what a day. we were in class (finally) when this really loud airplane flew by. everyone turned to look and it was so close i unconsciously ducked! it turned out to be a crop duster that was spraying the fields right behind gabriel house, and it was this bright orange plane painted like a tiger, or shark, or something with huge teeth. well i'm sorry but class was put on hold just for a little bit...it was so cool. the kids loved it. the guy flew right over us a couple times; i'm sure he could see us. it was sweet.

i was cleaning out my drawers and getting rid of clothes that i don't need/want (oops. i brought too many clothes. big surprise. ) and angelica said i could give some of my clothes to the boys. i had a namesake shirt (sorry don, but it's not even your band's name anymore) that i gave to sergio, and he was so precious. remember that he can be really hard to understand when he says multisyllabic words, and he's happy 96% of the time. so i told him i was giving him the shirt and he gets this huge smile on his face and goes, wow! for me? thank you hilary!
i've never heard him talk like that before! it was so clear, and so genuine. and it was an old shirt. he got right to work folding it and putting it in his drawer. so sweet. love that kid.

so i went downtown to get a few things before i leave, and i made a tamale stop at a new place paco told me about. they were unbelievably delicious (of course), but as i was standing there and looked at the guy who was working, i thought he looked really similar to twinkie, one of our friends from rocio's neighborhood (17 de abril). i kept staring at him, because i just could not figure out if it was him. he was pretty skinny and taller than i remembered...but i hadn't seen him since april. i didn't want to make an even bigger fool of myself and start talking to him if it wasn't twinkie, but i was like, i cannot let this pass me by. i asked him if he was twinkie and he smiles and goes, yeah. i told him i was lourdes' friend and he goes yeah you're hilary, right? lourdes told me you were going to be here.
oh my GOSH. let me tell you just how miraculous this is. we saw him in april when we were here for barnabas. then when we were back in august he wasn't around. he's been on and off drugs, in and out of the states and rehab centers, and just kind of bouncing around. i talked to him for awhile - he's back living in 17 de abril and seems to be doing pretty well. i didn't want to ask too much, but he's got a job and looks pretty healthy. it was just unbelievable. of all the flipping tamale places in ensenada...of all then nights he could be working...of the 5 times i've been walking downtown in the past 4 months...wow. God is so good.