Again we woke up to the beautiful ring tone of "siren" on my phone, and if that didn't get you then the roosters surely would. We then had breakfast at 8 am, quiet time at 8:30 am, and 9 am small group time. We discussed how the world really does get in the way a lot of the time when we want to fully surrender. Also, we talked about how we should bring God our everything, and not the things that are a little bit easier for us to let go! This morning was less eventful as the last, except for a visit by the usual cats and an adorable baby that Kimara was playing with. We also saw the cat from the night before that had been chased up a tree in a horrible cat fight. He appeared to have broken a leg trying to get back out of the tree, aka falling.We then started our work day which was painting for all of us. We also finished some of the scraping of the windows that had not been done from the day before. I did mostly edging along with Lauren and Katey. We did the edging near the ceiling with a ladder and then scooted all the way around the room for the edging on the ground. We tried to keep our spirits up by singing Disney, the sound of music, and whatever else we could think of. Greg was surprised that I could sing and told Katey that she definitely needed to start singing like me. The room that we were preparing would be the room that other volunteer groups would get to stay in when they come, complete with bathrooms and a big living space. Next door would be the laundry room so that they could move the washer and dryer inside and attached to some piping so the washer would stop flowing water down the hill like a river after every load. Ellie, Betsy, and Kaitlin were rolling the walls in the main room and into the bathroom areas.
We were told to stop at 12:30ish to clean-up paint and everything else for lunch with the children. We had some sort of soup made with legitimate chicken broth with potatoes and carrots and of course rice and homemade tortillas! The girls again saved me a seat, so I sat near AnnaLaura, Lesli, Nanci, and Angelica. We scarfed down another meal after a lot of hard work out in the heat. The night before we had been told that we would be making a trip into town to pick up some things at the hardware store and to also just get a feel for the landscape. Then we were told during breakfast that we would be taking the kids on a hike immediately after lunch. This then changed to going to a park and having a cook-out with hot dogs. Greg went into town earlier to go to the hardware store and to pick-up the food for the cook-out. Katey and Rodo also made a run to the store and our lovely Katey made sure to pick us up some Coka light for later that day.
So now we were waiting and cleaning and then playing with the kids until it was time to leave around 2ish. We were sitting with the kids and waiting. I was sitting with Betsy and Angelica and started to talk to Angelica about her life in all the Spanish I could muster. We were then told that the reason we were waiting was because the kids were not done with their homework yet. We all sat under the pavilion just hanging out with the maintenance director, Greg, Rodo, Katey, and all the kids. I was talking to Elliot, Norma, and Angelica about colors, and while I said them in Spanish they would repeat them in English. It was finally time to go around 2:30 pm, and all of the kids piled into that one van and the Sabina's directors into another, while we piled into our lovely Suburban.
We drove through town and stopped at El Ojo de Agua. This was a park where there was a fancy pool complete with enormous water slide. Judging by the looks of the algae and lack of water, it wasn't really time to be swimming in it yet. The director said that usually the water is all the way full, but not around this time of year I guess. The boys began playing soccer, and Lesli escorted me to the bathroom... where I made sure NOT to flush my toilet paper. After about ten minutes it was time to get back in our vehicles because they knew of another place where we could go and really swim. We really didn't think we were going to have to swim especially because we didn't have bathing suits or anything, but when we were told that the kids wouldn't be able to swim if we didn't, then we had to do it for them!
We arrived at what looked like a similar park, but as we pulled up it was very astonishing... a hydroelectric dam waterfall and lake. It was glorious. The kids immediately ran to the water and jumped in. The kids literally dragged us to the waterfall, where we climbed inside past the pummelling waters and had a great time throwing mud and following the leader. After finishing our little trek, everyone headed over to the rope swing. It was funny watching Lauren, Betsy, Kaitlin, and Ellie attempt to swing on this rope. All the kids had it down to an art though. Before going back on shore, I discovered that there was a snake in the water that the boys were playing with. They were mostly trying to coax it away from them because they were scared, so i grabbed my hat, scooped up the snake and dragged it to the woods. The kids were perplexed that I did such a thing and asked me if i was scared. "Un poco," I replied.
We got out of the water and went over to the playground, where the kids were having a great time. I helped push Nanci on the tire swing with Ellie and Sucleli, and then went over to little Jeremy. I asked him if he wanted me to push him and he said yes. As I pushed him, he kept dragging his feet and then counting the number of marks he made. His mom kept looking over and smiling at me, as I would continue to push and encourage the feet dragging. We started to make the pile bigger and bigger with the gravel, and eventually we turned it into a bulldozing fest, where he would grab gravel, put it in my hands, and then I would dump it into the pile. I probably did this 50 times for the next thirty minutes, but I loved every moment of it.
Finally, it was time to eat, so I went to help serve and I was on drink duty. We fed the kids first and then we got food ourselves. Everyone was now freezing from swimming in their clothes and not having towels or any clothes to change into. They would come and cling on to you for warmth. Norma for one came and sat in my lap while I was eating my dinner, and I tried to offer her a little comfort. All of the chips and whatnot that we gave the kids had pogs inside, so I noticed that the kids would hang around waiting for you to finish your chips so that they could claim you prize. We gave them candy, cleaned up, and then it was about time to go.
Angelica asked me if I wanted to go swing with her and I said sure after I asked Greg if I had some time. Miguel followed us with his box of candy and beanie babies. Greg called over to me after about 5 minutes and Angelica, Miguel, and I started to walk back. I noticed that Miguel was limping a little while walking on the gravel so I asked if I could carry him. So Angelica grabbed his box, I grabbed his body, and we walked back to the vehicles together. We all piled into our prospective vehicles and then drove back to Casa Hogar Sabinas. All the kids went in to change their clothes a get ready for bed, because it was nearly 7 pm, and Greg told us that we would meet for debriefing at 7:30 pm, so we could get some showers in if we wanted to.
We met, and talked about what are some of the hardest burdens to carry for others, and what are the easiest. For me, it's hard to carry the burden of anxiety, but easy to carry burdens related to family issues. We then had a time to talk about how much we all mean to one another, especially on this trip, and how much we have offered and sacrificed. We then played speed scrabble and catch phrase, snacked and then went to bed. Tonight was the night that Kaitlin literally had to fish her toilet paper out of the toilet right after she flushed. Thank you for saving my life Kaitlin.
"Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ." -Galatians 6:2
-k10
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