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6/10/10

Today, a boy named Roseman (probably about 9 years old) came up to me and just gave me a flower! It was so adorable. I randomly met him a few weeks ago when he came up to me and said “abrazo de oso” (which means bear hug; I thought it was interesting that this idiom translates directly from English to Spanish, because a lot of them don’t) and gave me the biggest hug ever.

I love walking around here and getting hugs and flowers from random children - and kids that I know. Although the work can be tough, it is still really rewarding. And with moments like receiving bear hugs and flowers, it makes this experience so worth it. That was really encouraging because the day before was a tough day at work; I was getting sick and one of my boys would NOT cooperate and walk back to his house. He started to hit me (don’t worry, it didn’t hurt) and then I had to leave him and run to get his tío.

So, although I had a frustrating day yesterday, the good moments are so amazing. One time I had just gotten back from a run and one of the four-year-old boys that I work with saw me. He sprinted up to me and gave me a huge hug! 

On Sunday, I went to a baptism celebration with my volunteer friends Mike, Christina and Corinna. Tía Rosa invited us; I think I said last time that she’s the head nurse in the clinic. It was really nice of her to invite me because we barely know each other.

But the party was for one of her friend’s son’s. We took a ride from some policemen (because the bus we waited for never came) to the town San Andres Itzapa. (NPH is between Parramos and San Andres Itzapa). I hadn’t been to San Andres before so it was really interesting to see. It’s a LOT bigger than Parramos and they have some schools.

We met some of Tía Rosa’s family. They’re super nice. Then we wanted to buy a cake to bring as a gift to the party. So Tía Rosa’s son took us on this uphill hike through the mud. We also had to jump across this stream. It was definitely an adventure and I love adventures. I felt like I was hiking in Ecuador again – only this time in flip-flops.

After at least 30 minutes we finally found a cake; but I was glad because I saw a lot of the town. Then, we walked to the house where the party was. Everyone was really welcoming. It was a pretty big family with a lot of the cousins and family friends there. The house was really small; it wasn’t even enclosed on one side, and there are only two rooms and one bed for 5 people.

But we had a good time! We ate some really good food (some kind of delicious meat, potato salad, and rice) and danced a lot. The kids were really shy and I kept trying to get them to dance with me. They enjoyed watching me dance crazily. Then, after my friends and I stopped dancing, the girls came up to me and said they did want to dance with me. So we danced again. It was great!

After that we had a piñata, which was adorable. And then we went home!

10/10/10

Today actually is 10/10/10. I mistakenly thought that it was 10/10/10 a few months ago because I’m so scatterbrained.

Anyway, this weekend all of the volunteers went on a mini-vacation together. It was SO wonderful! We went to a place called Earth Lodge. It’s a hostel that is up in the mountains above Antigua. We stayed in cabins that were in trees! It was like being in a tree house. And the view was indescribable. We could see for miles around and we saw one of the volcanoes smoking this morning. My friend Katie and I went on a hike which was awesome.
Other than that, we just relaxed the entire weekend. It was really good to spend time with all the volunteers (there are 23 of us total), because we don’t all live in the same house and we each have different jobs; so we don’t always get to see everyone.

And, it was wonderful to get away from NPH. Don’t get me wrong – I do love it here, but living and working in the same place can be difficult. And breaks are much needed. Besides day trips to Parramos, Antigua and San Andres, I hadn’t really left NPH since going to Lake Atitlan for a weekend in July! So it had been quite awhile. (In August I was going to go to a beach called Monterrico Bay but then I got sick. After that I decided to wait until our volunteer outing because I’m really concerned about my lack of money. I seriously might run out of funds before I return in July. But next time I’m just going to leave if I need to.)

This week we only have two days of work because there’s a reflection workshop for all of the volunteers Wednesday – Friday. We’re going to stay somewhere in the nearby city of Chimaltenango for three days so that we can reflect on our experience together in another setting. I’m really looking forward to it!

As usual, I love and miss you all. Please e-mail me and update me about your lives!

Love, Bridget