Plugging Along!

Week four down! This week was especially exhausting because all three of the kids who were out with the chicken pox (Emilio, Yoselín and Roberto) came back, guns blazin'. Let me tell you, there is a big difference between having six kids, and having nine kids. Please see Exhibit A:


Sometimes the days start like this and just keep on going. So much craziness.. I think the most chaotic times are eating (they hit with their forks, throw plates, spit up food, you name it), toothbrushing time (I call them one by one to step up onto a wooden crate--sometimes they're cooperative, a lot of the times they're not) and nap time (the day this video was taken three refused to sleep and ended up running around the room for two hours instead). Seriously, I don't know how Maestra Marisol does it every day. Seriously. Here are some pictures from this week!

Dance Practice

L to R: Emilio, Dayron, Juan Pablo, Kevin, Beto (Roberto), Jair, Jose Maria, Jael

Every day this week the kids have been practicing a special performance for the graduation ceremony on August 18th. They'll be honoring the kids who will be entering kínder. All three boys from the orphanage--Ángel, Erik and Fernando--will be graduating!! They will be singing a sentimental song about spreading their wings and flying to new horizons. :) The remaining kids, though, as pictured above, will be doing a special dance to a song from the popular sitcom show "El Chavo de Ocho," dressing up as the different characters. They have to place their hands behind their backs and kick out their legs in rhythm to the music. It's really adorable. However, getting them to dance takes a lot of threatening of punishment from the teachers if they don't (being put up in one of the high chairs for the babies) and reminding them of the reward they get if they do (gummy bears).

A Child's Imagination

Dayron and Erik pretending to be babies

I've been struck by how imaginative the kids are! After dance practice Erik and Dayron asked to be put into the wooden high chairs in order to be babies, saying "Nyeh-nyeh!" to each other as their form of baby talk. When we went to the park this Friday Erik pretended to be a dad with Dayron as his son. "¡Hijo!" ("Son!") he called out in his high-pitched, scratchy voice. "¡Sí, Papá!" ("Yes, Father!") Dayron answered in return. And basically, the kids can make a casita (little house) out of anything--underneath tables, in corners, on the playground. Ask them what's in the house and they'll tell you everything: carros (cars), caballo (horse), on and on and on.

L to R: Erik, Emilio, Beto and Martitia enjoying their fruit snack before nap time

Things that keep me sane..

If you can't already tell by all the videos and all that I've been posting about, work can be pretty overwhelming sometimes. Here's a list of the things that have been keeping me sane:

1. Excursions!

Last Saturday I went with the director, Miguel, and a group of volunteers from Illinois to go horseback riding in the mountains! It was epic--in three hours we crossed rivers, dodged cacti, made it through rocky terrain and even galloped through a small lake! The mountains are beautiful and wonderfully untouched by civilization. Also, if you yell really loud, your voice echoes. All that bumping along and holding on for dear life really bonded us all together, and after all that riding we drank beer and ate cactus with gusto.

2. Conversation Practice

This Thursday I started going to "Conversaciones con Amigos" at the public library which give both English and Spanish speakers an opportunity to help each other out! Being able to practice Spanish was great, but even better was meeting people in the community. I met three girls (one of whom is from Portland!) who are down here taking Spanish classes. I met Magdalena, José and Alberto, who have all lived in San Miguel de Allende all of their lives. The meetings are twice weekly and I'm hoping to go as much as humanly possible!

3. Church

Hotel Misión El Molino, meeting place of Gente con Propósito--

continue down the path and enter the doors to the right

About a couple of weeks ago I started going to a small, bilingual church that meets up at the top of a big, big hill Sundays at 11am. The Martinez family that leads is wonderful. Tomás, the father, is the pastor of the church and his wife Cristina does a fair bit of shepherding as well. Their three kids Cristi, David and Rebeka comprise a majority of the worship team and all speak both English and Spanish. From the beginning they have welcomed me with open arms, going to lunch with me after church and inviting me to their youth group, which meets on Friday. This past Friday we visited one of the retirement homes to talk with the people, sing some songs and hand out a buttload of cookies. :) Then we played soccer and watched The Princess Bride. It seems like youth groups are identical around the world. Haha!! But I'm so thankful for this faith community. The Martinez family is such a strong family of God and are so united in their ministry. On Sundays I am really moved by just how THANKFUL they are to the Lord for everything and how they just PRAISE him with such sincerity. It really is like having a home church--what a blessing!

4. Family

It's been so nice to talk with my parents miles away from Skype! My dad's birthday was this past Monday and even though it was sad not being in Seattle, through technology I was able to talk with him and to see pictures from his birthday party! And it's been a pleasure receiving letters, hearing about what my aunts & uncles & cousins are up to. :) I'm so thankful for my family! My Auntie Sharon set up a prayer schedule so every day someone in  my family is praying for me. Isn't that awesome??

Prayer Requests

1. To Remain in Christ (John 15)

With so much going on and exhaustion from work, it's been hard to really take the time to sit and listen to the Lord and enjoy his presence. And yet, this is so necessary. Without the Lord I can't do a thing: I burn out, I end up just trying to "get through" each day instead of living fully, gratefully with him.

2. To Learn to Wash Feet (John 13)

Sometimes I get these thoughts that I am "above" the work that I should be doing--that what I'm doing is inconsequential because heck, these kids aren't going to remember me. Or sometimes I wish I were doing "real" work, talking with the mothers, being a social worker and advocating for them, etc. Anyhow, my prayer is that I would be content with the spoon-feeding and urine-soaked clothes-changing and tooth brushing that is the day to day of what my volunteer position is, and to not underestimate small acts done with great love (--Mother Teresa, you are incredible).

Thanks to all who are reading this and accompanying me on this incredible journey!

Things Are Starting to Come Together..

"Joshua said to the people, 'Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do great things among you'" (Joshua 3:5).

The view of the Parroquia from Instituto Allende, a nearby art school

End of week three! Thanks again to everyone for your support and your prayers. It has been so wonderful to be able to stay in touch with everyone through amazing technologies like Gmail, Skype and Blogger--and also through mainstays such as telephone and snail mail. I feel as if you all are my "great cloud of witnesses" cheering me on in all that I do.

This week started out a bit bumpy--stomach problems adjusting to the food and the water here, and the kids acting up a lot, fighting, making messes, being disrespectful and creating an environment of chaos. And yet, by today, something changed! My stomach problems have resolved (Pepto Bismol tablets have seriously saved me) and by the grace of God the past two days have been much more manageable with the boys.

L to R: Fernando, Ángel, Dayron, Erik, Jair and Juan Pablo

Mondays the kids wear all white and gather in the patio area to salute the Mexican flag, singing the national anthem. This is done all through elementary school through high school. White, though? Perhaps not the best color for two year olds to be wearing. Needless to say, it's a good thing that every day before they're picked up we change the kids into a fresh pair of clean clothes, use a wet wipe on their faces and gel up their hair. :)

Get more of a flavor of the craziness

I am learning that each day is different, and you just have to roll with the punches. The kids each bring their own temperaments and you never know how it's going to go. On Tuesday, right off the bat I knew it was going to be challenging. Isaí, the man from the orphanage who drops off the boys, said that in the van Erik, Ángel and Fernando were fighting. They were like bulls waiting to enter the stadium. Needless to say, I came home that day and soundly fell asleep, absolutely exhausted and wondering how I was going to get through the next two months.

Ángel and Fernando looking out of the classroom window to the patio

And yet the past two days have been completely different! As I've been praying through feeling frustrated with the boys' behavior and being overwhelmed at how incredibly mischevious they can be, getting into nearly everything possible, I really think the Lord has provided me the love I need for each day when I ask him--enough love to be able to be more lighthearted, to laugh away the spilled drinks and thrown tortillas, and to take joy in the boys.

Juan Pablo and Fernando at Juarez Park

Today, like two weeks ago, we went to Juarez Park. Erik, pretending that piles of sand were cinnamon cakes, actually tried to ingest some. Luckily, Marisol caught him and had him spit it out. "¡Uácala!" (the equivalent of "ick," from what I've gathered) she exclaimed as grit mixed with spit dribbled down his chin. Juan Pablo and Fernando "rode" the turtle statue, headed towards Juan Pablo's house. Ángel commenced in peeing in broad daylight rather than holding it in until we made the trek back to the daycare.

The other day I came across Joshua 3:5, and I've decided that it's going to be one of my theme verses for my time here. I want to keep in mind that each day--whether it be a crazy one or a 'manageable' one--holds its own blessings from the Lord in the form of fleeting moments. I am trying my hardest to treasure up each of those fleeting moments, whether it be a big ol' grin from Fer when I tease him, kicking a ball back and forth with Juan Pablo, or a hug and a kiss from Dayron at the end of the day. I am doing holy work in a holy place--holy because the Lord is there, holy because the Lord is at work. God is working, doing great things among ALL of us, and in all places. We just need to pray for him to help us see!

Hoy fuimos al parque

A week has already flown by! Above is a picture of the main patio area and classroom of Hogar de los Ángeles in Colonia San Antonio. It's only a block away from where I live! There are two daycare centers--(1) the original in San Antonio and (2) the new center in Santa Julia, which opened in 2008. My work this summer will be split between the two.

(1) Mondays and Tuesdays I will be at the old center in San Antonio. The class that I volunteer in houses the two year-olds (who, thankfully, are all potty trained, save one) with Marisol--a warm and welcoming woman who has been working at the center for three years. It's a fun, rambuncious little group of eight boys and one girl. It's been awhile since I've worked with such young kids, so I wasn't anticipating so much fighting and crying. ¡Él me pegó! (He hit me!) is a commonly used phrase by the kids. The victim, who often cries more for the attention than because of the pain, is often consoled with No llores, no pasa nada. (Don't cry, nothing's going on.)

(2) Wednesdays and Thursdays I will be at the new center in Santa Julia, also working with two year olds. The teacher I am assisting is named Lola, and she has been working at the daycare since it's beginning ten years ago. She is a seasoned veteran, very good at what she does. The kids there I haven't had the chance to get to know as well. This Wednesday a boy named Chema started showing signs of maricela (chicken pox) and by Thursday, all had contracted it as well and were sent home with their mothers.

(1/2) Fridays I alternate with the two centers, accompanying them for field trip day, which brings me to today! Today the San Antonio daycare made the trek out to Parque Juarez, where the kids seemed to have a grand old time kicking around plastic inflated balls and enjoying the play toys.

Although it's only been a week, the personalities of each child have all come out. Let me introduce you to one!

Juan Pablo

Juan Pablo made an impression on me since day one. Every Monday the children wear all white in honor of the bandera (flag). They conduct a ceremony, saluting and singing songs about it. Well, given that these are two year olds, mind you, all the kids in Marisol's class managed to get pretty dirty before lunch was even served. It was decided that the kids needed to be changed into new clothes, but the trick was that Marisol had to go around to the classrooms scrounging for spare clothes that were around. As I mentioned earlier, the boy-girl ratio highly favors boys, so it happened that some of the boys had to wear girls' clothing. Juan Pablo was one of those boys. For the rest of the day he wore a bright hot-pink t-shirt with white overalls with small flowers decorating it. Every time I saw him playing I just cracked up a little inside; since he's got such long eyelashes, those clothes really brought out his feminine side.

My favorite thing about Juan Pablo, though, is when it's changing time (Tuesday through Friday the mom's pack a spare change of clothes to put on before pick-up). To make sure the kids stay still, Marisol puts in a movie (all week long it has been the same one: Mulan dubbed in Spanish). The kids are sitting in a line in their little metal chairs, finishing up their agua (melon, mango or pineapple blended with water and sugar) after lunch. I just could not get over how captivated Juan Pablo was by the movie. That's him in the second picture, eyes wide and unblinking, mouth open. As I lifted his shirt over his head to put on his clean one he didn't take his eyes off the screen. Man, it's hilarious.

There's so much more to say, but I'll leave it to another day. I leave you with a clip of two of the boys, Erik and Emilio, playing around as they wait to get picked up. You can hear the voice of Marisol saying No, no peleen (No, don't fight)--another handy phrase.