Day 3 of El Salvador was lots of fun! In the morning, we did lots of organized activities with the girls (I like organization so it was fun for me!). Our church is trying to do pen pals with the girls. Obviously, the goal is for each girl to have a pen pal and receive letters from every other month and a small gift on their birthday. We had each girl design a poster with their name and birthdate on it. We then took pictures of the girls with their name posters. Who can resist those faces? We figured more people would be inclined to write if they saw their precious faces! :)
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| The girls working on their posters |
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| Rebecca with her poster |
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| Tania with her poster |
We then presented the girls with their Christmas presents. They were little "princess" purses with fingernail polish, chapstick, a necklace, bath soap and other goodies inside of them. The girls loved them and I painted lots of nails that day! Our church had also donated about 200 pounds of clothes for the girls. We had about 7 suitcases full. Malena, the owner of the orphanage, let the girls each pick out 5 things from the piles and piles of clothes! She then went through them later in order to avoid fighting over the clothes! The girls really enjoyed this and each of them folded their clothes perfectly once they picked them out.
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| Melana explaining they can pick 5 things |
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| Fannie showing off her presents |
After lunch, the girls came running back to us screaming...."el parque acuatico"....the water park. We took the girls to a water park close by, which had a really awesome slide that quite possibly would have been illegal in the states! The girls (and us!) had tons of fun.
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| Making the jewelry we use to raise money for them in the states |
In the evening, we presented our translators and their families with gifts. Little Walter opened his gift and had a classic reaction (screaming with excitement) to it. Elena was very excited to get new clothes and jewelry (what woman isn't?). Then Walter & Milton shared with us their gratitude and thankfulness for us. They said that many other groups they translate for sometimes do not include their families or take the time to get to know them. It was at this point that I started to understand the love that we have for our translators.
The day ended with us exhausted and happy. Our last day with the girls was the next day, so there was some sadness there, but we were all excited for the second half of the trip as well.
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| The view of the volcano from the top of the water slide |
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