6-20-10

Once again time took over and I haven’t really had time to write a blog everyday so I am just going to talk about what all has gone on since Friday. Friday me and the two Tia’s I work with (Selena and Kati) took the kids to the park. So we loaded up all 19 kids and the three of us in one minivan and headed to the park. It was a tight squeeze but we all fit and got there with no problem. At first me, Selena and Kati just sat on the benches with the little ones and watched but after awhile they dared me to go slide on the slide haha. This playground is a little different from the ones in the states, it’s a lot taller. So I took Tabita who had been sitting on my lap the whole time (she was too scared to go on the playground by herself) and we went down the huge curly slide and it was a success, Tabita loved it. The Tia’s were laughing because they didn’t think I would actually go (they obviously don’t know me that well yet haha). I then took Danna over to the bars to teach her how to flip on them (for those of you who don’t really know what I am talking about they are the bars that are kind of like uneven bars in gymnastics). I showed her what to do first and then in excitement she tried. After a couple tries she was flipping and swinging around all by herself. After a couple minutes of all the kids watching Danna do these cool tricks they all wanted to learn. So I had about ten kids (kids from the orphanage and then kids I didn’t even know) all saying “my turn my turn help me Tia Diana”. We did that for about an hour which was a real workout for my arms. The other Tia’s came over and were joking around that they were going to try so then I told Selena that she needs to do the monkey bars. It took her a couple tries but she finally made it across. It was funny for a couple reasons the first was because if you were to pass by the park you would see three women playing on the playground equipment like they were kids and then you would hear me trying to speak Spanish to them explaining what to do. Selena and I then had a contest with the older kids to see who could jump off the swing the highest. I have such an amazing job just think about what I get to do all day who could complain about that. After the park we brought the kids back and gave them baths then fed them dinner. Thursdays and Fridays are a little more relaxed because the head lady isn’t there working so Selena and Kati joke around a lot more and attempt to have conversations with me. I remember my first week here I was intimidated by them because I couldn’t talk to them so I just sat and ate with the kids but now I can somewhat talk to them so I sometimes just stay in the kitchen and joke around with them while the kids eat. The kids aren’t too happy about me not sitting with them for every meal but I do want to get to know Selena and Kati too.
Nothing really happened on Saturday. The group from the college came to do their community service and play with the kids so that meant that I wouldn’t really have to do anything but watch and make sure no one escaped haha. It’s so awesome how this group comes every other week to see these kids. Every time they come they bring some type of treat and food. Last time they brought a Piñata so the kids were really hoping for that again. They stayed pretty late so we couldn’t bathe the kids till about six which is usually when we feed them dinner. That was my Saturday nothing to big but still fun.
Today, I got up planning on going to church but a project I was working on for father’s day took a little longer than I thought because the internet is soooo slow. But I figured hey I can’t understand the preacher half the time anyway I will just have my own church here. So I listened to a podcast while I waited for the thing to load on my computer. By the time it got done it was mid service so I decided to just go over to the orphanage and help with the babies. I was there about an hour and then all the others returned from church. They all asked me why I wasn’t at church haha and I really didn’t know what to say so I just said I had to talk to my parents on the phone. After lunch Adrianna’s mom showed up to bring a cake for her Birthday. It was really nice of her; she is working really hard on showing Adrianna that she wants her back. She bought cake, jello and pop for all the kids. Her mom wasn’t allowed to stay for a long time though because it wasn’t visiting days. We stayed outside and played for awhile so I taught Danna a dance routine. She was in love with it and wanted to do it again and again. After awhile the group that is doing the VBS came to say hi to the kids. I was a little bummed that I couldn’t stay to meet them all but I had a game at 5 so I had to leave. The game was awesome! I am finally getting used to the court and I scored the first goal. I was very happy because I have never gotten to play forward in all the years that I have played so I was pretty proud to score. We lost but not by much and we played the best team so that was exciting. Tomorrow is my day off but I volunteered to help with the VBS so this should be fun!