I’ve got a roommate! One of the interns I was lucky enough to intern alongside in 2015 (on the right in the picture above) has now moved down here to Casa Shalom full time, like me! She will be running the tutoring program, taking over the library, and assisting in the therapy of our littlest babies, toddlers, and pre-schoolers.
I’m not going to lie, having a roommate has its ups and downs. Most of my life, I’ve had a bedroom to myself, aside from 3 years in college (where we’d usually have different schedules, making the room at times feel like our own) and a short period in my childhood years sharing a room with my sister, that I had forgotten about until writing this post! I have to get familiar with my limited personal space getting almost cut in half, sharing the space with another young lady that has about the same amount of clothes, toiletries, and snacks as I do.
Having a roommate also makes me more cautious of my mess and holds me accountable for things (although she may not realize it). I have been lacking in my daily devotionals and journaling, maybe 4 days a week. Since she’s been here, I haven’t missed a day. I find myself opening up a little more, and noticing how I spend my time. Although, I still know I need to make time to give myself a break every once in a while, I am more likely to bring my cards out for a game, help make a kite, or interact more with some of those I would normally ask “How are you?” as we walk past each other.
She’s a talker, and I’m a listener, so we compliment each other well. Some of the things she’s been mentioning that she wants to help in while at Casa Shalom, I have been kind of thinking on some of those same things. Like the library. She has the keys to access the books and is going to be making a schedule of when kids can come in and check out books or stay to read at the library. I might be helping her out with that, providing that we can get a room and set up a comfortable atmosphere that the kids look forward to going to the library.
We are both at the same level of Spanish fluency, so we are always bouncing vocab words off of one another and asking for help when we lose track of what’s being said. While she was interning here, she lived with the little girls (ages 7-11) and I lived with the pre-schoolers (4-6, boys and girls). We’ve both grown close to different groups of kids, that I feel most of the basis is covered, with her spending her time with the girls she’s grown close with, and me with the younger ones I’ve grown closer to.
I think that the two of us together will be a great team working towards enhancing parts of the orphanage that lack guidance, organization, and/or time.
(har)Perseverance on a mission 