graduations and birthdays

Have you ever been to an event that made you so happy and yet so sad at the same time? This week was all leading up to such an event for me: the graduation of my kindergarten class at the Casa. I was blessed with such a wonderful week with the kids! Much of it was spent in preparation for the big event on Friday. The kids had learned some songs and some dances, some of them had speeches to read, and everyone needed to practice for the ceremony. When the day finally arrived, I don't think I knew what hit me! I wasn't expecting such a big celebration, but it really was! In the morning, all of the kids changed into costumes for the dance; the girls all wore skirts with flowers in their hair and the boys wore straw hats! For the next dance, the chicken dance, i made them all little beaks to wear! Then we all went back up to the room where it had been transformed into a fair complete with a bank full of fake money, a supermarket, a movie theater, and a restaurant! After lunch we helped the kids get ready for the ceremony ( They had the whole deal; grad gowns, sashes, graduation hats..) Any parents who weren't in jail came to participate. The ceremony was great and, in true Bolivian fashion, was followed by food! The whole thing, however was very bitter sweet because now the kids have gone on summer vacation and I will not see them again. I don't think I've quite been able to process this yet. I'm going to miss them all very much.
This weekend I was able to spend with the Whittles, a family who has come for a year to volunteer at the Casa. I had a wonderful time celebrating my 20th birthday with them and the rest of the missionaries!
This week and the rest of my time here is a bit of a question mark. With the kids at the Casa gone, I have the option of helping the teachers there prepare for the next year or to hook up with a different mission work for my last three weeks here. I will keep you updated on what happens!
Prayer requests:
wisdom for what I should be spending my last few weeks doing
homesickness
Praise reports:
Being able to spend as much time as I did building relationships with the kids at Casa
God providing me a family with all the missionaries to celebrate my birthday!
Here are some pictures!