Monday was a rough day to say the least simply because I left Manuel Antonio that morning at 6 am and did not return to my host family until noon. I fell asleep departing the bus station with a maximum of 6 or 7 people on board only to awake to a bus filled past capacity not even halfway through the trip.
Despite my lack of energy initially, the week has been eventful and tear-jerking.
Lindsay and I worked at teaching the kids English by showing them different colors and numbers and asking them to state what they were in English. The activity became somewhat of a game as they raced to say the answer. Jose really impressed me with his skills in English. DaKell (as I have discovered his name to be spelled) has also helped in being my translator from Spanish to English.
(Jose on the left and DaKell on the right. They are loco!)
Common phrases such as “Happy Birthday” and “How old are you?” have become quite simple for some of the children. Others, at younger ages, are still working at numbers but seem very willing to learn. Books to help teach the kids more English were dropped off at the orphanage and the children jumped on that opportunity. Soon they were carrying around the books and looking at them together. Estavon even went through one of the books with me, counting pictures of various objects to help learn the numbers in English.
Hanging with the children is not always as intense as book reading and phrase teaching.
Field trip! Yes, the children at the orphanage were able to go for a walk to a local church where an activity was planned for little ones from all over the area. Their faces lit up as we strolled through the neighborhood, umbrellas in hand as storms are very common at this time of year.
I discovered that the kids are part of the Methodist church. They all seemed very interested in the event and behaved as little angels. They created lions out of paper and bags and played games such as a bag toss outside while snacks were served.
(The kids crafting the lion bags. Rawr!)
(Arini standing in front of Luz Maria with Stephanie on the side)
I enjoyed seeing the kids get away from the walls of the orphanage. The trip was well worth the stormy adventure back to their home.
Finding ourselves trapped in a thunderstorm, we took shelter under a roof and somehow managed to get a ride from an anonymous person. Perhaps the savior knew the tia (which is Spanish for aunt and what the women who take care of the orphans are called), however I did not. Still, the ride was welcoming and allowed me to only get half-drenched instead of completely.
All this week, however, little Ruth has been very touchy and emotional. That all ended when her father came knocking on the door and greeted her with a huge smile. Ruth’s face lit up so much as she jumped into his arms. It was really an emotional event to witness and I felt the struggle that the father must feel with not having his daughter by his side.
(Ruth is such a cute little girl but she can definitely be a handful.)
The orphanage has also seen some changes this week. Naomi found a family and has gone to live with them and hopefully be happy finally having a stable environment to grow up in. Upon her departure two new girls have arrived along with a little boy. Javier, who is timid but adorable, a second Genesis and Rebecca are the new additions to Pani. The two girls are sisters and both full of energy and smiles. You would have though they had been there for weeks by the way that they were interacting with the kids. It is really amazing to see how accepting the children are of others. If kids can look past differences in others so easily then why cant the rest of the population?
(The new boy, Javier, is very humorous in front of the camera.)
Rebecca has a slight disability in that her eyes both point outward which must make it challenging for her to see. This does not stop her at all, however, as she proved when she was determined to succeed in jump-roping. The girls continue to swing the rope until she finally jumped over. Such an achievement would seem simple to the common eye but it was a big feat for her and the girls applauded and surrounded her with hugs. She was right at home with the others and had no problems fitting in with the rest.
All of the happiness and joy does come with some issues. Go-fish gone wrong occurred at Pani this week. Who would have ever known that such a simple and fun card game could be so disastrous? Confusion about the order in which the kids are to play their turn left half of the group gone. Upset with being told they were wrong and not having the other children listen to what they were saying, they decided enough was enough.
I had the opportunity to visit another project site this week along with my regular work project. Carpio is a site that is located typically at a church where underprivileged children come to interact with volunteers, learn English, and simply have a fun and healthy environment to enjoy. This particular day the kids were taking a field trip to a park to have an eventful day. The children, even without ever previously seeing Lindsay or I, immediately accepted us into their group and were pulling us from side to side wanted to play Frisbee and futbol (soccer).
(So perhaps they weren’t all completely excited. Haha.)
(At least the girl was expressive, yes?)
A few of the girls even took us into their beauty shop where they styled our hair. I had the classic look of pigtails that the girls were more than excited over.
(Got my hair did. Looks good right? Haha.)
Upon seeing the camera that I brought, the kids jumped for the opportunity to take photos. They were so interested in the object that I let them borrow the camera for the rest of my time at the site.
(This boy stole the camera for the majority of the time.)
The photos were humorous and the kids were nothing but happy.
(The kids on one of the playground rides, taken by the anonymous boy.)
I definitely plan on going back to visit the children, as they were already asking if we would return manana (tomorrow). Sadly, I had to tell them no but that I would be back the next week to have another crazy day.
What meets the eye is sometimes deceiving. Yes, the kids are adorable and generally get along wonderfully with each other, but they are still capable of having fits and tantrums. I never realized that working with kids could be so complicated. Perhaps the difficulties in such a job are why one of the tias strongly warned Lindsay and I to never have kids.
She was joking of course, but the point of the message was greatly understood. Those cute, little kids can be more than a handful to handle so have children at your own risk.
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