Fast forward our trip to Friday. Tuesday through Thursday were pretty similar. All days were split between the orphanage and the construction site. Wednesday we took the girls to a water park and then Thursday we did the regular park and Pizza Hut - just like in January.
Friday morning after breakfast we headed to a city called La Libertad. This is actually the city that we flew into and where the team the week before us spent a few days. La Libertad has an orphanage through the same company (if you will) as the one we go to in San Miguel. This orphanage is HUGE though. They have around 80 kids, chicken & pig farms, greenhouses, etc. They are pretty much self-sufficient. The goal of San Miguel orphanage is to become like that in the future.
The best part of the La Libertad orphanage was Samuel. Samuel was in San Miguel in January. After we left, the fire marshals came through and made them send some kids elsewhere because they were over the maximum amount. Samuel was one of those that went to La Libertad. They connected last time and Luke was wondering where he was. Almost as soon as we got out of the van, Samuel spotted Luke, yelled his name and came running to him. I know it broke Luke's heart and that was his very favorite moment of the trip. Sometimes I can't believe these kids remember our faces and names. It just shows how much of a difference we do make in their lives. Another little boy, Wilson (I believe that's what his name was), was pulling Luke from the van when we went to leave and telling everyone Luke was staying at the orphanage.
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| Luke & Wilson |
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| Luke & Samuel |
After leaving the orphanage, we headed to our resort. Now as far as the living quarters go, I wouldn't call it a resort. Although I did fight for air conditioning (and win!). The views, however, were amazing. I would go back (not on a mission trip) and stay at that resort just for the views! We ate both lunch and dinner right on the water. We spent a little time in the ocean, then headed to the market, then came back for more ocean time!
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| Where we ate...ocean is to the right of the picture. |
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| This was the view while we ate. Beautiful! |
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| Huts dotted the resort premises. A few of our team members rented hammocks and slept in the huts. |
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| Jason got a cute shot of Luke & I holding hands in the ocean. The waves were really big and the tide very strong. |
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| Luke & I |
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| The fish market at La Libertad. I planned on going down there but the smell was just too horrific!!! |
We did eat some interesting food while there. One fun thing was the Dona Wafle. It was literally a waffle cone with a donut on top, followed by whipped cream and a cherry. It was pretty delicious!
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| Steven kissing his red snapper! |
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| Luke's lunch of giant shrimp at the resort |
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| Me chowing down on a Dona Wafle! |
The next morning we got up WAY early and spent over 16 hours traveling, thanks to delayed flights. But we finally made it home about 9:30pm. Once again, an amazing trip! I am pretty bummed that I won't be able to go in January due to teaching - especially because the weather is WAY better then! But, depending on life's circumstances, I would love an opportunity to go again! Thanks for all the prayers and support! :)
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