Day 12: A Photo Update

There are a lot of things I have to say, a lot of processing that I've been doing and need to do, a lot of things I have learned that I want to share, but right now I'm feeling a photo update.  This way, you can see what I see (more or less) on a daily basis, and I hope it can give you a glimpse into what my "normal" day is like. (I say "normal" because it's still a little surreal, also because 'normal' is completely subjective and everything is still kind of new and unknown).

 

Every day my sister (Ana) and I play
Draw Something together. This is my boss
drawing of Monopoly (Which she got
just by the drawing of the dude)

This red fruit is called Mamón, it's spikey, but
the spikes are soft; when you peel it, the
inside is very grape-like

This, along with being a partial view of my
host mom, is a dollar store inside the Walmart.
Just...think about that. (Also, yes, technically
it's a  600 colonoes store, but welcome to CR)

So, before the kids get to the Foundation in
the morning, I have some down time

Ok, a LOT of down time

Ok, so they got there pretty late this day
and I just want to show you the intricacy of
this next tower, level by level

Yeah...I used ALL the blocks that were in the
container.  I'm actually pretty proud of this

I feel it is completely necessary to share the
blisters I had on my feet the first few days here.
I am NOT used to standing on my feet all day.
I will say, however, that the blisters are now gone!

Now for some pictures of the room!  This is the Noah's
Ark mural on one wall (the little kids LOVE looking at
all the animals. The lion is a definite favorite)

This is the fruit wall.  Those fruits are taped to the wall, and
obviously, there are also the vowels there.  A volunteer
before me created these things; she was obviously very
creative!

This is the wall of colors (made by the same person as
the fruits and vowels)

"Let the little children come to me"

This is a picture of the sleeping Jared

Here's a full view of the whole wall mural

This is the view to the outside

Here's the view to outside from the doorway (so you can get
a better sense of what it actually looks like)

Here's me, in case you forgot what I look
like, also, look how great my hair looks!

This is what my wall now looks like--I was finally able
to put up some decorations!

This is a painting I made on Sunday.  The verse is Galations 5:1
 "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free."

This is Valeria; she's basically my
favorite right now.  So easy going, so
adorable--and bonus: she recognizes me!

This is Pamela, she's cute, but she's also
 mischievous and a trouble maker sometimes

This is María with Jared.  It should be noted
that Jared has recently had a buzz cut, so
his hair feels awesome to touch

María soon found this out and had a ball
following him around and petting
his head (can't say I didn't do the same...)

Jared!

This is Santiago working with one of the
volunteers.  He is SO shy; to get him to
come into the room was a huge accomplishment,
the fact he's doing something with someone
else is practically a miracle!

This is another part of the property; yeah,
that's a mini pond/pool, yeah, be jealous

This is the view sitting in the outdoor "waiting area"; there
are some chairs to sit on and this is where the women usually
eat lunch.  We're looking at the gate that is the entrance
to the Foundation--remember, this is in the middle of
downtown San José!

This is Jared, walking; this is a new
development for him and very exciting!

Laura and I went out for ice cream after
work today; for those of you who have
been to Costa Rica, you know what this is!

Wow, so that was a really long update, but hopefully you understand a little more what my daily life is like.  Obviously I can't be taking pictures all the time and document EVERYTHING (also, that would be way tedious to look through), but hopefully this satisfied some curiosities you may have had.  I'll be sure to get some more photos of the landscape here (I am surrounded by mountains and it is the best thing ever), and of some of the other kids I work with...and the other grown ups I work with, lol.

I hope you enjoyed this glimpse into my life--and if you have any specific requests for photos or information, let me know in the comments and I'll see what I can do.

Peace and Blessings,
Kiki