4th day of service week

This morning we spent at Casa Bernabe and I spent time with the toddlers as the older children were in school today.  Yesterday's PD day is over & it's back to the school grind again.  I gave the Barrel of Monkeys to a little guy & had a group of toddlers color some giant Dora pictures.  I also was able to have a picture taken with the toddlers whose home received Gina's wonderful VHS tapes.  They were absolutely delighted and loudly said "Gracias" and "Thank You".  So Gina (my co-worker) this is for you!  After this it was a slow time until we left at 11:45.  There are many volunteers with ORI & others so the wall is being worked on by others and even those with the children are doubled up & more.  There is a house parent at Casa working with 15 boys, ages 12-18 who in her "free" time makes beautiful jewelry.  So I purchased some items from her.  She seems very committed to the boys & I had a chance to ask her about how it is being parent to 15 boys!  She said "busy".  She said the older boys help her a great deal as the younger ones want to play fight & then it leads to real fights so this keeps her busy.  She said in general they are good boys--just busy.  They enjoy football (our soccer) & the home has trophies adoring it as well as many pictures of the family.  I enjoyed my time spent with her.  This afternoon after a long bus ride--there was a protest from teachers possibly going on strike and so the long line up of traffic meant we were over an hour later getting to the next orphanage--Home of Angels.  This is a very nice home run by nuns.  The children were overly friendly & it was as though they have known us forever.  I have to wonder if this is good or bad?  I'll leave that thought.  Anyway, they were very fun as they were interested in crafts--placemat weaving and bead bracelets and the older girls participated in a game of hockey.  Boy are they aggressive players!  Perhaps there will be a girls Guatemalan NHL team!  It rained again today for approximately 2 hours but is now clear again.  The air changes rapidly after the rain so sweatshirts are a must.  The rain does not dampen the spirits of the children or the team and we keep plugging away at various things.  Pictures today will show some of the adventures we've had.  Tomorrow is a new day...