fun in the park and cockroaches

Today is Friday and I have been in David for 2 weeks. If the Tsunami warning is lifted, we will be heading for Boca Brava tomorrow to spend 24 hours on the island and finally see the ocean. The six of us will be sharing rooms and sleeping in bunk beds which will be a novel experience.
Today I was thrilled to take four of the children out to play at the park outside their residence. I chose Henry, Jessica, Angela and Marie Lise because they are the oldest and the easiest to supervise in an open area. It was as if they had never been outside. They walked carefully around, picking up sticks and picking little flowers, pointing to a bus in the distance and a car that passed by. Slowly, they went to the old swings and then asked to be lifted up and swung...none of them really knew what to do and I had to show them how to hold on. None of them knew how to slide down the slide. These are children who are about 4-5 years old, but their growth is severely stunted so other than Henry, they are tiny, like one year olds. None of them really talk but point and make sounds. Some of them will repeat words that sound similar to the real word. The equipment is old and most of it broken but they had fun anyway . For 30 minutes they were able to soak up some sunshine and fresh air. After that the extreme heat really makes it hard to stay outdoors. Only Henry ran around, the others walking tentatively with very serious looks on their little faces. It was so good though to hear one little laugh with pleasure when she was pushed on the swing. Because inside I have heard little laughter.  I hope to renew the experience next week. And maybe there will be a volunteer from the local community who can come and repair the existing equipment.
Today I found my first dead cockroach in my room... there are always many in this hot humid climate. People here put mothballs in all their drawers to keep cockroaches away. I discovered that on my first day when I wondered why my clothes smelled of moth balls. I had put all my things in the dresser drawers only to see that it was full of moth balls. What a smell....I had it on me all day. So now I hang things up and have piled everything else on a shelf.

Hasta luego.