Israelites and Manna

So, apparently if you buy too many cucumbers and don’t eat them within the week, they will in fact begin to disintegrate and emit a foul odor.  Ah, the joys of living on your own.  Who knew that planning meals for 16 people would complicate things so much when you are now only planning for 4? 

I’ve found out that, although I no longer am being awoken by the deafening sound of the train or the yipping of playful dogs, the clucks of chickens laying eggs, or the bleating of hungry goats, new sounds are waking me up in the wee hours of the morning.  The bus going into town stops just in front of our house every 15 minutes or so and (guess what?) my bedroom window opens up right onto that very same street.  Swap a train for a bus… I think the bus is quieter, though now people are chatting and greeting each other while they wait for the bus to come… this takes eavesdropping to a whole other level.  And there are several people who own motorcycles on our street and use them every morning to drive to work—noisy to say the least.  Then there’s the guy who sells fresh fruit and veggies, his voice echoing down the street.  There are still dogs, just different ones.  And then there’s a woman who likes to sweep the sidewalk at 6 in the morning—brush, brush, brush right outside my window.  I will get used to them, I will get used to them…at least this is the morning mantra I’ve adopted.

Not the best picture of our house...
I'll work on getting a different one

 On the bright side, my new home feels more and more like home now.  It still feels weird to leave Casa Adobe every night to go eat and sleep somewhere else but I like it despite the weird feeling.  I feel that our place can be a place to go and be myself and feel more like an adult than just another kid in the family.  I’ve really been learning how to cook, especially Nicaraguan type food of rice and beans.  And we’ve been learning how to live without a fridge—anything you want cold you either have to buy it right before you want it or buy ice to briefly store it.  But I think that by not having a fridge, we are learning rather abruptly how not to be wasteful and to only cook as much as you need for the moment.  It reminds me of God’s instructions to the Israelites in the desert: to collect only enough manna to eat for the day, no more and no less.  I guess in a way then we are Israelites, learning that collecting too much manna is not such a good idea.

Our new goat milking stand

Another note of praise, Sarah continues to be a huge blessing.  This past week we worked together to design and build a goat milking stand for Lady.  With the help of a local construction worker, we made it out of scrap wood we found around the house and have begun to train Lady to go up onto it.  Thanks Sarah for the great ideas!  She’s also been hard at work organizing tutoring supplies, office books and papers and designing a Spanish tutoring program here with Erika and Fabio.  She’s also helped me a ton with moving and organizing all my stuff at the new place.  I couldn’t have done this without her (or at least, I would have been more stressed and grumpy than I am now).  Her Spanish improves every day, even when she thinks she’s hit a wall and can’t think or say one more word.  Her humor brightens up my long work days and I’m beginning to realize that I dread her leaving.  Please pray that I will fully enjoy her time here and that I won’t become too depressed when she goes back to Michigan.

I just want to thank everyone again for all your support and prayers and word of encouragement!  I literally couldn’t be building goat milking stands or playing soccer or tutoring kids without you.  And, just so you’re aware, I may be using some of that money to buy me a bed to sleep on… maybe.  We’ll see :)  Until then, stay tuned!