From Honduras, I flew to San Francisco for my seminary class' 11-year reunion. While I wish that more of the class had attended, it was great to catch up with those who were there. While we all had many life events to fill each other in on, in some ways it was as if we had just graduated yesterday - just picked up where we left off. Ellen joined me there, and after the reunion we spent another few days seeing old friends in the Bay Area. The weather was delightful - sunny, yet cool. It was fun to be a tourist in a city where we lived for many years. One day we rode the historic F Line street car to Pier 39 and watched the sea lions, then went to the Ferry Building for lunch. Our friends Bill and Myrna took us on their favorite stairway walks in the Sunset, and we ate at Cafe Gratitude...twice! Yummmm!
This past week, I've been trying to reconnect with home, and at the same time get ready to leave again. It's great to be with Ellen and our furry family. We received a very warm greeting from the animals when we returned. Friday, we went to the farm where we've been volunteering, perhaps for the last time, since it's shutting down around the time I get back. It was sad to leave there. Yesterday I filled my pack with all the things I think I'll need for Spain, then went to the YMCA to weigh it. It weighed 24 pounds, and I only want to carry 20. I'll have to choose a few things to leave behind. Tomorrow, Uncle Wendell arrives so that we can fly to Spain together on Tuesday. Mom will join us for dinner tomorrow night.
I'm looking forward to speaking Spanish again. I was just starting to feel pretty confident when I left Honduras; now it feels like it's leaked out of my brain. I hope it will come back and even improve with a month of practice. I'll write more once we start walking in Spain.
