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Published: February 11th 2011
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Casa Hogar
Alejandro and Sarahi, two of the babies at the orphanage, both 4 months old The past few weeks have flown by since the last entry on here! I have been getting into a good routine at Casa Hogar and I'm really enjoying it especially as the children now know who I am properly and it is so nice in the mornings when I turn up because they all come running and give massive hugs. There are another two American girls at the orphanage now who are there for 5 weeks (only another 3 left for them) and they work from 10 until 2. I slightly prefer it in the mornings when it is just Hebe and I with the children, although it works quite well anyway because we help with breakfast and the other two girls help with Lunch. Every Thursday there are American visitors who are staying in one of the (many) hotels in Puerto Vallarta, and they come to see the children and often donate large amounts of money and clothing. Puerto Vallarta is full of retired Americans and Canadians who spend the winter here because it is warmer. However, I do feel that a lot of them are slightly 'half-hearted' about it and just want to 'do their bit for the community'
Toddlers
Some of the toddlers playing one of their favourite games, being pushed around in cars! more photos to come of the orphanage to make themselves feel better, but that is just my opinion! I was asked by the woman who runs the orphanage whether I would like to go to the therapy sessions with Delila, the little girl who has down syndrome, so now every Wednesday I don't go to the orphanage in the mornings, instead I go in the afternoon and go to therapy with Delila and the woman who is in charge of Public Relations for the orphange comes to because she can drive there with us. I am being taught the exercises which Delila needs to strengthen her legs to enable her to crawl and then eventually walk. It was interesting to see another little girl at the session who was the same age as Delila, just over 2, yet she was able to crawl and even walk a few steps because she had been attending therapy since she was younger. Delila has not had the opportunity because the people in the orphanage don't have time to take her. Examples of the exercises I have been taught are things like massaging her feet, pulling her into the standing position, bending her legs and making sure she lies on her
Mexican Tradition
There is worship of the 4 seasons in Mexico and twice a day (I think at sunrise and sunset) 4 Mexican men swing down the pole on ropes with a fifth playing a flute like instrument at the top. front and then encouraging her to crawl by pushing her feet and bending her knees. It will be really rewarding to see the change in her in my time here.
Starting tomorrow I am volunteering at a disabled school doing phisiotherapy every Friday, helping a friend, Laura, who volunteered with Outreach 2 years ago and has now come back to volunteer independently for 6 months. I am really looking forward to it, especially she can teach me more excercises to do with Delila and I thought it would be a nice end to the week.
There is a Portugese circus in town, so me and another girl decided to go. The acrobats were not really at their best and they seemed a little 'out of shape', the dancers weren't really dancing in unison! However when they brought out the animals it was pretty horrific, there were 4 black panthers but they were really skinny and they woman in charge of them was whipping them and their fur was in really bad condition and it was really just not very nice to see and so we decieded to leave after an hour which was a bit of a fail.
Mexican show
The mexican dance show we went to watch I have also now invested in a dongle (usb stick for the internet) which has caused me a great deal of expense and pain but is now apparently working okay. I have also gained a new life skill which is the abilty to unblock toilets, which is always good, and I am also leading the way in 'Hygiene in the Home' with vast amounts of disinfectant and scrubbing brushes!
I have experienced the mexican hospital system once again last week, this time there was no need to be bedded, i was just given antibiotics for a throat infection. Another girl has also been rather ill, so I visited her there, it seems to be a regular place for me to go unfortunately! Our Mexican coordinator for the organisation has been such a help for me though and it is comforting to know there is someone who speaks the language and knows the way everything here works.
Laura, who I'm helping on a Friday, knows Puerto Vallarta really well and so it is nice having her here to show us the good places to go. One of these is Salsa clubs, and a Salsa class that Hebe has joined (I haven't....yet!) Salsa is quite interesting to watch when people do it well. We went to a show of dances from central America which was amazing, the dancers are all really energetic and their costumes are fantasticly bright. We have also been experiencing the Puerto Vallartian night life, and making friends with waiters which results in many free strawberry margaritas!
It is strange to think that i have now been here 5 weeks because in a way it still feels like my second week (perhaps due to my lack of Spanish), but at the same time I know my way around and lots of the good places to go! This weekend I am going to do 'Canopy' which is a sort of assault course of zip wires in the jungle which I am excited about, and then the weekend of the 20th, I am going whale watching and snorkelling with all the volunteers and the coordinator for Outreach which I am so excited for!
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Sheila Hatton
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Exciting
Sounds as though you're have a wonderful time, doing interesting things. The work with Delila sounds rewarding and that she progresses as you hope. Sorry to hear about the throat infection, you're not there to see the inside of hospitals!! All this night life - burning the candle both ends! What a boring thing to say, sorry. Lots of love to you and Hebe, Poppa and Granny xxxxxxxx