Expect The Unexpected: Guatemala Day 3

Well today started out just like the past 2 mornings. early. We needed to be down at breakfast at 7:45am, so my mom set our alarm for 7am. We get up and dressed while trying to stay warm. The hotel has no air conditioning which also means no heat; the low for last night was around 52 degrees, so thats about the temperature of our room. We are finally ready and go downstairs to breakfast only to realize... whoops, my moms phone hadn't changed time zones, so it was really 6:45am. After killing an hour on my laptop waiting for the team to wake up and come to breakfast, my mom and I realize yet again, we have the wrong time. Forgot about Guatemalan time change. So that really means, my mom set her alarm for 5am. which means 1. we woke up 2 hours before we needed to be and 2. I got 5 hours and 15mins of sleep, that is more than I got the night before but a lot less than what i was hoping to get.
Once 7:45am rolled around( for real this time) we went downstairs and enjoyed some nice, hot Guatemalan coffee. By this point I was very much in need of a cup.... or 4, which is the number of cups I consumed within 30minutes. I greatly enjoyed my Guatemala breakfast, my favorite meal every year. We loaded the bus and headed to "The Little House Of Refuge" the orphanage we would be working at. By the time we got there the temperature had warmed up a lot, the sky was crystal clear and I was ready to see Julisa.
After a nice welcome and tour of the place we broke up into teams and got to work. We had a painting team, a construction team, sewing team, and VBS team. I wasn't put on any team in particular so I floated from team to team, but ended up spending most of my day with the men on the construction team, and man did we work. From digging trenches to moving bolder's we did not have an easy job to do. Did I mention I had on skinny jeans and toms? yeah not really construction attire. I have blisters and skin rubbed off my hands from shoveling and digging so much, but I had a great time getting to know some of the guys from my team and feeling a sense of accomplishment once the work was complete.
I finally got to hold Julisa in my arms and see her smiling face. I had been antsy all morning waiting to see her and the time finally arrived. I saw her walk past me and I couldn't help but smile. I hesitated to go see her, Sarah told me to go but as strange as this sounds, I was almost scared, well, nervous is more the word I should use. I hadn't seen her in a year! I was nervous she wouldn't remember me, nervous she would want someone else to hold her. I finally went for it. Ask her if she remembered me, she smiled, her big brown eyes looked up at me, and said "Si!" I wanted to cry. I was so happy. That big knot that was in my stomach from fear fled. For about the next hour, before she went back to school she wouldn't let me put her down, which I was totally okay with. Once school was over she and I reunited and were inseparable from pretty much the rest of the day. I walked around the orphanage with her in my arms, not ever wanting to put her down. I walked up to my dad and started talking to him. He got one of the translators to tell Julisa that he has a picture of she and I hanging in our house. Her little mind was blown. She didn't know how to respond. He told her she was bigger now and more beautiful than the picture. He looked at me and said "She really is so beautiful." once again, I wanted to cry. It was weird, I felt like a mother, proud of her child. Wanting to kiss her face, give anything for her, never put her down, never wanting her to grow up. I felt (i think) like my mom. It reminded me of how much my parents love me, how much they give for me. It made me appreciate them even more.
So much more happened during day 1 at the orphanage, but those are stories for another time. We left the orphanage around 6:30pm and went to dinner. It was, just like every meal so far, fantastic. My favorite... Nutella Crapes. yup, thats right. What a good way to end a good day.

Never expected Julisa to remember me, or to have wanted to cry- of happiness/joy- so much.

All I can say is Expect The Unexpected

Here are some pictures from today-