day. Yup, confirmed, she did.

For me, which is obviously your primary concern since you're still reading, it was a fun, rewarding and pretty low-key day. I woke up a bit earlier maybe than I'd choose for myself, but I still woke up before my alarm.

I have a thing about alarms in the morning. Like, if they go off and I'm not already awake, I feel like the alarm is judging me for still being asleep. Maybe that's silly, but it's really working for me. Almost without fail, I wake up about 2 minutes before my alarm... and I change alarm times each day. I almost always choose times that are divisible by 9 (you may already know that). So, today my alarm was set for 7:38, tomorrow it will be for 7:47, or even 7:56. The most normal alarms are when I want to be up by 9, because then I can set them for 8:55 or 9:00, obviously. But I wake up at 7:36 or 8:53 or whatever.

A n y w a y , we got up and all Uber'd to the CDI (with our bags of sandwiches we made (very proud of our sandwich skills)). Alexis, Matthew, Izzy, Sheryl, and Mallory went with the CDI kids and crew to the airport for a field trip. This morning was the first time I've seen the kids since we got here! There were lots of hugs and good feelings, but it was too early for much feeling. Idk what all they did at the airport, except for the bits and pieces I've heard. Sounded epic.

Ben, Evan, and I stayed at the CDI and deep cleaned that sucker. We wiped down everything and organized some stuff and scrubbed the walls. If you've ever had or worked with kids, you know that there is a special kind of damage that gets done to tables that kids use - especially if they use them for crafts and homework and art and stuff. The three CDI tables were far from an exception. But we - mighty men of God that we are - went to work on these unsuspecting tables. There were sponges and bleach and a lot of productive violence applied in the scrubbing we did. Elbow grease doesn't begin to cover it. It's important to me that you understand how much nicer the tables looked. They shone. Don't get me wrong, some scars never heal, but we did great.

Lol, so there go all our treasures in heaven. Sorry, Ben and Evan.

I was incredibly impressed by both those men today; they took initiative and worked hard and found stuff to do and caught the vision behind loving the kids well by serving them in ways they will never see. They served with great attitudes and work ethics. Solid.

Ooh! I also got to talk to some Testigos de Jehova today. Or...testigas, I guess? These ladies stopped by the CDI while we were cleaning to talk to us in Spanish about God. It was interesting. I could go on a pretty long tangent about JW's and all that, but meh.

After some hours of adventure, the airport team came back and we played with the kids until their parents all picked them up. We walked to Cafe Momo (check it out if you're ever in Chepe) and had some good smoothies and afternoon pastries and team bonding with Lagos y Ana Raquel (have I mentioned that we really like them?).

We walked to and looked at the bus stops, then walked to La Sabana. That's a giant park that I ran around a lot last year, si recuerdas. Alexis and I sat and watched the backpacks while our introverts introverted and Sheryl and Izzy ran around and explored. After a while, Alexis also went 'sploring with the homies.

We found a bus to take us closer to home and then walked some. Matthew and I walked to the Más x Menos (más por menos...get it?) for some supplies, including SIM cards for our phones. So, now, hypothetically, we have phones that should work here, so long as we keep them stocked with minutes.

Sheryl and Mallory cooked for us, I did some dishes, we watched a couple of episodes of "The Mysterious Benedict Society." It was a pretty good day. I think the field trip for the kids was one of the more important things we got to help with so far, but my CDI thoughts will get shared with you some other time :)

PRAYER!

-for the CDI kids to deeply absorb the love of God and hope for their future

-for a restful sabbath tomorrow for our team

-for Lagos and Ana Raquel to find chances to rest and to be blessed with God's presence
-for chances to connect and share truth, a.k.a. Jesus, with the universitarios

-for sensitivity to God's leading

-for the Word of God to speak to our hearts