Day 35

What a great day!

Sorry about yesterday's blog post y'all! It was my shortest post for two reasons, the first is yesterday was a very slow day and also I fell asleep while waiting for the photo to upload and woke up at 12:30am to quickly finish it so I could go to bed. So sorry about that!

Anyways! This morning I woke up and headed to the office at the usual time to be there for 8am. As each day gets closer and closer to me leaving I am trying to slow the days down just a little bit so I have some more time with the kids. I am excited to see my folks and friends but I'm sad to leave my new found friends behind. I wish I could just put them all in my suitcase and bring them with me! Well that just means I will have to come back and visit. :)

This morning Yahoska was there on time and met with Rocío and then had to leave to head to work. We then had Kevin Davíd and Génesis Valesca come and hung out with us for a little while. It was fun we have seen Génesis Valesca every day this week! We love it though! We want Casa VISEDAL to be a place where the kids can come and hang out, do homework, etc. A safe place for them.

Génesis Valesca and her mom

The rest of the morning was a relaxed morning. We all just hung out at the office and talked. It was Esmir, Rocío, Jessie, Brad, Brad's girlfriend, and myself. We also had more pupusas again today! I am in love with them! I wish I would've known about them so much sooner! :) It was fun to hang out and eat pupusas and I enjoyed going from english conversations to spanish. You see Jessie and Brads girlfriend don't speak spanish so we had to translate a great deal. But I always enjoy talking with Rocío and Esmir! I am going to miss them but I will definitely keep in touch with them to keep using my spanish all the time but also because we have become friends throughout my time here.

The mosquitos today in the office were awful and Brad's girlfriend, whose name is Bethany by the way, was getting eaten up really bad. They were going to buy bugs spray but I had two bottles, one I had brought and one that was given to me by one of the volunteers. So we decided to head back to the hostel quickly to grab one for Bethany. I had to go with them because it was in my suitcase. Bethany wanted to come too because well you know to be with Brad, duh. So we decided instead of walking to take Brad's motorcycle! I was nervous because there were three of us, but that is how they do it down here. I have seen a family of four fit on one bike. But I wasn't too worried because the hostel was only two blocks from Casa VISEDAL. So it was Brad driving, Bethany behind him, and me in the back. It was an interesting experience. I would never do it driving on a busy street or further than the two blocks of back roads to our hostel. It was a little nerve racking though.

Brad, Bethany, and myself on the bike

Lunch was at the usual spot again. I found out today that here in Nicaragua it is very rude to have your feet up on a chair and knees above the table while eating. Bethany was sitting like that at lunch and the guy who is the owner came over and told her to put her feet down. It was very interesting, I never knew that was an insult here. It is so important to learn the cultural norms if you plan to travel, because you never want to be in a place where you are insulting someone unintentionally. But anyways, lunch was good as usual. 

When we got back to the office we sat around for a little and then had Belén, Jostyn, Génesis Elizabeth, Sonia, Sonia's son, Carlos, and Winny come to the office. Sonia only stayed for a little bit and then left. Belén and I talked a lot more today and each day we see each other we talk more and more. It's really great and she is such a sweetheart! Winny stayed for awhile and I was able to chat with her. She was also excited to see Bethany so I served as the translator for her and Bethany's conversation. After awhile of translating, Winny and I just kept the conversation going and having fun talking to each other. We then took a "photo shoot". We took a lot of photos together, Jessie, Bethany, Winny, and myself. There are so many so check on Facebook sometime on Saturday for the photos! 

Winny and myself

Later on I played with Jostyn and Génesis Elizabeth for awhile and I served as their horse or 'caballito' as they called me. :) It was fun but exhausting. I carried them on my back and ran around the facility with them on my back. They were constantly changing who went on my back. It was fun and they both are such sweethearts! Génesis Elizabeth looked at all my bracelets on my arm, the ones the kids gave me and told me she was sad that she didn't have any. I decided to give her this bright orange one that I had made because I didn't want to give one of the ones from the other kids so I let her have the one I made. She was so excited and so happy and showed her mom and everyone. It was precious. I don't want these kids to forget me, not just by giving them gifts, but also by the love and attention I give them. I want them to know that no matter where I am I am here for them and will always love and care for them. I hope to come back even if just for the volunteer trip. They are my kids too now and I care about them so much. I want the very best for them and want to see them succeed in life and will do what I can to help make sure that happens.

So today was a fun day with the kids and I keep telling the girls to come back on Friday at 1pm for another session. They are also all now being alerted that Sunday is my last day here in Nicaragua. A lot are sad and don't want me to go and asking when I am coming back. I tell them maybe next summer to come visit and they perk up knowing that I want to see them again and that I am not just leaving them for good. I have a lot to think about when I go home about what I want to do with my life and if this is something I would do as a profession or working in governmental offices overseas. I am not sure, I just loved having the relationships with the people of Nicaragua and would love to have relationships with other people from other countries as well. It's so hard. I want to do so much but I am only one person. That is why my prayer is that God puts me where I am needed and where He can use me. If I am being used by God then that is all I ask and I will be so excited no matter where it is. 

We came back to the hostel and I did my usual netflix watching, showering, making dinner-tonight I made quesadillas, writing for y'all, and then getting ready for bed. Well I am off to bed! I need rest so I can take in all I can tomorrow! Three days left…..

Until next time, buenas noches