Monsters Under Your Bed

As a child, were you ever afraid of monsters under your bed? Well think back to that time. There have not been thoughts of monsters under my bed lately but I feel like those days are returning. At the moment I am surrounded by pillows. Why that reminds me of monsters is simple. The more pillows you have the less likely the monster will find you. Burrow deep into your bed covered with blankets and 15 that's right 15 pillows and even if there were monsters under my bed they wouldn't be able to find me.  Why do I have 15 pillows on my bed? Good question, I have been working hard this week making them. Instead of chairs for the children's reading area at church we decided pillows would be a fun alternative.  I got the job of making them. Which brings me back to childhood moments and monsters. Then again, a lot of things brings me back to childhood memories.

I am excited to say we have new students in English class. We passed out flyers in front of the university and we got bites. There was also one guy who was just walking by the church and saw the sign and came inside and said he wanted to be part of the class. Score one for us.

Here is little glimpse into my home. Tia made a mix between a crepe and a pancake. I want to say I helped but unless you consider holding the bowl while she did all the work is considered helping then I give her all the credit. They were so good. We put some kind of caramel sauce on it. I added apple slices although I think bananas would have gone wonderfully as well. Then we sat down to dinner. Dinners here are just a light snack usually what I would consider breakfast. Toast with avocado or jam or maybe eggs is a common dinner at my new home. But the other night when we had pancakes I was so happy. Ever since Tia made the pancakes it made me a little sad since she can't eat them. It is like making a cake and then not getting a slice, it saddens your heart a little. Tia also made empanadas this week. Some of you might have had them before. If you have, erase those from your memory because Chilean empanadas are the best thing my mouth has tasted. It is like a festival of flavor for your senses. So good that I can't even describe it.

girls freezing at soccer.

On Sunday the men play soccer at a local park. During this time of night the girls tend to go and watch. It is cold and so this week we decided to be pro active. A basketball was brought and we played. I want you to imagine what it looked like to see four girls and a basketball. We split into two teams and played full court. For those who may not know, I loath running. I find it pointless and exhausting. So there I was running - playing basketball which I haven't done for at least 3 years. So you can guess I am pretty rusty though I don't think I was ever that good to begin with. We played until one team reached 15 points. Which means we ran up and down the court for almost an hour non stop. If you were watching you could find me at some moments running and then suddenly I would just lay down.  Since there was only two of us I would have to get up rather quickly and continue playing. Hopefully you can see by this picture how tiring it was! It also was one of the funnest times I had this week. If I play again I will remember not to wear two pairs of pants and 2 jackets because I definitely was no longer cold by the time we finished.

I am thankful for so much. Thinking back on everything it is easy at moments to find myself in a mundane mood. The same routine, the same people. Then - I remember I am in Peru! So if you are in the spot as well thank God for the things that are normal and seem mundane. Every time I leave my house I am grateful I have a house to leave behind. I am thankful for the food I get to eat. I am thankful for the people that did not know me 33 days ago and now treat me like family. I am thankful for family back home that love me from afar. So much that gets put into the normal everyday things that may not be normal and everyday for other people. Until next week... love the small joys God puts into your life.