10/10/10
This month, we are living in dorms on La Finca with our
ministry contact, Tony. Santos’ family (Santos, his wife, Selvin, Giovanni,
Areli, Lacy, and Anabel) lives at the bottom of the hill-Santos and Selvin, do
a lot of work on the farm and Tony pays them minimum wage, which is about
$1.40/hr. We had a fiesta on Friday night and Tony had invited people from Los
Pinos and El Horno, the two communities we’ll be working with this month.
Santos and his family played some awesome music while everyone sat around listening
and a few got up to dance. I called over Anabel and danced with her. We spent
the rest of the evening together-writing and drawing in my notebook, roasting
besitos (marshmallows), dancing, and spending time together.
The next morning, Anabel and her sister, Lacy, came over
looking for me when I was in the shower. Once I got out, I ended up spending
the majority of the day with them. We walked around for a bit holding hands and
talking before I decided to paint their nails-they loved it!! I let them each
pick out a color. Anabel chose red (her favorite) and Lacy chose pink. Later,
we decided to play esconditas (hide-and-go-seek) and then we hammocked together
while I taught them a few English words-they were so eager to learn. We laughed
and had a great time!! I just looove spending time with them J
[Anabel, Lacy, and Areli]
Today, I woke up and decided to go for a short run down the
hill. I ran to the gate and back and was planning on doing that 3 times but on
my way back down the 2nd time, Anabel was standing outside her house
so of course I stopped to play with her. We sat down on the ground and played
with their two kittens, Pancheko and Angelica. Then, Anabel brought out her
teddy bear and we played catch with her sisters. They are so joyful and full of
laughter. These girls have nothing, but they have the joy of the Lord and that
is enough!! They invited me in to watch cartoons in Spanish. It was awesome. I
love that they are so comfortable with me and allow me to come in and be a part
of their family. Anabel gave me an orange and we just sat and spent time
together. I absolutely love them and already can’t imagine leaving at the end
of this month. This family has stolen my heart J
[Anabel]
