Stirring and Storytelling

Best: time in the kitchen with N all morning.

Worst: looking at these kids and knowing now way more fully what they are going through.
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This morning I hopped on the Transmi to get to the Foundation. I love riding the Transmi, it's such a very Colombian experience. Sure, people look at me like, "Hmm. She's not Colombian," but meantime, I'm observing everyone else for their fashion, their accents, their interactions with each other.
When I got to the Foundation, only N was there, getting ready to cook lunch for all the kids. The official beginning of the school year with the teacher at the Foundation was this Monday, so now the kids are back to the typical routine.
So, anyways, that means N is back to making lunches for all the kids. So, I thought I'd take advantage of the opportunity to talk with her, and learn to cook. It was wonderful. She prepared ground beef and potatoes, rice, salad, and maracuyá juice. We talked about how not to make rice, and how TO make rice. I also asked her about the stories of the children of the Hogar de Paz. Wow. Ask for them in person sometime, please. Suffice it to say that each child has so much suffering to process, to try to overcome, and to grow through.
After finishing preparing the lunch meal, N and her three-year-old daughter and I walked to the school to pick up the kids. THAT was a really high point of my day. All the kids of the Foundation go to the same school, so they were all there. As soon as two or three caught sight of me through the schoolyard fence, they reached out to me through the bars, screaming "PROFE!!!" with the biggest smiles, and jumping up and down. Then shortly afterwards, they called the others over and one by one they greeted me with "Happy Women's Day!" They were leaping up and down, with grins as wide as Nebraska. I have never felt so loved. Then we all walked home together from the school, drinking juices, eating snacks, and laughing the whole way as a big, beautiful group.
Throughout the afternoon, I played with the kids, lunched with Mr. A and a business partner of his. Then I translated and played through till the time the kids went home. Then I rode my way home with Mr. A, his sister-in-law, and his niece and their translator for the day, a great ECA student, M. I told the stories I'd heard, and I was teased ruthlessly and hilariously by Mr. A, and I heard the family's plans for the rest of their time here. Then M and I got out at a Transmi stop, as the others were no longer headed our way. A really nice ride with a companion. Transmi again. I even got rebuked by an older señora in front of me for pushing her...really? It's my fault, not the 10,000 people behind me all pushing at once. Sorry. WOOOT, Transmi in rush hour!

I opened the apartment door at home to the overwhelmingly delectable scent of hot chocolate on the stove. I was hungry, grabbed leftovers, and ate while Marv, Judy, and D started up "To Save a Life". What a sensational film. I suggest it to everyone.

I just...I love what I am learning here. What I am learning in this time. I talked with Mr. A at lunch about possibilities of returning here to work in the Foundation someday. I'd absolutely love to study my four years of college, and meanwhile visit here during summers, and then graduate and come back to join in the challenging, developing, and important work of the International Maranatha Foundation. We shall all see, but I would love for things to happen like that.

That's all my thoughts tonight. Bedtime. Be blessed!
xox