OOPS!

I tried to open the heavy metal gate in front of the primary school building today when I got to work, and the key broke in half. Part of it is still inside the lock! OOPS! The gate is so heavy that the key has bent, torqued over time and today it finally had it. Luckily I got the gate open before the key broke off, so all the kids in K, 1, 2, and 3 grade could get to their classrooms. I told the secretary what happened right away, and Luis, our maintenance man, fixed it by the end of the day. Whew!

A student at ILE has celiacs disease and gave me some gluten free flour to try out. It's called Pamelas, and it's pretty tasty. I can't make most of the recipies on the back of it cause they contain sugar and oil, which I can't have. However, there is a pancake recipe that only requires water and an egg. This is very exciting for me, because, for some reason, I associate pancakes with being sick and special occassions. We have a gas stovetop (no oven) at my new place and one heavy cast iron skillet. I have not quite perfected the pancake making process with these items and a lack of things I can use to make the batter not stick to the pan. One of my pancake attempts yeilded significant amounts of smokey air (despite the fact that the pancakes were just a little toasty, not burnt, and very edible). OOPS!

Monday I helped Alejandra take the Costa Rican flag into the school wide assembly. Every Monday we gather as a group to stand at attention as the flag enters, sing the national anthem, stand at attention as the flag leaves, sing praise songs together, listen to a lesson about Costa Rican culture, and listen to a short devo from one of the teachers. I thought I'd secured the flag in the little wooden box that holds it up, but I didn't push the pole down far enough into the hole in the box and it half fell over. It almost hit a few kindergarteners in front, but Alejandra caught it. OOPS! It is a very serious occassion when the flag is present and quite the matter of respect, so I tried to keep a straight face but a big grin and a little giggle escaped. It was so funny! They usually have a few senior high kids carry the flag in, and this was the first time teachers did it. They kids have always done a beautiful job.

I recently went on a camping trip to the beach with my church. They graciously arranged for a ride there, to share a tent with a friend, a ride home, a mattress to sleep on (I just had a set of sheets), and cooked something different that was specifically for me and met my dietary restrictions every time we ate. They are really gracious people! Saturday night we worshipped some, and the pastor preached a bit about how Christ should be what sustains us, that we shouldn't go after momentary pleasures that just kill our hunger for a brief period. He called the momentary pleasures "matahambres" (or kill hungers). After the sermon I asked my friend Priscilla what her "matahambres" were in effort to discuss what we'd just learned and go deeper...except I forgot the term, and said "matahombres" instead (or kill mans, man killers). OOPS! It's funny what language mistakes I make: llover (to rain), llorar (to cry), oferta (sale, bargain), ofrenda (offering at church)...