We went to breakfast where arroz con leche was served with a mini coconut pie. I did eat the arroz con leche, but once again had to give the coconut pie away. Kaylyn decided to eat with Sofia, Alina ate with the toddlers, Noah ate with the grandecitos and I moved over to eat next to Michell. We walked with the toddlers back to the chosa (a closed in gazebo-type building) to watch some educational videos until school started. When school was about to start, I headed that way to talk with Profe Ramon to see if he would need help with any classes. He told me he'd like help with Bachillerato 1 and Bachillerato 2 (10th and 11th grades) this year, and that he would get me the materials after recess. So I let him know I'd be back.
I stopped at the tienda to begin separate accounts for Alina, Noah and Kaylyn. I let them know I would put $120 lempiras (about $5 USD) into their account at the tienda that they could spend as they felt fit. There are beverages, chips and ice cream at the tienda. This way, if they needed to snack or to have a dessert, they could do it. I let Lourdes, who runs the tienda, know that I felt Noah would blast through his money the fastest, especially since I know he doesn't really care for arroz con leche at breakfast, and he really enjoys having his Fresca soda.
Noah went off with Chino to spend the morning working with the horses. Around January, a new horse building went up which houses the horses and has a classroom so that the kids here can learn more about horses and how to properly care for them. Noah hauled saw dust to each of the horses stalls. After the horse care was finished, Noah got to use the weed wacker to cut grass with the other boys. He really had a day filled with heavy labor!
After collecting the books I headed back to our room to fold the laundry that was in the washer and dryer when we arrived and also to wash all of the towels from the "flooding" that Noah's shower created in the room last night. In addition to that, we already had a load of our own to wash. I used this time to start looking through the math materials as well.
After lunch, Mary Beth (who is in charge of overseeing the kitchen) asked me to chat with Luis David about his cell phone usage and a few other things. Luis David just got this new cell phone on Saturday, and of course...like all teenagers...wants to be on it as much as possible. So I went to the comedor around 1:30pm, when he was on break, to chat with him. And like all teens, he got a bit defensive at first, but I brought in how it destroy relationships and in terms of jobs...get people fired if they are using it and shouldn't be. We had a lengthy conversation about that and then also about him saving up for college. He'd like to go to Costa Rica to learn to be a chef. It is a 3-4 year program, and seems like it's fairly expensive. We'd like to help him through college, but I'm not sure that we can help him completely. If any of our friends out there would like to help, please do reach out to us. I affectionately call Luis David my Honduran son because I've known him for the past 12 years of coming down to Orphanage Emmanuel. When he graduated this past December, I was allowed to take off work to come down for his graduation, thanks so much to a wonderful and understanding HR department in the Oshkosh Area School District. A few years ago, he didn't even think he was going to finish high school (anything after 6th grade is completely optional here in Honduras)...and upon graduating, he told me that I was one of the main reasons he pushed himself. There's SO MUCH MORE to his background story that I just don't have the time and space to put in here. But we are really hoping that he can follow his dreams and go through culinary school.
Noah spent the afternoon working on laying cement. They are extending the road in front of the team house to the health clinic area. I can remember back to 12 years ago when there was barely ANY cement roads!...and now most roads between buildings here are. See the picture below which shows where the cement is being laid.
After supper, Noah went with the medium boys to play dodge-ball, and the girls went to the toddler house to give showers to the toddlers and get them in their pajamas and ready for bed. It gets pretty dark here by 7pm, so we generally turn in by 8 at the latest.
And at the end of the night, I asked each of the 3 kiddos how much money was left in their accounts at the tienda (at the end of just 1 day), and as predicted, Noah had spent the most...with only $30 lempiras left. Hoping he spaces it out until next Monday, but guessing he'll be diving into some of the "mad money" that his grandfather sent along with him!
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