Our Venture Back to the United States

 Today's the day!  The bus is pulling out at 7am.  We were all up a lot earlier than normal.  We had weighed the suitcases last night and made sure they were all at 40 pounds each (pretty much exactly).  We stripped the beds and got loads of laundry started to minimize the work for Michell when she came with the crew to clean after we had left.  We wiped down the cupboards and spot swept before heading out to say our goodbyes.

Kaylyn and Michell

Me and Michell

Noah and Gibran

Noah and Nikoll

   As soon as I came out of the house, Alejandra ran over to me crying and wouldn't let me go.  This is going to be difficult since she is positive that she will not see me again.  I wrote her a letter and perhaps hers was the longest letter of the ones I wrote since she had told me that in her last visit with her mom, she was told that her mom would be coming for her next year.  I will still have Christmas, I let her know.  And my goal is to buy her a photo album and put in all the photos I have taken of her over the years.

   Kaylyn was invited up to the team house by Michell and Dulce, who braided her hair for her travels home.  Michell also gave her some hoop earrings as a gift and also sent an extra pair along for Alina.  Noah spent a lot of time running around to say his goodbyes as well.  He thanked David and Lydia again for allowing him to grow up here over the past 7 years.  Michell had made us some burritos, so I heated them up quickly before we took off so that we could eat that as our breakfast on the bus.

   We rode Emmanuel's bus with the team back to Comayagua's International airport.  The bus stopped just outside of Tegucigalpa for a bathroom and snack break.  A few of the team members had purchased snacks and donuts and other pastries...and when they had their fill, I guess Noah was the "garbage disposal" for them.  He got to eat well on the bus today!

Kaylyn was a bit tired

Kaylyn, Lori, Chino, Noah, Jaden

   The process in going home is first to go through the line for minors (since I had the 3 smaller ones with me) and to get the passports all stamped to leave the country.  Everyone aside from Jaden was fingerprinted both on the way into the country and on the way out.  Jaden had his picture taken, which I am guessing is due to it being his first time into the country and I am sure he'll be fingerprinted next year.

John and Noah

Kaylyn decided to braid my hair while waiting for our plane

Kaylyn deciding to be goofy

   After passing through migration of minors, we headed to the baggage check.  Of course the lady asked me if I had coffee in my suitcases and I gave her a smile and told her "2 suitcases FULL!".  She smiled at me and let me go on.  We checked our bags and then had to head through security where they looked at the stamps on our passports and then had to go through the normal 'TSA' stuff.  When we got to our gate, it wasn't long before we had to board the plane that would take us to Fort Lauderdale.  All in all, the flights from Honduras to Florida were good as well as the flight from Florida to Chicago.  But when we arrived in Chicago it took us 2 hours from touch down to us actually leaving the airport.  The tram was not running and everything seemed to be shut down.  Add that to the fact that I forgot which parking lot we parked in...it made for a long process.

Look at all the international flights!

   It was Noah's job to keep me awake until Fond du Lac and he shared some things that surprised me along that drive, while the other 2 children slept.  I don't want to announce what he said publicly on this blog as it's really his news to share when the time is right...but I am excited for his new adventures in life as he goes through his senior year of high school and then for what will come afterwards!

   In Fond du Lac, Noah swapped out the front seat with Kaylyn and she kept me awake for the remainder of the way home.  The last stretch (from north Oshkosh to our house) was definitely the most difficult and I feared I might actually fall asleep with my eyes open.  Kaylyn said she saw me zoning out on more than one occasion.  When we got home, of course it was straight to the bed for me.

   Travel to Honduras...10pm until about 11am the next day.

   Travel home from Honduras...7am until about 5am the next day.  And not to mention that you are already tired and in transit back to real life.

Until next year!!! 💗

Just a little snippet of the well over 50 notes and pictures we've received from children at Emmanuel

Our Last Full Day at Emmanuel

    This morning's cereal was oatmeal...the soupiest Noah has had yet!  It's okay because again, it shows us to appreciate the smaller things in life rather than always wanting the materialistic things.  I had logged most breakfasts this year mainly because over the years, I have told my children that their meals are limited and not a vast variety like we have in the U.S.  I thought perhaps by sharing a little into the meals this year, everyone who is reading this can also see that we are being honest with the comments we make about this beautiful place.  I love it here and 2.5 weeks has not been nearly enough.  I look forward to the year that I can go back to entire months and then hopefully sooner than later, the entire summer.

   I worked hard on the quadratics review lesson for this morning's 7am class.  They had already been taught quadratics, but just like students in the U.S., this is a very difficult topic for students.  We mainly went through examples, but I gave them a "process" to follow for each quadratic they do from here on out.  They like to have steps and then be able to practice them multiple times.  Math is that way...it's a sequence of steps and experimentation, and when you find you are on the wrong path, you really have to be willing to either go back into your work and to locate and fix the mistake...OR you need to be willing to just scrap the entire process and just start over, trying something new or a new method that you hadn't tried earlier.  But isn't that the way of life in general when we run into problems?

   Noah spent the morning with Moncho in the team house replacing a water heater.  Michell made them both coffee while they worked and then heated up some ribs from the night before for them to snack on as well.  Noah let me know that he had ribs with Moncho, Edd and Michell.  

   Jaden let me know that he was with the horses once again and mainly was picking up grass throughout the morning.  When Noah finished up with the water heater, he headed to the cancha with Gisella to play soccer with the students.

   At 9am, Alexander took Kaylyn, Jaden and me into town to purchase the coffee for our trip back.  He had set me up a couple of days ago with a man who used to be an employee of Emmanuel but was now growing his own brand of coffee as a business.  I bought 4 bags from him, which cost approximately $3.50 each bag.  In town, we bought coffee, Honduran sugar and dish soap (the solid kind).  We should have enough of these supplies to fill the 2 (of 3) suitcases we are taking back.  On the drive back, I was blessed to see Glenda outside of her house.  Teams and volunteers are not supposed to be going into town this year because of the entire pandemic and the toll it's taken on the country, so when she noticed me and our eyes locked, I asked Alexander if he could pull over for just a moment.

   For those of you who have not read this blog since I began it in 2008, Glenda was my main source of purchasing fruits and veggies in the early years.  She is a sweet Christian lady and purchasing from her came highly recommended by volunteers back in 2008.  We formed a bond over the years, and she got to meet each of my children...from Andres and now down to Jaden.  She asked about Andres, Alina and Noah as we chatted, then said HI to Kaylyn and got to meet Jaden.  I pray that the atmosphere of being able to venture out next year and head into town changes so that I can spend more time with Glenda as I have in years past.

   Noah wanted to take the Tshirt we had purchased for him this week around with a sharpie and have all those who have meant a lot in his life sign it.  He spent quite a bit of time thinking of who should sign it and was very thoughtful in it.  Both David and Lydia signed it, as well as Morgan...and on down the line.  It will be so memorable for him as he goes through his next stage in life.

   At supper time, Mami (Lydia) asked me to say a few words into the microphone to the children at Emmanuel...as a goodbye.  I let the children know that I have appreciated how they've treated my own kids over the years and it has been fun to watch them grow.  I thanked the staff for allowing us the opportunity to come each year and participate in life with them and the kids.  And of course, all glory goes to God for putting Emmanuel on my radar back in 2006 as well as helping to carve the way to make it possible to actually go there.

   Noah went to ensenanza this evening after supper.  The team put on a bible study for the medium and small boys and girls.  Noah said it was so powerful that he cried the entire time (yep, my tough boy admitted to this)...and when it was over, I guess all of the children made a bee line for Noah to give him hugs goodbye, since we would be leaving in the morning while they were at breakfast.

   For the remainder of the evening, we spent it with Michell, Dulce, Paola, Vianey and Mirna in the gazebo up at the team house.  Michell pressed the "submit" button on the application to Fox Valley Technical College in Appleton, WI.  Now we wait to hear from them.  I have grown to love Michell as my own daughter ever since I met her and took care of her back in 2008.  Please pray with me that there is a way for her to make her dream of studying up here come true.

The School's Food Sale Fundraiser

    This morning's breakfast was oatmeal and a banana.  I started the laundry process early this morning to wash all the clothes we would be giving away.  We came down with 5 suitcases (some of it was sink faucets and hardware for Mike) but will only be returning with 3 (2 of them will be filled with coffee, so that is a LOT of clothes to give away).  Anyway, I finished working through the calculus book today, what a feeling of accomplishment.  Also, I was able to get the lesson on quadratics for the Algebra 2 class tomorrow done so math for me (aside from teaching tomorrow and meeting with Profe Jorge) is all set for this year.

   Jaden spent the morning with the horses again, bringing them in and out of the horse barn as well as sweeping, and helping Andy cut wood for the bridge.  Kaylyn was in the toddler house.

Kaylyn with some of the toddlers

   Later in the morning, I headed to the school as the teachers had made food to help fundraise for the school as well.  There were pupusas, tamalitos, patelitos de papa and carne, baleadas, churros, and beverage bags (yes, in bags) of horchata and pina.  I had Kaylyn, Noah and Jaden meet me at the school so that they could get some of the delicious options of food, and so that I could help support the school again.  Jaden has never tried much of this, so it was fun to see him choose, eat and enjoy it.

Dilmer

Kaylyn with a bag of pineapple juice

   Noah said today they put a metal wall in front of the water heaters in the power toddlers house, and then he spent the afternoon playing soccer with the 5th grade class.  He had written a bunch of goodbye letters and wanted me to translate them for him so that those he wrote to knew exactly what he was saying.

   I think one of the big news items of the night though, was heading once again to the team house (as staff and volunteers were invited to dine with them again) and hearing from LaDonna (a good friend of mine over the past 10 years) that Chino proposed to her daughter Daniela.  I am so excited for Chino! Since we got to know him about 5 years ago, he has been a blessing in both Noah's and my life.  Spending extra time and watching movies with his boys late into the evening and now watching many of them in the big boys house has been an opportunity I wouldn't have had without him.  I hope God richly blesses him as he goes through this next phase of his life.

Noah Goes Into Town

    This morning's breakfast was arroz con leche, and I kept myself occupied since I got up at 4am until I went to bed pretty much with getting through that math book once again (well, when there weren't other more pressing things to do).

   Kaylyn let me know that she was excited that only ONE toddler headed to the bathroom this morning, instead of the barrage that generally follows her (in order to get water) when one child goes in.  She also got to help hang up clothing on the clothesline out back and gave Alina's NHS varsity uniform to Marta.  Jaden let me know that he worked in the horse barn again, sweeping the barn as well as bringing horses in and out.

   Noah went into town this morning with Moncho.  He said they had to deliver eggs, and at one house Moncho told Noah to stay in the vehicle...but anybody that knows Noah, knows he sometimes doesn't follow directions.  Well, Noah carried some eggs into the house, and the lady who lived there asked if Noah was my son (not sure how she guessed that, but it was heart-warming to hear).

   This morning at the school was a fundraiser for the band.  They need new uniforms in order to look sharp for these competitions.  I let Elvia (the principal of the high school) know that I would buy 12 chimichangas (for her, me, Noah, Kaylyn, Jaden, Michell, Alejandra, Gibran, Oscar, Julissa, Cristofer, and Nikoll).  The chimichangas were $60L each (about $5), but I also gave Elvia a bit extra to help contribute towards the uniforms.  They were very delicious and I was glad to be able to help.  Kaylyn was so full today, that she decided to give her chimichanga to Invisible.

   For lunch, we were served rice with chicken, veggies and tortillas.  Later on was church...what would be our last church service at Emmanuel for 2022.  It was good, we listened to a member from the team preach for a bit while Felipe (one of the guys in charge of the horse barn) translated everything he said to Spanish in order for the children to listen.

   Noah had been asking all day to run a volleyball game between the team and the big boys.  Setting up a tennis net as a volleyball net was a challenge and we will just say it was NOT to regulation.  But everyone did have fun and although curfew for team members is 6pm (which is when it starts to get dark here) and volunteers is 8pm...the game went until 10pm.

Band Practice

    This morning's breakfast was arroz con leche.  I headed to the school at 7am, but over half the class had to go to band practice.  We worked through step functions and the students there claimed it was fairly easy.  They have been sharing their notes with those students who have to be absent due to band practice, so I am thankful for that.

   I headed down at 9am to watch the band's practice march for Mami and Papi and the team that was here.  The band has been working hard for their marches (Honduras' Independence Day is in September).  They will have a march in September at Emmanuel, where people from outside will come and evaluate them.  Then shortly after they will head into town to face off with other bands there.  But the big competition is in Choluteca, and Elvia was hoping that David would sign the permission papers to go as that is a ways away and would require going by bus.  

   Kaylyn headed to the toddler house and said some members from the team came to play with the toddlers for a little bit, teaching them Ring Around the Rosey.  Noah said he was busy during the morning putting grout down in-between the tiles in the power toddlers bathrooms.  He also let me know that Moncho let him drive the gator today as well.  I really think that Noah is enjoying his time down here more by the day!...but it is Jaden who probably wins the "chores of the day" award as he got to help slaughter a pig!  Our kids are suburban kids, so this is not something they have participated in.  Jaden was pretty excited about it as he was the only child of ours (aside from Andres) that has gotten to slaughter a pig...only Jaden didn't get hurt doing it like his big brother did.

   For lunch, noodles with spaghetti sauce, tortillas, and guava were served.  Noah and Kaylyn were not able to eat all of their tortillas (I think we each had 3?) so they passed them my way...but there was no way I was able to eat all of theirs AND mine, so we sent them to the big boys, who devoured them.

   Because I had been working on so much math yesterday and today, I ended up with a pretty bad headache in the afternoon.  I don't generally get headaches (in my earlier years I never got them), so I headed back to the house to grab ibuprofen and get a little rest.  There were Honduran T-Shirts being sold in the team house, so I took Jaden, Kaylyn, and Noah all up there to see if they would like one.  They each found one they really liked.  Jaden let me know he spent time this afternoon washing Alexander's parking spot for his gator.

   I did spend a couple of hours with Michell after supper.  Since she has been working in the team house, I haven't gotten to spend a lot of time with her, but will be making an effort to do it a lot more this week.

Dinner at the Team House

   This morning's breakfast was that smooth "cereal" (which I found out was a combination of milk, flour and sugar) along with cookies.  Whereas Noah doesn't care for the arroz con leche, I would have to say that this is my least favorite cereal...but I have committed to having an authentic experience while here, so as with all of the meals that have been served while I was here this year, I will eat them in their entirety.

   Kaylyn was sick all day today with both a tummy ache and a head ache.  We would find out later upon our return to the States that her illness and the discoloration in her knuckles and behind her knees was that she had gotten Dengue Fever while here.  Dengue only exists between the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn, and begins with a mosquito bite.  Kaylyn is the first in our family to get dengue in the 14 years I have been coming down here, but will most likely not be the last as our trips down here will continue as long as I am able to go, God willing.  I am so thankful that she only had mild symptoms because it could have been so much worse.

   I will be in a mad rush this week to get the rest of the notes for the calculus book done, both going through examples in the book and filling in gaps between steps, as well as completing every homework problem with appropriate steps, so that they are available for Profe Jorge and his students.  Today's calculus topic was derivatives using the quotient rule as well as the chain rule.  The students are telling me that I am making these lessons easy for them with multiple examples throughout.

   Noah and Jaden were at the horse barn this morning, reorganizing hay stacks inside the semi container.  Noah let me know at lunch that he got to drive a gator in order to bring hay into the corrals.  I let Chino know that Noah neither had a driver's license or his temps, but I suppose it's good practice for him.  I can remember when my dad let me drive our super old and beat up suburban out in the fields to get practice.  Add that to the riding lawnmowers that we constantly used, and that's a mix for a little more experience before I got my driver's license.  

   Lunch today was rice, beans, tomatoes, queso fresco, and tortillas.  These types of lunches are my favorites since they're a variety of everything.  After lunch, Kaylyn and I walked back with the toddlers to put them down for a nap.  

   I had to meet up with Michell at 1:00 because she had requested that the two of us meet with David (the founder of the orphanage).  Michell must have rehearsed what she was going to say through the night and I won't forget the passion and tears in her eyes as she told David that she wanted to come to the States with me to study.  There was WAY more to the conversation than that, but if you really would like me to share, we can have that conversation in a way that's not so public.  But for the meantime, we are hoping and praying (of course with David's blessing) that all goes smoothly and she is able to come up to the States to study in January.  Once we had David's blessing, we also needed to head to the office in order to talk to Eva about the logistics of the application and what would have to be done State-side and what would need to get done in Honduras for this goal to become a reality.

   During the afternoon, Kaylyn finished up a book by Karen Kingsbury.  I have read some of her books, actually entire series of her books, and really enjoy how she writes.  Noah worked with Milton to blow leaves and debris off the road with the Leaf Blower and Jaden broke rocks/concrete to use as filler for the bridge that's being built.

   This evening we were invited to the team dinner at 6pm.  They served spaghetti and Noah ended up going back for seconds...well I am not sure you can call it that, because his "seconds" consisted of the entire lunch tray being covered in quite a mound of spaghetti!  We enjoyed good conversation with Michell, Mirna, Oscar, Moncho and others before retreating to our rooms for the evening.

Basketball with the Big Boys

    This morning's breakfast consisted of the Honduran version of Frosted Flakes (although Noah chose the last of the Cocoa Puffs).  I had decided that on Sunday mornings we would not be going down to the Comedor, but would eat breakfast together as a family.  

   We got ready and headed down to the church and Papi preached.  I always enjoy listening to him preach because he "tells it like it is".  As the years have went on, I have noticed that so many people are afraid to approach various, what we consider to be "touchy" subjects.  David chooses topics that are so applicable to what is going on in the world today and uses many passages from the Bible to affirm or negate these topics.  Many times I hold on to what he says for days, and mark these verses in my Bible so that I can go back to them.

   When we got back from church, we did our weekly deep-cleaning of the house.  Jaden cleaned the toilets, Kaylyn cleaned the showers, Noah cleaned the bathroom counter, sinks and mirrors, and I cleaned the kitchen counters and sink.  Then I swept the entire house, and Noah followed behind with the sudsy mop, Kaylyn with the rinse mop, and Jaden had a mop to catch what Kaylyn might have missed and also to make the floors a little more dry.  This still took just just over an hour, like last week.

   When the cleaning was done, it was already time for lunch, so we headed down to the Comedor.  While there, we asked permission from the encargados (those in charge) to take some children to the store. We ended up taking Alejandra, Genesis, Nikoll, Jeremias, Gibran, Cristofer, and Alex (who Noah claims looks like the Honduran version of his cousin Weston, Sarah's son).  Each child got a bag of chips of their choice as well as a soda.  We had a great time together!

Lunch from the Comedor (veggies, rice, fruit)

Nikoll and Kaylyn

From left to right: Gibran, Noah and Alex

Kaylyn and Jeremias

   Some of the girls had to go to a Bible study, so we ended the afternoon (prior to supper) with going to the gymnasium where the big boys were playing basketball.  I guess they played a few games of 3-on-3 (I wasn't there for all of them), but the one I did see...Noah's team lost by 2.

   This afternoon Kaylyn got sick with a small fever and stomach ache, so she stayed in for supper while the rest of us went.  Supper consisted of rice, beans and tortillas.  When we retired to our Team House, we were chatting for a bit when the Orphanage bus pulled in with the team from Florida.  LaDonna (a good friend of mine who adopted Wilson, a boy from here) was on that bus leading the team along with her husband.  After they had a bit of time to settle in, I stopped up by the gazebo to chat with LaDonna before they headed to supper, and then I chatted with Mirna, Michell, Dulce and Biani (who many call Brownie).  This crew helps to keep the Team House in order and makes the meals for teams when they come.  Michell greeted me by giving me a silver bracelet which was very beautiful.  It fit perfectly and I will definitely be wearing it on occasions in which I have to dress up (like for Wednesday's church service).  Tonight I went to bed rather late since we were having a good time chatting up in the gazebo, but it was definitely worth it!