One week down: feeling far away, a smile that saves, letter from an angel, familial ties, social butterfly and machetes...

It's been a long fabulous week living in the jungle- hence the title! The kiddos have done so extremely well! 
My first dose of feeling far away came when I heard news that a dear friend back home was diagnosed with cancer! I just wanted to be there, at that moment, to help and for the first time in a long time I cried. I felt so isolated and alone. Still upset I walked to the grocery store and saw a woman paying at the register who I met once before, briefly. Instantly she saw me her face lit up, her smile stretched all the way across her beautiful face and she says "Kristen,  we have M&Ms. Here let me show you!". My loneliness melted and I knew at that moment that I was going to be okay! I know that I have people here who care about me and my family!
That night Hannah was upset about an incident at school and she asked me how to deal with bullies? I said the best thing, for that situation, is to ignore them and we role played on how to do it and how and why it works (note to self- follow up on said incident). Shortly after I crawled into bed and swiftly fell asleep- easy to do when the rain basically sings one to sleep. Mike woke me up and said "you should read this" and handed me a letter. The letter was from Hannah. She must have placed it next to me while I was sleeping. It said "Dear mom thank you for the advice love Hannah". What a sweet angel! Again saved by the reassurance of non-failure.
So the random coincidence of my familial ties are creeping in. Hannah came home from school and said "mom, I made even more friends today; a girl named Phillipa but everyone calls her Pip". Pip was my Papa's nickname and when I was pregnant with Mason we struggled to find a name for (Mason) our second to nickname Pip. The next oddity was picking a book at the library and the first book we see is I Spy. The exact same book that my mom read to Hannah and Mason since always and forever. Coincidence maybe but I will take lovely-family-reminding smiles any day!
In our transition of this journey Mason has turned into this amazing, outgoing social butterfly! He can't play with any new kiddo fast enough! Coming from a kid who wouldn't even let you take his picture but a couple weeks ago! Successful non-failure again!
Our adventure hasn't been without weary moments. The mine has been shut down since the collapse and has caused various issues. One was the Union threatened to strike which threw us (me) into a slight panic. I had to buy extra water and food just in case. There was also talk of tribe members coming into town armed with machetes (yup totally just said machete). Which apparently did happen but it's what they wear (right to bear arms comes to mind) and they just want production to start!
Ahhhh apparently life will never be dull in the jungle!
As always to be continued...