Friday, March 12

Hola mis amigos y familia,

Our day began at 6:00am with coffee and corn muffins. Our breakfast was extra early so that we could head out for the home visit by 7 am. Raul took us to Senora Mendoza's home. It is the custom for mission trips to take a home visit tour. This gives us a chance to see what these children´s lives are like at home, for those few who have homes. On the way, we bought some groceries from a "hole in the wall" grocery store to give to our host. After a tenuous climb up a wooden ladder we were greeted by our host and invited into her one room "home". She lives there with one of her daughters, her younger daughter Tesla joining her on weekends from El Hogar. Senore Mendoza hopes with the help of her son Marvin to someday build a house. Marvin is in his first year at the Institute and by all accounts is a "jack of all trades".

By 7:30am we were back at El Hogar enjoyng our daily one-on-one time with the children who need some extra help in reading and mathematics. It was sad knowing that this was our last session with each of them. They have all been so wonderful and we have all decided that reading Spanish children's books is a great way to learn Spanish!

Then it was off to the bodega! Inside were neatly arranged shelves of clothing and bedding. It was great to be able to add the shoes and clothing that we had all brought with us.

By 9:00am we were on the road to Valle de Angeles. Once we left the city the countryside was quite beautiful with tree-clad mountains and wonderful vistas. With a major fundraiser planned to benefit El Hogar in June there was some serious shopping to do! You will have to attend the event if you want to view some of the beautiful locally made items we were able to purchase for the silent auction.

En route back to El Hogar we stopped for a delicious lunch with "fondue-like chimineas" filled with beans and cheese for appetizers. I so wished we had seen those while shopping! But the best was still to come. The restaurant had a pool and well, what can I say, a few of us couldn't resist. Let's just say we had to dedicate one row on the van home to three very wet passengers!

The rest of the afternoon and evening was spent taking photos of all our projects and helping the children write letters to their sponsors. They are each extremely grateful to their sponsors and love receiving letters. Claudia patiently and lovingly worked with each child to translate their letters.

The final hoorah was an ice cream party for all the children who had not gone home for the weekend. Over 70 children sat patiently and politely as we scooped ice-cream, happily singing a "Gracias" song. Time was running out for us to play with these incredible children. There were laughs and hugs and then it was off to bed.

Buenos noches,
Anne (Kara and Jenny had editing privileges)