More from my first week in Nicaragua

Wednesday brought more sewing. Fortunately for me, I won't normally be helping with sewing shirts.  We were only doing it this time because the mission team was there to help and teach sewing.  And since the team was there, after sewing, it was time to set up THE KIT.
THE KIT is two large suitcases and a basket, all full of cards, earrings, necklaces, bracelets, jewelry sets, gift tags, potato bags, and Christmas ornaments.  I'll be in charge of keeping THE KIT stocked.  At least weekly, I'll arrange all the contents on tables and try to sell things.  I'm really good at selling things. So good in fact, that I have always had my younger sister sell things for me...so I just let the current intern sell stuff that day, while I watched and tried to remember how much each item cost.  You might wonder why I capitalize THE KIT.  Mostly it's because I'm so looking forward to lugging it around (it's pretty heavy/bulky) and remembering what I sell out of it so I can re-stock it.  And sometimes, it is just helpful to capitalize things.
It was the 10th, which apparently is toiletry day.  So, Mallory showed me her process of deciding how much shampoo/conditioner/soap/toothpaste/toothbrushes that each household (or dormitory) gets.  Of course, all of this is based on how much of the supplies we have in the cabinet. Which of course depends on what has been donated.  So, it's not an exact science. It's more like "Oh, well she has long hair...but she has mostly boys.  So, let's pour some of her shampoo into this bottle which we'll give to this family because they have more girls."  and "Okay, let's give these toothbrushes to this family, so that all the kids will have fun toothbrushes that look alike."  There are around 60 people that live at House of Hope that need toiletries.
After toiletries were passed out, it was dinner time.  The water was out, but Mallory was prepared for such occasions.  She cooked dinner for me (yay for mac&cheese and green beans!) and let me e-mail my parents so they'd know I was ok.  I was hoping for a shower, with the water that was not an option.  But, hey, lice only like clean hair. So if I don't shower...maybe I won't get lice...maybe greasy hair is the way to go!
Thursday was when all the newness/craziness caught up to me.  It was a rough day of just being overwhelmed. I still had the cold I'd brought with me from the States and I'd been running fever off and on all week. The water did come back on though.
By Friday, we had a new mission team.  They had a Spanish speaker who led a counseling session.  I helped a couple of team members watch the little kids during this time.  The one-year-old I ended up holding cried for a while before falling asleep.  While asleep, she peed on me.  Awesome.  Good thing I like that kid ;)
Most of the day was spent with the residents who were making jewelry.  I'm supposed to supervise and help. So I guess I'm the jewelry expert? Haha. Fortunately, most of the women know what they're doing already.  So I just watched and tried to communicate a little bit.
On Saturday nights, the older girls go to a local church for youth group.  Mallory usually goes, but wasn't feeling well.  When I went to tell Mallory that I wasn't going since I didn't feel well, I discovered she'd already asked one of the residents to show me around that night at youth group.  The resident was my neighbor Bertha (which sounds more like Bear - ta), who was beaming and hollering for me to come.  So, of course, I went to youth group.  To get to youth group, we take the truck.  One of the guys from the church comes and drives the truck and all of the girls pile in the bed of the truck. Most of the girls dress up for church and put on makeup as we drive.  Of course, by time we get to church, we're all rather windblown...In Nicaragua, it's common to see lots of guys or families in the back of the truck.  It's not common to see lots of female teenagers/young women.  So there were lots of stares, whistles and guys hollering as we drove across Managua.
Bertha took her job of showing me around very seriously.  She told me when to walk, where to walk, when to sit, when to stand...haha! The girls also had to help me figure out when I was supposed to close my eyes for prayer and when to open them! By the end of the youth group, my stomach wasn't feeling so well, so I skipped dinner that night...