Okay so I have been really lax the last few days and have not finished telling you about the rest of my trip so I am going to do it now. Just to warn you this may be a long one, so consider yourself warned.
Wednesday, July 27- Today was probably one of my favorite days. We spent the morning at Manantial de Amor (this was my first time at this orphanage) laying peat gravel on the playground for the kids. We then had lunch and had a birthday party for all the kids who had July Birthdays. This was fun to watch the kids eat cupcakes and open presents. From there it was off to Plaza Seasmo. This is an awesome water/amusement park for kids. We all got paired up with a kid for the day and I got a 3 year old girl named Ariel. She was such a cutie and we had a blast together that day. We played in the water for probably 2 hours or more and then rode some rides. The kids then left on buses and our group headed out to Tacos Fede for some dinner. This is a place well known in Monterey and the team went there last year also. Awesome dinner. Our team filled the whole place, of course it was a garage with a bunch of tables set up. It was lots of fun to be together as a team and eat some good food and drink coke out of glass bottles. I had so much fun today hanging out with Ariel, it is amazing how quickly you can bond with a child even though you can't speak their language.
Thursday, July 28- This was probably the most emotional day I had all week. We headed out in the morning to the Rio. This is an area in Monterey where the poorest of the poor live. The people actually live in shacks, it is so sad. One of our students was able to give his testimony and we then handed out donations to the people. It was amazing to me to see people who lived in utter poverty yet they still had smiles on their faces. I got back on the bus and just lost it. My heart just went out to those people. I had never seen such poverty and my heart just broke for them. We then returned to the Back2Back campus and the kids from the orphanages were waiting there for us. Sure enough I found Ariel and we spent the day in the pool and just hanging out together. She spent probably an hour pretending to give me a bath. She would get water from the pool and pretend to wash my hair and then wash my arms and legs and face. After we ate with the kids we had the privilege of listening to two kids give their testimony. What amazing stories they had. I sat there and just cried, they had been through so much in their short lives yet they were praising God and telling us to trust in Him. They then sang some worship songs and then it was time to say goodbye. I have to admit this was probably the hardest part of the trip for me. I hung on tight to Ariel until I had to put her on the bus and I cried the whole time. It was so hard to see the kids go, for you knew that you may not see them again. Ariel will always hold a special place in my heart and I hope that someday I will see her again.
Friday, July 29- Today we got up packed our bags and cleaned. We were the last group there for the summer so we cleaned it from top to bottom. We had lunch there, said goodbye to the staff and then headed out on buses for Horsetail Falls. We did not know where we were going, it was a surprise Corey and Lanette had in store for us. This was a really cool place, you hiked up this mountain and it was a huge waterfall. We then left there and headed to a hotel by the airport. We ate dinner at a restaurant that had American food, I had a hamburger, and then it was off to bed.
Saturday, July 30- Up early and off to the airport, our flight left Monterey at 10:00am. We got into O'Hare around 1:00pm and then took a school bus back to GCC. Said goodbye to friends I had made that week and said hello to my family!
This was a trip of a lifetime. I cannot explain here how this trip changed me but it did. I made a lot of new friends and got to know a lot of high school students who I had never seen before. I will never forget this trip and I just hope that I will get the chance to do it again.
I will post more pictures later, I just got my pictures back. So once they are scanned I will get them posted.
