I started my day off with Caffe lato after shopping at the supermarket yesterday, plantains and my baked goodies. Delish! In the morning, I met a new volunteer, Victor, who is studying to become a doctor and is just starting out at the age of 18! He spoke a little English and I think I taught him a thing or two. I wasn't in charge of checking the niños in today as I clearly showed them how competent I was at that yesterday. I was in charge of folding plastic bags compactly in triangles to save space. I maybe did this to 50 bags. See attached photos. More kids came around 10:00 a.m. to start playing and I helped with taking puzzles down from the closet or setting up a paint area for them. I met this sweet little boy who had a broken arm and helped him with a "Cars" puzzle. He taught me a few Spanish words and spoke super slooooow for me. He even used my phone in my dictionary application to type in words with his one free hand so that I could understand him. I hate not knowing Spanish well!! Marie, the volunteer from Quito who is 29, helped translate a little for me even though she speaks little English the little boy said, "I love you" and pointed to me. His name was Clever Jesus "like the son of God" he kept saying until I understood. He was 6 years old. I set up a painting station for him and he said he already ate lunch. His Dad or other family member came to pick him for lunch. He lied and said he ate in order to paint. I told him I might not be here after lunch but possibly. He said, "that would make me happy" in Spanish. I ate lunch again with Auria and Maria. Of course, they both offered me half of their lunch even though they saw I had a full lunch that I brought today. I ended up taking half of an Avocado. We have such great lunch conversations and Marie's English is getting better since I'm primarily speaking in English. The afternoon was full of kids. Much more than yesterday. I ended up staying as the two volunteers that came the day before were not going to be here so it would only have been 2 volunteers if I left. I'm glad that I stayed in the afternoon. I had a blast! Marie and I went up to the different floors and invited kids down to play a area. She said she usually does this in the afternoon. Turns out Clever left! I was happy and sad at the same time.

These two kids, Jonathan and Bianca, were very bashful and laughing when I spoke a little English to them. By the end of the day, they were both clinging to me! They asked of I could play Jenga with them. This was when they really learned my Spanish was terrible and kept shaking their heads And saying the words slow. I made fun of myself for knowing so little and they liked that. They were both 11, but looked maybe 9? I'm not sure why they were in the hospital. They asked if I could teach them English so for the rest of the afternoon I taught these two English words and phrases. The one little boy said he was "mad because you are teaching the girl more" then I told him that's because she is paying more attention than he is!!! We ended the day playing a big round of Uno and all of the kids (who were paying attention during my lesson) said the farewells I taught them as they left! So sweet!

My roommate Michelle and I decided yesterday we would meet for drinks and dinner after work. I went to the Ecole School to get more information in regards to Galapagos tours. Had a free coffee while reading over the information. Michelle's mom and friend were in town visiting until they go to the jungle tomorrow so they joined us as well. We had a fantastic dinner at Galleria Cafe; this place that I pass by to the hospital that looks uber expensive. I had ceviche (amazing), fries and finished with ginger and fig ice cream. They had all Ecuadorian gifts to sell and everything was so beautiful there. I need to go again before I leave! It's interesting having dinner with an Italian and two Dutch people because literally there were four different languages spoken during the meal. Interesting! They treated me to dinner as well which was so generous of her mom and friend. We finished off the night by going to Finn McCool's, an Irish pub, with most of the people I met yesterday at the meet and greet. It was trivia night or "pop quiz" as some of them said, and we all know how much I contributed. However, when it came to music and the photos of a few celebrities, I did guess Drop Kick Murphy's and Scarlett Johansson. Shocker!! So glad our water is back on after 2 days of nada, just being able to flush the toilets.

I plan to meet up with Lauren, who I met at Teleferiqo, to check out a few museums and possibly a tour bus tomorrow. Can't wait to see those niños tomorrow, explore and take my free salsa lesson.