LONG time, no see!!

If you couldn’t tell, I’ve been suffering from a bit of a writer’s block…

When I last left y’all off, I was playing in rice. Between now and then, wow, so much has happened.

Here’s a rough timeline:

The school year here is flopped with the one in the States—the girls are on their long summer break during Christmas and go back to school in February. The girls are given many chores throughout summer vacation in order to keep busy. It is definitely a wild experience because 100 girls are alllwayyss around.

Making cookies was one of the tasks the girls were given to do throughout summer break.
Mixing the batter with your hands?! Of course I wanted to help!

We performed the Jingle Bell rock dance
at one event...in front of everyone....
per request of the Madre

Typically in the summer, the hogar has the opportunity to travel to some fun places nearby. Unfortunately, we did not have as many opportunities this year due to lack of funds. But we went to a couple celebrations, a couple events were brought to the hogar with clowns and fun for the girls, and we had some fun days at the pool too!

Having some fun at the pool!

The whirlwind of Christmas was thrown in the mix—with the responsibility of raising money and buying presents for 135 girls. Piece of cake, right? I’m talking trips to the feria (a grid-like endless abyss of an outdoor market where you can get lost in a different part of the market each time and forget what sunlight looks like), late nights preparing and wrapping gifts, of course a fever intertwined with all that stressful goodness, making bundles of batches of monkey bread, playing with sparklers, dressing up like an elf, and dancing and singing for Jesus! Someone tell me that doesn’t sound like a crazy ride. I’ll be honest, most of it is a blur.

Me with just part of the presents!

Christmas Eve night: Rocking it out with Madre Fatima!

Yummmm. Monkey Bread on Christmas morning

Papa Noel getting a big hug from one of the girls

The group on the roof 
of the Institute on New Years Eve

We then celebrated the most spectacular New Years Eve I have ever experienced. Just imagine being on a roof, surrounded by great people, and literally surrounded by fireworks—one of the most breathtaking sites and a Bolivian memory I don’t think I will ever seize to forget. AND dancing at the discoteca until four in the morning with friends? I’m a lucky girl. 

The beginning of the year brought with it a group of new girls for us to love here at the hogar with even more personality to bring joy to our lives. 

Oh hey, Jesus.

It also brought a great opportunity for a get away with all of the SLMs in Bolivia. Traveling to the much cooler Cochabamba, we had a great relaxing weekend retreat reconnecting with friends, sharing our experiences, and helping one another through struggles we may have been having. I couldn’t help but be reinvigorated by the amazing views, amazing food, and amazing conversation. What an awesome program I am a part of!

Great times cooking, eating, and cleaning

Getting back to the hogar, we went as a whole to the terrific annual celebration of the hogars throughout Santa Cruz at Hogar Don Bosco. It was a great day filled with singing, swimming, dancing, and games for the girls and was the perfect ending of summer.

Norah and I hanging out at Don Bosco!

The beginning of school was met with great chaos, as the madre did not have ample funds to cover the cost of all of the shoes, notebooks, uniforms, and textbooks for the girls. We volunteers took buying shoes off of the Madre’s hands, and the task still is not complete!! It is a tiring task, following the girls around until they find their perfect shoe, but it is very rewarding all the same. I’m the “mom” who is feeling for their toe, telling them to walk around a bit to see how it feels, recommending black rather than white because it will show less dirt. I nearly died when “shows less dirt” came out of my mouth—that’s what MY MOM would say… Terrifying. But here in Montero, showing less dirt is definitely something to think about…

Right after getting foamed

Talking about chaos, it was then time for CARNAVAL: a crazy three-day celebration of braided hair, parades, costumes, dancing, screaming, foam, water, and paint. Tania and I joined two workers from the hogar at a Friday night parade and then actually became a part of the parade—surprise, surprise! Saturday we went to a parade and then came back to a crazy water fight at the hogar, which like any good water fight started with water balloons and ended with buckets of water. Monday night we had our celebration at the hogar, and yours truly was the queen of the personnel…reluctantly. Woooo Los Hawaianos. It was a great night of foam, food, and dancing—three of my favorite things.

After Carnaval, it was pretty much back to the daily grind of opening up the library and helping the girls with their homework. I have also been busy with the madrina account, finding madrinas for the new girls as well as 30 girls who have not heard from their madrinas in a couple years… so that’s been a lot. If you’re interested in being a madrina, definitely let me know!! We’ve got so many girls needing some extra TLC that only a madrina can provide!

Soooooo this post has pretty much been strictly business… I felt overwhelmed thinking of all that has happened and all that I have learned while it’s been happening and shied away from writing. That’ll teach me not to put off writing! Hopefully I will get a better post up soon.

Chauuuuu,

Lain