Beach Day!!

So I'm really sad I didn't take my camera because we went to the beach called "costa del sol" yesterday with some of the kids here at the orphanage and it was awesome! El Salvador is such an unknown treasure because of the civil war that ended about 10 years ago a tourism industry hasn't really begun and because of it we had a nice beautiful beach to ourselves. The kids came alive! Man you see them around the orphanage and they are just sitting there and quiet but once we got them to the beach they turned into fish. They would be splashing and jumping around (if possible) in the water without fear. We were all assigned an individual person and I was assigned Chusita who is physically completely able but just has a mental delay. I'll tell you what she had so much more energy than me. She refused to sit on the beach at all, even to dig a huge hole, but wanted to be standing in the water splashing herself. We stayed at that depth for like 2 1/2 hours and believe me by the end I was pretty tired because of having to hold her steady when the huge waves came. I kept looking out at the huge waves and wished that I knew how to surf or at least had a boogie board with me. A 16 year old boy with down syndrome was hilarious because he kept tackling Mark in the water and wrestling with him. He'd pin mark under the water and then would stand up and flex his arms for everybody to see! Then they'd go and dive (mark) and bellyflop (memo) in the waves. It was such a fun day but.......WE ARE SO SUNBURNED!! I swear the sun is so much brighter here. We put on dinky 15 spf (I know that was stupid) and as I'm typing this my hands are killing me because they're burnt on the top. There is an aloe plant outside our casita and we cut off some but it stunk so bad that putting it on might have helped the burn but it also would have made me puke! Mark rub an ice cube on his back and I put wet cloths on my hands and shoulders. It was worth it though :)

Some more cute pics

This is Carmencita, a young girl who has down syndrome, and she is hilarious! She'll always run up to us to give us a hug but then is off in her own world of imagination. Her and another down syndrome boy named memo are the DJ's because they love being in charge of the music and cd's and will sit there for hours!
The kids here love to play UNO. And they'll actually beat us at it and not because we're going easy on them! The ones that maybe don't understand as much will show you a card to see if it's okay to play it and you can shake your head yes or no. In this picture are Edwin, Mark, Lupita.
This is little stevencito he's 5 years old and he wanted his picture taken. I really have like 20 pictures of him because he was doing different crazy faces and poses.

such a hispanic thing!

Today I was sitting in Relief Society in our little ward and there were probably 7 hermanas (sisters) there and the bishop was teaching the lesson. Next thing I know I look up and 3 of them were breast feeding!! I mean right in front of the bishop and believe me they weren't trying to hide it at all! One of them even took her shirt half-way and went as far as taking her arm out of one of the sleeves. Can you imagine if someone did that during relief society in your ward! Haha At least I got to know the ward today :).....just a little more intimatly than I would like.

Left to right: Edwin, Giovanni, Lupita, and Walter

I could go on and on about each of the kids but I decided to pick one or two each time and talk about them. Today I wanted to talk about Giovanni and Edwin. They are brothers that both have cerebral palsy of varying levels. Neither can really speak so they've developed some pretty good facial expressions and signs. The last two volunteers started them on communication books that have different themes on each page and they can turn to the pages and point to things to communicate. While their bodies don't function quite like they'd hope their minds are definately going. They love to play card games and dominos (the picture above was taken right after Giovanni beat me twice in a row!) The orphanage houses kids that range from no disabilities to having only physical or mental to having both. When I first saw Giovanni I felt sorry for him because he had to be here and when you look at him he would be considered as an attractive person and if he didn't have this disease he could have married a beautiful wife, gone to college, driven a car, listened to an ipod, typed on a laptop etc... But does having those things really guarantee happiness??? I don't think so because I know plenty of people who aren't happy yet they have those things and more. Yet my saddness for them has definately been withdrawn because the more time I spend around them I see that they truly are happy. Every time I see them they have a huge smile on their face and are with their friends. Giovanni is always picking flowers and giving them to the other female residents and their faces light up and glow when he does it. The things that make him happiest are just playing and might I add winning games. When I see him each day the words joy, contentment, and happiness come to mind. He doesn't wallow about the cards that he's been dealt in life but instead has learned to use them as tools to love others. How many times do I think "when I do this" or "when I have that" then I'll be content and life will really get good. He's taught me that happiness is found in making the most of each moment and time...I hope it rubs off on me. I know that one day after this life I will see them in the celestial kingdom running and playing soccer or volleyball with big strong bodies and their trial here will seem as if a blink of the eye!

tour of our place

This is our shower. Brenton is this the kind that shocks you?

The funniest part of the place is that there are catholic pictures of Jesus and Mary all over the rooms. I'm really needing to ask and see if the other volunteers took them down because they kinda creep me out!

We're here-written by mark

We made it last night, and while we were on the plane we think we were talking ourselves out of how "third-world" El Salvador really would be but it is has met our expectations and passed a few. They don't really have driving laws that are enforced her (no speed limit, no blinkers, so following the lines) you just go with the flow. Also it has surprised me how all the homes have very tall walls around them with razor wire on the top of them. They have bars on everything... way more than New Orleans.

However, we have had some great tender mercies! A man by the name of Jay Porter picked us up from the airport last night in a Honda Pilot with Michael Buble playing on a CD so we didn't feel very far from home. We stayed at his house last night an got to know his wife who is from Sandy, UT the whole idea of working in the foreign services is actually pretty interesting. We were pretty spoiled staying at their house because the government definately takes care of their diplomats~ This morning we slept-in a little then ate breakfast with their weird carton milk down here (not as bad as we expected). Erin (jay's wife) took us grocery shopping and then dropped us off at the Hogar (the orphanage where we are staying). Funny thing... they didn't know we were coming... at least those that are here, they are having a field trip to the beach today so the lady that is usually in charge of us is gone. So we were stranded sitting in the reception area for a couple hours with all our stuff but It doesn't matter though because we are now in our little casita just relaxing in the humid heat (Cliff would die). It is soo hot that we wish this was a nude country-but then again nude would make for some painful bug bites!!

The only disappointment we have had is we found out we can't watch Lost because Netflix and ABC.com detect that we are not in the USA... Brenton talk to someone and figure out a way to rummy-jig our computers so we can watch it!!! We met a few of the kids briefly and there are some that just melt your heart. Life is good and we feel the Lord's protection. We are happy and thankful to be here... it will be a heck of an adventure.

Prelims

So it was crazy hectic getting everything ready to go up to the cabin. We ended up going to my grandparents cabin with my family and pretty much gamed it up the whole time! I love playing board games. I think going there made the transition to 3rd world a little tougher because it makes for a stark contrast when you go from the most comfortable, elegant, clean, relaxing environment to dirty, messy, bugs, sweat all your water supply out in 10 min. Another gliche that we ran into before coming here was that I was diagnosed with a seizure disorder just before coming. The doctors were nervous about me coming because they have to work out the medicine question but I think it'll be fine. We got to leave our beloved U.S country in style though by eating at the PizzaPieCafe and then playing lazertag!!!