of Mikey and... well... the norm.

Allow me to introduce you to Mikey. I was instantly drawn to him at first as much as Elliot was drawn to little Johnny because they both had the same names as our boyfriends back home. The more I spent with Mikey, the more I could see that he needed special love and attention. AKA extra hugs :) This is what I signed up for. Mikey is a lot more quiet than the other boys so I think he gets passed over a lot. But once I started to show him some extra attention, he started smiling and laughing with me. Man, he has a knockout smile!

Mikey is about five years old and was born on Valentine's Day supposedly--must be why he's so sweet. He's been at Bangla Hope since he was eleven months old because his father passed away. His file says that one sad looking lady brought a very nice looking baby boy to Mrs.Waid. She would not talk but others around explained that eight months before, Mikey's parents had gone to eat lunch with relatives. The father became ill and had extreme diarrhea but refused to go see a doctor. Thus he couldn't get enough liquid down him in order rehydrate and was dead by the end of the week. Mikey's mother was also mentally ill according to these people and wasn't able to take care of him by herself. She cried and cried when they took Mikey away.

It makes me sad that Mikey, like some of the other quiet ones, tend to get overlooked. I'm not casting any blame because, let's be honest, I was just as much to blame by getting sucked in as an audience of the Marisa's and the Danny's. But I hope that can be a lesson to me, even when I get back, to be more observant of the introverted people. Based on what I've seen here, they have just as much, if not more, to offer as the extroverts! I'm glad I took time to cuddle Mikey and give him extra love. He told me he loved me tonight and it made my heart melt. He's such a precious little soul, innocent and untainted by the cruelty of this world. I wish I could protect him from the hardships to come but life isn't like that.

I'm afraid I don't have much to report from today... I taught class in the morning and then Mrs.Waid and I went to Hili to run some errands. We came back and I did laundry (by hand!) because I'm getting low on almost everything and I don't want to take dirty laundry across Asia next week :P I made up the progress reports for Mrs.Waid so that each child can see how they are doing in each subject... I studied some ochem. I talked about living out our faith at the caregiver's worship. We played 5 Crowns after watching an animal show on their satellite TV. I lost both times but you can't be good at everything right? lol

anyways, that was the norm... Nothing new, nothing exciting. I'll tell you what IS exciting though! I get to see Dad in four days. FOUR DAYS. After six months of phone conversations, FB messages, and emails, I get to see my DAD. Whoop Whoop! Yes, I'm THAT excited. Part of me almost wishes I was going all the way home but then that part gets squished out by the part that is ecstatic to travel to Thailand and India. Oh dear... can't... contain... EXCITEMENT!

But I must because I'm going to bed and like to sleep :)
ami tomake bhalobashi