Today I had the pleasure of taking 4 of my kids and one of the Tias to the movie theater here. Through one of the VE programs, Festival de Arte, we won 6 passes to the movie theater for our children. I was really excited to get the opportunity to do this for many reasons. For one, the kids don't get out of the toma very often, and when they do with the jardin it is usually a very chaotic and overwhelming experience for them. Two, because I was only taking a few kids, they would be able to receive the undivided attention from both the tia and I for a few hours, something that they don't usually get both at the Jardin and at home. It was a chance to experience something new outside of their day to day lives and as it turns out a day for me to revisit the realization that these kids are growing up in such a different manner from how I grew up. The more days that I spend making my daily commute, going through the motions and becoming incredibly comfortable in my environment (its been almost 4 months already!), the more times I have to remind myself of the reasons that I came here and the reasons that I need to continue to motivate myself to really make a change in the lives of the amazing children that I work with. Times like today, taking my kids completely out of their comfort zones and watching their faces constantly change between happiness and awe, just brings so much joy to my heart. And then there are times like when my family visited, or this past monday when I had 3 fellow volunteers from the most organized, well run, and calm institutions that VE works with come by, that just are so overwhelmed and amazed by so much of what I do, who I work with and the environment that we are in, that make me remember that it is such an extraordinary opportunity that I have been given.
For the movies today, we left with the four kids planning on catching a 2:30 movie. As we rushed through the street to catch the bus (since we were obviously running late as its Chile), I held on tight to the hand of the four year old boy, I am going to call him Oscar (we can't use real names so just bare with me through my name game). Now, I know that the kids don't leave the toma much, especially the kids that I work with because they don't even leave to go to school. However, I don't think I recognized just how fascinating it must be for a four year old to be walking down the street on his way to the unknown world around him. I literally ended up trying to drag him along, as his mouth was agape and his eyes wide taking in everything. Keep in mind that we are still on the street that the toma is on. The other three girls that we took are three sisters who I have gotten to take to Liga (VE's monthly sports program) before. I remember being in the car with them (we were driven there rather than take public transportation) and hearing them in the backseat tittering with excitement and pointing out all the things they saw on the way. But for Oscar, I don't know what he's really seen in his short four years. When we got on the bus, the tia quickly trapped all the kids in a section so that they couldn't run around the bus. But truthfully, I don't think that was necessary. They were all so entranced by everything going on around them they couldn't even think about misbehaving. The funniest moment of this bus ride, when it really hit me that this was a novelty for them, was when the bus went down this one steep 2 second part of the road, not far from where we had gotten on. I looked over at Oscar, who was already preoccupied and slightly terrified by the movement and constant jerking of the bus, and his face just dropped. He looked like a kid on his first roller coaster, a feeling that I had actually probably experienced at that same age in Disneyworld. It really was just a crazy realization. Next we took the metro, an experience that I still find overwhelming at times. To get down all the way, we needed to go down a pretty daunting flight of stairs. It took us a while. At the top, Oscar took his first step down and almost toppled over. I think this was a combination of two things- not using steps very often and the fact that he had an operation on his foot when he was younger and he still can't walk completely properly. But regardless, the other girls flew down the steps and we took each one at a time. Once again, another reality check given to me about the little things that I take for granted. On the metro, the tia and I got a good chuckle out of the kids reactions to the train moving and the shocked appearances of the kids. However, the best and funniest part of this entire adventure was on our way out of the metro station. This is going to sound really cold and awful, but keep in mind that it truly was just funny and no one got even remotely hurt. We took an escalator up, and the tia was at the front, I was in the back. We all stepped on and before we knew it, the three sisters lost their footing (they were standing on the in between steps part of the escalator) and tumbled down to where I was, laughing the whole way down. The tia and I, after making sure that they were ok, cracked up. In hindsight, we recognize that instructions for getting on the escalator was probably important, but it seems like such a simple action for us.
When we got to the movie theater, the kids were in awe of this massive building. As we walked inside, I even heard Oscar utter "que gigante!" I mean, this is an incredibly nice, modern movie theater, that would intimidate any child. The kids hung around and ran in circles with the tia as I sorted out the tickets and movie times (we ended up going to a later movie, Happy Feet 2!!). The lobby of the movie theater was about 8-10 times the size of the entire jardin so they were really excited. Since we had time to waste, we went outside and hung out in the shade for a while, running around and playing games. It was lovely. Then we headed inside to use the bathroom (for the first time of many). We got a very good laugh at the amusement at the automatic dryer, the fact that the water turned off on its own, the way that I splashed water in one of the girls eyes when she accidentally spritzed hand sanitizer into it (apparently a bunch of 4-7 year olds find throwing water in a 5 year olds face funny). Every time that we headed to the bathroom, they would play around before sprinting back to the theater, so excited at the chance to run further than they ever get the chance to on a daily basis. It made me so incredibly happy to see just how happy this trip made them. We all got drinks and popcorn and cookies (the popcorn was sweet and strange, but the kids loved it) and aside from the bathroom breaks and loud chatter from time to time, the movie held their attention and they behaved incredibly well throughout the whole thing. It was so sad to have it come to an end.
On our way home, I was talking to the tia about how tired we both were. She was telling me how she has been taking care of her 16 year old, 6 month pregnant daughter who is currently sick and crying a lot. It made me so happy that we were able to give her this chance to relax for just a few hours before she goes back to her chaotic home. She was so appreciative of it and you could just tell how truly happy she was the entire afternoon and more than any of the kids I am so grateful that we were able to do this for her. As we walked for the final five minutes of this wonderful afternoon, Oscar saw a dog in one of the big homes that we passed by, startled as his head was consistently tilted upwards once again looking at everything. The dog barked and he jumped and we all laughed. I was really confused, because there is no shortage of big scary dogs where he lives. I asked the tia why he was so scared of so much today, and she responded that its because he never leaves. So by the end of the day, what I had assumed was confirmed.
I think that this day is one that will stay with me for a long time. It was easily the best day that I have had in Chile in the whole 4 months and really such an incredible adventure to have gone on with the children who I think deserve it most in the world. I love all the kids to death and saying goodbye to them in just a few short weeks will be incredibly difficult. For now, I am hoping to take advantage of every last day that I have here, and hopefully be able to have many more days like today and brighten the days of many more of the kids and the tias.
For the movies today, we left with the four kids planning on catching a 2:30 movie. As we rushed through the street to catch the bus (since we were obviously running late as its Chile), I held on tight to the hand of the four year old boy, I am going to call him Oscar (we can't use real names so just bare with me through my name game). Now, I know that the kids don't leave the toma much, especially the kids that I work with because they don't even leave to go to school. However, I don't think I recognized just how fascinating it must be for a four year old to be walking down the street on his way to the unknown world around him. I literally ended up trying to drag him along, as his mouth was agape and his eyes wide taking in everything. Keep in mind that we are still on the street that the toma is on. The other three girls that we took are three sisters who I have gotten to take to Liga (VE's monthly sports program) before. I remember being in the car with them (we were driven there rather than take public transportation) and hearing them in the backseat tittering with excitement and pointing out all the things they saw on the way. But for Oscar, I don't know what he's really seen in his short four years. When we got on the bus, the tia quickly trapped all the kids in a section so that they couldn't run around the bus. But truthfully, I don't think that was necessary. They were all so entranced by everything going on around them they couldn't even think about misbehaving. The funniest moment of this bus ride, when it really hit me that this was a novelty for them, was when the bus went down this one steep 2 second part of the road, not far from where we had gotten on. I looked over at Oscar, who was already preoccupied and slightly terrified by the movement and constant jerking of the bus, and his face just dropped. He looked like a kid on his first roller coaster, a feeling that I had actually probably experienced at that same age in Disneyworld. It really was just a crazy realization. Next we took the metro, an experience that I still find overwhelming at times. To get down all the way, we needed to go down a pretty daunting flight of stairs. It took us a while. At the top, Oscar took his first step down and almost toppled over. I think this was a combination of two things- not using steps very often and the fact that he had an operation on his foot when he was younger and he still can't walk completely properly. But regardless, the other girls flew down the steps and we took each one at a time. Once again, another reality check given to me about the little things that I take for granted. On the metro, the tia and I got a good chuckle out of the kids reactions to the train moving and the shocked appearances of the kids. However, the best and funniest part of this entire adventure was on our way out of the metro station. This is going to sound really cold and awful, but keep in mind that it truly was just funny and no one got even remotely hurt. We took an escalator up, and the tia was at the front, I was in the back. We all stepped on and before we knew it, the three sisters lost their footing (they were standing on the in between steps part of the escalator) and tumbled down to where I was, laughing the whole way down. The tia and I, after making sure that they were ok, cracked up. In hindsight, we recognize that instructions for getting on the escalator was probably important, but it seems like such a simple action for us.
When we got to the movie theater, the kids were in awe of this massive building. As we walked inside, I even heard Oscar utter "que gigante!" I mean, this is an incredibly nice, modern movie theater, that would intimidate any child. The kids hung around and ran in circles with the tia as I sorted out the tickets and movie times (we ended up going to a later movie, Happy Feet 2!!). The lobby of the movie theater was about 8-10 times the size of the entire jardin so they were really excited. Since we had time to waste, we went outside and hung out in the shade for a while, running around and playing games. It was lovely. Then we headed inside to use the bathroom (for the first time of many). We got a very good laugh at the amusement at the automatic dryer, the fact that the water turned off on its own, the way that I splashed water in one of the girls eyes when she accidentally spritzed hand sanitizer into it (apparently a bunch of 4-7 year olds find throwing water in a 5 year olds face funny). Every time that we headed to the bathroom, they would play around before sprinting back to the theater, so excited at the chance to run further than they ever get the chance to on a daily basis. It made me so incredibly happy to see just how happy this trip made them. We all got drinks and popcorn and cookies (the popcorn was sweet and strange, but the kids loved it) and aside from the bathroom breaks and loud chatter from time to time, the movie held their attention and they behaved incredibly well throughout the whole thing. It was so sad to have it come to an end.
On our way home, I was talking to the tia about how tired we both were. She was telling me how she has been taking care of her 16 year old, 6 month pregnant daughter who is currently sick and crying a lot. It made me so happy that we were able to give her this chance to relax for just a few hours before she goes back to her chaotic home. She was so appreciative of it and you could just tell how truly happy she was the entire afternoon and more than any of the kids I am so grateful that we were able to do this for her. As we walked for the final five minutes of this wonderful afternoon, Oscar saw a dog in one of the big homes that we passed by, startled as his head was consistently tilted upwards once again looking at everything. The dog barked and he jumped and we all laughed. I was really confused, because there is no shortage of big scary dogs where he lives. I asked the tia why he was so scared of so much today, and she responded that its because he never leaves. So by the end of the day, what I had assumed was confirmed.
I think that this day is one that will stay with me for a long time. It was easily the best day that I have had in Chile in the whole 4 months and really such an incredible adventure to have gone on with the children who I think deserve it most in the world. I love all the kids to death and saying goodbye to them in just a few short weeks will be incredibly difficult. For now, I am hoping to take advantage of every last day that I have here, and hopefully be able to have many more days like today and brighten the days of many more of the kids and the tias.
