Yesterday I very happily drove to the airport to pick up Sister Margaret Jane Kling, who is joining me in Suchitoto to create a CSJP community. El Salvador is familiar ground to Margaret Jane, who ministered here in refugee camps and urban communities for five years during the Salvadoran Civil War. She's been back several times since, but this time she's here to stay for awhile, and I couldn't be happier! Patti Moore kindly took this photo of us relaxing in the patio.
Our return had a little extra drama to it: on the way back, I got a call from Patti, telling me that Marta had fallen off the stepladder and hurt her ankle. She had been trying to do some touch-up painting to cover the handmarks left by the electricians; instead Marta and the ladder and the paint all ended up on the floor together. Patti discovered that 911 doesn't work in Suchitoto, and since her Spanish is very limited, managed to find my cell phone number. I called Peggy O'Neill and Peggy got Marta in touch with her sister Orbelina and we hurried back. When we got to the house, we found Patti and Orbelina hard at work cleaning paint off the floor and Marta sitting with ice on her swollen ankle. A trip to the Suchitoto hospital for an X-Ray revealed that - thankfully - this was a sprain, not a break, so now Marta is back home recuperating and the handmarks are still on the wall.
Then I cooked dinner for Margaret Jane and Patti and Peggy O'Neill, and I have to say, as someone who thinks she's a good cook, it was the worst dinner I've ever put together - the steak was as tough as young shoe leather, the rice was soggy, the broccoli got overcooked. Only the salsa, which Patti made, and the watermelon, prepared by God, saved the meal. But everyone ate and was happy....sometimes it's enough just to be with friends.
No comments:
Post a Comment