Finding a Routine

February 22, 2010

I suppose it could be said that I am finding my routine here in El Salvador though in reality spendng a couple of nights at the home with the girls has kept me from getting to accustomed to a set schedule. Last week went well overall though I have been battling not feeling the greatest and the return of headaches. I am not sure it comes from dehydration, a change in diet, or migraines. At any rate that part of the week was not so fun. Because I am experimenting with a gluten free diet for a little while, I am back to preparing lots of food and finding new ways to make the foods I love. Pizza is still on the to-do list.

Monday I was able to go on another family visit to a huge coffee plantation where the mother of one of the girls works and lives. We took my car and it made it there though it was eating coolant since the radiator was leaking. The road to get to the plantation was a bit unnerving as one of the staff told the driver to go quickly because it was a street controlled by gangs. We got in and out without problem, but it does put one a bit on the edge.

When I spent the night with the four younger girls on Thursday night, I got to see first hand the getting ready for school routine. I cannot remember what time I had to get up to catch the bus back in elementary school but here they have to be at school at 7:00AM and since there are about 15 girls for 3 bathrooms, the first girls get up at 4:00AM. My girls, who range from 8-10 in age, got up beginning at 5:00AM which still seemed way too early. Unfortunately I made the mistake of getting the slowest girl up last and so she missed breakfast since the van was leaving early and she was just getting out the door. It was a good learning experience for me.

On Saturday we had another family visit day at La Casa de Mi Padre but this time I was not as involved with the program. I took three of the boys who did not have family coming to help me get copies for a house key for one of the families. The original plan was that they were to come along to "protect" me but really just give them a chance to get out. In keeping with the way errands often go, our first two stops at hardware stores were unsuccessful because their machine was broken or no longer there. Thankfully one of the boys remembered where he had gone with one of the house dads for a key in the past and in his few words and with the help of one of the other boys, we ended up at a place where they did indeed copy keys -- all of the time. The rest of the morning I spent sorting through clothes that had been donated to La Casa but did not fit the children. The plan was for the families to take some home.

I have decided that I will be checking out some other churches over the next few weeks, because although the preaching is really good where I have been going, actually meeting people has been difficult. Yesterday I planned to introduce myself to the people beside me but as soon as the service was over, they were out the door. I will try the small group again this week and see how that goes but I do want to look around. Otherwise the week seems as if it will be pretty normal and I am looking forward to having my first full weekend off.