. . . Just Life Along the Way: To a Week in June

June.

The month of Dads and Grads.

The start of summer.

I gotta say, I keep losing track of time. When folks back home start talking about "summer" plans, I'm like, Oh yeah. That's right. Summer.

We don't really use that word here. It's either hot season or...cool season. And it's definitely hot season right now. But hot season looks (and feels!) way different than a summer back home.

Starting with the humidity.

One my friends here wrote last week, "My face is turning into Shine Central."

Another (who lives in a neighboring country) said they were turning into walking faucets.

I laughed at both of those comparisons, but somewhere inside there was also a groan of sympathy.

But enough about groaning.

Last week we had a grad party at the Mission.

It was fun to hear about their favorite memories of growing up here, how they've seen God work, and what they hope to do.

And I love those slide shows at graduations (or weddings) of all the cute and crazy pictures from when they were little.

There's something about graduations...

The accomplishment of something huge. The start of a new chapter and exciting possibilities. A time of celebration.

At the same time, graduations can also mean goodbyes (sometimes lots of goodbyes)...

But we won't talk about that. :)

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Yup. That's the same cat you've seen before, doing the same thing (snoozing), just in a different spot at the language center.

Sometimes when I see cats napping in the midday heat, it irks me. "You lazy bones! Don't you ever do anything but sleep?!" At the same time, it's cute. And brilliant. I'd nap all afternoon in the heat if I could, too.

Unfortunately I have French sessions in the afternoon, so that kind of nixes the napping idea.

- - -

Saturday I went to a church volleyball game at the beach. I watched little Eden while her parents played. Pretty much the perfect arrangement - I could be there, which made people happy, and I could avoid playing, which made me happy. And Eden was happy to stick her chubby little feet in the sand. :)

Even if I had wanted to play, it would have been madness in this heat! (Name that movie.)

I suppose I know a lot of mad people then...

I think at that table you could buy sandwiches or other fast food. (Yes, they do use that phrase here. In English.)

- - -

Wrestling matches are not only for the professionals.

It must be an inherent trait of boys the world over.

The little girl (sister? friend?) seemed concerned that they'd get hurt.

Did that stop them?

Not for an instant!

- - -

This creepy little guy turned up in my apartment last Saturday. Turns out Baygon works just as well on centipedes as it does on cockroaches. Lucky for me, not so lucky for him.

- - -

Who ever heard of a sandwich without French fries? Oh, wait. That used to be normal. Not that I think sandwiches WITH French fries are entirely normal now. They're weird and normal at the same time.

Weird, because, I mean...what do you eat on the side if the French fries are in the sandwich?

But normal enough that when I made a sandwich at home this weekend, I had the following conversation with myself:

"Hmm. I think I'll use that leftover meat to make myself a sandwich, but what else should I put in it? I have some tomatoes and onions...and French fries. Yeah. I'll put French fries in there too..."

Anyway.

Frankie and friends. Yup, another band member gone.

And I didn't take a picture of what happened to Bri and Alan. They're dropping like flies, people. Only Matt remains...

Incidentally, roasted butternut squash and apples are a lovely match! Or delicious match, whatever.

- - -

I heart my geckos. Goliath is the one in the first picture, and Betelgeuse is in the second.

- - -

It's been kind of fun to see noticeable progress on the building across from me. Not all of the buildings here are covered with tiles, but a lot are. This combination is turning out especially nice.

But I'd be so OCD if I was the one overseeing that job. I'm pretty sure there's neither a perfectly straight wall nor a perfectly right angle in that entire building, so of course the tiles don't line up perfectly either.

Which obviously doesn't matter to those responsible. So I guess it shouldn't bother me.