Meeting the Kids

Today we went again to Casa Viva. We split in 2 groups. 4 people took a bus to go visit 2 foster kids and hang out in a near-by park. The rest of us took one of the Casa Viva staff with us to go pick up 4 of the 5 siblings - the baby stayed with his foster family today.

It took 2 hours to drive around to their various foster families. So the majority of our time with the kids was spent in the van. First we picked up one of the boys. He was a pretty out-going kid and enjoyed tossing the hacky sack back and forth with us. When we arrived at his sister's house, his face lit up and he was soooo excited to see her. That was the highlight of the whole afternoon.

Once we picked up all 4 kids, we went back to Casa Viva. A couple of the guys played soccer with the 2 older boys. Some of us sat with the sister and the youngest brother, coloring pictures and doing our best to talk to them.
The most frustrating thing for me, is that I know so little Spanish, so I feel like a stuck record saying, "what did he say?" over and over. I do enjoy listening to my classmates who only know a little Spanish, because they speak simply and I understand more.

When it came time to take the kids home, we first dropped off most our team where we are staying. With just 3 of us and the 4 kids, I felt more involved in the conversation, though still asking "what did he say?" We sang songs, and told jokes, and of course, tossed around the hack sack.