As said by Fyodor Dostoevsky...

The soul is healed by being with children.

Getting Acquainted

 

I can’t believe this is only my fifth day! So much has happened that it feels like five weeks. Since I’ve been here, the only thing I’ve had to struggle with is the language. Happily, that struggle is rewarding because I feel like I’m improving so much everyday! A common start to a conversation with one of the girls consists of me asking them their name, telling them my Spanish “es muy malo,” and that I want them to help me learn. And they do help me! I love it. Besides the language block, I love everything. The “annoying” things of everyday life, such as certain smells and sounds, are really so endearing. There are the awful smells of the sugar cane factory that fill the Hogar (you would really think there was just a major septic tank explosion). Thankfully, everyday I smell it less and less (after a year here, Beth and Erica never notice). Also, in the courtyard area there are three pet parrots who are SO NOISY! They imitate the girls’ screams and yelling, have their own crazy squawking, and frequently say “Hola Feo” (hello ugly). While they make it difficult to take a nap, I find them so hilarious that I wouldn’t want it any other way. From my bedroom window the sound of “motos,” the motorcycles that are used as taxis, are super loud, especially as I’m going to sleep at night. The roosters also crow at all hours of the night. Even though they wake/keep me up, I like these noises and I’m getting used to them. At the church we go to on Sunday, I swear there are flocks of birds living up in the rafters. During the homily, they were chirping so loudly I could not even hear the priest. I looked up and there was seriously a flock of birds flying in formation at the ceiling. I’m so amused by new things like this, and they are everywhere!

As for my daily routine here, one hasn’t been established yet. I’m still in training, so to speak, and I’ve only had one day of official “shadowing.” Since I arrived here as the weekend was beginning, I experienced life with the girls when they aren’t at school. They wake up at 5:45 nearly everyday, even on Saturday, which is cleaning day. They spend the day doing chores and washing their clothes, which they do by hand and hang to dry outside (I’ll be doing this in about a week when my clothes run out). I spent Saturday getting to know the girls and playing games with them, and also getting to know my fellow volunteers. Besides Jenna and Carmen who just arrived with me, the other SLMs are Beth, Erica, and Sarah. Beth and Erica will be leaving in October, and I’m so glad they will be here till then to gradually pass on their duties to me and Jenna.  Both girls are extremely friendly and generous, and I love spending time with them. Sarah, who deals with medical needs of the girls, has been here for two years and won’t be leaving till January. She is the busiest and the most experienced of us all, and an incredibly awesome person.  She will be a huge help and a lot of fun. I already feel like I know these girls really well and I’m so glad we all get along. When we hang out in our kitchen (our only private space besides our bedrooms), we do more laughing than talking. I feel so blessed to work and live with all of these amazing people!

Let’s see now…Sunday and Monday. On Sunday at 8:30 am, we walk with all of the girls to mass. The church is about a ten minute walk from the Hogar. Mass was beautiful. I love that they have anywhere from four to twelve altar boys every Sunday. I wish I had brought an order of the mass in Spanish! Oh well. The girl who was sitting at my right was Carla Diana, about 9 years old. She was leaning against my shoulder during the homily, and I think she fell asleep. When we stood up for the creed, I realized my whole sleeve was soaked with drool. She realized this at the same time, and the look of horror and guilt on her face was priceless. As I was trying not to crack up, she was trying to explain that it had somehow come from my hair. These girls are so funny! Boy, do they make me laugh. The rest of Sunday was relaxed. In the evening was a party for Mateo, a Polish volunteer who was leaving Monday. The girls performed traditional dances and some modern rock songs for the entertainment. The volunteers are always expected to entertain at these parties, so we sang “Part of Your World” from the Little Mermaid. I’m glad I had it memorized already. I was so excited to learn that the Hogar girls LOVE Disney songs (in English)! The Madres then had a very nice dinner for the staff after the performances. I tried to go to bed early so I could wake up at 6 for my first day of training. Breakfast is at 6:45. It consists of a roll or two, and I forgo the optional spam. The coffee is also 50% sugar, so I will have my own in our kitchen before I start working with the kids at 8:30. I was so excited to meet all the little ones!!! “The Jugue” (playroom) refers to the place where I will care for the 3-4 year olds from 8:30 to 11:30 on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. At first, there are about fifteen little boys and girls, ages 1-4. We start by brushing their teeth one by one. OH MY GOODNESS these babies are too, too adorable. I could not contain myself and I wanted to hold them all, all at once. Instead, I just held the crying ones, who I was able to get laughing pretty quickly. After the teeth-brushing, the 1 and 2 year olds go upstairs where local staff watch them all day. I learned the names of the remaining ten kids very quickly. The girls and Pepito (the only boy) are hilarious, adorable, and really, really mischievous. In one second half of them can disappear while the other half are climbing on me from all sides. Once I looked up and Lulu, an especially impish girl, was pouring hand sanitizer in another’s hair. Basic commands are really all I need with them! I spent most of the morning playing with them outside on their playground. They are your basic three/four year olds: energetic, sweet, easily brought to tears, easily injured, easily entertained, quick to laugh, attention-demanding, bad at sharing, exhausting, and a ton of fun. At one point Jenna and I sang them the entire Veggie Tales theme song with wild, exaggerated dancing and saw how easily they are delighted beyond belief. When we went inside they had a snack and we read them some stories. By 11:30 they were ready for a nap (as was I), and another staff member came to take over. I loved my first day at the Jugue and each of those little ones have already melted my heart for eternity. I know it will be challenge to watch them all single-handedly, but the rewards will be great! On Tuesdays and Thursdays I will work in the library, but I will explain that job another day.

For now I think I’ve exceeded an acceptable post length, but there’s just so much to tell! In Bolivia, goodbye is “chau,” which sounds like the Italian “ciao.” This is yet another highly amusing thing to hear all of the time, especially after having spent four months in Italy. 

Until next time, chau!

Finally Here!

I’ve arrived and made it through my first day at the orphanage! I got in last night around midnight. My flights were really nice... on the long one to Bolivia I had a whole row to myself and slept a lot. When I got through customs in the Bolivian airport, waiting for me were Madre Rosario and two other volunteers who Jenna and I will be replacing, named Beth and Erica. I was so glad to see them, but then when I walked a little further I heard someone scream “LIZ!!!” and there were Carmen and Jenna hiding behind a door. They picked me up and hugged me, which was quite a wonderful welcome. I was soooo happy to have arrived. Everyone was so incredibly nice and welcoming!   When I got to the Hogar (the orphanage), all the girls were asleep, but Madre Fatima was in the kitchen making tons of food for me, french fries, fried eggs, and more. It was so sweet that she stayed up so late because she wanted to welcome me with a meal! There were signs saying “Bienvenidos Liz” and a bowl of treats. I just couldn’t believe how happy everyone seemed that I was there! I really must have needed a welcome like that, and I definitely was not expecting it!  My room (shared with Carmen) is separated from the young girls (6-10) by a thin wall and a curtained window. I didn’t get to bed till 2:30 and then I woke up at 5:45 (when the girls get up) and drew back the curtains to take a peak at them. Some of then saw me and waved. I got so excited to meet them later, but decided to sleep a bit more. When I finally got up at 10 I started meeting girls here and there. They are all so, so sweet. It will be hard to learn their names, but it shouldn’t take more than a couple weeks. It’s hard not being able to talk freely with them, but we could communicate simply and play games and even joke around. The girls are so cute when I walk around the Hogar because they’ll shout “Liz” when they see me. It’s just their way of greeting me or acknowledging me, but they don’t expect to talk to me. It’s nice to hear my name even if I can’t talk with them too much yet. The girls were mainly about 6 to 16 years that I met today. I haven’t gotten to play with the little ones yet!   

Carmen and Jenna then took me into the city for most of the day to do some shopping and take care of some business. It was an exhausting day! The city is so dirty and a lot of it poor, and everything is so cheap. We ate at a pretty nice restaurant and paid the equivalent of 5 dollars each. When we got back tonight, we went to mass down the street with the older girls. One 11-year-old, Sandra, held my hand all the way and we talked about how old we are when our birthdays are (haha, mainly because I knew the vocab for that conversation).   I had a nice dinner with Jenna, Carmen, Erica, and Beth in our kitchen, and now at 9:45 I’m about ready to pass out. I think I’ll call it a night. I really, really love it here and I can’t wait to learn more about everyone and everything!