It is hot here. Have I mentioned that? I mean HOT and HUMID. My hair has a mind of its own here. Drew reminds me to "embrace the curl". He is not kidding.
Our first full day at the orphanage. After a wonderful cooked breakfast at our hotel. (Which is 5 star in Costa Rica) I'd call it less than that in the US, think Super 8? Motel 6. No ac. No toilet paper down the toilet. Can't drink the water or use it to brush your teeth. Wifi spotty and blowing fans with screened windows. Few ants here and there, even a gecko found it's way into our room. YUCK. It's different and coming from a girl who loves her AC, God is stretching me and the weird thing is...I don't mind.
We headed towards Limon, where the orphanage is located. 1 hour bus drive which always takes longer due to stops. We arrived to kids thrilled that we were back. Today we played "minute to win it" games with the kids, had a David and Goliath skit, baked cupcakes, scrubbed walls- and had a big celebration for David that included Burger King crowns. Amazing to see these teenagers, the ones I was most worried about connecting with and worried they would be cold and hard to reach...they love it all.
I watched as Morgan, Drew's age, so patiently helped teach the kids how to bake the cupcakes. The teenage boys are some of the hardest kids to engage. You know they are cool, girls are watching, blah, blah, blah. For about 30-45 minutes - they apparently forgot their propensity for "coolness". It was laughable as they mixed the batter with passion and then meticulously poured the batter into each cupcake tin making sure the level was exact and that none went to waste. They scrambled for the opportunity to lick the batter out of the mixing bowls. They also didn't miss out on decorating - another typical cool guy activity, right? How excited they were to eat them and frost them. It hit me...these kids don't get the chance to do that at home. As often as an bake with our boys and watch them eat batter raw eggs and all...these kids don't get that experience. Heart breaking in many ways for me.
I had some quiet time with a few of the toddlers playing with some Matchbox cars we had brought with us. Mainly little girls...they LOVED them. It made me think of sweet Max, and the many hours he plays with cars and trucks and how having 14 brand new match box cars was so HUGE for these kids. It made me want to cry....
I spent quite a bit of time today scrubbing a wall we are going to paint a mural in. A sweet 4 year old girl named Valeria never left my side as we scrubbed the wall. She started a water fight with me and we giggled and laughed. She has captured my heart. And her little brother Chino who is 2 will melt your heart as well. it was a wonderful and peaceful day. I wasn't with Drew much but when I saw him he had a gaggle of boys around him mainly playing soccer.
There was a challenge made between one of the tougher teenage girls, Luz and Steve Durick. I missed most of it due to scrubbing the wall...but Kim had my camera for awhile and captured some photos. Evidently Luz would do some sort of "trick" and then Steve would try to follow. It got a little crazy and luckily no one was hurt. I showed up towards the end and loved seeing how engaged the teenagers were, they were NOT too cool for us.
Drew told me that his favorite part of the day was squirting water into the little kids mouths and all over their faces I missed seeing it but he was excited to share it with me. Having Max as a little brother has made him so good with little ones, he is sweet and they think he is way cool. AND his sunglasses are a HUGE hit...I wish we had brought 40 pairs of them with us.
We headed towards Limon, where the orphanage is located. 1 hour bus drive which always takes longer due to stops. We arrived to kids thrilled that we were back. Today we played "minute to win it" games with the kids, had a David and Goliath skit, baked cupcakes, scrubbed walls- and had a big celebration for David that included Burger King crowns. Amazing to see these teenagers, the ones I was most worried about connecting with and worried they would be cold and hard to reach...they love it all.
I watched as Morgan, Drew's age, so patiently helped teach the kids how to bake the cupcakes. The teenage boys are some of the hardest kids to engage. You know they are cool, girls are watching, blah, blah, blah. For about 30-45 minutes - they apparently forgot their propensity for "coolness". It was laughable as they mixed the batter with passion and then meticulously poured the batter into each cupcake tin making sure the level was exact and that none went to waste. They scrambled for the opportunity to lick the batter out of the mixing bowls. They also didn't miss out on decorating - another typical cool guy activity, right? How excited they were to eat them and frost them. It hit me...these kids don't get the chance to do that at home. As often as an bake with our boys and watch them eat batter raw eggs and all...these kids don't get that experience. Heart breaking in many ways for me.
I had some quiet time with a few of the toddlers playing with some Matchbox cars we had brought with us. Mainly little girls...they LOVED them. It made me think of sweet Max, and the many hours he plays with cars and trucks and how having 14 brand new match box cars was so HUGE for these kids. It made me want to cry....
I spent quite a bit of time today scrubbing a wall we are going to paint a mural in. A sweet 4 year old girl named Valeria never left my side as we scrubbed the wall. She started a water fight with me and we giggled and laughed. She has captured my heart. And her little brother Chino who is 2 will melt your heart as well. it was a wonderful and peaceful day. I wasn't with Drew much but when I saw him he had a gaggle of boys around him mainly playing soccer.
There was a challenge made between one of the tougher teenage girls, Luz and Steve Durick. I missed most of it due to scrubbing the wall...but Kim had my camera for awhile and captured some photos. Evidently Luz would do some sort of "trick" and then Steve would try to follow. It got a little crazy and luckily no one was hurt. I showed up towards the end and loved seeing how engaged the teenagers were, they were NOT too cool for us.
Drew told me that his favorite part of the day was squirting water into the little kids mouths and all over their faces I missed seeing it but he was excited to share it with me. Having Max as a little brother has made him so good with little ones, he is sweet and they think he is way cool. AND his sunglasses are a HUGE hit...I wish we had brought 40 pairs of them with us.
I think our hotel was way better than motel 6! :)
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