Settling in

This has been a whirlwind five days of settling in! Here are a few of the things that have happened:

• Tuesday we arrived, received a tour of the compound, unpacked, and started to learn the names of the more than 100 people that live here.

• Wednesday a few of us worked with babies, a few with toddlers, and Amy started to revamp the flower beds. That evening we had a team Spanish discussion and shared ideas on how to communicate. Several of the girls have made flashcards and they faithfully study them throughout the day. :)

• Thursday we again pursued several different avenues of service, and began to grasp the general flow of life here.
  

• Friday Natalie and Ashley had a struggle with altitude sickness, but they are recovering well. The rest of us worked, played, loved, talked, learned, laughed, and enjoyed the good food.
  

• Saturday was busy (there are fewer staff on the weekends) and Rebecca, Amy, and Emma were the three able to work. There was a lot to keep us busy!It is a privilege to be here with these precious children. They are so desperate for love and attention! It's neat to see their emerging personalities, and how they relate to each other and to us.

There is a little fellow here named Nacho. He's about 10 months old and has great affection for Ashley. When I talk to him, he closes his eyes or looks the other way, but if Ashley is around he must be on her lap, holding her hand, or smiling at her. He's really adorable! It is challenging enough to learn the names of all the children, but it's even more difficult when they're not names with which you are familiar. The other day, Nacho was crawling as fast as he could to escape through the forbidden door, and I heard one of the girls call, "Hey, Taco! Come back here!"

We were glad to discover that babies enjoy English songs, as well as Spanish ones, and we're pretty sure that the little ones are better translators than we are! We do get some odd looks, though, from the toddlers. They're probably wondering why we talk so very strangely (those of us who are still mastering Spanish), and why we use the same phrases so repetitively.

Thank you for praying for us! It is good to be in a place where we can actively serve, see visible results, and invest in the lives of so many. God is gracious to uphold us as we serve Him, and our greatest desire is to be a channel of His love to with whom we interact.