La Familia y Neque - Caitlin

At first I was a bit shy and timid around our host family. I kept thinking my Spanish wasn't good enough and was afraid to speak to my host mom. She seemed a little more closed off and old fashioned at first, but the past week has really opened my eyes. She always has a smile on her face and greets us when we get home. At meals we talk about everything from politics to tattoos. She has very modern ideals and is always easy to talk to.

Today I felt a bit awkward at Neque.  After I helped paint and got soaked, I didn't want to intrude much in the room because I was dripping water all over. But then when we were upstairs with the donations and taking pictures, I held a girl up so she could be in the pictures. The smile on her face made me realize that just being friendly and smiling has a big impact on these kids. The most important contribution from me today was probably helping this little girl smile more and know that she has someone to hold her up when needed.

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