Lunch with Kiki

My friend Kiki joined us for lunch today, much to the delight of the kids. I met Kiki, a Canadian who works for a microfinance company, on our language school trip to Mombacho volcano a month or so ago. We’ve been in contact and she wanted to come today to see what I do with the kids.

Interestingly enough, Kiki already knew some of the kids. Like me, she was approached by the kids outside of Metrocentro one day and, also like me, agreed to buy them fried chicken. She told me she has hung out with them twice already. The kids loved having her there and it was great to share what we’ve been able to do with getting them into school. She also speaks very good Spanish so I know the kids appreciated having someone there with whom they could actually hold conversations.

Four new kids came today. I have seen them around but never invited them before. In fact, I’ve even turned a few of the boys away before because I didn’t want to bring more than 11 at a time. Today, though, some of the regulars were missing so I asked the four other kids if they wanted to join us.

Tomorrow, Carlos, the man we hired to be the local director, is coming to lunch with us. I think it’s important that he spends some time with the kids while I’m still here, as it will ease the transition when I leave. After lunch we’ll get to talk about the business side of the program.

It’s hard for me to believe that I only have about a week of “normal” time left down here. My good friend Ben is visiting from Dec. 26-31 and my girlfriend Emily will be here from Jan. 2-8. I leave on Jan 11, so the end really is in sight. I have mixed feelings about leaving. More about that later – I still have a lot of time to enjoy here!