How do the days pass so quickly? We have been off campus a lot lately - that and a million essays to grade... somehow I just stay behind on everything. Here's the latest:
1) We have a guest! Anna from the Webb School in Knoxville, Tenn. is here for 12 days. She hosted Maggie in the fall, so we were excited to have the chance to return the hospitality. Anna is an incredibly good sport. She makes the fifth resident in our two-bedroom apartment. But we are loving every minute of having her here. Which brings me to the next piece of news...
2) We're moving next door (probably). This means separate bedrooms for Mags and Will. They have been real troopers sharing our limited space, so they are both excited about the possibility of a new house. The backyard is bigger, too. It seems like we don't own much stuff, but I'll bet it will expand exponentially as we carry it all 25 feet.
3) This has to be the number for good news. Our friends are returning from the States on Monday! Their son has been diagnosed with a bone inflamation instead of bone cancer. We are all so relieved.
4) Thought I'd include some of the lessons James learned in the last week, like birthday parties thrown by American History students are very special. He had a wonderful day! We invited Jose and Alison, our dear friends (pictured here) from the apartment next to us, to come over for birthday cake. Only
then did we find out it was Jose's birthday as well. The other lesson James learned this week was rather painful. It was to never drink coffee made in a small town. He went on a Habitat trip on Saturday to a little place named Armenia. Unfortunately that one cafecito kept him in bed for three days! One trip to the doctor and two quarts of Pedialite and he's almost as good as new.
5) My big moment may not sound monumental - but trust me. I called to make a hair appointment, and managed to carry off the whole conversation in Spanish. I may never be fluent, but I'm proud to say that I no longer sweat when I have to try to communicate in this foreign language. There just might be hope after all.
6) Last but by no means least, we watched the Super Bowl with all the complejo residents. Someone set up a big screen by the swimming pool. We had amazing food, and best of all I was barefoot. Life is good!
Maggie just ran in to say she has a Spanish project on coffee due for tomorrow. So I'm getting off the computer... Note to the Burtons - thanks for reminding me that I needed to write again!
Sorry the photos are so dark. It was really hot and dusty (I'm looking forward to the rainy season!), so we stayed in the shade as much as possible. If you look over Edgar's shoulder, that should be Guatemala in the distance. Will and I are sitting next to a grove of lemon trees they had just planted, but once again we have found the shade. This finca was full of amazing trees, including banana, mango and orange. It was originally a coffee plantation, so we saw lots of coffee plants as well. Kelly sent us home with a beautiful basket of fresh herbs from their garden. A wonderful day!
