I ate curried cauliflower last night! With lentils! And a rack of other veggies. It was so good :) Loq and Leah had been traveling for a bit, so not long after school Irene and I headed over to catch up with them. What I was enjoying as a nice afternoon turned into a lovely evening, and rapidly grew into a sleep over and enjoyable morning with friends! I've been reading a great devotional, but sometimes the message gets over my head. I can't explain how nice it is to be able to go to their house, (we're coming to know it as the commune, but that might be a story for later...) and talk about real things. Not just mindless chatter, but really bond and get to know each other. It is an incredible blessing getting to share so much spiritually inside their house. I brought my devotional with me, and asked Loq if he'd try and help me understand it better. We all ended up chatting for what had to have been over an hour, not just about that day's devotion but I guess more letting the Spirit guide our discussion, and touching on all sorts of topics. There was something so (gloria a Dios) calming about the whole conversation.
We chatted so long we worked up an appetite, and had a good time figuring out what we had on-hand, searching a couple recipes and walking to market in search of "whatever variety of vegetables the hippie thinks look appetizing" and some curry powder. It's so fun whenever I get to cook dinner (or any meal really) with other people. Normally I'm in the kitchen rinsing, chopping and stirring solita, and it's nice getting to chat and laugh while doing one of the things I enjoy most. It is an added bonus that there's more room to experiment with recipes when you're cooking for more than one person. The lentils were delicious, and Zenaida ended up joining us which was of course a nice addition to the table. She even ate her veggies (except the really green ones) which might not seem like a big deal, but trust me we were all sure to let her know how proud we were! She's a menacing little thing and brought a bag of fresh, fluffy semitas...they were bien ricas con cafe despues de dinner. Hah, I actually just filled out a survey for a website I frequent and when the question came "Do you follow a gluten-free diet?" I couldn't help but let out a disappointed little chuckle. A few weeks ago when I asked Pastor Alfonso what was on top of semitas that made them taste so good he responded with a smile, "No se preocupe, all things natural." ....
The girls and I had hopes to get up and walk dark and early in the morning. We stayed up late chatting and I ended up sleeping over. When the alarm went off this morning (Leah coming in with a sleepy smile to say good morning :) it was pouring the rain, so our walk has been delayed to another time. We both went back to bed for a couple hours, and then enjoyed a nice quiet morning together. We've known each other such a short while, but I love talking to her. We both feel a strong connection, and they're moving in March so that's a bit of a bummer! Leah and I are already plotting the possibility of eventually living closer to each other in the States, so we'll see if we can't make that a reality. We had a great breakfast of some sweet potato, carrot and regular potato hash. Loq says it's too green to call it hashbrowns, unless we're willing to call it hippie hashbrowns. I just call them tasty. Especially with the addition of the rosemary, roasted garlic, caramelly onions and side of bright green aguacate. I am going to miss $0.30 avocados. So the conversation flowed and spun all morning, and then the girls came over for a spur of the moment Bible study. We listened to a Beth Moore goody and all enjoyed her message. Oh yeah--we were supposed to be travelling this weekend, so we had a Friday off of school! The great, sunny afternoon has turned into a still great, but rainy evening. I'm preparing for celula at Hermana Elvia's house so that should be great. Mmm suddenly I'm craving curry leftovers.
