coming home early

hi, folks.

well, after a series of digestive "issues" and what seems to be a bladder infection, i have decided that while my spirit is happy, my body does not thrive in a "third-world" environment. therefore, i am coming home 2 months before i had planned. i have decided that this is a good thing, and to be happy about it. already, the trip has met and exceeded my expectations.

i feel incredibly blessed and enriched by the experience. and i feel energized and committed to keeping the people i have gotten to know in my heart and in my life, as well as continuing the kind of work i have been able to do here. this experience has reinforced what is important and what is not, and that is valuable knowledge, for sure.

today at the orphanage in sicaya, i got to hold a little baby for 2 and 1/2 hours, comforting her when she cried, and cuddling her while she slept. then, i got to hold another little baby for a half hour until he fell asleep in my lap. tough work, but somebody had/got to do it.

yesterday, at the aldea, i gave a baby her first haircut (while her teenage mother offered her a breast to distract her!), handed out knitting needles to all the girls, taught two girls how to knit (or at least got them started), taught two other girls how to use a laptop, and edit the autobiographies that they had written and i had transcribed for them, and taught an english lesson on "my future, my aspirations, my dreams."

this afternoon, kattya and gisela and i spent a delicious twilight hour in the Koky restaurant, chatting and laughing over tea and juice (me), a hamburger (kattya), and an Irish coffee (gisela). we had just said goodbye to erin, my (new) great friend from canada who finished her volunteer time at the aldea this morning, and her description of the going-away party the girls gave her warmed all of our hearts.

thanks for reading. more photos soon.

until next time,
kathy