Day 4 - Guatemala Update

We slept really well last night. After a hearty breakfast (with black beans!) we headed over to start our day with the kids. Guili continued her story of Joseph, and then we began our rotation for the day.

Jeni and I were lucky enough to be handling the t-shirt art.

We had different colored t-shirts that the kids could pick from, and tons of fabric markers and paint. Through our translator, we told them that they could decorate their t-shirts in any way that they wanted. Some of the kids knew exactly what they wanted, and started immediately. Others needed some help, and Jeni and I would walk around the tables encouraging them. Sometimes they would motion that they wanted us to draw for them, so we would try and determine what they wanted. Did I mention how much we appreciated our translators? "Mariposa, mariposa..." one of the children kept saying to me. "Ahhhhh, a butterfly, they want you to draw a butterfly" Ana would tell me. My gift is certainly NOT drawing, and now there is a child in Guatemala wearing a bright yellow t-shirt adorned with a giant 6 winged, bat shaped, bug-eyed, orange and green butterfly. And you know what? I think he liked it! Another boy asked me to draw a corazon... which I learned to be a heart. "Grande," he said. Big. So I drew a big heart. Next he asked me to put my nombre (name) inside the heart. I did. After that, he took over and wrote his name below the heart. I think he might have had a crush on me! So, somewhere in Guatemala, there is a little boy wearing a blue tshirt with my name in a heart drawn above his name. My name may be written on his t-shirt heart.... but I wonder if he knows that his name is etched into my real heart? Below is a picture of the dining room where we did our t-shirt art. I took this picture as one of the children was setting the table for lunch. The red laundry basket held the sheets they use for tablecloths. Meanwhile, Rick was playing Vocabulary Bingo with Carrie and the kids. Since I joined in with him on Bingo the following day, I'll tell you about that tomorrow. But rest assured, the kids LOVED Rick trying to pronounce his spanish vocabulary. Lunch was a welcome break, and today we headed to another quaint Guatemalan cafe, called Wendy's. Ahhhhh, Frosty's were welcome in my tummy! During lunch, Guili told Rick and I the story she would acting out for the kids after lunch. Another Max Lucado story, "Tu Eres Especial." I knew the kids would love it! Following the storytime, Rick and I were fortunate to be assigned to the group taking the older boys to McDonalds. Each day, a different group of kids rode our bus to McDonalds to play on the playground and eat ice-cream. It was rare that the children saw anything outside the concrete walls of the Home. So watching them take in the sights on the drive was really special. The boy I sat with was unusually quiet, as he couldn't peel his eyes off of the street scenes. I was saddened, but also pleased to be a part of this special day. It was on this drive that Rick turned around and pointed out the window. A funeral march was proceeding through the street, and I quickly grabbed my camera. The black surburban hearse led the way for the 50ish mourners walking behind it on foot. I'm sure the boys didn't understand why I took a picture of this, but since funerals are my occupation, I couldn't resist trying to capture the moment. As you can see below, it didn't really turn out. But if you look closely, you can see the surburban with the crowd of marching mourners following. Upon arriving at McD, we quickly discovered that the playground was a bit juvenile for this group of older boys, but that didn't slow them down much. They took to swinging on the bars, the infrastructure of the playground. We made a human pyramid and took pictures with funny faces. The ice cream sundae's were devoured... and we couldn't help but go ahead and buy happy meals for them too. I think it was Melissa's idea...and money, that made it happen. And soon enough, the boys were in heaven! About this time one of the boys became very quiet and withdrawn. Via the translator, we discovered that he was sad because some of his friends (5 children, to be exact) had left that day to live with a family member. It broke my heart, all of our hearts, to see a crocadile tear run down his cheek as he kept his chin down to his chest. I hugged him and kissed his head, but it didn't stop the hurt. Later, I found out that Jaquiline, my special friend, was one of the children that had left. One observation...none of the other boys joked about it or gave him a hard time, like I would expect. Boys aren't supposed to cry, right? But his buddies understood the pain of separation and abandonment. They are all brothers, and time after time, Rick and I observed the boys watching out for each other. It was beautiful. It was encouraging. It gave me hope. After arriving back at the Home, with Happy Meal toys in hand, we said our goodbye's for the evening. The kids always hugged us goodbye and we would promise to see them manana. The playground was starting to take shape. Below, Grant does his stuff. Dinner that night was at an Italian restaurant. I enjoyed getting to know Penny better. She works for Red Dot and has a daughter that graduated in Taylor's class. Following dinner, we huddled up for our Team wrap-up and devotion. Tod gave us little spiral books that Robyn had made especially for these Red Dot trips. It features photographs of children from previous mission trips paired with Meditations from the Psalms. I was reading in bed later that night when I felt my throat closing up. It was followed by that sinking feeling that comes when you KNOW you are getting sick. It felt like a cold coming on.... probably courtesy of the runny noses and sloppy kisses that had been gifted to me over the past two days. I closed my eyes on the day that had been full of blessings, praying that the next morning would bring good health. High of the day: Laughing at McD while the boys made a human pyramid Low of the day: Seeing the pain in the face of the one left behind when his friends leaves the Home.