Day 5: Goat, kids, and refugees

Okay well its Friday, May 28.. And it's 9am. Last night was soooo much fun. We played cards and were laughing for three hours straight. I think we were all just very over-tired. Then I went to hang out on the roof for a while with some people in the tent. When I finally decided to go lay down to try to fall asleep at about midnight, Stephanie and John came into the room and told me to get us because we were going to go feed the goat.. ha! So Steph, John, Christina, Chelsea, Jess, Joner and I went to go feed the goat his last meal. We went quietly downstairs so that we would not wake any of the kids up. We hung out with the goat for a while and then finally decided it was time for bed. We came upstairs to find that the door was locked and nobody awake had a key. One of the guards climbed up three building to open the door- he looked just like spiderman... It was sooo funny!
We were all very tired this morning because none of us got much sleep at all... After devotion Steph, Jenn and I went with the boys to watch our goat friend be slaughtered. I wanted to set it free, but this definitely did not happen. They grabbed the goat, slit it with a huge knife, and it fell to the ground (but it was still alive for a while). Then when it was dead they slit his leg and blew it up like a balloon. Then they skinned it and and slit it again (and the guts came out). Sorry for the descriptions, but trust me it could be much worse! I'm not going to lie... I shed a tear then felt a bit sick to my stomach... but it was definitely something I had to see... Dinner tonight!
Looking forward to getting a lot done today...

It is now a little after 9pm and we just got back inside. This afternoon we finally finished our painting project- what a relief! It actually came out very good- despite the fact that we had to use a few different shades of blue paint and the kids were running in and out of the rooms all day tracking paint everywhere. After we were finished we took a little bit of a break- we couldn't do too much because it was raining really hard outside anyway. Then a bit later I went downstairs to hang out with the kids. There are a few kids that I have gotten very attached to this week so far. This one girl Angilique is soooo cute. Everytime she sees me she runs up to me with the biggest smile on her face and begins singing "We Are The World." She knows I love when she sings that song because I always sing along with her. It doesn't take long for all of her little friends to run up and join her singing. A few of the girls call me 'Princess' because they were playing with my iphone and they saw pictures of me with my crown on my head... haha While I was outside, I jump roped with the kids for a while. I haven't jump roped in forever - but it was so much fun!! A girl held each end of the rope while I started in the middle and then others joined in. The kids were so good.. they got about 10 people in at one time!
5:00 is my favorite time of the day because we all sit in one room and I get to hear the kids sing. Two of the orphans always save me a seat in the middle of them. The children know every word to every song and they are not afraid to belt it out. I just sit there with the biggest smile on my face listening to them. It is just so unbelievable to see so many kids with so much happiness and spirit with what little they have. I find myself closing my eyes to just take it all in- something I don't usually take the time to do. This really helps to appreciate my own life so much more. I would be so happy to be around all these kids all the time.
At 6:00 there was a church service for everybody at the orphanage. It is very interesting to experience because the culture is so different. Everybody in this country is very religious... that is what they identify themselves with to give them hope to survive. We had a translator for most of the service, so we were able to follow along.
At about 8:00 we gave out bags of rice, beans, and oil to refugees that stay on the orphanage property. They were very greatful for the food because they have no money and nowhere to get it from. Many of the families here have small children too. A lot of people tried to sneak in line again to get more food.. We only had enough this time for about 100 people. It went very well though. It is nice to know that these families will be able to eat tomorrow..
So now I am about to go up on the roof to play cards.. Hopefully I will be getting some sleep tonight though.. Tomorrow we have a field trip to the beach!