One of the great things about being an EMI intern is that we get time during the week to dedicate toward another avenue ministry. In fact, we have been strongly encouraged to take part in some other form of ministry and service. Back in January, the whole group of interns volunteered to help a local orphanage called Hogar de Vida. We spent the afternoon on landscape duty underneath the shade of a large grove of mangos. After a few hours of toil and few minutes of horsing around, we had the job done. I really enjoyed working there that day, so I decided to continue that as my avenue of service.
 |
| The band returns. |
Working at Hogar de Vida has become one of my favorite weekly activities. Typically I do some type of landscape chore, and many times that can be as simple as picking up mangos. The orphanage is spread across a large tract of land and has more mango trees than you can shake a stick at. Consequently, I have learned that mango trees are the devil in disguise---they produce enough litter to keep one man busy for an entire year. The fruit is good, but after picking up a thousand rotten, sticky, smelly mangos, your appetite might be changed permanently. Still, I love working outside and it's a nice change of pace from the typical office work.
The orphanage has been in a tight spot with money recently and with a limited budget they have had to lay off maintenance personnel. The orphanage also happens to be only 100 feet from the front door of my house--making it a great place for me to serve. Honestly, it's one of the places I feel most at home and comfortable in---as well as the most satisfying work. There's nothing like shoveling dirt and rotten mangos!
The kids at the orphanage are cute (of course) and quite funny. They love to say "hola" (multiple times, of course) to me as I pass by with the wheelbarrow. Talking with 4 year olds in Spanish is so great; I can say whatever I want and won't be judged a bit!
One thing I don't like at Hogar: The pet parrots that live on the porch. These parrots have mastered the song of crying children and other obnoxious-sounding voices (all in Spanish). When are pet birds a good idea anyways? Never is the answer.
I added a couple of pictures from our Host Family Appreciation Day that was held last weekend. As custom, the interns got to plan a Saturday event to celebrate and show our appreciation for our Tico host families. We had a pool party and planned a few games for the families. One of our brilliant activities was to let the host families shoot water balloons at us from a launcher constructed earlier in the week. A few rubber exercise bands and duct tape can make a mean catapult.
 |
| The Weapon |
We lined-up to face our payback for 5 months of lousy Spanish, dirty laundry, and messy rooms. After the third or fourth balloon whizzed by, I decided that I would turn around and avoid taking one to the face. Unfortunately, I was the first victim, and took a water balloon straight to the neck. I was seeing stars after the balloon nearly severed my unprotected spinal cord. A relay game would have been better, I thought to myself at that point...
The kids got a big kick out of the launcher, and the dads were lining up with evil smirks on their faces. There were several good shots that probably could have made Sports Center's Top-10 plays.
 |
| The Targets |
No comments:
Post a Comment