Movie night

"I'm in the bathroom!  You can come in!"  I wasn't sure if I'd have time to eat dinner before the teenage girls came over for our Friday night movie, but I managed to get something down quick.  Then I realized I needed to use the bathroom.  Was there time?  Never know until you try ;).  Turns out this time it was a no.

As I wash my hands, I hear them coming into my apartment and beginning to move furniture to make the space more accommodating to the 11 of them (12 including their housemother who has begun to join us as well).  I come out to find a few of the girls lounging in their choice spots, and I joke about us not making any dessert that evening, since they appeared to be too comfortable to help.

Eventually they get up and we begin the task of making a double batch of brownies.  As more girls come in, we vote on whether to mix in pecans or have them on top.  It is a tie.  We go with on top, since we mixed them in last time.

More girls burst onto the scene, several of them asking me if John wouldn't have been beheaded if Herod hadn't been drunk.  It takes me a second to catch up, and I wonder who gave their devotional tonight and what they talked about.

I tell them only God knows what would've happened, but Herod did already have John imprisoned, so it wasn't looking great for him.  Another girl pointed out that the reason Herod hadn't killed John yet was because the people were against it.  I mention too that being drunk certainly didn't help Herod make good decisions.

Questions then quickly turn to the photos on my wall and where I took them.  One girl tells me she can't help with the brownies because she cut her finger.  But that happened weeks ago... I ask to see her finger and it is still bent down where the cut was.  I'm no doctor, but I tell her if she doesn't start stretching it and using it soon, it may stay like that.  Later I hear her shout, as the girls try to help her extend it further...

I give them the option of choosing between three movies, and they go with the serious Holocaust drama.  I make sure they understand the time period the movie will take place in and that the movie will be sad, probably even make them cry.  They seem ok with that and I hit play, making sure the audio is in Spanish.

We pause the movie a few times so I can explain some things, and once more so they can come get the brownies that I've dished up for them.  I carefully spoon out the last of my ice-cream over their brownies, managing to measure it correctly so everyone gets a fairly even amount.

One girl has decided that brownies make her break out, so she has chosen not to eat brownies with us for the past few months - I give her extra ice cream instead.  But today she asks permission to have some brownies.  I tell her that is entirely up to her and she takes a small piece.  We'll see how that works out for her.

Another girl, who simply doesn't like brownies, has had a bad cough for a few weeks, so I make her a hot "throat coat" tea instead.  I put way too much honey in it, but she seems to enjoy it anyway.  Later I make her a hot apple cider from the packets I'm thankful to have found at Walmart.

The young woman who has been through the most in her hard life is the one who catches on more quickly to everything that is happening in the movie, making comments reflecting how she thinks people are behaving and turning to me to confirm suspicions she has about what will happen next.  At the saddest point she turns to me and says she feels like crying.  I already am :).  It is odd to think that just a few weeks ago we were all watching the new version of Aladdin together.

As the movie finishes, one of the girls says that I was right, that it did make her cry.  They fold up the blankets and put them away, and each give me a hug as they leave.  It has begun to rain, and they make a ton of noise as they go out into the night.  Hopefully the neighbors are feeling understanding :).

A week in the life

When I locked myself out of my house and office, both in the same day, I began counting things that were happening. Here's a list of some things I've counted this week 

How many times did I lock myself out this week? Three 
How many times did I see a shooting star? One 
How many times did I sneak out of church to talk to the leadership team? Two ️
How many earthquakes did I feel? One (5.6 Magnitude at 5:13am) 
How many loads of laundry did I do? Four (not all my own) 
How many dishes did my dish team wash? Too many 
How many podcasts did I listen too? Ten-ish... 
How many times did I make it off the property? One 
How many times did I work out? Two 
How many times was I invited to eat at a different table? One - with the little girls 
How many maintenance reports were turned in to me? A dozen 
How many monthly reports did I translate? Three 
How many people visited my apartment? About thirty 
How many days did I listen to Christmas music? All the days 

 How has your first week of October gone, numerically speaking?