June 23rd 2008

I had to wake up early today because today was my first day at the children’s home. After getting up, I got ready for my day and had a piece of bread and a cup of tea for breakfast. Before leaving I did my morning devotional. It surprised me because all the public transportation was early so I arrived at the children’s home early as well. When I arrived I watched some of the boys draw pictures of animals out of a book. It was then time for the first period of homework in which I helped some boys to do division problems and addition problems. I enjoyed this period because I am good at math and it was easy for me to pick up the phrases to use when asking questions about the numbers. Also, some of the math problems were on a page in which after getting an answer they had to color that area in a certain color, but the colors were in English so they asked me to translate the colors for them. The next period was some free time in which the children had a snack of fruit and milk or yogurt. It was then time for another period of homework in which today they worked on reading comprehension. I assisted them by having an answer key and checking to make sure their answers were correct. Next, was another period of free time in which I watched some of the children play this game with marbles it was very interesting. The whole time I was with the children I was able to understand them and be able to respond to all of them when they talked with me. It felt great to be able to communicate and have fun with these children. During the second break I was formally introduced to Walter who is the guy in charge of saying whether or not people can volunteer. He said that I was allowed to volunteer there and that I was welcome. So I will be going there Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and some Fridays. At the children’s home I was also able to have lunch with the children as well which was good because I found out that some of them would be playing in a soccer game today. During lunch they invited me to come and watch their game so I accepted. For lunch I had this mixture of rice, potatoes, and beef with some broccoli. Before I left for the game, I asked what time I should come back tomorrow and they told me ten so I can sleep until my normal time. So in the afternoon I went to watch them play soccer and the ride on the buses was a good time for me to continue to talk with the children. Also, the children at the home were so kind and always wanting to talk with me or have me sit with them. I also realized that these children were very happy with little and that they love the sense of touch. Some of the boys hugged me today or if they wanted to talk with me they would hold my hand or touch me to get my attention. The two soccer games were amazing there are two teams one of twelve and under and then one of nine and under. Both teams won today the twelve and under team won five to four and then the nine and under team won eight to one. All the boys were so happy after the game and tried to get the guy who I met before at Susana’s named David who is their coach to buy them chocolate on Friday. At the game a guy came up to me because he heard that I knew English and wanted to practice his English a little bit. He worked in mechanics and had to learn some English for his job. This man was very nice and was interested in what I was doing in Bolivia. It surprised me during the conversation that he asked me what I wanted to do for a career and after I told him; I was in for a surprise. He told me that he worshiped Patchamamma which is mother earth, but that he wanted to learn more about the Bible. So he asked me what church I went to and I told him, and he said that he would visit it one Sunday. My conversation with this man was in part Spanish and part English as well. After the games I headed back to the boy’s home but got off early to catch a truffi back to the house. It took me a good while to find a truffi that was not packed full. I finally returned back home in time to do my evening devotional and relax for a while. For dinner I had a sandwich with a hotdog, ketchup, and mayonnaise on it. It was good and tonight there was also fruit punch to drink which was very sweet since I have tried to stay away from sugar. During dinner Susana came down and sat with me and we had a good discussion all in Spanish about technology and how important it is for people to learn responsibility. After dinner I basically heard fireworks going off the rest of the night because it is in celebration of Saint John. I went out and lit and watched the fireworks with Susana’s and Angelica’s family. It felt like the fourth of July for me since there will be no celebration on that day here in Bolivia. Before going to be I showered and did my night time devotional.