Ray of Sunshine Travel

Welcome back for Week 7! This was actually a really restful week for us, as a lot of our plans were cancelled. It was really nice to take it a bit easier after a busy first week in our new home!

Early Monday morning we had quite a bit of excitement, though I didn’t really realize what had happened until I woke up several hours later: one of our cats who had been pregnant had her kittens! J definitely came to her rescue and whipped up a much more suitable birthing box than the box full of wires she had chosen! We now have three little kittens; it’s crazy how much bigger they’ve gotten already, and I’m hoping they’ll be old enough to play with a little by the time we go!

Thankfully Monday was a holiday, so we didn’t have to go to school. We took the time to sleep in after a late night of selling tamales (and for J midwifing kittens!), then we got up and helped make the next batch of tamales!

I think it was Wednesday I graduated from banana leaf cleaning/wrapping to assembling some 92 tamales! I definitely don’t have it down yet, but it was neat to be involved in a different part of the process.

Monday we also went back to the boba tea spot to do a little processing of our church experiences over the weekend, which was good. It’s so wild how we all had such different experiences and perspectives, and it was really amazing hearing some of the stories of how God worked. I’m definitely not quite comfortable with this new, very charismatic style of church, and I’m still praying for discernment, but I do think some of my initial hesitation is decreasing some.

Tuesday we were back in the primary school again. Unlike the school in the village, we’re not really assigned to a classroom; we just kind of float around to wherever we’re needed. This day I was in a Standard 1 class, which was fun! I mostly graded papers and helped cut out some decorations for a bulletin board. (I was pretty amused at the irony of decorating with pictures of colorful maple leaves in a place that doesn’t really have fall, neither maple trees, and was experiencing record-high temps of over 100 degrees that week.)

After school, we walked towards town some and browsed a little; I found a cute linen dress that I’m hoping might work for when I go to South Africa next year!

J and H and I got home and decided to spend time on the roof together, which was so good! We spent hours up there, just talking and eating tamales and enjoying the sunset and stars.

Wednesday we were supposed to go to the preschool, but school was cancelled last-minute as the power was out. We took the time to rest and help make tamales, and then it was time for our big adventure of the day – finding a way back to our village! Normally we would just rely on Pastor N for a ride, since he lives in the city but preaches in the village; however, we were trying to surprise him for his birthday! After much planning and scheming (and thanks to the generosity of an extremely kind bus driver), we were able to hop on a bus taking kids from the city to the town.

And man, did it feel good to be back. None of us could believe it had only been ten days since we left – it felt so much longer! MK and I were so thrilled to get to see our family again and spend time with them before going to church. I spent most of the time playing with the boys and helping Mama pick some veggies. We got up to some good shenanigans and had some good laughs!

The congregation had decorated the altar for Pastor’s birthday and prepared a whole big meal of what else but tamales, along with rice and beans, salad, and cake! With all the festivities, it was about 10 pm before we got to enjoy the food, but I did a really good job of cleaning my plate that way!

We hung out at the church for quite a while after, just talking with our friends and catching up. Before long, it was time to get going, so we said a much less tearful goodbye and squeezed into the back of Pastor’s truck to ride back to town. The stars were beautiful that night, so I watched for constellations on the way back and praised God for the opportunity to see our families again and for such a good night. It felt especially redemptive since I had been sick that last week in the village and leaving on that note was so hard.

Thursday our plans were cancelled yet again, which meant we were able to sleep in after a late night out. J and H and I accompanied Mama to the store, where she spoiled us and bought a box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch!! We were so excited.

That night we went to a prayer night at Mama E’s church, then Friday morning we were up early to head to Pastor N’s house, where we worked to fill some more holes in his yard.

We spotted the tiniest little toads I’ve ever seen there, which is wild because the biggest toads I’ve ever seen in my life have also been from Belize. They really range the whole gambit here. (Hard to tell, but the one below is easily 7-8 inches long and a pound and a half or more!)

After getting back from Pastor’s house, we went over to the other host family for a while to eat lunch and hang out. Probably the biggest entertainment was watching one of the boys suddenly cut down a big tree with just a machete, though cuddling the sweet little neighbor baby was pretty up there too.

That night, Mama’s niece’s husband Ed came to stay with us! He is extremely outgoing and quickly rounded up a group of people to play Uno. Unfortunately, I was pretty pooped from the digging, so I didn’t stay up for it, but we got plenty of time with him the next day.

Saturday we went into town with Mama to pick up some groceries at the market. We were there earlier than the week before, so there was a good bit more of a selection, such as this big pile of dragonfruit! (Yes, we did get some.)

After groceries were acquired, we went to the pupuseria at the market, where Ed joined us for some fresh hot pupusas. Afterwards we walked over to a local ice cream shop, where Ed treated us!

Saturday also happened to be the day of the solar eclipse, so once we got home, we headed up to the roof and took a look. Even though our coordinates weren’t the best place in the world to view it, we lucked out with a pretty sunny day, so we could still see it! It got noticeably cooler and darker – I think I cracked a joke about how it would be nice to have a solar eclipse every day! (Did I mention it had cracked 100 degrees multiple days that week? Thankfully it’s gotten cooler since then, but we could still really use prayers for rain!)

A couple hours later, Ed and a friend moto-ed us over to the river for a little escape from the returned heat. We had a good time just hanging out and even jumping off the bridge a time or two!

We came back home and hung out for a while before getting ready for church. Did I mention we have horses around us that randomly walk by and sometimes grab a snack from our front yard?

That night at Mama E’s church we had a vigil! It basically was like a very long church service. Some of the team stayed for the whole thing, while the rest of us left at the break at 11:45, since we had church early in the morning.

Sunday morning we walked to church – I caught some pictures of this beauty with some gorgeous flowers along the way!

We rested for a good while after getting back…

…then headed to a coffee shop we hadn’t tried yet to hang out as a team for a while. H found some of E’s favorite chips in the store and bought a bag for her – it was pretty funny to see E’s reaction!

I have been pretty surprised at the number of familiar snacks here, especially now that we’ve moved to the city and have access to bigger stores. We even found some Cheez-Its in the store the other day, so we might be splurging on a box of those before the trip is up! There’s also a really nice selection of snacks that I haven’t seen back in the States, so it’s been really fun trying those. The favorite right now among our house is Chocolate Ideals, which is basically frozen chocolate milk in a bag. We usually tear off a corner and sip it as it melts. They’re super cheap, and very nice for a hot day!

We hustled home afterwards so we could help Mama pack up tamales and go with her downtown to sell. It was definitely a quieter night, and a shorter night for us three since we took a taxi back early, but it was still a good time!

Well friends, that makes another week! If you would be praying for health for our team here, we would really appreciate it! Unfortunately I am under the weather again, though thankfully not as badly as last time. It’s kind of hard to get enough vitamins here, so I think that between that and me having the flu a couple of weeks ago, my immune system has really taken a hit. I’m praying for a speedy recovery so that I can get back on the ground! Much love!