Just some updates!

I haven't blogged in what feels like forever, but there are a few reasons for that...

-Casa de Amor has been going through a bit of a rough patch for the last several months. I won't go into too many details but the most recent event involved several days of inspections into the hogar. It's been a trying time for us all... We love the kids and want the best for them but sometimes it's hard to determine how to best move forward.

-Last week we received a notice from SEDEGES telling us we can no longer post any pictures of the kids due to some new privacy laws. As for now, my blog posts won't have any pictures. Disappointing, I know! 

-A couple weeks ago, G. left with his adoptive family! They adopted a little girl from another orphanage at the same time, so G. officially has a big sister! 

-We've had several birthdays during the past couple of months but due to school, I haven't been able to be there for the celebrations, hence no pictures!

-Baby M. was admitted to the hospital this past Friday for bronchopneumonia. We each took a shift with him this weekend (I spent yesterday morning with him). He's in a hospital a little bit outside of the city, and the population of patients there is a bit different than that at the city hospitals... Lots of Quechua was being spoken and I was asked multiple times if the "wawa" was really my son! The other mothers kept me entertained... speaking Quechua amongst themselves, looking at me and then one would translate what they had been discussing to find out if what they were discussing was correct! At one point they asked if I spoke Quechua and I answered "ari" ("yes"... although let's be honest, I only know the bad things Tía Silvia taught me!). They thought it was hilarious... Only in Bolivia, y'all.

-School is keeping me far too busy (we have a list a mile long of things to complete before the year ends) and I've really only been able to see the babies briefly on the weekends... They love their church outings and we've even taken them out to lunch the past several Sundays! I look forward to Sunday mornings!

-Speaking of school, we only have 18 more days with the kids as kinder graduation is June 3! We're already practicing for the graduation. They have to learn the American anthem, and whenever I turn on the music, a few of them say "Ms. Hannah, it's your song!" The Bolivian anthem (which I'm learning) is "their song." We're competing to see if they can learn the American anthem before I learn the Bolivian anthem... They've got the first two lines down but after that it's a lot of mumbling! I think I'm winning ;)

-In some ways being at school is a whole different experience from being at the hogar but in other ways I think it may have been the best preparation for teaching. I've definitely become a more patient person which helps with some of my most "behaviorally challenged" students!

That's really all the news for now! Not sure how much I'll be updating this next month, but I'm planning on coming to the States for a few weeks this summer so I may just get to update a few of you in person!