The new place

Life in our new place has meant quite a few changes.  Today marks one week of our new house, and we have really enjoyed it.  It is quite a retreat from the rest of our work life.  There, we have no internet or tv.  We get home, cook dinner, then go sit in the plaza in front of the house and watch the kids play until we go to bed.

Last night, our entertainment was watching Ginger catch frogs and cicadas.  She would catch the cicada, take it outside, then let it go again to have another chase.  When the cicada stopped moving after about 5 catch and releases, Ginger didn't know what to do, so she started throwing it up in the air to see if it would move again.

In addition to cicadas and frogs, we have cows and horses.  In our evening strolls, we have to dodge the surprises they leave behind on the sidewalk.

One not so thrilling part of our move is the traffic.  We only live about a 15 minute bus ride from the office.  But apparently, rush hour is a serious matter here.  We left the office a little late on Monday, thus leaving at prime time rush hour, and it took nearly an hour to get on a bus headed home.  In the mornings, we leave an hour before work starts just to get on a bus.  To get on the bus, you practically have to get a running start and leap into the people on the bus.  There is no such thing as a personal bubble.  You are in everyone else's space, and they are in yours.

It has been raining all well here, and we haven't been able to get any good pictures to share, but we will put those up as soon as possible.

Here at work, we are busy finishing some legal documents to finally get our institutional bank account open.  Drew was off early this morning for a Guarani village about 6 hours from here.  The other team members are giving a workshop of "healthy relationships" in a high school this morning.  We have more work than the 5 of us can handle right now, so we appreciate your thoughts and prayers as we decide what are the most important things for us to be dealing with.

Even here in the office, and in our new neighborhood as well, it seems the reality of life is very harsh. Every day we get phone calls of someone else asking for help.  The need is really overwhelming.  Sometimes I get frustrated by having sit here and watch the others leave and be the ones actually doing and acting out the work of Peace and Hope.  But I realize that by doing my job, I am allowing them to do theirs. For some reason, this song has been on my mind recently.  It has brought me a lot of peace, reminding me I am one person, and God is bigger.  May we never become numb to the pain, injustices, and deception around us.  This is the best version I found with English subtitles, so most of you can understand the lyrics.  Here is Shakira singing "Solo de Pido a Dios"