Samuel's Adventures: Mom, Dad, and Katelyn arrive!

Warning: I expect this post to be verbose and picture-filled, so if that's a problem, you might not want to read on. :) I feel a bit like the author of Hebrews at the end of the faith chapter: "And what then shall I more say, for the time would fail me to tell of school, and of driving, of blowing bubbles also, and of playing games..." :)

Today is exactly a week after my parents spent their last day here at CICS. It was sad, but I guess all good things need to have an end. I even cried a little after I dropped them off at the airport, but hey let's not dwell on that! Let's talk about what we did while they were here! I don't want this narrative to sound like an obituary. :)

I guess it all started when I excitedly messaged Dad one night about a good deal on some tickets. When it was all said and done, we had flights booked for Mom, Dad, and Katelyn to come visit! And before I go any further, let me just enlighten you on what an accomplishment this was. Neither of my parents had ever flown before. Mom had all kinds of visions of airplane crashes, lightning strikes, and what not all. I told her a million times that it's statistically safer to fly than it is to drive and that you have a better chance of being hit by lightning than crashing in an airplane, but she didn't seem convinced. She is very much a feet-on-solid-ground person. Add to this going through an airport all by themselves and the cost of flying... Yeah, I still think it was a small miracle, but nonetheless, one I am eternally grateful for!

And once it got to actually flying, everything went off fairly well, except for a delay during taking off in Houston, in which my ever-adventurous dad got a tour of the cockpit. :)

Elmer and I picked them up at the airport when they FINALLY landed and I could actually see them in bodily form instead of pictures. After we finished hugging and saying hi, we were on our way!

I had warned my mom before they ever came to expect a change in driving habits. We drive fairly rapidly down here and frequently use a normal road as one would a four-lane highway. I heard nary a screech, but Mom told me later that she was hanging on for dear life! Poor Mom was determined not to make a sound. :)

We got here to CICS pretty late, so we had to wait till the next day to do anything which was Wednesday. They toured my classroom and watched while I taught. Dad got the urge to feel some sweat on his back, so he took a turn mowing grass. In no time at all, he was perspiring quite profusely which a cold shower and a change of clothes fixed quite nicely. :)

Old scene, except with a new face in the middle!

Joel is all too happy to accept a ride from the little
snack store back to school.

In the afternoon, we paid a visit to a nice coffee shop in nearby Augilares called "Le Café" in a little white microbus that is used for public transportation in our area. Dad, being an orderly guy, tried to shut the sliding door after we had all crammed in along with three other people, but noticed that it was hanging on only one hinge! He decided it would be better just to leave it open. Once we blutzed to a stop near the coffee shop, we walked the rest of the way there. Air conditioning and all sorts of pastries and drinks were what awaited us there!

After we came back, I got introduced to the stash of things they brought for me. I was about overwhelmed with everything people had sent along for me. Thanks so much to everyone that sent something!

Thursday was more or less a laid-back kind of day. We had decided that instead of rushing around like rats in a competition, we would take it slow and only do some traveling. So on Thursday after school, we sat around visiting. Dad fixed my iPhone, much to the fascination of Miguel. My dad wasn't too sure about the curious little kid dancing around his table holding sensitive electronics and microscopic screws, but it worked out alright in the end. And my phone works now. My dad is an expert, I'm telling you! Katelyn helped Andrea bake cookies much to her delight and Mom helped Beatriz and Silvia fold laundry. Nothing better than visitors helping with work that needs to be done!

Beatriz was NOT going to have me take a decent picture of
her if she could help it!

Wow! This is about too much cuteness for me to handle!
Katelyn enjoys playing "mama" for little Dwight.

It wasn't until Friday that we did some real traveling. We went to visit the Ramos family on Friday afternoon, and then stayed the night at their invitation, which, of course, we couldn't turn down! Mom and Dad hadn't wanted to leave El Salvador without first visiting Loncho's and they weren't disappointed. It was a dream come true for my parents to see where they live in their actual home. Loncho and Pauline told many stories of how they met, Loncho's testimony, and his involvement in the war, and many others. The next morning Loncho, Dad, Kendrick, and I climbed the mountain behind their house for some good, old exercise. We were sad when the time came to leave. It was an excellent stay filled with great hospitality.

Storytime with Loncho!

The town of Texistepeque as seen from the top of the mountain. Loncho's live in the area
denoted by the little red circle.

On Saturday, after we came home from Loncho's, we decided to visit Pollo Campero, a chicken restaurant that is sort of like the McDonalds of El Salvador. Some of the CICS staff joined us as well. Katelyn even got her very own crown! :)

Chicken is the main fare here in El Salvador besides pupusas.
Left to right: Mom, Dad, me, Verónica, Melody, Andrea, Katelyn

Sunday was a busy day for us starting at 7:45 when we went to pick up all the deaf children for church with our school van. My parents didn't get very much out of church, I'm afraid, but they still enjoyed going along. I didn't ask, but I'm sure it was a bit different from our large congregation at home! On Sunday afternoon, we Skyped with all the siblings keeping things under control at home. I'm pretty sure Katelyn did most of the talking--she was so excited to talk to Lydia again. It seemed like the ones at home were at least keeping the roof on the house, and everyone was pretty much behaving except for Aaron being away pretty much every night. Shame on you, Aaron! :) In the evening, all of us went to Boqueron, an inactive volcano, to eat supper. We didn't go see the actual crater, but we had a nice view of San Salvador, the capital city. And we had pupusas to eat!

Close to the top of Boqueron with the cityscape of San Salvador behind us.
Left to right: Matthias, me, Elmer, Melody, Andrea, Mary, Verónica

On the start of another school week, it hit me--there's only a couple days yet until they go home! It was ending far too soon.

My parents and I rented a car on Monday afternoon, in order to travel to Suchitoto, a nearby tourist town, to eat and do some "touristy" shopping. We decided to get shopping done first, so we wondered around the old town square visiting various shops. The town of Suchitoto, by the way, is the town where I believe Loncho was stationed when he was a police officer. Its old Spanish architecture, magnificent church built by the Spaniards in the 1700s, and cobblestone streets combine to give it a quaint and very inviting atmosphere. Suchitoto is also adjacent to a very large body of water called Lago Suchitlán. There is an option to take the ferry across it, but we decided against it. We still took pictures though!

The church Suchitoto is know for. It was built by Spaniards in the 1700s.

Lago Suchitlán.

The couple that sold my parents most of their souvenirs.
They were happy to have their picture taken!

On the last day, my parents went with Melody to do a little fabric shopping. And I decided to let them go without me and take a nap instead. What a horrible thing to do, right! I know, and I felt bad, but I knew I needed to get some sleep for our early-morning trip to the airport the next morning which, by the way, started at 3:30 in the morning! That evening we all sat out on the porch amid the numerous bugs and mosquitoes and talked for a while. Elmer told a hilarious story in sign language (while I interpreted) about what could potentially happen if he were to accidentally mow off the hair of a girl ignorantly lying in the grass while he is mowing the lawn. I think my dad has the video. Ask him for the full story. :)

I should also stick a paragraph in here about Katelyn. Any thoughts of her being shy were quickly erased about 15 minutes after getting to know everyone. She was a source of never-ending joy around here, it seemed. Of, course, she was horribly spoiled by all of us, but we thought we'd let Mom and Dad deal with that when they got home. :) Katelyn played numerous memory games, chased Elmer all around creation, and teased pretty much everyone. She learned to sing several songs--we even taught her to sing "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas"! That latter bit might not have been the best idea according to ones back home since she's been singing it pretty much non-stop ever since. :)

So that about does it for the day-by-day happenings. Of course there were other numerous happenings that I can't include for the sake of some sanity on the part of my readers. :) I'll include some more pictures below that should include some of those other small moments. I hope y'all enjoyed this narrative, even though it's a bit more personal than usual. Please continue praying for the deaf ministry in El Salvador and for us staff. And thank God for family and friends!

Until next time...

One last picture with the girls. Left to right: Mom, Teresa, Beatriz,
Katelyn, Ana, Silvia

Katelyn with her "favorite girls" as she would often say.
Left to right: Melody, Katelyn, Andrea

It's touching how compassionate and caring these kids
can get sometimes. Here, Joel gently pushes Katelyn
on the swing--and she is enjoying every minute of it!