Thursday -

The daycare at Madre Tereza is closed on Thursdays for the sisters to work in the community. That means cleaning day. We scrubbed the floors and walls with bleach, by hand. The director was telling me, through a translator, that eight of the children will be leaving at the end of this year. They can only stay three years, to make room for others. Hopefully there will be room at the local free school for them to attend. All their parents are employed except one. One other’s father was killed in gang activity.

After the cleaning, we returned to the orphanage for fun and lunch. My favorites (although I know I shouldn’t have any) are Felipe and Franciella. Felipe is a one year old terror with charm. He likes everything mechanical and is prone to tantrums. I got to give him a bath today. There’s no tub, but a concrete sort of trough they sit in. I wasn’t sure how to proceed, so I decided just to dump a bucket of water over his head. He loved it! It was the drying off part he didn’t care for.

Franciella is nine months old. She is quiet and serious and very affectionate. She LOVES Larry. Her older sister comes every day before and after school and two days has been there all morning for some reason. She is nine, but seems much older. She is a big help with the other children as well.

After lunch today, I lay on my bunk and cried. I am so tired and already filled with saudade (saw dah jee), a beautiful word for which there is no direct translation in English. It means missing someone or something in both a happy and sad way at the same time. Emma, from Manchester, England, has been here for two months. She tells me she will have this word tattooed on her ankle before she leaves next month to forever remind her of her time in Salvador. I don’t need a tattoo.

Judy