vacation ends

Who knew that one week filled with absolutely no plans could go so quickly? School errands took up most of Monday and Tuesday, and then Tuesday night I attended Bible study at the Basiles'. Because I didn't have to be at work the next day, when the study ended at close to 10, I went with some other Bible study people to the home of four Bible study people. There we stayed and talked until close to midnight.

On Wednesday I did quite a bit of baking. Every week the PCS seniors sell hot dogs, nachos, and dessert to raise money for their trip, and every week someone brings a ton of dessert so they can sell it. This coming week is my turn, so I decided to get that finished while I had time. Now there are several dozen chocolate chunk cookies (it's basically impossible to get chocolate chips here, so the best method is to chop up candy bars) and a pan of pumpkin cheesecake bars in the freezer.

Thursday Janelle returned from church to pick me and another PCS teacher up to go to Ruth and Manuel's house for comida. All the traditional Thanksgiving spread was available - turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, gravy, 14 pies... One family from church came for their first Thanksgiving meal. In Mexico Thanksgiving doesn't exist.

After we'd eaten, helped clean up, and sat and chatted for awhile, Janelle took me over to the home of a PCS family that was gone for the week. They needed someone to take care of their dog and rabbits, and I was happy to have a quiet house far from the school. They live about 1/2 hour away from home.

For the first time since coming to Mexico I had time to paint. That's what I spent most of Friday and Saturday doing, in addition to hours of leisurely reading. It was incredibly relaxing.

Today at church one of the youth celebrated her quinceaños, so the service was devoted to her ceremony. There was a feast of rice, tortillas, pipian, and cake afterwards, and then it we cleaned up. The service was actually shorter than usual, so we returned home much earlier than I had anticipated. Now all that remains of vacation is one afternoon. Tomorrow, back to the alarm clock.