Hey there!
Our first week at Cicrin is already over, and as much as it feels like it has flown by it also feels like we have been here for so long! Our ministry work has been amazing and the island is so beautiful. Our different work consists of helping at the local school, cleaning around the compound, painting rooms, helping in the kitchen, and going to the nearby farm to chop wood and cut plantains with machetes. I honestly was terrified of going to the farm because of the machetes, but since this blog was typed (by me) you can obviously tell I didn’t lose any fingers LOL. The school has probably been my favorite ministry work so far. We have swept and cleaned, served lunch, done dishes, and made poster boards for classrooms, and the kids are SO STINKIN CUTE!! IF I’m being honest, I feel like I’m really not good with kids, and knowing that part of our ministry would be working with kids, I felt a bit useless thinking the kids would want nothing to do with me. The first day we spent with the kids was so amazing and I love them so much. They are so sweet and playful and half the time I can’t even understand what they are saying which is really funny. Its really fun to practice Spanish with the older kids as well.
Mosquitos and pests are really insane here. I have bug bites all over, no exaggeration. They are covering my legs and arms and it has made working very difficult because every move I make, they itch REALLY bad. I’ve been powering through it because I have realized that when I get really into the work I’m doing I don’t really notice it. We’ve had a few new friends visit our bedrooms while being here!! Spiders…big ones at that. Also, iguanas!! Lots of baby lizards as well. It’s really interesting seeing so many animals in our rooms, but spiders I can always say are never fun to see. They have crawled out from under my clothes when I pick them up and even out of my sleeves while putting them on, they have crawled around in the shower or by the toilets, and sometimes even in our beds!! I am definitely learning to not scream bloody murder every time I see one…that’s called progress!
Our host, Helen, is amazing. She is so sweet and caring and she speaks both Spanish and English which is helpful. She always tells us what things are safe and unsafe such as cafes in town and tourist locations that we may visit on adventure days etc. There are a lot of kids that stay at the orphanage with us and we always get to spend time playing soccer, basketball, or frisbee with them. We also lay in the hammocks with the kids and sing worship songs with them. They think its really fun to braid our hair too!
Overall, the first week has been amazing! It has been challenging at times, but so worth it. The people we have met are so kind and this place just in general is so beautiful. It’s so different from home but so exciting to see new ways of life.
Thanks for staying updated! I will be posting a tour of our compound and living situation here in a few days (As soon as I get wifi). Im so excited to get to share so much with you all and I always appreciate your support.
Con mucho amor, Raquel <3 (my new name here because Rachel is too hard for everyone to pronounce LOL)
