This morning we got up and had the breakfast buffet again at the hotel. There were fruits and breads, omelets, fried rice, vegetables, rice congee, etc. I had taken some of the poppy seed bread and the dark brown bread with nuts. I really liked the dark brown bread thinking it was their version of pumpernickel or something. That was until Joe Carson looked across the table and said "Wow! You have a lot of brownies!" Oh, um! I had 3 on my plate (they were small pieces :) but it was very funny! I didn't know they were brownies. Again, their sweets are not as sweet as ours!
We asked our kids last night what they wanted to do today. To stay a little longer in the morning around the beach or to head back to the orphanage. All of them said they wanted to go back to the orphanage. And some of them were asking when we were going back from the time we left!
I took a bunch of pictures out of the window of the van on the ride home. Just trying to document the feel for the country. This what most of the streets look like.
This is one of the medical clinics that you can go to if you need. Ream says that anyone can open a medical clinic. No experience or training necessary!
These are a couple of pictures of inside the van. We were all sleeping at some point. Even with the horn honking!
While riding Ream explained the rice planting. In the drout areas where the beach is and the orphanage, rice is planted and harvested once a year. It takes about 3-4 months for a crop to become ripe for harvest. In the wetter areas they can get 2-3 crops a year planted and harvested. Most people plant and harvest for their own consumption. We did pass a large, gated rice mill on the way home.
This is a fruit stand of which there are hundreds along the road! We stopped so Ream could buy some fruit. Each one usually specializes in one or two things.
When we got back to the orphanage it was eerily quiet! There was really no one around. I think a lot of them were asleep. After a while kids started coming down and around. It was good to see them after our short trip. Several said they missed us and a lot of them asked how our trip went, what we did and what we ate. They are always very sweet to ask about us!
Like bad propaganda tracks playing all day long there were Buddhist chants and prayers being blasted over the village loud speaker from the time we got home until dinner! It seems to happen often and the people don't have a say in what is broadcast. They are forced to listen to it. It's too bad also because it spoils the quiet and regular activity sounds.
We hung out and talked and played for the afternoon. One of the girls I was talking to thanked me for coming to her birthday party! It was very heartfelt :) I told her we were so thankful that we could be here to celebrate with her! She said that she didn't want to get all the make-up and fancy clothes on for the party. She felt very self conscious (my words for what she described) but the workers encouraged her to do it because it was the only day all year they can. She said she didn't feel like herself. I told her she was beautiful inside and out just the way she is :) And she is! I had taken a picture with her that night and something was off. I wasn't sure what it was but this explained it.
She also talked about how she likes the staff here at the orphanage but she doesn't like it when they come and go. She likes for them to stay and not leave. She also said that sometimes there will be staff that have come and aren't Christians. The kids share their faith and love for Jesus with them and they often choose to follow Christ. What an extraordinary witness!!
The kids started their chores in the afternoon. These boys were on goat duty. They use steaks and tie the goats in different locations around the yard to keep the grassy area cut short. Ream told me that they used to be known as the "orphanage with the grass".
There is no space wasted on this farm and they eat daily from what they grow.
This guy was still trying to find a good place for the baby goat.
There is a lot of just running around and playing. There isn't TV or computer games for free time so the kids play outside a lot and play board games a lot. They also continue on their own to study through the summer.
I'm learning that cross-stitch is popular here. I wouldn't have thought of it but I've seen many girls and women doing this. Especially in the market place while they man their booths and wait for customers. This is one of the workers here.
There is one computer in the great room and I don't think it has access to the internet.
I was outside looking for Grace and I saw her friend Chantrea riding her bicycle heading towards me. I was about to ask her if she'd seen Grace when she turned the corner and I found Grace on the back of her bicycle!
The guys play soccer at least once a day if not multiple times a day. You have to be careful not to get hit with it when they are trying to score.
There's an elevated slab of cement in the field near the orphanage. The kids like going there! The two ladies on the front right lower line are the other two helpers, Selena and Kara. I grabbed some pictures of the fun!
Two awesome guys enjoying getting their picture taken!
I know this one is blurry, as some of the photos are (I'm still figuring out this camera :) But they had such a great time playing an impromptu game of tug of war using only themselves. The worker started it. It was great fun to see!
That's it for this day! We are all heading to bed.
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