August 7th, 2011 - Saying Goodbye to a Bunch of Volunteers

This morning Julie relieved me from the clinic and I had just enough time to dress and get to church. It was a wonderful service on the 23^rd Psalm, and so nice to see the team members from Maryland!  Of course Robert asked about Andres (and why he wasn’t down here this year), and two more boys also asked about him after church.  Andres sure has made an impact in the 2 years he’s been down here.

After church I chatted with Jacki for a little bit and then we headed to the tienda for some tacos at 11:30.  The male volunteers met up with us there.  After the tacos, we headed to town for toilet paper (which we forgot the other day) and supplies to make guacamole and enchiladas this evening in celebration of those volunteers who will be leaving this week.  I’ll be at the clinic while this is going on, but they are having dinner just an hour before I’m done, so the food should still be warm – or room temperature.

I was at the clinic from 5-8pm with Erika again, and all went well.  Another boy was there, but when I asked about pajamas and clothing for tomorrow, Gerson decided to send him home instead of letting him spend the night.  I made sure Erika took her shower and changed the bedding before letting her settle in for the night.  She fell asleep about 7pm, so I got to do a little reading about missionaries in New Guinea.

When I got back to the volunteer house, there was a plate waiting for me and I enjoyed time chatting with the other volunteers before we said our goodbyes and the girls and I went in to clean up.

August 6th, 2011 - Internet Issues Resolved???

Last night we discovered that there is too much security on the computer Bob sent along with me – and this doesn’t allow me to publish my blogs. So I will be using not only Daysha’s USB internet, but also her laptop to post my blogs.
I headed to the clinic this morning at 8am to relieve Julie. I gave Erika a shower & got her dressed for the day, took temps, gave medicines, swept/mopped the clinic, washed dishes, and ran the bedding through the washer. Jackie came to relieve me at 11am and will be staying for two 6-hour shifts, because I will be staying the night. Erika hasn’t eaten since early yesterday and didn’t eat again this morning. This actually isn’t good, because now she is complaining of stomach pains and she has been vomiting up the medicine and water all night & morning (because the medicine is upsetting her stomach THAT much since it’s empty).
At 11am, I brought the wet bedding back to the volunteer house to dry and cut Erika 2 small slices of banana bread (thinking that would be good for her empty tummy). She took a tiny bite and said that she DIDN’T like the bread – which completely stunned me because I thought it was yummy!
I headed to the girls’ volunteer house and did dishes at the lavanderia’s spicket once again with Joy. There were more dishes than normal, so it took us over an hour to do them all. My water shoes were soaked by the time I finished, so they are sitting outside and I am hoping that they dry quickly.
I chatted with Daysha for a bit back at the volunteer house before heading to supper with the little girls. After supper was bath time and Mariela asked both Joy and I to stay and help prepare the beds and watch the little girls while the older girls went off to bible study. While we were there, it poured and the girls got a little restless. Just like I do at home with my own children, they were given warnings about settling down or they would have to go to bed early. When the big girls came back, I headed to the clinic to spend the night with Erika. I had to wake up every 2 hours to take her temperature (and give medicines on some occasions), but overall it went well.

August 5th, 2011 - The Toddlers

Because today is Friday, this morning began with BIG circle – which I was able to record a few things on my camera to bring back to you. We heard from Gerson about helping and having mercy in your heart rather than helping and expecting something in return. They now have a microphone and speakers this year which makes it a lot easier to hear. In the past they just spoke as loudly as they could, however it was a little difficult to hear with such a huge circle – putting you more of a distance away from the speaker.
After circle, we headed to breakfast. On today’s menu was arroz con leche, so I had a little bit. Joy was in the clinic, so I had to do dishes on my own (and discovered later that I didn’t do the greatest job). I felt a little pressure to hurry as I was doing it since all the girls in the kitchen had left and I was expected to be at the toddler house ASAP. Just to give you an idea of how many people they feed in the little girls’ house – I think I heard something about 72 tortillas being made.
I was at the toddler house most of the morning, watching the older toddlers (ages 3-5) in the yards. I think there were 32 of them, but they were running so much I can’t be too sure of my counting. After a few hours of helping toddlers climb & go down slides, pushing them on swings, giving them water breaks, watching them on the various jungle gyms, helping them on the teeter-totter, and helping them search for toads (the highlight of their morning)…I desperately needed a break before heading to lunch to do even more dishes. I can’t believe how much water I drank – I felt like my husband (it was a VERY large water bottle!).
When I headed up to do the dishes, we found that the sinks in the kitchen were not working properly, so Joy & I had to take all of the dishes up the hill to the lavanderia to wash them out of a water spicket there. It was tedious & back-breaking to be bending over the spicket the entire time scrubbing so many utensils, bowls and cups (and then the pots/pans as well), but this experience also made me thankful that I purchased a new tube of IcyHot and Aleve right before coming down here!
After doing the dishes, I headed to the clinic once again to watch over Erika – who has bronchitis. I discovered many things: vomit is easier to clean up on ceramic tile than on carpeting, 3 bowls of food for supper is WAY too much for little Erika (don’t worry, she didn’t want to eat any of it), I feel really old when I’m called Ma’am, Luis David (the RIGHT one, Andres) is still here, I now know what lice looks like (no it’s NOT ME who has it…I hope), and a few other things I’ll just put off mentioning.
Julie relieved me from the clinic and will stay there the night with Erika, but I did help her clean a little bit before taking off. If Erika keeps coughing the way she has been, it’ll be a rough night for Julie.
And with that concludes my day. It’s now 6pm and the sun is going down. Tomorrow the group from Maryland arrives, and I’m so excited to catch up with them!

August 4th, 2011 - My Little Bakery (YUM)

Today began pretty much the same as yesterday – going to the little girls’ house to help get them dressed and then to circle, followed by breakfast. After doing the dishes, Daysha, Jackie & I headed in to Guaimaca to buy some groceries and other items. We went to the supermercado first for the pastas/sauces and I got some juices, then to the mercado for veggies, then to a store which I had never heard of…My Little Bakery (I guess it’s a “volunteer favorite”). I bought a loaf of mixed bread (like a chocolate/vanilla mix – almost a cake) and also a loaf of banana bread. The banana bread was very good as far as Honduran food goes, but of course it’s not my Mom’s. 
After the bakery, we headed across the street for Daysha to renew her USB internet connection subscription. I gave her the payment for this next month in exchange for sharing the USB. This was a win-win situation for us both, since she got one month of internet subscription for free and I didn’t have to invest in a USB connector + the first month payment. Hopefully I’ll be able to update my blogs more efficiently now. On the way back to Emmanuel, we stopped at Glenda’s for fruit. She asked about Andres (as many of the older boys are doing too), and told me to say “hi” to him from her.
When we got back, it was time to head to the girls’ house for lunch. After doing dishes with Joy, I headed to the clinic again. There was a little girl there with the fever and bad cough that was using a nebulizer when I arrived (bronchitis?). Three boys came in while I was there who had eaten some berries that weren’t meant for humans. Gerson wanted them to stay in the clinic for the afternoon and just let their bodies flush the bad stuff out. When Karelia came at 3:30pm, she also welcomed me back with a smile on her face and said that there were NO CHICKEN POX. The boys left by 4:30pm and then Jackie came to relieve me at 5pm. Jackie is leaving on Sunday and no longer uses her phone, so she said that I could use her phone while I’m here (I had bought minutes in town to put on the phone since it was empty).
I headed to the little girls’ house to show Blanca (mi flaquita) pictures of Alina. She is always asking about Alina each year, and I actually had pics on my camera of my family from Sara’s wedding. I called home for the first time this evening and got to talk to all but Andres. Hoping I can call at a time everyone’s home next week!

August 3rd, 2011 - Back to the Clinic

This morning began with a 6:30am trip to the little girls’ house to help them get dressed. Quite a few of them did not get their skirts washed yesterday – a required part of their school uniform, so it was a scramble to ask other houses if they had any extras. We then did “circle” outside their house. This is where they sing praises to God and hear from His Word. Following circle, they walk single-file to breakfast. We prayed, washed our hands, and then the girls ate. Afterwards, Joy (another volunteer) and I washed dishes while we chatted about our family & lifestyle back home. Joy is originally from Egypt, but lives in Los Angeles and has been here for 7 weeks.
After dishes, I came back to the volunteer house to have a cup of coffee and while helping Julie translate a letter from Spanish to Danish.  Well, okay, I did the Spanish to English and she did the English to Danish.  Then we took out 5 kitchen-sized garbage bags (of garbage) out to where the boys come to pick it up daily.  I washed down the kitchen cupboards and tables and spent a bit of time sweeping the main living area, hall and kitchen/dining areas which were part of the filth that Katja was talking about.  I was hoping to mop afterward, but Max stopped by with 2 boys to work on the dryer – so that’ll have to wait until later.  I’m hoping that someone else tackles the bathroom, because I have a tough time with bathrooms after having worked at McDonald’s & seeing some of the most disgusting stuff ever in my life in bathrooms.
Joy & I went back to the little girls’ house to help with lunch and wash dishes afterwards, and then I headed to the clinic (no chicken pox this year) to relieve Julie & watch a boy who was in there for having been sick that morning.  When Gerson came in at 4pm, he seemed happy to see me again and welcomed me back and then released the boy since he seemed to be doing much better.  I headed back to the little girls’ house to help with the supper dishes, but found out that I didn’t need to help bathe the girls because there was no water in the tank for them to shower.
Church began at 5pm and I saw Daniel there (the other volunteer who rode in to Emmanuel with me yesterday).  I saw a few girls who recognized me from spending so much time with them and their chicken pox last year in the clinic!  I recognized them too, but names are more difficult for me to remember.  The other female volunteers & I sat down to relax after church & just chatted for an hour or so before calling it an evening.

August 2nd, 2011 - The Rest of the Day

I got into Atlanta's airport and walked as fast as I could to the underground tram that would take me from Concourse C to Concourse E.  I thought I'd have a few seconds to stop to get a bite "to go", so I got a bit of breakfast on the way.  Gate 6 was pretty empty except for a few families, so I sat down wondering if I missed the boarding call (I could see the plane out the window) or if they hadn't boarded yet.  I decided to ask the attendant behind the desk and she said that everybody had boarded, so she checked my papers and let me on...and immediately made another announcement about passengers that should be boarding to go to Tegucigalpa - at which point ALL of the families who were seated got up and went to her.  I guess they arrived to Gate 6 after she had announced boarding as well.

 

When I flew to Tegucigalpa, I wasn't sure what to expect in terms of transportation to Emmanuel.  I had heard that another volunteer was coming in the same day & planned to get a taxi - but that was the extent of what I knew.  This morning, I had printed out the instructions to Guaimaca (by bus)...just in case.  But as it turned out, there was Norman waiting for me as I came through the gates with my name on a sign.  I talked for the 2+ hour ride back to Emmanuel with the new volunteer named Daniel.

 

After putting my bags in the girls' volunteer house, and seeing a few familiar faces of orphans along the way, I headed to the office to say "hi" to Katja.  She was talking to some female volunteers who were heading home tomorrow.  Then she received a call from someone who was looking to adopt a child from Emmanuel and had to explain that the children here are not available for adoption because they do not fit the government's criteria of abandonment...most are at Emmanuel due to Social Services.  In the United States, we used to have orphanages many years ago (Remember the movie Annie?)...however today have foster care in place of those huge institutions.

 

It was so good to see Blanca & Doris again!  Looks like my assigned house will be the little girls' house, so I'm pretty excited to work with many of the girls I already know (and Doris too!).  They just got a handful of girls from the toddler house about 2 weeks ago and although they're about 5-6 years old, they're about the same size as my little Peanut!  We ate rice & tortillas for supper and then it was off to the little girls' house to help with shower-time.

 

When I retired to the girls' volunteer house, Katja was waiting to talk to the volunteers (many have gone home in this past week) about the condition of the house...it was truly a mess.  I swept the room I'll be staying in before I unpacked.  Katja said that she'd like to see the girls' volunteer house get painted while I'm here - and I'm sure by now that Bob is laughing to the point of tears with the thought of me painting the entire house (if you're not sure why, just ask him).  Anyway, first the house will have to go through a THOROUGH cleaning!  Andres would appreciate it when I say that it probably looks exactly like how the interior of the male volunteer house looked last year when he stayed there, except I haven't seen any cockroaches yet.

Heading to Honduras 2011

Good morning to all. After being busy yesterday from 6am until 10pm (making sure that everything was ready to go), and a 3:30am trip to Walmart this morning for batteries...I think I'm finally ready!

Bob notices that the 2-3 weeks inbetween summer school and leaving for Emmanuel, I tend to get pretty excited about the trip. This year was no different...I just felt more rushed with a 5-day family camping trip just this past weekend - and cleaning up from that as well as packing yesterday.

My flight leaves Appleton at 6:30am and I'll arrive into Atlanta at 9:30am. From there I have a flight straight to Tegucigalpa (the capital of Honduras), arriving at 12:30pm. I'm still a little unsure of my transportation from the airport to Emmanuel, but am thankful that I know Spanish in the event that I need to take a bus.

I am not sure how often I'll be able to blog on here, but I will take notes daily and try to make it in to town a couple of times to update this blog. I did purchase a camera this year to take pictures, but am not completely familiar with it yet - most pics turn out pretty blurry (and I've read the directions a couple of times now). I guess I'll have to get the hang of it.

I'm anxious to see Blanca and Doris - and am hoping I'll get to say "HI" this afternoon!

Please keep my trip in your prayers and I'll see you all soon (arrival back to U.S. is 8/25/11). Feel free to help Bob out in taking a kid off of his hands from time to time if you'd like. I know he'd appreciate it greatly!