¿Sabes?

I would have written again sooner but my internet connection has been shady lately. I've been at the albergue for a little less than a week now and I have so much to say that I don't know where to begin. I'll do my best to make this post concise...but we'll see. 3 fun facts first! (Well, interesting at least.)

1. I ate cow stomach on Wednesday. I didn't know it was cow stomach. I made a point not to ask what the fuzzy looking meat in my lunch was so that I would try it. It wasn't too bad. It had a rubbery texture but I ate most of it. It was cut up and cooked with peas and carrots so it really wasn't bad. I don't think I'll ever eat it again though.

2. We don't have napkins at the albergue. Napkins are too expensive in Peru so we just don't use them. This has been one of the biggest adjustments for me because I'm a messy eater.

3. Peanut butter is expensive in Peru. Thankfully a service group that was here last week left a huge bag of peanut butter for us so we won't run out any time soon. I don't eat peanut butter much but I guess I need to start if I don't want it to go to waste ;)

Overall, I feel very comfortable here. The orphanage reminds me of most of my jobs I've had in the past. It feels like camp (but with less insects), YouthWorks! (but I get more sleep and free time), THINK Together (but none of the kids speak English), and the group home (minus anyone assaulting staff). It's like all those past jobs wrapped into one plus Spanish and a different culture mixed in.

The Spanish language part of the albergue is the most challenging thing to adjust to so far. I imagine that if I were fluent, everything would be a little easier to do. Plus, I would get to know the kids and staff more quickly. But part of why I'm here is to learn Spanish, I've learned and recalled a lot already in the past five days!

I'm a casita assistant, so I help out the madres who run the four casitas here. I help regularly in two of the casitas - the Amigos boys' house and the Luces girls' house. The madres use the word "sabes" a lot with me. It means "you know." Usually it's a question, "¿Sabes lavar la ropa?" Most of the time, they say something that I don't understand so I'm constantly saying, "¿Que? No entiendo." That means, "What? I don't understand." They are so patient and will talk more slowly and use hand motions to help me out. I can't wait until I know enough Spanish to say, "Thank you for putting up with me."

I usually do laundry, clean, or play with the kids. Real moms know all about this I'm sure. It's fun to play with the kids and the cleaning/laundry is a great time to think in English. I say this because most of the time I'm trying to think in Spanish. It's like I don't have time to think in English because everyone else is speaking Spanish and I have to respond in Spanish too. I can't wait until I can have deep thoughts in Spanish.

I can't say too much about the kids here right now without crying...oh well, so what if I cry you can't see me. I'll do my best to keep it short. Four brothers, Julio, Miguel, Juan, and Jorge lived on the streets and begged for money before coming to the albergue. They steal food from the kitchen because they don't understand yet that they will be fed every day here. Julio, the oldest, ran away earlier this week. I have nothing else to say about it now because I'm still processing it all.

I haven't heard all the the kids stories but in general I've been told that 50% of the children here have been sexually abused and most of them have been abused physically in other ways. I knew that the stats were something like that coming into this. However, seeing the kids every day who are attached to the statistics is heartbreaking. Please pray for the niños here. They need prayer far more than I could ever imagine needing prayer. I thank God that He chose me to help take care of them.

P.S. Pictures coming soon, I swear!