Denom HQ

This was a pretty interesting, though intense week, at our denominational HQ. I was starting to wear out yesterday, just because I find long weeks (7-9 days in a row) hard, especially with evening meetings and long days with the kids. Eva woke up most nights, which was hard on Emily. On the other hand, child care was very good. Sam had a little friend, "Ale" (for Alejandro). He liked the activities, and the ratio of childcare was good (two teachers + Ale's nanny Andrea). Fun! They did crafts and had lessons. It was nice for me to be able to get breakfast, pack it back, and drop the kids off. I think we sometimes miss adult conversations and meetings, and I liked that for hours I could sort of forget about my kids. On the other hand, we also had the chance to talk to a lot of people who have raised kids cross-culturally and know what it is like. It was also just interesting to learn about the work that others are up to and to hear how things have been going for them. Many of the people we met were in their third or even fourth decade of working abroad, so it was good to hear about their work and how they did things. I also always find out something about logistics I didn't know before: how to get reimbursed for something, what is going on with a volunteer program, new personnel, major new initiatives, etc. In that sense, it was very helpful just in getting a handle on how things are going.