so today i went to the airport to pick up emilys team. i rode with myrtille on the way back to casa hogar and we had a nice little chat. we stopped on the way back to get the dinner for tonight and she parked her car funny. on her way out of the car she says to me, you know how to drive, right? if a policeman comes then just move the car. WHAT?! i have never prayed so hard in my life. haha. no, just kidding.

we had two new girls dropped off yesterday. they are shy but very sweet.

the water came back on this morning! yay! we have water.

well, i have nothing exciting to say other than the water is on.

hey orangewood! bring pictures from last year if you have them. the kids love getting pictures. see you in two weeks!!!

camping

so, a team that comes for two weeks takes the older kids campinng the second week they are here. i was invited to come along but what does camping really mean here in acapulco i wondered?? well, turns out that it wasnt as bad as i thought. dont get me wrong, i love camping... the tent, the dirtyness, etc. but i was curious as to how this was to take place. well, the team rented a small house for the two days that had a pool and covered area. not too bad. :) we played games, swam in the pool, hung out. it was very relaxing and i really enjoyed it. i did get my share of being thrown into the pool though. it rained the second morning so that meant it was a wonderfully cool morning! we were all exhausted coming home and (i might add) crammed into the casa hogar bus. jorge fell alseep on me and i was happy to use his head for a pillow.
today was the last day of construction for me! woohoo! myrtille (our boss) asked emily and i to go to the grocery store for her today. so now we are waiting for her to come and pick us up. i have not gone yet... but i have a feeling that this trip will be interesting!
oh, before i forget... let me explain to you the phenomenon of the acapulco water system. its not reliable. so, this means that the city water will be shut off randomly for who knows how long. well, the water has been off for three days now. casa hogar has reserve tanks for the americans but we are down to the last ones. the kids have no water and we might not either before long! so i am praying that the water will come back on!!! :)

ronda and kelly it is good to hear from you! it is an encouragement to me that you all are reading and posting something! thank you.

yesterday i woke up really tired and didnt want to get out of bed. construction is tiring. it also seemed like i was constantly being hit by every kid here and that gets annoying and tiring. at one point during the day jorge trapted me and another person inside a storage closet and i believe my exact words to him (in english) were, jorge, when i get out of here, i am going to destroy you. if i could have made some kids disappear yesterday i would have done it gladly. :)
today i have not been hit (well, maybe occasionally) and i woke up feeling refreshed. one of the teams here is taking the older kids camping and i was invited to come along. so, tom. and thursday should be an interesting event. i am curious as to what exactly camping is here. i understand that the girls have cabins and ac! woohooo!
the time has flown by as i remember back to when i first got here. after being here for a little over a month i am feeling more and more at home. i dont know if i can exactly put it in words. i feel content. i am happy to be here. i love loving on the kids. they have returned that love. i am not anxious or looking forward to leaving, but yes, i am coming back. :)


pamela and sarah, i love hearing from both of you! it means a lot to me that you are reading and that you posted something! thank you.

So, Thursday I went to the grocery store with Myrtille. This proved quite interesting because it takes me a while to find the little bit of groceries that I need when I go. So we go and she hands me a list. Now, not only is this list in Spanish, it is also a page long. I thought, oh, dear, please do not send me off in this store and tell me to find all of these items. It will take me three hours to get back to the registers. Thankfully, though, all I had to do was follow her through the store and grab whatever she grabbed. I could handle that. When we got to the register I was preoccupied with putting my massive truck load of groceries onto the counter. The bagging girl came up the me and assuming, incorrectly I might add, that I spoke Spanish, asked me something. I was not prepared or paying attention, so I did what I always do in those situations... just smiled and say yes. Well, it worked because she accepted me answer and did something about it. As I got to thinking I thought, oh, no, what did I answer yes to. Whatever it was, it was not that important because we got the groceries and headed back to Casa Hogar. What an adventure that was.
THose are the times when I am out of my comfort zone. If I don't know what the kids are saying to me I can usually get the idea of it or ask someone. And they are kids... who cares if I can't speak perfect Spanish to them. Half of them can't spell any way so they don't care how I speak. Adults are the ones that I get nervous around. Especially when I am at a store and they don't know that they sound like they are talking 300 miles an hour at me. If I told them, I don't understand, talk to me slower (like I do to the kids) I would definitely sound like an idiot. And I prefer not to do that. This tactic is not always good because I just slide into the, I am comfortable with English and so I am not going to try and speak to you in your native language. THats a good attitude. :) The last two weeks I have not been as discouraged with my Spanish. But keep praying for that!
We went to the beach today with the kids and the teams,like we always do on SUndays. I was asked to sit in the back with some of the younger boys. Which I grudgingly did because the seat I was sitting in had 0 , and I mean 0, wind flow. But that is ok... they wanted me to sit with them and I did. So, we got off the bus and had to cross the street to get to the beach. I grabbed Gaudencio and his brother, Lizandro's, hands and off we go across the street. I was finally coerced into getting into the water and had a great time jumping the waves with Jazmin and Rossy. When it was time to go I had to help the now soaking wet and very sandy Gaudencio and Lizandro collect all of their belongings. With shoes, shirts, socks, and newly acquired sea animals in hand we are off to cross the road again. I asked Lizandro to give me his hand and he did so with great pleasure after rearranging his belongings all into one hand to accommodate me. Gaudencio could not quite put everything into one hand to he was satisfied with giving me his arm. We all ran across the street and got into the bus. Many sticky and wet Mexicans an Americans all get into the bus. Osvaldo was sitting to my left and Gaudencio ended up on my lap and Lizandro to my right. So, that was my day today. Nothing too exciting but more loving on kids.


Maggie and Jen- i think the little boys (4-6 yrs) wear briefs. i think the older boys prefer boxers. But I really don't think it matters. Whatever you think is better.