A world turned upside down....

As a first-timer on a Sirva trip, I am surprised at how my experience of coming home has been. I am very happy to see my family and friends again, but my own culture seems to have become so unfamiliar to me. Wednesday, our first day back, I went into a mall to pick up a few things where I discovered for the first time the individuality of our culture here in Canada. Not one person looked up as we passed each other in the parking lot to greet me "Hola", "Buenos Dias", or "Como esta?" As I watched people, I noticed for the first time how people lived in their own worlds… a lonely world where people feel overwhelmed and stressed to meet the deadlines of our complex culture that many of us cannot achieve by ourselves. Another surprise that hit me was my lack of desire to shop. I am a major shopper… I LOVE to shop. But all at once I was confronted by this feeling of how pointless the new shirt and pair of mittens that I held in my hands were, and left the mall empty handed. I could not steer my mind away from those precious children at Casa Hogar and how happy they are with the little they have, despite the atrocities that many of them have suffered.

My time at Casa Hogar feels almost like a dream--a dream that is continuously brought to reality through surprises in my suitcase. My pink water bottle has become one of my most prized possessions as it has the names of a few children from Casa Hogar scribbled on it, and is surrounded by splashes of light yellow exterior paint. I have read the complete blog about three times and have looked through all 309 pictures two times already. As I unpacked, I was surprised to see flecks of yellow paint all over everything, including my orthotics. (how did that get there?) Every time I look at my scabbed arms I am reminded of the beautiful mountains of Mexico and smile and laugh as they are as a result of my tumbling into a cactus! Painful, but a really funny story that I can look back on and laugh.

I thank God that he gave me the opportunity to go on this trip and hope that He will bless me with this opportunity again sometime in the future. God has taught me so many things and changed my life in ways I never expected. As I reflect on my time at Casa Hogar, it seems impossible that I could be so blessed by my time there, when I really went down to bless the wonderful children of Casa Hogar. God is so amazing.

Jenna