me gusta ese paiz...

On Monday, some things came up and I found out that I would not be teaching my classes in the Institute this week, but I will be leading a team of 20 high schoolers that were coming down. I love when teams are here so I was excited about that. The team got here Tuesday night and it has been busy ever since. I have enjoyed the change of pace and being able to spend a little more time with the kids here at the orphanage. The group has been great and this week has been full of special things. On Friday afternoon we took them for a quick swim in the ocean. When we were driving back, we got to catch the sunset...

As we were driving back to the orphanage after the beach, I couldn't help but be overwhelmed with my love for this place. Sometimes these feelings come out of nowhere... but when they come, I freak out thinking about ever possibly having to leave. We were driving down the narrow, curvy road, with the ocean to our right and hints of the sunset peaking out from behind the trees... my ipod was playing Jimmy Needham over the speakers of the bus... words of needing Jesus like a hurricane, like a burning flame, to consume me.. some of the neighborhood boys were driving past on their motorcycle... and there was a bus full of chattering high schoolers behind me... and as I looked out at the ocean, I smiled knowing this is exactly where I am supposed to be. This island is my home. And I'm not sure what will happen to my heart come next August.

This is Yessica.... my prima-hermana as she calls me. Or cousin sister in English. Yessica lives at the orphanage and I spend a significant amount of time with her every day. She doesn't like to show her teeth in pictures, even though her smile is beautiful. I pray that God uses our time spent together to show her His intense love for her.

This is Nena! She is seven years old and is full of spunk and attitude! However, she is also a cuddle bug with a wild imagination and adventurous spirit. Today we had a morning full of activities for the kids with an Olympics theme. Nena colored this picture and hung it on the cabinets with the stickers on the edges. She was so proud of it and wanted me to take a couple of pictures with her standing beside it.

And this is Ari... one of the 3-year-old twins. At the end of the activities this morning, each of the kids received a bag full of goodies. Here's Ari sporting her new sunglasses. All of the little girls had crazy colored sunglasses in their bags that they wore the rest of the day. They were so cute!