Our New Friends!

Kala and I decided we were gonna dress up and go somewhere nice for dinner the other night, so we're walking down Arch Street looking for a cute place and we start talking to these little boys. So adorable, 3 brothers and 1 cousin age 10-15, but they look about 9-11...seriously the sweetest boys.



We took them out for dinner and they showed us around all the processions and were so much fun, but you could tell they were from a poor family. They were so excited to eat in a restaurant...it was just this little Italian place, almost fast food, but they like didn't know what to do with the menus and stuff.

Anyhow, they were so precious, and I went to their house the other day. Let me tell you it was so hard. There are 6 kids ranging from age 2 to age 18 all living with the mom (no dad...he left) in one room. A small room. There were 2 big beds, a set of bunk beds, one wardrobe with everyone's clothes in it, an old TV, a stove (it looked like the stove might have worked but the oven didn't), and a cupboard with a few dishes in it. Some tacky Catholic posters on the wall, one pillow per bed. And they were so proud. If you continue down their hall you see like 4 of 5 other rooms in which other families live, and one bathroom and pila (for washing dishes etc.) that they share with all the other families. We sat in this little room (all of us plus the aunt and 2 of her kids who live close) and talked for a long time, but it was so hot! One of the little girls named Nere had had a stye (sp?) on her eye and now it's all swollen and red...she said it's been like that for like 3 weeks. And one of the little girls was coughing a lot. I have no idea how much this family gets to eat because the mom works at a factory where she paints doors...that's her job to support all her kids. I think there might be some sort of a program that helps them, because they all had shoes (not good ones, but shoes) and most of them go to school, which is so important. After school all the little boys take English lessons with this woman from the States that they've known for a while. So good, it's good that they know what they have to do to break the poverty cycle. I know that they'll probably always live in that one room, I can't change that, but I can help them to be as healthy as possible and as happy as possible during that time. But that's the thing, they're so happy. They're so sweet...I bought the boys a soccer ball and we played in the alley for like an hour and they really know how to have a good time with what they have, and the boys are so respectful and the family really loves eachother. It's really eye-opening. So anyhow, I got some medicine for Nere and my dad told me he'd help me pay for medicines for the rest of them, we're gonna try to get them vaccinated and I'm taking them shopping for shoes and clothes (it's dirt cheap here) this week probably. I'll also try to see what I can do food-wise to help, or at least find out how they're eating, cuz as of right now I have no idea. The wierd thing is when I first met them, they didn't stand out as poor. They looked well/decently-dressed, but now I know that those are the same clothes they wear every day. It's so strange because this family is not an exception. On the outskirts of this beautiful tourist city are hundreds of familes as poor or poorer that my friends. Oh I forgot to say, when I got in from playing soccer with the boys, the mom (Julieta...so sweet) gave me this purse. It's like black and tan knit, she said she bought it a few weeks ago and wanted to give it to me as a present. That probably cost the mom at least a day of work. I almsot cried, this family has nothing. Seriously nothing, and they were so grateful for my friendship that they wanted to give me something. Wow, if that's not love. What an amazing family. Wow.