But not a boring subject! Here are some highlights:
Maybe I shouldn't put this first, but I loved the fresh fruit (actually we all did). Sadly, it disappeared all too soon. And it was great fun opening all the other packages that came for me--thanks to all of you for your amazing thoughtfulness!
The dentist I'm sure Alverda, and especially, James, would argue this being a highlight since it was quite the traumatic for him, but it was still something I won't forget for a while. The first day we went and got all James and Alverda's cavities taken care of. That wasn't so bad actually. The second day, Alverda stayed home and I went with James to get his wisdom removed. Oops, meant wisdom teeth. James still has wisdom; he's just missing a few teeth. :) Anyway, soon after James' eight local injections (two for each tooth), he started looking quite pale. I actually started getting a little worried. Especially since he answered me with mostly a blank stare after every question I asked him. It was only afterwards that I found out his tongue had become completely numb which rendered speech almost impossible. But fortunately, the procedure only lasted about eight minutes (!!), and after getting some medicine at the pharmacy and some cold foods, we were off for home again. I still like teasing James about his "favorite place" in El Salvador. While it was far from that, I'm sure the money saved helped ease his pain...
Gadgets It's hard to beat the enthusiasm the kids had for James' things he brought. All he had to do to get an immediate crowd was to bring out a plane, car, or some other toy and all the kids came running. It was especially fun putting on the special headset to see a camera feed from the drone that James was flying. I had to resolve quite a few spats over whose turn it was to have it.
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| Almost all the kids got their own wind up airplane. We had a couple "flying days" after that! |
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| James flying his drone while Kenneth looks through the headset and the rest await their turn. |
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| Antony loved it! Too bad you can't hear the amazing sounds he's making in this picture as well. |
Relaxation James, Alverda, Matthias, and I went to the guest house the weekend before they left. We took advantage of the free wi-fi, went out to eat, talked, and watched Sue Thomas DVDs till we were tired. The next day Matthias went back and Melody showed up to go with us to the beach and be a companion for Alverda. (James and I can get pretty mean, so Alverda needed someone to stick up for her) :) Anyway, the day at the beach was great--the weather was perfect, there were some nice waves for boogie-boarding, and we could just lounge around and do whatever we felt like, which we did! Towards the afternoon we wanted to go to the volcano, El Boquerón, but I wasn't sure how to get there from the beach and my phone battery was just about dead. I was planning on going back to the guest house to recharge my phone and then use google maps to get to the volcano because I wasn't comfortable going a strange way without a phone, but someone more adventurous than I (ahem, Melody) urged me to me to just wing it since she "sorta knew how to go". But it actually worked out well because we got there and back without even getting lost once. Upon arrival, after I endured a few well-deserved "I-told-you-so"s, we ate pupusas and enjoyed a nice view of the fog. Regrettably, it was cloudy so we couldn't see the lights of the city below.
Helping out Since James and Alverda were here for almost three weeks they wanted to help out with the work. We were all blessed by all the hard work they put in helping out with the maintenance work, cooking, baking and just generally getting to know the kids and learning sign language as fast as they could! There's nothing like learning a new language directly from those who speak it.
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| Putting new wheels on our little beat up wagon. |
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| The little ones couldn't wait for James to get their planes assembled! |
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| Alverda brought supplies and taught Melody's class how to make their own lip-balm. |
Visiting Daniel Lapps
James and Alverda wanted to go back and see Loncho Ramos' old house where they stayed last year, and I also wanted to visit Daniel's who are the current dwellers, so we planned a trip to Texistepeque one afternoon. We visited with Daniel's for a while, ate a splendid lunch together, and walked around town for a bit before going back towards CICS again. It was strange for all of us seeing the house with different people living inside, but it also brought back a lot of good memories.
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| James saying hello to his old friend, Rocky. |
Día del niño Every year, El Salvador celebrates a "Children's Day" and this year we decided to make that day special for our kids. Each of us teachers and staff came up with a couple games which included treasure hunts, relay races, games, and other fun activities. After we were done with all that, we had a big all-out water battle. Hoses, buckets, cups, and anything else that could hold a bit of water were brought to the scene of the skirmish. No one was let alone until there was not a dry spot remaining on them! After some drying off, we ate together outside under a large shady tree with food roasted over a fire. It was a day all of us enjoyed very much. Well, maybe except Eduardo who said, "well... it was sorta fun, but I would rather have stayed at home and relaxed. And the water battle was ok I guess, but I like swimming in a pool more..." You see, Eduardo is a nice guy, but he just is not the jumpiest monkey in the barrel here at CICS. Just ask his teacher! If we were a construction crew, Eduardo would be the one leaning on his shovel. Anyway, enough about Eduardo--Día del Niño turned out to be a great success!
The time came all too soon for the Weavers to go home again then. But while they were here, we were really blessed by all the things they helped us with while they were here. And the kids really enjoyed teaching them sign language as well! I'm sure there are more adventures that happened here that I forgot about, but ask the Weavers and they will be happy to tell you all about them, I'm sure!
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