Day 5, take 2

Well, this is a day late, but this is what yesterday was like:

We were woken up at the usual ungodly hour of 7 to the usual ungodly sound of Sister Gloria’s horn. I swear she could solve all of the world’s problems by blowing that horn and killing the tyrannical dictators of the world. 
We woke our little butts up, and got them out of bed, and made our breakfasts and went on our way. I (along with a bunch of other people) went to the village of Las Delesias.  We divided into two groups: one went out to a field to play with large amounts of small children, and one went around the village with the local nurse to give out baby clothes to families who were expecting and families with babies.
I went with the nurse, and seeing the babies was one of the most moving experiences of the trip. It was magical to hold the infants and have them looking at you, and to realize that they are humans too-tiny, poor, underprivileged humans--but humans, who were going to grow and learn and make friends and have lives.

Side note: Sarah and Michael and Shannon and Heather, and everyone else here, want to be included in everyone journals. SO NOW THEY HAVE BEEN MENTIONED.

We went around to probably 17 houses, and gave away 14 bags of clothes. Everyone was really welcoming and happy to see us and to receive the clothing. One women we went to see had just had a cesarean section, and we got to see the eight-day-old baby and help clean the wound/scar/whatever.

By helping, I mean that I stood back and sort of watched, while avoiding looking too closely.

At another house, the nurse taught us how to make tortillas. Mine (and most of the other girls) was a failure, but it was really fun to see a little bit into the daily lives and livelihoods of the people. Because we couldn’t eat our tortillas (all that contaminated water nonsense), we carried them up the hill and gave them to a family with a little girl on the way to school. The nurse said to them, “They look awfully bad, but they should taste fine.” Or something along those lines.

Sadly, I think I am going to have to cross off Tortilla Maker from my list of potential careers.

While we were walking around the village, I really got to know all of the girls/women who were with us. It was really nice to just bond and relax, while still getting to know more about the people and customs of El Salvador. And while climbing up real steep hills and trudging through cornfields.

After we returned from our adventures throughout the town, the two groups (remember them from the beginning of this story?) met back up for lunch. We played a bit with the kids, and then it started to rain. I am not sure if it is always this wet in El Salvador, but it has rained every single day I have been here.  And not just a little pitter-patter, but a the-world-is-ending-find-your-ark sort of downpour.
Because we didn’t want to get stuck in a mud slide, or something along those lines, we had to leave. So, I never really got to get to know the kids, which I supposed is a mixed blessing. On one hand, I wanted to know as many people as possible and be as well rounded as possible, but now I have less people to say good bye to on Monday (which is really soon). 

For the rest of the afternoon, we just hung out around the house; Kat and I used the pila to do a whole lot of laundry. After dinner, I got really bad heart burn, and had to suffer through a not so great movie.

Oh well, it helped me understand this whole fascination with Oscar Ramero that all of the people here have...

After the movie, we had reflection, and it was all very moving. One of my new friends Colette, brought up something that really struck home for me--she was talking about the differences in opportunity that the children in the United State have, compared to the children here. We in the United States take for granted living in a safe, fostering environment; having good schools; have opportunities to better ourselves. Thinking about this made me cry--I have so many good things in my life, that the people I have met this week could never imagine, and I abuse them, and take them for granted.

Sleep tight Angel Faces

Sofia

P.S. Thank you for all of your kind comments, and I am sorry I don't have the time to respond to them all.