Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Hello!

I think that I woke up yesterday more excited than I've ever been because I was so excited that we were finally going to the schools. It felt like we had prepared forever and I just wanted to get in there and meet those kids. Everyone always talks about their service trips saying "oh it's the best feeling in the entire world" and I don't think you can believe it until you finally feel it for yourself. There is nothing more true. It is the best feeling in the world. The minute I got out of that van and saw all the kids standing on the porch of Maasin, my heart melted. I am 100% in love with these kids. They gave a program and were all so welcoming, showing their upmost respect to us. You could tell that they had prepared almost just as much as us, and they were all so well behaved. All my nerves went away as I looked at all those kids faces and just thought "this is it." I was beyond excited to be able to give the first "get to know you" lesson. I taught my lesson with help from McKenna and the kids eyes were glued on the front of the room the entire time. You could tell they were nervous and weren't answering many questions, but I have never seen that many kids be so focused at once. 20 minutes into the lesson, the kids were off the wall. Every single thing you said or did they copied and just had the biggest smiles the entire time. It almost makes you want to cry seeing how enthralled they are with the littlest of things.  After we taught our lessons at Maasin, we moved to Salvacion to help with their service project. The moment we walked down the road, all the kids came running and were so interested in getting to know us. They put flowers in my hair and said my name over and over again. There is no better feeling than one of those kids latching onto your arm and never letting go. We played red rover, down by the banks, and sang songs together while switching off shoveling rocks for the building we were helping with. They laughed as they tried teaching us words in their language and we totally couldn't say them. The one thing I learned was Mahal Kita. It means I love you.....and there is no other phrase that could better describe my feelings so far. I love them.  Every flight, spider, bucket shower, and pound of rice we repeatedly eat is worth it for these kids. They have the kindest most genuine hearts and I am so beyond lucky to have earned a spot in them. I'm never coming home.




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