Saturday, June 1, 2013

Days 2-3

It's hard to believe I've only been here a couple of days. The days go by so quickly! Yesterday morning and afternoon I spent some more time with the babies. Two of the tías took some of the older kid outside to have a snack, and then they stayed out there to play for awhile before lunch. Some of the babies have been sick with colds so they didn't get to go outside. 

After lunch, the babies sleep for about 3 hours. It seems like some of the tías take a break during that time and others take care of some stuff around the house or just visit with each other. I had planned on using that time to walk around the area outside the baby home so I can learn my way around. I ended up staying here and organizing my room/unpacking the rest of my stuff. It feels good to finally have everything put away! I brought one of the littlest babies, V, with me to my room. I propped her up on my bed with a pillow, and she sat quietly until she fell asleep (almost at the time the other kids would be waking up!). When the babies wake up, they get changed and go downstairs for dinner. I stayed long enough to help get them fed and for a little playtime.

Friday night, Carlee, Danyelle and I spent the night at the boys' home to give the tía the night off. The boys got in trouble earlier in the week so they went to bed kind of early. It gave us a chance to get to know each other better. Carlee and Danyelle have both been so helpful to me, helping me learn about all of the kids/Casa de Amor and helping me find my way around Cochabamba.

The boys slept in until 7am! I thought they would wake up much earlier. Carlee and Danyelle made banana pancakes for breakfast, and they were yummy! I am not much of a cook, but I can wash dishes! The boys seem to be pretty easy, behavior-wise, but they do like to run around and play rough with each other. I savored the few calm moments when several of them wanted to read books! 

We met up with Emily, the Booher family's oldest daughter, after leaving the boys' home. Their family lives a few houses down from the boys' home so I was able to meet all of them. They are such such a great family! They agreed to let Emily come with us to La Cancha, the largest open-air market in South America. The main market days are Wednesday and Saturday, but I think some of the vendors may be there every day. I didn't buy anything, but it was fun to look around. I want to go back there before I leave to buy some Bolivian souvenirs!

After walking around La Cancha, we walked to a restaurant called La Casa Blanca. I had pesto spaghetti (Carlee's recommendation) and it was pretty good. They gave me so much that I felt like I wasted most of it. Everyone else ordered enchiladas and liked those as well (they were more like tacos than enchiladas though!). Emily then treated all of us to frappucinos... except I had hot chocolate! Bolivians aren't really in to sweets, but it was very chocolatey and sweet. 

We went back to the girls' house, and it is always fun to see them! The three youngest were napping and the two oldest were playing quietly on their own. Shyrlen, one of the girls, took my notebook and drew some princess pictures of me. It is very cute! It was then back to the boys' house for a little while. Then, Boohers invited us over for dinner. They made hamburgers, and they were delicious! I loved spending time with their family, hearing how they came to Cochabamba, and meeting the Casa de Amor kids they have been caring for these past several months. Rudi was kind enough to drive us home after dinner because it was already dark and taking public transportation at night (especially when you're like me and still don't really know where to go!) is not always the best idea.

I asked the tías when I got home if we could take some of the babies to church with us on Sunday, and they seemed excited when I asked. They told me we could choose who to take so I asked about the 3 youngest. I thought maybe they wouldn't want such young babies (2-3 months old) out in the cold, but they said it would be fine. It will be easier taking trufis with tiny babies rather than 1-2 year olds, at least at first. I am excited to visit Cochabamba International Church tomorrow!

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Hey. Hannah!!! I must say that we do miss you here. It seems like you are having a great time which is so great.