Alina's 1st Full Day at Emmanuel

Because we did not yet know our responsibilities, Alina & I headed to the medium girls' circle this morning.  Most of the girls that I had been responsible for 6 years ago when I began coming to Emmanuel are now in the medium girls' house.  I placed Alina in the circle next to Michell, since generally the kids are part of the circle and adults stand either with the children or behind them.  They sang songs and then had devotions.  Alina was quite shy with the girls...I think that although she's been working on Rosetta Stone at home, it was slowly beginning to sink in how much she still needed to learn.

After circle, we headed with the medium girls to their dining hall.  I met Amy, the volunteer who is assigned to the medium girls' house, and she mentioned that they may be needing help in the school or with the special needs classes.  She was really excited to tell me about the school's teaching opportunities, but in the past I have never been assigned to the school since I'm only here for a few weeks and that would mean swapping teachers often, which isn't in the best interest of the children.

After breakfast, Alina & I headed to the big girls' yard so that I could introduce her to Yensi.  They were heading to breakfast and Yensi was carrying a bundle of wood for their kitchen.  She passed the wood to a friend when she saw me and came & gave me a hug, then gave Alina a hug (since she recognized Alina).  After chatting quickly, because she was on her way to breakfast, we headed back to the apartment to rest.

Just after 9am, I went to see Katja in the office to see where I would be assigned - the little girls' house once again.  Since most of my girls through the years have moved up, it'll be a year of learning quite a few new names!  I'm excited about that though.  Kimberly is in the power toddler house, so we probably won't be seeing much of each other, but she did get the "okay" from Katja to move into our apartment, so she'll be doing that this weekend.  Also, Katja wanted me to start working in the school...so I needed to head back to talk to Amy, and perhaps I'd have to chat with Elizabeth about my afternoons and perhaps working with the special needs children once again in the arts and crafts.

After my chat with Katja - Kimberly, Alina & I headed to town to get some groceries.  I think the difference in cultures started to get to Alina a bit when she walked past various houses of poverty, and on the dirt road leading in to town.  Kimberly was handing out sweets to children along the way and although Alina had treats in her purse, she didn't give them out.  We headed to the older grocery store first (for a better picture of what this grocery store is like, think of the general store on the TV series Little House on the Prairie).  After getting our first batch of groceries, we headed to the newer but not necessarily larger grocery store in town.  This is where Alina got a bit sick & asked to go outside.  Unfortunately the town in not safe enough to allow Alina to go outside and wait by herself, so Kimberly took her to the Tigo store (for cell phone & internet service) while I finished shopping and then made a purchase for Kimberly as well as for myself.  By the time I got to the Tigo store, Alina didn't look so good.  We got a "toot-toot" back to the orphanage (think of those tiny golf cart-type taxis in China) because it would be quicker than walking.

I rested in the bed with Alina while she slept off her travel illness and later Kimberly brought over some supplies.  Across the hall, a man named Barry (who I had met 2 years ago and helped finish the painting of the girls' volunteer house) moved into the apartment with his pastor and a younger man.  He remembered me and as soon as he mentioned his name, I remembered him from his voice and demeanor.  Alina & I headed to the medium girls' yard so that we could play with them.  When it was time for supper, Alina headed with Michell to the medium girls' dining hall while I headed to the small girls' dining hall.  While I was serving supper, Sofia ran over to tell me that Alina was crying.  I'm guessing she was overwhelmed by so many girls trying to speak to her all at once in a language she didn't understand.  She came back with me to the little girls' house and we had supper there.  After supper we needed to get the girls showered and their hair combed so they'd be ready to go to bed.  Doris painted Alina's nails which turned out really cute looking like a french manicure with tiny black flowers painted on each nail.  I wish my camera was working so I could've taken a picture to attach to this blog.

Before going to bed, I chatted a bit with Amy about teaching in the school.  It looks like I'll be taking on the middle school "lectura" classes (4th-6th grade).  It's a pull-out system where I'll have 4-6 students at a time and we read a certain book together.  I'll keep you updated on this as I get more information.