To be content...

Only two days left in this amazing country, where smiles are contageous and the food is real. Real beans, real huevos (eggs), lots of hot peppers and more tortillas than I can count. Not to mention the culture, music, colorful clothing and such happiness and joy than one can possibly comprehend. And the fact that they are so content with so little and so grateful...for anything...is remarkable!!

We left our runners (muddy, dirty, smelly and beyond recognition) at the village (b/c no one would dare take them home in their suitcase - they are so stinky and dirty). I got an email from Paige today that said, "By the time I got back to the village after seeing you off at the boat, the group had all taken a pair of your shoes and begun cleaning them up to keep for themselves."

Mom - this is something you would do. You rarely take anything for granted, save and reuse constantly and are so content with what you have.

Mom, that made my breath stop and feel most embarassed. We discard so much and these people see such value where we take so much for granted. They are so content with what they have, don't seem to want for more yet are grateful when they do receive something, and then they value it and take so much care where we take so much for granted.

I think the trip has been amazing - in so many ways - and for me, at least, it's been a reminder to not take so much for granted and to be content with what I have. I have so very much! We all do!

Here are your grand-kids - extraordinary in their own way - as we stopped at some ruins and then went out lastnight for dinner in Antigua.

We are all grateful, in different ways, for what we've learned here this week. And simply being together has been something we have not taken for granted for a moment.
love Crystal