Today was a fun day with the kids and very eventful, especially for a Saturday. Typically we use Saturdays to clean and just hang out with the kids and rest but since the group game during the week and are here for the weekend, we had a full day of activities.
The team had prepared to do a version of the Olympics with the kids so we did that this morning. Typically the kids here don't do well with organized activities, they prefer to do their own things, but today they cooperated well. The older boys played hockey outside on the basketball court, Dominicans versus Canadians. They had a lot of fun with this, even in the extreme heat! The younger kids and girls were in the comedor on our side doing several activities such as limbo, skip-bo, jump rope, coloring, and playing with Betty Spaghetti, these dolls that have spaghetti hair that you build and put together. All the kids had a great time and were well behaved. I walked around taking picture, did some Skip-Bo with the kids, and read The Little Red Hen to Joanni two times through.
After the games ended, the team gave each kid a goodie bag with things like t-shirts, hats, candy, sunglasses, footballs, cars, princess wands, hairbows, etc. They all loved receiving them. It was like Christmas for them. However, one cultural note. The kids here receive gifts like this and enjoy them and appreciate them but don't preserve toys like we do back home. For example, they got Nerf like footballs at 11:30 and by 4:30pm one of the kids had his torn into 3-4 pieces and was wearing part of it like a hat. It isn't that they don't like the gifts, they just use them for a while and then discard them or tear them apart to make something else out of them. This is common here and different from back home but not a sign of disrespect or anything.
After lunch we had free time with the kids. I still had my camera so I went and took a few more pictures of some of the kids with their new gadgets and toys. They looked cute in their new sunglasses!
We then headed into town with the group to head to the souvenir store, the clock tower, and the Cuban museum here in town. The Cuban museum is the location where a document was signed to free Cuba from Spain's rule. We also went to the English Institute and decorated with Christmas lights that the group brought down. The streets have a contest here in Monte Cristi and apparently at the corner of the English Institute they put up a big archway and decorate the entire street from the Institute down so it is a pretty big deal. I'm excited to see this before I leave, closer to Christmas.
I walked back to the orphanage with some of the group that wanted to walk and then hung out in the park with the little kids for a bit. Then I went and sat with Winston and William. They are brothers and are both very quite but sweet boys. I sat and talked with them for a little while until it was time for me to go shower!
After dinner, we planned with the group for the next two days. Tomorrow morning they are going to do a Spa with massages, manicures, pedicures, and facials. Monday evening we are going to do a big carnival, like a spring fling/state fair type of thing and the kids love this! So we planned who was going to do what, etc.
Later we went into town for ice cream, and drove by the English Institute to see the lights all lit up at night. They looked good!
We came back and the group continued to prepare for the Spa tomorrow. They are making flowers out of coffee filters, frogs out of those little ketchup holders that they have a Wendy's, and they were painting a sheet with various things for a backdrop for a photo shoot tomorrow when the kids are finished. I'm excited to see how it goes tomorrow morning!
We have several fun activities coming up with the kids which will be a lot of fun and hopefully I'll get some great pictures. I have several pictures from the last several days so enjoy!
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