Roof Dog Week

This post is about the week of February 16-22 - I'm only a couple of weeks late this time - Hey, I'm getting better!

So, every February a team from Christ Church in Plano, Texas comes to spend a week with the kids of Casa Hogar. They call themselves the Roof Dogs.  I may have mentioned this in a previous post but here in Arequipa there are SO MANY dogs that live on the roofs.  It's so strange to me, but it's totally normal here.  Anyway, the team named themselves the Roof Dogs a long time ago and have had the name ever since.  They have been coming for years and years and have built some incredible relationships with the kids.  The kids look forward to the visit from their Tias and Tios (Aunts and Uncles) every year, and I was fortunate enough to be included and get to join in on all of the activities.  They welcomed me in, brought me a big bag of treats from the States, and at the end of the week they initiated me as a fellow Roof Dog.  I can't begin to explain how wonderful they all are, how wonderful the week was, and how thankful I am for the experience.

Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday we spent at the kids' home playing games, making crafts, singing songs, and doing Bible lessons (where we focused on the Beatitudes).  On Tuesday we took a little side trip and traveled 2 hours in a bus to a camp in La Joya which had horseback riding, a swimming pool, and obstacle course type games.

Thursday we also took an afternoon trip to the mall where the kids got to order whatever food they wanted before spending several hours in Happyland - a giant arcade with games and prizes.  The Roofdogs also brought lots and lots of new clothes, shoes, backpacks. One of the days they turned one of the rooms into a little shopping area where the kids got to try on new school clothes and "go shopping."

The last day all of the kids put on a performance for all of the Tias and Tios.  They did a number of dances, from traditional dances to pop.  One of the older boys even dressed up in a dog costume and did several dances - it was hilarious!

And since pictures say 1,000 words I'll let the slideshow do the rest of the talking.  (Photo credit to Tia Kelly, Tio Nozar and Tio Allen - some of the pictures you will see in the slideshow I stole from them)