A Whirlwind

You know when you are spinning really fast in a circle, like when riding a merry-go-round, and all the colors of the world around you blur together into one big streaky mess?  Well, this is what my memory of the past week looks like. This past week has been a blur, a literal whirlwind of activities and meetings and work and (here and there) sleep.  It’s hard to believe that last week Wednesday was Halloween—that seems forever ago!  Despite the exhaustion that now cloaks my body, I’d certainly rather be on my toes than dragging my feet.  So I guess that makes this past week a blessing :)

Just to recap the week (for you and for myself):  On Tuesday, Guissel (my roommate and fellow community worker) and I went to a local school to set up a date to speak with the Director of the school to promote tutoring in that area.  I also had tutoring that day and several kids from the closest school showed up.  We ended up playing several games to practice their English, like numbers and animals. On Wednesday, Guissell and I went to serve food to people on the streets with a local organization, which turned out to be a lot of fun.  We also made friends on the walk back home with a 90 year old woman, Julita, who we invited over for lunch (and she invited herself back over for dinner) :)  She had such spirit—I hope I’m that lively when I get to that age!  After lunch we had the meeting with the director at the school, who was very interested in our tutoring program so hopefully more kids from that area will come.  Wednesday was also Halloween and we weren’t planning on doing anything special (due to the fact that several churches here might be incredibly offended and we don’t want that) but then suddenly 15 kids from the neighborhood showed up at the house expecting a party… no one knows where they got the idea from, maybe just because we’re a bunch of Americans or something!  So a few of us quick dressed up in black as ninjas and played games with them for a bit :)  Thursday was a normal day in the office and Spanish lessons in the afternoon.  Late that afternoon though we went to go visit a friend Ana and her 5 kids.  Ana and her family just moved to a nicer place in town—nicer meaning their own bathroom, 2 bedrooms, cement floors, and a gate for security instead of the tin, cardboard, and dirt home they had before.  It was really a blessing to see the joy and pride on their faces about their new home.  On Friday, we played soccer with a bunch of local kids, a tradition we’re hoping to keep up.  It started raining but that didn’t stop the game—apparently being soaked and running through puddles is no big deal.  I was goalie again but I wasn’t very good since the rain clung to my glasses and created an extremely distorted picture of reality :)  But we had a good time nonetheless.  Saturday was a much more relaxed day and I started reading the book Poisonwood Bible.  Even though I’m only a few chapters into it, I highly recommend it to anyone interested in past missionary culture in Africa.  Saturday evening we also went to a play that one of the guys here, Fer, was a main actor in.  Even though I didn't understand all of it, it was still really well done :)  On Sunday, Rachel and I went to 2 different church services that were both evangelical.  We enjoyed both but the services were long and the one was very lively (which was outside of our comfort zones to say the least), so the day flew by and we were both exhausted come dinnertime.  And yesterday, well yesterday Guissel and I went to San Jose to buy our bus tickets for our trip to El Salvador at the end of this week.  Which brings me to the next subject I want to talk about: my first trip :)

So, newsflash: I’m going to El Salvador! The three of us (Guissel, Rachel, and I) are going both to renew our visas as well as to visit a partner organization there, Casa Semillas.  This past week, we have been doing research and watching movies about El Salvador to prepare us for the trip there.  If you know nothing about El Salvador, I recommend you start learning about them because their history is a tragic one and the United States was one of the culprits in their pain.  It is a great dishonor if we remain oblivious to what happened.  If you’re interested in watching some movies about them, I recommend Voces Inocentes (Innocent Voices), Romero, and Salvador.  To sum it up succinctly, we are traveling to a place that has deep wounds from a recent violent civil war, wounds that have not healed, and is now suffering from extreme gang violence and corruption.  It is not a safe place.  But God is at work there too and we’re going to see the work that’s going on their right now in the capital, San Salvador.  Please keep us in your prayers as we travel there and stay there.  But more importantly, please pray for the people of El Salvador, for the love of God to spread among the people and for healing, true healing, to take place.  I won’t be able to write until I get back but please stay tuned—I’ll have some good stories to tell when I get back!