Good Ol' Saint Nick...

Nicolas has been cast as Santa Claus. Our friends and family both in France and in Canada were very generous and got together some money so that we could give Christmas to the kids here. Normally Christmas is without gifts and simply a big meal that commemorates the event, but with the help of the donations we received both at our going away party and from a drive organized by my mom in Canada we have been able to put together quite a nice spread. Two kids have left the house to go and live with their father who was working in Spain. He entrusted his kids to an aunt while he was away and her husband beat the kids terribly, so they were taken away and put here. When the government finally managed to track down the father in Spain, he came straight home to collect his children. So we will only have 26 kids at Christmas. 12 big ones and 14 little ones. Each little one will receive a new pair of leather shoes, a hat and a toy. For the girls, the requests were pretty much the same. Barbie and her swimming pool is what everyone was hoping for. For the boys, simple as well. Cars is what they wanted. They also have a bag full of candy. The big ones aged 11 and over all have a hygiene kit and a pair of sunglasses. The teen girls sometimes use toilet paper in place of sanitary napkins and wash with out soap. Their big social outing of the week is going to youth group with the church and they do what they can to look their best, but when you don't have make up, deodorant, or any of the things that we take for granted when we get ready every morning or to go out. So in each girl kit, there are maxi pads, soap, shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, lipstick, mascara, creme, a sponge, perfume, razors and nail polish. For the boys, it's mostly the same but substitute maxi pads for shaving creme and make up with a bigger bottle of perfume. The teens also get sunglasses and a bag of candies. All in all, I think it will be a merry Christmas.
Nicolas is going to dress up as Santa and our host family here in Bolivia is going to come and spend Christmas here. For any of you reading who have never seen my husband, he's shaped like a match. Not a very Santa like figure... But whatever, the kids will be happy I think.
Other than that we have a new volunteer from Belgium and another coming on the 20th from New Caledonia, so it's going to be a French fest around here which is good because I'm forgetting my French. It's not as limber as it used to be, but my Spanish gets better everyday. We're very happy to have them though as the couple that runs the orphanage is leaving and... we're it. From Christmas on, we're running the show which scares me when I think about it, so I try not to think about it. We were supposed to run it until Peter comes back, (the guy who started the home and left on "vacation" in August) but we said no. We had to. Two people running the show for I don't know how long would have killed me. I already have more wrinkles than when I arrived, I would leave looking like the crypt keeper. Anyway, if all of these politics sound complicated, it's because they are and I try to stay out of them. But we're really starting to be heavily involved with this place... I'll post pictures of Nicolas as Santa ASAP