Day 29: I love children! How did you know?
Since Laura and I didn't get to do the shopping for our kids yesterday, we went this morning. Cyndi, David, Laura, Mary and I all went (but we caught two different taxis). Our (we=Laura, Cyndi, and me) taxi driver drove a circle around our hotel area, which perplexed us, and every time he stopped he put on his reading glasses and whipped out a newspaper. At least he didn't overcharge us! That's not even half the fun that David and Mary had... their taxi driver got pulled over by the cops, and he didn't have the correct paperwork to be driving the taxi. He told them they may as well get another cab because he would take well over an hour to get everything sorted out...!Anyway, we went to the clothing store with $5 per kid (which sounds ridiculous for the US but is completely doable in the right store in Panama) and a list of names and shoe and clothing sizes. I had a 6-year-old girl, a 5-year-old boy, a 2-year-old girl and a 1-year-old girl who were all pretty small. We were allowed to spend more if we wanted to (and trust me, I did, by about $40) but we were encouraged not to go overboard and not to buy crazy gifts. I ended up buying them all 2 shirts, a pair of pants, and a pair of summer shoes. Laura and I also tried to go back to the shoe store to get my shoes, but they were not there. Of COURSE when there's something that I want everyone else wants it too. *fume* I should have gotten them when I first saw them anyway. There's no point in waiting until I come back to the states to find them because I want THAT PAIR and no Payless store has them and they are not online either. I guess I'll have to wait until they are back in stock, or just forget about them.
When we got to the orphanage, the kids were waiting in an outdoor pavilion for their names to be called so they could be matched with us (we all had our lists). It was a lot of fun (minus the fact that my youngest got sick on the concrete; it was okay because her tía, or house mom, took care of it and her for me), and I loved seeing the kids' faces light up when they opened up the little bags with things just for them. I bought 2 coloring books, coloring pencils, and 3 jigsaw puzzles "for everyone", but I ended up giving them to my kids because I liked them the best. ;-) We (well, the kids anyway) had some food: chicken wings, pizza bagels, cheetos and sodas, and then we played at their playground. Mariluz (my 2-year-old) and Maximiliano had a blast playing on the see saw, and Mariluz and Luz de Linda (my 6-year-old) had fun playing with my camera and drawing with chalk and playing hopscotch.
Before we knew it, it was time for us to leave. I wish we could have met the kids the first weekend we were here and gone to visit them more often! It would have been fun to take them to a movie or to let them go shopping for their own clothes. I wished my little ones (and a bunch of other kids) well and told them I wanted to see them again but our group was leaving for the US on Saturday. I told Luz de Linda that I wanted her to study hard in school, and then we hugged and she went back to her home (house mom plus four or so kids in a home equals a great equation for making all the kids feel safe). I liked the fact that they essentially had a neighborhood and that every house had a tía because it seems more like a real home.
At night, Laura and I went to an Afro-Antilian festival to see all the people with African heritage who live in Panama do native dances, share their food, and talk about their culture. It was a lot of fun, and we saw a lot of cool jewelry and dancing and ate cool food! I got complimented on my Spanish by a woman who sold jewelry. She asked me what country I was from first, and when I said I was from the US she asked me if I had relatives who lived in or near Panama! I told her I didn't and she was amazed. She said my pronunciation was great and I sounded like a native speaker, and I told her it was because my first Spanish teacher drilled us on pronunciation constantly (thank you, Sr. Back!).
On the way home, I haggled my first cab fare ever. We got to the festival for $2.50 (which is a pretty good price); we stopped a taxi driver who said he would bring us back to the hotel for $5. I said $3 would be better, and he said he would lower it to $4. I asked Laura what she thought of that (since she doesn't know much Spanish) and she was like "We got here for $2.50!" So I asked the taxi driver what he thought of $3 again, and he said "Okay, how about $3.50 because you're so cute!" I laughed and said that was fair, and Laura and I got in. After we started driving, the taxi driver said, "You were trying to start a fight back there!" We both started laughing. After he dropped us off and I paid him, I wished him a good night and said "Thank you Mister fight man!" He smiled and drove off (into the night).
All in all, it was a good night!
Labels: buddy system, children, community service, panama
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