Day 39.

Observations:

-Life is good.
-Wheelbarrows can be used as playpens.
-Lauren (another gringa missionary) and I stayed up making 52 sandwiches for her and Alanna's students field trip to the zoo today. Although Alanna was very nervous/stressed about the whole deal, everything worked out marvelously.
-Everyone really like mayonnaise here. Really. A lot.
-Yesterday I saw two GREAT old friends! Mileidy and Urania! They were visiting San José for a doctor's appointment and swung by Carpio. I also got to meet Mile's son, Dylan Steven. I have their phone numbers and I'm going to call them when my fam comes so we can all have a little reunion. :)
-I'm connecting more with Jeffry, the fifteen-year-old son of one of the cooks. We've been talking about all the fun we had as kids, about English (he knows a lot more than he lets on), and about how much I miss my brothers. I think that's why we're getting closer: he's just another little brother.
-Tonight I had another four hour long meeting in Carpio for camp in January. At the end, we were asked to get in partners and pray for each other, preferrably some one you don't really know. One young man named William (I remember him from six years ago) eagerly agreed to be my partner and I was a little hesistant. After countless cat calls daily, awkward conversations on the bus, and scary stories on the news every night, something inside me has become sadly wary of all latino men. However, as soon as he grabbed my hands and we started praying, I realized that he was there in that room for a reason and it had nothing to do with me. As our murmuring voices simultaneously filled the empty space between us (mine in English and his in Spanish), life filled my heart and I was overcome by how real this place is. Afterwards William thanked me for praying in English (I only did it because it's still hard for me to pray in Spanish). He said, "I like remembering that God knows every language we speak."

-Hannah