Working at San Felipe Neri is truely a gift. This week, a beautiful little 5 year old girl came bounding over and attached herself to my side (this is a major trend haha). She looked up at me with big, brown eyes and a wide grin and declared, "Te amo" :) Such loving hearts these children have! I don´t even teach in this particular niña´s classroom (and I´m pretty sure she always called me Melissa), but she greets me every day with open arms and a huge smile. This kind of uninhibited love is something we can all learn from, I think. A love that forms instantly and is given without reservation. How beautiful.
There are also moments that break my heart. After I finish teaching my one or two English classes in the morning, I meander over to one of the 1st grade classrooms where an extra set of hands is always more than welcome. This week, one of the sweetest and most adorable boys started sobbing, sobbing. Esequiel was inconsolable, his face soaked with tears. So upset he couldn´t speak. Some of his classmates explained to me that someone had told him, "tu casa es mala" (your house is bad). It´s amazing and so incredibly sad that in a neighborhood where ALL of the children live in cane or block houses, where ALL live in poverty, there still exists the biting perception that "yours is worse" and "mine is better". And that this distinction cuts deep.
As I could only have hoped and prayed for, my days are filled with the smiles and hugs (and tears) of children. In their eyes I see God. I see hope. I see love. What a beautiful life I have been gifted here in Ecuador!
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