March 31

Well, I had orientation today and I got to meet the other volunteers that are just starting out. There is a guy from the states, and guy from England, a woman from Germany and a guy from the Netherlands! Yay! It's really cool to meet dutch people. Anyway, as part of orientation we visited three of the schools that La Esperanza Granada works in (the other two only have school on the afternoon) and they were all so small. It was kind of fun to picture myself at each school and to think about where i might be placed. After I talked to Pauline (my mentor) we decided that I would go to Alba Zamora and help with the preschoolers/kindergardeners because of my lack of Spanish skills. Also, we talked about maybe me going with kids when they go to the dentist. I would sit with them and play games with them while they are waiting. Also, I will sign up for Spanish lessons in the afternoon. I will be busy!

Today was my last day with my mom. When we said goodbye, I was ready to get started working but I know that it will be hard to be without her and all my family and friends.

April 1

Today was a little hard. I am having trouble adjusting- again. It was just hard to say goodbye to my mom and I feel alone. Its weird, but I feel like I have less in common with the people here than I did with the Pura Vida Missions people. I am starting all over and when I went to the school, I realized that after this week, I will be the only one that speaks English in the classroom I am working in. Uh oh. that is going to be interesting.