Mosquito Bites

So this blog will be more of a mini post because I haven't had as much time as I would like to write a full one.

Life is fragile. God is not.

It was Thursday night, and I was alone with the kids, as is the case every Thursday night. I was upstairs putting the kids to bed, and I was exhausted; so exhausted that I laid down on the concrete floor amidst all the bunk beds and didn't move for probably five minutes. There were still kids talking and getting in each other's beds and climbing on shelves, but I didn't have the energy at that moment to deal with them. As I lay there on that cold floor staring up at the tin roof, I began reflecting on the day and analyzing why I was so exhausted. The reasons I had no energy were puny at best. The past two days, the mosquitos were the worst I have ever experienced. Everyone on campus got attacked by the little bloodsuckers. Also, I started having allergy symptoms on Thursday; a stuffy nose, itching eyes, and excessive sneezing. Those were the only reasons I could think of for my lack of energy. The kids hadn't been a problem, or at least not more than usual. I wasn't actually sick, other than the allergies. Maybe I was being too hard on myself, but I was kind of in awe at how a few mosquito bites and some sneezing could wipe me out. That experience reminded me of just how fragile and helpless I am. At the same time, I was reminded of God's abundant and wholly undeserved goodness to me. Thursday was the "worst" day I have had in a long time, but it wasn't even that bad. Sure, I was drained that night, but I was still able to function just fine, and the next morning, I was back to normal again. If something as insignificant as a few mosquito bites and allergies can bring me so low, and yet I rarely feel exhausted or discouraged, what other explanation is there except that God has me in the palm of His hand and is protecting me from the ploys of the devil? How grateful I am for the companionship of the Creator of the universe while I continue to serve Him and the people here at Familia Feliz. I've been here for three months now, and He has yet to let me down. I have no doubt He will continue to work in my life and the lives of everyone else here.

There is more I could write, but I'm already late on publishing this post, so I'll end it here.. I will try to write a more detailed post next week.

Pictures

Santiago, the cutest kid on the planet!

He was "helping" me build a fire.
(Photo courtesy: Emilie Updegrave)

Teacher Juan's daughter Emilie had the bright
 idea to put my hair up in ponytails.

Jayden and I are attempting to get a fire started. The houses did a lot of
cooking over a fire this past week because we were not able to get
propane for our stoves and ovens. It wasn't the most convenient,
but I did enjoy starting the fires. Thankfully, we were able to get
more propane on Thursday. Hopefully, we won't have trouble getting
more next week.

We succeeded!

We finally had fried plantains again.

The finished product. The plantains tasted as good as they looked!

Santi got sleepy.
(Photo courtesy: Emilie Updegrave)

Enjoying my hammock with Selim and Emir.

I have no idea how he fell asleep like that.

This was a mango that fell from our tree in
our backyard. I let it ripen for four days, cut
it open, and found edible gold inside.

We celebrated Carlie's birthday on Friday
night with a chocolate cake (of which I did
not partake).

Teacher Emi cooked burritos for the second time since my arrival here. Homemade tortilla shells,
rice, black beans, roasted potatoes, lettuce, tomato, cheese, and salsa. Indescribably delicious!

Watermelon! It was growing in the garden
behind our house. Honestly, it tasted exactly
like watermelon in the States.

It's called the Yellow Submarine Burger. It's one of the new
items on the Roots menu, and it did not disappoint.

Mango juice.

My day off group visited the cemetery in town
because we were told there were mangos there.
We were not disappointed. That is probably
the biggest mango tree I will ever see.

 We ate our mangos on the sidewalk under a roof because it started
pouring buckets. It was a great time!