Love from the Border: July 15, 2013 was a good day.

You know those days when everything is just very positive and optimistic, and the day just plays out to

be overall great? Well today was one of those days! :)

To be honest, I was feeling a bit sad this morning when I realized that I only have 2 weeks left in El Paso. I've had the most unforgettable summer and times with Border Servant Corps. This summer has gone by so fast! It is also baffling to me that there are only 2 more weeks left of the program. Again I say, this summer has gone by so fast! The weeks fly by, and so have these weekends of trips and new experiences. My dad called me earlier this evening about flights home, and I instantly became sad and wanted to avoid talking about flights. Justin and Erin were in the office as I was talking to my dad. For some reason that made me feel worse because I hate knowing that we will soon be in different locations. Although I was feeling like a sad Sally, I knew that I had a brand new day of work with Justin and Erin, and that one of my most favorite people in the world (Carmen) would also be coming to the church to work in the afternoon. Knowing this made me smile and feel like nothing could go wrong.

That did indeed happen! I had a meeting with Justin, Erin, and Megan, and we discussed this week and the schedule. Justin told us stories about his weekend away with his housemates, and the whitewater rafting stories were quite entertaining. Once the meeting was over, it was just Justin and me at work. We both worked alone for awhile and I worked on sorting some pictures of the kids. These pictures were from field trips and other Cristo Rey activities. It was so fun looking at the pictures and reminiscing about those moments with them. I love the kids so much, they are all so wonderful. The youngest ones are also ADORABLE and just make you smile looking at all of the pictures. I have definitely grown attached to all of the kids in the program. Carmen arrived at Cristo Rey, and of course stopped into the office and greeted Justin and me with her warm embraces. I just love her. She is such a sweetheart....don't even know how to express how much I'm going to miss her!

Justin and I made lunch together - pasta, squash, and onions. It was a great joint effort! If there is one thing that I've actually learned while living in El Paso, it's that there is no greater way to have a conversation with someone than over a meal. I have also grown much more comfortable conversing with friends while cooking. As sad as this sounds, this is a completely new development. I have often lived with people who are very sassy and bossy in the kitchen in past years. It's been a relief to have friends and roommates here who are the far opposite from that. As we made lunch, we had many great conversations, as usual. To be honest, the topics we usually discuss together are ones that I've shared with friends who I've known forever. Justin is one of those friends who you can talk to about anything and everything under the sun. He is so easy to talk to and very personable. We discussed many topics such as family, crazy/psychotic college roommate stories, relationships, Border Servant, and the "real job" life stage. We then topped off our lunch with ice cream (in cones)! It was a fantastic, much-needed Justin time (Just in time!). :) Justin, if you're reading this, I really value our friendship and have mad respect for you! We went back to working on our individual projects for awhile. Justin blasted 8tracks in the office, thankfully, which made project time way more enjoyable and productive. I made a puppet, chinese paper lantern, and organized materials for Wednesday's project.

Erin came home, and the three of us continued to do our individual work. We decided to do a trial run of making ice cream in a plastic bag (the kids are making that tomorrow) just to make sure that we had all of the details squared away. That trial run was too fun and delicious! If you have never made ice cream in a plastic bag before, it's so easy! I encourage any teachers to try it with their students. It could be a science lesson of some sort?! We made vanilla ice cream and then put chocolate syrup inside. Carmen laughed at Erin and me, and our excitement about the ice cream. We can't help that we are, like, 6 year olds and get excited really easily about festive treats.

More jokes and laughs were shared in the office as the afternoon continued. This isn't something new between the three of us. I have realized that I turn into the biggest sassbasket when I'm with Justin and Erin for long periods of time. They deserve all the cred. Justin left, and Erin and me continued to work a little bit longer. We decided to walk to Sam's Chinese for dinner. Erin is also a friend who is extremely easy to talk with about anything. She is really good about analyzing what's going on around her, processing, and then spewing out in conversation. During our walk to Sam's, we talked about how we are going to plan multiple visits throughout the year, and also stay in touch and keep each other informed about our happenings. I'm never worried about not having Erin as a friend. Same applies to Justin, and all of my Border Servant friends, I truly hope to stay in contact with them.

I'm now done planning for the day and have some downtime to relax and think for myself a bit. I feel very chill and confident about these last 2 weeks. One of the reasons being that I feel much more confident in my role as a program director. Another reason being that the program will be over before we know it, and I would much rather like to be perky and happy in front of the kids as much as possible. I just want to enjoy the rest of my time with them, and not feel like I'm fretting over little details in the schedule. I feel like there are many reasons to smile and be happy during these last 2 weeks. Life has really taken off, and I have learned a ton about cultural/border awareness while being in El Paso. Thank goodness I've also been blessed to have amazing friends along for the ride.