This morning I woke up to doing devotions and coffee. I headed to the little girls house and saw that they were eating chocolate granola. Kimberly got quite excited by chocolate granola last week, and I'm guessing that they only have that on the weekends (?) because on all of the weekdays so far, oatmeal has been served. Although I really do like granola, I'm not the biggest fan of the chocolate flavor. We helped with dishes once again and then headed back to the volunteer house.
Saturdays are CLEANING DAY. Anyone who knows me well knows that I absolutely detest cleaning toilets, so I really did not want to be on "bathroom duty". When we got back to the house, Kimberly and I immediately began cleaning the kitchen, dining and living room areas (it's really one big common area). I washed the dishes and cleaned the cupboards while Kimberly wiped down all of the furniture, cleaned the stove and swept the floor. Then I followed her up by mopping the floor. We worked well together, quickly and efficiently! When the work was done, we felt pretty good about the fresh-smelling areas!
I spent the next chunk of time googling crafts to do with the special needs children this week at the craft house. I do have a website bookmarked on this computer, but if anyone has ideas...feel free to post them to my facebook page. I'm just at a loss when I walk into that craft house...I am not an "artsy" type of person.
After doing my research, I headed to the small boys area, where the Maryland group was putting on the carnival for that age group. I got to translate for a man who was teaching the boys how to make a one-armed rescue knot. Yes, the knot had a special name...but I just couldn't remember what it was called. Andres was busy with helping translate too.
It rained and rained and rained during the boys carnival. I guess the rains are coming back (perhaps Bob will be grateful for that), but when the sun it out, it is still very strong. When there was a slight break in the rain, I headed back to the volunteer house to pick up Kimberly so that we could head to the little girls house for lunch. By the time we got there, they were already done eating (guess they eat lunch early on Saturdays); so we helped with dishes and headed back to the volunteer house where we cooled down for just a little bit before I went back to the little girls house to help with the carnival and to visit with Doris.
My clinic hours were from 4:30-6pm this evening. I took Joche outside to watch the events going on, and then got him settled in for the night lady that comes to monitor him. I headed up to the little girls house to say good night to them and found Kimberly going through the little girl's head that she had been cleaning the night before. She has a talent and a patience for that that I really admire.
When we got home, Kimberly mentioned that the Maryland group had left us some hotdogs from the carnival. When the female volunteers heard this, they all dug in! Not often that you get hotdogs around here!!!
Saturday, August 4, 2012
Friday, August 3, 2012
The Clinic
Fridays here at Emmanuel begin with BIG CIRCLE. Big circle is where all the children at Emmanuel come together to sing praises to God and to have their morning devotion. Max led today's devotion and the boys were called to read their scripture that they had memorized. Rather than memorizing just a verse or two, these children memorize an entire chapter of the Bible and then recite it at circle. It's just AMAZING!...and the boys have such rhythm to what they're reciting, it's very neat! I didn't realize that my camera battery was dead until I actually got to circle, which was kind of a "bummer".
We headed to the little girls house next to serve breakfast and do dishes. After doing dishes, Ana Yanci and Maria asked us if we'd help them go out into the woods in search of wood for cooking the rest of the day. Maria grabbed the machete and we headed out. Kimberly was in her sandals and found out (for the first time here) what it's like for ants to bite you, since she stepped on an ant hill as she was piling the wood into her arms and her shoe fell off. On our way back, we saw that Zue was with the girls in her kitchen looking for wood too!
When I got back to the volunteer house, it was pretty much time to head to the clinic. This is my first time at the clinic this year, so it wasn't too terribly bad (as opposed to the last 2 years). Anothing nice thing this year is that the shifts are split up into 1.5 hours shifts, instead of the typical 3+ hour shifts in past years. It really does make time go fast. Little Joche is in the clinic with stitches in his eye, so we just have to make sure that he doesn't touch his eye. I finished up watching the video with him that the previous volunteer had put in, then we headed out to the yard out front to get on the swings. After swinging for a bit, we headed back to the clinic where we colored some pictures of trees & alligators - and then that was pretty much it for my shift!
I came back to the house and saw that Andres had returned the computer (which he borrowed overnight to update his blog), so I did my morning devotion and updated my blog. When I was finished with that, it was lunch time; so we did the typical serving lunch & washing dishes and then Kimberly & I headed back to the house to cool down for just a bit before heading to the craft house. Katja would like us to start taking the special needs kids to the craft house to do a craft with them. Here's the thing: I'm NOT very creative, so coming up with art projects is close to impossible for me. I just wanted to take inventory of what's in there, and I'll be busy all weekend googling different art projects for the kids. This will definitely be a challenge for me this year.
We headed back to the little girls house for the ensenanza (afternoon Bible study) and a team came to do that with the girls. They weren't the most organized, so unfortunately the girls were WIRED for the rest of the evning, stretching Esperanza, Danis, Kimberly, my and all the older girls who were in charge of them to the limit. It was a rough evening then of baths and supper, after the bible study.
I needed to just relax with "no one" around, but there were a bunch of girls in the volunteer house when we had finished with the little girls, so I headed down to the carnival that the Maryland team was putting on (I know, doesn't sound really relaxing, right?). Actually the soccer field just cleared out and Andres was sitting on one end "vegging" too...so I sat next to him and we chatted for 30-45 minutes while just relaxing from the masses of children over the past week. We could hear their voices from inside the gymnasium, so they weren't too far off. When the medium girls came out, I spent the rest of the evening sitting next to Michele. She's one of the girls I cared for my first year here (5 years ago). Those girls are still precious to me today!
When the carnival ended and the girls were whisked away back to their house, I headed back to the volunteer house. The male volunteers had a bonfire, so the younger females went over to chat...I decided to stay back in the house with Zue and Brandy and just chat about "girl things". We were up pretty late, 10pm here (11pm WI time)...that's pretty late for me when I usually get up at 4:30am, so it wasn't to difficult to fall asleep at the end of the night.
We headed to the little girls house next to serve breakfast and do dishes. After doing dishes, Ana Yanci and Maria asked us if we'd help them go out into the woods in search of wood for cooking the rest of the day. Maria grabbed the machete and we headed out. Kimberly was in her sandals and found out (for the first time here) what it's like for ants to bite you, since she stepped on an ant hill as she was piling the wood into her arms and her shoe fell off. On our way back, we saw that Zue was with the girls in her kitchen looking for wood too!
When I got back to the volunteer house, it was pretty much time to head to the clinic. This is my first time at the clinic this year, so it wasn't too terribly bad (as opposed to the last 2 years). Anothing nice thing this year is that the shifts are split up into 1.5 hours shifts, instead of the typical 3+ hour shifts in past years. It really does make time go fast. Little Joche is in the clinic with stitches in his eye, so we just have to make sure that he doesn't touch his eye. I finished up watching the video with him that the previous volunteer had put in, then we headed out to the yard out front to get on the swings. After swinging for a bit, we headed back to the clinic where we colored some pictures of trees & alligators - and then that was pretty much it for my shift!
I came back to the house and saw that Andres had returned the computer (which he borrowed overnight to update his blog), so I did my morning devotion and updated my blog. When I was finished with that, it was lunch time; so we did the typical serving lunch & washing dishes and then Kimberly & I headed back to the house to cool down for just a bit before heading to the craft house. Katja would like us to start taking the special needs kids to the craft house to do a craft with them. Here's the thing: I'm NOT very creative, so coming up with art projects is close to impossible for me. I just wanted to take inventory of what's in there, and I'll be busy all weekend googling different art projects for the kids. This will definitely be a challenge for me this year.
We headed back to the little girls house for the ensenanza (afternoon Bible study) and a team came to do that with the girls. They weren't the most organized, so unfortunately the girls were WIRED for the rest of the evning, stretching Esperanza, Danis, Kimberly, my and all the older girls who were in charge of them to the limit. It was a rough evening then of baths and supper, after the bible study.
I needed to just relax with "no one" around, but there were a bunch of girls in the volunteer house when we had finished with the little girls, so I headed down to the carnival that the Maryland team was putting on (I know, doesn't sound really relaxing, right?). Actually the soccer field just cleared out and Andres was sitting on one end "vegging" too...so I sat next to him and we chatted for 30-45 minutes while just relaxing from the masses of children over the past week. We could hear their voices from inside the gymnasium, so they weren't too far off. When the medium girls came out, I spent the rest of the evening sitting next to Michele. She's one of the girls I cared for my first year here (5 years ago). Those girls are still precious to me today!
When the carnival ended and the girls were whisked away back to their house, I headed back to the volunteer house. The male volunteers had a bonfire, so the younger females went over to chat...I decided to stay back in the house with Zue and Brandy and just chat about "girl things". We were up pretty late, 10pm here (11pm WI time)...that's pretty late for me when I usually get up at 4:30am, so it wasn't to difficult to fall asleep at the end of the night.
Thursday, August 2, 2012
A Great Ending to My Day
This morning the computer just decided not to run the internet. Really though, I shouldn't blame the computer since it could've been the "internet stick", which I've been calling it around here. I'm not sure what it's truly called. I've heard that some people have them in the U.S., but I've never seen them there before. They look like little flash drives, but are portable USB modems or something. Because Bob's not here, I can't give you a technical name, which is why I just call them internet sticks.
Anyway, I use the internet to do my daily devotions (Proverbs31.org on the weekdays), and I like to do devotions while the house is still peaceful and quiet (AKA when everyone's still asleep)...so that didn't get accomplished. Generally when I don't get to do devotions at this hour, my day doesn't not run as smoothly. On top of this small problem, there was no coffee to drink prior to going to the little girls house for breakfast. Kimberly woke up late (she wasn't so excited about that either), and Johaira was upset with the little girls when she took them out to clean up the lawn before breakfast. So it was not the greatest start to the day. Although breakfast and dishes seemed to go pretty smoothly, when I was walking back (mind you, I'm in the mountains, so the terrain is not flat like Wisconsin) I stepped incorrectly, my body twisted and I pulled a muscle in my back. What a GREAT start to my morning!
When I arrived back to the house, I noticed that the internet stick now decided to work and I was able to do my devotions & upload my blog. Kimberly made some coffee and offered some to me. Things were starting to look up. I also had found a miniature (VERY miniature) chess set in the girls volunteer house. Since we are not "cool" like Andres, I decided to take it to him since he had forgotten his at home and is hoping Bob will bring it with him when he comes down next week. Andres was over on the farm working with cement around the fish-growing facility (not sure what the technical word for that is either). Next to this big structure is a greenhouse which is being built. Joanne was there and asked if I could help out a little bit. I didn't have a baseball cap to protect my head from the sun, nor did I put on sunscreen today...but I agreed to work for an hour or so anyway, at least until Keisha came. I got to use (and show Keisha how to use) a power drill!!!
When I got back to the volunteer house, Zue was waiting for me so we could discuss possible ideas for her first teaching lesson on Monday. One of her responsibilities is to teach Spanish to the students in Bachillerato (high school) once a week for the next 3 months. She needs to focus on reading, writing and expressing oneself, and had been asking for my help this week since she is not a teacher and figured I'd have good input. Frankly, I've never taught Spanish to Spanish-speaking people! So we brainstormed possible ideas together and I think she'll have a good start for her class on Monday.
At lunch, Ana Yanci was in the kitchen instead of Dunia. She said that she's there on Thursdays & Fridays because she doesn't have classes those 2 days. She's in Bachillerato and they only attend Monday - Wednesday. Since I was going to head into town with the Maryland group immediately after they had lunch, Ana Yanci helped with dishes. It was at this time that I realized that my back was not bothering me at all!
So the PALETAS (Mexican lollipops/suckers that have a mango or watermelong core, but are coated in chili pepper - that I bring down here every year)...all of the kids know I have them now & are asking for them all the time - to the point where it's disrupting my day. Finally I resorted to telling them that Thursdays are "Paleta Days". So in keeping my promise, I brought about 7-8 paletas out to the special needs yard and gave them away this afternoon. Now although I'll have to field a few questions here & there throughout this next week, I can simply respond with "Is it Thursday?" when they ask for a paleta.
We headed back to the little girls house & helped with supper and baths and then used the 2 metal combs that Katja had given me to comb the smallest girls hair for lice. There is only one girl from this side of the house that we'll have to "redo" tomorrow night because she has super curly, long hair which dried before we got to her...Raquel.
Finally to end the night, we were invited to an ice cream social by the 2 teams that are here. Okay, at least I THOUGHT it was an ice cream social. When we arrived to the team house, all of the tables had tablecloths on them with candles and really nice place settings! The lighting was awesome! They served a 3-course meal and then dessert (or does that make it a 4-course meal?). We started with a type of jellow that had fruit in it and an interesting cream on top, followed by a simple salad, but in the middle was a roma tomato stuffed with tuna that had sort of a cucumber slice for a "lid" to this tomato "bowl". The main meal was refried beans, black beans, 2 tortillas, cream, fried plantains and a rice mixture of corn, chicken and different color peppers. It was all so wonderful. They DID serve ice cream for dessert with chocolate or strawberry topping. I think my ice cream was a butter pecan, but they also had oreo and neopolitan flavored ice cream that they were serving.
At the beginning when we came in, they took pictures of all of the families as they entered. Then one of the team members escorted (yep, formal) us to our table, while another man was playing the saxophone...really neat! At the end of the night, after ice cream, they served coffee and a girl (about 12 years old or so) sang to us. It was such a neat experience. Andres helped the group serve and got sent to Elvia's table. Zue said that he handled it well (Elvia is quite the character). Kimberly and I sat at a table with Esperanza and her husband, another couple and a Mom & daughter who are here until this weekend. It was a really good time and a great ending to a day that started out a bit rocky! Thank you so much to the teams that put this on. I'm sure all of the staff & long-term volunteers here at Emmanuel were very appreciative of what these teams did.
Anyway, I use the internet to do my daily devotions (Proverbs31.org on the weekdays), and I like to do devotions while the house is still peaceful and quiet (AKA when everyone's still asleep)...so that didn't get accomplished. Generally when I don't get to do devotions at this hour, my day doesn't not run as smoothly. On top of this small problem, there was no coffee to drink prior to going to the little girls house for breakfast. Kimberly woke up late (she wasn't so excited about that either), and Johaira was upset with the little girls when she took them out to clean up the lawn before breakfast. So it was not the greatest start to the day. Although breakfast and dishes seemed to go pretty smoothly, when I was walking back (mind you, I'm in the mountains, so the terrain is not flat like Wisconsin) I stepped incorrectly, my body twisted and I pulled a muscle in my back. What a GREAT start to my morning!
When I arrived back to the house, I noticed that the internet stick now decided to work and I was able to do my devotions & upload my blog. Kimberly made some coffee and offered some to me. Things were starting to look up. I also had found a miniature (VERY miniature) chess set in the girls volunteer house. Since we are not "cool" like Andres, I decided to take it to him since he had forgotten his at home and is hoping Bob will bring it with him when he comes down next week. Andres was over on the farm working with cement around the fish-growing facility (not sure what the technical word for that is either). Next to this big structure is a greenhouse which is being built. Joanne was there and asked if I could help out a little bit. I didn't have a baseball cap to protect my head from the sun, nor did I put on sunscreen today...but I agreed to work for an hour or so anyway, at least until Keisha came. I got to use (and show Keisha how to use) a power drill!!!
When I got back to the volunteer house, Zue was waiting for me so we could discuss possible ideas for her first teaching lesson on Monday. One of her responsibilities is to teach Spanish to the students in Bachillerato (high school) once a week for the next 3 months. She needs to focus on reading, writing and expressing oneself, and had been asking for my help this week since she is not a teacher and figured I'd have good input. Frankly, I've never taught Spanish to Spanish-speaking people! So we brainstormed possible ideas together and I think she'll have a good start for her class on Monday.
At lunch, Ana Yanci was in the kitchen instead of Dunia. She said that she's there on Thursdays & Fridays because she doesn't have classes those 2 days. She's in Bachillerato and they only attend Monday - Wednesday. Since I was going to head into town with the Maryland group immediately after they had lunch, Ana Yanci helped with dishes. It was at this time that I realized that my back was not bothering me at all!
So the PALETAS (Mexican lollipops/suckers that have a mango or watermelong core, but are coated in chili pepper - that I bring down here every year)...all of the kids know I have them now & are asking for them all the time - to the point where it's disrupting my day. Finally I resorted to telling them that Thursdays are "Paleta Days". So in keeping my promise, I brought about 7-8 paletas out to the special needs yard and gave them away this afternoon. Now although I'll have to field a few questions here & there throughout this next week, I can simply respond with "Is it Thursday?" when they ask for a paleta.
We headed back to the little girls house & helped with supper and baths and then used the 2 metal combs that Katja had given me to comb the smallest girls hair for lice. There is only one girl from this side of the house that we'll have to "redo" tomorrow night because she has super curly, long hair which dried before we got to her...Raquel.
Finally to end the night, we were invited to an ice cream social by the 2 teams that are here. Okay, at least I THOUGHT it was an ice cream social. When we arrived to the team house, all of the tables had tablecloths on them with candles and really nice place settings! The lighting was awesome! They served a 3-course meal and then dessert (or does that make it a 4-course meal?). We started with a type of jellow that had fruit in it and an interesting cream on top, followed by a simple salad, but in the middle was a roma tomato stuffed with tuna that had sort of a cucumber slice for a "lid" to this tomato "bowl". The main meal was refried beans, black beans, 2 tortillas, cream, fried plantains and a rice mixture of corn, chicken and different color peppers. It was all so wonderful. They DID serve ice cream for dessert with chocolate or strawberry topping. I think my ice cream was a butter pecan, but they also had oreo and neopolitan flavored ice cream that they were serving.
At the beginning when we came in, they took pictures of all of the families as they entered. Then one of the team members escorted (yep, formal) us to our table, while another man was playing the saxophone...really neat! At the end of the night, after ice cream, they served coffee and a girl (about 12 years old or so) sang to us. It was such a neat experience. Andres helped the group serve and got sent to Elvia's table. Zue said that he handled it well (Elvia is quite the character). Kimberly and I sat at a table with Esperanza and her husband, another couple and a Mom & daughter who are here until this weekend. It was a really good time and a great ending to a day that started out a bit rocky! Thank you so much to the teams that put this on. I'm sure all of the staff & long-term volunteers here at Emmanuel were very appreciative of what these teams did.
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
My First True Danish Crepes this Year
I woke up this morning at 3:30am (4:30 WI time), caught up on devotions and updated my blog before heading to the little girls house for breakfast. Oatmeal seems to be "the thing" this year, as opposed to the granola cereal I became so familiar with over the past 4 years. We did dishes, came back to the volunteer house briefly (for a bathroom break) and then headed back to the little girls house so that Maria could teach Kimberly how to make tortillas. Kimberly took video snippets here & there in order to remember the process, and I took pictures of her while she jumped in and participated in making them - from start to finish.
After the tortillas were finished, we had about 1/2 hour to cool down back at the volunteer house before we needed to head back for lunch. Dunia helped us with dishes today, which I very much appreciated. I have been the one washing dishes so far and I feel my back is just about to give out (with me being so tall & leaning over so much). The little girls didn't have school this afternoon, but the big girls had to return. Doris was at lunch today (normally she's babysitting at Danis' house so that Danis can come and manage the little girls house), so I walked her to school. I found out that this week is the week of their national exams. They had their Spanish exam today and math is tomorrow, so the teachers will be reviewing math all afternoon. These exams are pretty high stakes. The students MUST get a 70% in order to continue their studies! The educational system in many other countries should make our students much more appreciative of ours...I do not waste chances to tell my students about the educational system here or in Mexico, countries in which I've been and I am familiar with.
While at the school, I chatted with Robert about any technological needs that Emmanuel might have. Although he said that most has been taken care of, Robert did rattle off a couple of things. I had to ask him to just write a list for me, since I'm still using the "Technology for Dummies" book (just kidding, but I'm not well versus in technological jargon). I'll email that list to my husband, Bob; and we'll see what happens from there! Bob will be coming down here on Friday, August 10th. I'm so excited for that...and so are the children & staff who know me well!!!
When I came outside the school, the medium boys who were in the yard across from the school told me that Andres was blowing up balloons for them in the yard. I headed over to the shelter there and saw him & Joanne, and her husband Dan all blowing up balloons and making swords with them for the boys. They were SO excited. There were a couple of these super-sized long balloons that the sole purpose was to blow them up & let them go. They made a silly noise as the air came out and the boys ran (almost in a stampede) after the balloon to try to catch it when it got close enough to the ground.
Joanne asked me to come with her, because her group was doing Bible studies with the kids this evening. She thought I might be needed to translate. I ended up translating for Marc (the Maryland volunteer who led the church service on Sunday) about wearing the Armor of God at the little boys house, while Andres translated for the pastor who led devotions at the big boys house.
While I was out & about this afternoon, Kimberly had headed to the medium girls house with our newest long-term volunteer, Zue, to practice her new skill of making tortillas. She said thant the kitchen in the medium girls house was MUCH hotter than our kitchen at the little girls house. I let her know that since last year, the 2 groups of girls had switched houses, so where she was this afternoon was actually where I was for the past 4 years, doing dishes, etc.
We had to hurry after supper to get the little girls their baths because the church service on Wednesday night is scheduled to start sometime between 4:30 and 4:45. It was a great service about needing God's forgiveness for ourselves FIRST & FOREMOST before any other needs. David & Lydia brought a group member named Sofia up to the front of the church. Sofia has brain cancer and the prognosis doesn't look good according to the doctors up in the United States. Please, as you read this, pray for her and continue to keep her in your prayers. She is part of the Maryland group, so if I hear anything over the next bunch of months from Joanne, I will definitely let you know.
After church, I walked Doris back to the little girls house. When I came home, I found Christina making crepes for all of us. Now there's a story behind this...so I'll tell it here:
Earlier in the day, Christina & Amelia (our 2 Danish long-term volunteers) had a craving for bread but they didn't have any. They asked those of us who were sitting in the living room area if any of us had some. I seemed to be the only one who had bread. I let them know I had bread, but that it was wheat bread...but they were more than welcome to it. I showed them where it was and Christina wanted to pay me for it. I refused payment, but since she insisted I joked that perhaps down the road when she made crepes for herself, she could make an extra one for me. Well, rather than just doing this...she decided to make crepes for the entire house this evening! YAY! It was especially nice, because we had not really eaten a meal together with all of the female volunteers in the house. We began in prayer (which Caroline led since she'll be leaving us on Monday), then we each named a few things that we were thankful for. What a special time shared by all!
After the tortillas were finished, we had about 1/2 hour to cool down back at the volunteer house before we needed to head back for lunch. Dunia helped us with dishes today, which I very much appreciated. I have been the one washing dishes so far and I feel my back is just about to give out (with me being so tall & leaning over so much). The little girls didn't have school this afternoon, but the big girls had to return. Doris was at lunch today (normally she's babysitting at Danis' house so that Danis can come and manage the little girls house), so I walked her to school. I found out that this week is the week of their national exams. They had their Spanish exam today and math is tomorrow, so the teachers will be reviewing math all afternoon. These exams are pretty high stakes. The students MUST get a 70% in order to continue their studies! The educational system in many other countries should make our students much more appreciative of ours...I do not waste chances to tell my students about the educational system here or in Mexico, countries in which I've been and I am familiar with.
While at the school, I chatted with Robert about any technological needs that Emmanuel might have. Although he said that most has been taken care of, Robert did rattle off a couple of things. I had to ask him to just write a list for me, since I'm still using the "Technology for Dummies" book (just kidding, but I'm not well versus in technological jargon). I'll email that list to my husband, Bob; and we'll see what happens from there! Bob will be coming down here on Friday, August 10th. I'm so excited for that...and so are the children & staff who know me well!!!
When I came outside the school, the medium boys who were in the yard across from the school told me that Andres was blowing up balloons for them in the yard. I headed over to the shelter there and saw him & Joanne, and her husband Dan all blowing up balloons and making swords with them for the boys. They were SO excited. There were a couple of these super-sized long balloons that the sole purpose was to blow them up & let them go. They made a silly noise as the air came out and the boys ran (almost in a stampede) after the balloon to try to catch it when it got close enough to the ground.
Joanne asked me to come with her, because her group was doing Bible studies with the kids this evening. She thought I might be needed to translate. I ended up translating for Marc (the Maryland volunteer who led the church service on Sunday) about wearing the Armor of God at the little boys house, while Andres translated for the pastor who led devotions at the big boys house.
While I was out & about this afternoon, Kimberly had headed to the medium girls house with our newest long-term volunteer, Zue, to practice her new skill of making tortillas. She said thant the kitchen in the medium girls house was MUCH hotter than our kitchen at the little girls house. I let her know that since last year, the 2 groups of girls had switched houses, so where she was this afternoon was actually where I was for the past 4 years, doing dishes, etc.
We had to hurry after supper to get the little girls their baths because the church service on Wednesday night is scheduled to start sometime between 4:30 and 4:45. It was a great service about needing God's forgiveness for ourselves FIRST & FOREMOST before any other needs. David & Lydia brought a group member named Sofia up to the front of the church. Sofia has brain cancer and the prognosis doesn't look good according to the doctors up in the United States. Please, as you read this, pray for her and continue to keep her in your prayers. She is part of the Maryland group, so if I hear anything over the next bunch of months from Joanne, I will definitely let you know.
After church, I walked Doris back to the little girls house. When I came home, I found Christina making crepes for all of us. Now there's a story behind this...so I'll tell it here:
Earlier in the day, Christina & Amelia (our 2 Danish long-term volunteers) had a craving for bread but they didn't have any. They asked those of us who were sitting in the living room area if any of us had some. I seemed to be the only one who had bread. I let them know I had bread, but that it was wheat bread...but they were more than welcome to it. I showed them where it was and Christina wanted to pay me for it. I refused payment, but since she insisted I joked that perhaps down the road when she made crepes for herself, she could make an extra one for me. Well, rather than just doing this...she decided to make crepes for the entire house this evening! YAY! It was especially nice, because we had not really eaten a meal together with all of the female volunteers in the house. We began in prayer (which Caroline led since she'll be leaving us on Monday), then we each named a few things that we were thankful for. What a special time shared by all!
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
The Tarantula!
I woke up this morning at 3:30am (4:30 WI time). I'm hoping to stay on Wisconsin time for the most part so that I don't get excessively tired when I get back home. Actually my days have been going very well & I have not yet had an instance where after a night's sleep, I wake up the next morning still tuckered out. God is good!
Caroline left her computer out on the kitchen table for me, so I quickly sat down to catch up on my Bible studies and 2 days of blogs. Although I didn't get all the way caught up because of not being able to do an online study since last Thursday and then generally take 15+ minutes a piece, I believe that by the end of the day tomorrow I'll be completely caught up in my online Bible studies as well as caught up in blogging about my experience down here.
This morning Kimberly video recorded (Is that how you still say it now-days?) the little girls circle. They always start out with alabanzas (praise singing), followed by a short devotion. The girl who led the devotion talked about how Jesus died for ALL people without thinking twice...and would we be able to do the same? I immediately thought of the 3 men on the news who had died protecting the women they were with in that theater out in Colorado a couple of weeks back. Not all of the women were "techically girlfriends" from the news report. I believe one of the 3 couples were just friends. Think about it...would you be willing to die for another? What if you didn't even know the person?...would you be willing to die to protect them?
We then headed to breakfast where they were serving oatmeal. I generally can't pass up oatmeal, but I needed to settle my stomach earlier by eating some peanut butter toast before heading to the little girls house, so I actually wasn't very hungry.
After dishes, Kimberly headed with Caroline into town to buy some Zuko (kind of like Kool-aid or Tang, but in tropical flavors) for the kids for lunch, and then a few things in terms of groceries. While she was away, I used a little bit more time to get caught up in my devotions and blogging. I'm just about caught up and very excited about it. Caroline had an extra internet stick for me, so I gave her some money to activate it while in town. This way I'll no longer have to borrow computers, I can use the one Bob had sent with me and now with this internet stick!
For lunch, they were eating ramen noodles with veggies at the little girls house. It was pretty good! The kids generally don't care for the veggies and that tends to get thrown out, but David & Lydia do not waste anything - all uneaten food is food for the pigs that they are raising here at Emmanuel. Kimberly & I had arrived quite a bit early before lunch to prepare the Zuko for the children and she also bought soda for all of the older girls, the kitchen help and Danis, who is in charge of the entire house. All of he kids and young women were SO excited and thankful!
So lunch dishes - I didn't think I could ever sweat that much! The kitchen was extremely hot for 2 reasons: 1) the fire for cooking was hotter than I've ever experience before, and 2) the sun was out in full force. For those of you who don't know much about the travels of the sun, it's pretty much DIRECTLY over Honduras this time of year, which literally means "right on top of your head". There wasn't much cloud cover out at this particular hour of the day today, making the kitchen all the more hot to be in. I was sweating so much that as I was leaning over the sink washing the dishes, the sweat was just dripping (like a leaky faucet) off of the end of my nose!
Both Kimberly & I had to retire to the volunteer house after dishes for some cold water & just to cool down for about 1/2 hour.
Because I ate so many ramen noodles for lunch, I chose to skip supper at the little girls house again. After supper, we working on bathing the girls once again and I had to find out some more about the treatment the girls are receiving for "something going around the house". No it's not lice, but I will talk more on that in a later post when I am able to do a little bit more research on the internet.
Zue made homemade spaghetti sauce & spaghetti, and invited Kimberly, Brandy and I to eat supper with her. By this time it was later in the evening and my stomach was actually beginning to get hungry once again. I didn't have much spaghetti, but the sauce was really good!
Not long after Kimberly said good night & went in the house, I caught some movement by the back door of the house (we were sitting on the patio out back). That's when the "blob" spread it's legs and crawled onto the door frame, looking to enter the house. I got SO excited!!! It's the first live tarantula I've ever seen down here in my 5 years of ever being here! I just had to wake Kimberly so she could take a picture (which she did, and will most likely share at church in her presentation)! Although some of the other girls who have been here longer and have now seen many of them were not as impressed, me, Kimberly, & Zue were just watching it and excited as could be! We probably looked like a few young boys who were examining an insect or something. Zue tried to get Kimberly to kill it, saying that we could take video of Kimberly killing it...but Kimberly just wanted to keep her distance. In the end, Zue killed it!
Note for the end of the evening: I did mention to Kimberly that the crack underneath our bedroom door is large enough that a tarantula could crawl under it into our room in the middle of the night. And with that, BUENAS NOCHES!
Caroline left her computer out on the kitchen table for me, so I quickly sat down to catch up on my Bible studies and 2 days of blogs. Although I didn't get all the way caught up because of not being able to do an online study since last Thursday and then generally take 15+ minutes a piece, I believe that by the end of the day tomorrow I'll be completely caught up in my online Bible studies as well as caught up in blogging about my experience down here.
This morning Kimberly video recorded (Is that how you still say it now-days?) the little girls circle. They always start out with alabanzas (praise singing), followed by a short devotion. The girl who led the devotion talked about how Jesus died for ALL people without thinking twice...and would we be able to do the same? I immediately thought of the 3 men on the news who had died protecting the women they were with in that theater out in Colorado a couple of weeks back. Not all of the women were "techically girlfriends" from the news report. I believe one of the 3 couples were just friends. Think about it...would you be willing to die for another? What if you didn't even know the person?...would you be willing to die to protect them?
We then headed to breakfast where they were serving oatmeal. I generally can't pass up oatmeal, but I needed to settle my stomach earlier by eating some peanut butter toast before heading to the little girls house, so I actually wasn't very hungry.
After dishes, Kimberly headed with Caroline into town to buy some Zuko (kind of like Kool-aid or Tang, but in tropical flavors) for the kids for lunch, and then a few things in terms of groceries. While she was away, I used a little bit more time to get caught up in my devotions and blogging. I'm just about caught up and very excited about it. Caroline had an extra internet stick for me, so I gave her some money to activate it while in town. This way I'll no longer have to borrow computers, I can use the one Bob had sent with me and now with this internet stick!
For lunch, they were eating ramen noodles with veggies at the little girls house. It was pretty good! The kids generally don't care for the veggies and that tends to get thrown out, but David & Lydia do not waste anything - all uneaten food is food for the pigs that they are raising here at Emmanuel. Kimberly & I had arrived quite a bit early before lunch to prepare the Zuko for the children and she also bought soda for all of the older girls, the kitchen help and Danis, who is in charge of the entire house. All of he kids and young women were SO excited and thankful!
So lunch dishes - I didn't think I could ever sweat that much! The kitchen was extremely hot for 2 reasons: 1) the fire for cooking was hotter than I've ever experience before, and 2) the sun was out in full force. For those of you who don't know much about the travels of the sun, it's pretty much DIRECTLY over Honduras this time of year, which literally means "right on top of your head". There wasn't much cloud cover out at this particular hour of the day today, making the kitchen all the more hot to be in. I was sweating so much that as I was leaning over the sink washing the dishes, the sweat was just dripping (like a leaky faucet) off of the end of my nose!
Both Kimberly & I had to retire to the volunteer house after dishes for some cold water & just to cool down for about 1/2 hour.
Because I ate so many ramen noodles for lunch, I chose to skip supper at the little girls house again. After supper, we working on bathing the girls once again and I had to find out some more about the treatment the girls are receiving for "something going around the house". No it's not lice, but I will talk more on that in a later post when I am able to do a little bit more research on the internet.
Zue made homemade spaghetti sauce & spaghetti, and invited Kimberly, Brandy and I to eat supper with her. By this time it was later in the evening and my stomach was actually beginning to get hungry once again. I didn't have much spaghetti, but the sauce was really good!
Not long after Kimberly said good night & went in the house, I caught some movement by the back door of the house (we were sitting on the patio out back). That's when the "blob" spread it's legs and crawled onto the door frame, looking to enter the house. I got SO excited!!! It's the first live tarantula I've ever seen down here in my 5 years of ever being here! I just had to wake Kimberly so she could take a picture (which she did, and will most likely share at church in her presentation)! Although some of the other girls who have been here longer and have now seen many of them were not as impressed, me, Kimberly, & Zue were just watching it and excited as could be! We probably looked like a few young boys who were examining an insect or something. Zue tried to get Kimberly to kill it, saying that we could take video of Kimberly killing it...but Kimberly just wanted to keep her distance. In the end, Zue killed it!
Note for the end of the evening: I did mention to Kimberly that the crack underneath our bedroom door is large enough that a tarantula could crawl under it into our room in the middle of the night. And with that, BUENAS NOCHES!
Monday, July 30, 2012
Feed My Starving Children
This morning we headed to the girls house in the morning to help get them ready for morning circle. Kimberly told me yesterday that she thought the little girls house was going to be a better fit for her than the toddlers. I'm glad she found a place to fit in, that makes her feel more comfortable about being here. She's still super-excited and I can see that written all over her face and in how she interacts with the children. I'm extremely excited for her! After circle, the girls line up to eat. This morning's breakfast was chocolate granola cereal, which Kimberly really liked but I don't plan on buying any time soon back in the States. That's not to say I couldn't stand it...just to say that I'm not really one to mix granola with chocolate for breakfast.
After doing the dishes, we went to the team house to meet up with Joanne for our gardening work for the morning. She had to go and check on each group to make sure they made it to the proper spot, so when we all headed over to the baby house, I quickly stopped by the toddler house to pick up the lice combs and rinse to use in the little girls hair when we were to bathe them later in the evening.
When we got to the greenhouse, Andres and William (another volunteer living in the house with Andres) were already there weeding. Andres told me about the 2 super-sized wood spiders that they had found. Much of the ground in the greenhouse was either wet or underwater, so there was lots of mud. Yuck for the shoes, but awesome for weed-pulling, which is what we were there to do. Kimberly found lots of toads, but the grand-daddy of them all was just over the size of a HUMONGOUS grapefruit! I'm pretty sure she got a picture of it.
Kimberly & I had to head back to the volunteer house early due to being drenched with sweat and mud and wanting to clean up before heading over to the little girls house for lunch. We had lunch with the girls and did dishes. The noodles that we had for lunch were "interesting"...ask me about them when I get back. But being a type of pasta and the amount that I had, I just wasn't hungry come suppertime. We headed back to the volunteer house because Kimberly was going to catch up with Caroline to head to town for some groceries. There was a big mix-up in communication. Caroline was in her room with the door shut, which we never knew. We just assume that when a bedroom door is shut, that either means the person is out and about or that they are sleeping. So they never knew each other was in the house!
We headed back to the little girls house for supper and that's where Kimberly noted the Manna Packs from the Feed My Starving Children program in the garbage. Those were a portion of what was used to make the supper here! I only focus on that because it was only a week or two ago that our church, New Hope, actually hosted a gathering of volunteers to fill those packets! Now those of you friends who have done that know that they are being used. Perhaps the ones that you filled didn't go here...but it's a great program!
After supper, Kimberly & I helped with bathing the children. I had left the lice combs back at the volunteer house and tried to run back to get them, but the house was locked up. I didn't know the combination to the box to get the key, so that'll have to wait for tomorrow night. We finally retired to the house where we had a nice long conversation with our newest long-term volunteer, Zue, who arrived with the Maryland team but will be here for over a year. She is from Peru and it seems we'll get along nice!
After doing the dishes, we went to the team house to meet up with Joanne for our gardening work for the morning. She had to go and check on each group to make sure they made it to the proper spot, so when we all headed over to the baby house, I quickly stopped by the toddler house to pick up the lice combs and rinse to use in the little girls hair when we were to bathe them later in the evening.
When we got to the greenhouse, Andres and William (another volunteer living in the house with Andres) were already there weeding. Andres told me about the 2 super-sized wood spiders that they had found. Much of the ground in the greenhouse was either wet or underwater, so there was lots of mud. Yuck for the shoes, but awesome for weed-pulling, which is what we were there to do. Kimberly found lots of toads, but the grand-daddy of them all was just over the size of a HUMONGOUS grapefruit! I'm pretty sure she got a picture of it.
Kimberly & I had to head back to the volunteer house early due to being drenched with sweat and mud and wanting to clean up before heading over to the little girls house for lunch. We had lunch with the girls and did dishes. The noodles that we had for lunch were "interesting"...ask me about them when I get back. But being a type of pasta and the amount that I had, I just wasn't hungry come suppertime. We headed back to the volunteer house because Kimberly was going to catch up with Caroline to head to town for some groceries. There was a big mix-up in communication. Caroline was in her room with the door shut, which we never knew. We just assume that when a bedroom door is shut, that either means the person is out and about or that they are sleeping. So they never knew each other was in the house!
We headed back to the little girls house for supper and that's where Kimberly noted the Manna Packs from the Feed My Starving Children program in the garbage. Those were a portion of what was used to make the supper here! I only focus on that because it was only a week or two ago that our church, New Hope, actually hosted a gathering of volunteers to fill those packets! Now those of you friends who have done that know that they are being used. Perhaps the ones that you filled didn't go here...but it's a great program!
After supper, Kimberly & I helped with bathing the children. I had left the lice combs back at the volunteer house and tried to run back to get them, but the house was locked up. I didn't know the combination to the box to get the key, so that'll have to wait for tomorrow night. We finally retired to the house where we had a nice long conversation with our newest long-term volunteer, Zue, who arrived with the Maryland team but will be here for over a year. She is from Peru and it seems we'll get along nice!
Sunday, July 29, 2012
A Tour of Emmanuel
This morning was a nice relaxing morning for me. The tiredness from travel has worn off and I was ready to go! I woke up without the alarm clock, and very early. Must be the time difference between here and Wisconsin. I have to be careful to stay on Wisconsin time so that when I get back and get to work, I'm still getting up on time. We are on the mountain time zone (I believe?) down here...so Wisconsin's 9am is really Honduras' 8am.
They say church normally begins at 9am, however it started at 8:45 this morning (good thing we got there on time). A pastor from one of the teams spoke as one of the staff members translated into Spanish. Kimberly thought that there were a nice array of songs (both in English and Spanish), and just like at New Hope - the words flashed across the screen so that all could sing and participate. Part way through the service, Doris came to sit next to me.
After the service, I chatted a bit with Lydia and saw Elvia (who was excited to see me too) and then headed to the yard out front of the church to chat with the medium and small girls. Doris came over and I offered to walk her over to the staff house where she had to babysit the rest of the day. She shared some difficult information with me (about something that had happened to her indirectly that was weighing heavily on her that morning), and we talked quite a bit. I let her talk it out, and tried encouraging her and also let her know that I'd be praying for God to give her strength.
After lunch, Wade led a tour of Emmanuel. Because there are 2 teams down here, there were so many people who went on this tour. They rigged up a trailer to a tractor and put a bunch of chairs on the trailer. A pick-up truck followed behind with the bed of the truck filled with teenagers. I was told that they generally do a tour like this on Sundays when there is a group here. I had never been on this tour before, and since it was Kimberly's first time at the orphanage and she had not seen the entire thing yet...we toured with the groups. I heard some history about Emmanuel that I had never heard before, so was very grateful that I decided to hop up onto the trailer.
After suppertime, Kimberly & I went for a walk (to burn calories...she's an avid exerciser back in the States). We walked around by the farm and stopped by the fish farm that was just built one of the last groups that was here. That was amazing. We stopped by the greenhouse and saw the cherry tomatoes as well. Later I headed over to the team house to see what Joanne was up to the rest of the week and to see how much I'd be able to help them with. Looks like we're doing gardening tomorrow!
They say church normally begins at 9am, however it started at 8:45 this morning (good thing we got there on time). A pastor from one of the teams spoke as one of the staff members translated into Spanish. Kimberly thought that there were a nice array of songs (both in English and Spanish), and just like at New Hope - the words flashed across the screen so that all could sing and participate. Part way through the service, Doris came to sit next to me.
After the service, I chatted a bit with Lydia and saw Elvia (who was excited to see me too) and then headed to the yard out front of the church to chat with the medium and small girls. Doris came over and I offered to walk her over to the staff house where she had to babysit the rest of the day. She shared some difficult information with me (about something that had happened to her indirectly that was weighing heavily on her that morning), and we talked quite a bit. I let her talk it out, and tried encouraging her and also let her know that I'd be praying for God to give her strength.
After lunch, Wade led a tour of Emmanuel. Because there are 2 teams down here, there were so many people who went on this tour. They rigged up a trailer to a tractor and put a bunch of chairs on the trailer. A pick-up truck followed behind with the bed of the truck filled with teenagers. I was told that they generally do a tour like this on Sundays when there is a group here. I had never been on this tour before, and since it was Kimberly's first time at the orphanage and she had not seen the entire thing yet...we toured with the groups. I heard some history about Emmanuel that I had never heard before, so was very grateful that I decided to hop up onto the trailer.
After suppertime, Kimberly & I went for a walk (to burn calories...she's an avid exerciser back in the States). We walked around by the farm and stopped by the fish farm that was just built one of the last groups that was here. That was amazing. We stopped by the greenhouse and saw the cherry tomatoes as well. Later I headed over to the team house to see what Joanne was up to the rest of the week and to see how much I'd be able to help them with. Looks like we're doing gardening tomorrow!
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