Mami Katy

It’s amazing how quickly I can fall back into a routine here. I’ve been here one week officially and I can’t believe it. Part of me can’t believe a whole week has already past, while the other side can’t believe I’ve ONLY been here a week. I suppose they’re both sign that things are going well.

It’s been a great week at work. The kids have taken to me like no time has passed. Although I feel right back at home, I can’t help but notice that although it feels the same, so much has changed in the past two and a half months.

Seven of the twenty-one kids I left behind are no longer in my sala. That’s 33% - and will soon be eight of 31 in the next week when Omar leaves with his adoptive parents (to Barcelona, Spain). Luckily, five of them remain in the hogar and have only moved up to Sala 2 – Gonzalo, Lucas, Jose Armando, Blanca, and Antua are all now alumn of Sala 1 and off with the big kids in Sala 2. Although I miss them terribly, I can’t say I don’t love that I only have to deal with the positive interactions with each of them every day. When Antua’s face lights up and he stretches his small arm out with full force, almost as if to grab me, every time I walk by. Or when I’m feeding my sala at lunch and I turn around and Lucas has run away from his Sala to come say hi. Or how Blanca yells “KATY!!” every time she sees me. Along with seeing all the other faces of the alumni from my sala – Jen, I think all but 3 or 4 of the kids in your sala were once mine!! David has gone to live with his dad, who I remember visiting a handful of times. This makes me happy that he is being reunited with his family, but also a bit worried considering most of them are taken from their families for a reason, so there is always a chance they will end up either back at Solomon or a different home. And last but not least, Julieta has gone in adoption to La Paz. This adoption absolutely thrills me because it’s the FIRST adoption I’ve seen from within Bolivia in my whole time at the home. Evo keeps restricting more and more who can adopt Bolivian children (the adoptive parents of Omar have told me that although Europeans have been able to in the past they are phasing it out and not accepting any new applications at the moment) and I get worried that so many children will lose the opportunity at a loving family – but Julieta’s story gives me a bit of a spark of hope.

So while there are 7 absent faces in my sala, there are also 6 wonderful new little people quickly working their way into my heart. Johanna, Maria Eugenia, Marilen, Antonia, Christian, and Moises. And while I am getting to know the newbies to the sala I’m also noticing how much the other 14 have grown up (there are now only 20 in Sala 1) since I’ve been gone. They are all talking more and more every day. They can say “nariz” (nose), an attempt at “zapatos” (shoes) – although it comes out more like “zapatatos”, and now make attempts at each others names – Anaida is “Ananana” and Camilla is “Cami-ya” and so on. Although, I have to admit that my favorite advancement, with a bit of a bias, is that the older ones have now taken to calling me “Mami Katy” – which, if their screaming my name didn’t do it already, completely melts my heart. It’s also just amazing to watch how their cognition desire to communicate has advanced. They are truly turning into little people.

While it has been a great week at work, it will be my only full week at Solomon. When I came back I knew that I wanted to do something a little different than when I was here last time and, although it kills me to spend less time with my babies, I took the opportunity to fill a void in a part-time position at Casa Nazareth where about 20-25 6-12 year old boys live. I used to spend many a Saturday there eating sopa de mani and washing my clothes so I already know a good portion of the boys living there and am excited to work with some older kids. I went for lunch on Thursday just to say hi and talk with Hermana Katy (yes, she is also American) and was thrilled how may of the boys remembered me – although for most of them it was in relation to Jordan and soon started asking me if I’d seen him, if I’m still in love with him, and then only calling me by his name instead of my own. Either way, it was another wonderful welcome home.

It’s been a great first week, but I still feel like I don’t quite have a routine yet. Sure I’ve had work every day this week, but I’m looking forward to subscribing in the gym again and giving myself some structure. The one thing I still really feel like I want to work on is getting to know the kids at the house I’m living it at now – where boys come directly from the streets before being put in other Amanecer homes – which I haven’t had the opportunity to do yet. I know I won’t be spending loads of time around the house because I’ll most likely be fairly busy, but I am looking forward to learning a few names and maybe playing a few games of futbal or futsala (fooseball).

All in all, I’m very happy to be back. It’s wonderful to see familiar faces and feel like my days have a true purpose once again.