Day 2--first day at the orphanage

Day 2:

     The internet here is so slow that I can start to open my email, eat my entire breakfast and get dressed for the day, and still have to wait for the page to load. This isn’t a complaint because I’m grateful for internet in the first place, it’s just a commentary and I find the fact sometimes amusing. 

    So, today was my first day at the orphanage. It was crazy--the photos you see are from the orphanage. The children are absolutely the sweetest even though they live in absolute poverty. Which begs the question, why are so many people unhappy in America since we practically invented consumerism? But don't get me wrong. I'm not saying the cliche "they have nothing but are happy" because sometimes they aren't. It's just that they know what to value and they do. Another thing that kinda surprised me was how eager they were to give me hugs/kisses. They didn't know me but they wanted to - - how often can we say the same thing in America? By the end of the visit, the kids knew my name and they didn't want to be put down. Well, they knew my name but one of the little boys insisted upon calling me "blanc" which means white. It was interesting to be called that simply because I've never thought about me being 'white' and how that's 'special'. 

     The photos you see are: the view of the mountains behind the 'house, and me with four of the kids (dodos, jessica, moncho, and the other girls name I forget...), their "kitchen", and two boys carrying water for their "running water".

     I go back again tomorrow and I can't wait. Because Creol is amazingly similar to French, I was actually able to just barely communicate with the kids and I'm starting to pick up some Creol, too.


 xx Leah