My First Taste

*Sigh* If only there were more time in one day. I think my facebook friends all know where I went and what we did by now, but that isn't the same as blogging it. And now it's already been a week since I arrived back home. But, even though it may bore you, I shall dig deep and retell our adventure.

July 12th- Adam and I woke early in the morning. I had packed my bags the day before and our group was meeting at the airport at 4:30 am. We kissed good-bye and I joined the seven other team members at the check-in counter. Our plane headed to Georgia, where we caught our connecting flight and also met the last member of our team, who joined us from San Diego. Our group of nine were headed far from home, somewhere I had never been, somewhere I was excited to be.

El Salvador: the smallest country in Central America, home of the second largest city in Central America. Beautiful mountains, beautiful lakes and beautiful people. As we walked through the airport doors into the open air, the heat and humidity hit you simultaneously, along with the smell of people. The mob of anxiously waiting faces looking for their family or friends. My first real taste of El Salvador. The smile broke across my face. This was going to be an adventure.

We were headed to San Martin, home base for our ten-day stay. There was an orphanage there, which currently houses 21 young boys, from age 14 down to 1 1/2. They are taught the love of Jesus there and get to be friends with many different mission teams that come throughout the year. And though we spent a lot of time there, we were not there only to minister to them. But I am getting ahead of myself...

I'll start with what stuck out to me first. Our drive from the airport to San Martin took two hours and went right through San Salvador. Traffic was... amazing. Everyone drives fast and close to other vehicles. I think they purposely try to make foreigners afraid to drive by themselves. That way, they have to hire a bus service. (wink-wink) One out of every three vehicles is a bus. They are loud, colorful, and packed to capacity. A pick-up truck doubles as a taxi. People load into the backs of those trucks, legs, arms, and rear-ends hanging out everywhere. Booths or stalls are set up right on the side of the road, so vendors can hawk their produce to anyone who drives by. They would have their hammocks strung up in there, so they can take a siesta while they wait for their next customer. The most striking thing we saw though had to be the slums. We drove by several on our way through. There were 3-5 acre lots filled with little shacks. The walls of these homes were primarily made of black plastic sheeting, held up with sticks. They make have a piece of scrap metal for a roof. But there were hundreds. Maybe thousands. Packed tightly together literally like sardines in a can. No sanitation, no privacy. Just survival. My first real glimpse of poverty. Welcome to El Salvador.

Cross your fingers. Maybe I'll write more tomorrow.

Home Again

One of these days I'll get around to posting all about it. Distant country, different faces, varied landscapes, new friends, but the same Jesus. God is amazing. Pray for me, I am adjusting.

A Post About Josh

Josh. What more can I say? He is rapidly approaching his 21st month and the fun has officially begun. For instance, I left the room for all of ten seconds (literally) yesterday, only to come back and find that Josh had snatched a permanent marker from the counter and had scribbled over all but two of my lower kitchen cupboards. So thankful am I for the internet. Such a handy resource it is in these occasions. Turns out that a bit of scrubbing with a toothbrush and toothpaste removes most, if not all, of those pesky permanent marker scribbles. I am also thankful that our cabinets are the cheaper low-end cabinets, because the finish looks a little faded from all that toothbrush scrubbing. I would be more displeased if the cabinets were cherry or walnut, ya know?

Words. In abundance. Every day it seems there is a new one. I must be careful to season my speech with salt and not use words like stupid in his presence. I like when Josh talks about one of my siblings and uses their name. He has a name for each of them, I think.

Jim= Jin
Dave= ? (We must not spend enough time with Uncle Dave.)
Joe= Noe, though just last week it was Nose
Nate= Neet
Ben= Ben (He's good at that one.)
Hannah= Nanna
Adam's brother Andy= Nanny
And of course all grandparents are referred to as Bubba.

Pottying has gone slow this week, but there have been days in the past where Josh has stayed dry till lunch time or has peed 5+ times during the day. But he seems to have weeks where he wants to go on the potty and weeks where he does not. I have heard similar things about other children and since Josh is not yet two, I'm not worried about it. (Though diapers are pretty $$, and next time around I may invest in cloth diapers.)

All in all, I still am loving being a mom, though at times it is difficult to keep up with all that being a Mom and housewife entails, along with working 3-4 days a week. I do enjoy both of my jobs, but it is just too much for one girl to handle. It's hard for me to keep up with everything. Which is why I only blog 1-2 times a week, or less. Though look for me again tomorrow, because I want to post about what I will be doing for the next 10 days. :)

A Baby Visit

Last week (or two weeks ago?) I was FINALLY able to go see my friend Stephanie and her baby, Tyler. She lives two hours away, so that explains why it has been so hard to get down there. Her hubby was at home and we went to the park for a picnic. Josh thought that was fun. But we stayed way past his nap time, which he didn't think was fun. Thus the scream n' cry photo, taken right before we left for home. (I do understand how he felt though, because 45 minutes into our drive home, I had to pull off the highway for a ten minute shut-eye myself.) I only get to see my Steph about twice a year, so every visit is cherished and I was so glad to see you Stephanie! Kiss that baby for me!!

Dad's Right Hand Man

Josh loves helping his Daddy. What ever Daddy is doing, Josh has to be right up front and center, his Dad's right hand man. I'm pretty sure that Joshua's world revolves around Adam. That's not to say that I am not important to him, because I am. He still comes to me when he needs "Mom" time. But I'm pretty sure that there are not tears rolling down Josh's face when I leave him at home. This morning, as Josh watched his Daddy pull out of the driveway and up the hill, his cries got more desperate the farther his Daddy went. And yes, there were tears. All this said, to lead into how Josh wants to help with anything and everything, even if it is washing the car. Especially if it is washing the car. Who can ask for anything better than water, soap, the hose and Daddy? That is the ultimate in summer fun for a small boy. I'm not sure if it's the ultimate for Daddy, but it sure made a small boy's day.

*Notice that men of all ages work very well with a freezie-pop in hand.