What a treat of a weekend! Shortly after our return to Nica I spied the unmistakable signs of a circus tent set-up. As many of you may know, the circus is one of my favorite activities. For the past week I have begged Dylan that we go to the circus. I kept eyeing the ring of elephants on the side of the highway – and could only imagine what a Nicaraguan circus might have in store. Yesterday, my wishes came true – Dylan and I went to the circus. And oh what a treat! Never have I seen so many animals involved in a circus – not only did we see the elephants that I have watched on the side of the highway, but also dogs, horses, miniature ponies, camels, and tigers. There were men running in wheels dangling from the ceiling – much like a hamster might – and they turned tricks inside their wheels – and one even climbed atop his wheel and managed to perform all sorts of tricks from the very top of the wheels – while blindfolded. There were dancers and tumblers and trapeze artists – and a balancing man and flying dancers and the world’s smallest man (truly, he could not have been more than two feet tall)! The tigers jumped through hoops of fire – and one even sat in a swing that was raised above the cage height, just swinging back and forth over the performance ring. However, Dylan and I both agreed – the dog stole the show.
Anyways…aside from the delight of the circus – this weekend has truly been great. The weather hasn’t been too hot – and we’ve had a constant nice breeze. Yesterday Dylan and I walked home after our dinner out – just to enjoy the beautiful night. And today, at church, a woman gave us English translators so that we could actually understand more than a handful of words during the sermon. All in all – it’s been pretty perfect.
Since our return to Nica (after Thanksgiving) I think that I have been in a bit of a rut. Knowing that I have less than a week left seems rather daunting. I keep questioning whether I have accomplished what I [thought] I came down here to do – or what else I could be doing. I feel that there must be more that I can do for the kids or the orphanage – but I just don’t know what. And at the same time, I just can’t fathom what to say to the children – or how to say goodbye. They have already lost so much in their short life that I am just not sure how to say goodbye without doing any more damage.
Regardless of all that, the kids and I have had a wonderful time this past week. The orphanage has undergone some rather drastic changes. Since my return they have gained four new children (two boys, two girls), Poncho (the semi-English speaking man that ran the orphanage) left and three new women have started working there. Initially, these changes created quite an upset among the children. Poncho’s leaving was a disaster; however, the new women in charge have done an excellent job with the children – and for once, the children are actually being tended to and treated for colds, cuts, etc. They are much more disciplined and are settling in to a strict routine (that includes mandatory “silent time” for at least one hour a day). It’s a strange adjustment to make.
Early in our trip down here I had decided that I wanted to do one big project with the children at the orphanage – and had chosen to try and create a Spanish-English book for them (as their only books are two English storybooks that no one can read to them – and they cannot understand). My initial plans for the book turned out to be a disaster – as I wasn’t able to clearly articulate my ideas into Spanish. However, while I was home over Thanksgiving I managed to create a book that each of the children could enjoy. It is an English-Spanish coloring book that has the alphabet, colors, shapes and numbers. Each page contains a picture that they can color as well as the Spanish – and English equivalent – of the pictures. So, each child received a book and a box of crayons to color the pictures. Last week I was able to distribute the books to the children and watch their excitement as they realized what it was. The older kids were so eager to have a resource to learn English – on their own – that we must have read through the book at least 10 times. Then, we spent the next two and a half hours coloring the pictures. Every day last week the women at the orphanage allowed me to spend at least one hour with the children working on their books. It has been a great bonding experience – and a much better teaching method than I would have imagined. Each day when I arrived at the orphanage they kids would tell me the new English words that they learned the night before. So again and again I would hear them repeating – “apple, manzana” and “casa, house.” It was such a triumph for each of them each time they were able to master a new word. And, now all of the kids five and older are able to count to ten, in English, without my assistance. A small accomplishment to some – but such a treat for me to hear!
I finally managed to upload the pictures from the past month or so – so, you should be able to see pictures of our trip to San Juan del Sur, more pictures of the kiddies, the books I made for the children, and our trip to the circus. Here’s the link:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/15927088@N07/
Thank you all so much for continuing to keep Dylan and me in your thoughts and prayers. This really would not be possible without you guys.
Wishing you the happiest of holiday seasons! All my love,
Lauren
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