Moldable like putty

Abel-this is his smile...it is enough to make you laugh!

I think the title sums it all up. Is there really a need for me to go on any further? Well ok if you really want me to. So right now, at this point in my life, here in Peru, I feel rather like putty. You know silly putty. The stuff we all used to play with in our childhood. Ok and yes in our adulthood as well. According to dictionary.com silly putty is: "a brand of children's clay like modeling substance that can be shaped, stretched, rolled into a ball and bounced, etc".

So I would say that is also a definition of my life here at the alburgue. I am put in the most random places to do work. Some have even said that I have the weirdest job here. This week not only am I training Kevin to work, practicing with Juliana on rolling hair, gardening, and helping out in the kitchen, I am also helping my dear friend Becca do her job. She is covering the Amigos' house because their madre is out for 2 weeks on vacation. So Becca needs help with homework time, laundry, taking 2 of the kids to school, and many other odd jobs. I am her silly putty. I go, stretch, and mold into whatever she needs me to do. Including controlling the kids for 30 min so she can take a small nap. I guess I know somewhat of how my mother felt when we were all in the house running around. Cleaning in the morning and picking up after kids all day, the constant never ending laundry, helping with homework, gardening, and cooking these are difficult jobs. Really. Honestly. It has been a good experience for me though. I am growing. Learning to be more and more flexible in life. I am molding to where people need me to be.

Today was a WILD day! This morning came bright and early at 5:45 when I had to be in the Tesoros' house to cover for Milagros until lunch time. Got 10 kids up and out of bed and struggled to get them all dressed at 6am. We just got 2 new twin boys in that house. They are 4 or so. They are still getting used to things so I had to help them get dressed. They didn't know where their underwear was. So I did the only thing I could think of. Let them wear Abel's. He was so mad that I did that. He threw a fit and wouldn't put on his shoes, and when I was struggling to help him he hit his head on the wall. That made it all worse. Finally I was able to get the twins dressed, and Abel had calmed down, when from the living room I heard a scream. Kevin had blood pouring down his nose. I had to deal with that. Got him cleaned up and then I found Dante running around naked! So I had to yell at him to hurry and get dressed, it was time for breakfast. I finally got everyone out the door or so I thought. I had to go back to the house and get on to the older boys for playing around and not coming. Then at the table Abel threw another fit because I didn't give him the cup he wanted. I think it was only 7 at this point. After breakfast some kids left for school, the others brushed their teeth and cleaned their ears. That is when I found out that Dante and Danni tried to sneak an extra snack in their backpacks. Lost them. They were not happy about that, and I thought I was going to have to pick up Danni and bring him to the bus. Finally they were all off to school, and before I went into the kitchen I had to do their laundry. I was glad when Milagros got back early and Luce let me leave the kitchen early as well. I went to the Amigos house to help Becca. We had a good afternoon. The children behaved mostly. She even got a nap in! I was glad I could help out. It really wasn't a bad day, just a wild one. My favorite part was at the end when I had to pick up Yen and Paul from school. While waiting for Yen to get his notebook, Paul hit a window screen and it fell on top of us! We were able to get it back up thankfully. Then I got distracted talking to Manuel and when I looked over at the boys they weren't there. They were already running home, and they were halfway there! I went racing after them wailing my arms about. Finally caught up to them at the door and they were laughing hysterically. They mimicked me waving their arms about screaming mi Tia mi Tia! Then we raced to see which could get changed into their pj's the fastest. I think Yen won by a good minute or two. We laughed and had so much fun!

This is just one way that I am like putty. And even though it is only 7, I am more than ready for bed...tomorrow afternoon I have the girls from the Chispa house.

love to you all.