The day started as most of our Saturdays do: after breakfast we walked down to the farmer's market down by the ocean front. The kids love to go because the animal shelter always sets up a stand and brings some animals along. The kids love to hang out with the dogs and cats while George and I get our produce. This week we bought a few extra items too (honey, jam, cheese and chicken) in addition to our produce. Can you picture us hauling all this stuff back home?: a huge watermelon, golden melon (like a honeydew), apples, mandarin oranges, juice oranges, mangos, 2 pineapples, berries, bananas, limes, cabbage, green beans, onions, cucumbers, avocados, fresh basil, cauliflower, red peppers, tomatoes. I'm probably forgetting some stuff but it was a lot!
By the time we got home with all our heavy bags we were very hot and sweaty. We started unpacking everything and trying to figure out how to fit everything in our small fridge (a weekly challenge)....and then I noticed I didn't see the chicken which was the most expensive item we bought. Searched all the bags and didn't find it. I was really frustrated because it's not the first time we've lost something that we had paid for at the market. So, I walked back to the market grumbling to myself that I have to walk back and it's super hot and I'm sweating through my shirt (delightful detail I know but it's often the reality here if you do any activity outside under the mid-day sun). I started retracing my steps and stopped at each stall I had been to asking if they had found a bag with chicken in it. I was not surprised when I got three 'no's'. And then......I stopped at the dear couple who have sold us watermelon and guayabas since the very first week we were here. When I asked if they had found a bag with chicken, the wife smiled and even showed me a little hand-written sign she had made saying they had a bag of chicken. I thought it was so cute though that she wanted to make sure it was mine so she asked me, 'what else is in the bag?' I responded in a questioning tone, "Limes I think?" YES! They had found it and had put it aside hoping someone would return for it. We're so thankful for the little things that God takes care of for us!
The good #1:
We had the opportunity to go to the Seeds of Hope (where I teach English on Tuesdays) Open House today. It felt liberating to travel the 30+ minute ride there in a car! George's brother Pete rented a car for his visit here so since he came along too we got to enjoy a car ride which is a special treat for us and took about 20 minutes off the drive each way compared to the bus.
The Seeds of Hope staff wanted to share what they have been doing in preparing the shelter they hope to open soon for young women rescued from sex trafficking.
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| The living room area |
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| Pete and Sophia check out the jewelry for sale that was made by the girls. |
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| Isn't this a beautiful bedroom???!!! The Seeds of Hope staff constructed these beautiful bunk beds that fill two bedrooms of the home (the other room has two bunks so there's room for 10 total girls). Now prayers are needed that they can receive the proper paperwork giving them permission to open the shelter. |
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| Penny (standing against the wall) gives an update on the ministry and shares the vision of Seeds of Hope. She invited everyone to also visit the Club House where the girls were working on jewelry and where all the classes take place (including where I go for English classes with the girls on Tuesdays). |
Our friend Laura invited our family over to roast marshmallows tonight after dinner. After some sweat treats, the kids went inside to watch part of a Narnia movie with her 10 year old son, Gabriel, and then it was great to end the evening with some adult conversation!
The ugly:
We came home from a couple of hours at Laura's house to find a huge ant infestation on our kitchen counter. There were hundreds of them crawling all of over the place and it was really gross (and they bit!). We're not quite sure what brought that on but we are hoping that doesn't happen again. Overall, we have been really thankful that we have not had too many annoying bug/insect issues in our house.
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