So.... I know that I've literally been gone 4 weeks now and I haven't posted anything... sorry about that! Life is so, so busy!! We're at Day 28 now and Natalie (my site partner) and I can hardly believe that the time has managed to fly this fast!
First off, let me begin by saying... life with 100 kids definitely has its challenges (try waking up to music blaring at 5:00 in the morning!) but it is AWESOME and I really could not picture myself doing anything else right now. I feel like I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be. 4 weeks in, Natalie and I have definitely settled in and are growing more and more accustomed to the rhythyms of daily life here at the Hogar (as much as we can... the thing about living in a foreign country and being immersed in a foreign tongue is that about 90 percent of the time, you don't really know anything that's going on.) :) Natalie has started running the library and is doing the bulk of the child sponsorship program that we are responsible for. I, on the other hand, have started working in Santa Maria, which is the name of the building housing our 20 little ones ranging in age from 5 months to about 6 years of age/kindergarten.
Santa Maria definitely has its challenges... today, for example, I had the "privilege" of changing an exceptionally dirty diaper, which resulted in their being poop all over my fingers, on my leg, and on my foot. I know... T.M.I. :) Or "reading a book" really means that I attempt to read while one little girl is shoving another book in my face and telling me "Look, look" every 5 seconds and two others are fighting/trying to tell me about the books they are "reading" while another kid is calling for "Toilet paper, please!" from the bathroom at the other end of the room. I also spend a lot of time in the Infirmary with the ailments of assorted small children.
Lainie, our outgoing SLM, is leaving in just a few days... I don't know what we would have done without her! She has definitely helped us learn the ropes of daily life in the Hogar and assisted us in many adventures to Santa Cruz for our Visa process. (In Bolivia, you only get a 30 day Visa when you fly in and you have to start this complicated process of applying for a 1 - year Visa right away when you arrive) Many thanks to you, Lainie... you have been our guardian angel and we are forever indebted to you. I hope for a very happy homecoming for you and a positive period of readjustment into life back home in the good old U.S. of A. :)
One of the highlights of this first month here happened 9 days in... There are a LOT of holidays in Bolivia and the one that happened 9 days in was called Dia del Estudiante, or Day of the Student. Needless to say, this was a major fiesta for the girls here at the Hogar! We threw them quite a party, on the outdoor basketball court that they call the "Cancha." I think I've changed my definition of heaven as a result of that party: Heaven is dancing yourself to the point of exhaustion with 120 joyful little girls. :) SO MUCH FUN!!!!!!!!!!!! We put on games for them (like finding bubble gum in a plate of whipped cream and blowing a bubble; whoever blows their bubble first wins) and Natalie, Lainie and I performed the "Cottoneye Joe" especially for their benefit. :) We also danced in several other dance numbers put on by the staff here at the Hogar (the psychologist, handyman, homework teachers, Santa Maria caregivers, and secretary).
You're probably wondering why this post is entitled "Happy Birthday from Bolivia." Well, this particular day, the Fiesta for Dia del Estudiante, happened to be the day before my birthday. At one point in the course of the evening I observed that one of my little ones from Santa Maria was wandering off by herself in the dark. I went to retrieve her and tried to understand what she was saying... she was very upset that I dared pick her up and bring her back to the party. In the midst of our little miscommunication, I heard my name being called over the microphone back at the cancha. All I could think was,
Oh my gosh. The timing for this is impeccable rather sarcastically in the back of my mind. Reluctantly, I made my way back to the cancha to see what they wanted.
It was Madre Rosario, our Hogar's director, and she was announcing that my birthday was the next day to
everyone at the party! I was a bit blown away... I really hadn't told anyone and fully expected that my birthday would pass unobserved. Then they all started singing to me and the two other girls present who had a birthday... first in English and then in Spanish! And they even brought out a cake and had me blow out the candles (Natalie and I would live on this cake for the next week) :)
So I got to celebrate my birthday with 120 little girls! And there was a full moon... and one of them asked me to be godmother for her First Communion... and I got to dance a real authentic Latin merengue with a Bolivian guy (one of our handymen... the girls made him ask me and it was rather embarassing and awkward on both accounts but still a ton of fun!) It was a beautiful night.
I love all of you and I am so grateful for your prayers. I will try to write again fairly soon... another 4 weeks, at least. :)
Look what I found on my door the very first day in Bolivia!
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Me and the other birthday girls, getting ready to blow out our candles! :)
The party's getting started! |
