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The
update: Andy, Laura, and Luke
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August 31
Packing. For some
it is an easy process. Throw a toothbrush and some underwear in a
bag. For me, it is a big deal. I try to think through
everything, and I mean everything, before hand. In packing for
our upcoming trip, I made lists, lots of lists. Lists of the
meals we would eat, food we'd take, food we'd buy, food my parents
would bring, food for Luke, food for the car, lots of food. I
made lists of things Luke would need, things we would need, clothes to
bring, things NOT to forget, and things for the beach. I divided
everything into three truncks and two coolers. The luggage had to
be waterproof because of the rain. I thought through the trip
there and our stay, and I will think through the trip back once we get
to a grocery store. I planned out how long it would take us to
get to where we need to be and how long we would have for each stop.
Maybe I shouldn't be telling everyone this. Just know that
I have tried to be organized so that things will go as smoothly as
possible. They would probably go smoothly anyway; but I like the
feeling of being prepared and ready. That's half the fun.
Now, I'm ready for the other half of the fun on the beach.
On a different note, thank you to my mother-in-law who has been
visiting. It has been fun to see Luke become accustomed to having
her around. Becky took Luke on a walk every afternoon to see the
animals in the neighborhood: dogs, chickens, horses, donkeys, pigs.
She even bought Luke his first chicken, named "The little red
hen." They had fun together. She would wake up with Luke in the morning and play with him all day long. Along
with playing with Luke, Becky helped out in countless other ways,
such as laundry, story time, errands, helping Maria, dishes, the church
women's group, visiting with patients, cleaning the library, and many
more. Thank you, Mimi. We will miss you! Please come back
soon.
August 27
August is flying by!
Soon we will head to the blue tropical waters of the Bay Islands,
but not yet. A few updates:
1) Our Thursday night women's meeting at church was a huge success!
We had over 30 women there, we were able to form a small group of
women to organize future events and study the Bible together, and Becky
did a fabulous job of speaking and connecting with the women.
Amazing! It will be so good to get together with other
women on a regular basis.
2) On Friday, Becky, Luke, and I visited Glenda. I warned Becky
about the hike to Glenda's lovely home in El Espino (up the side
of a mountain, through the mud, up a stone wall, over rivers, through
corn fields, over fences, etc.) It was quite a workout for both
of us. I had Luke in the backpack, and I think Becky was still
adjusting to the altitude. :) We made it there, visited,
let Luke play in the dirt, and left with hands full of tamalitos,
cucumbers, and anonas. Yum!
3)
Andy and Luke having fun! Luke is such a joy. I continue to
be amazed by how much he is learning and moving and enjoying life.
He keeps us laughing and learning. He will be one-year old
soon. Incredible!
August 22
A lot has been going on here. Running in the rain, visiting homes, and D-Day are the most notable.
First, you must know that it seems that our lives revolve around water,
in some way or another. We need water to bathe, wash, etc.
Unclean water has made us sick (so sick that we had to take a
round of metronidazole). Lack of water sends all of us in a
tizzy. Heavy rainfalls in the afternoons mean sopping wet
laundry. We hear it at night on our tin roof (you can't hear
anything else). Also, the rain keeps us inside in the afternoon,
sometimes. Two afternoons ago, Luke, Becky, and I had the
opportunity to head across town with Christy, Marin, Maura, Dina, and
Belkis to buy embroidery supplies for the girls to start a project
(under my tutelage). As we headed out we noted the menacing black
cloud and our lack of umbrellas. Oh well. Once we got to
the store, the drops had started to fall. We weren't there a few
minutes and sheets of water were pouring out of the sky. After
making their purchases, we decided to head up the street and duck into
a nearby pulperia for some chocolate chip cookies (not fresh, bagged).
We stayed there chatting until the rain seemed to let up a bit.
At that point, we contemplated leaving--until the rain started
coming down again as hard as ever. Soon, Ada (Luke's babysitter)
and Doris came down the road with an umbrella to rescue Luke.
Because I was holding him I got to stay under the umbrella, too
(which didn't do a whole lot anyway). So we all headed out in the
pouring rain back to the clinic, Christy with Maura, Doris with Becky,
and Marin with Dina and Belkis. They headed out and were sopping
wet in minutes. Ada and Luke and I trailed behind, trying to stay
dry despite the sideways rain and the rivers of muddy water underneath
us that were being kicked up with every step of the chancleta. We
made it back, had pictures taken to document the state of wetness,
dried everyone off, and ate brownies.
Yesterday, Becky and I went with Carina and Glenia to visit different
women in the church to invite them to a meeting on Thursday night for
mothers in the church. I went with Carina and Becky went with
Glenia all over Santa Lucia. We delivered invitations to each
mother. I got to see where many of the women lived that I see in
church every week. It was good to be in their homes and to meet
their families. Though we didn't stay long, it meant a lot to the
women we visited. Though Becky couldn't speak Spanish to these
women, she was impacted by them and they by her. It was a good
experience for both of us. We'll see who shows up on Thursday
night.
The plan is to form a group of women to support one another and to
minister together in the pueblo. Out of the larger group of
women, Carina has ten women in mind to begin a Bible study together
that will be available, eventually, to all of the women who are
interested. Becky will be giving the message and I will be
interpreting.
Finally, D-Day, or Drop-A-Feeding-Day. Today is the day that Luke
goes down to three feedings. He is 18 days away from his first
birthday. I figure that if I can drop two feedings before his
birthday and the other two after, I will be doing well. I am
ready. I'm not sure he is. We shall see.
In other Luke news, he is holding his sippie cup by himself, eating ALL
finger foods, pointing at where he wants to go or what he sees, has
four teeth (front, top and bottom), doing lots of yoga (especially
downward dog), and pulling up on everything. He has started
joking with us by offering one of us food with his hand and then taking
it away and eating it himself, which he thinks is hilarious. He
no longer sits in his "bathtub" but insists on standing the whole time
to be bathed. He plays peek-a-boo by putting his head on the
ground and looking through his legs at us. He loves having his
Mimi here. As always, he is a cute and loving baby. I'll
update the pictures soon.
August 16
One of the ways I get to
stay in touch with some friends back in the States is through blogs.
It is one medium, I guess, of communication, if you can call it
that. We write about the happenings of our lives and put them out
there in cyber space for whoever to read. I find out about books
people are reading, projects they are interested in, and what their
kids are up to. So if you are reading this and have a blog and
want me to know about your blog, I would like to know about it.
Another mode of communication that we use is, of course, email.
It is always a delight to hear from our friends and family about
whatever.
Pictures are good; however, because of limited bandwidth, we can only
open a few at a time. If you have a lot of pictures you want us
to see, burn them onto a CD and send them to the address on our
homepage. They will make it down here, probably sooner than you
would expect.
Finally, there is skype. We
love skype, especially if you also have a camera. It allows us,
through minimal bandwidth usage, to see you and talk to you! Even
if you don't have a camera, you can see us. All you really need
is a microphone to speak into and speakers in your computer to be able
to hear. So download it for free and call us!
August 13
Yesterday, the Iglesia
Evangelica de Santidad, Santa Lucia had their first sunday school class
for the babies! Andy, Becky (Andy's mom), and I were the
"teachers." We had four babies. It was fun; but it was also
exhausting. We are going to take turns with the other
moms/parents/siblings. Hopefully, it will last and Luke and the other
babies will have a place to play on Sunday during church.
August 10
Two days ago, a bus with
44 people rolled off the side of the hill on its way to Santa Lucia.
Miraculously, everyone survived (including the guy sitting on
top of the bus with the luggage), though a few people were badly
injured. Most of the 44 people were brought directly to the
clinic here in Santa Lucia on Wednesday afternoon. It was an
intense time for the doctors and students who were stitching, cleaning,
taking blood pressures, x-raying, and listening to the story.
Andy worked until 10pm, taking care of every patient. He
passed by the bus yesterday on his way to Pinares and was overwhelmed
by what the passengers had been through. Apparently, the driver
was taking a turn too fast and lost control of the bus. The bus rolled four times and was
caught by trees. Passing vehicles stopped to help the people out
of the bus and to get them to the clinic. It was a terrifying
experience for everyone.
August 6
Yeah! Mom is here.
And it couldn't have come at a better time. Andy and I both
woke up sick this morning. There is something about having your
mom around when you're sick. There is also something to be said
about having her help with Luke when I'm sick. She allowed me to
rest more than I would normally.
That little guy just gravitated toward her. It was as if he knew
that she was his abuelita. Maybe he does. I know that
the same thing will happen next week when his Mimi comes to visit.
They just radiate a love that lets him know that they are a part
of his family. He trusts that. He has been kissing and
hugging and sharing his food all day long with his "Lita."
So I am thankful for my mom, thankful for her listening ear, thankful
for her help with laundry and yogurt making, thankful for her
willingness to change diapers and hold the babe all day long. Her
visit will be short, but it will be meaningful and good.
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