be where you are

so as things close out i've resorted back to what i think is pretty normal for me. not thinking about what's ahead and hanging out in the moment.

when i have quite a bit of time i always seem to have a sort-of countdown going, but once it gets closer and closer, the countdown stops and i'm just hanging. i guess inevitably waiting for the inevitable. i stop thinking about i have this left or this left. and just think about the next day and what i'm planning. i'm not really sure why my mind works that way...but it does.

although i keep being reminded when people keep saying good-bye to me....although i've gotten to the point of just shrugging my shoulders and going with it.

tuesday night we had a special dinner at the parish because miriam (a long-time lay missionary who worked in santa fe for like 10 years) was in town. many of the sisters from the congregation we work with came and it ended up being much more special than i imagined.

it started out a little rough because pool's son's mom's sister died so everyone was kind-of running around wondering what to do. Should we be with Pool or what can we do? Turns out Giovanni & Rey went with Pool to Lydia's house and Isaac & Juan stayed with me at the dinner.

Juan and I had a talk before dinner started and he was telling me how he didn't want me to go and then he said, but maybe we don't know why this is happening, but you know God does. And everything is going to work out. And then he started talking about the guys kidnapping me the night before i leave and hiding me in Mexico...it just a joke everyone! But I lightened our conversation and got me ready for the dinner.

Sister Maria Louisa (the head-nun in Mexico in the congregation) came (which was definitely a surprise to me. At this point I was standing outside the door and she came up and was full of apologies. No matter how hurt I feel from this program right now it's comforting when I know people within the organization actually realize that. I'm a person and I have feelings. So we talked about that a little bit.

When Sister Maria Louisa walked through the door Isaac said, that's a sister. I obviously knew this so i said i knew. And he said no but i know her. Apparently, she worked with his dad on church stuff for years and he was excited to know Miriam too. I think it made him feel more comfortable about attending the dinner, especially how warm and welcoming Sister Maria Louisa was to him.

During dinner she made a speech about how we'll be missed and how Paquita is so sad and will definitely miss us. And if we can ever come back, they'll be waiting with open arms. As I said, it's really nice to hear positive, sincere words from this program.

I think Miriam really enjoyed herself and it's always nice to have a dinner with the parish group. Although I sort-of felt like Cinthya was waiting on us, which made me a little uncomfortable. I wish I could have taken shifts with her.

so this dinner was for miriam, but it was just another wonderful opportunity for us to be with the community.

saturday

was definitely a day for parties.

during the day i went to a party at isaac's house for his family and then I left early for our party for melissa's birthday.

sunday

we had a nice "last supper" at the parish and padre sang for us a little bit too.

monday

isaac threw me a surprise party with the boys. it was perfect!

i had NO idea either.

we were supposed to be just going to Cristobal's house and when we got there everyone was waiting with the whole room decorated.

it was wonderful.