July 4 -- Quincenera Weekend

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Apr 1 -- Spring Break

Hola! 

Ahhhh…fortunately, there’s only one more week before Mexico gets to "Spring forward." There’s nothing worse than being an hour ahead as soon as you cross the border!

Much to the delight of the staff, the kids Spring Break is almost over. Believe it or not, a great majority of the kids are looking forward to getting back into the swing of things. It may be unheard of but they really do enjoy learning and doing homework. During the two week long break the kids stayed busy entertaining their some extended visitors and playing with their new dog (thanks, Woodie). Her name is Jessie and she’s absolutely adorable!

Two of the visitors who decided to spend nearly a week at Sion were Kori Ruth and her friend. Many of you may remember Kori Ruth from past trips and a fundraiser she held a couple of years ago up in Sacramento. They had a great time and the kids enjoyed having them around. Kori Ruth will be spending a couple of months during the summer at an orphanage in Tanzania but hopes to make it back to the orphanage for one more visit before she leaves.

No sooner did Kori Ruth leave on Thursday than a church group from Vancouver, WA stopped by for a visit. The group was composed of mostly teenagers and their adult chaperones. They had an excellent time down there and the kids were naturally thrilled to have them around. There have been some serious Uno and chess tournaments throughout the week and La Tiendita has seen a lot of traffic. In fact, Arline's shelves were cleaned out for a while. And of course, a trip to the orphanage wouldn't be complete without a stop at the best taco stand in all of Tijuana, Tacos Elizabeth! The group came away with full bellies and happy faces. Good luck trying to find Mexican food as authentic in Washington!

Leigh also made an appearance on Thursday. Unfortunately, Adam was under weather and couldn’t join her. And man of man, she sure could have used an extra pair of hands in the kitchen. She was cooking up a storm and in no time all the kids were full of fresh veggies (heavy on the ranch dressing, of course!). 

Beau, Hannah, Stephen and Baby Cooper also made it down on Saturday. As can be expected everyone was happy to see them all again since it’s been awhile since their last visit. Cooper was busy as ever tapping into even more hidden talents. All I have to say is, Peyton Manning and Eric Clapton better look out. Cooper was throwing some spirals and strumming some mean chords on the guitar. Pretty darn talented for someone under two-years-old. 

Naturally, Beau's visit means one thing - "Beau pelicula?" Unfortunately, no peliculas for a few weeks as the “theater” is undergoing some repairs. The roof over the kitchen has been torn down and the guys are building a sturdier and sounder one. The good thing is that there will be an additional foot and half of head clearance for all of our tall teenage boys!

On Saturday, we took the kids down to the local park where they got to stretch their legs and spread their wings. The Vancouver kids were busy as ever chasing kids around, pushing them on swings, assisting on the monkey bars and just having a great time in general. And what hits the spot when one has been running around all day? Ice cream, of course! Leigh and Stephen spent most of the afternoon filling the bowls with seconds and thirds. And to add to the cavities of the day, later that night Arline baked a cake to celebrate our March birthdays.

Happy Birthday to Daniela, Ruth, Jose Medina and Jesus Antonia.

Well that will do it for this weekend. Hasta next time

Victor

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March 1 -- Chef Papa George

Victor

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October 13^th—“Never Forgotten” 

Hola,

There was more great sleeping weather over the weekend, which makes it hard to get out from under the covers! Alas the kids make way too much noise to get a good night's sleep. Hope everyone had an enjoyable weekend.

It was quite the construction zone this weekend down at the orphanage. The project for Saturday and the remainder of the week is to raise the back cement wall. A group of New Song volunteers came down to help out. It was a little sketchy at first due to the rain. Luckily it was only a light sprinkle that lasted until about 10:00am. And once they got a rhythm going it was no problem. Aaron and Israel were the ones laying down the cement blocks while everyone else pitched I where needed, such as mixing cement, carrying buckets of cements where needed, and other odd jobs needed to get things done. They were able to get 4 layers of cement blocks up before darkness set in. No doubt they will finish the wall during the week.

Hermano David and his group of Pescadores also made it down on Saturday. They helped out where they could with the construction, but there were already plenty of people helping. So they got the kids to do some arts and crafts. The kids also did them a favor by writing thank you cards to a donor who provided all the school aged kids reusable lunch sacks. The Pescadores cooked up a chicken and rice dish for lunch as well as a nutritious snack.

Woody also made it down this weekend. His neighbor Amanda made it down for the second time.... countless more visits to follow... and his friend Abby made it out from New York. With his visit the kids knew they were in for a culinary treat. This time around it was homemade chili with corn bread for dinner. The kids absolutely devoured their plates and had full bellies when they went to sleep that night.

The kids got spared my usual specialty breakfast (cereal) on Sunday mornings. Woody and company whipped up some Eggo waffles with a side dish of an eggs and a fruit cocktail. Again, not a hungry child to be found anywhere. They definitely look forward to his next visit.

Hermano Jason and a group of Ohio high schoolers stopped by for their annual visit. There were a few repeat visitors from years past and a handful of new faces. They had a great time visiting and playing with the kids. Lots of smiling faces to be seen during their stay. We will probably see more of them when they come back out during Spring Break.

One thing that is for certain kids may come and go but they are never forgotten. Saturday afternoon I spent a good hour with Brisa and a couple of other kids just practicing how to write kids names with our left hand (we actually got pretty proficient during that time). We would pick kids who were within visual range and take turns writing their names. Towards the end Brisa wrote down “Savana.” I asked her why she put her name down and she said that she missed her.  Brisa spoke a little bit of the fun times she had with Savannah. One thing that did make her smile was that her teacher knows what school Savannah attends and talks with her teacher about her. Brisa is glad to know that Savannah is doing well, but wishes she was still at the orphanage. It made me sad because I hadn't thought about her in a while either. Thank goodness for fond memories and many pictures.

Two celebrants on Saturday. Julissa, the triplets sister, turned 11 and Arline turned 39.... Plus Arline is baptized tonight in each, so double congrats to Arline. And most important of all... Mama Carmen's birthday is Monday. So please email or call her to wish her a feliz cumpleanos. I think she also turns 39.... :) 

Hasta next weekend!

Victor

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October 6, 2007—“Morelos Park” 
Hola!

Well, it’s definitely between the fall and summer season. A nice cool fall day on Saturday and a rather summer-like day on Sunday. Hopefully everyone got out and had a good time.

The Friends of El Faro visited this weekend. Let's see there was Sara Jaye, Nicole, Natalie, Adam, Tanzia's best friend Daisy, Gena Kay, Stephen, Hannah, Robbie, Cooper of course, and showing up late in the day was Leigh. Beau also made it down as well. It was a good thing we had such a large turnout because we needed all the extra pair of eyes and hands as we took all the kids down to Morelos Park.

The kids were anxious all morning waiting for Adam to show up so that they could head out to the park. No sooner did he show than the kids were piling into all the vans. We managed to find a prime spot at the park. It was conveniently located between all the activities the park had to offer. While there the kids got to ride go karts, jump on those inflatable air jumpee things, visit the mini zoo, ride a train, play volleyball, play on the swings, slide down the slides, watch clowns performs, see some acrobatic and dancing dogs, kick balls, make bracelets.... and just have a great ole time running around and stretching their legs. They also got to enjoy some carne asada on the grill and other good side dishes. Naturally the kids were bummed out when they had to leave for the day. They are already looking forward to next year. Naturally they were also asking when we were going to be taking them to the playas.... :)

The kids made it back and were looking forward to their next treat - a Saturday night movie from Beau. This time around it was The Mask 2. I can only assume the kids had a great time watching it.

Sunday was very laid back. It was also very blustery and windy and the dirt was being tossed around, so most of the kids stayed indoors to avoid dust in the eyes. FOEF spent some good quality time with the kids. They even had a project for them to do. The kids had to respond to letters from pen pals at Calvary Church. It was good to see them practice their English writing skills. No doubt their pen pals will enjoy the letters.  

Hasta next week  

Victor