Christmas part 2
My last blog post left off when we arrived in San Diego, so this post will detail what went on in the days and weeks that followed.
Our first full day in San Diego was mostly spent doing some much needed shopping. Our shopping list ranged from clothing items to personal care items and just about everything in between. We tried to buy things that we had trouble finding in our small town in Mexico, such as multivitamins and battery powered toothbrushes. I enjoyed a shopping spree and spent over $200 on new jeans for kids here at the orphanage (with money that was given to us to use for orphanage needs). While we can get clothing here in Mexico, the clothing here is noticeably of lesser quality and wears out super easily and quickly, so I was excited to get some good quality jeans to bring back for the orphanage. Gabe and I were able to get out for a date night while my parents watched the kids at the hotel. During that time, we went to a Lakeshore Learning store (a supply store for educators) and a Barnes and Noble and spent the rest of the money that had been given us on books and items for Gabe’s classroom and the school library. I will admit that being in a bookstore for me was like a child who entered a candy store! The kids (both ours and the other kids around here who are learning to read in English) have already been enjoying reading the new titles. A big thank you to my relatives who provided us with the finances to bless the kids with new clothes and books!
The following day, we got up early and headed to Sea World! The kids had been looking forward to this for months! The crowds weren’t too bad in the morning and we were able to tackle some of the rides first thing. My dad and I parted from the others for a little bit so that we could go on the newest roller coaster. It was not a very long ride, but it was a fun one! The lines were short enough that we went on it twice before meeting up with the others again. We got to watch the dolphin show, sea lion and otter show, orca show, and an awesome musical performance that shared details of the birth of Jesus. We also got to walk through the underwater tunnel in the shark tank and watch sharks swim all around us. Kids were tired but happy when we finally left. (Note, I only got pictures at the orca show because the rest of the time I was just trying to keep track of my kids!)
There was more we had planned on doing and visiting while in San Diego (museums, a beach, etc), but Bekah came down with the fever and cough by early morning of the next day, so we decided to lay low and stay around the hotel for the rest of our time there (2 more days). Kids did a lot of swimming in the hotel pool and Gabe and I did a fair amount more of shopping. However, one of the tires on our vehicle had been making a scraping/grinding noise for a few days before we traveled up to San Diego, and the sound was getting louder and more worrisome each time we drove it. Gabe wondered if maybe the wheel bearings were failing, so we decided to have it checked out on New Year’s Eve, since we were planning on making the 5 hour trip back through Mexico the next day. We found a tire place that offered free inspections and entrusted our vehicle to their care. After a rather long wait, they came back and said they couldn’t find anything wrong with it. We were rather surprised, but assumed that whatever it was would likely be fine until we could get home.
The next day we said goodbye to my parents and loaded up in our vehicle to head home. At the first stop sign (right before the entrance to the freeway) our anti-lock brakes decided to kick on….even though the weather conditions were fine. As we drove onto the freeway, our dashboard began to flash warnings and ding at us to let us know our whole stability system was experiencing troubles. Gabe and I began to pray for wisdom and safety. It was now New Year’s Day. Everything was going to be closed anyway. Should we just go for it? We did. Driving at freeway speeds seemed fine. Slower speeds were what worried us more. The brakes worked, it was just that the anti-lock brakes would kick on every single time we had to brake. We prayed our whole way home and felt relief when we arrived safely back at the orphanage. A couple of days later one of the mechanics here was able to take a look at our car. The speed sensor was the cause for setting off the bells and whistles on our dashboard, but the biggest problem was that, yes, our wheel bearings needed to be replaced desperately. We had to wait a few days for the correct wheel bearings to come in to the auto supply store, but within a week the wheel bearings were replaced. With the new bearings, the speed sensor issue also resolved. For only the cost of the parts, we were back to driving our vehicle with no more issues! Praise the Lord for watching over us on our drive home and for our amazing mechanics who volunteer here at the mission!
In the days that followed after arriving back home, the remaining kids all fell sick. Usually one kid at a time. The fever would start, oftentimes accompanied by a headache, and then the coughing would develop. Naomi, Shay, then Eli…(Autumn and Hannah had these symptoms before we left for San Diego). We ran the humidifier constantly, slathered on a lot of Vick’s vapor rub, and went through almost two bottles of cough medicine in our efforts to help kids fall asleep and stay asleep. Eli was probably the most draining. He would wake up coughing and crying constantly. For almost 2 weeks he struggled to sleep because of his cough. Even after school resumed, he was struggling to get better and even missed some school because of it. Finally, he began to sleep through the night again about 4 days ago. It was an exhausting time, but Gabe and I are praising God that neither one of us got it.
One fun event that took place even amidst those sick days was the Mexican celebration of Kings’ Day, which was January 6th. This is the day traditionally associated with when the three wise men appeared before baby Jesus to present their gifts. We were told that in many parts of Mexico (mainly on the mainland) the children don’t open gifts on Christmas, but wait until Kings’ Day. Gifts are attributed to the three wise men rather than Santa Claus. Anyway, our friend (and the principal of the school) and her kids brought over a traditional “Rosco de Reyes” to share with us, which is an oval shaped pastry/bread with different kinds of dried fruit embellishments. Hidden inside these oval pastries are figurines. In some areas it is a king and in other areas it is a baby Jesus. Sometimes there is only one and other times there are several (probably depends on what store/company you buy from). Tradition states that whoever finds the figurine has to then host a yummy dinner (in Mexico, this typically includes tamales!) for your friends and family in February. Our pastry ended up having several baby Jesus figurines. Autumn and Hannah both got one. I guess that means it is time for me to learn how to make tamales?!?!?!
When school resumed, it looked a little different than it did before Christmas break. You see, the teacher who had been teaching Bekah and Autumn’s class completed her stay here and moved back to the States shortly after Christmas. We miss her already, but wish her all the best as she figures out what God has for her next. With a teacher gone, the remaining 3 English speaking teachers had to absorb her students. There was a bit of switching around, not only of students, but also classrooms. Gabe’s class went from 4 kids up to 8. He added Bekah and Autumn, as well as another staff kid and another girl who lives in the orphanage. With the extra students, Gabe needed a bigger classroom, so he was moved to a larger classroom in the building next door. His students now range from about 2nd grade level up to 5th grade level, with several of them not being native English speakers. The first week was a bit rough and Gabe was unsure how to give each kid the attention he/she needed, given the wide range of grade levels. So I prayed and felt God nudging me to stop dividing my time between the school, Learning Center, and Cuna (baby/toddler nursery) and instead to focus solely on helping at the school. As sad as I was to leave the Learning Center and Cuna, I know that I can always pop in and visit those kids at any time. This past week I have been able to spend more time in Gabe’s classroom, working primarily on reading comprehension and math with several of the “new” kids. I continue to spend time with the other two English speaking classrooms as well, primarily reading one-on-one with those kids. However, since all the English speaking kids have Spanish classes first thing in the morning, I am not usually needed at the school until around 10:00, so I have found myself volunteering to help with food prep for our gift shop/coffee shop for a little less than an hour each morning. Don’t worry, the cookies and macadamia nuts are taste tested for quality on a daily basis! It’s a tough job, but someone has to do it!
Well, that about sums up our last month. We are thankful to be feeling better and getting back to normal routines. We continue to be excited about the work God is doing down here, both through us and to us. We are amazed at God’s care for us and how he continues to meet our needs every month. We were grateful to spend time with my parents, but wish it could have been longer (and that kids could have been healthy!) As always, thank you to all of our monthly supports who make our time down here possible. May God bless you for your generosity!