The Shipment Arrives

On Saturdays there is no circle devotions, but we still go over to the little girls' house at 6am.  So after making sure all the girls were dressed and had their shoes on, Alina went with them into the sala (like a living room) to watch Toy Story 3 with them while I chatted with the 2 staff members: Karelia & Elizabeth as well as the 2 other volunteers assigned to this house:  Maggie & Samantha.  Maggie is actually leaving back for the States on Tuesday.  She's been here a month.  Samantha just got here this week and will be staying for 3 weeks.  We had a brief conversation about her beginning to worry about going to the airport herself (since no teams are going back on that day)...she asked a LOT of questions about the bus to get to Tegucigalpa and travelling there alone, or if she should just ask Norman to take her.  I advised her not to think about it until the week of departure, saying that there might be another volunteer leaving that same day or perhaps a staff member that realizes they need to use their day off to run in to Tegucigalpa for some much-needed items.  All would happen in due time.

We had breakfast (granola once again) and Alina tried her first strawberry moon pie.  She didn't really care for it so I suggested that when she saw the medium girls in their yard, she share it with them rather than throw it away.  We are so eager to throw away food in the States, but never truly realize how privileged we are to have food in excess until we actually see, with our own eyes, those who are not in that situation.  After breakfast we headed to the school playground so the girls could play.  It began raining and rained most of the day.  Today was actually the first day EVER in ALL of my times down here in Honduras that I wore pants all day!  They kept the girls at the park for about 2 hours, but since it just got more & more damp, giving the little girls more & more chills, the older girls finally decided to bring them back to the sala at their house to watch more movies inside or to color in the dining hall or do other activities.  Alina entertained the girls by doing some cartwheels, jumping rope, and using the hula hoop.  Because we were indoors, the volume was VERY loud, so at one point I had to take a break and run to the apartment because I felt a headache coming on.

The girls had spaghetti for lunch today.  Alina helped to serve up the plates and also helped with dishes after lunch!  In the afternoon, Alina & I headed down to the yard to visit with the medium girls.  Alina played a bit of soccer with Coco and Michell and I chatted with Doris' younger sister, Elena.  Two years ago Elena would barely talk to me.  She was SO shy!  Today she wouldn't settle down and kept talking & talking.  She had just gotten done with visiting her mom and was full of energy!  When things settled down a bit and Alina looked like she was getting a little tired of soccer, I invited her to go with me to the snack shop and get an ice cream cone.  She quickly said, "Yes!"

As we were walking to the ice cream shop, I saw the semi-truck!  They had received a container and I never heard it.  They were just beginning to unload it.  I kept my word and purchased cones for me & Alina and said, "Why don't we go over and watch them unload the truck while we're eating our cones?"  We did and they were still unloading when I had finished my cone, so I began to help.  Alina helped too when her cone was finished.  It's amazing at how fast a container can get unloaded, and how much Dr. Reynolds can actually PACK in a container!  Boxes and boxes of unending moon pies!!!  There were clothes and so many packages of diapers!  A team who's planning on coming in September had sent down some supplies for possible activities that they'll be doing with the kids.  A huge commercial kitchen sink was sent down (the kind there would be in restaurants or a cafeteria).  A walk-in freezer was sent down in pieces!  And everything went so smoothly, efficiently and quickly!  I'm thankful for the cool raining day, because we definitely could've gotten a LOT more sweaty than we did.  I had never gotten the chance to help unload a container on prior visits.  It was a very exciting experience for Alina & me both!

Right after unloading the container it was time to go back up to the little girls' house for supper and bath time.  Yanira gave me a bracelet and Doris gave Alina a shirt.  I still have a difficult time comprehending how gracious these children are with their things.  They remind me constantly of the widow who gave her last money to God, knowing and having true faith that he would provide for her.

Alina stayed with Doris and the big girls watching to watch movies for a while before coming home to bed.  While she was gone, I read a couple more chapters in my book:  The Language of Love & Respect  by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs.  For more information on this book, see http://www.amazon.com/The-Language-Love-Respect-Communication/dp/084994807X