Back to Normal

I can't believe I've already been in Argentina for 5 months. They have flown by, but it seems like forever ago that I was packing up and saying good-byes back in the States. I started back to work at the comedor this week after being off for a month. I really enjoyed my travels and time off, but I was excited to go back to work. As I was preparing to go back to work, in the back of my mind I was wondering how everyone at the comedor would react to seeing me again. I know the children love playing games with me and I'm always greeted with smiles and besos from everyone, but I was only there for a few months before the comedor was closed for a month. I guess I was afraid things wouldn't just pick back up where they left off in December like I expected them to.

Beto picked me up for work like normal yesterday morning. Throughout the day, as the children came and went, I was greeted with smiles, hugs and besos. It felt as if I had always been there. I remember realizing the honeymoon was over a couple months ago, but I think yesterday, I realized how much I have become a part of the comedor.

I have had a wonderful couple of days playing pool, making puzzles, and playing board games in the afternoons. In the mornings, I have enjoyed helping Raul with a project. There were huge stacks of boxes of powdered milk in the middle of the comedor. We opened every box and removed the bag of powdered milk, crushed the boxes, and stored the bags of milk in the cabinets. (We usually pass powdered milk out to the families once every week or two.) Beto and Raul told me the plan and I jumped right in, but as we were doing all this rearranging, I started wondering why we were removing the bags from the boxes. Raul explained that it was to save space (the bags take up less space than the boxes) and later mentioned selling the cardboard to the recycling place. Raul and I talked most of the time we worked - he shared stories with me from his life and I shared stories from mine and answered his questions about the States, my family, etc. In a way, I'm sad we finished this project today because I really enjoyed my time with Raul, but I'm sure there will be other projects in the future.