I like kids (but not in a whisper voice kind of way)

Best day so far in Lesotho. We slept in this morning and then headed over to a nearby orphanage for a morning church service. As we got out of the cab I was welcomed by the sound of children singing and clapping. The moment we walked into the worship room we were bombarded by children around our legs yelling “ausi! ausi!” which means girl in Sesotho. I could hardly sit down before I had 3 or 4 of them trying to get in my lap or simply wrapping their arms around my legs. The service required a lot of sitting and then standing with dancing and clapping. I don’t think I clapped once. . . but only because I never was without a little hand in mine. The moment I would sit down I would have at least 2 of them crawl into my lap. It was probably one of the best feelings of my life.

Most amazing was the worship. They had their arms in the air, singing, dancing and praying. I have never felt such sincere prayers. It was so hard to pray for anything but better lives for all of them. They were so grateful to God and yet most of them were wearing smelly old clothing, had their shoes on the wrong feet, tinea capitis (fungus) on their heads, and runny noses to top it off. It really made me realize how much I take for granted.

The day was not without a few bumps. Most of the kids were coughing and sneezing and wiping their noses quite frequently. . . I was glad Alex remembered her hand sanitizer. At one point a little boy that was coughing quite a bit kept raising his arms for me to hold him. I resisted which was probably good because he then threw up all over the place. . . including my shoe. Guess it was better than down my shirt or in my hair!

After getting cleaned up we headed to “Pick and Pay” ,which is the local grocery store, to grab a few things. The grocery store is inside a “mall”. The whole building is about the size of a Wal-mart, but it is very nice. It was only built a few years ago and is probably the nicest place in Lesotho. They have other shops in their as well, including a lunch spot that we have grown to love. It isn’t traditional Lesotho food, but tasty nonetheless. My favorite thing about it though, is the COFFEE!!! I haven’t been able to get a decent cup of coffee here until today. They don’t brew coffee at the clinic and I don’t have a coffee maker at the cottage. I bought some instant coffee which has proven to be very disappointing and often puts me in a highly caffeinated state, and not the good kind.

Looks like we will spend the rest of the evening reading or watching a movie. My skype is acting weird but will hopefully be working again by tomorrow evening. I will let you guys know. Just FYI- prime skype times for me are around 4 or 5 pm my time and 9 and 10 your time!

Oh and one last thing. . . . HAPPY 3^rd BIRTHDAY HAZEL CLAIRE! I hope your birthday party was fun and that you got everything you wanted. I miss you and that awesome family of yours!