A smiling heart

Yesterday was a truly wonderful day. I will give you a quick peak into why I absolutely love being here with these kids.

My day began with Whitney and I inventing oreo pancakes. After a late breakfast we laid on a blanket in the sun with a few girls. We stayed here on the lawn for perhaps two hours, just talking, reading, playing the guitar and singing together. After our lounge time in the sun, Whitney and I squeezed into a car with ELEVEN other girls. I won't tell you how many seat belts this car had. We went to a smaller NPH house in town to use their pool and play games. There wasn't much sun near the pool so most people didn't swim. We played cards and ate popcorn with salsa for the first hour or so and then a few of us decided to swim. When I say that we decided to swim, what I mean is that Whitney got pushed in the pool by a few girls. Then I tried to persuade some girls to jump in with me which concluded in me getting pushed in as well. After a while I got a few girls in the pool. There were countless moments in the day when I was filled with such joy that I could hardly contain it. These kids can make my heart smile without even trying. 

More cute kids

Learning

Today I had an hour long Spanish class with some teachers at the high school. What was the lesson today? Swear words. The whole experience was odd to say the least. Discussing swear words in two different languages with my co-workers whom I greatly respect. This might seem strange to you, even inappropriate. But there was a purpose. I swear there was.  Many of the kids here swear and say disrespectful things and generally I can figure out when they are being rude to me but not always. So the teachers at the school thought it would be helpful for me to know when they kids are using bad words with me. I found the topic of this lesson to be quite thoughtful. 

And my education continues….

Chicas ponderosas seems to be really taking off. This week our group began working on a video. Our video will be primarily about self-esteem and growing to love and accept ourselves. Each girl made a sign, on which they write one thing that they like about themselves. Or perhaps something that they don’t like but that they want to accept. For example, my sign says “me encantan mis ojos pequenos” This means, that I love my little eyes. This was important for me because I have always been self conscious about how small my eyes are. Especially when I smile. Sometimes they even appear to be closed. Everyone’s sign is different.

“I like my personality because I am a little bit crazy.”

“I like my smile”

“I have a beautiful heart”

Those are a few examples.

 This project has been really special to work on with the kids because some of them clearly have difficulty coming up with an example. It's really rewarding to see the growth in them. 

Day trip with first semester girls

Chicas Poderosas

Today was the fourth week of the young women's empowerment group that Whitney and I have been organizing. It's going well, we have tons of ideas and the girls seem to have a really great time. Spending time with this amazing young girls is what I look forward to all week long.

New friends coming to town

This weekend a donor from Mexico city came to NPH with new furniture for our library. The donor and his family spent a huge part of the day here with us just playing soccer and basketball with the kids. All of the kids had a great time and our library looks fantastic!

You will have to forgive my lateness.

About a week ago I traveled to the state of Puebla with a few other volunteers. Puebla is a beautiful city fully of lovely colors and lots to see.