Tuesday

Today was a different sort of day, very cold and very windy. I woke up around 6am to the sound of rain on the metal roof, (it may have just been sprinkling) but it sounded fierce. I worked on a couple blogs and then went over to help with the children. Went with Karen to take the older ones to elementary school and then came back and walked the kinder garden kids to school. Joyce and I then watched the four little ones while Dorian worked on notes for a Bible study and Karen was meeting with a new volunteer who arrived yesterday for a two month stay. Four children three and under I can handle .....barely. Antonio is quite spoiled and what he wants, he expects. Well he decided to empty out Katy's "kitchen utensils" that she was playing with, not once but twice. I told him to pick them up the second time and he very smugly told me "NO!" well I know the magic words and all I had to do was mention "el corral" and he began picking up Katy's stuff. El corral is the playpen and Antonio does not like to be placed in it. Joyce and I decided to cook tonight and give them an American meal. Menu was cornflake crumb chicken, fried potatoes, corn fresh rolls and no bake cookies. Dilcia and her sister were here cooking, cleaning and laundry. It is still raining and very very cold. Did I say it is cold? And there is no heat, nada, nothing. They had a pan of beans cooking on stove and I found myself holding my hands over it to stay warm. Around 1p the electric went off and the fun began. Well I thought I had it made because stoves are gas or propane, right? well the only oven on the premises is in the girls' apartment. Still figuring it is fine, but then Karen said that the oven won't work without electric because it's controls are electric digital. It was too cold outside for the children and no lights inside. Joyce made bread and I peeled what seemed like 60 lbs of potatoes. Then I cut up chicken and Joyce made no bakes. Still no electric. The door was open to let in light but in with the light came the wind and did I mention that it is cold here? It got darker and darker and the children blended into dark shapes blending into the furniture. For those who had a bone to pick, now was the time to smack and run and no one could see who did what to whom. Mario had homework and did not sleep during nap or do homework. Well, I got the bright idea to bring him into the kitchen where he could sit at the bar and work on his homework and this would keep someone else from having to watch him. He simply doesn't do something if he doesn't want to. Through coaxing, pleading, threatening and begging, he completed two letters; Vv that was all and he only had five pages left. Somewhere along the way I was keeping a sharp eye on him but failed to notice what he was doing with his feet. Under the counter there are bins of produce and while Mario sat there for 1-2 hours he dug his toes into ripe avocados, yep you heard right, two letters and three avocados later the electric was not on yet. By then we were reduced to flashlights and rounding up Cindi and Yovani and the ones that were most likely to attack. At this point I took a candle and went in search of a missing nino. Didn't find them but when came back into dining room I found the children's eating table with my shin. Eventually (around 6:30 the electric came back on and we began supper. Finally after supper I asked permission to come to apartment and blog. (This activity is hard on an old woman) Karen said she was not the boss so I promptly asked Dorian he gave me the ok to split. So I took a shower, did I say it was cold here? and wrapped up to blog. My day is over and I am wondering if I helped or caused more work for them all. I am tired but I am thankful that there is this place called Casa de Esperanza and it it making a difference one child at a time..........