over the hump

We have had some suprisingly wonderful weather this week! The sun has been out and the skies have been blue! I don´t think it even rained...crazy, I know. So I am keeping my fingers crossed. This week we welcomed two new volunteers from Finland who will be with us for two months. I feel like I have been able to answer most of the questions they have about the girls and the way things are run here at the Hogar...has time really gone by that fast? I cannot believe I am coming up on my second month here. I feel fairly comfortable with my Spanish, but I still have much to learn. The girls have a good time poking fun at me and then waiting with big smiles on their faces...to see if I am able to catch what they are saying.

Meghan came back on Tuesday! It was a grand reunion filled with way too much ice cream and lots of tasty esnax. We spent much of the day eating snacks in bed and watching movies. Today she started back at the bakery again.

My schedule here at work will be changing. For one thing, starting next week...no more taller de corte! woohoo! They have finally said okay and given me a group of seven girls in the morning to work with. The only thing keeping me from getting started is the project I´m working on in the taller de corte...you know...the gold sequins design of a non-peacock. As soon as I finish what I am working on, I am allowed to go ahead and start some projects with the seven youngsters. I will be working with them every morning from 8-11am. Right now, they spend this time up in a study room. For the most part, it seems like they are by themselves and pass the time doing each others´ hair and drawing. I am told that I can do anything with them from art projects, to singing, to acting, to music class...whatever the creative part of my brain can come up with. All of this will most likely be starting either this coming week or the week after.

I was also asked if I could spend one night a week here with the girls. I committed to Friday nights for now...starting with tomorrow night. So I get the morning off and do not have to go in until 8pm. My shift will last until 7am. I am really looking forward to having Friday off during the day...especially while we have this nice weather. And spending the night with the girls will be a blast! They have already requested some movies...I´m thinking Robinhood and Kung Fu Panda for tomorrow night.

The weekend looks pretty open at this point. I am hoping to spend some more time at the elderly home again on Saturday. I think Meghan wants to do something fun Saturday night...maybe invite some friends over to cook some yum grub...turn it into a dance party? I am also hoping to get a nice hike in Sunday morning. Meghan said she would go with me at night to find the Nazarene Church I mentioned earlier. Other than that...I am really looking forward to some peaceful downtime...and being outside as much as possible.

On a side note...can I just say that I absolutely LOVE lady finger bananas?! I am sure they´re called something else here. Anywho, on Tuesday I went to the market to buy my fruit for the week. This included a kilo of lady finger bananas for 3 soles. When I got home, I gave them a try...delicious! I am only slightly embarassed to admit that I sat and ate all of them in one sitting. Yes...I ate 13 lady finger bananas as if they were chips. I was pretty sad when they were gone...I could have kept going. So I had to settle with scarfing down a few mandarin oranges to quench my craving. But I told myself it was okay because at least it was fruit...good healthy tanke. Okay, that was all I wanted to say! chau!