August 2nd, 2011 - The Rest of the Day

I got into Atlanta's airport and walked as fast as I could to the underground tram that would take me from Concourse C to Concourse E.  I thought I'd have a few seconds to stop to get a bite "to go", so I got a bit of breakfast on the way.  Gate 6 was pretty empty except for a few families, so I sat down wondering if I missed the boarding call (I could see the plane out the window) or if they hadn't boarded yet.  I decided to ask the attendant behind the desk and she said that everybody had boarded, so she checked my papers and let me on...and immediately made another announcement about passengers that should be boarding to go to Tegucigalpa - at which point ALL of the families who were seated got up and went to her.  I guess they arrived to Gate 6 after she had announced boarding as well.

 

When I flew to Tegucigalpa, I wasn't sure what to expect in terms of transportation to Emmanuel.  I had heard that another volunteer was coming in the same day & planned to get a taxi - but that was the extent of what I knew.  This morning, I had printed out the instructions to Guaimaca (by bus)...just in case.  But as it turned out, there was Norman waiting for me as I came through the gates with my name on a sign.  I talked for the 2+ hour ride back to Emmanuel with the new volunteer named Daniel.

 

After putting my bags in the girls' volunteer house, and seeing a few familiar faces of orphans along the way, I headed to the office to say "hi" to Katja.  She was talking to some female volunteers who were heading home tomorrow.  Then she received a call from someone who was looking to adopt a child from Emmanuel and had to explain that the children here are not available for adoption because they do not fit the government's criteria of abandonment...most are at Emmanuel due to Social Services.  In the United States, we used to have orphanages many years ago (Remember the movie Annie?)...however today have foster care in place of those huge institutions.

 

It was so good to see Blanca & Doris again!  Looks like my assigned house will be the little girls' house, so I'm pretty excited to work with many of the girls I already know (and Doris too!).  They just got a handful of girls from the toddler house about 2 weeks ago and although they're about 5-6 years old, they're about the same size as my little Peanut!  We ate rice & tortillas for supper and then it was off to the little girls' house to help with shower-time.

 

When I retired to the girls' volunteer house, Katja was waiting to talk to the volunteers (many have gone home in this past week) about the condition of the house...it was truly a mess.  I swept the room I'll be staying in before I unpacked.  Katja said that she'd like to see the girls' volunteer house get painted while I'm here - and I'm sure by now that Bob is laughing to the point of tears with the thought of me painting the entire house (if you're not sure why, just ask him).  Anyway, first the house will have to go through a THOROUGH cleaning!  Andres would appreciate it when I say that it probably looks exactly like how the interior of the male volunteer house looked last year when he stayed there, except I haven't seen any cockroaches yet.

Heading to Honduras 2011

Good morning to all. After being busy yesterday from 6am until 10pm (making sure that everything was ready to go), and a 3:30am trip to Walmart this morning for batteries...I think I'm finally ready!

Bob notices that the 2-3 weeks inbetween summer school and leaving for Emmanuel, I tend to get pretty excited about the trip. This year was no different...I just felt more rushed with a 5-day family camping trip just this past weekend - and cleaning up from that as well as packing yesterday.

My flight leaves Appleton at 6:30am and I'll arrive into Atlanta at 9:30am. From there I have a flight straight to Tegucigalpa (the capital of Honduras), arriving at 12:30pm. I'm still a little unsure of my transportation from the airport to Emmanuel, but am thankful that I know Spanish in the event that I need to take a bus.

I am not sure how often I'll be able to blog on here, but I will take notes daily and try to make it in to town a couple of times to update this blog. I did purchase a camera this year to take pictures, but am not completely familiar with it yet - most pics turn out pretty blurry (and I've read the directions a couple of times now). I guess I'll have to get the hang of it.

I'm anxious to see Blanca and Doris - and am hoping I'll get to say "HI" this afternoon!

Please keep my trip in your prayers and I'll see you all soon (arrival back to U.S. is 8/25/11). Feel free to help Bob out in taking a kid off of his hands from time to time if you'd like. I know he'd appreciate it greatly!