Would you believe that a series of seemingly negative events caused our day to be better than we could have ever imagined?
The plan was for me to pick up Molly, then Jennifer (the girl Molly is mentoring) and Erika this morning to go look at schools for them. I was supposed to pick up Molly at 9:15 and the other two at 9:30. But at 9:18, I was awakened from the deepest of sleeps by the water man yelling, "Agua Azul!"
I bolted out of bed because I know he passes by around 9:15 and sure enough, I was late. This cold still seems to be getting the best of me. Last night I had an awful headache and this morning I still have a sore throat, cough, and runny nose. That is the only reason I can imagine I am sleeping so much.
BUT, later we would see that my sleeping late was very clearly part the plan God had for us today.
I called Molly, freaking out and told her I had just woken up. She told me to pass by and grab the girls first, since they would be waiting in the street. I was able to reach Erika before she left home, so she knew I was running late.
Molly's plans for the day had been changed too. Not by me oversleeping, but by the fact that the kids' bus never arrived. Finally after an hour of waiting outside, Molly called the school and Oh, they forgot to tell her that school is cancelled today and for the rest of the week.
Molly had been sending me messages all morning, which I slept through. That's another strange thing. She thought we would have to change plans. Then she sent me a final message saying she found a babysitter. But the babysitter could only stay for a couple of hours so we were on a tight schedule.
Each of these events - me oversleeping, the kids not having school, and the babysitter needing to leave early, meant that we had to change our plans. We intended to visit 4 colleges today. But there would only be time for two. Molly had done research about what colleges were reasonably priced and offer the classes that Jennifer wants. Our best bet was the Catholica. Since we were now short on time and it was closest to Molly's house we went there first, although it was not our original plan.
At the Catholica they said that if Jennifer passed the entrance exam today, she could start classes tomorrow. She just needed a copy of her ID and transcripts from high school. We had enough time to run home, drop Jennifer off to grab her stuff, and go to INFOP again to check on classes for Erika.
This time at INFOP they out-rightly were rude. One lady was nice, and trying to help us, but the lady who told us she would call us when the next classes started kept butting in and saying, "I told them the schedule already." "They don't want the schedule that is available."
Finally I just tuned her out and asked the nice lady what we need to do because Erika is not getting any calls and she is already enrolled. The nice lady told us to go to a place that was a few miles up the road and ask for a man named Hever. So we went.
It was right next to a Pizza Hut. Molly ran in and grabbed us pizza for lunch. Erika and I talked to Hever in the strangest, darkest public building I have ever been inside. There was a line of people behind us, all of them saying they were signed up for the same computer class as Erika, but none of them were called either. So it wasn't for my fair gringa skin that Erika was left out.
After talking with Hever I feel better. He said the computer class is now closed. BUT there is an English class, which is what Erika really wants most, and it will start in June. They don't know the dates but he gave me two phone numbers to call him if he hasn't called us by the beginning of June.
So, I have faith that Erika will enroll in English classes in June and get some studying in before she goes back to school full time.
We had our pizza at Molly's house, then a time of prayer for Jennifer to pass the test.
Molly left to go look at some cars she would like to buy with my mechanic and I took Jennifer back for the test. Turned out we had a lot of running around to do still, and things they hadn't told us about before. Thank God I didn't just drop her off, thinking it was just a matter of taking the test.
... (Three hours later)... Molly called. Jennifer took the entrance exam twice at other schools and studied hard to prepare but could never pass. Apparently God did not want Jennifer to attend those schools because Jennifer just passed the entrance exam at the Catholic University with flying colors!!!!!!
We went to sign her up. find out about transportation (which seems to be the only issue) and get her student ID. Jennifer kept saying. "This is all happening so fast!" But she has been ready and applying to colleges for 6 or 8 months. So, today God made things move fast for her.
The only bad part is that she has to travel through Los Pinos at 5 a.m. to catch a bus at 6 a.m. You'd think the "bad guys" would be asleep at that hour, but it is actually a prime time for assaults because they can watch and see that the same people are coming and going at the same time every day. Beautiful Jennifer would be a perfect target. It is not at all safe and Jennifer told us honestly that she is really scared about that. She and Molly are going to look at bus schedules and class schedules again, in hopes of figuring out another option. But otherwise Jennifer is now a student, ready to start classes tomorrow!
I also noticed today that the headlines of the newspaper were TOQUE DE QUEDA. That means "curfew". As far as I know there hasn't been a toque de queda since 2009 when the president was taken from office and people were protesting violently in the streets. They only implement toque de quedas when things have reached a level of danger and violence that police can no longer maintain control.
Today I saw more military police than I normally see. Jennifer commented on that too. They have been increasing their presence little by little over the past two or three weeks. There was also a traffic stop where they looked inside every car today. I'm guessing they were looking for something or someone specific, but I don't know what it was. It was not a North American woman because they let me pass by quickly.
I hope they don't start having the crazy curfews like they used to, where you would be in the middle of your day and they would suddenly say, "Everyone has to be inside their homes by 4 p.m." Jobs had to close and people couldn't make a living because they had to be at home instead of at work. If you were caught outside you would automatically, no questions asked, be put in jail. It almost happened to the former pastor of my former church. He was out a few minutes past the curfew with his van full of people and they almost didn't let him go home.
Anyway, I am praying the toque de queda does not effect me. I am a person who is always home by dark anyway, so as long as they don't go crazy with it, I will be fine. It's just a pain in the neck to always have to be aware because the city can shut down at any moment, and you could get stuck where you are if you don't pay careful attention.
Today was a perfect lesson about plans. Even the best laid plans couldn't have given us better results today. I am glad God "messed things up" by letting me oversleep and canceling the kids' school. As a result we now have a girl from Los Pinos who will start studying psychology tomorrow, Molly is hoping to buy her car tomorrow, and Erika should begin English classes in a couple of weeks. We are thankful that God "messed up" our day. I hope He messes up tomorrow too!
