Arriving at Emmanuel

After driving through the night to Chicago, we stopped at a gas station to fill up the rental car before returning it.  I'm not so sure I care to pay $7.50/gallon (which was the quoted rate that AVIS gave me if it came back needing to be filled).  The gas station was right next to a McDonald's so Andres, Kimberly & I figured that would be food at a much more reasonable price that what we'd be able to find at the airport.  It took us a while to figure out all of the logistics of returning the car at the airport...since I have never rented car, but after we had that all figured out we were actually in the airport about 2:00am.  Kimberly & Andres slept in the terminal prior to checking in.  I waited until we were in the plane and the plane was in motion.  I didn't even stay awake for take-off (guessing that's how tired I was).

We arrived in Miami a bit late, so only had about 1/2 hour before needing to board the next plane.  We had to get to a terminal on the other side of the airport & found out this airport is pretty large.  After a bathroom break and grabbing a snack "to go", we boarded the plane.  Upon arriving in Tegucigalpa, we found Lydia and Lourdes waiting for us.  They walked us to the bus so that we could drop off our large suitcases while we were waiting for the team to come in.  Kimberly asked if she could do a little dance, and Lydia told her to go right ahead...she dance and sang "I'm finally here!!!  I'm in Honduras!!!"  Lydia laughed & smiled.  (Afterward Kimberly said that if she knew that was LYDIA, she probably wouldn't have danced like that, lol).

We had a bit to eat while in the airport and also changed money to Lempiras.  When the team arrived, we rode the Emmanuel bus back to the orphanage.  This was the first time ever that I've ridden on this bus!  I slept about 1/2 of the way back, but during my awake moments, I enjoyed listening to Lydia talk.  Her faith in the Lord is just amazing!  We stopped at a gas station (last minute bathroom stop for anyone that was on the bus), and I bought the Enjoy-brand juice for Andres & myself.  They have the guava flavor that he likes so much.  I got the pear juice because my stomach wasn't feeling so well at the time.

When Kimberly & I arrived to the girls volunteer house, we left our bags out in the kitchen since no other volunteers were around & we had no idea which bedroom we'd get...all of the doors were closed & I didn't feel comfortable barging into various bedrooms looking for a room to stay in.  We headed to find Doris and visited with her for a bit.  That was pretty exciting - seeing her face as she walked towards me & recognized who I was!  I found out that Blanca is no longer here.  Her mother came for her some months ago.  Although I was a bit sad about not getting to see her again, I'm praying that she is in a healthy situation with her family and that she continues to grow in Jesus.

Andres was playing with the medium boys in the gymnasium.  He did not take the Dramamine this year, which had made him very sick the past 2 times he had come down here.  Instead a pharmacist recommended these pressure point bands that are specifically for nausea and motion sickness.  I couldn't believe how active he was as opposed to the 2 years in the past!  I got to see and visit with Luis David very briefly while we were down at the gymnasium.  Andres told me that there were 4 male volunteers total (including him), so it seems like he'll be okay up in the house this year.

After we got back to the volunteer house, we introduced ourselves to the volunteers who were there and then chose the front bedroom, which also doubles as an office.  After unpacking and showering, I needed to turn in for the night - I was exhausted from all of the travels!