Valentines for Bolivia

The highlight of my day so far has been a soy hot chocolate that I made myself. It was just the right temperature and although it had no whipped cream it was still delicious. I volunteered at my first semester internship site "The Global Gallery Coffee Shop"this afternoon. When I walked into the shop I remembered that today was the "Valentines for Bolivia" fundraiser. I spent the rest of my time there setting up appetizers, cleaning bathrooms, boiling water and washing dishes. This isn't a complaint but rather an account of what I did, I tend not to mind monotonous chores as much as others, it gives me time to daydream. I met this volunteer that was introduced to the Global Gallery through the head of the store, Connie. She's traveled throughout the world on different missions trips with her church and was just recently introduced to fair trade. "I'm really dedicated to poverty" she said. It seems as though she's trying to find a way to help end poverty, a different means than the traditional toy or blanket drive. In which case I think that the Global Gallery will be a nice fit for her.
I also finally met Lydia (age 8), the youngest Global Gallery volunteer. She's so eager to help and confident and friendly in a way I always wish I could be. I think I may have almost tripped over her two years ago when my "all girl youth group" met at the global gallery. From my point of view she was a floating tray full of dirty dishes. Even then she was an "employee" and rather than dropping the tray of dishes she was struggling to carry, and run back to her mother following our near collision, she asked if she could take my dirty mug and saucer. I doubt she remembers the incident.
It turns out that the whole staff of all the global gallery locations (which amounts to like 6 people) are all going to Bolivia to look in on the orphanage that they've been building. I told my mom this and she asked me in all seriousness, "Did you want to go?". She then tried to convince me that tagging on to the Global Gallery group a month before their departure was a plausible notion. Although I do admit that going to Bolivia would be pretty much the coolest, I told her the idea of me tagging along would be absurd. "I'm just a volunteer and not nearly as devoted to this orphanage as the other travelers would be" I told her, "but thanks for the offer." She looked at me in disbelief and said,"Okay, but you should really stop disabling yourself before even inquiring". I'm not sure whether its that she doesn't think things through completely or she does and she doesn't think that factors such as money, time and appropriateness matter, but her spontaneity (although sometimes off putting) is one of the traits I hope to have inherited from her.
Anyway I have another four hours to go and make something worth journaling about, so until next time...