Purple Rain

Today has served to be yet another wonderful experience for our group. As you are well aware, yesterday we begin the big project of painting the outside wall of the entrance to the Casa. The color chosen by the owner, Raquel, was a deep shade of purple. Both Raquel and her husband, Sergio, have long waited for the wall to be painted. The concrete wall was covered with graffiti and certainly did not reflect the nature of life inside the wall. Cinnabon, Chris F, Bridget, Marcia, Katie and I took on the role of serving as the painters for the day along with Sergio. It took all day, but eventually we finished the 1000-foot wall. Sergio and Cinnabon were the two paint rollers, but Sergio was smart enough to wear a Spanish firefighters suit and escaped all falling paint. Cinnabon was not as fortunate and needed a half hour in the bathroom to remove the "purple rain" from his arms and face.

In the kitchen, Molly and Melanie worked to make the meal for the day, which was a chicken dish, served over potatoes with a green peanut sauce. We all ate with the mothers and their children, and then continued on with our tasks for the day. Cinnabon and I worked in the kitchen to clean the dishes (a daunting task, to say the least) while Katie went outside with Molly to paint ten white angels onto the freshly painted purple wall (ten to signify the ten years the Casa has been open). Chris F took the younger boys outside to play, while Melanie, Bridget and Marcia all lent a hand in the nursery.

Throughout the day, the madres of the casa could not stop talking about us taking them to the park. It was a chance for them to get away from their children for a while and just be kids (which is what they really are). In the afternoon, we took them to the park to play a soccer game. They were so excited to have the opportunity to just run around. One of them bought us a soda (that Cinnabon says tasted like bubble gum). They were so full of energy that most of us ended up sitting down while they played. After much grumbling, we had to head back to the Casa where things got out of hand. The younger boys, apparently missing our absence, took to chaos and we were smothered by them. Carlos, Diego, Abraham, and Justin took pictures, wrestled, and laughed with us while we were waiting for our bus.

Unfortuntely, Melanie was feeling sick, so the busride was not a pleasant one (the driver did not help). We decided to call it an early night. Chris F and Marcia stayed with Melanie while Cinnabon, Katie, Bridget, Molly and I went to a local restaurant to eat. There was pizza, steak, fettucine, spaghetti, garlic bread and nachos. It was a great meal, and a good time for us to relax. We headed back to the casa for the night and prepared for the next day at the Casa.

- Professor Patty Gomez (aka PG, ProGo, Peeg, etc.)