Taking a Little, Yet Doing A Lot

Remember those simple card games you loved as a child? The ones you played over and over and over again? Old Maid, Memory, Go Fish...? Today I had the opportunity to introduce 10 little girls to these fun games. 

Seeing as school was cancelled today in celebration of "El Dia del Maestro" (The Day of the Teacher), I had some extra time on my hands. I decided that it was a perfect time to make good on my promise, so I returned to the girls' orphanage to pay them a visit. Upon entering into the home, I found the girls doing their homework and/or working on the small crafts that they sell for a little spending money. The orphanage’s Directora told the girls to pack up their notebooks and materials, and we headed upstairs to their "library". As I began to stumble through the games' instructions, I realized that I should have prepared a little bit before coming. I guess I did not think about how I would need to know the verb for "flip over" (dar la vuelta a), "deal" (repartir), etc., but thankfully the girls were very patient and after a few examples, they were playing like pros. We first played Memory all together with the homemade deck of cards that I had made out of cardboard, markers and contact paper. I told them that I was not an artist, so they would have to bear with me on the crazy little pictures that I had drawn. However, we all still had a good laugh over some of the drawings. Afterwards, we split-up into 3 groups and each group played a different game.

When I was leaving, the Directora of the orphanage asked if we could establish specific times for me to come and play/work with the girls. So, as of now I will be spending Monday afternoons with the girls that go to school during the morning shift, and I will be there on Wednesday mornings to visit with the girls that attend school in the afternoons. (Did I explain this previously? Children only go to school either for 4 hours in the morning or 4 hours in the afternoon.)

My current plan is to get to know the girls during the upcoming weeks and then possibly begin to insert self-esteem, health and other lessons into our time together. I have spent the rest of the afternoon thinking about all of the other games I loved as a child and how I cannot wait to share them with my newest friends!

P.S. Did I mention that they call me Tia (Aunt)??