Change-Change-Change

Our guard's son and younger brother watch the
activity on our porch

La Maestra observed that life had probably gone on without us the last two months in ‘The Ville’. But upon arriving back last week, we’ve been struck by what felt like so many quick changes. First, our six-month old dog was a short tiny thing who didn’t seem like he’d ever be more than a runt- but now he’s a tall thin dog that makes people think twice when they come to visit. Then, with the start of the rainy season, there is now regularly a puddle taking up our whole yard, making it hard to do anything there. Likewise, we can’t use many of the same roads we were used to taking, because some are under construction or swamped with large puddles of water all the time. We had heard this earlier, but one member of the EC leadership fell sick and died while we were gone, and his absence weighs heavily. We were shocked to find our language teacher not his usually chipper self as he has back & leg nerve problems and can hardly walk anymore. There’s a new family member from the village staying with our guard, his tiny 9 year-old younger brother. In our first Sunday back at church, we found there’s a new choir and changes to the seating pattern (heaven forbid!). However, the biggest change is probably that our closest neighbor left his family to try to find a way to get to Europe. It’s tragic to see how his wife and four small children have to deal with his absence as well.