That night was Armando’s last night (one of the camp directors). He took a group photo with us and told us that it was a blessing that we came. I guess last year a bunch of the kids got salmonella from eggs (most everything is donated to this camp so it was probably that the eggs were donated and probably not the highest of quality) and ended up in the hospital. The government wanted to shut them down and not allow the camp but ended up allowing it in the end. Then Armando and Vera didn’t want to even deal with it because of all the drama but since we were coming, they decided to make it work. They figured with our help they could make it happen this year. That was definitely a great thing to hear on our last night, feeling like we were useful during these two weeks.
We took a group picture and were off! We thought the goodbyes would be really sad and we would all cry but it seemed like the kids were ok with hugs and kisses and they didn’t get emotional at all. That made me sad later because I realized they are probably used to people leaving them in their lives. They also tease anyone who is emotional so no one wanted to cry for self-preservation! Poor kids!! I truly will miss them and pray for them as often as I can remember. Now I have faces and people I know that I can pray for and remember forever!
Here’s our slide show we put together. You will probably recognize photos I posted earlier but there are a bunch on here.
Hey All,
N8 made friends with lots of the kids because he was out there all the time playing soccer!
Eva with the Pequininas (the itty bitties as I liked to call them) They were the best and were the most forgiving about language. They would just chatter away for the longest time.
Another Jessica and Paula. This girl was a trooper! She got a really bad sunburn on her face and someone put some cream on it which irritated it even more. She was miserable for a while until we could get it all off and put aloe on instead. Then she got pricked by a sea urchin, the lifeguard had to take all 3 “needles” out of her foot.
The beautiful praia (very similar to the Spanish Playa) The Atlantic water was pretty cold and the waves were strong and dangerous but the kids absolutely loved every beach day.
The gentleman took a bunch of really cool pictures like this, he’s just showing off 😉
This is my little Jessie (the 3rd Jessica of the bunch) and I think she looks like she could be my daughter. Couldn’t I just go back and bring her here in my suitcase?
So, after our first week, we headed back to Lisbon for a much needed weekend off. We stayed with the Farmers and made most of our meals together there. It was really great.
On Saturday morning we did a walking tour of Lisbon and the castle there with the SunDeo group also from EFCC. They were in Portugal around the same time we were just working on different projects. After that we had the afternoon off and did a little shopping and eating.
At the Castelo, of course
Safety guard rails in Portugal?? Who needs them?
I discover Portugal’s unique obsession with roosters…it reminded me of all the random roosters running around in kauai, hmm.
Seriously though, statues are pretty boring on their own in photos. Isn’t imitation the highest form of flattery?
That’s all for now. Stay tuned for photos/stories from week 2 with the lovely kids!
So just a quick blog to let everyone know that we made it here to Lisbon all in one piece! On the first leg of our trip our pilot was awesome and was telling us about some turbulence we were going to have and what he said about it is what is going to be our motto for this trip.
“Nothin’ we can’t git around”
We thought, this will be a great quote and now that we’re here, we’re having to use it a lot! Flexibility is a virtue on trips like these and right away we have had to be flexible. We’re tent camping on this trip and found out today that there are no tents! So we’ll figure that out. Also, we’re having technical difficulties with my computer (which definitely limits video editing!). So, our motto will have to do.
Anyway, we had a 5 hour layover in Philadelphia, got off and saw the Liberty Bell and ate Philly cheese steaks in Liberty Park! Then we got here at 8:30 am and are working on staying awake all day so we’ll sleep all night!
Tomorrow we’re off to the orphanage and I won’t be able to update again until Friday or Saturday. Sorry there are no pictures, hopefully my computer will work soon! Please pray for it, my little old mac laptop…i want it to be better!!!