We had an awesome day! We played all morning at ANAC… Willy with the red group, Cali with the green, and I am leading the “active” station with My buddy Amy. We start pouring buckets of sweat after 10 min. Today’s games were duck duck goose, Simon says, a variation of 4 square and some excercises with a ladder. (Think boot camp). We keep offering to switch activities with Penny and Doreen who are leading the “entertainment” session- but for some reason they are content watching Tom and Jerry cartoons and playing charades in a room with a fan. Whatever.
For me- this trip has been awesome because for the first time I think I’m experiencing the big picture more fully. The first 2 times I was so focused on Vinny and the adoption process that I didn’t really have the margin to fully embrace all the kids at the school.
So, I feel really grateful for this time and am so enjoying the school kids, sharing this experience with my friends, watching our group of teens be rock stars all day long, and most of all I am in awe watching my 3 kids together!
As I write, Will and Vinny have walked to a neighborhood soccer field with some of the others to play. Vinny asked me if he could go and it was fun to say, “yes, but stay with Will and JP.”
Vinny sticks close to Willy, but also is comfortable with our whole group. He loves to say the word “delicious” :). He enjoys getting his own food at breakfast and dinner and picking out a snack from our bag. He rides in the “kid” van with Jimmy- the driver who likes to jam with the kids.
My high of the day was the end of the session and we sang with the kids, they their national anthem to us, and we sang our Star-Spangled Banner to them. Then, a little boy named, Jefte, came up front and sang a solo. He is about 7 and has an incredible voice!
Once we left we visited the Apparent Project. You can google it if you are interested in learning more. Then, we stopped at our favorite local food court (I can say that now that I’ve been there 3 times) for some treats.
Around this time I thought I lost my iPhone- that wasn’t fun- thankfully Will found it. He shed a couple tears when we thought it was lost- I almost did when it was found…mostly bc I would be so sad to lose the video I have of the kids meeting Vinny and Stanley.
It’s time for dinner- every other night we have American then Haitian. Tonight we will just hang out at the guesthouse- kids will play soccer and mess around outside, adults will tell stories, laugh, try to post pictures…we may have another awesome time of worship together out on the terrace just before bed (this time was special last night as Vinny sat on my lap the whole time we were singing and he was trying to sing along or he was listening intently.
Will is the greatest helper and brother to Vinny. He hasn’t complained once- and he’s helped me A TON! He helps him shower, get ready for the day, get ready for bed (all males in one room), etc… And they play play play. Cali is still the oldest 🙂 she loves her new brother, makes sure he is drinking his water, and other older sisterly things.
This is too long- sorry!
The pics above each have a story…
The boy with Will is Cleff. He is sponsored by my brother’s family and Will and I hung out with him quite a bit today. The guys are making good progress on the new classroom up on the roof. They make a great team. More tomorrow! Time to eat! Sorry for typos. Doing these from my phone.