Monday - Kean

So we made it safely to Manila, day 4 and we're still alive. The food's good. The people are nice. The beds are sweaty. The bathrooms are less than clean. It really has been an amazing 4 days. We've been constructing, teaching, swimming, and a whole lot more, but the most fulfilling moments on the trip have been ones we spend with the kids here. The kids are everywhere. They literally jump with joy every time they see us because they are genuinely happy to see us. We've only been here for a short time, but the kids treat us like they've known us their whole lives. They remember our names, the things we do, the games we play.
Today has been one of the best days so far. My group, the Dolphins (Aaron, JaeHoon, Lucas, YuJin, Shannah), started off at the children's home taking care of toddlers. We sat down thinking about the best ways to avoid getting drooled, but when the kids came out of the rooms smelling like fresh baby, we went straight into work mode. The idea that those kids didn't have anyone more to than us to take care of them just made us connect with them even more. Or, you know, babies are just cute in general. After that we came back to our dorms to find around twenty kids all waiting to jump into the pool. The activities didn't feel forced like what I thought it would be like. All of us had a lot of fun playing with the kids even though we only just met them. There was this one kid that was just super cute. He couldn't swim yet because he was too young, but he kept trying to put his foot in the water, so we picked him up and waded him through the whole pool, carrying him all the way. By the end he was swimming as well as anyone and it felt just... fulfilling.

- Kean