dia a la playa

Let me begin by saying that I'm constantly sweating, my feet are swollen, I'm developing wicked weird tanlines, and I'm pretty sure that I will have no hair left by the end of my two months here because one of the little girls here "plays" with it and yanks large handfuls out daily.

And things, my friends, are beautiful.

Today Naseem and I attended iglesia with the rest of the orphanage. We all piled in to our decrepit van, with kids everywhere, in our laps, at our feet, sitting very, very closely next to us, and then all piled out, clown car style, in front of the small, brightly colored church. The church is actually a converted motel and is run by an American family; basically the service is a little like an episode of "The Partridge Family," you know, with the whole fam starring in the show. To be honest, I was a little disappointed. The sermon was delivered by a mustachioed man in a Hawaiian shirt, a la Project Runway's Chris March, and I can sum up his discussion of Luke 2 with three points: 1.Mary was special. 2. Do not envy other people. 3. All things are possible with God. Sure, I'll affirm each of those, but I mean, come on. I was a little more focused on the giant, cheesy Christian mural painted on the wall. I won't go into specific details but I'll leave you with the best part of the picture: an open Bible with a waterfall flowing out of it into the jars of three muscular Hondurans waiting eagerly to have their thirst quenched. Also it was a jungle scene...and there was a deer. Ten points to anyone who can attest to seeing a deer in any jungle ever. Ok, the most redemptive thing about this church is the free lunch for the community after the service. It's located near one of the poorest communities on the island, and so although barely any of them actually attend the service, they all show up for food when it's over. I love that and I am very thankful the church and the family shares Jesus Christ in this manner.

After church Naseem, Scottie and I took Shenice, Gabriel, and Nolan out to the beach for a little snorkeling and swimming. We got to spend beautiful time with the kids, playing and enjoying (and marveling at) creation. I finally figured out how to upload pictures (take that, APN, you smart-ass...I hope you're reading this) and so I've posted a few from the afternoon. I promise Shenice was happy in that one picture. Really.

One quick story and then I'll sign off: I've mentioned there are three older girls here and that they are really scary. Well, they're still scary and trying to interact with them brings up painful memories of doing Young Life at Robinson High School in Waco and getting shafted by just about every single girl in the whole school. Buuuut Naseem and I both have made progress with the next oldest girl, Sarah, who is 11 and just about as angst ridden as any moody teenage girl I've ever seen. Our few brief encounters with her have been rather intimidating. For example, this afternoon at our little tiny worship service, all the kids were out of control and so the guy leading it issued a fairly stern ultimatum demanding that everyone settle down. Then after a few seconds of silence, Sarah stands up, rolls her eyes, and announces, "All I want to do is finish this and get out of here. I'm busy so hurry it up." Luckily, we did. Anyway, Naseem and I muster up the courage to strike up a conversation with Sarah after worship; Naseem mentions she is going to help with art, and all of a sudden, it was like the heavens opened up and shone down Sarah's approval. As it so happens, Sarah wants to be an artist and can draw pretty killer horses (shout-out to Larkin Patricia Branstetter). Then Sarah brough over a copy of High School Musical. For those of you who are a little too hip for High School Musical, this was a teeny-bopper sensation that swept the nation, including, for whatever reason, Baylor Univesity, so not only have I seen it, but I know the songs as well. I always thought this was embarrassing (wait, I still do), but at least it provided me with some common ground with Sarah, which is great because I start home-schooling her in English starting tomorrow. I told her that, expecting her to be a little resistant or at least fairly unenthusiastic, but she said it sounded really cool. Hallelujah.

That's it for now. We love to get your comments and emails (hint, hint for those who haven't emailed us....do it!). Hope all is well stateside. Peace.

Alison