I LOOOVE Pirates!

There is a local family that takes care of the house here year round...Jose Manuel, his wife Maria Elena, and their 3 kids, Freddy (12), Raquel (9) and Sylvia (8). They live across the street and own/operate a small store. Eliana and John have become quite fond of the kids, especially, as John more often calls them, "the girls." They come over in the mornings with their mom and help sweep up the leaves, that due to their constant falling, probably feels futile...and yet they arrive each day to repeat the same task. Eliana and John attempt to assist them with their own little brooms, but they are generally more of a hindrance than a help. Eliana has started waiting for them on the steps with her broom at 6am, hopeful that they will be headed over soon. "The girls'" arrival has now become the highlight of their day.

It's awesome to see the kids truly enjoying their time with them, especially in light of the language barrier. Eliana is really picking up a lot of Spanish, but more often than not, she just repeats the phrase, "Vamanos!" over and over again. Although she is significantly younger than them, she is a typical oldest child, and is bossy in every language. We're not exactly sure if Sylvia and Raquel can pick this up in her tone or if they just chalk it up to something lost in translation...but whatever the case, they continue to listen to her and follow wherever she goes. I've been trying to teach her to say "por favor" after she barks out commands in Spanish...you know...soften her image a little to ensure that she keeps her friends. For this, and various other reasons, it's probably a good thing that they don't know English. Last week, after changing out of her swimwear (swim suits are not all that common down here...they generally just swim in clothes), Sylvia returned dressed in a shirt with a sewn in black mesh cropped cardigan. John's response was, "OHHH...you're a pirate! I LOOOOVE pirates!!!!" Awesome.

I am now known as the beauty salon and paint all the girls' nails every couple of days. They are really into the mix and match...a different color on each hand and each foot. Might have to bring the trend back to the U.S. John is pretty bummed that he can't be a part of this event. I'd be down to paint his nails for him, but I'm pretty sure his dad would frown upon it. But, he keeps telling me that he wants "Thomas the Train" nail polish...because apparently that's all the rage with the boys these days...totally manly.

They are also very fascinated with my camera and love seeing all the pictures right after I take them. Which is why they especially liked their Polaroid pictures I took of them that they got to keep as souvenirs. I think Sylvia thought she was on a photo shoot while boogie boarding the other day. She would make sure she had a huge smile on her face and was heading right towards me before taking off on a wave. We have a lot of fun with them and appreciate that the kids have some other people to entertain them. Plus, they have learned to speak slower when talking with us so we can understand them and communicate more effectively. It's going to be a bummer next week when school starts again. They've been on their summer vacation for the whole time we've been here, so it'll be a sad day Tuesday.