Ecuador Day 3

This morning started out like yesterday, except that I woke up at 6:30 to find Devin gone. Jace was up and he and I went on a search and could find him nowhere. It was a bit alarming. I wondered if he had gone out for a walk or something but thought he should have at least told us where he was going. We finally found him in the last place we looked- Flor's room. He was asleep in one of the bunks in there. Apparently she had gotten up at 4:30 am and was making a huge racket, she he went in to quiet her down and ended up falling asleep in there. I was so beat that I heard and knew none of it.

Anyway, we boarded the van (we have a driver every day this week to get us to/from SVP and to our various planned activities- great and convenient, but $70/day, so you know...taxis are fine starting as soon as possible!) at 8 am. We were wondering why we were leaving so early as we only needed to be there at 9 and it took 15 minutes to get back yesterday. They told us there would be traffic, and boy howdy was there traffic. Apparently, according to the driver, there is a conference for the indigenous people today and tomorrow (not sure what this entails, but sounds interesting, yes?). It was nuts. Also, you should know that driving here is insanely horrible. People cut each other off and edge in whenever they want, buses almost take out cars regularly, etc. Oh, and there are no seatbelts. Not even in the van. So, yes. However, I have always felt very safe driving here. Perhaps the people seem like more competent drivers to deal with it all? Who knows? I probably shouldn't mention that we passed two wrecks on the way to SVP then. Anyway, we made it to SVP just after 9 am.

This time we got smart and brought games and toys to help pass the day. We played Crazy 8s, the princess cupcake game, Old Maid, and Uno with Mishell and she caught on quite well to each. We had a good time. We also played on the playground again of course and had snack time this morning. Oh and there was a tiny dog there that was visiting that the kids loved (minus Flor). Close to lunch time, the sky started to get dark and ash started to fall, so Devin and I were certain the volcano had started spewing again. We asked our trusty driver, Luis, and he said that it was actually a forest fire (phew. But not really...that sounds bad too.)

Mishell and Hallie often run off and play together and so this has given me a bit of time to sit and watch them and think, probably too much. As I sat and watched Mishell today, I just couldn't help feeling so sad for the cards she was given. I know it does no good to compare stories, but here I have these two beautiful children who were born to me who have had a life of nothing but privilege (and this coming from a family who rents an ugly duplex and drives the junkiest cars. I mean, even then, they still have a life of extreme privilege). Then, we have these two other equally beautiful girls who have found their ways into our hearts and our family from really hard backgrounds. I mentioned that I won't say much about Mishell's back story, but it is a hard one. She probably doesn't know her story nor her roots, but someday I anticipate that she will ask. How do you explain to a child how they were born into one circumstance when their sibling they share a room with was born into something quite different? Don't get me wrong, I think that SVP is a wonderful place that does a lot to care for and provide for the kids there. But that does nothing to reduce the feelings of not being wanted by a family for many years. It has struck me how much the workers there are detached from the kids in a way- I mean it is obvious they care for them, but I have not seen any emotion from anyone with regards to having a child leave that has been with them for 11 years. They must maintain that level of detachment as they watch kids come and go all the time. Anyway, I just sat and watched Mishell today and had a deep sense of compassion and care for her. I hope that sense will remain with me if and when she starts to push my buttons. :) I want her to feel loved and cared for and needed the way any of our other children do. I hope she knows she is special too- no less special just because of how and what she was born into.

I digress.

At lunchtime, it was in the schedule for Mishell to come with us for three hours out to lunch and about. We went to the same mall/huge shopping center as yesterday. We asked Mishell what she wanted for lunch and she told us pizza and soda. I think we can spoil her for a while at least, right? So pizza and soda it was. On the way, I asked Mishell if she had ever been to a place like this and she said no. Maybe not the best place to start, but it was in the schedule, so we rolled with it. The place is HUGE. I mean MASSIVE. I can't think of any other words, but HUGE. It is like 4 or 5 of our regular malls put together. There are stores, there are restaurants, there are play places, there's a grocery store, there's anything you can possibly want. We were there 3 hours and probably saw 1/4 of it. And it is being added on to. How in the world these stores stay in business, I have no idea? Again, super expensive. Everything. Except fast food, that is. Anyway, I could tell immediately that the whole thing was overwhelming for Mishell. So much to see and do. I don't think she has ever even been to a regular store or grocery store. Then all this. So much to take in. She did really well though. We first ate lunch at pizza hut (in the second food court we found because the first one did not have pizza). Oh and PS. I am diet coke deprived here! Feel bad for me! They have coke and Coke Zero is all and we all know that neither of those will do. It's a real struggle. Anyway. After lunch, we went to find Mishell some shoes. We brought shoes for her from the US, but when we brought her an outfit to change into today (per the orphanage's request), we also brought shoes, and they are a good 2.5 sizes too small. Ooops. The girl has huge feet. We brought size 7 women's shoes and she is actually a 9.5 (bigger than me!). So all size 7s we brought will be donated to her orphanage. We found her one pair of shoes in all the stores we looked at in the place that would fit her. They must not be used to such large feet around here :). Anyway, the shoes are purple Converse type shoes and purple is her favorite, so we went with those. They cost way more than they should, but she can't be without shoes, so no big deal.

We then put minutes on our little phones here and had ice cream at McDonalds while the kids played on the toys. Then it was time to return to SVP for an hour or so. We played some more games and hung out. I met a peace corp volunteer stationed in Quito who will be at SVP for a year (two years total in Ecaudor). She is 25 and lives down there alone. She was really great to talk to- she works with the social workers at SVP, so she gave me some more insight into the processes down there and told us more about Mishell. So that was fun. I also got to meet two of Mishell's best friends from the orphanage, a 16 year old girl named Anita and a 12 year old named Maria Jose (not to be confused  with the other Maria Jose). Mishell introduced me and I told them we were having a party for Mishell on Thursday and they were invited. Anita then started to cry and I was alarmed that I had upset her, but she just said that she is sad that Mishell is leaving. I acknowledged how hard it must be for her to watch her friend leave and she nodded and then kept repeating, "but it is so much better for her." This just broke my heart. No 16 year old should be staring down the gun of a future alone.

At about 4:30, we headed home and had dinner (totally going to struggle with cooking here. I cannot remember what we ate last time. There are just not a lot of the same foods at the grocery store, plus as I mentioned, everything is so expensive). So we ate eggs and fruit. The kids went to bed and here we are. Here are a few pictures from today:

So when the girls run off and leave Jace, that leaves Mom to play "Superhero guys versus Princesses" with Jace. I am happy to report that the Princesses won due to an awesome move by Fairy who flew in and took out the last Superhero. Even Jace couldn't argue with that.

lots of swinging happening (and a cute little girl- no idea her name)

A little family was visiting-- I am guessing working on reunification with their kids-and brought this tiny puppy with them. They were in a meeting for a while and left the dog outside. The kids had a hay day, especially Jace, who pushed him around like he was his little baby in a stroller. Hahaha. 

Oh and we forced Flor to pet him too. She has a love/hate relationship with animals. 

Just trying on Hallie's headband

We are working on smiling. She usually just sits there with a stoic look on her face for pictures. Haha! Hair is the same as yesterday but falling out a bit. Let's see what the next few days bring!

Oh and we played a little soccer today. Mom won, of course (Just kidding- Dad probably won)

Pizza lunch! Yay! 

Oh and one more thing I forgot mention. Mishell started calling us "Mami and Papi" today. This surprised me. I expected she would call us by our first names for a while. I am not really sure why- maybe because I thought it would be weird for her to call people who are really strangers to her mom and dad. However, this just again shows me the preparation she has had and how ready she has been to be in a family. We are happy about this!

Onto tomorrow. The schedule says that we have a six hour adventure with Mishell to "Mini City". NO idea what this is, but we will soon find out! Oh, and Hector gets to come observe us. Hope we look like a fabulous and happy family that never yells at their kids! :) :)