We had to be at Max & Katja´s house by 5:45am if we wanted to catch a ride with them to Tegus (rather than riding the chicken bus). As we were waiting for Katja´s family, Merethe came out to give me a hug and say "See you next year," with a smile.
On our way to Tegus, both Gabriel and Simon (Katja´s boys) got sick. She said they often get car sick. Andrés had a few extra tablets of Dramamine left, so we gave them to Katja for the boys on their way back home...but perhaps to have them split a tablet.
As we got to the Hedman Alas station, people were loading the bus for San Pedro Sula, so we hurried to buy tickets and get on. Luis met us at the bus station to take us to his (& Blanca´s) bed & breakfast, where we had stayed when we came into San Pedro. We found a ciber café to update a few blogs and then Jen & I headed to the mall for a few hours while Andrés completed his blogs back at Luis & Blanca´s. Andrés had no interest in the mall whatsoever.
When we got back from the mall, we headed for the little restaurant Luis had recommended the 1st time we stayed here. Then we came back to the B&B where we made a few calls home to ensure all was in order for our travels tomorrow.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
August 17th - Last Day at Emmanuel
I got up early this morning to do a last load of laundry. After breakfast, I went to finish up in the library while Jen entered all of the children´s measurements in the computer and Andrés went to his last day of school. I brought him the chili-mango suckers to hand out to his class after recess and for the last hour of school I went back home to clean, begin packing, and get the last of the suckers to take to the big boys dining hall.
After lunch, I hung around with Doris to learn how to make tortillas (the Honduran way). I´ll have to try it back in the States. I went back to the house to prepare myself for the bible study this afternoon. Merethe had asked me to lead it last week and I´ve been working on it since Thursday. I also translated a bunch of Spanish words to English for Angi.
The bible study went well. I spoke about Jonah and how you should always say YES to God with a servant´s heart. I had supper with the girls one last time and said my goodbyes before turning in for the night.
After lunch, I hung around with Doris to learn how to make tortillas (the Honduran way). I´ll have to try it back in the States. I went back to the house to prepare myself for the bible study this afternoon. Merethe had asked me to lead it last week and I´ve been working on it since Thursday. I also translated a bunch of Spanish words to English for Angi.
The bible study went well. I spoke about Jonah and how you should always say YES to God with a servant´s heart. I had supper with the girls one last time and said my goodbyes before turning in for the night.
August 16th - Our Last Sunday
The pastor from town (Guaimaca) began the church service today by asking "What is a saint (or holy person)?" as Peter instructs us to do in 1 Peter 1:15. No one answered him, so he went on to talk about how he posed this question to a bunch of children. The answers he got were:
- A saint was someone who didn´t sin.
- A sant was a statue made out of wood, plastic, or plaster.
But it was the 3rd child´s response that intrigued him, who said, "A saint (or holy person) is like a person who is made of glass." The pastor wasn´t sure what the child meant, so he prompted the child to describe what he meant. The small child went on to say that he had been in churches with stained glass windows of saints and saw how the light came in through the window to illuminate the room with many colors. So to the child, a saint (or holy person) was someone who shines with the light of God. What a response!!! The message was of the Good Samaritan.
After church we invited Andrés to lunch. The Andrés I´m refering to is a child at Emmanuel who I met last year who is the same age as MY Andrés! We went to the restaurant at Emmanuel and Elvia cooked for us. Afterwards, Jen & I took a bunch of the paletas (Mexican suckers) to the little boys house to hand out. We got some pictures with a few of the boys and headed to supper to get a bunch of pictures of the girls.
August 15th - My WORST Day Here
Today was a bad day.
After breakfast I entered 3 more pages of library books. I was very close to 2000 entries when the power went out. Since the laptop had a full charge, the battery kicked in and the computer didn´t turn off (WHEW), so I just kept entering and saved it before turning it off to head to town.
Jen & I went to Guaimaca in the morning to do a little souvenoir shopping and to check my email to see if our flight had changed. With the national curfew, our flight had changed coming down here, so I was imagining that we wouldn´t be leaving at 1am anymore either. Instead of flying out at 1am on Friday, our flight was bumped up so that it leaves at 10:30am on Wednesday. Two whole days!!! I was very bummed out when I saw that.
If that wasn´t enough to start my day off badly, when I got back to the farmhouse and opened up the laptop to turn it on...all that showed up is what Hans calls the "blue screen of death". I really didn´t know that´s what it was, but it was blue and I´ll bet I tried turning the computer off and on around a half-dozen times! Finally in my frustration I called Bob just to be sure. Perhaps he´d have a "miracle fix" and I could keep entering data, however Bob told me there was nothing I could do. I was crushed!...all that work and there were still around 600-800 books to enter!
Jen & Andrés measured again at supper-time, so I made spaghetti for them when they got back. We watched Pirates of the Caribbean that evening together before heading off to bed.
After breakfast I entered 3 more pages of library books. I was very close to 2000 entries when the power went out. Since the laptop had a full charge, the battery kicked in and the computer didn´t turn off (WHEW), so I just kept entering and saved it before turning it off to head to town.
Jen & I went to Guaimaca in the morning to do a little souvenoir shopping and to check my email to see if our flight had changed. With the national curfew, our flight had changed coming down here, so I was imagining that we wouldn´t be leaving at 1am anymore either. Instead of flying out at 1am on Friday, our flight was bumped up so that it leaves at 10:30am on Wednesday. Two whole days!!! I was very bummed out when I saw that.
If that wasn´t enough to start my day off badly, when I got back to the farmhouse and opened up the laptop to turn it on...all that showed up is what Hans calls the "blue screen of death". I really didn´t know that´s what it was, but it was blue and I´ll bet I tried turning the computer off and on around a half-dozen times! Finally in my frustration I called Bob just to be sure. Perhaps he´d have a "miracle fix" and I could keep entering data, however Bob told me there was nothing I could do. I was crushed!...all that work and there were still around 600-800 books to enter!
Jen & Andrés measured again at supper-time, so I made spaghetti for them when they got back. We watched Pirates of the Caribbean that evening together before heading off to bed.
August 14th - Hungry Girls
Today´s routine was similar to the previous days...entering library books (I´ve entered over 1500 now) and sizing the children. Andrés was feeling much better. He´ll have to go with Jennifer during mealtime this weekend to size the boys who don´t go to school (there are some that only work on the farm).
Jen hasn´t been at supper lately since shé been handing out medicines (which gets done during supper-time). They are still making a plate for her, so each night I have to give it away. Quite a few girls will ask for her plate which surprises me since the girls get the same size serving as we do at each meal and one plate fills me up!
Jen hasn´t been at supper lately since shé been handing out medicines (which gets done during supper-time). They are still making a plate for her, so each night I have to give it away. Quite a few girls will ask for her plate which surprises me since the girls get the same size serving as we do at each meal and one plate fills me up!
August 13th - Andrés Gets Sick
We woke up today to Andrés being sick. He had a headache and stomach-ache all day, so I stayed with him and worked in the farmhouse on entering the library lists while he slept. I think he may have been dehydrated and caught a little bug. I took him to eat with the little girls for the 3 meals, since they are more careful with washing dishes, cleaning food, etc (although for supper they gave him a chicken´s foot...not really something you want to look at when you´re sick). Early afternoon he broke out in a fever while he was sleeping, so hopefully his body has burned off the bug that he caught.
August 12th - More Measuring
After circle and breakfast, Jen & I headed for the school to take measurements of the 9th grade (where Andrés is). The volunteer team went home early this morning, so all remaining measurements are now left up to Jen & I to finish. It only took about 20-30 minutes, so we helped Jessica in the library when we were finished. The power was out, so it´s a good thing Bob´s laptop had a full charge in order to keep entering the library´s inventory into Excel.
After lunch we got one of the special needs classes completed (that only comes in the afternoons) and the 10th grade. Measuring took the full 1.5 hours of school time this afternoon, so I headed to bible study and supper afterward, then home to change for church.
A Danish man of 23 years gave his testimony while Katja translated from Danish to Spanish for the children in the church. From time to time, I´d summarize to English for Jen. David talked afterwards about how you should not be ashamed to talk about God and to give yourself to Him. I was pretty tired after church, so even though there was a goodbye party for Todd, I had to head off to bed.
After lunch we got one of the special needs classes completed (that only comes in the afternoons) and the 10th grade. Measuring took the full 1.5 hours of school time this afternoon, so I headed to bible study and supper afterward, then home to change for church.
A Danish man of 23 years gave his testimony while Katja translated from Danish to Spanish for the children in the church. From time to time, I´d summarize to English for Jen. David talked afterwards about how you should not be ashamed to talk about God and to give yourself to Him. I was pretty tired after church, so even though there was a goodbye party for Todd, I had to head off to bed.
August 11th - Library Work
We went to circle and breakfast with the little girls again, heading home afterward for a 5-10 minute break before spending the entire morning at school taking more measurements. We finished all elementary school with the exception of the special needs classes that only run in the afternoon, so we headed to the high school classes where we measured every class except the one Andrés had been going to.
We broke for lunch and after lunch helped Jessica (a long-term volunteer) in the library. She is taking inventory and recategorizing the library, since the current system is not working. She gave me her flash drive to start making changes to the existing list, but when I got home after supper and put her disk into Bob´s laptop, there was a big error message about a Trojan virus on her disk. The only option for inventory at this point was for me to start typing the 40+ pages of inventory (title, author, number of copies, old catalog # and new catalog #) by hand.
During supper, Jen went with Jessica to hand out medicines. Jessica may be going on vacation next week, so Jen could fill in for her. She stayed afterward to play volleyball and games with the team volunteers and was at the volunteer house when David & Lydia came over to share their testimony. Since it was fresh in her mind, I had her tell it to Andrés. It was an amazing story! You´ll have to ask her about it sometime.
We broke for lunch and after lunch helped Jessica (a long-term volunteer) in the library. She is taking inventory and recategorizing the library, since the current system is not working. She gave me her flash drive to start making changes to the existing list, but when I got home after supper and put her disk into Bob´s laptop, there was a big error message about a Trojan virus on her disk. The only option for inventory at this point was for me to start typing the 40+ pages of inventory (title, author, number of copies, old catalog # and new catalog #) by hand.
During supper, Jen went with Jessica to hand out medicines. Jessica may be going on vacation next week, so Jen could fill in for her. She stayed afterward to play volleyball and games with the team volunteers and was at the volunteer house when David & Lydia came over to share their testimony. Since it was fresh in her mind, I had her tell it to Andrés. It was an amazing story! You´ll have to ask her about it sometime.
August 10th - Measuring the Children
Today was the first day we got to participate in circle since we got here late Friday morning. Circle is a morning devotion where the children begin by singing songs and then get a small message for the day. We had missed circle by a few hours on Friday and there isn´t circle on Saturdays & Sundays. Jen & I went to the little girls circle and Andrés headed to the older boys. They sang songs in English and Spanish and a few in Danish. Then Merethe spoke about opening your heart and listening to God.
After breakfast, Jen & I helped the volunteer team measure the kids to post their sizes on the internet for their sponsors - in case their sponsors would like to buy them clothes for Christmas. At first, the team started taking all measurements for each child individually, so when one child´s measurements were done, then they moved on to the next. They had about 6-8 people just standing around doing nothing (not to mention there are well over 400 children at the orphanage who needed sizing done). I came up with an "assembly line" type of system so we could get the kids through faster...minimizing the amount of time they´d be missing class, allowing all volunteers to participate and stay busy measuring, and also maximizing the number of children we got sized per hour. Jen and another volunteer would call a name of a child and that child would get a post-it note with their name on it. They´d come to me first and I´d measure their height (in inches and centimeters) and write it on their paper, then they´d go to the next volunteer for another measurement, and keep moving until their final measurement (shoe size) at the end. The lady measuring feet kept the post-it and gave it to a girl who would record it on her long list of students. During the 2 hours we worked yesterday we got all but 2 classes from the 1st grade through the 6th grade (and most grades had 2 classrooms full of students).
After having lunch with the little girls, Jen, Andrés and I went in to town to get a phone card and some groceries. We should be set for the 2 weeks now. We went to bible study at 3pm and Merethe talked about the 10 Commandments, first checking to see how many girls knew all 10, then going on to talk about how the first set of commandments are for God and the 2nd set had been given to honor each other. When bible study was over, Merethe asked if I´d like to lead next Monday´s bible study for the little and medium girls...HOW EXCITING!
The little girls I was in charge of bathing last year remembered me & all the way to supper were begging for me to come and help them take baths once again. After supper, we headed to the older boys soccer activities that were being put on by the volunteer group (since Saturday´s activities were only for the young & medium children). Andrés played basketball in the gym while that was going on.
Jen & I headed back after the soccer activities, but Andrés stayed for a bit to play volleyball with the volunteer team. We made a few calls home and most likely used up an entire phone card doing it, then called it a night.
After breakfast, Jen & I helped the volunteer team measure the kids to post their sizes on the internet for their sponsors - in case their sponsors would like to buy them clothes for Christmas. At first, the team started taking all measurements for each child individually, so when one child´s measurements were done, then they moved on to the next. They had about 6-8 people just standing around doing nothing (not to mention there are well over 400 children at the orphanage who needed sizing done). I came up with an "assembly line" type of system so we could get the kids through faster...minimizing the amount of time they´d be missing class, allowing all volunteers to participate and stay busy measuring, and also maximizing the number of children we got sized per hour. Jen and another volunteer would call a name of a child and that child would get a post-it note with their name on it. They´d come to me first and I´d measure their height (in inches and centimeters) and write it on their paper, then they´d go to the next volunteer for another measurement, and keep moving until their final measurement (shoe size) at the end. The lady measuring feet kept the post-it and gave it to a girl who would record it on her long list of students. During the 2 hours we worked yesterday we got all but 2 classes from the 1st grade through the 6th grade (and most grades had 2 classrooms full of students).
After having lunch with the little girls, Jen, Andrés and I went in to town to get a phone card and some groceries. We should be set for the 2 weeks now. We went to bible study at 3pm and Merethe talked about the 10 Commandments, first checking to see how many girls knew all 10, then going on to talk about how the first set of commandments are for God and the 2nd set had been given to honor each other. When bible study was over, Merethe asked if I´d like to lead next Monday´s bible study for the little and medium girls...HOW EXCITING!
The little girls I was in charge of bathing last year remembered me & all the way to supper were begging for me to come and help them take baths once again. After supper, we headed to the older boys soccer activities that were being put on by the volunteer group (since Saturday´s activities were only for the young & medium children). Andrés played basketball in the gym while that was going on.
Jen & I headed back after the soccer activities, but Andrés stayed for a bit to play volleyball with the volunteer team. We made a few calls home and most likely used up an entire phone card doing it, then called it a night.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
August 9th - Our Wisconsin Flag
After eating breakfast with the little girls, we headed to church. I saw David & Lydia (the founders of Emmanuel) before heading in to church, so gave him the flag of Wisconsin that my dad had bought. Last year I had noticed that there are many flags hung inside the church of the countries and states of the many volunteers Emmanuel has had over the years. They did not have a Wisconsin flag, which I made note of in one of my blogs. By the time I returned to the States last year, my dad had already purchased one for me to take this year!
The preacher was a pastor from the volunteer group and as he spoke each sentence in English, another of their volunteers translated for the many children. He talked about Solomon and also about the prodical son, and how when God speaks that we are to listen and respond. God rejoices when you go to Him.
After church, I started a load of laundry and then we went to have lunch with the little girls...all the while, Andrés played chess with the older boys. We walked down to the entrance of Emmanuel where they have a store and a little restaurant, and Jenny bought the last black, non-termite-infested baseball cap with Emmanuel´s logo embroidered on it.
Around 2pm, I brought one of the 50 (or so) Disney movies in Spanish that had belonged to Andrés to the dining hall for the young girls to watch. Merethe said they had never seen Anastasia before. These were all movies Andrés had accumulated over the years on VHS, and since we don´t watch them nearly as much anymore, I thought they would get a lot more use down here...and all the better that they are completely in Spanish!!!
We had supper after the movie and then went back to the farmhouse for the rest of the evening.
The preacher was a pastor from the volunteer group and as he spoke each sentence in English, another of their volunteers translated for the many children. He talked about Solomon and also about the prodical son, and how when God speaks that we are to listen and respond. God rejoices when you go to Him.
After church, I started a load of laundry and then we went to have lunch with the little girls...all the while, Andrés played chess with the older boys. We walked down to the entrance of Emmanuel where they have a store and a little restaurant, and Jenny bought the last black, non-termite-infested baseball cap with Emmanuel´s logo embroidered on it.
Around 2pm, I brought one of the 50 (or so) Disney movies in Spanish that had belonged to Andrés to the dining hall for the young girls to watch. Merethe said they had never seen Anastasia before. These were all movies Andrés had accumulated over the years on VHS, and since we don´t watch them nearly as much anymore, I thought they would get a lot more use down here...and all the better that they are completely in Spanish!!!
We had supper after the movie and then went back to the farmhouse for the rest of the evening.
August 8th - A Soccer Tournament
We woke up this morning and went to eat breakfast with the little girls. We had granola cereal, Mott´s applesauce (expired, but only by a few months) and a bubble gum vitamin. At 9am we headed to the gym to help the volunteer team with the soccer activities for the day. The little and medium girls went through the drills and tournament games from 9am until noon.
There was a clown, face painting, a water balloon toss, a bean bag toss, and even people who made animals/swords/hats out of those long hotdog-type balloons! While I watched the beginnings of the water balloon toss, I accidentally stepped on an ENORMOUS ant hill. There must´ve been hundreds on my shoes and socks, before they finally reached my leg and started biting. I will definitely be watching my step from here on out! Andrés and I spent all morning filling water balloons to replenish the ones that had broken (and the ones that the girls were consistently stealing & breaking).
We served the girls lunch: hotdogs, beans & chips. We had a small break before the little and medium boys came from 1pm until 4pm. For this group, they needed someone to do that face-painting, so I volunteered. When the activities were over, we served the boys the same foods for supper. Jen, Andrés & I definitely got sunburned!!!
After all of the soccer activities, Jen & I decided to retire to the house for the evening, while Andrés went to play some chess with the older boys. He was very excited that many of them knew how to play chess! When he got back, we chatted for a while before calling it a night.
There was a clown, face painting, a water balloon toss, a bean bag toss, and even people who made animals/swords/hats out of those long hotdog-type balloons! While I watched the beginnings of the water balloon toss, I accidentally stepped on an ENORMOUS ant hill. There must´ve been hundreds on my shoes and socks, before they finally reached my leg and started biting. I will definitely be watching my step from here on out! Andrés and I spent all morning filling water balloons to replenish the ones that had broken (and the ones that the girls were consistently stealing & breaking).
We served the girls lunch: hotdogs, beans & chips. We had a small break before the little and medium boys came from 1pm until 4pm. For this group, they needed someone to do that face-painting, so I volunteered. When the activities were over, we served the boys the same foods for supper. Jen, Andrés & I definitely got sunburned!!!
After all of the soccer activities, Jen & I decided to retire to the house for the evening, while Andrés went to play some chess with the older boys. He was very excited that many of them knew how to play chess! When he got back, we chatted for a while before calling it a night.
August 7th - Orphanage Emmanuel
After getting up early this morning, we took a taxi to the bust station. Unfortunately when we got there, we found out we were at the wrong station! One of the workers at that station was SUPER kind and offered to take us in his truck to the right bus station so that we could make the bus before it left. When we got there, I tried to give him some money for gas, but he said "No Cobro", meaning I don´t want any money. I begged him to take the L$20 because he had been so kind. Not only did he help us get the tickets & get on the right bus, but he also stopped a guy from stealing Jen´s suitcase from beneath the bus after we had already boarded the bus!!! He was truly a guardian angel sent by God today to help us out.
We got to Guaimaca without problems today...Andrés took his Dramamine that we had to purchase in Tegus. From the bus stop, we grabbed a taxi to get to Emmanuel. Once at Emmanuel, we caught up with Katja and Lydia and they gave us the keys to the farmhouse. Andrés went on ahead with Wade and the luggage. It is actually a 2 bedroom duplex. A Danish couple (Annette & Daniel) live on the other side. It was much too big for the 3 of us. One bedroom had 3 beds, and the other had 4.
When we got settled in with the luggage, we ran into town to get some groceries from their local supermarket (which, by the way, is not ANYTHING like our Walmart-Superstores). On the way into town, we ran into Tammi who is in charge of the medium girls house. After putting the groceries away, I gave Andrés & Jen a tour of the orphanage.
Towards the end of the tour, we got to the school and school was actually getting out, so I saw Merethe and she wanted to take me immediately to Doris...saying that Doris was just starting to slip in school & actually needed me to be there (in Emmanuel) at that moment. When I saw Doris, she was in complete shock. Although I told her last year that I would come back, I never got to give her exact dates. It was GREAT to see her!
We ate supper at 3:45pm. Andrés had to go eat with the boys since it´s expected that you eat with your own gender. Jen & I went to eat with the young girls (who I was with last year). After supper, we headed to the soccer field since a volunteer group was running games and drills for the girls. Jen had the soccer expertise and I translated how the drills were supposed to go. When the games were over for the night, Jen handed out some of the "paletas picantes" (Mexican chili-coated suckers I had purchased in the States).
When we got back to the farmhouse, I called Noah to say goodnight. We waited for Andrés to get back to hear about his afternoon...but I´ll let you read his blog to know about that!
We got to Guaimaca without problems today...Andrés took his Dramamine that we had to purchase in Tegus. From the bus stop, we grabbed a taxi to get to Emmanuel. Once at Emmanuel, we caught up with Katja and Lydia and they gave us the keys to the farmhouse. Andrés went on ahead with Wade and the luggage. It is actually a 2 bedroom duplex. A Danish couple (Annette & Daniel) live on the other side. It was much too big for the 3 of us. One bedroom had 3 beds, and the other had 4.
When we got settled in with the luggage, we ran into town to get some groceries from their local supermarket (which, by the way, is not ANYTHING like our Walmart-Superstores). On the way into town, we ran into Tammi who is in charge of the medium girls house. After putting the groceries away, I gave Andrés & Jen a tour of the orphanage.
Towards the end of the tour, we got to the school and school was actually getting out, so I saw Merethe and she wanted to take me immediately to Doris...saying that Doris was just starting to slip in school & actually needed me to be there (in Emmanuel) at that moment. When I saw Doris, she was in complete shock. Although I told her last year that I would come back, I never got to give her exact dates. It was GREAT to see her!
We ate supper at 3:45pm. Andrés had to go eat with the boys since it´s expected that you eat with your own gender. Jen & I went to eat with the young girls (who I was with last year). After supper, we headed to the soccer field since a volunteer group was running games and drills for the girls. Jen had the soccer expertise and I translated how the drills were supposed to go. When the games were over for the night, Jen handed out some of the "paletas picantes" (Mexican chili-coated suckers I had purchased in the States).
When we got back to the farmhouse, I called Noah to say goodnight. We waited for Andrés to get back to hear about his afternoon...but I´ll let you read his blog to know about that!
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