Health vs Communication

Make that three people who think my español is pretty good. Carlos, my trainer at the gym, told me on Monday that he was impressed with my Spanish for how short of a time I’ve been here. He also has taken to saying how many sets I should do in both Spanish and English - (“cuatro de quince” and then “four of fifteen”). Overall, the gym has been a really positive addition to my days – I go every day after work and have done both spinning and aerobics classes (including one on trampolines!). Although it is a good addition for my schedule and general health and happiness, it means I’ve been spending less and less time at the internet during the week. I generally quickly check my email every day, but once I get home around 7:45 or 8 I’m pooped and ready for dinner and bed.

On Sunday last weekend we went downstairs around 2 to investigate why the boys hadn’t called sancho (for lunch) yet and although it turns out they had already eaten and just chosen not to announce it for us, we did end up playing a spontaneous game of catch with the boys for a few hours. It was a lot of fun and I finally learned a few more names, so now I’m up to about 10 names for the boys in the house. It was just what I needed that day too because I had been feeling a little homesick – it’s been kind of amazing how every time I’m starting to question what I’m doing here something happens that completely reassures me and gives me the reassurance I need to continue to feel like I’m where I’m meant to be.

Work was fairly uneventful for the week. I had some really good conversations with the mama’s during naptime about their lives and telling them a bit more about me and what I want to do when I get back to the US – it was also really nice to have Dona Sabina tell me that they’ve already gotten used to having me around and will miss me when I leave (in another 7 months haha). And although it was a relatively uneventful week there were a few big events

1. Liseth got to move up to Sala 2 to be with her boyfriend, Juan Carlos (the two who sit on their basins in the morning and have makeout sessions). She has a fairly significant mental disability and throws a lot of temper tantrums, but the day that we told her she was going to move up to Sala 2 to be with Juan Carlos she was happy and calm and tranquil ALL day.

2. On Friday the kids broke into the cleaning cabinet. We were in the baño changing the kids after naptime and one time we opened the door to let some of them out and everything was fine and the next time we opened the door there was white detergent ALL over the floor and it looked like the kids were all playing in the snow. It was a bit of a panic at first, hoping none of them had eaten any of it, but luckily they all had just rolled around in it and slashed around and not thought to put it in their mouths. So we wiped them all off, sent them outside, and cleaned up the mess. Needless to say, both the kids and the floor were very clean for the rest of the day.

Our new roommate, Honne from Belgium, arrived on Friday night. She had been traveling around Peru and Bolivia with a friend from home for a month before she came, so she’s fairly well adjusted and has been a lot of fun to talk to and get to know. She is also 22 (turning 23 at the end of October) so it’s nice to have another person my age and know that once Jordan leaves I’ll be set with a great roommate and not have to worry about that. We also have a fun connection because we both studied in Salamanca, Spain (at different times and she was there for longer than I was), but it’s been fun to reminisce about some of the different places and our time there.

It’s hard to believe that Thursday will be two months. I have to admit that although I love my kids to death and have no idea how I’m going to leave them behind when I go, sometimes I wish I was working with the older kids. I feel like working with babies, although it improves my patience, isn’t making as much of a difference as working with older kids might. And hearing that Honne gets to work with some of the older kids at the shelter for street kids and hearing Leena talk about her work at Madre de Dios (the women and children’s shelter) makes me a little jealous. I definitely have made a commitment to go to Nazareth on Saturdays and hang out with those boys for 4 or 5 hours which I love doing, but hopefully once I get the tour of all the different Amanecer houses on Wednesday maybe I’ll be able to get more involved in work with some of the older kids too.