I can´t escape Patito Feo

Remember the horrible Argentinian show Patito Feo I mentioned last time? Turns out it´s not just Marie Esther (confirmed name) and Christina (eeeeh? maybe?) who are obsessed, it´s EVERYONE between the ages of 3 months and oh, I don´t know, death. We listened to the Patito Feo soundtrack on repeat at the school today, there are televised dance competitions for Nica girls (and boys) to see who´s the best Patito Feo impersonator, and I wish I were joking, but I started singing one of the songs to myself in my dream. It´s unavoidable.

The school I´m volunteering at is run by nuns whose order (correct term?) is based out of Calcutta. I finally got to talk with one of them for awhile today, and she told me that 4 of them are from India, one is from Kenya and one is from Peru. They all speak English since it´s the language of the community, as well as Spanish and their native language. So far I´ve been helping with the daycare for the local kids. The parents don´t pay anything to send their kids (which is why there are up to 65 children on any given day) but the nuns insist that the parents be working, and they check up on them to make sure they´re fulfilling their end of the deal. The sister told me they follow Mother Theresa´s vow to serve "the poorest of the poor" without compensation, so the daycare (and orphanage) are run off donations and contributions from other orders with more money. She also told me that of all the countries she´s served in (India, Mexico, Panama and now Nicaragua) these are some of the poorest conditions she´s ever seen. Which, honestly, makes me feel better about being here. I´m so proactive that I was starting to hate the fact that I hadn´t chosen to do volunteer work with a group so I could help build something or fix something. But most of these kids need so much love and I´m guessing that the food they get at daycare is by far the most substantial meal of the day. So, if I have anything to offer, it´s just another pair of hands.

I also asked the sister if I could maybe start working with the older girls a couple days a week, too, especially if they need help with their English homework. So we´ll see what comes of that .

Today they had a party for the kids. Marjan and I had to get to the orphanage at 7, which meant waking up at 6 to meet at 6 30 and walk for half an hour to the school. We helped Elsa and Claudia (daycare employees) put up balloons and string up a piñata, then went to mass with all the kids. After mass we played musical chairs and the kids got cake and ice cream. They were all really excited for the piñata (one kid actually threw up out of sheer joy), except for this one really awesome kid named Wilbur who screamed and ran in the opposite direction. Apparently he has what´s literally a paralyzing fear of piñatas, and he refused to come outside until they had knocked it down. In Wilbur´s defense, this thing did have one of the creepiest clown faces I´ve ever seen.

Final thought on Nicaragua for the day: when someone wants your attention, they make this "ch" sound with their teeth over and over again. It was insulting until I figured out it´s totally normal here.