Saturday afternoon I took a trip to a town about 35 minutes away called Oropesa to deliver shoes to an orphanage. There are only 12 boys there and they are all orphans who were living on the street, so this man created this place for them to stay so they have access to food and shelter. We got a tour of the place, which only consists of three bedrooms stuffed with beds, a kitchen and a multipurpose library/dining room/tv room. These boys, who ranged in age from five to 16, were so happy despite having nothing. They all, even the little five-year-olds, have to wash their own clothes in the local river (with dirty water, no doubt). The setting is very country, and they have the opportunity to raise some animals (they were everywhere!) for extra dinero. When we pulled up, chickens, dogs, kittens and cows surrounded the car. When we distributed the shoes, we handed them out one by one and the youngest ones had to get shoes that were white with pink and purple stripes because those were the only ones in their size. The leader assured them that they would paint the shoes, but the kids didn't even complain. If you think of a typical American five-year-old boy who got pink shoes, he would probably kick and scream and demand a new pair...it really makes you put things in perspective. At the end, the boys gave us a 'party' of Coca-Cola and bread and pulled out a huge sign they had made that said “Grascias A Broader View” (the organization I'm volunteering through). It was beyond precious. I wanted to take off my own shoes and give them another pair.
I'm writing this from a cafe in the Plaza de Armas. I'm on the second floor, looking out on a cathedral built in 1559 that took 92 years to build, and a lit up fountain with a band playing in front of it...and of course surrounded by Spanish :)
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