Walkaways

A bit of a tough day today all round, not least because it was a struggle to get up this morning. We went to the restaurant my guidebook recommended, and it was lovely. I had this amazing steak, Bife de Chorizo al Canibal (not as gruesome as it sounds, but it was very bloody in the middle - just the way I like it!). The waiter even said "excellent choice, Sir" to Jonny (in Spanish) when he ordered the wine (the 2004 Malbec, if you're interested), but apparently the desserts were rubbish.

Afterwards I tried hard to resist the peer pressure to go out (I am 26, after all, and past such things), but ended up being press-ganged into going to Mentecato, and, even worse, the thoroughly vile Tauro. My pool skills had improved a bit, though. Being the "mum" of the group, I bailed out early again, and still felt as though I needed another 12 hours' sleep when the alarm went off this morning. My throat is now really hurting, and I would curse Tauro if I could get the words out.

Sile and I endured our last ever wait for the catorce (the no 14 bus) this morning, amid the general gawping and stares of Posadas drivers. One guy was practically hanging out his car. I don't get it - we are dressed in our work clothes, which are covered in paint, flour, mud and worse from the day before, we have no makeup on, we look half-dead from tiredness... what is it they find so fascinating? There is also this really funny thing that men do here when they are trying to get your attention as you walk past - they make this "ch ch ch" sound. For ages I just thought it was crickets in the grass! They really need to sort it out!

Arcoiris was lovely this morning. Zacarías read me a bit of a play he had been doing at school about the destruction of the Aboriginal peoples' lifestyle and habitat since the Conquistadores "discovered" South America. The play was done in the form of a story told to children by their grandfather, and the end of the story was yet to come - the grandad said that it was the kids' responsibility to make sure that the ending was a happy one. Zaca and I talked about what this meant and I explained that it didn't end with his generation, but would go on for ever, and everyone had the responsibility. I can't believe I managed to do this in Spanish and he understood - it was quite a moving moment for me. I had a great time too with Salomon, teaching him Scots phrases. He picks things up really fast. He spoke Doric at one point, when he greeted me with a "Fit like, min" and later on he said "he's totally radge". Brilliant!

We finished making the magnets, and 2 of the kids gave me theirs as a memento of them. They were meant to be mementos of us, but I like fridge magnets and it would have been rude to refuse. At one point Lorena called all the kids to the office and when they came back out, they had made posters for both of us that had drawings of all the children on it and messages from the ones that could write. Mine was written in Spanish, but Sile's one was in English, which said a lot for them - they don't really speak any English. It said something along the lines of "we may not share the same language, but we can still understand each other". Reading that made me cry. Sile hardly dried up all morning! At the end, we went round all of them and I said good luck for their lives to each of them. At one point I was struck by how fragile their lives are and I was really sad to think that their lives may not always be so secure and happy as they are now. I wonder what will become of them. I hope to keep in touch with them by email, though, and Lorena wants our photos to make a website for the home.

Eventually, after much crying and lots of goodbyes, we left. We had a very greasy lunch in the foodcourt - all 3 of us were up for some serious comfort-eating. Afterwards it was Refugio time - I was quite dreading it, but I ended up having some great moments with the kids. We had all the new puzzles out, and they all proved very popular. It was amazing the difference they have made - the kids used to run around madly all the time, making weapons to hurt each other or destroy things out of anything they could find. It was really nice at one point to step back and see a group of about 15 kids from the age of 4 to 14 all absorbed in some activity or another. Also, I had a bit of a watershed with Alejandrito, who I was beginning to wonder might be autistic as he didn't respond to anyone and used to cry a lot of the time. Somehow today I won him over and he couldn't stop giving me hugs. Last week he kept destroying things and hitting people, but today he tidied up all the bricks on his own initiative, and when I praised him he ran into my arms for a hug. Little things like that have made this trip worthwhile.

I was glad to get away at 5.45 because the kids had started to go a bit radge again, and I didn't want to spoil the nice afternoon that we had just had. I wonder what will become of all the kids there. I do feel, though, that what I've done has made a difference, even if it's just the tiniest bit. Now it's up to other people - I just hope that they care about the kids as much as I did. I think, though, that what I have seen and done here won't really sink in until I get home.

It's my last night in Posadas tonight. It's gone so fast. I will be glad of the change, though, and I'm excited about going to Buenos Aires again. Most of all, I'm excited about getting home - I miss it.

I better go off and pack now - I have to be out of my room by 10 tomorrow morning as there is a new person coming (another lamb to the slaughter!), so I want to be all organised. No late night for me, tonight, either!

The next installment will probably be in BA, if I can get to a computer. Until then... ¡ciao!