More Friends in Volcan

The past couple days we’ve spent most of our time with people we’ve met here in Volcan. On Thursday, we drove Marisol around Cerro Punta, and the neighborhoods of Volcan, while she told us all about the area, how the farms work, what it’s like to live here, the best places to buy different things, and a lot of other interesting information.

Fruit - all this for $3.00!

We then bought some fruit at some great prices – $1 for a large pinneapple, 10 cents for a banana, etc. Amazing. That morning we had another large but cheap breakfast as well, of banana pancakes and hojaldres for about $8 for the family.

That night, we had dinner at Richard & Nancy Young’s house. Nancy made a great soup, Greek salad, and some heavenly rolls. The missionaries joined us as well (they feed them every week). Richard & Nancy have a daughter named Rachel, and she and the girls had a lot of fun together. And after dinner, they put on a little “play” for us on the front porch. It was very short, but cute.

Rachel and the girls doing a ?play?

We visited with the Young’s for quite a while after dinner. Richard trades currencies, and is very up to date on computer programs and technologies, and has quite a setup in his office. It was a really fun night, and we were so glad we could spend some time getting to know this nice family.

Friday, we had a leisurely morning, and in the afternoon, went to Richard’s again, who drove us to the home of a young couple, Shaun and Danielle, who just moved here from Canada. They have a two year old daughter, Anna, and are building a lovely home in the mountains. It was really fun talking with them about their experiences in coming here, and the challenges they’ve faced. They were really sweet people and we were glad we could meet them.

It’s been really interesting in Volcan, as we have done much less sight-seeing and vacationing than in previous places, and more time living and interacting with the people here. We’ve actually enjoyed that a lot. And after having now spent more than four consecutive weeks together as a family, 24 hours a day, we really do feel a lot closer than we did before we left. It’s been a real blessing being able to have so many new experiences together, and to see how our kids react to things and be able to teach them along the way.

Sometimes we’ll need to have “quiet time” (the quiet game has been a great help in that area), or Mommy and Daddy will need to take a “rest” for a while and not be bothered. But the girls have generally been so good, and things that used to become moments of high drama at home (such as a fly buzzing around their food) no longer bother them the same way. And our love is just growing stronger all the time. We have the sweetest kids!!!

Sorry, Mom. We’ve been slackers about getting a picture of all four of us together. We’re working on it. :)