The weekend brought mucho ‘tiempo libre’, which included card games, soccer, Frisbee, soccer, colouring and more soccer.  After the rest of the volunteer team left on Saturday morning, the campus felt quiet – as quiet as it can be with 100+ children.  

While all the kids wandered about participating in a variety of activities, I may or may not have had a secret afternoon nap.  Shhh…  I shouldn't be tired - after all, weekend wake-up calls are a luxurious 7:30am!  When I say wake-up call, I am referring to the by-product of living in the same dormitory as 100 children, with tile floors where yelling children, teachers and music playing echoes off of every surface.  Love it!  (Seriously, I do, but it’s only day 6…)

On Sunday, a small group of us went to church.  Raul picked me up and we took 5 children with us.  The usual band wasn’t there, but Profesor Heyser, the grade 6 teacher from El Hogar played all the music on his guitar.  In the afternoon I found myself playing a game of pass until one of the kids launched the soccer ball over the fence.  We tried to get it back, but the neighbour couldn’t find it, so he tossed an old dilapidated ball (that was probably lost over the fence months ago) back over to us.  We had to confess to a teacher what happened, but he got us a new ball and then started up an official game.  The teacher made me one of the team captains, and I tried my hardest to stack my team full of good players (it wasn’t hard, they’re all good!), but we still managed to lose.  It was probably because all of the good players got stuck with me!

I am developing some new skills, from bathing out of a bucket when the water is off, to using corn tortillas as an edible knife.  Yesterday I did some laundry.  Sounds pretty mundane, but I had to watch the technique that the kids use in order to get through my first “load” because this is my “washing machine”…  Hopefully I get more efficient.

I have found myself involved in a variety of tasks and activities.  The girls needed their school uniforms re-fitted and labeled, so we crammed into the girls’ dorm and turned it into a giant fitting and sewing room.  The girls have me beat – they were all sewing buttons and hems themselves.  I also found myself in Profesor Moises’ music class.  A few students are learning the guitar and a few students are learning the recorder.  William and Jose David helped me learn Garsita Morena.  Maybe once we master it, I’ll post some proof.

All in all, I am extremely well taken care of here.  I have an amazing room in a shared apartment with one of the teachers, and I get 3 meals a day.  

I’m also spoiled with countless hugs, which is pretty much the best part of my day.