10,000 horas

Hey there. It has been some eventful, BUSY few weeks. Well, busy month or so. Andrew and I have been in the USofA for a month. *sigh* I miss the Hogar and sometimes wish I were back hanging out with them. Only sometimes because the other times I'm glad I finally have a reliable income and clothes softener.

Speaking of the Hogar, I realize that some people just don't share the same passions as me. I LOVE telling people about the Hogar and about Andrew and I's experience, but most people get this glassy look in their eyes after I say "we worked at an orphanage for kids with disabilities." I also did a presentation about it in my Spanish class (in Spanish, mind you...dificil, SI, but I felt pretty pumped as I was presenting anyway) and NO ONE even asked me about it afterward. Pffffffft. What-ever. Haha:) I just miss it there. I want EVERYONE to know how much I love those kids.

I mean seriously, when you see this much happiness and fun going on, can you blame me for loving it/them?



Oh yes. I love those kids. Truly love them as if they were my own family.

I also filled out a "check-out" survey for the Hogar about my experience. I think Rachel (my directora, aka: jefa) might be the only one who read it (not sure??) and she already knows how I feel about the Hogar, but it was good to be asked questions and give responses. It helped me to realize how I grew, why, etc.

One question asked what I didn't expect to happen from my experience. My answer:

"I was not expecting to love it so much and come back wanting to do ALL that I could to continue helping this program progress. It sounds SO CHEESY to say this, but I'm going say it because sometimes the truth is cheesy: I was meant to go to the Hogar so that I could come back and continue to help for many, many years. Cliche response, but it's true and I DEFINITELY didn't expect to feel like that coming home. Not at all."

Another question asked what I learned the most from my experience. My response:

"I think I grew and benefited most in my cultural and personal experience. I learned that having a disability doesn't make you less of a person; it makes your challenges different. I learned that love doesn't know how to be selfish. I learned that I have a LONG way to go to become as beautiful and wonderful as those kids I spent my summer with. I love them and I LOVED my experience. It was truly life changing in so many ways."

Haha, like how I quoted myself there? Esta bien, I just want to share my feelings. And I assure you that Andrew feels the exact same. It's pretty cute because on car rides to places (where a lot of our "deep" convos tend to take place), Andrew will randomly say things like, "Molly, when we're rich, we're not going to live rich. We're going to live modestly and help people with the rest of our money. I want to help people." Or "Molly, I think we should always go back to the Hogar and help them out as much as we can." etc. He isn't much of a "discuss life-plans" type of person nor does he talk about his emotions because he's just not that emotional of a guy (for most things...when it comes to football, he could talk all day. Especially BYU football:)) So I can tell he loved it as much as me. Aww, I definitely married the right boy (for many other reasons outside of our love for the Hogar:) ha!).

WOW, long boring post. Started school last week, and this may be my busiest semester I've had since my first freshman semester way back in 2005. Three 3-hour long classes with many long, time-consuming outside work (art classes...ugh). Can't wait till the photo classes start!!