Overwhelmed

I made it! After a long day of traveling which included 7 hours in the air, 6 hours sitting in the airport, a 2 hour bus ride, spending half an hour in the wrong line at customs (only to end up spending another 1 1/2 hours in the right one), getting lost in the airport multiple times, knocking over the guy at the bus station with my luggage when he was trying to help me, and sitting next to the crazy lady on the bus who kept looking at her phone and yelling "BUENO! BUENO!" for the whole two hours, I finally arrived at my destination.  I was sufficiently exhausted and went straight to bed.

The next day was orientation with the other new volunteers Alex and Guillaume.  Then a walking tour with Cindy (one of the directors) around the area.  It was pretty eye-opening to see the conditions of some of the streets.
Later that day Gerardo (the lead director) took us to a waterfall in San Anton, a neighboring town which was incredible.  It's right in the middle of the city and so beautiful. 

One of the best things about it though were the "environmentally friendly" toilets, complete with explanatory signs.

The roads on the way back were lined with stores selling every plant and flower you can think of .

And I saw my first stray of the trip. By the end of the week I think I was up to about 12,034.

The next day classes started.  I'm teaching 3 classes of 3-5 year olds at a school called La Estacion (The Station).  It's a very poor community in the center of Cuernavaca centered around an old abandoned train station.  The teacher of my first class of the day is a nun, Madre Juanita, and is a little intimidating.  I didn't know what to expect the first day and it felt a little like being thrown into a pool hoping you somehow knew how to swim.  I think I barely managed to tread water.    
Later in the week all of us volunteers went on a tour of the community at La Estacion and it was, in a word, humbling.  Seeing the way that all of these people live left more than one person teary-eyed. 
Luckily Alex and I are both working there so we're walking buddies for the 30 minute uphill trek to school everyday, and partners in crime for figuring out how to keep the kids' attention all day. 
Things have gotten much better with the kids as I have gotten more settled in and they're getting a little more use to having me around.  But they go a little crazy when a camera comes out and I have to get special permission for pictures so those will be coming a little later. 

The Adventure Begins!

Today I am leaving home and the good ole US of A behind for 3 months to teach English to kids in Cuernavaca, Mexico.  My inspiration to go on this trip came, of course, from the dedicated Nacho Libre who devoted his whole life to the orphans.  Maybe that's not completely correct, but I do feel like I understand him a little better already.  My new home during this time will be with Casa Hoy and I can't wait to meet everyone there. I'm so excited for all the new experiences and adventures to come!