Day 34
You never know when a day will start off average and end unexpectedly spectacularly. Today was one of those days.
We went to church at the Radical. You see church clothes not common to Mennonite churches. Don’t get me wrong. I like a come as a who you are kind of church. I think they should all be that way.
Madi helped watch the toddlers. She managed not to give any yellow cards for throwing crayons like she’s used to doing at work.
The sermon dragged a bit and that’s being kind. I was getting to the point where I was willing to risk a Madi yellow card to be in with the toddlers.
After church we were invited to lunch with the other volunteers from the World Race team who had helped paint the Prenatal center in Tarcoles. They took the team in the back of their truck and we got a ride with their neighbors, who also go to the church. We drove by an abandoned air strip to a row of houses on the beach on Esterillos Este.
We got to know a bit about them in the car. They raised the money for the church building and saw to its construction. They have been doing the same kind of work in this neighborhood with street dogs that we were doing in Panajachel. Madi’s ears switched to listen. We ended up going to their house to visit their four rescues, in their self-contained house, water and electricity. It’s one step better than being an off-the-grid house in that the solar panels actually earn them power. Next time we visit we are going to see their water system. They have huge tanks under their garage. It was beyond amazing.
After that we went a few doors down to the house where the pool party was already on. We spent the afternoon eating lots of great food and watching the kids surf.
We had bbq’d hotdogs with our version of ketchup and Lays chips. We haven’t had hotdogs in ages, who knew they would be such a treat.
The best was yet to come. As the tide went out and the sun sunk lower, there was a thin layer of water on the beach which made it an expansive mirror of the sky. There were sand dollars of every size left as little treasures waiting to be found. The girls took as many as they could carry.
Cali called to me, “Look Mom, I’m dancing on the sky!” She was right. The girls were running and dancing on the beautiful reflection of the sky in the wet sand. It’s one of those moments you would extend if only you could. But the sand dollars we collected will always remind us of the evening they danced on the sky.