Jumping on beds and splashing water

Hello everyone! Sorry that I have not been better at updating my blog regularly. Not only is this computer not the most reliable, but my days seem to be so full sometimes that either they are gone before I know it or I am just too tired to type!! I know I was a lot better in the beginning and I have gotten more and more sporadic with my entries as my time goes along. It is amazing to think that I have been here for 3 1/2 months. In fact, this is my last week here at Hogar de Esperanza. I will be leaving the albergue Monday morning and will be back in the US Tuesday morning. It is unbelievable how the time has flown here!
This last week I have experienced a lot of "last time" activities. Last Friday Emily and i hosted our final pajama party with the girls. I took a lot of pictures, but the computer is not allowing me to upload any of the photos so i will just have to explain it to you! :) There were 8 girls that had not gotten to have a slumber party yet and we had been planning on having two separate parties- but like I was saying before, time goes by really fast here, and before we knew it, I had one week left and zero free evenings. So we had the slumber party with Rocio, Nikita, Carolina, Vanessa, Nancy, Fiorella, Brigitte, and our newest little girl, Blanca Nygely. It was definitely an exciting and LOUD night. We used the biggest guest room here to hold the party in. In one room there are 5 twin sized beds all lined up in a row. So of course, the first things the girls did once they got into the room was run to the beds and start jumping. It made me smile to see them- their hair flying and holding hands with each other. They were laughing and their eyes were sparkling. They didn't seem to mind that every once in awhile one of them would fall off- they just would climb back up, shove someone over, and continue jumping. The only thing that could get them to stop was to see me come into the room loaded down with snacks. Candy, chips and ahi, juice, cookies, and of course- peanut butter! I thought when we bought all of the stuff, that we would have some left over- it seemed like a lot at the time. But, don't worry, you will be glad to hear that the girls here have a very healthy appetite and that the food was gong in approximately 2.4 seconds. :) It was really funny because the sauce that we got to dip the chips in was really spicy but the girls really like it. So they would be screaming and fanning their mouth and saying “pica, pica” (which means spicy) but yet the next second they would be sticking even more in!! No wonder people here can eat spicy things- they build up an immunity to it when they are young! :) After they had taken care of the food we decided to play hide and seek- never have I heard more shrieks and screams! All of the girls except for 1 were under ten and most were around 7- so hiding from another person happens to be one of the all time funniest and most nerve wracking things to them! At one point I decided to hide in a closet- but 5 of the other girls and Emily wanted to hide there too- so there we were squished into one not so very big closet- the little ones were giggling, we were all sweating and one forgot that when you hide you also can't talk. Little 4 year old Brigitte found us within one minute and i can't say I was too disappointed! :) To round out the evening we played twister, practiced being models (I did have to teach them the proper model walk, thank you very much), and watched Elf in Spanish. It was a very fun, yet exhausting night!!
On Saturday Emily and I took 5 of the girls to a place called Lagunas- it has a swimming pool, swings, ice cream and other activities. The 5 girls we took were the ones that I had for crafts the whole time I was here- I actually had 6 but one of the girls had a little cold so she didn't get to go. I wanted to do something special with them and spend a little time with them outside of the orphanage. I had a pretty nasty cold all weekend so I didn't swim or play much but it was wonderful to watch them. I forgot my camera so I will have to always remember what it was like in my mind. For some of the girls, this was only their second time in a pool- for the others it was their 3rd or 4th time, but either way, it was definitely a treat! I will never forget watching the girls- Kristy was laughing and slapping the water so that it would splash up all around her, Maria was holding on to Emily (who, thankfully, was able to swim and play with them) and pretending like she couldn't swim even though it was probably only 4 feet deep, Rocio was showing us how she could do flips in the water, Yumelit had her ankles hooked over the side of the pool and was relaxing on her back, and Yuli, after taking 20 minutes to work up the courage to get into the water, was having me count to 3 and then putting her face in the water for a second or two. I loved the feeling of one of them calling my name so they could show me something they could do or just to wave at me. At one point I sat at the side of the pool with just my feet in, and I had the privilege of receiving 5 very wet hugs! Also, Kristy was worried that i would get too cold sitting there so she had to get out of the pool and get her towel and wrap it around my shoulders- how cute is that! Sitting there I was reminded again of how amazing these kids are. Two of the girls had swimsuits that someone had donated but the rest of them swam in shorts and t-shirts. It was a shallow pool that wasn't very big and didn't have the normal slides or diving boards, but you would have thought I had brought them to a huge water park! They were so thankful and said that they had soooo much fun- it always reminds me that it is not things or surroundings that makes a heart joyful- it is the love of God and the love of those around you that makes the difference.
Another exciting outing i got to be a part of happened today- I got to take kids on my last birthday outing. Two kids are going to have birthdays in December- Piero, who will be 7 on Sunday, and Jesus, who is normally called Chito (because there are two kids named Jesus), who will be 3 on Christmas Eve. Piero has been asking since September if I would still be here to take him out for his birthday so this has been a very long awaited day. Chito is too little to really know what was going on, but he is a very happy, giggly little boy so he was excited just because he was awake! Emily was already in Trujillo so she met us at the restaurant. That left me with bringing the two boys into town by myself. We took the micro in and it was a very full micro. Luckily I got a seat and got both boys on my lap- I think within 5 minutes both had fallen asleep. Chito was by the window and Piero was spread out all over me and Chito. Chito fell asleep with his head resting on the window and Piero fell asleep with his head resting on Chito's- it might have been the cutest thing I have ever seen in my life. When we got to our stop I half dragged them off the bus and we had walked about a block before I think they actually woke up. I was worried that they would be grumpy for the rest of our time together (because Chito can get a wee bit cranky if he doesn't get a good nap), but I shouldn't have worried because as soon as they saw the play center at the restaurant they both perked up. Chito said that it was his play center and Piero didn't say anything- he was too busy climbing into it. :) Actually, I got to go a little bit into the play center myself because Chito needed help getting up some of the platforms. But after that, my job was taken over by Piero who felt it was his responsibility to help Chito through everything. - I am very grateful for that because it is built for kids under 10 years old and I really didn't want to write a story in my blog about getting stuck in a plastic tube 10 feet off the ground! :) One of the cutest things that happened between the two of them was when they were trying to get into the ball room- you know the room that has all the multi-colored balls and you get to jump and play in them? Anyway- Chito wanted to go in, but the entrance was a little high and Piero wanted to go in but he waned Chito to go first. So Chito would try,decide he couldn't, and start cracking up,then Piero would try to demonstrate how to get in, which would make Chito crack up even more- Chito has the cutest laugh because his whole face is involved and it all scrunches up together and it is one of those laughs that is addictive and you can't help laughing with him. So Emily and I were cracking up with Chito- the only one that was serious was Piero and I don't think he appreciated all of making light of the “entering the ball room” lesson! But they did finally get in and had a good time hitting each other with balls. After a yummy dinner of chicken and french fries we went into the center of Trujillo to get ice cream and go to a movie. It was Chito's first ice cream cone and I got to teach him how to eat it. He was so excited before I handed it to him that he was squealing and jumping up and down and clapping his hands! I think he thought it was too much work just for ice cream though, and I ended up holding the cone and just telling him when to lick, but it was fun for me! We went to the movie theater after that, which of course mesmerized them- it was the first time for both of them- they were amazed at how big the screen was and at one point Piero wanted to go up and touch the screen- of course it was in the middle of the movie, so we didn't let him, but as soon it was over he went up and took a closer look at it! :) We stopped by a playground for more slides and swings before getting a taxi to take us back to the albergue- Remember how the outting started with both of them sleeping on the micro? Well, that is how it ended- they fell asleep 5 minutes after we got in the taxi and Chito didn't wake up when we got back- I carried him in and I think he didn't wake up for dinner or anything! It was a wonderful day and I always love hearing kids laugh and seeing them smile!
I know that I talked a lot about activities that may not be too exciting for some people but it is not the activities that I will remember. It is the million smiles I have seen over small things like splashing water or jumping on a bed, the sound of children's laughter over nothing more than enjoying life, it is kids falling asleep in my arms and knowing that they trust me, the feeling of tiny arms hugging me and little mouths kissing me on the cheek, but most of all it is the joy that i feel when I see them happy and content. That is the greatest gift and one that I am so grateful I have gotten to enjoy.
As I go through these last few days at Hogar de Esperanza, a big part of me will be sad that my time is coming to a close here- leaving these kids after falling in love with all of them will be a very hard thing for me to do, but I am blessed knowing that I will forever hold them in my heart and that I was able to show them love and acceptance for a few months.
I hope to write another blog before I leave, but I am definitely not promising anything!
I love you all!
janie