The Adventure Begins

Greetings, one and all! I arrived in El Salvador almost two weeks ago on August 21st and was met with the first of many challenges: navigating through customs. Of course everyone spoke Spanish, and the words used when going through customs are quite unique, but I survived pretty well just by guessing. I spent most of my time in line wondering if I was, indeed, in the correct line. Well, they didn´t turn me away or even search my bags, so all was well. Next challenge: finding my ride. It proved a little more difficult than expected because not once did I see someone holding a sign saying anything like what I was looking for. I saw signs for the Marriott, pictures of taxi vans, and a few random last names scattered about, but none of them were mine. To make a long story short, I ended up taking a taxi--alone--to the orphanage in San Juan Opico. My mother would have died. I was quite near dying from fright myself, imagining possible endings to my life, but needless to say, I arrived safely and unharmed.
The past two weeks have involved much struggling with Spanish and learning that even I, the bastion of independence, have the capacity to get homesick. Fortunately, by the time the first week was over, I had gotten past the crying stages of homesickness and was starting to feel more like myself. This past Tuesday I began working in my assigned job. I work in the kitchen in the morning supposedly from 7-10:30, but it ends up being from 7:00 until whenever everything gets finished. Lunch is around 12:00 and afternoon work begins at 1:00 and goes until 4:00. During that time I am in charge of 5 girls. I am to make sure they do their work, work alongside them for encouragement, and then entertain and watch over them during any left-over time we might have. Every day there has been at least one girl who has refused to work or refused to do the work that I have asked her to do, and that can get rather tiring. But today I have made progress: I worked the entire morning, spending the last 2 and a half hours sorting rice grains, and was able to keep my spirits up almost effortlessly. Then in the afternoon, one of the girls refused to work and three of the others had trouble even getting up to start work. But for some reason, I was almost emotionally detached, reasoning with them and warning them of the consequences of their actions in a level voice. I ended up sending Roxanna to her room, and she didn´t go willingly, but I just barely avoided having to pick her up and move her there myself. Once in her room she started yelling, but I couldn´t tell what she was saying and I was working in the other end of the house, so it didn´t bother me a bit. All in all, it was a really good day. I think I´m finally getting the hang of it.
Well, that´s all I have for now. Internet is down at the Hogar, so anytime I use the internet I have to go into town to use it, so updates may be extremely irregular. Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers. Adios!