Final full day

Today we played with kids all day. First half of the day at the daycare/childcare center, where I played with 2-3 year olds, and then over to the community center for the afterschool program, where there were kids from kindergarten to sixth grade. So much fun. I was exhausted but it was fantastic. I let the kids take pictures with my camera so I have some good shots of some of them. There's a girl and her mom staying at the shelter and today is the girl's 12th birthday, so we surprised her with a cake, a pinata and a gift, and she and her mom came with us to the carnival that's in town this week. She was so excited. We're all wicked happy because she was so clearly excited and happy and outgoing tonight. Another guy who stays here, Alan, also came with us and said that the girl looked happier than she has in a long time. He won Sasha a bear, and we're pretty sure he's had a good time with us this week, too. At the beginning of the week he always walked around with his headphones attached to his cell phone, music constantly blasting, and tonight he barely even pulled out the cell phone. When he did, it was only to take pictures of us. He talked to us instead of listening to his music. Little things like that make me really happy. I want to do more service when I get back, especially if I can find a childcare center to work with. The littler kids today basically spoke Spanish, so I got to practice. Their basic level of speaking was almost a perfect match for my slightly better than basic knowledge of the language, so we were able to communicate.

I have so much more to write about when I get home. I had a dream I was home last night and I woke up and thought "this isn't my bed. I'm not in my room." But we had a really good last day. Tomorrow we have reflection and then we're heading to the airport, and then it's back to Bean where it's 30 degrees. I'm excited for my bed, TV shows, and coffee cup, but I'm going to miss the sun and the people (both the people of Immokalee and the ASBers) and the good feeling I get from helping people.


Also, I'm wicked tan and it's fabulous. I have to bring the cactus home, so now Sasha will be forced to come over so we can cook it. :)