Back to Work

July 31st

     Tuesday. My first day back at work after a nice 2 day break. Rachel L had gotten transferred from the caf to the sac, so we walked together to work. Zach again tells us about the Law of Degeneration...so I volunteer to clean the womens restroom. Rachel comes and cleans it with me. As

I am walking from the restroom to the supply closet, there was a large electric wire from one end of the room to the other. As I was walking, I didn't watch where I was going, tripped over the wire, and almost fell flat on my face. Thankfully I caught myself on one of the tables. And

unfortunately, I wasn't the only one to witness my "accident". Zach saw it too and laughed. Sigh. After we cleaned the restroom, we set up four pb&j stations, and wait. And wait. And wait. A few people show up, but not the crowd we were expecting. Rachel gets a text from one of her

good friends, Emily (previously a volunteer, but now a missionary). She is on her way to campus from the airport. Rachel is ecstatic. She is jumping up and down, clapping, and just being happy. And then she gets the text that Emily has arrived on campus, and she's off. Apparently she

tackled Emily the moment she stepped off of the bus. Rachel came back and was happy the entire day. And then we waited. It was about 2:30pm when Zach had us shut down, because apparently no one wanted pb&js. I'm dismissed from work, and I walk back to the Village. Karen is still

sleeping, and I decide to take a nap myself. I hear someone playing the guitar in the guy's dorm next door, and I am lulled to sleep. Suddenly, I am awakened. Karen is at the door talking with Ulises and Andrew, and then crawls back into her bed. I fall back asleep too. 4:30pm. My alarm goes off, and I get ready for work. Karen is still sleeping...

     I arrive at work. I see my church friend, Mariah, sitting at a table. She had just arrived back from her four-week long mission trip. So we talk for a few minutes, but then she has to leave and go to session, and I go on to work. We are serving Cici's for dinner, but because we don't know

how many missionaries need to eat, and because we are low on pizza, Zach has someone go get food from the caf for us. It was some sort of deliciousness...it had chicken and salsa...almost like chicken enchiladas. I'm not exactly sure what it was, but it was really good...after we serve

everyone, I go to the Village. I go into my dorm. Karen is still laying in bed. Maybe she isn't feeling good?? So I crawl up to my bed and get comfortable because I'm tired. No, I wasn't planning on going to sleep...I was just worn out from the day. And then I get a text from my

sister saying that my dad wants to Skype with me. So I get all of my stuff together, and head to the lounge because they have WiFi there. I am in the lounge, and I go sit on a couch near the t.v. I try to Skype my dad, but apparently my internet didn't want to work, so I had to tell him we

couldn't Skype tonight. I was disappointed, and I think he was too. Ulises and Andrew come in. Andrew sits on the couch and opens his laptop, and Ulises greets me from across the room, "What's up, Me-ky-ayla!" Oh Ulises... :) "Where is Karen?" He comes up with a plate from tonight's

dinner and asks me. "Sleeping," I respond. "STILL?" He said, his eyes getting really big. He then asks if I can go over with him to give her the plate of food. Sure. I get up and open the lounge door and hear the guitar again. I know it isn't Ulises or Andrew, so I ask Ulises who it was. "A

new volunteer," he says. Oh...I didn't know there were any new volunteers. He goes on to ask me if I "knew the guitar". I said no. I don't. So we get to the girl's dorm, and I walk in and turn on the light. Ulises is still standing outside. But Karen isn't there. She was gone. "Sorry

Ulises, she's gone. I'm not sure where she went. She could have gone to the lounge the other way." So we walk back the way we just came, and we are about to open the lounge door when Karen appears on the other side of the building, having just returned from the restroom. She sees us

and smiles, and Ulises goes up to her and they start talking in Spanish. I go back into the lounge and return to the couch. Ulises comes in and sits next to Andrew and they start conversing. And a bit later, Karen comes and sits on the couch next to mine. Turns out she wasn't feeling

good all day, but she was feeling better now, so she decided to hang out with us. Ulises hands her the plate of food, and she tries eating it...but she doesn't really like it. And even though I really like it, I wasn't hungry. I decided to continue making my bracelet for Desiree, and Ulises sees it.

"You sell?" He asked.
"No, I make them...like gifts."
"Ah!...you make me...gift?"
"Sure," I smiled.

     He wanted blue and green, so after I make Desiree's, I begin making his. Karen and I are talking. She is telling me about her family and life and vice versa. So it is late, and we all go to bed.


Nickel