Just Another Day -- the 20th

Hola, mi familia y amigos!  Today is Thursday the 20th of September.  It seems like just another day around here, but "just another day" has a different meaning for me than most people.  Like every other night, I begin to wind down and start writing my blog.  Like any other night (well, any other night since I've started my journey...can't say I did it every night before I left), I try to do a little introspection and evaluation at the end of each day.  And like every day since I've been at DoFo, I feel a sense of awe and wonder at this change in my life, at the change happening inside me and at the world that has opened up to me.  So, to say that today is "just another day" means that today, just like the other days I've been here, I feel as though I am living life to its fullest, that I am learning more about myself, that I am growing stronger in my faith and identity, that I am experiencing things I wish everyone could experience, and that I can watch the excitement in the children's eyes and feel its genuineness because only children have that perfect yet naïve enjoyment over the simplest of life's treasures.  It's not like something new and exciting needs to happen here for me to feel that way -- it's the sheer fact of being here that fills my heart and mind with all these wonderful things.

Today, a group arrived from Orange County.  Tonight, the other half of their group should arrive.  There will be about 60 in total.  The first half got here around 8:30 a.m. and within about 15 minutes were at work. They are remodeling the lower campground for us, which needs a serious facelift.  They are putting on a new roof and all new windows.  They are installing doors and windows where there should've been doors and windows to begin with.  They will eventually also tile the inside of the dorm and I'm not sure what else.  They are workhorses!!  They plan to do all this and be out of here by Sunday.  Pretty amazing.

A girl named Lane arrived today.  She lived here for nine months and left less than a month ago.  She came back just for a visit and will leave Saturday night or Sunday morning.  The kids were ecstatic to see her!  For a second there I was a little envious and had to remind myself that she lived here for nine months...clearly the kids would be super attached to her after nine months.  Then again, I think I was also envious of her ability to communicate with them -- her Spanish seems pretty darn fabulous.  Hopefully mine will get there.

My Spanish IS improving.  Today I saw Jesus running with no shoes on.  The first thing that popped into my head was, "Donde esta tus zapatos?"  I don't know if that's correct conjugation, but if I had said it out loud, he would've known what I was saying.  "Where are your shoes?"  At least I'm starting to think in Spanish.  One of the frustrating things is that my mind knows it should process in a different language, and half the time my brain pulls up old French.  Ugh.  It's like my brain is thinking, "Pick me!  Pick me!  I know how to say it!" but then I remember that I'm supposed to say it in Spanish and not French.  What's worse is that sometimes I don't know how to say it in Spanish, but I know how to say it in French.  Grr.  Practice, practice, practice.

I spent some time today playing with some of the younger girls.

This is Cristina:

Karem & Cristina:

Karem, Gema & Cristina:

After goofing around for a while, we did the monkey bars and the merry-go-round.  I must admit, I got pretty dizzy on that silly thing!  The wind tousling my hair, the sun beating on my face and the scene going by in a blur reminded me of all the times I rode a merry-go-round as a kid.  It almost feels like flying.  Why is that?  Weightlessness?  The disorientation caused by the circling disc upon which we sit?  Who knows.  All I know for sure is that I felt great!  The girls wanted to show me how they could flip over on the bars in the middle of the merry-go-round and I caught several pictures of them doing just that.

Michael hung out with Yuli (finally learned how to spell her name...it's not Julie, but Yuli) for a bit on the merry-go-round.

I figured out today that the girl who told me her name is Christine is really Blanca.  That little turd!  LOL.

Sandra, Julissa, Blanca & Hanna:

After dinner, I checked out the progress in the lower campground, and there were still people at work:

I also took a walk with Jarilyn and Diego to check out Jarilyn's garden.  She has a garden that she maintains on a portion of the back part of the property.  She has a lot of squash growing there (eck!), so at least she knows I won't be stealing that stuff!  LOL.  She was telling me that she mentioned she wanted to have a garden and pointed out an ideal spot.  A while later, she went on a road trip and the people here had fenced off her garden for her and brought irrigation down the hillside for her to have easy access to water the garden!  How cool is that?!

I watched some more soccer this evening.  Rosa is usually out there with the boys and plays really well too.  Kylie (who played volleyball for all four years of college) got a volleyball out and was playing with some of the kids.  Kind of a low key, fairly typical evening.

My shins are covered in some weird bites.  We're not really sure what they are from.  They don't really seem like normal spider bites or mosquito bites.  They itch like crazy and I sure hope I don't get any more.  But, if that's the worst thing that happens here, I'm ok with that.

I've decided that I will stop in Puerta Vallarta for a week between here and Guatemala.  Puerta Vallarta is at about the the halfway point, so that works perfect.  There are some volunteer opportunities there, and I'm not sure which one will fit best but I'm sure I'll figure it out.

Well, I'm off to bed early tonight.  Rusty (a volunteer from another ministry) is picking me up at 5:15 a.m. to head to the Breakfast Club in Tijuana.  I should have lot of good stories and pictures tomorrow!  Buenas noches!