Seeing Morgan

    After waking, showering, and drinking my proffee, I updated the blog from yesterday's events.  Hoping this "routIine" will become the norm each morning for me, but we will see once I am assigned the math classes I will be teaching.  Because many times, I am using my morning to prep for the classes later in the morning...just to keep everything fresh in my head.  This morning I chose to stay back at the house and wait on Nora to see if she needed anything or had any questions, etc.

   When all was taken care of in the house, I headed to the Toddler House, on the way passing by Dayana who asked me to stop by her.  She told me that she wasn't at all understanding her math assignment and showed me what she was learning.  The 10th grade is currently learning matrices, which isn't really too bad.  I told her that I would help her this weekend, when she was ready to buckle down and work on it.  I continued my walk over to the Toddler House, but they were neither in the house nor in the Chosa, so I asked a girl outside the Baby House where they were and she said they were in the Clinic.  I needed the steps today on my Fitbit, so I decided to walk all the way back past the Girls Volunteer House and over to the Clinic, however they had just finished their appointments and had already headed back to the Toddler House!  So this almost became a game of hide and seek!  As I walked back to the Toddler House, I found the toddlers in the yard/playground just in front of the Baby House.  So that's where I was for the rest of the morning.  Nora accompanied me as well and we sat and chatted with the teens that were responsible for taking care of the toddlers.

   While we were there, Morgan (long term volunteer turned staff here, but then headed back to the States a couple of years ago) came to the yard with 3 women and a box of toys.  We chatted for quite a bit and she let me know she is now a Spanish teacher back in the States, so we had discussions about teaching in general.  It was very nice to be able to see her again!  She said her parents were also along on the trip as well as Sarah (another long term volunteer turned staff that eventually returned to the States), so I am very much looking forward to seeing them all.  The kiddos really enjoyed the new toys, many of which were electronics and made noises and sounds!  Brithany grabbed the toy tool set, and Morgan told her that she could use that to help Papi (David, the founder) when he went out to fix things around Emmanuel.  Before lunch, we had the children grab all the toys and take them back to the Toddler House for safe keeping, then we walked to the Comedor and had noodles and tortillas for lunch.

   After lunch, the toddlers nap, so I headed back to the Girls Volunteer House to wash clothes.  During the morning, Brithany was sitting on my lap and spilled juice all over my pants.  We can't have that just sitting around or the pants would be covered in ants within just a few hours (Alina experienced that in her early years here)...so I needed to wash them.  There is a new dryer in the house that wasn't here in the spring when I visited Noah, so I used that for all the clothes except the jeans, which I just hung to dry.  While I was washing clothes, it began to rain.  The rain here comes in spurts, but since it is the rainy season, it's not unusual to have rain every day and multiple times throughout the day.  

   About quarter to three, I headed back to the Toddler House so that I could walk them to the Comedor.  But due to the rains today, they decided to eat supper at the Toddler House and sent some of the "grandes" to go get the supper.  While we waited for the supper to come and be served, Nora and I played with the toddlers and their new toys.  When it was time for food to be served in the Comedor, Nora and I walked there and the plates consisted of rice, beans and a hard boiled egg.  Because I got a little bit sunburned today in the morning out on the playground, I decided to turn in early for the night.  I think I may have been in bed about 5:30pm or 6pm and then fast asleep.

A Fourth Volunteer Arrives

    This morning I woke at 4:30, showered and made my proffee to start the day.  When I got to the Comedor for breakfast (although breakfast is the only meal I do not eat with the children), many of the team members were already there saying their goodbyes.  I went over to the Toddlers section since I do not eat breakfast, and noticed that Brithany was at the table with her head down, not eating...when all the other toddlers were at least half done with breakfast.  When I sat down next to her, she perked up quickly and I told her that she needed to eat, and she did!  Sara also came over by me as well, to sit with me while the Bible study was going on and the small boys recited their Bible verses.

Dilver with the small boys reciting their Bible verses

   After breakfast, I headed to the school to look for Profe Jorge and find out what I would be teaching and my schedule for the upcoming week.  Although the high school students didn't have class today, Danielle thought that the teachers would still be there, meeting and planning for the upcoming week.  Nobody, including teachers, were in the school.  So I wasn't able to get books and plans to work on over the weekend.  This very well might be another instance of trying to "wing it" on Monday, just as I did over spring break...but hoping not.

   So I used the rest of the morning to do a "photo dump" to the blog of our travels back home in the summer of 2023, as well as finish up the day(s) I had missed posting over spring break when I was here visiting Noah.  

   We were told that we would be getting another female volunteer in this house later today, so right before lunch I swept and mopped the fourth bedroom for her since I was sure the floor was just as dusty as mine.  If you've read blogs in the past, you know that I am sweeping on just about a daily basis.  I like to keep the windows open throughout the day so that fresh air can circulate, which means that dust more easily enters the room, not to mention what gets tracked in and out as we enter and leave multiple times throughout the day.

   After lunch, I decided to lay down for about 2 hours.  The massive change in diet just started affecting my intestines and I knew that I just needed to straighten them out and stay still for a bit in order for all to get sorted out instead of feeling knotted up and cramped.  It was a HOT day today, for sure.  I feel like all afternoon, my entire body was covered in a layer of sweat.  I am making sure I drink enough water, so that is a good thing.  I love ice water, but not so much a fan of room temperature water, so each year I bring down flavor packets for my water to encourage me to drink as much as possible.

   When I woke from my nap, I mixed a mango punch flavor packet into my bottle of water and then headed to the Toddler House, because the toddlers should have also been waking from their naps at the same time.  I spent a little time in their sala watching Coco before we walked together towards the Comedor.  At supper, I let Brithany know that if she finished her water, I would give her some of my "juice" (which is what I call my flavored water).  She was eager to finish her water to get to try the "juice".  Then I headed to my spot to sit down and eat with the medium boys and John.  This evening's meal was rice, beans and shredded cheese.  When I finished eating, I headed over to Dilver to give him a half a cup of the mango flavored "juice".  He got really excited to have it as well.

   When we got back to the Girls Volunteer House, Ana and Olivia let me know that they would be spending the night with the small girls.  They have done this twice before with 2 different houses of girls, and I am so excited for them to try things like this.  Quite a few years ago, Alina spent the night with some of her friends here in their dorm, and she had the time of her life.  The girls were just as excited about Alina staying with them as well.  The volunteer still hadn't arrived, so it was a good thing I napped today in order to be able to wait up for her.  The team bus (with the volunteer on it) arrived around 9:30pm, which is way later than any of us would stay up.  I am typically in bed by about 7pm as it is already getting dark here at 6pm and we need our sleep in order to wake so early.  The volunteer's name is Nora and Cristian brought her to the house with her suitcases.  I gave her a set of keys and a quick run down of the house and then showed her to her room so that she could make up her bed and get to sleep as quickly as possible.  She looked so tired!  And with that, I went to sleep as well.

Christian Artist JJ Weeks is Here

    With all the travel and being away for almost 24 hours, I slept really well through the night.  Ana and Olivia were super quiet, which allowed for even longer sleep time.  I thought perhaps their movement in the house would wake me up, but it didn't.  I woke around 7:30am here when my norm is typically anywhere from 4-5am WI time in the summers (3-4am Honduras time).  I showered, dressed, made my bed, made my "proffee" (coffee with a smooth vanilla protein powder added in), and then began the process of unpacking.  Most of the items I brought down in the 2 suitcases, the carry-on and my backpack will be staying down here, so I needed to sort through all of that.  Then I decided to sweep and mop my room after the bottom of my feet getting so black last night due to how dusty the floor was.

   I am going to show pictures of the room in the girls volunteer house that I will be staying in over the next almost 4 weeks, however note that for the first time ever I decided to purchase a net for my bed to keep the mosquitos away from me at night.  This was definitely on the orphanage's recommended list over the years, however I wasn't willing to spring the money to get one.  Instead, I would just grab a fitted sheet and tuck myself inside of it over night.  I would also face a fan to blow right on my face, hoping that the moving air would keep mosquitos out of that area, which for the most part worked.  But since Kaylyn and Jaden didn't come down with me this year, I had a little extra money to spend and decided to splurg.  I set this up last night and...GAME CHANGER!!!  What a peaceful night's sleep, even through the heat of Honduras.

View from the doorway, net and all

View from the window towards the door

Artwork on one of the walls

   I had heard music and announcing coming from the gym the entire morning that I was working on unpacking and cleaning, so when I was caught up, I decided to go down and see what all the commotion was about.  I got there roughly the same time Noah did.  This event was for the high school kids and they were just wrapping up playing soccer and were setting up to play volleyball.  Noah told me that he would be on Profe Jorge's team (of all the high school teachers).  For the most part, Noah allowed others to hit the ball, but when the team got down 2-9, he decided to take a few hits for himself and show the kids what he could all do!

   After watching Noah play, I headed to the Tienda to begin an account so that I could just drop in and buy things without actually having to have money on me.  I said "hi" to Brenda and bought a water for myself, 2 bottles of Pepsi (one each for Julissa and Oscar because I was headed to the Comedor), and then I told Brenda she could purchase a beverage for herself as well.  I got to the Comedor just a little bit before lunch which gave me time to chat with Julissa and Oscar.  Lunch consisted of noodles and "pastellitos de papa" (potato pastries).  I was seated next to John, who is Noah's roommate.  He decided to chat with me about accents, because he comes from the south so we sound a bit different to him, and then he chatted with me about genetics and height...well, because us Midwesterners tend to have it, haha.  John is pretty tall himself, only a couple of inches shorter than Noah (6'5").  He really likes biology, so any chance to discuss topics related to biology, sounds like he's gonna take it.

   After lunch, Noah stopped by to pick up the computer that he had purchased and had me bring down for Hector.  There were also a few other things that he asked me to bring down (sunglasses, bilingual Bible, DS game) that he picked up as well.  I headed down to the office to check in with Danielle about my responsibilities while here, but she had went to Tegucigalpa with Eva for the afternoon and wasn't due back until much later, so I will have to check in on another day.

   I was invited to the gym at 6pm by the team to play Dodgeball (Graciela and I decided not to participate in that) and then enjoy some pizza that was catered in as well as some brownies, which were delicious.  Noah pointed out JJ Weeks, who is a Christian artist and came down here with the team.  I knew he was down here, because Noah had mentioned that he was here to me on Sunday when I was back in the States.  So many children throughout the day told me that there was a team member who sang on Sunday and on Wednesday who can sing SO WELL.  I had to chuckle just a little bit because they didn't know who he was.  For those of you who don't know who he is...I will include a video of his song "Let Them See You" here below:

   Graciela asked about Alina, and Chino told me to let Jaden know he misses Jaden and his help.  After Dodgeball, pizza and brownies, Noah and Hector spent time playing a game of 1-on-1 basketball, while Milton and Chino hung around.  At some point, Danielle showed up and let me know to go to the high school tomorrow to check in with Profe Jorge about which classes I should start teaching next week.  She said there were not classes for the high school, but that the teachers should be there in the morning planning for the next week.  As it got later and later, I decided to head back to the Girls Volunteer House for the night.  Noah and John walked with me.  I settled in and went to bed.

Headed to Honduras - Summer 2024!

    My alarm was set for 12:30am today, however I woke last night at 11:30pm and wasn't able to get back to sleep, so I decided to pack a few last minute items (since one 50lb suitcase was only at 46.5 pounds) and then get on the road.  My daughter, Kaylyn, had texted me to tell me to wake her up prior to leaving so she could say goodbye as well as double-lock the front door behind me.  When I had the 2 suitcases, carry-on and my backpack in the car, I woke Kaylyn up and she followed me to the front door and we said our goodbyes.  

   We are a little sad that Kaylyn and Jaden are not coming with me this year, but Kaylyn recently picked up a 2nd job with the Melting Pot and is going to work quite a few hours this summer in order to save more for college, as she plans to graduate early.  Jaden has decided that he wants to play football this coming school year and there are high school football morning sessions of Strength and Conditioning, Passing League, Turf Toughness, and Freshmen Book Club that are pretty critical for him since he has never played organized football before.  So he also made the decision to forego the trip to Honduras so that he could work hard and try to use this summer to become more knowledgeable of the sport prior to fall.

   As I pulled onto Winchester Road, there were 4-5 police cars with lights.  It appeared (although it was very dark at 12:30am) as though there was an accident between a truck and a motorcycle.  That was enough to wake me for a couple of hours.  As I drove down Highway 41, I set the cruise control of the white Chevy Malibu rental to the speed limit.  Normally I tend to set the cruise control to 9 over, but it was the middle of the night and I had only gotten 3ish hours of sleep.  Most semi-trucks were driving 65mph, so as I would approach each one I made the decision to either pass them or linger behind for a bit...most of the time, just moving over to the left lane and passing.  At one point, closer to Milwaukee, I decided that I would linger just a little behind for a few minutes, roll down the windows a crack, and take in some cool fresh night air to revive me a little bit.  About a minute or two later, I saw the semi swerve and then saw a deer go flying into the air.  I truly believe that was a "God moment" that I didn't pass this semi as I did all the others, as that could have been my rental hitting that deer.  Little did I know (until I got to O'Hare to return the car) that there was a smidge of blood spatter on the white rental.  Because it was so early, nobody from Hertz was there to receive the car, so I just had to leave it...but I can only imagine what they will be thinking when they see blood spatter on the front of the car.

   I was thankful that the carry-on suitcase was smaller and really light because trying to finagle 2 large 50lb suitcases, a carry-on, and a backpack all the way to the departures at Terminal 3 (via a shuttle, elevators, and halls) was quite the feat.  When I got to the check-in area, it was utter chaos (as usual).  The last time I had flown Spirit Airlines was in 2022, after COVID, when they required customs declarations and covid vaccination records to be entered online PRIOR to the flight, and I was never notified of these changes to the norm.  Needless to say, we missed our flight that year.  Luckily I knew about all of this and COVID forms are no longer a thing, and I scheduled my flight for 7:30am, so I made the flight to Houston.

   However, in Houston, there was a 4 hour delay because the air conditioning on our plane was not working and they were trying to fix it.  I messaged Noah that we were having delays (first an hour, then two, then 4) so that he could keep Danielle in the loop, so the taxi driver wouldn't give up on me...as it is a 3 hour drive from the airport in Honduras to Orphanage Emmanuel.  I texted Kaylyn that I was in Houston and she said to check the video camera in the kitchen closes to the 3-seasons room (Bob had bought me 2 cameras and place them in the kitchen and dining area to check in on the new addition (puppy) that we had gotten back in February.  When I checked in on the camera, I found Kaylyn just finishing up brushing Mindy (our Morkie).  You can also talk into the app on your phone and the camera has sound, so Mindy was able to hear my voice and perked up, looking for it.  So cute!

Screen Shot of Kaylyn and Mindy in the kitchen

One of many notifications from Spirit on my delay

   My gate in Houston was at the very end of the terminal and there were 5 gates in this "pod" at the end.  The pod was completely packed and I was left standing with a dying phone for 3 hours as I waited on my plane.  In retrospect, I should have gotten something to eat, however the airline constantly shuffled the delay to just a couple of minutes later, and the lines for food were long, so I didn't want to risk it.  Had I known it would be a 4 hour delay in total, I would have definitely gotten something to eat because a headache was starting from lack of food.  Ultimately Spirit airlines decided to fill the plane and start it up (the air would work if the plane's engines were running), load the passengers quickly and take off.

The air conditioning as we prepare for take off

   I was seated about 5-6 rows from the back of the plane, which meant I would be one of the last ones off.  When I got into the airport, I messaged Noah to let him know I was in in line for Passport Control and headed to Customs.  Once again, I had to stop for security to open my checked bags and look in side.  This happens with each suitcase that houses the Mexican suckers (paletas) that we bring down.  Once I got the "all clear" from security, I headed out into the airport to see Noah waiting for me!  I gave him a hug, and then let him know I had to head to the bathroom before we headed out on the 3 hour car ride with Luis to the orphanage.  I won't tell you why Noah was there, if you'd like to know...pretty sure he will add that to his weekly blog when he uploads this weekend.  But I had absolutely no idea he would be there waiting for me, so it was a nice surprise!

   Noah had told me that I would be staying in the girls volunteer house with 2 young female volunteers who were from Quincy, IL (same city where Alina headed on her basketball scholarship...small world!).  I met Ana and Olivia when we got to the house, but since it was so late (9:30pm), I headed to one of the back bedrooms, made up the bed, put my jammies on and crashed for the night.