There´s a llama running ´round the yard!!!

Hello everyone.
Sometimes I think I can be a teacher for exceptional children.
Sometimes I don´t.

yesterday´s volunteering experience was quite up and down and all around.
It went a little something like this:
I got to la Casa de Fe and when I walked in the ¨tias¨ (the amazing women that work with these kids every day and are superheroes) that usually work in that house weren´t there and so there were three other ladies that I didn´t know. So Rosita (a little girl, well... she´s probably 11) came over to me grabbed my hand and wanted to go play. So she lugged me outside to the swingset and I strapped her in to her swing and we started playing. Then Tatiana showed up too and she wanted to go so I strapped her into the other swing and we did that for awhile. As I was looking around the yard I realized there was something there that hadn´t been there the weeks before... at least I hadn´t noticed it. About 30ft away tied to some pole in the ground stood a shaggy brown LLAMA.
After smiling to myself for a moment with the complete randomness that was before me, Rosita quickly brought me back to reality and insisted that we keep playing. She called me Mami once or twice and sometimes this hurts the heart, but anyway on to another scene:

Jessica and Marina were doing there homework but neither wanted to do it, and I couldn´t even understand what the assignment was so I felt helpless, so i went into the other room. Marina followed, sat on the bed where ??Whilma?? (it sounds like Firma when the say it) was lying on the bed as she does most of her life I think because she has a physical disability and does not speak or walk, but SMILES when I walk in the room. She´s like my little sunshine. Anyway, marina was lying on the same bed as Firma and accidently Firma´s leg kicked Marinas mouth... crying started... it was bad and didn´t stop. And I couldn´t figure out how to try and tell her that Firma didn´t mean to. And then the tia came in and thought she was crying because she didn´t want to do her homework. jeesh... language barriers with exceptional kids can be difficult anyways... but when you throw in those barriers in a different language... you just feel stuck.

next scene:
kairo, my little 4or5 year old buddy was playing with me on the floor. He was on my lap, turns up his face to look at me and says ¨Hace me los cosquillas¨. I didn´t know what a cosquilla was. So I tried figuring it out... and then he kind of showed me and then I got it. He was asking me to tickle him.
Do you get it?
This little boy, without mommy or daddy or aunt or uncle just wanted to be tickled. I can not think of a time where I would have asked my daddy to tickle me, but I sure remember the times that he did. This simple request just really hit my whole being. All that Kairo wanted was to be tickled.
and so it was.
He was so cute. He´d just sit there on my lap and get ready to be tickled and then call out for Tia Nancy to come save him... but then he´d come right back and plunk his little body down and ask again ¨Hace me los cosquillas¨.
wow. the little things.

Next scene:
TANTRUMS EVERYWHERE!! Everyone was crying, people were hitting, people were saying that such and such was theirs and that it wasn´t fair and Kimberly Leininger felt VERY overwhelmed. Maybe I don´t want so many kids... tantrums are no fun.

Next Scene:
The tias are trying to work with certain kids, I´m looking for who to be with next and as I walk into the living room ish place, I look out the window and see Tatiana, who I had just been swinging in the swingset 20 min. before holding on to the rope of the llama that was tied down 20 min. ago and leading it pretty quickly across the yard! I didn´t even know what was going on. The zoo feeling of that day became a crystal reality and all i could do was turn to one of the tias and say ¨Tatiana tiene la llama...está bien? (Tatiana´s got the llama. Is that ok?)
The tia looked up at me as if saying ¨do you know what you just said gringa?...¨and then looked out the window and was like...No! and went out to free the llama from Tatiana´s leadership.

And this was all before supper started. I actually didn´t get to stay for supper last night because they didn´t start it at the time the other aunties start it.

So yes...
I was exhausted, perplexed, helpless, and was wondering if I could really be a Special Educator after these scenes, but as always I was also blessed by those two Tuesday hours with that very unique community of people.

Oh Ecuador...