Chifles, Plants and Bats

Hi all!

This is going to be a quick post because I am dead tired today. Christian and I ended the day with some awesome Bodyboarding in the ocean before dinner. The swells today were upwards of 3 meters. We got pounded good a couple of times but caught some really sweet waves!

But I am getting ahead of myself. I wanted to share briefly an awesome experience we had last night. After dinner we headed into the small town of San Lorenzo in search of these little baskets that the people out here weave. We entered the square in the middle of town and saw a bunch of people sitting on the corner. We said hello and asked about the basket and two little old ladies jumped up and began to lead us towards a house. One of the ladies put her arm around my waist and chatted away. I didn't understand a word and couldn't pry myself away so I just went with the flow. Once in the house they had us sit around a little table and then all of a sudden tons of kids and other adults started showing up. By the end there must have been about 20 kids and 6 adults standing around watching us take a look through their baskets. It was a pretty neat experience. After that we headed to a little bamboo hut that sells pop and these awesome Chifles (Plantain chips). We had in tow the 20 kids that we had met at the house so decided to buy them all suckers, some pop and some Chifles. It was mad chaos handing everything out but it was such a fun thing to do. We sat around for about an hour chatting with the kids and a few old timers that were hanging out there. It was definitely one of the highlights of this trip. A chance to connect with some of the people of this community!

Today we helped the kids plant a bunch of the trees that they had purchased. It was some good times! In the process of cutting away the grass to plant the trees one of the kids found a baby tarantula. It was a neat little furry red thing. We then convinced Christian to hold it in his hand. He did so reluctantly but it was the first step in overcoming his fear of spiders. I got some awesome pictures of it! Unfortunately Amanda went running away screaming (to the boys extreme amusement)...I think she is going to take a bit more work.

A bit of a post thought. When we first arrived at the orphanage this morning several of the kids were sitting in the corner of the house playing Dutch Blitz! It was such a funny thing to see! They were having so much trying to beat each other. The end of the game came when the entire 'mob' started yelling and screaming at each other about cheating! It was awesome. We're going to leave the card game with them to play!

After the tree we played around with the kids for a bit and then headed out on the jungle hike. It was super hot so we took our time but it was really interesting. Alexis is a certified nature guide so he showed us some really interesting things about the jungle. It was another awesome day with the kids, holding their hands and chatting about things as we hiked through the jungle. Near the end of the hike came the moment we had all been waiting for...the bat caves! I ran across the road with a few of the kids and made my way down a really steep gravel covered hill. It was a little nerve racking trying not to lose control while sliding down the side of a 40 foot 'cliff'. Once I was in position with the video camera the chaos began and all the kids (with my family in tow) began running through the tunnels. The noise of the bats was intense and was quickly followed by the screams of my family members and the kids. I got some awesome video's of the whole thing. Our walk ended in San Lorenzo where we hung out with the kids a bit more and then headed back to La Cueva to play in the waves!

Only one more full day here with the kids and we are really starting to think about our departure. I had a talk with Paul (our ER leader) and he said that Juanita and Peter have been so thankful that we have been able to be here spending a lot of quality time with the kids. It has been such a priviledge to be here and have the opportunity to develop relationships with these precious children. Each of us have made very real connections with a lot of the kids. Connections that we all know will last forever. So, though we are sad to be leaving soon we all know that we are not saying goodbye for ever but rather more along the lines of see you later.

Thanks again for all of the support and the comments you all have made. We appreciate you being on this journey with us and investing your time and money into bringing love and joy into the lives of the kids here and into our own lives through them.

Now I am off to bed because the planting, hike and waves have punished me.

God Bless,

J (for the rest of the team)