Downtown San Jose

I just got back from downtown San Jose. I have been going down there on Friday nights with another group to give out coffee and cookies to the kids that live on the streets and the prostitutes. We met a young woman tonight that seemed a little out of place. At first glance you could see that there was still a brightness in her eyes. After a while of working on the streets you lose that light. She has only been out working for about 2 months. She is 23 years old and has 3 children. We also met a group of boys. I think one was probably living on the street and the others were just downtown for the evening. The neighborhood that they live in is a much more dangerous place to be on a Friday night. I also almost got a dog while I was downtown. If we had a yard at this new place it would have been coming home with me. I gave it a cookie and it gently took it from me and then lay down beside me to eat it. It put the cookies between it's paws and ate it very slowly. He followed us around the rest of the night. It broke my heart to leave him there on the street. It breaks my heart to leave the kids and the women we meet out on the street too. I guess I need to open a shelter for people and animals.

Getting Ready for Christmas

I started the process of sorting the presents that we will be giving away in the precario. I had three giant bags of gifts but that isn't even a tenth of what we will be giving away. It was so exciting to wonder what the gift was inside and to think about each child as I read the names on the tags. I can't wait to see their faces when we give them their gift. It is so amazing the excess we have in the states. Many of you will be buying multiple gifts for your families but these kids are getting the one and only present they will get. They are so grateful and excited! It is awesome to be part of that.

The Sunset

Have you ever been to a structure fire? Watched the fire mix with the clouds of smoke? I never really had the chance to just watch a fire, too busy trying to put it out I guess. Tonight I watched the sun set and the colors were just so amazing. I couldn't figure out how to explain the colors but a fire is exactly how they looked. There are dark, gray clouds but they glow with this red fire. It's like they are burning and the clouds are just the smoke. It only lasted a few minutes but it was breathtaking. Sorry I don't have my camera handy. I hope you can picture it in your mind.

A New Roof

I got a call Monday morning to come to the precario so Edwin could start work on the new roof for the rancho. I was under the impression that he would need to look and see what he needed to do the job, so I went expecting to be there for about an hour or two. NO! He started right away. He completely took the old roof off! I was there for about 10 hours and it finally got too dark to work and it was raining. I had to leave the rancho with no roof. Needless to say I had to say a prayer over everything. I decided that it was just stuff and it did really belong to the Lord so if he wanted us to still have it he would protect it. As I was leaving I almost drowned! Literally. The roof in the front has lots of holes and to lock up you have to look up. While I was doing that water just poured into my face! Where was America's Funniest Home Videos?! Tuesday was more of the same. I was a little more prepared. I did bring a snack but I still had no where to use the bathroom. I think I was there for 11 hours on Tuesday. Wednesday was a little less time because I had to leave for the beca students. I just got there at 6 in the morning instead of 7. The roof was pretty much on by this time. My plan was to leave there, go take care of the my friend's cats and take a shower. I didn't get to do that. One of the guys that was helping with the roof was on his bike and it was pouring rain. I gave him a ride to his house, so that put me closer to my house in Santo Domingo. Change of plans, I ordered a pizza from a place right around the corner. Ran and bought some drinks went back to get the pizza and got on the road. I was really wet but happy that I was still on time. I figured that I got my shower from all of the rain. While I was driving I noticed that I didn't have plates, cups, or napkins. Of course not!!! There is a small store on the way to the beca. I stopped there to pick up what I needed. While I was getting those things I noticed that they had baby baskets. I have been looking for more baskets for a couple of weeks. Well, I grabbed one and I couldn't find the price so I grabbed the second one down from the top shelf and tipped it over to look inside. It was FULL of water!!! I was not just wet I was soaked! I finally made it to the beca. While we were eating out pizza the light started to go on and off. First of all this makes in difficult for the kids to study, but the school that we use has put in an electric gate. Which means if there is no power I'm trapped! I told the girls to get in the van. I took them home. That was a crazy day to say the least. Thursday was another long day at the precario. I was able to get some help from our friends from Boy with a Ball. They came and helped me clean up the rancho so it would be ready for ladies' bible study. The new roof looks great and I also had them fix the front part too so no more drowning when I'm trying to lock up. I've spent the last 6 days in the precario. It really hasn't been that bad. I've really enjoyed being able to visit with everyone that would stop by. It's definitely helped my Spanish!