Technically, I think yesterday would be considered day once since it is when we arrived, but today's the first day of activity, so I'm starting my counting today. :-)
We woke up this morning to a beautiful sunrise. Jessica even braved the cold temps to take a few pictures on the balcony. I choose to sleep (it was 5 am after all)! After breakfast, Gabi and Orsi picked us up from the hotel. We then went to an emergency care center for the CPS. This is where children are placed between being taken from parents and placed in foster homes or group homes. Orsi runs a volunteer program that does activities with these kids. It is an awesome program that provides a fun day to children who are going through such difficult circumstances. I was honored that we were able to take part!
We took 9 kids from this emergency CPS center to the zoo today. The van wouldn't fit all of the kids, us, and the volunteers (translators), so Gabi had to make two trips. I went with the first group, which included Nathan, one of our team members, a translator, and 5 kids. We hung out around this outside workout area. I thought it was totally cool! There were all different kinds of workout equipment in this park like area. I guess it wouldn't really work in Texas, too hot!!
Once Gabi arrived with the rest of the kids, Orsi, and Jessica, we took them to the park that is in front of the zoo to play for a little while before going into the zoo. This playground was totally impressive!! It had tons of different areas for the kids to play on. One was this zip line type thing. One of the girls had Nathan pushing her on it for most of the time, she just loved it!!!
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| She loved it!!! |
First up were the monkeys, then the lions. Thankfully there was a family sitting in front of the lion enclosure and they clued us in to the fact that there were lion cubs hiding in the middle. We would have totally missed them, which would have been sad since they were so cute!!!
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| "Rawr! I'm cute!!" |
Then we continued through the park. I chose to skip the snake room, I'm sure that surprises you! ;-) Another difference was that the elephant was in an indoor enclosure! It smelled pretty bad, and I felt sorry for the elephant. Hopefully they let him outside sometimes... On we went... There was an area with deer that could get put their heads through the fence. It was obvious that they were accustomed to being fed by visitors.
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| Victoria and Bailey (two of the interns) trying to take a selfie with the deer. He was more interested in the apples Victoria had in her hand! |
The kids really enjoyed seeing all the different animals! They also enjoyed pulling up grass to feed them!
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| Ostriches are interesting!! |
After a long day in the zoo, we went back to the picnic area for a yummy lunch of grilled chicken and fries. A good lunch to end a fun day at the zoo!
After Gabi took the kids back home, she picked us up and we went to visit the group home. I was super excited to go to the group home so I could meet Larissa (the group home mom)'s new baby! She was pregnant when I was here last year, and I've seen his picture on Facebook, but I was excited to meet him. He is SOOOO adorable!! He wasn't a fan of anyone but mom holding him, but he was too stinking cute!!! I mean, check out this face...
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| SOOO CUTE!!!! |
Who wouldn't love him?!? We also got to meet the new kids at the home. They were adorable as well. I would love to show you, but they're protected by law and I can't. But trust me, you'd totally want to put them in your pocket!! We did a few activities with them while we were there. First we made one of the crafts I prepared for this week's VBS: kazoos made from craft sticks. They were a huge hit!! Even the adults who participated enjoyed their finished kazoo! Then we did some scratch art door hangers that Jessica brought. They enjoyed that as well!
After the crafts, we played a game that I picked up called Spot It! In the game you put out two cards down and the first person who notices the similar image on the cards wins the cards. We all had a great time playing! Finally, we handed out some gifts to the children. One of the little girls was so excited about it that she walked around hugging her bag. It was adorable! I'm hoping I get to spend some more time with them before I leave!
After the group home, we went shopping at the mall to get some supplies we need for this week's crafts. We ate dinner at a Irish Pub in the mall, it was delicious. Then, Gabi brought us back to the hotel. Our first day of activity was rather long! I'm looking forward to a shower and a good night's rest.
Tomorrow we will be going to Gabi's church, then traveling to Tarnaveni. Please be in prayer that we would receive what God has for us in the service. Also that we have safe travel to Tarnaveni.
God bless and good night!!
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