Winding down

Tomorrow (today for you's guys on EST time) is our last full day here. Today we concluded VBS, worked in the field, and I even had to play nurse for a short time when a little girl was accidentally bitten in the face by a dog. Tomorrow we are getting up early to go to the city and do some tourism at the historical sites as well as a little haggle-style shopping in some marketplaces. Here's Christiana's take on today.

"So today was the final day of VBS, and it was somewhat bittersweet. While it's a relief to have completed what seemed to be a successful event that engaged, entertained, and educated the kids from town and from Ranchito, I will definitely miss seeing the faces of the kids from town that have become so familiar to all of us within the last few days.

The morning started off very interesting, with a couple hours of rain that threatened to cancel our last day of VBS altogether. However, it turned into a couple hours of bonding time with the Ranchito kids and a couple of the older kids from town who are all related to the Acosta family one way or another. We played soccer with the kids in the rain, and either watched or participated as the kids dumped cups of water on each other and got themselves "muy mojado" by emptying overhanging tarps full of water on the unsuspecting victims underneath. After the rain, as wet as it was, several of the kids from town still showed up at 11 AM, ready and excited for the last VBS, which was definitely encouraging to all of us! Today they learned about the redemption story, and how the only way to get to God is through his son, Jesus Christ. My favorite part was watching the kids do their crafts though! We purchased a Polaroid camera and took pictures of all the kids, and it was so fun to see their reactions as the films developed and their pictures appeared. The boys especially really enjoyed decorating the frames for their pictures, and it was so worth seeing their smiles as they completed their frames.

After VBS, several of our group went out to the fields that Chuy owns to fertilize the fields, while the rest of us stayed to help out at the house. The girls and I decided to try making mangolassi for everyone, an Indian drink made with the mangos we girls had been chopping for over an hour, which turned out to be a big hit! A highlight of the evening was the Ranchito kids singing a birthday song, and the gluten free no-bake cake one of the Acosta girls made for my mom's birthday today. It was really neat to watch them get involved and even care about the birthday of someone they've only known for a week!

Right now, we're outside watching the movie "Megamind" in Spanish with some of the kids who came to VBS and the kids from Ranchito - definitely an interesting experience! The movie is definitely better in English by the way! In the interest of spending the last couple of nights with everyone, I'll end here and wish everyone back home a great weekend!"