Water, how I love thee.

Ok, so I am just going to warn you right off the bat that this post has a lot to do with water. So if you have to go pee, go now!

One day last week I was rudely awakened by my then roomate Gala yelling at the top of her lungs (or it seemed like the top of her lungs in my sleepy haze) WAKE UP, OH MY GOD KATE GET UP RIGHT NOW AHHH". I woke up, sure that there was a robber or a monkey or something in our room. "WHAT!" I yelled back, but before she had time to answer I heard the splashes on the ground as she ran to the bathroom. hahah no that is not what it sounds like. Basically what had happened was this: where we live, the water turns off at night in the whole city, for what reason I do not know. So Gala had gotten home late that night and had turned on the tap in the bathroom, but of course nothing came out. SO because there was no water coming out, she had forgotten to turn the tap back OFF. So when the water came back on randomly at like 4am, the sink had overflowed, flooded the bathroom, and half our bedroom. Luckily all the floors in the house are stone, and there is a drain on the bathroom floor, so it wasnt a huge deal. We just got our towels and mopped it up, and about 45 minutes later I was back in bed. But man, what a way to wake up!

One thing I will definitely never take for granted again is HOT SHOWERS! Most of my showers here have been either freezing cold, or that awful almost-warm temperature that reminds you how good warm feels but doesn't quite let you have it.

The water and power sometimes randomly go off, which is kind of annoying but in a way I really like it. It makes life more of an adventure! For example, right now the water is off. Meaning there is no water in the whole city. I don't know why, it just is. And that's ok, you just kind of learn to roll with it.


Ok now enough about water and on to my volunteer placement. Sophie and i have been spending a lot more time with the babies lately. I think the nurses and nuns have been letting us hold them more because we are around so often now that its ok to cuddle them sometimes.

Theses babies are the sweetest things I have ever encountered. They are so happy with even just the tiniest bit of attention. Today I was washing the floor outside the babies room and I could see my favorite little guy, Erick, looking at me from his crib. And every time I would wave at him through thw window he would burst into laughter just from that one look.

One thing I am learning from the kids in Guatemala is that children are way tougher than we think. If a kid in Canada fell on grass and hit their head, they would probably start crying no doubt. A kid here will fall and hit their head on cement, and you just put them back on their feet and tell them they're fine and they dont even shed a tear. You would think that an orphange for children with HIV and Aids would be a pretty sad place, but it's actually quite the opposite. Yesterday the nurses in la enfermeria were climbing on top of the crips and out the high windows to collect braches from a pine-type tree to put around for christmas decorations! You rarely hear crying or see sad faces around the orphanage, and if you do its almost always something  a quick hug or tickle can fix.

Anyways I should probably get going, but I will leave you with a few more pictures of some of the kids I've been working with since I've been here! The older kids or the ones from Mi Escualita, my old placement, and the younger ones are at the orphanage.

The two pictures above are a little boy named Angel. That is the perfect name for him because he is honestly the worlds best baby. He NEVER cries or yells, and he is always trying to give everyone his toys. His favorite thing is being upside down, and soemtimes when I am trying to change him he will flip his head backwards off the table and then laugh like he's done something really hilarious. His legs are weirdly flexible, he can do a full split and put his feet in his mouth. Only problem is they aren't very strong and he isn't able to stand up on his own or crawl.

The is Evalyn. She is 5 years old and such a cutie.

Me and Maria looking tough. She's doing a way better job than me as you can see. 

Doris! She was the only girl a lot of days at mi Escualita. Such a funny kid, and really good at singing!

Sophie and her favorite little man Josue. This is the hairy little monkey boy I wrote about last time :)

Me trying to get Erick to walk. He's getting really close these days!

xoxo,
Miss and love you all

Kate