Freezing Time

Nicaragua has been one of the best experiences of my life already. I wake up every day excited and happy to see what the day will bring. Yesterday brought me the chance to work with Ms.Nora's three students with autism. Royner, Rachell, and Evert are three 7-8 year olds with an unbelievable amount of energy and personality. Rachell is the sweet and sassy at the same time, so she has the ability to steal your heart and completely rule the room at the same time. She was actually intimidating at first, but once I found that her secret weakness was her ticklish stomach, she became an adorable little girl that I absolutely love. Royner just wants hugs and high fives, and is one of the kindest little boys I know, despite the fact he likes to throw sticks. Evert is one of the smartest students I've worked with so far. He doesn't like to do much other than math, but count to 100 with him and he'll be jumping up and down with glee. Royner was the only one that opened up right away, but a simple counting game with Evert and pushing Rachell on the swings was all it took to become close with the other two of Ms.Nora's students.

Today I got to go on another set of home visits before going to Escuela Especial. This time I met Carmen, Anthony, and Matthew. I lucked out again with 2 out of the 3 children living in fairly good conditions. Carmen is a little 4-month-old girl with cheeks twice as big as her head. She lives with a mother that is disabled, her aunt, her uncle, and her grandma. Carmen's mom is only 17, so she doesn't take as good of care of her as she needs to even though she loves Carmen. Anthony and Matthew are both very loved at home, all though Anthony is mainly taken care of by is grandmother. Both boys live with many relatives.

This set of home visits made me very sad because I realized it was my last few on the trip. It is hard to believe that Wednesday is already here. The thought of leaving is enough to bring tears to my eyes. Tomorrow is my last day teaching the kids before we have a party with all of them on Friday, which means I only have two days left with the students. This trip is going by way too fast and I'm finding myself dreading the end of each day more and more. I love all of these kids so much and I'm starting to understand why CGA volunteers tend to want to return to the countries they have already been too. I wanted time to tick faster before I arrived, but now I wish time would freeze entirely. I don't know what the next two days will bring, but whatever they do, it needs to be savored and cherished. I only get this opportunity once, there's no time for me to give anything less than 100%.