daily life

It's been 3 weeks now since we arrived, and we are settling in pretty well. The kids are making friends in school and starting to understand a little more when people speak to them. Amy, Jorie and Audrey are taking Spanish classes every day, which has been very helpful. Now Amy can speak with and understand more when Suzanna (the mom of the house) talks to her.

The end of the first week of school, some of the kids from school came by the house on horses. Of course, this was a huge hit with the kids. Jorie, Audrey and Bentz went riding around the neighborhood, bareback. Of course, now Jorie thinks she is an expert, even though I keep telling her she needs to have a little more time before she starts galloping.

Here is Bentz on the back of the horse. They have now all graduated to riding in front and guiding the horse.
Here is another shot of our little bathroom. Audrey is getting ready to shower. We try to take showers during the day when it is warm, before the cold settles in for the night. Carlos (the dad) finished the bathroom and the shower in anticipation of our arrival, which was so nice. Before they had been taking bucket showers. When we installed the tiny water heater, and the kids felt the hot water coming out of the shower for the first time, the look on their faces was magic.
This is a side-shot of the bathroom, with a better view of the sink (the only running water
other than the shower). Here we get all the water for drinking, cooking, washing clothes, etc. Here is also where they cleaned up the guinea pigs after slaughtering them. Nice.
We brought down a game of Uno with us to give to the family, and it turned out to be a big hit. The kids love to play it all together. Here is a bunch of them in our room, before dinner, playing a couple of games. The mat on the floor is some kind of woven plant, not sure which kind. We have one of them under each of the mattresses on top of the wooden planks. We also have one beside the beds to cushion the blow of the freezing cement floor in the mornings.