Nadar: To Swim

March 2013

A smidgen of our annual beach trip with all of the babies, toddlers, and children from Casa Suyapa

• Teaching kids how to swim
• Flying kites
• Untangling kites
• Making sandcastles
• Watching them get destroyed
• Unbelievable humidity
• Mid day naps in the sand
• Floaties 
• Fried fish!
• Long days
• Hot nights
• Some of my best memories

Discubrir: To Discover

Notice:

Hello to all who have at one point read my blog and have been disappointed seeing as I have not published in a VERY long time. I apologize. It is harder than you would think carving out time to explain to everyone the incredibly unique life that happens here at El Rancho. 

Question:

Lately I have been doing a lot of personal reflection and thinking. Recently we went on a retreat where reflecting was a central theme which started me doing some serious "self-discovery" or perhaps better said "personal examination." I discovered an interesting question: 'why am I so happy here.' It's a great question, and I am very grateful that I can ask it. Yet, it is still interesting to me because I am so frustrated at various times for days or even weeks at a time... (and I am talking about frustration like I have never felt before)... how is it that I am almost entirely certain I have never been happy? 

Answers:

I reduced my answer to this question in 3 answers. 

1. I am always learning. Teaching classes completely in my second language, learning about culture, how to navigate a city like Tegucigalpa, how to overcome numerous obstacles, reading all the time, and new skills like making excellent flower tortillas by hand (easier than you think). 
2. I have meaningful relationships. Relationships that nurture and challenge me (not necessarily the same person). Relationships with the kids (that have to be won on a day to day, week to week, and month to month basis. Relationships that I thought might not work.... but do, somehow. 
3. Meaningful work. Even on the toughest days, even when I am sure that I am the most useless human being on the planet because I will never see the results of what I do, even when I doubt what I do will make any difference to these kids..... somewhere deep, (DEEP) down, I have to know that what I am doing is meaningful, if I didn't I wouldn't be here, and I wouldn't be this happy. 

Idea:

This experience has led to realize, to discover, to believe a truth about myself and my future. I can forge my own destiny. I can be whatever I want to be. As frustrated as I am here, I am still happy; in the future, if my life does not have this balance, I will know one of these three answers is missing... which means something will have to change. I can only hope if a day ever comes where I am in a situation like that, I will have the courage to make a change. 

Irse: To leave

Less my title be quickly misinterpreted, this was not about MY leaving, but rather, the young men I used to work with. As you can read below in the graduation blog, once graduated the older students go into the city for practicums or internships. These were many of the boys I used to work with. The few that remained moved consolidated with another hogar (home) meaning that for the latter part of November through January I would need a new place to concentrate my energy. Rest assured, one was found.

When the older boys left, I was moved down to work with the youngest age-group, in Casa Suyapa with boys from about 4 - 9 years old. Casa Suyapa is the only hogar where the boys and girls are mixed, on one side of the house are the 7 toddlers and all the girls, on the other side, all of the boys (who are not toddlers). The boy side is the side I work on, although there is plenty of time to interact with the girls as well.

As you can imagine working with the smaller children is quite a change from working with the older ones. However, I must say I feel quite blessed and in my element working with the younger age group. Though they tax my energy in MANY ways, they also give me a large amount of energy.

I can hardly look at the photos of them without smiling or laughing or both. We were able to spend Christmas together (more on that later) and have had some incredible fun already.

Overall Casa Suyapa is one of the strictest places on the Ranch, however, with about 50 kids under 10 living there, sometimes you have to be strict. Though I love the children dearly, they do press my buttons and require disciplining (hmm, real parenting anybody?)

Short Stories: 

On any given day during my hours with the children I can be found chasing them around, picking them up, playing cars, marbles, or soccer, pretending that I am going to cook them in the kitchen, or dancing with them. Here are a list of their favorite phrases/games we play:

Douglas......

Chineame - pick me up

Comame- eat me, aka, the game where I chase the around and pretend to eat them

Atrapame- chase me and trap me

Bailemos- lets dance

Duermame- put me to sleep

Canta- sing

Da me vuelta - spin me around

Llevame a tutu - give me a piggy back ride (or ride on my shoulders) 

At night I get to rock the kids to bed and sing them songs. It is a great reminder to me that no matter how crazy all these kids get during the day that when push comes to shove they all just want a little love and someone to hold them as the fall asleep... even the 9 year olds. 

Here are a few more pictures of my little darlings!