At Work
Right now I'm working with the little ones in the daycare. Oh my goodness. The cuteness level is over 9000. They are so adorable! Crazy full of energy that never ceases, but adorable nonetheless. There are about 4 regulars (as far as I can tell from the four days I've worked there...) Daniela (about 2) and her sister Pamela (I think the youngest we have, probably about 8 months old), and Ismael (about 2.5-3) and his sister Valeria (probably almost 1). Oh, also Jared who is about 9 months old (he was there half the time whereas the others have been every day). There are other kids who have come on various days, but these are the regulars. I'll post pictures as soon as I have a minute at work to remember to take pictures...so...it might be a while.
It can be tricky trying to care for toddlers as well as the under-one year olds because their attention span and interests are so different, but I think Gabi and I are doing pretty well. Gabi is a seasoned pro by now; she's been running the daycare for about two years now and doesn't have consistent all day help. From what I can tell, she's only had volunteers help her a couple hours a day a few days a week for maybe a couple months total. She's never had someone help her full time, five days a week, who is going to stay for a year. It definitely changes the dynamic.
For example, she has been teaching me how to do daily tasks. Like on Tuesday I asked her to show me how to use the mop. Now before you say "Seriously? You needed help with the mop?" you should know that she did everything by hand. So I was taught to take the mop head off the pole, wring it out by hand and rinse it out to get all the dirt out; if necessary using a scrubbing brush to help get all the dirt out. Then, rinse it again, wring it out a bit, then pour some powdered cleaner on both sides of the mop, rinse it again, wring it out a bit so it's not soaking wet, reattach the mop head and then go. It's an extensive process, and I'm glad I can help her out with some of the harder jobs.
Also, today I was in charge of going to the kitchen to get the breakfast/snack and I learned how to cut up Papaya and a nifty way to chop bananas into small pieces easily. I also have been given bathroom/diaper changing duties (lol, duties). Not my favorite.
In any case, she's basically training me to be able to run the daycare if she's not there one day. Right now, that thought kind of terrifies me, but I'm sure in time I'll be ok with it...as long as there is SOMEONE to help me at least part of the time. I don't think I could do a whole day with 4+ kids by myself. It doesn't sound like she plans on not being there any time soon, but still, gotta prepare.
Side note: I think that kids, especially under-one year olds hold more snot than should be physically possible for a person that size. Seriously, how on earth are they so snotty?? And drooly too. I think on a daily basis they probably produce their body weight in waste (i.e. snot, drool, poop, etc.).
Also--this made me so excited--Gabi told me yesterday that her master plan for the daycare, that she has never been able to realize because of the lack of help, is to have a structured day with time for humanities (art, music, etc.), bible stories, activities for the kids so that they don't get bored; basically she wants a bible-school-pre-kindergarten-daycare. I think that would be totally awesome. A TON of work, but it would be so cool. Right now the kids just kind of play with toys all day and there is a minimal schedule. So, if you have resources for multi-age kids that are either learning focused or bible focused, send me an email, connect with me on facebook, leave a comment, send a smoke signal (I'm not great at interpreting them, but I will try my darndest!), let me know! They can be indoor or outdoor activities, there is a playground outside, there's not a ton of room to just run around, but we could make something work.
At Home
I'm settling in with Laura, and slowly but surely we're building a friendship. Today for breakfast we had Papaya and bananas (which, coincidentally you may notice the kids also had). It was my first time trying papaya...still not sure how I feel about it. To me, it kind of tasted like steamed carrots. It's a little bit sweeter...but just a little. I know all you papaya-lovers probably think I'm nuts, but that's what it tasted like to me, and that was more or less the texture of it.
It's a bit difficult being so dependent on Laura for transportation. I have no idea where the bus stops are, or where each bus will take me. I also haven't gone to whatever store I need to go to to get a SIM card for my phone so I can start using it, so I'm pretty useless right now as far as being independent transportation-wise. It can get frustrating tagging along with whatever Laura does in a day, especially when I find out I have no other choice ten minutes before we leave for her list of things to do. We spent four hours after work yesterday visiting with some of her friends. I didn't know that was the plan, and so I had been looking forward to updating my blog and searching for activities to do with kids of multiple ages, but by the time we got home I was so tired I just went straight to bed...at like 9:15.
I really appreciate that Laura is introducing me to people, she's really helping me with knowing people to talk to--at work, at church, at home--and that's great. What I would have like more was to first know how to get around, and THEN learn who people are, and then I have more or less the tools I need to actually go to those people I now know. I suppose it will work fine this way, but she is pretty busy and I don't know when we'll have time to just explore the neighborhood together. She did give me a map though, from where the bus would drop us off for work to the Rahab Foundation.
Side note: Because of all the congestion in the city, the government has issued a law to help keep the roads clear. Every car has one day a week and one Saturday a month where they cannot drive; they know what day they can't drive based on their license plate number. So Tuesdays, Laura can't drive to work, so we have to take the bus/walk
The nifty thing about San Jose is that all the Calles (streets) go north-south (and are all numbered), and all the Avenidas (avenues) go east-west, and are also numbered. So once I get the hang of that, I should be pretty ok with getting around...figuring out the buses, however, is another story. Bonus: Laura gave me our official address, written out. I know where I live now! Woo!
What God has been doing
In short: so much. In more depth: God has been moving so much while I've been here. It hasn't been in super crazy multiple-people-involved ways (yet), but it has been more personally and internally. First of all, the fact that every day has been way better than the last--seriously, I am talking exponential growth here--is something that can only come from God. I'm pretty sure 6 days in a new country--coming more or less by myself--is a crazy fast time to feel so comfortable. I'm not saying I'm 100% accustomed to being here (not at all!), but every day it's so much easier to be here.
On Sunday at church, the sermon hit home with me (I'm pretty sure I talked about that in a previous post). To recap, the sermon was about listening when God calls us to do something (like go to Costa Rica for a year) and then when we do follow his call, blessings come from that. The pastor also reminded us that God never, NEVER leaves us. It was seriously just the sermon I needed right then.
Monday (what I'll call my first official day of work) was pretty rough and Monday night I prayed that God would send me just one American at Rahab. Just one person I could talk in English to. I was prepared to wait weeks, even a month for that to come prayer to be answered. Tuesday, three Americans showed up to be volunteers for at least the next few months. One of the girls, Carlene, is working in the daycare with me. She's only there 9-1 Mon-Wed (and on Thursdays she works in a different department), but talk about answered prayers!
Wednesday Gabi asked me to help her with her vision for the daycare, not to mention that every day we have been getting to know each other better and she's really becoming a great co-worker to have. Bonus: I've been needing to ask her less and less to repeat herself. Sure I still misunderstand her a little here and there, but she's gracious and patient and helps me understand.
Today, Laura was able to drop me off after work before she headed to her dentist appointment and then to church afterwards for another church-event. That sounds kind of bad, but after last night, I really needed time to myself to recharge (and write this crazy long entry!). I was seriously so happy to walk inside and realize that my silent plea to have time alone to recharge was granted.
Not only have all these big things happened every day, but so many tiny ones as well. I have felt closer to God in the past 6 days than I probably ever have. I know He is so near to me all the time, and that is seriously the best feeling in the world. I am absolutely positive that I would not have had nearly as a good experiences as I am now if God had not been a part of it. Again, I also want to include the fact that all the prayer support is totally, totally helping. Thank you so, so, SO much for all the prayers. The shot-guns prayers when you think of me, the dedicated every day prayers, the fast-for-a-day-once-a-week prayers, and everything in between. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
If you're looking for more ways to pray for me:
- That Laura and I will have some good quality time together and our friendship will grow
- That I will find someone to help me get my phone set up (be that Laura or someone else)
- That I will continue to acostumbrarme (get myself accustomed to the area/culture)
- That the financial support will continue to come in (because although I'm here, I'm not fully funded yet)
- That God will bless the efforts of Gabi and me to fulfill her vision
- That God will continue to move
Well, if you've made it this far, congratulations! I know this was a long post, but imagine if I had done Monday's and today's together! Cray. Anyways, leave me some sort of response (comment, facebook, email)! This can be anything from a response to what I wrote, to telling me what you want to hear more of (or less of), to telling me what's going on in your life. I want to hear what's going on on your end too!
Thanks again for reading.
Peace and Blessings,
Kiki
Good stuff, Kiki. God is so good to answer your prayers and deepest needs so quickly. More and more blessings to you!
ReplyDeleteHola sabrina,
ReplyDeleteI am happy for you and your exponential increase in life quality each day. I imagine it all will just keep getting better and better. I so sometimes forget how it was when I went to China for my first 6 week stint, but I do remember the feeling of being quite alone at times, especially out in public with no translator. That can be very daunting, but I do have a couple tips to share. Keep a notebook with various places and actions that you need to accomplish with their translations. Use Laura when you can or work them out when you have the free time to do the translations in your own time. This is a lot less stressful than trying to remember how to say things on the spot. Use these with bus drivers, or even taxis for further destinations, and most will be very helpful.
I learned the basics pretty quickly, but less easy were things like "I need to know where to get bagels", "I need to know where to go to take care of my SIM card for my phone", or " I need to find a map of all possible bus routes and their stops." :*)
Anyway, since I was a complete noob at Chinese (. . . and you are way, way ahead of me in that department), I even used it at restaurants to order what I wanted - you had to learn how to say "no dog", on your first day there, but others things had to be written down until I knew how to say them. :*)
It gets much easier pretty quickly, and I can tell you every single person I met, even folks who were not all that fond of Americans, were very helpful. They were gratified that I was at least trying to communicate in their language.
On the religious front. It is great that your prayers are being answered. As you mentioned, that can't help but bring you closer to God, but don't ever forget to add an addendum to each prayer - remember to pray for God's will to be done, not just in your life, but everywhere. I can't tell you how rewarding that becomes when prayers are answered, and you have the feeling that they were answered as part of God's plan for you.
Take care, remain safe,
. . . and keep on truckin' (a saying from back when the Earth was still cooling).
Love,
Uncle Paul