Orfanatorio

My young friends from the orphanage taught me a lot each Monday and Wednesday I visited. They are typical teenagers fighting over their boyfriend of the week, cutting themselves to be cool or to feel pain that is inside their hearts, being catty or coy, playing games, enjoying to chat, and loving hugs. Towards the end, I have to say, that I didn't want to go. They became comfortable with mine and Sarah's visits and started to act out more (again, typical teens), but I wasn't up for counseling or babysitting 20-some teenagers.

I hope that through my visits they know that people care about and love them even though there have been issues in their families. I don't really know the stories behind what has put them in the orphanage, but I am told it is not usually huge, simply that the families have problems and need time to fix problems before the teens return. Honestly, I don't believe that. I think there is much more dysfunction, abuse, and neglect then adults have told me because the kids have mentioned things to me that are stronger than I was informed. One little boy, Alan, asked me inquisitively and so naively if Americans who are poor live in cardboard boxes because he had lived in a cardboard box "carton" with his family before he came to the orphanage. He then followed that with attempting to impress me with his English, aka a few offensive cuss words and pick up lines.

The teens loved their time with their psychologists (which is what Mexicans call counselors or therapists). These kids were always dirty and do not seem to understand how to clean themselves or other things appropriately. Sarah and I got into the habit of coming directly home to shower and scrub ourselves after we started seeing them checking each other for lice "piojos" (I love that word and it reminds me of being little and my dad always telling me I had piojos. Jaja.) and telling us afterward with total casuality that there were lice bugs in their hair. Juacala! But, all things said, these kids have good hearts and want to be loved and to love.