A small update :)

I just want to start by saying that I am really starting to enjoy my life here in Nicaragua. I am feeling more and more a part of my communuity. Every day begins and ends with about a 25 minute walk to work at Hogar Belen. I have come to love this time in the morning. It is early, so the temperature is barable, and it is just a nice time to clear my head and get ready for the day. I see the same people along this walk, and always exchange greetings and ocasionally conversation. I can also see that I am adjusting, because what used to be difficult for me is now just a normal part of my day- I can take a cold shower without batting an eye (well kind of), I sometimes forget about the invention of the washing machine, and it feels strange when there is not rice at a meal (that has probably happened about twice). :)
Work at Hogar Belen is going well. I am starting to find my niche there, and I am finding different projects to put my energy into. The most recent is that I am hoping to create a sensory room at the home. There is an extra room that isn´t being used. Often at therapy centers for kids with disabilities there are these types of rooms with different lights, mirrors, materials, etc. Of course it would be on a smaller scale, with a smaller budget, but I am excited to see what we can create with what we have. Stimulation of the senses is important to development, and this could be a really helpful to children who are almost always in the same environment.
Personally, I am learning much from my time here. There is a freedom to really enjoy what is real in life. There are fewer conviences, but also fewer distractions. My eyes have been truly opened to a completely different economic situation than what I have known in the past. With this can come pain. There is a girl at Hogar Belen, who is ten years old, and weighs only 30 pounds and cannot see as the result of malnutrition. It hurts to think of what her past has looked like, and to realize that she is not alone where she comes from. She is absolutely afraid of anything new. I have been trying to help her learn to eat with a spoon rather than being fed, but she is terrified to hold the spoon. She is able to walk, but again is afraid. She is terrified also of any new environment. She spent her first time in the physical therapy room crying and screaming only because it was a new room.
I have found in my time here that it is so important to intentionally look for and embrace the pieces of hope wherever they can be found. I find hope when I see the joy that this same little girl finds in music. She absolutely loves music, and to watch her face transform into an expression of contentment and joy when she hears any form of music is amazing. She can be screaming and crying from fear, but when she hears music her demeanor will change in an instant. I love to spend time singing to her or with her. I taught her Mary Had a Little Lamb in English, and when she hears me coming she will begin to sing it, with a smile that just makes my day. It is true that the beauty of the arts touches all people, in all cultures, in all situations.
What I see here can be very difficult. But I have found that to not only see it, but rather also become a part of it is in a sense healing and hopeful.

Until next time... :)