A Day with a Happy Ending...

so today marked the first of 3 days hosting a cooking seminar for orphan students from a local trade school. 
i had already been nervous about this weekend, because, well, the people i thought would be teaching, weren't able to.
so that left it up to our ministry team.
granted we all eat, and we all eat well.
i wouldn't say any of us are gourmet chefs. 
i can sometimes live off of the same meal for days, because that's what i've cooked, and i'm too lazy to make anything new.

so to start the day, i believed it would be a good day.
our van started, for starters.
it's a diesel van, and in the cold weather, sometimes the diesel turns to gel and we get no where.
however, after that, life went a little more hectic.
i decided to have a russian lesson this morning.
then it started half an hour late and went half an hour longer than i thought it would.
then i had forgotten something to take out to the school from the office.
then, half of the kids we thought we would take backed out.
we scrambled to find others.
finally we ended up with 6 kids.
then i forgot to turn the heat on in the kitchen where we were going to cook.  so there was no heat, the pipes were frozen, and it would take two hours to thaw.
so, we packed up and took everyone to my apartment.
my apartment is considerably smaller, with fewer large pots and pans.
also, only 2 of the 4 burners work. 
after that delay, it was a little harder to keep the kids' attention.
and the limited space made it a bit harder to get them to work at the same time.
but they did great.
we made spaghetti (not mush, like they're used to) with a sweet sauce. 
and garlic bread, which became more complicated than needed to be.
during that time, i had to take away our lighter (gas stove) because the boys were trying to heat up knives with it.
it was already an hour later than we planned when we sat down to eat.
everyone was hungry, because as soon as we'd prayed, it was completely silent (except for the sounds of forks hitting the plates, and people eating).
we then gave them a break and then had to chase them down to get them back on time.
we played a game to get them thinking of different jobs involving cooking/food.
and finally, we sat down to watch ratatouille, at which point, i went to go over tomorrow (now today).
and got myself into a conversation with our translator about one of the girls we both know who didn't come this weekend. 

it was a good day. 
i looked in my journal's entry for the morning before this busy friday, and i had written: our major goal is to spend time with the kids and make cooking a pleasant experience for them...whatever happens or doesn't happen is not life or death, and is not a matter of national security. 

and it's true. 
i think all the kids had a good time.
i had a good time.
i think our staff had a good time.
for all the mistakes and things that went not as planned, it was a great day.
and to top it off, we received today a donation for our ministry.
i'd call this not just a good day, but a great day. 
a day with a happy ending.