Friday, November 2nd

Post date: Jan 1, 2011 4:53:16 AM

It looks like the rainy season may have arrived after all. We have had such beautiful weather for the most part up to now that we thought maybe the rainy season was a myth. Maybe not... The last couple of days have been more what we had been told to expect. No complaints, though. It has been much better than anticipated. We have managed to get out much more than we had thought would be possible.

Halloween went off without a hitch. We were so relieved with how things went. Instead of buying the kids costumes, we let them make masks and crowns from construction paper that we brought with us from home. A few of the other older kids joined in our craft time on Halloween morning and they had a great time. Our kids were a king (Caleb,) a queen (Tatiana,) 2 princesses (Sara and Nataly,) and an alligator (Micah.. Jhon just hung around watching all of the activity, but didn't want to wear anything. The hotel threw a big party at 3 in the afternoon with cake, music, and balloons. The kids really enjoyed themselves a lot. We thought we might have trouble avoiding witches, ghosts, and goblins; but the owner of the hotel, who had promised to come as a witch that day, didn't show up at all. Our kids were told to pick nice costumes, and all of the others did the same. We had another couple of princesses and a nurse. Halloween is quite a big deal here, and that night we were able to view some of the city fireworks over the wall. We'll try to get pictures uploaded soon.

Jason finally was able to get a router hooked up to the computer here so that we should be able to have better access to the internet instead of having to wait in line. It should allow him to be able to work more easily, too, which had been a major concern. The computer has been incredibly busy and accessing it has been difficult.

A family that picked up their baby the same day we picked up our children got word that they can go home. They signed papers yesterday and began all of the other last minute errands today. They include getting a passport and medical check up and getting a visa. They apparently were in a fast court. There are also families still here who have been here a couple of weeks longer than us.

Today, we went to the local version of Wal-mart again. We were out of crackers (which get Caleb throug. until breakfast) and a few other necessities. After that, we had to change money again because the doctor billed us yesterday and cleaned us out of cash. Next we headed to lunch -- the kids voted for Jeno's Pizza and Jason was really wanting to eat somewhere other than the hotel, so we went along with the vote. We'll have to go back there on a dry day. It has a lot of fun stuff for the kids to do, but most of it is uncovered. There are huge slides, tunnels and climbing spaces, ball pit, and a wooden swinging bridge. It started raining while we were eating, so they didn't get to play that much. It's within walking distance from the hotel, though, so we'll probably be seeing it again soon.

Back to the doctor -- she must have given us a family discount, because after treating 5 of us and visiting us at least 3 times, she only charged us about 125 dollars. We are all doing much better, too, though antibiotics are still flowing. Caleb still seems to have a recurring rash on his arms -- theory -- allergic to the laundry detergent. He's not too fond of the calamine lotion, either. Micah and Jason seem to be feeling much better. Kim is better, though still feeling bad. One thing that may have helped the adults to feel some better is the loan of some pillows. A family from the states went on vacation and left us the pillows they had bought from the Beautyrest store down the road. The pillows cost about 25 dollars a piece!!. We have enjoyed every dollar they spent. They really have made a difference in how well we've rested. Unfortunately, they come back on Sunday :-. That's okay, we enjoyed the company of the family, so we'll just enjoy that instead.

Things with the children are going well. Kim got an English language "I love you" from Tatiana today. Nataly recovered much more quickly from her sulks today, and Jhon is seeming more and more at ease with us each day. Tatiana is very excited about being able to say the alphabet in English -- a little too excited over the fact that Nataly can't yet.... We had school for the first time today. Tatiana is making an English alphabet book, which she seems to be excited about. Sara, Micah, and Nataly are working on some pre-k workbooks that we brought with us. Micah got frustrated quickly, so we may ease off on the writing of letters with him and concentrate on some of the other things. Nataly has obviously worked on this before, though there's still plenty of work left to be done and she doesn't seem bored by it at all. Sara tends to get in a hurry and get careless. She is excited about the whole process, though, she just isn't used to any expectations on her as far as her writing. She's been writing letters for ages and suddenly she's expected to try to do them correctly!. She'll get the hang of it soon. It was a success overall. Even Caleb behaved and just hung around watching everything while Jhon finished his nap.

Thanks again to all of you for your prayers -- they are felt very tangibly!