under construction

As I write this, I am sitting in an office surrounded by white dust. The white dust has set up shop on the computer keyboard and found a home on the mouse ball. This is due to the fact that our office is in the process of remodeling. There is also dust in my ears and I continue to pick dirt and twigs out of my hair, along with the occasional hormiga (ant). These things, however, are not the result of a construction project. Rather, they come from cleaning the coconut trees. Today was my first experience with such a job, and it is dirty. All I do is pull the dead stuff off of the tree, but each removed portion rains down debris and exposes the homes of many insects. Most of these insects are ants, but I even saw a fully-grown cockroach scurry away from my advances. Eww. But the most exciting part is that most of this was accomplished from atop a ladder. I entertained myself by pretending I was working on a ship, perched upon the top-gallant spar, holding on to the mast (tree) with one hand and working with the other. I moved deliberately and with care. When ants crawled up my arms and over my face, I had to calmly brush them away, lest I fall to the ground. All-in-all, not a bad experience.
A few weeks ago I was blessed with a visit from my Uncle Joedy. He was in the area doing pre-trip preparations for a mission trip in the spring and was able to drop by in order to deliver a care package from my parents. It was really good to see him, even though it was only for a few minutes, and he set in motion a reconstruction of my point of view. In less than two weeks I will be home for a short visit. Before Joedy´s visit, I had thought that returning to El Salvador would be a breeze. But as he left, I suddenly realized that even though I love getting care packages, I love seeing my loved ones more. Knowing that, it will be extremely difficult to return after the New Year.