Day One

We landed in El Salvador and I realized I had never confirmed who was picking us up from the airport. Typically the girls from the half house are there waiting for me, and since that wasn't possible this year I kind of freaked out. No one was there for us. We waited around for a few minutes and I started to really panic. What if I had to talk to a taxi driver in Spanish? There's no WAY I could pronounce our address! So I took the next best option: ask an airport worker if we can borrow a phone. This leads me to the first of many things I learned today: El Salvador doesn't use area codes. Long story short, the airport workers got a good laugh out of the gringos who didn't know how to use a phone.

Kurt came to pick us up and we went to lunch. Then he asked if we would rather go back to the house, or go meet a group from Kentucky at the orphanage. My mother (without hesitation) said we would be going to the orphanage. On our way there, I found out El Salvador has a new law that is putting kids back at home with their families. I think it's great that the government is taking action, but this could have it's withdrawals. 

We then got to the orphanage (CIPI, where I worked last year) and the other group was in the middle of doing a few activities with some of the kids. I took Micaiah and my mom on a tour of the orphanage. Of course, we all melted when we saw the new borns. I was hesitant to go into the nursery because I'm not really sure how to say "I want to hold these babies" in Spanish. But we went anyway and Micaiah was the first one to fall in love with any of the babies. We then spent the rest of our time just playing with some of the older kids. And I found out that the school in CIPI is actually a neighborhood school, and not a school for the orphanage. 

I am so overwhelmed with emotions. It was so hard to drive past the Promise House and know that I wouldn't be going there. I miss those girls so much. But I got to talk to a lot of people after dinner and they were all such an encouragement. God put it on my heart to be here for 6 weeks, and I know He has great plans for me.