inside volunteering

i've been wanting to take pictures at volunteer for awhile now, but i felt like i shouldnt take pictures in front of the woman who runs the "day care" since she may not understand why i was taking pictures and get nervous i would turn the shelter in. I could just be very paranoid however, thats the way i felt. i finally was able to take pictures yesterday when mia and i were there. 

mia with some of the kids. the room is a little bit bigger with this with the cribs aligning all walls. as i said before, this "day care" is at least 10 times nicer than the one i went to with brian.

yesterday it was like a sauna (there isn't an air conditioner just a fan) so mia and i were both, pretty much, dripping in sweat within 15 minutes of being there. the day went as usual when we are there--attempting to feed the babies, carrying around the ones that never stop crying, attempt to put them to sleep, etc. 

the big news was that i had to change a babies diaper for the first time. i put the baby down and mia came over to help, she lifted her legs and i started to wipe, got everything clean, and then i had to run to a corner because i started gagging and i actually thought i may puke. errrr. i love babies but i am just not meant for some motherhood type of tasks just yet.

I know I shouldn't play favorites, but I can't help it. I am in love with Michael and I want to take him home with me. Spending time with Michael has gotten me thinking about maybe adopting kids in the future instead of having my own. I am not sure if I would actually do that, but I think I would highly consider it (IF i have kids).

i went for a few hours today and for at least one hour it was just me and one of the 2 women who are there everyday, with 18 babies/toddlers. typically i am not there on my own, or there on a tuesday morning. at one point the 2-3 year olds were acting out a bit (nothing out of the ordinary though, i barely even noticed) when all of a sudden i look up and see one of the woman who work there spanking them with a wooden stick. 

i was holding one of the babies, and watched as she spanked them and then they all began hysterically crying in a corner for a good 3 minutes. it was awful. it didnt look like she hit them that hard but i just can't even fathom spanking/hitting a child. i dont care how much they act out. i didnt say anything, and im not sure if it was even my place to unless it looked like she really hurt them--which it didnt, but it pained me to see them crying like that. i called them over to me, and a few came over while i rubbed them on the back to calm them down. although i didnt feel comfortable saying anything to her, i didnt mind consoling them right after she did what she did. 

i am hoping to start volunteering at other "day cares" as well once Brian puts me in touch with some. its interesting, because although SO much help is needed it is timely and difficult to actually get in and start working--most likely because they are here illegally so its hard to get in touch with who I need to. 

tomorrow i am leaving to go on a trip to the north with my program. the itinerary sounds amazing so i am going to post it on the next post. i have become OCD about blogging and hate to have too long of entries.

yalla bye