This morning although I planned to wake up at 5am, I didn't actually get out of bed until 5:30 due to snoozing the alarm multiple times. I was still extremely tired from all of the travel. I'm hoping that my husband doesn't have the same "travel issues" that I had, but am assuming that everyone goes through it - so I'll try to be patient with him that first day as all today were patient with me. :-)
I quickly showered and chatted with the other volunteers. There are now 8 of us: Nazhita, Christina, Emilie, Caroline, Kelsey, Fia, Kimberly and myself. Katja told us that I would be at the little girls house, so I headed down that way to eat with them and do dishes. Esperanza is still here and in charge of the little girls house, but Mariela (Gerson's wife) has left with her family to continue to do missions in Costa Rica. After doing the dishes, I headed to the new baby house to say "hi" to Brandy. I'm so excited that she may have the opportunity to adopt a little baby named Lidia who came to Emmanuel. Lidia's mom died when she was just 8 days old and it's not known who her father is.
After the baby house, I waited at the toddler house to talk with Katja about going into town for some groceries. After getting the "okay" from Katja, I headed to town with Kimberly, Andres and Kelsey. Guaimaca has changed so much from last year. First of all it's LOUD. There are DJs playing at the grocery story and just blasting music out into the streets. The streets are crowded with these little 3-wheeled taxis that, when I saw them, I immediately thought of people in Asia. We stopped at 2 different grocery stores and then headed to the "My Little Bakery" store. They have some awesome banana bread, which although it's still not nearly as good as my mom's - it's pretty good for Honduran food.
The Maryland team arrived in the afternoon, so I got a chance to see Joanne (YAY!). We also spoke to Katja again about Kimberly (who had originally been assigned to the toddlers and just felt it wasn't for her). Katja said perhaps Kimberly should go with me and work at the little girls house, so we headed there for supper to help out with dishes. After suppertime, we headed back to the volunteer house & relaxed and had good conversations before heading to bed.
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Friday, July 27, 2012
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!
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!
Thursday, July 26, 2012
We're leaving tonight for Emmanuel!
Hello & Welcome to my Orphanage Emmanuel experience for 2012!
If you'd like to read how this trip came about, feel free to go through the archives and check out how it all happened.
First I'd like to thank all of my generous summer school students and their parents at Ferber Elementary School in Appleton, Wisconsin for all of their donations. Earlier this week I got all of the donations, including toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, socks, clothing, games, baby bath, etc) packed up into TWO VERY LARGE boxes and sent them to Dr. Don Reynolds in Hixson, TN. Dr. Reynolds is on the Board of Trustees for Orphanage Emmanuel and is in charge of sending a semi-truck full of donations down to Honduras approximately every 6-8 weeks. They get very excited when the semi arrives.
I just got off of the phone with Kimberly, a girl from church who is going with me & Andrés. She's super-excited, having had 2 prior planned missions trips fall through. I'm very excited for her because I remember all too well what my first year was like in terms of sheer excitement! I still get excited each year, but that first year of not even knowing what I was walking into and the thrill of being able to serve in this type of capacity was just different, fresh & new. Now that I know what Emmanuel all entails, I no longer have the excitement of the "unexpected", but rather the excitement to be able to go and see all of the children and staff with whom I've made good, strong connections!
So, what's there yet to do today? Well, I need to finish packing and to make sure that my suitcase is under 50 pounds. Thankfully Andrés is currently only sitting at 40 pounds with his suitcase right now; so if I go over, I can just shuffle some things his way! Andrés will take me to the Appleton airport to pick up our car rental, since we'll be leaving around 9:30pm to head to Chicago O'Hare. We need to be at the airport approximately 3 hours prior to our flight, so arriving at O'Hare around 2:30am (after dropping off the rental) and then our flight for Miami takes off at 5:30am.
Between renting the car and leaving Neenah, I will be going out to supper with my husband one last time before he joins me in Honduras on August 10th. I'm even more excited for Bob to go down there, because I've been hoping he'd go with me one year ever since I had started going!
As with each year prior, I'll try to keep you posted on a daily basis, but keep in mind that sometimes the internet is not as reliable in these 3rd world countries. Thanks for your patience and prayers! See you soon!
If you'd like to read how this trip came about, feel free to go through the archives and check out how it all happened.
First I'd like to thank all of my generous summer school students and their parents at Ferber Elementary School in Appleton, Wisconsin for all of their donations. Earlier this week I got all of the donations, including toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, socks, clothing, games, baby bath, etc) packed up into TWO VERY LARGE boxes and sent them to Dr. Don Reynolds in Hixson, TN. Dr. Reynolds is on the Board of Trustees for Orphanage Emmanuel and is in charge of sending a semi-truck full of donations down to Honduras approximately every 6-8 weeks. They get very excited when the semi arrives.
I just got off of the phone with Kimberly, a girl from church who is going with me & Andrés. She's super-excited, having had 2 prior planned missions trips fall through. I'm very excited for her because I remember all too well what my first year was like in terms of sheer excitement! I still get excited each year, but that first year of not even knowing what I was walking into and the thrill of being able to serve in this type of capacity was just different, fresh & new. Now that I know what Emmanuel all entails, I no longer have the excitement of the "unexpected", but rather the excitement to be able to go and see all of the children and staff with whom I've made good, strong connections!
So, what's there yet to do today? Well, I need to finish packing and to make sure that my suitcase is under 50 pounds. Thankfully Andrés is currently only sitting at 40 pounds with his suitcase right now; so if I go over, I can just shuffle some things his way! Andrés will take me to the Appleton airport to pick up our car rental, since we'll be leaving around 9:30pm to head to Chicago O'Hare. We need to be at the airport approximately 3 hours prior to our flight, so arriving at O'Hare around 2:30am (after dropping off the rental) and then our flight for Miami takes off at 5:30am.
Between renting the car and leaving Neenah, I will be going out to supper with my husband one last time before he joins me in Honduras on August 10th. I'm even more excited for Bob to go down there, because I've been hoping he'd go with me one year ever since I had started going!
As with each year prior, I'll try to keep you posted on a daily basis, but keep in mind that sometimes the internet is not as reliable in these 3rd world countries. Thanks for your patience and prayers! See you soon!
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