Esperanza

Yesterday was a good day.

I wrapped out my volunteer project yesterday. I helped plan, organize and EXECUTE a huge painting project at the Hogar. Four of the girls rooms had recently been "renovated." Renovation in this case means fixing door sized holes and patching nearly entire walls. When I first visited the Hogar in February, these four rooms were definitely in the worst shape I've seen in a while.

So, another NYU student, who I love dearly, organzed a Happy Hour to benefit the Hogar. We made some pesos, and then proceeded to organize this event, a 6 hour painting day, to make these rooms more liveable and homey for the chicas. Needless to say, it was a sucess.

The group consisted of a few of my close friends here, a few other classmates, but the majority were people I have never said more than two words too. Our program is small, but not that small. It's amazing that you can spend so much time in the same building, yet never have a conversation with a person.

We all just worked really well, the girls were in good spirits. We danced, sang, joked around, spoke english and spanish, sanded, taped, painted, ate panchos, and just had a good time. Completely different than when I used to go on Mondays- girls were in school, busy, didn't have time. But yesterday, we all made time for each other. And it was just great.

So today, I am sore. My foot is nice and swollen. My shoulders are killing me. And I am mentally exhausted. And it was all totally worth it. What a great way to start my last three weeks here.

Yesterday was a good day.