Hi everyone.
I'm back. Spent the last couple weeks in transition. At the end of February, we had a week-long retreat in Cuernavaca and, as the host country, spent a few days planning and getting ready for everybody's arrival, a few days picking people up as they arrived from San Antonio, Peru, and Guatemala, taking people around, getting them orientated/sight-seeing, a week in the retreat, and then a few days after retreat taking the Peru and Guatemala people around the city before they got back on a plane Monday night. It was truly fabulous seeing everyone, but we were really tired afterward. Before everyone came, on the same day that we were going to pick up people on the airport, Tara and I were able to pick our visas, me as a non-immigrant, and Tara as a visa renewal. There was a concern that we would have to go back to the immigration office for a fifth time, but, thankfully, we were able to pick them up the same day.
Cuernavaca was lovely. The sun was shiny and the company great. It was wonderful seeing people that I hadn't seen since orientation, and meeting people from other sites that I had never met before. There were some security concerns at the time, so we pretty much stuck together, but we had a lovely time looking at the market, lounging on the grass (a treat, since we rarely see grass where we are), and swimming in the pool as long as the sun was out. We came back rested and rejuvenated and Emma and I started the process of starting a faith sharing/support group for the parents of the Guardaria we work at. We got to hand out fliers at a parents' meeting Friday, to see if there was any interest, and a few of the parents were really excited. We really don't know where this is going to go, but are hoping to see some great communities form from it. Please pray for the spanish, as it is still a trial, though, it seems to come in leaps and bounds, and it is definitely getting better every day. I attended three afternoons of theological, biblical, and social talks last week, and I have to say that by the second day, I was understanding a lot more to most of the talks. I am feeling a lot of pressure because of the lack of Spanish. More on that later. Have a good night.
