Orphan Day!

One of my favorite places in Bolivia is called Globo’s (Balloons). While I am not a huge fan of the food, the ice cream is delicious! (And half price every Tuesday!) Every year, the restaurant invites all of the orphanages of the city for a special day of free food and fun.

The line started to form early this morning, about 7:30. The kids from orphanages around the city lined up to be greeted by Polar Bears, and other unidentifiable creatures in costumes. The animals made the line bearable for the kids, and soon we were at the front of the line. For breakfast we were served cake and ice cream – this is why I love Bolivia. The kids also thought it was a good idea.

After “breakfast”, we were served Coca-Cola, and released to play on the playground. Students from Carachipampa, the school I taught at last year, came to paint faces, and were a huge hit! The kids were also allowed to play in the arcade, and volunteers walked around inserting money into the machines. More than 500 children ran around the restaurant for several hours, and I kept telling myself it would be over soon, and we would somehow find all of our children before it was over. :)

For lunch, we were generously given French fries and hamburgers, some of the best I have had in Bolivia! Most of the kids were still full from “breakfast”, but they were excited nonetheless.
By the end of the day, the decorations in the restaurant had fallen down, and the balloons were given to the children. The kids at Casa de Amor ended up with more balloons than they could fit into the car to take home!

It was a crazy day (and my purse was stolen :( ), but it was a great day for the kids to escape from the routine of everyday life. We are currently in the process of moving the babies into the girls home, so there has been a lot of transition in everyone’s lives. I am thankful for the generosity of Globo’s, and thankful for you all and your continual care, support, and prayer of the children.