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Girls at the Mall

Hi there! How was your weekend?

Woman eating at a mall.

Mine was good, as you might have noticed by the jumbo cheeseburger and malt pictured above.

The main event of the weekend was Bjork and my – mine’s? I’s? – first ever outing with kids from the orphanage. We decided that in honor of my students filling up their sticker charts (oh, stickers, you powerful little things), we would hit up the big mall in Cebu for some games and food. Might I add that my students are six preteen girls. Mall. Preteen. Girls.

Our first stop was the arcade.

Women dancing at a mall.

I’ll just put it out there. I hate arcades.

As if a regular arcade wouldn’t have been bad enough to begin with, Filipino arcades are like regular arcades x 1,000, and that’s all I’ll say about that.

But it’s funny how the lights and music and sticky handles and extremely over-sensory environment can draw a person in. I had a blast watching these girls whack alligators, shoot baskets, and throw puffy balls into Winnie the Pooh’s mouth.

I even played a few rounds of air hockey with one of my little ladies. After I scored on myself 192 times, I decided to relocate to the ice cream shop, but it was still really fun.

Young girls playing at an arcade.

At this time I’d like to share a message with the future parents of these girls and/or those who might someday share the road with them:

I’m sorry.

And be careful.

Young girls playing at an arcade.

While waiting for our table at the giant cheeseburger restaurant, we made a pit stop at the bookstore. This sweet pea squatted right on down to whisper-read a board book to herself.

I got teary eyed.

Why are they so cute?

Young girl reading a book.

Oh, sweet girls.

I am so in love with them.

Young girls and a man standing in a road.

I hope your weekend involved a giant cheeseburger, because those are the best kinds of weekends.

Filed Under: Living Abroad

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19 Comments

  1. Pinch of Yum Logo

    Lindsay – All I can say is – wow! Looks tiring but very fun also. What great pictures! I especially love the one with the girl reading at the book store. I hope you did get a chance to rest up after this big outing!

    Love – Dad

  2. Pinch of Yum Logo

    What a great adventure for these girls! So glad you are on hand to share so much with them. I imagine that in later years, many of your students will count you as a wonderful mentor.

  3. Pinch of Yum Logo

    That thing about Bjork and your — your’s? you’s? outing kind of gave me some trouble too, but I’m thinking it must be Bjork’s and your… but not really. Hehe.

    That burger is huge.

  4. Pinch of Yum Logo

    Bjork kind of scared me in that arcade picture! I don’t know why. He isn’t scary looking at all. 🙂

    The two of you are so sweet to take the girls out! I kind of hate arcades too. I hope Bjork helped you keep your sanity.

  5. Pinch of Yum Logo

    That giant cheeseburger is inspiring. It might just have to be on the menu for our “first day back to school” dinner. 🙂 BTW… I went to school and worked on my room today – and missed YOU like crazy!

  6. Pinch of Yum Logo

    A giant cheeseburger weekend sounds amazing! And it looks like you had a blast at the mall. And if it makes you feel any better, I think I score on myself at least a million times in air hockey.

  7. Pinch of Yum Logo

    what a great timee those kids must have had. I hope they had air condition there . I spent 2 days with theeee whole Voigt family at a cabin the little ones were so busy ‘making sand castles swimming ,fishing ,they had two tree houses,& volly ball court I got to hold little ALISTAIR Ervin ,a lot ,he was so good . Have fun at the beach. Your recipes look so good ,but what does one person do with that much food .I might try the squash & cheese &mac. I think I could make a small one of those .Have fun with your wheels .Love you G’ma R.

    1. Pinch of Yum Logo

      Grandma, thanks for the comment! They did have air conditioning at the mall, thankfully. It sounds like you had a great time at the cabin with the Voigts doing summery kid things. 🙂 We give lots of our food away to the guards at our builing or the neighbors… especially the desserts that I make. Usually we can keep the leftovers and then have lunch and dinner ready for the week. We miss you! Hopefully we can talk on the phone again soon. Love you!! 🙂