A Small Happiness

I volunteered at a children's shelter with another exchange student on Sunday: painting, cleaning, building, etc. There were about twenty-five people, most of them from Britain but now living in Marbella, who gave up their Sunday to lend a helping hand. Although the whole experience was wonderful, this moment stands out in my memory - I hope my writing properly depicts how much these few minutes meant to me :)


Small fingers wrapped around my hand. Quickly dropping my sponge, I turned away from the half-cleaned windows to see the little boy who was pulling me towards the kitchen. At about five years old, with typical spanish features -- dark skin, dark hair, dark eyes, and a sweet smile -- he was speaking to me in Spanish, trusting me to understand and help him. In that moment, I felt at home for the first time in Spain: someone, despite a language barrier and my blonde hair, believed that I belonged here and wanted me to help them (usually it's the other way around). He saw, in me, a person just like any other. I grinned and strengthened my hold on his hand. He pulled me into the kitchen freezer and was, I could tell, asking me for something. It took me a second but I eventually recognized the word "zumo" (pronounced "thumo") as juice, and followed his pointed finger to the top shelf. I pulled the juice down for him and his grubby fingers snatched the package from my hands, a smile on his face and happiness in his eyes. "Gracias," he said to me, and I just smiled, happy to help.

 This is the backyard of the children's home - It's a three story house with plenty of room for the 12 children it houses. As you can see by the wall on the right, it was in need of paint :)

 Some of the volunteers!

 After the paint finished drying, Charissa and I got to put up the wall decor - flowers, butterflies, etc.

 These two have the cutest British accents! They helped us put up the butterflies :)

Charissa and I after a long and enjoyable day.

I hope everyone at home is doing well -- to all of you getting ready for homecoming, I expect to see lots  of pictures on facebook! I miss you all but am enjoying life here. I went for my first real run today, hopefully I can fit a few more in! School is difficult, but I like having a set schedule for my day :)

As always, feel free to ask questions!

Love from Marbella,

Shona Bell