Security Briefing and more

The security briefing...is more of a safety dos and don'ts of El Salvador. They tell you how to behave, how to be safe, where to go, tell you what the most pressing dangers are, warn you about the driving, tell you about the security people that work at the embassy, etc. the general safety of living in a foreign country. It was helping, a little, b/c I lived here for almost 2 months, I figured out or was told a lot of what I heard in the meeting. But the good news is that I now have access to the embassy. What does that mean? It means that when I take the kids to the pool or playground, or go to the gym each morning, I can show my badge and after they check the car for security, I get to come in. 24/7 access to unclassified areas. So no more waiting or having to be escorted places in the embassy. (It's really nice)!!!

Today Sara took the kids and I to the beach she goes to. It was really nice. Since it was a tuesday afternoon, it was just us and the kids at the beach and pools (I'll put pictures up when I have a faster internet speed). Black sand beach - the only beach that doesn't have rocks all over it too - huge ocean waves, fresh water in the pools (always my favorite being a fresh water girl) and of course sunshine and warm weather. It was in the mid 80s today. Oh, but last night was gorgous! It was windy and it cooled down a lot. So it felt like a fall night, I just sat outside enjoying the breeze and cool weather. It's not nearly as cool as Michigan right now, but it was nice.

The windy season is beginning soon. I asked Alex what that means and he said, "The Wendy season is where everyone goes to Wendy's." Not a bad answer...we go to Wendys - very infrequently - to play on the playplace. It's a good change from the embassy from time to time.

I am going to be volunteering at my church here to help organize files, do power points/bulletins, etc. as needed on my day off. It will be nice to use the skills I learned over the past few years. I am teaching 5th and 6th grade Sunday school too. They are a fun group of kids, but I only teach with them once a month. So I'm beginning to aquire some extra weekly scheduling. Once I find a language school, I'll add that to the mix too. I have tennis lessons (for now) on Tuesday mornings, which is a fun time with Denise and Pam, but I'm getting bored with the instruction being the same week after week. So I'm debating just working on it on my own...that would just require finding time to do that though.

Halloween is coming up soon...that will be so much fun. We're going to be the superhero family - Shane and Alex are spiderman(men) I'm Batgirl (like batman...) and Syndey is a little bat. Then Shane is going to have a murder mystery party - Trailer Trash Tragedy - so it will be a super fun dress up day, busy but fun and totally worth it.

Just in case i haven't mentioned it...I totally enjoy my life here and I'm so thankful that God has allowed me to be here. The kids are wonderful (most days ;) ) and I have so many blessings.