Una Vida Loca

¡Díos mío! Everything is a bit mad here. We ended up behaving ourselves last night, sharing 2 bottles of wine between 4 and getting to bed by 1! The restaurant we went to was amazing, Sile and I had a meat platter to share which had all the finest of cured meats on offer, and then I had this to-die-for steak kebab that was perfectly rare... delicious. Our waiter looked like a cross between Jet Li and the Croatian one from ER too. Thankfully, CopaCabanna was closed, so it was an early night for us!

This morning Sile and I had our first day at the other home, Arcoaire de Sueños ("Rainbow of Dreams"... you may think this is cheesy, but the kids there so deserve to have all their dreams come true). The difference from Refugio is staggering. The kids there are just as cute, but none of them have the specific developmental or behavioural problems of those at El Refugio. One of the tías (ladies who looks after the kids) told us that the 9 kids there are from 2 families. Some of the kids are former drug addicts from having been given drugs by their mother, to stem their hunger when they were living on the street. I could have cried when I heard this. When we arrived, we pretty much got jumped on and hugged and kissed to bits. They clearly are very loving and have been taught to share and be affectionate. To begin with, they showed us all their schoolwork (I resisted the urge to get out my red pen) and then we got the atlas out and showed them where we were from. They were fascinated. Then one of them started asking what the alphabet was in English, as it is painted on the wall. I wrote out the whole thing in Spanish phonetics and he was pretty good at remembering it. He was telling everyone, and then the others wanted to learn too. Of course, I got a great kick out of this! After that, he wanted to know the numbers, so I wrote them phonitically too (like twenty as "tuente")- and I must admit, he did end up pronouncing things with a great wee Scottish accent. It made me giggle! We spent the rest of the morning playing games with them and being cuddled, kissed and slobbered on to within and inch of our lives (I HATE slobber!).

Then it was back home for a bit of lunch and a kip. Despite being totally opposed to everything the siesta stands for in terms of it being impossible to get anything done on your break as ALL shops are shut, I am starting to love getting a wee sleep between 1 and 2. I needed it too, as it was back to El Refugio in the afternoon. It is starting to bother me a bit less, I´m bonding a bit more with the kids (especially the older girls, who have taken me into their confidence a wee bit) and the surroundings don´t seem as bad somehow. Today the kids asked to be taken to the park and I relented - Sile and I chose 4 kids each and off we went. One wee boy wet himself almost as soon as we got there, but as he didn´t seem at all bothered, we just let him get on with it (I know, terrible!!!). He dried off quick in the intense heat anyway! The girls mainly wanted a chat about all sorts, especially because some of their friends in the other home had written them letters for us to pass on. One girl has a sister in Arcoaire, who ran away from El Refugio... a long story. One girl, Rosa, is really intelligent and told me she wants to be a lawyer when she´s older. I really hope she makes it.

My Spanish is making improvements and I´ve noticed that I´m starting to think in Spanish, which makes me feel a bit mad as if I´m talking out loud to myself. I don´t think anyone else can hear, though. I did have a bit of an incident on my way here, though. I realised that I can´t wear my shorts for another day without washing them, as they are totally manky from the kids, so I took all my wordly washable goods to the laundrette in a taxi... on the way, I realised I didn´t have any pesos left, and asked the driver if I could pay in dollars (some accept this). He said "oh, how pretty" (?) and so I though that was a yes. When we got to the laundrette, I tried to give him a $20 note and he just about boked... we had a very long discussion about it and in the end, he just let me off with the fare. He said he´d get it tomorrow - I hope he doesn´t come looking for me! It was only about 4 pesos - 80p!

Right, I have to dash off now, as I have just been informed by Oli that we are now taking a taxi to the Immigrants' Festival tonight as opposed to a bus. It will cost 170 pesos (about 12 quid each) but he will wait for us throughout the festival and personally chauffeur us home - not bad, considering that the festival is in Obrera, one and a half hours away. Oli and Johnny love the taxi drivers here, as apparently they always talk about 2 things - football and Argentine women (you can imagine the boys' delight). I wonder if I will have to endure a match's worth of time listening to this inane chat. I may bring a book.

Hasta manaña otra vez!