The Rain, Bob & Pastor Jeff Arrive

Wade had mentioned a few years back that there is only 2-3 weeks during the rainy season where it's actually "nice" outside and doesn't rain as often.  Those days have come & gone as of today.  It rained all day long and just when you thought there might be a break, it came down some more!  The down-side of this is that I didn't bring an umbrella or a rain jacket, so just like the kids...no matter where I walked, I got wet.  The upside is that it's not nearly as hot as it usually is which will make it a nice "cooler" day for Bob who doesn't do well in extreme heat.

Alina & I began our day as usual by heading to the little girls' house to help get them dressed, do their morning circle (in the sala, of course, since it was raining outside) and then get them breakfast before walking them to school.  There were 3 teenagers here this morning from one of the 2 groups that are serving this week.  Our little girls tend to flock around new team members or volunteers, so once I was able to get the teens to spread out, circle became a pleasant experience in which just about all of the little girls participated (many times they'll get distracted by "new people" and they don't participate, or begin to exhibit bad behaviors).

Classes went well this morning...it was all 5th grade classes.  There were moments when the children were reading out loud and it was very difficult to hear them due to the rain beating on the roof of the school.  Alina & I did have a couple of 20-minute breaks between classes.  During one of the breaks, we re-shelved books that had been taken down, and on the 2nd break we headed home to begin moving Alina to Kimberly's room since Bob would be coming today.

Alina & I walked the small girls back to the house for lunch and then helped clean up before bringing the girls back to school for their afternoon classes.  We briefly ran home for a 1/2 hour to finish cleaning up the house (did the few dishes that were in the sink, finished moving Alina's things, cleaned the bathroom and swept/mopped the house).  When the house was finished, we headed down to the craft house where Elizabeth was teaching the special needs children.  They read through a story, practiced colors, shapes, letters A-E and their numbers 1-5.  Then they traced their hands onto paper, decorated them, and cut them out.  Elizabeth hopes to use these hands down the road when she asks questions like, "Do you prefer..."  Then she can have a picture up on the board and the students can go over and move their hand to which one they prefer.  She finished class-time with another story.

We finished just as the school was letting out, so I headed over to where the small girls line up in the school.  Then I saw Norman come up the drive with Elizabeth's friend, Molly, and Pastor Jeff & Bob inside.  He dropped off Molly at the girls' volunteer house first, then drove around to the apartment to drop Pastor Jeff & Bob off.  By this time the little girls were headed back to their house, so I walked with them until I got to the apartment and greeted Bob & Pastor Jeff.  I quickly ran to see Katja about where PJ would be staying...which is in the "hotel"  He's in the one closest to our apartment, which is nice.  We unloaded the luggage and headed over to the little girls house.

Because the team didn't show up to do Bible study, and because the store wouldn't stay open too much longer, I mentioned to Bob that he should take Pastor Jeff over to get a bite to eat.  It's a good thing that I sent them when I did because I'm sure it started to downpour once again just as soon as they arrived to the store!  While our girls were having Bible study, then supper and then baths, Bob took Pastor Jeff around on a mini-tour...I think Kimberly is completely showing him around tomorrow.  We chatted a bit after the girls' bath-time and then I said my good-nights as I'm sure both Pastor Jeff & Bob were tired from their long travels.

Alina & I headed to the medium girls' house to watch a movie with them.  This would also give Bob a bit of time to stretch out on the bed and sleep comfortably for a couple of hours before I came to bed.  We had fun watching the movie with the girls (although I couldn't tell you the name of the movie).  When it was over, we said a bedtime prayer together before we headed home to bed ourselves.