Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

During Christmas all of the normal employees leave and the high school/university students and volunteers are left to care for the kids. I journaled 2 times during the Christmas/New Years Holidays. On December 26th I wrote, “This was the most exhausting Christmas of my life” and on January 1st I wrote, “Wow, it’s 2009. I’m exhausted.” Those two weeks brought me closer to the kids, gave me a much deeper appreciation for the difficult job it is to care for them daily, and made me want to put off parenting for a long time. My sister Chantel also visited which was beyond words wonderful.

Since January 5th marked my 6 month anniversary here and new years are always good times for reflections, here are some of the things I have learned in these first few months here.

1. How to “chopear”. I realize cutting grass with a machete is not exactly something one can put on a resume nor is it a very practical skill I’ll be able to utilize for any yard I will have in the future…but it does make me feel pretty hardcore.

2. How to “despiojar” (or de-lice). A lot of the kids here have lice. I do sometimes too. I say that rather blatantly and without being grossed out … though I recognize from the reaction that I get from some of you when I talk about lice that you feel quite differently about the little bugs. I did at first too, but like a lot of things here, you just get used to it. Kids often come up to me asking me to take their lice out and I shamelessly as them to do the same… plus it’s a great excuse to have someone play with your hair.

3. That accidents happen. (I flew out of the back of a pickup in August leaving me with a broken foot, some stitches in my head, and a fear of being in moving vehicles). I learned that maybe we don’t have a choice when we die since I have no idea how I walked out of that so minimally hurt. I’ve learned that healing is a lot of patience … and that is takes much longer than you think/want/like. And I’ve learned that your mind can be just as scarred as your body and too needs time to get better. (But my foot is about 97% back to normal, my hair is about an inch and half long where they shaved it, and I can usually travel without being afraid. Though perhaps the real sign that I’m moving on is that I no longer measure time by X amount of weeks since the accident.)

4. How to say no. I generally get the reputation of being a nice person. And although that can be a good thing, sometimes it means being passive and saying yes because it’s the “nice” thing to do. But that does not mix with kids who will boldly beg for everything they want. So I say no a lot more these days … and it feels pretty good actually.

5. More Spanish. Improving my Spanish was one of my goals/motivations for coming here. And my Spanish has gotten better! It’s still not at a level that I would like it to be (so good thing I have more time), but it’s nice to feel like I have improved.

6.. How to wait … patiently. I’ve always considered myself a patient person, but I think I’ve also associated waiting with wasting time. But we wait a lot around here. And we sit. And we’re not sure what’s going to happen. Or why we are sitting. Or how long we have to wait for. Or if after sitting they’ll just say we can go home anyway. Or if we’ll just have to sit more and wait. But it doesn’t bother me anymore … it’s just life.

7. How to eat spaghetti and chicken with a spoon (and only a spoon). Also not the most useful skill in the world, but still something I’ve learned.

8. How to drink coffee. When I used to think coffee was gross, I figured that was an advantage in my quest to never become addicted to it. And I’m not … but I do enjoy it now. Maybe it’s because they serve coffee to the little kids here (think 4 year olds) … right before they go to bed. Or maybe it’s because chatting around a cup of coffee is a great excuse for a break. Or maybe it’s because it just tastes good! But I’ve crossed over and I am now a coffee drinker.