Up Up and Oaxaca!!

Well, we found our way back into the mountains. After dropping significantly in elevation for a day, we climbed all the way right back up...think 30 km of pure up...not a downhill in sight...and then as much up and down to your heart's content as you can handle. In short, it was a tough ride to Oaxaca, but we made it. We arrived here in the city in the afternoon, and made our way to Hijos de la Luna, an NGO that supports single moms and their children. We were greeted with a round of sticky-palmed applause and tequila cocktails, the latter in honor of Mother's Day :c) We just relaxed for the rest of the evening, bathing and eating, and then put ourselves to work the next morning.

We found Hijos de la Luna as we were searching for a place to do some volunteering. It is kind of like a cross between an orphanage and a daycare, meaning that moms can drop their kids off for anything from just daytime to months or years at a time until they can take care of their children full time, both financially and emotionally. Many of the children come from backgrounds of violence, neglect, and malnutrition. Therefore, there are a lot of behavioral and developmental problems that occur with the kids, and keeping the ball rolling in terms of just maintaining order and a respectful environment is a full-time endeavor. On top of keeping up with the kids (who, although they don't necessarily realize it, are always more energetic and two thousand steps ahead of adults!) there is a lot of cleaning, laundry and cooking that has to be done for a household of 30! Whew!

We end every evening tired, but content. Each day gets easier as we all get to know each other more, and as we understand better how things run. After all the kids are tucked in the adults just crash at the kitchen table, drink coffee, have a bite to eat, and talk politics and culture. It has been really interesting and rewarding to get to know Dona Coco and her family. They are all amazingly warm, funny, educated people who exhibit beautifully what it means to do things for others. In some ways their family reminds me of our family...they are always laughing up a storm together. And they have their own Josh! Meaning that they also have a non-bio-bro who just wormed his way into their hearts and home. So far there's no evidence of Kavita or Jenny equivalents, but that just makes our little crew even cooler :c) I really appreciate that we are all like family, I'm glad that you guys also have your own awesome families, and I love that I get to brag about you guys. Yep, I feel pretty lucky to have all of you in my life!

Apart from helping out at Hijos, we try to take some time to get out and see the city. So far it has been fantastic. We visited our first big ruins site, Monte Alban, up on a hillside above Oaxaca. It makes both of us laugh that it was "discovered" in 1930 or some such year...I'm pretty sure all the indigenous people in the area knew that there was a huge complex of ruins on top of a big mountain right in the region where they had been living for thousands of years...Anyway, we have also been enjoying the center with it's enormous shady plaza, markets stuffed with delicious food and drink, churches and museums. Along with being entertained by the sights we also have been doing a bit of entertaining ourselves. Eric brought out his ukulele the other night and played and sang songs with the kids - they loved it! We also taught a few of Dona Coco's sons how to play Spit, Speed, Double Solitaire, and BS. We laughed so much at all the craziness of the fast card games, how hard it is to learn new ones, and at my sore loser/competitive nature! All in all, we are really enjoying our time here, and it will be tough to leave such great people and all the kids who deserve so much.