Once again, I have finally been able to reach some internet connection!  After a long, fourteen hour day at the hospital we finally got back to the hotel.  Today was our first day of surgery, and boy was it crazy!!  There were so many kids and families from all over in the pre-operating rooms.  It was like a zoo!  Andrea and I got to set up a small play area near the pre-op rooms to entertain the kids while they waited to be called for surgery.  We saw some familiar faces, and it was great to see that they recognized us too and wanted to play with us again.  We had some "burbuja", which is Spanish for “bubbles”, out for the children to play with.  They LOVED blowing and running after the bubbles.  It was fascinating to see how much they loved and were entertained by them.  One little boy named Fransisco, who was only four years old, thought the bubbles were the funniest thing he had ever seen!  He was just so adorable with the cutest laugh you've ever heard.  Once we pulled out the GIANT bubble wand he just couldn't control his laugher, and it was impossible not to smile and not fall in love with him!!  Another little girl named Johanny really enjoyed taking our crayons and breaking them into two.  She found it VERY amusing and loved our reactions!  She was a little trouble maker but was still adorable!  She had a repaired bilateral cleft lip and was getting her cleft palate repaired today.  Andrea and I were actually able to watch her surgery in the Operating Room (aka OR).  It was really awesome to see a live surgery, and having some of the doctors explain to us what they were doing was really interesting!  It was incredible to see how the kids look before their surgery and then immediately after.  It is so good to know that what these children are getting here will truly change their lives forever.  I was able to watch another young girl's surgery.  Her name was Michel (pronounced like Michelle) and she was my favorite today!  She was the cutest little thing, and was just so sweet and tiny!  She was three years old and had a growth near her right eye and nose, but it didn't have any effect on how cute she was to me.  I fell in love with her, and found myself playing with her and helping her pick out stickers to put on her drawing for hours.  When she finally went into the OR, I was able to watch the whole surgery and also calm her down once she came out to the recovery room.  I also had the privilege to carry her over to her family after her surgery.  She was so precious!  Today was a long day, but definitely and experience of a lifetime that I will never ever forget!

Yesterday was our free day, and we went to this really nice environmental reserve. It was kind of like a farm, but really nice and well kept.  There were several different animals there including an anteater!!  It was my first time ever seeing one in real life! There was a pool and everything! Our whole team went in, and danced and just enjoyed the beautiful day.  We've been having the most amazing yet hot weather here.  I just love every minute here in Venezuela!! 

Dancing happens to be very popular here for everyone on our mission; especially the Venezuelans, who are essentially our dancing teachers.  Not only did everyone dance and have a good time at the pool on our free day, but we also had a nice team dinner at a traditional Venezuelan restaurant the night before.  After dinner, we all got up and danced and it was just so funny and a lot of fun! 

The day before that was the day the names for surgery were posted.  This was when the families came to hospital to find out whether or not they were accepted for surgery. This is one of the hardest parts of the mission.  Those who look for their name, but don’t seem to find it because they were not accepted for surgery become so devastated and just break down into tears.  There was one 45-year-old woman with a cleft lip, who found out she was admitted for surgery and just started balling.  She was so emotional and began to share that she has been praying all week long that she will be be able to get this surgery.  She told us that people would make fun of the way she looked and that she is just so happy to finally have the chance to change that.  As soon as I heard these words I got shivers down my spine.  I was so happy to know that she was one of the people to be chosen for surgery.  Once again, we saw some familiar faces down near where the names were posted, and I found my little twins that I had fallen in love with the previous day at screening.  The one twin with the cleft lip was admitted for surgery and the mom was just so happy.  I can’t wait to see them at the hospital again and to play with them and just spend more time with them!  If I can, I will definitely want to see his surgery and be able to return him to his family!

I am looking forward to the rest of the week, and I'm more excited than ever to witness all of this!!