live and learn

I really like pancakes. And actually, I can make them too (I cannot say this about just any type of food), but you would not have been convinced of that if you had seen the batch that I produced yesterday night for supper. In my own defense – there are not Pam, spatulas, or electric skillets (or even flat skillets) here, and this made my results very interesting. First of all, to accommodate the lack of Pam, I cut off a chunk of butter and set it to melting on the pan – unfortunately I wasn’t watching and it was actually way too much butter and there was suddenly a ton of well, melted butter in the pan. And then I went to add the pancake batter, but remember it was on the not-flat-humped-in-the-middle skillet and so naturally it runs every-which direction, creating pancakes that look nothing like circles and everything like the state of Illinois – or worse. Furthermore, I had a hard time flipping them with the thing that I had that was not a spatula, and so one side was crispy and one side was, well, not. They were a pretty sorry lot – so sorry, in fact, that when I brought them upstairs to eat them, my host mom commented to me, “Isn’t it easier to go to Tio Panchito (a restaurant we sometimes go to after school)?” Well. Contrary to what it appears, I can successfully make pancakes. Today I just decided to try creating a topographical map of Africa with my pancakes, obviously. I did a pretty good job, huh? :) Sigh.

Well, that’s my story for the day. On a much more serious note, please pray for the Ricketts family this week - my dad’s cousin passed away yesterday morning. We know God’s plan is perfect, but it is sometimes hard to understand. Also, you can be praying for the girls in my Bible study group here - we had our Bible study last night and it's been such a blessing to grow and learn together.

Speaking of learning together... Emily and I are setting off for Barra Vieja in about an hour. We already have tickets, so now all we have to do is go hop on the bus. We take the bus to Acapulco and then a random combination of taxis and combis the rest of the way. I told Mom last night that we don’t really know where we’re going, we don’t know how we’re getting there, and we don’t know the people that we’re going to meet up with, but we’re going to Barra Vieja! 'Live and learn' is practically my motto - I'm just glad it happens to be Emily's too!

On a personal note…
Leah – I hope you are having a wonderful time in Jamaica!
Seth – I expect the house to still be standing when I come home, despite the fact that both you and Isaac are in it all week. :)
Addie – Mom says you’re kind of lonely – keep sending me e-mails! I love you and miss you, and I come home in less than two weeks!

Much love to all!