Hot hot heat and fresh piglets!

This morning we drove down to Miacatlan where all the magic happens. Aka, this is the more ginormous NPH-Mexico home where all of 600 sweet munchkins eat, sleep, play, and learn. It is a mini-universe. Actually, it is a former sugar cane plantation which was converted in the 1950s. Today we had our volunteer orientation and were taken on a tour of the entire place. This was really fun and helpful since I didn't really know where anything was when I came last week for a Padrinos (godparent/sponsorship office) project and for graduation.

Some highlights of the tour were the comedor, where former military cooks make thousands of tortillas every day, among other foods, the fish ponds where the tilapia grow, all the sheep/goats (a hybrid mix because they want lean meat and don't need goat milk or sheep fur), lotssssss of pigs (including the 'death row' of pigs who are about to be turned into dinner and moms with their little piggies who were so fresh they were born today!), the multichanchas aka the basketball/soccer court, the swimming pool, the medical clinic, the 2 chapels and lots of other places I know I'm forgetting.

Since I will be living and working in Cuernavaca, it is fun but a little bittersweet to come to Miacatlan and know I will only get to see life here only once in a while. I will try to make excuses to come down for my job as much as I can. I'm pumped because I was already given a project in which I'll need to come down and make cards with the kinders with their little handprints on it to send to their godparents. Also, it is a bummer to have to separate from my new volunteer buddies that I've been spending all my time with the past 2.5 weeks...3 of them will be staying to work in Miacatlan where as Edith and I will head back to Cuernavaca tomorrow afternoon after playing with the chicos section! This weekend I officially start work as a caregiver- can't wait to learn about what all that entails and spend more time with my co-volunteers, the encargados, employees, and especially the kids!

The random freakouts I felt the first couple days after getting here have subsided and I've decided this will be a great (although probably a pretty difficult) year. Woohoo!

P.S.- I forgot to explain the 'Hot hot heat' part. Miacatlan, although just about an hour south of Cuernavaca, is at a much lower elevation and has an entirely different climate that can only be described as hot as Hades. That is a little exaggeration but it sure is hot and humid here, there's really no escape from the heat! One good reason to go back to Cuernavaca tomorrow!