Time has flown by since my last update! These last couple weeks have been pretty chaotic at the Hogar. Last Monday was a huge fiesta: the first day of Spring, the Day of Love, the Feast of St. Michael, and most importantly, Students’ Day. We had a huge celebration at the Hogar, which included lots of entertainment courtesy of the staff and volunteers. It was a ton of fun, and we had spent a lot of time practicing surprise dances for the girls. For one of the acts, each of us was given a famous Latin singer who we had to impersonate while lip-syncing and dancing to one of their songs. I was a pop singer named Fanny Lu who has some of the lamest (yet entertaining) dance moves I’ve ever seen! Another dance we performed was from High School Musical, which the girls absolutely love. We all had such a great evening. They really know how to have huge parties here, and seem to pull them out of nowhere!
The Jugue has been good lately – exhausting, but good. It’s hard to describe exactly how those three hours go every morning, but they are a lot of work. Between Jenna and I, ten kids doesn’t seem like too many, but I think that since the degree of attention they demand is so high, it really feels like twenty kids. Everything works out in the end, though. Even though they act up more than a lot of kids (e.g, the other day Aide punched Nora and gave her a bloody nose!), they can be also be the sweetest little things in the world. We have a lot of fun doing things like dressing up as princesses (including Pepito, the only boy, who demands to be included), making mud pies outside, singing, dancing, and coloring. One of my favorite activities is going to get milk from a dairy farm. Don Pancho (groundskeeper/handyman) drives all of the Jugue kids, babies included, twenty minutes into the country, and then we stay and see the cows while Don Pancho gets the milk. The drive out is so nice for the kids - it's the only time they get out besides walking to Mass on sundays. Here are some pictures of a "Leche" excursion: me with the kids at the farm, and Don Pancho helping to load the kids into the truck.
I've been meaning to write about one of my favorite things at the Hogar: their farm out back. There is a vegetable garden, fruit trees, pigs, turtles, chickens, ducks, roosters, geese, and turkeys. Soon it will be mango season, and the mango trees are very plentiful here. I can't wait! I love going out to the garden and pulling up carrots when I feel the need for a healthy snack. When we run out of eggs, it's always an adventure to go find chicken eggs from the coop without getting attacked by the turkey. I don't know why they have turtles on the farm, but I do know that turtle eggs are a delicacy here. Sometimes the turtles escape and make their way into the playground while I'm with the Jugue kids out there. I must admit I was quite frightened the first time I saw a turtle charging us out of nowhere. They are really huge, about two feet in length, and they move fast! I don't think they kids are actually scared of the turtles, but they enjoyed screaming with me anyway. Here are some photos of the farm animals: baby ducks, the rooster that wakes me up at all hours of the night, and the pigs which we apparently eat on New Years (I just learned this today).
This week has been really busy because Beth and Erica are leaving on Monday! There will be big party for them this weekend, and all week we have been preparing parting gifts for them with the girls. The volunteers are going to sing "Leaving on a Jet Plane" at the party, which I think will be amusing given its romantic lyrics. I'm just relieved we don't have to learn another dance this week! I'm going to miss Beth and Erica terribly. They have helped Jenna and I so, so much to get adjusted here. Life is really going to change once they leave. It's a necessary change, though. Jenna and I will hopefully be filled with a new kind of energy, knowing that we are truly on our own for good. Please pray for us! And pray for Beth and Erica as they adjust to life back in the U.S. and discover where God is calling them next.
My computer is dying now, so I will say farewell. I won't wait three weeks to update again, I promise!
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