Thankful

So many things to be thankful during this holiday season! I've had a pleasant last few weeks here at Familia Feliz, although they have been very busy! This last week, we did a lot of harvesting in the garden and in the forest. The kids got to pull up their carrots that they planted from seed. That was exciting except that many of them had rotted because of being under water in the floods for too long. However, enough survived for each house to get some to try, and I got to teach the kids that even when the carrot is rotted, you can eat the carrot greens! I enjoyed teaching the girls how to tell when the melon is ready to harvest, and explaining to them why end rot happens in vegetables and how to prevent it and fix it. The kids also harvested cherry tomatoes, melon, a zucchini, and more cucumbers. Maria Nelly was excited to try the melon because she had never tried it before and she got to harvest it! I was watching the Lillas house that afternoon, so we enjoyed eating the melons after lunch, and it was fun to watch Maria Nelly’s excited face as she got to cut it. Hope was standing there, and in shocked amazement said, “it looks so normal!” Apparently she was impressed that it looked like a normal melon since we grew it in the garden haha.

Below: Lots of produce!! The bottom middle picture is our produce haul of carrots, zucchini, melons, cherry tomatoes, and cucumbers!

Below: Our “normal” looking melons!

On Wednesday for Agriculture class, I decided to do a review game with the kids that summarized all that we have learned so far. I was so impressed with how they did. I was not expecting them to remember many specific details, but nearly every single question was answered very thoroughly. Even down to questions about cover crops, best soil health practices,  crop rotation, and the core nutrients that plants need in soil. I am so happy that they have learned so much this semester — it really is only by the grace of God. He has helped me so much in lesson planning and giving me ideas of what to do. I also pray for God to help the kids to enjoy it and for classes to go well, and He really blesses every time.   

Below: Our most recent addition to the garden of a bean trellis. Hope and I chopped the sugar cane poles ourselves with machetes!

I worked in the afternoon with the boys making new beds for the new cassava cuttings to be planted in. It is difficult at times to keep those boys focused, and at times, I am exasperated by the end of our working session. This time, they were eating mangoes instead of working. Hungry, growing boys have their priorities set on food more than work sometimes! They complained and complained as we worked, and I had been planning to weed in another location while they worked, but decided that it was important for me to stay and set the example. So I did. Once each boy finished his assigned task, he was allowed to leave. There was one boy, Harold, who had been one of the ones complaining about having to work, and once he was finally finished, I told him he could leave. However, he looked at me and said “no, teacher. Can I help you?” And he started working on the walkway I was slowly making progress on. Then Luis, another one of the boys who had been complaining saw Harold helping me and came over to help me too. I thought it was awfully sweet of them to help me even after they had already finished their assigned jobs, and I was reminded of how important it is to lead by example.

Thursday was Thanksgiving and also my day off! We headed into town for a good day of relaxing, eating yummy food, and catching up with loved ones on the phone. However, we headed back a lot earlier than usual because we were having a campus-wide Thanksgiving dinner! I did not know quite what to expect, because I was guessing I would feel homesick, it being my first Thanksgiving dinner away from my family. When we arrived, there were three long tables set up for people to sit at and two more tables for food. I had brought a fall leaf garland to decorate the table and when I walked up with it, so many kids ran up to me wondering what it was and wanting to put it on like a scarf or sash of some sort. They were quite confused about it all, and I realized that they never have autumn leaves here, so of course they won’t know what a golden orange, red, and brown maple leaf looks like! There was a LOT of food, thanks to many of the SM parents who were visiting and thanks to the house parents. Each house had been assigned a dish to make as well, such as one house making mashed potatoes for everyone else. Promptly 2+ hours later than planned (we’re on Bolivian time), we commenced our Thanksgiving celebration. I enjoyed taking lots of pictures with the kids on my polaroid camera and they loved watching the pictures slowly appear on the photo sheet.

Below: The kids enjoyed my wearing my leaf garland.

We finally gathered and all held hands and sang a song telling God “thank you for the food” in Spanish that the girls sing before each meal. Then we prayed and the kids lined up. All of the Sm’s proceeded to serve over 100 Thanksgiving plates with rolls, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, chili, cabbage salad, fried rice, stuffing, green beans, veggie meat, and more. Aside from a few cicadas flying and getting stuck in the food, everything went smoothly. The kids were interested in all of the American food, and we were all beyond thrilled to be eating something that reminded us of home. There was only space at the table for the kids, so the SM’s sat in a circle cross legged enjoying our food. After it was finished, I went over to Baby Jose and hung out with him for a while. He needed a diaper change badly, so Emilie and I headed to the Lillas for a diaper changing session with him and Santi. Then we headed back to finish up our Thanksgiving with cake and pie. As I looked around that evening, my heart was so full. There was so much laughter, so many smiles, so much love. It was one of the best Thanksgivings I’ve ever had, because I was surrounded by so many people who I love so very much and who also love me so much. I wish my family and loved ones could have been there too, but I did not feel lonely like I had expected. My heart was just so full with the love from the kids and my fellow SM’s. What a blessing that is! It is amazing that we can find people to love no matter where we are, and having people to love really is one of the best gifts in the world. There’s a whole load of kids at Familia Feliz who I get to love, and I am so so so thankful for each one of them and for my SM experience that I get to have here.

Below: The SM’s and parents serving the Thanksgiving meal and the long Thanksgiving kids table.

Friday, I got a fever and got sick. I guess it was all of that pumpkin pie! So I laid in bed until Monday when I was finally well enough to be up and around. I worked in the garden in the morning and finally had to water again after a blessed week of no rain. But the mosquitoes are so bad in the garden that it was miserable to be out there. I found a corner where there were no mosquitoes, though, and proceeded to weed there for a while. Then I found out that the Flores house was going to the pool in town, so I decided to go with them!

We all piled in the dump truck and rode into town with lots of very excited girls. It was a perfect day for swimming. We arrived, and I then learned that it was impossible to be in the pool without 1-4 girls hanging on me all at once. We loved practicing swimming with them and teaching them how to do handstands in the pool. I loved getting that special time with the girls and watching their big happy smiles as they played. Then we got some treats and ice cream. I was sitting in the sunshine warming up and drying off when one of the girls came over and sat beside me. She brought me some flowers she had picked and gave them to me. Then when they got ice cream, she brought me one and even brought me soda when they got it. She was so sweet and happily chattered as we sat there. Then the girls watched a cartoon movie for a while. Finally, they wanted to go back in the pool, so I volunteered to watch them. I wasn’t planning to get in again, but they all begged me so much that I relented and hopped in. I only slightly regretted it after being used as a jungle gym in the water for the next 30 minutes. But they had so much fun and I love them all so much that it was really worth it in the end to be able to have such fun with them. Then, we got pizza and headed home in the back of the truck with very sleepy girls. Pinkie fell asleep on me on the way back. It was a very special trip and such a blessing to spend that precious time with those girls.

Below: In the dump truck the girls loved singing songs on the way to the pool!

Below: lots of pool trip pictures!

On Tuesday, I went out to the garden after a heavy rain, and I realized that the mosquitoes had multiplied overnight. I had thought they were bad the day before, but nothing compared to what they were now! The only parts of me showing were my hands, feet, and face, and it was all I could do to keep them off of my face. I probably got over 30 bug bites that morning just in the garden. At every moment I could hear and see probably 20+ flying around me. It is insane right now. Please pray for the mosquitoes to leave, because it is challenging to get anything done out there while getting eaten alive. I harvested our first zucchini from another variety of planted that we planted a month or so ago. And I harvested lots of spinach and a couple more melons and distributed them. The Leones enjoyed the spinach and zucchini for lunch in their soup! Then, I headed to the Lillas house to harvest papayas from their tree. One of the girls shimmied up the tree while I gave her a boost and a foot hold to stand on (aka my hand), and she would grab them precariously and precariously hand them down to me how was standing on a stool with one arm out to catch her and one arm to catch the papaya. We got four yummy papayas, though, and the houses were happy to have them!

Below: Me with a papaya and a beautiful papaya tree.

Tomorrow is the last of the semester for these kids until next semester which means that a lot of them will be going home over break. Many of them are going home to very difficult situations, but there is nothing we can legally do to prevent that since their parents have full custody over them. So, all we can do is pray for each of them whether they’re going home to a loving home or a less-than-loving home. This also means that there are a few kids we are saying goodbye to forever, as they are not coming back to school next semester, so that will be hard. This week is crazy busy full of last minute stuff and goodbyes, and is also a little bit hard on our hearts since we love these kids so much. So some extra prayers for this week would be appreciated. Thank you all for your love and supports, and I hope you each have been having a wonderful holiday season! This season, I’m thankful for so many things, but especially these sweet kiddos.

Below: Some pretty winged beans coming on!