This morning we woke up to the roosters calling at 6:30am. They run free around the yard. We all got ready for the day and Berta made some excellent bread and coffee. She and I prayed together for safe travels. She is very passionate in her faith. She wanted to show me so many things (in her country), but because of my flight leaving when it did...she could only take me to her sister's house (who now lives in the States). Her pastor drove us to the airport; but rather than taking the highway, they chose to drive on the country roads, so that I could "see the country better". Of course, that took longer and we didn't arrive to the airport until 11:30 (remember, my departure time was 12:47pm).
The check-in line was VERY long, so Patti's cousin stayed by the suitcase of items her mom had sent along with me while I ran to the bathroom. As I was washing my hands, I heard my name called over the airport's intercom system...to come to the front desk immediately. This, of course, made my heart race! Was there a time difference between Honduras and El Salvador that I missed?...Did they change the flight time and I missed my plane?...or What??? I ran back to the Delta area and Patti's cousin was still standing in line with the suitcase - holding my spot. When I went to the front desk, a lady reassured me that they were just making sure I was in line to get on the plane. Whew!
I checked in the suitcase (which came out to EXACTLY 50 pounds) and Berta invited me to eat with them at a restaurant in the airport called "Pollo Campero". Her nephew told me that "it's sort of like KFC, but much better". It was now noon (& I wasn't sure I had the time to eat, since I still hadn't went through the police check to get into the flight gates). Before the food came, Delta announce they were beginning to board for flight 404 - my flight. We had to get a bag "para llevar" and I said my "goodbyes". Patti has such a wonderful and supportive family!
When I boarded the plane, I was extremely surprised to see my seat was in the business class area. I have NEVER sat up there before on an airplane! When the food came, it was all on ceramic plates (rather than the plastic containers I am normally accustomed to), and the drinks were served in actual glasses (rather than plastic cups). The steward and stewardess were SO pleasant, offering us the local newspaper (which I kept).
We got in to Atlanta on time, but I still had to go through customs before catching my connecting flight. When I went to get my 2 suitcases, one had been 1/2 ripped open! Thankfully, Delta had "suitcase bags" for these events. As I was about to enter the customs gate, an officer looked at me and said "Excuse me, miss, but you can't take that Pollo Campero through customs." I said "really?...should I through it in this garbage then?" (I hadn't even gotten a chance to try it!) He got a BIG smile on his face and said "I'm just kidding you!...go ahead." I told him not to scare me because I didn't know all of the rules, since I hadn't traveled internationally in over 10 years! The next guy that I had to deal with (when you put your stuff through that x-ray machine) asked me if he could have some of the Pollo Campero, so I did offer him some...but he responded by saing, "If I took some, I'd have to have it all". Apparently they are very familiar with Pollo Campero in Atlanta!
When I got to terminal B-20 to Chicago-Midway, I sat down and began to read. I saw a girl put a quarter into a pay phone only to not be heard by whomever she was talking to - and not get her quarter back. She leaned against the wall, sunk down and started to sob. When I asked her what was wrong, it only made her more upset. She said she had been trying to call home and had tried different phones in the airport, but none had worked...and now she was out of quarters. I asked if she'd like to use mine (knowing full-well what it's like to miss your family, since I was feeling that too), but she refused. I took it out of my bag and handed it to her, insisting that we don't use nearly all of the minutes we're alloted each month...so she took it and made the call. She was so grateful when she handed the phone back, but just the look of relief on her face in being able to tell her family that she was okay was enough for me.
I got to talk to Bob, Andrés and Noah as I was waiting for my last flight. It was delayed by a 1/2 hour. On all of my flights from Honduras back to the States, I've been occupying myself with reading "The Shack" by William P. Young. It is, without a doubt, the best book I've ever read in my life to date! At this point, I'm not even able to put into words my feelings on this book. I have about 1/3 of the book left to go, and may blog a little more about it when I've finished.
When I arrived to Chicago-Midway, the baggage came quickly and I was out the airport doors in about 20 minutes from the time we landed. Jim & Jeanne pulled over to pick me up almost right as I came out. They said they had only made 3 loops around the airport (hopefully that wasn't a lot). We went back to their place, where I got a great night's rest!
Monday, August 18, 2008
August 16th - Meeting Berta
I woke up around 3am to discover there wasn't any power in the house. I was hoping to pack quickly and use the rest of the time to update yesterday's blog and write a letter to Doris before leaving Orphanage Emmanuel (Doris had written me a long letter and gave me a photo of her yesterday). Instead, it took me MUCH longer to shower and pack since I had to do everything in the dark. I received a small glimpse of what a blind person must endure on a daily basis.
I met Kim outside of her house at 5:30am as planned and she took me in to town to make sure I got on the right bus. Anita came along to get familiar with where the bus does its "pick up" so that when she heads out in 2 weeks, she won't be as nervous. It was a 2-hour ride to Teguc and a very short taxi ride to the Hedman Alas station.
I read this weekend that Tegucigalpa comes from the Nahuátl tribe. I didn't realize they came this far south as so many cities near México D.F. are also derived from the Nahuátl language.
This time I got a window seat on the Hedman Alas bus, so was able to enjoy God's beautiful creations on the way...for a little bit anyway. Just outside of Teguc, the bus broke down and we had to wait for the 9:00am bus to come by to pick us up. I went all the way to the back, so still ended up getting a window seat (which was great, since I didn't get a window seat when I came in to Honduras).
I saw a small waterfall among the many mountains we went through. Although a mountainous country, there are no volcanoes or earthquakes in Honduras. The rural people here plant cornfields into the sloped mountain sides. It's quite the sight to see if you're used to our flat fields in Wisconsin. I also saw many rural houses put together with plywood, metal sheets, loose boards, big tree trunks...even plastic sheets (for walls). Many of these houses were the size of my bedroom...or smaller! Due to the poverty here in Honduras, there are many houses for sale and many more houses that have had construction on them started, but never finished.
We stopped for a 20-minute break in Siguatepeque (another Nahuátl name). There was no bathroom on this bus, or refreshments...so this bus generally stops here as a 1/2-way point on the 4-hour trip. As you are riding between San Pedro Sula and Teguc, you'll notice many horses and donkeys standing alongside the highway eating. This is perfectly normal as their owners ride them to work and then let them graze while they work. Occasionally you'll also see cows alongside the road as well (although I don't believe they ride the cows in). The government in Honduras sounds just about as corrupt as in México, because if a police officer feels like taking a horse on the side of the road for himself - he can.
Many people have cell phones down here. There are 2 companies you can go through - Tigo and Claro...both of which operate off of calling cards which you must purchase. Tigo (the less expensive of the two) sells their phones for about $20USD and calling the U.S. costs about $1 Lempira/minute, however I was told that these phones will ONLY work in Honduras. Claro phones and service will work anywhere in Central America, however calls to the U.S. cost about $2.5 Lempiras/minute.
The international airport in San Pedro Sula is about as small as (or smaller than) Outagamie Regional Airport in Appleton. The plane to San Salvador seemed to have a sort of "dry ice" substance being sprayed from above the luggage compartments. I'm not sure what this is for...perhaps a cheaper way of cooling the plane down? I was in a seat all by myself (2 empty seats next to me), so a stewardess asked me to move to seat 14E. That seat was next to a many from Fort Lauderdale, Florida who had his 20-month old son, Dillon, with him. He said his wife was from Honduras, so they travel there about 3 times/year. They own land and are beginning to build a house so they can retire there. When I had mentioned my interest in retiring in a Spanish-speaking country, he had lots of good advice to offer such as:
I met Kim outside of her house at 5:30am as planned and she took me in to town to make sure I got on the right bus. Anita came along to get familiar with where the bus does its "pick up" so that when she heads out in 2 weeks, she won't be as nervous. It was a 2-hour ride to Teguc and a very short taxi ride to the Hedman Alas station.
I read this weekend that Tegucigalpa comes from the Nahuátl tribe. I didn't realize they came this far south as so many cities near México D.F. are also derived from the Nahuátl language.
This time I got a window seat on the Hedman Alas bus, so was able to enjoy God's beautiful creations on the way...for a little bit anyway. Just outside of Teguc, the bus broke down and we had to wait for the 9:00am bus to come by to pick us up. I went all the way to the back, so still ended up getting a window seat (which was great, since I didn't get a window seat when I came in to Honduras).
I saw a small waterfall among the many mountains we went through. Although a mountainous country, there are no volcanoes or earthquakes in Honduras. The rural people here plant cornfields into the sloped mountain sides. It's quite the sight to see if you're used to our flat fields in Wisconsin. I also saw many rural houses put together with plywood, metal sheets, loose boards, big tree trunks...even plastic sheets (for walls). Many of these houses were the size of my bedroom...or smaller! Due to the poverty here in Honduras, there are many houses for sale and many more houses that have had construction on them started, but never finished.
We stopped for a 20-minute break in Siguatepeque (another Nahuátl name). There was no bathroom on this bus, or refreshments...so this bus generally stops here as a 1/2-way point on the 4-hour trip. As you are riding between San Pedro Sula and Teguc, you'll notice many horses and donkeys standing alongside the highway eating. This is perfectly normal as their owners ride them to work and then let them graze while they work. Occasionally you'll also see cows alongside the road as well (although I don't believe they ride the cows in). The government in Honduras sounds just about as corrupt as in México, because if a police officer feels like taking a horse on the side of the road for himself - he can.
Many people have cell phones down here. There are 2 companies you can go through - Tigo and Claro...both of which operate off of calling cards which you must purchase. Tigo (the less expensive of the two) sells their phones for about $20USD and calling the U.S. costs about $1 Lempira/minute, however I was told that these phones will ONLY work in Honduras. Claro phones and service will work anywhere in Central America, however calls to the U.S. cost about $2.5 Lempiras/minute.
The international airport in San Pedro Sula is about as small as (or smaller than) Outagamie Regional Airport in Appleton. The plane to San Salvador seemed to have a sort of "dry ice" substance being sprayed from above the luggage compartments. I'm not sure what this is for...perhaps a cheaper way of cooling the plane down? I was in a seat all by myself (2 empty seats next to me), so a stewardess asked me to move to seat 14E. That seat was next to a many from Fort Lauderdale, Florida who had his 20-month old son, Dillon, with him. He said his wife was from Honduras, so they travel there about 3 times/year. They own land and are beginning to build a house so they can retire there. When I had mentioned my interest in retiring in a Spanish-speaking country, he had lots of good advice to offer such as:
- Get to know the area years in advance and bring donations down with each visit so that the community can get to know me.
- Most Americans are getting a 99-year lease on a piece of land in Honduras rather than to trying to purchase land. It's easier and there's a lot less paperwork (red-tape).
- Visitors to the country (non-citizens) are only on Visas, which expire every 90 days, so they need to leave the country for at least 3 days before coming back in. This gives "retirees" to go back to the States every 3 months to visit children/grandchildren...or they can simply cross the border into Belize for a short 3-day vacation as well.
Although I didn't catch his name, this man was SO nice and informative that the hour plane ride to San Salvador flew by (no pun intended). When I came out of customs in San Salvador (it costs $10 to go into the country), Patti's son found me right away. He approached me and asked, "Es usted la patrona de Patti?" I'm not sure I like being called her "patrona", but her family was SO nice. I was thinking we were going to spend the night in a hotel in San Salvador since my flight was supposed to leave at 12:47pm the next day, but when we stopped at a hotel (and it cost $140USD/night), Patti's cousin (who flew in from the States at 9:00pm) suggested we travel the 2 hours back to their house to spend the night. He assured me that we'd get up early enough to head back to San Salvador in the morning. I agreed, and that made Patti's mom (Berta) extremely happy.
We all (Berta, her husband, her son, Patti's son, Patti's cousin & I) all had a "cozy" ride back to her house in Chalatenango. We got there around 12:30am and went to bed at 1:00am. She lives in the country in a simple 4-room cement house. If you'd like more details on what "simple" means, please ask me personally, since putting that kind of information all online would still not be completely comprehensible to most Americans.
August 15th - Saying Goodbye
Max led the circle this morning. The 3 photographers from the California team were taking individual children's pictures. But due to the rain, the big circle needed to end early. I made wheat pancakes when I got back to the volunteer house, but made a few too many...since I haven't cooked "for one" in a while.
When I got to school this morning, I chatted with Doris a little before classes began. I opened the door to the storage room and WOW! I was so amazed by what the team had done yesterday afternoon. It will for sure be finished today! :-) Merethe only gave me one girl today to help out, but there's not much more to do. Since I am not an "artsy" person, I asked her to organize the 2 shelving units of arts and crafts while I went to one of the 7th grade math classes.
The students were reviewing their multiplication tables, and subtracting/multiplying/dividing mixed numbers. In all three math classes I've been to, I've noticed that these students are not given NEARLY as much homework as our students in the States.
I went back to the storage room and Melissa (one of the California volunteers) & I had finished organizing it by noon. We ended by scrubbing the termite nests off the walls, and sweeping & washing the walls and floors. Of course I took pictures of how the storage room finally looked. :-)
I came back to the school as lunch time was finishing to get pictures of the kids waiting on the steps to go to class. There I met Amparo. She asked me about my family...and since my sister Mari had left a few pictures of my children on the camera she lent me, I showed them to her. Of course, she was particularly interested in Andrés! :-) Most of the girls I work with are very young (Alina's age), so they usually ask about Alina: what her favorite color is, what chores she does around the house, etc. I haven't met many teenage girls (although there are MANY), so I haven't had to "field" questions about Andrés. I guess this is more confirmation that when he comes down with me next year, he'll be out working with Todd...FAR away from the girls!
I went to talk with Katja at 1:30 about leaving tomorrow morning. Kim will take me to the Chicken Bus (as a lot of Americans call it) at 5:30am. It's a yellow school bus that runs back and forth between Guaimaca and Teguc, a 2 hour trip that costs $38 Lempiras (about $2USD). In Teguc, I'll have to take a taxi to the Hedman Alas bus station, which should cost $50 Lempiras. My bus at Hedman Alas, which will take me on a 4-hour ride to San Pedro Sula will cost $17.50USD, but again...it IS a coach bus. Katja reminded me that I will need $35USD in cash to leave the country, and she gave me her cell phone number in case there were any problems.
I went down to the restaurant for my last "taco de pollo" from Elvia & Verónica. I was sure to take their pictures too! I got something special for Kaylyn, but it is really meant to be shared and appreciated by all of our family.
Towards the end of supper-time, I went to the young girls eating area for the last time. I got them all bathed quickly because Anita was coming over to play with them. After getting them dressed, a girl took a pictures of Doris, me, Carlita and all of the young girls in their room: Paola, Michel, Nani, Blanca, Yenci, Evelyn, Karol, Cindy & Reina. Afterwards, I spent an hour outside with Doris & Pamela, just chatting...before I had to leave to do laundry for the night.
When I got to school this morning, I chatted with Doris a little before classes began. I opened the door to the storage room and WOW! I was so amazed by what the team had done yesterday afternoon. It will for sure be finished today! :-) Merethe only gave me one girl today to help out, but there's not much more to do. Since I am not an "artsy" person, I asked her to organize the 2 shelving units of arts and crafts while I went to one of the 7th grade math classes.
The students were reviewing their multiplication tables, and subtracting/multiplying/dividing mixed numbers. In all three math classes I've been to, I've noticed that these students are not given NEARLY as much homework as our students in the States.
I went back to the storage room and Melissa (one of the California volunteers) & I had finished organizing it by noon. We ended by scrubbing the termite nests off the walls, and sweeping & washing the walls and floors. Of course I took pictures of how the storage room finally looked. :-)
I came back to the school as lunch time was finishing to get pictures of the kids waiting on the steps to go to class. There I met Amparo. She asked me about my family...and since my sister Mari had left a few pictures of my children on the camera she lent me, I showed them to her. Of course, she was particularly interested in Andrés! :-) Most of the girls I work with are very young (Alina's age), so they usually ask about Alina: what her favorite color is, what chores she does around the house, etc. I haven't met many teenage girls (although there are MANY), so I haven't had to "field" questions about Andrés. I guess this is more confirmation that when he comes down with me next year, he'll be out working with Todd...FAR away from the girls!
I went to talk with Katja at 1:30 about leaving tomorrow morning. Kim will take me to the Chicken Bus (as a lot of Americans call it) at 5:30am. It's a yellow school bus that runs back and forth between Guaimaca and Teguc, a 2 hour trip that costs $38 Lempiras (about $2USD). In Teguc, I'll have to take a taxi to the Hedman Alas bus station, which should cost $50 Lempiras. My bus at Hedman Alas, which will take me on a 4-hour ride to San Pedro Sula will cost $17.50USD, but again...it IS a coach bus. Katja reminded me that I will need $35USD in cash to leave the country, and she gave me her cell phone number in case there were any problems.
I went down to the restaurant for my last "taco de pollo" from Elvia & Verónica. I was sure to take their pictures too! I got something special for Kaylyn, but it is really meant to be shared and appreciated by all of our family.
Towards the end of supper-time, I went to the young girls eating area for the last time. I got them all bathed quickly because Anita was coming over to play with them. After getting them dressed, a girl took a pictures of Doris, me, Carlita and all of the young girls in their room: Paola, Michel, Nani, Blanca, Yenci, Evelyn, Karol, Cindy & Reina. Afterwards, I spent an hour outside with Doris & Pamela, just chatting...before I had to leave to do laundry for the night.
Friday, August 15, 2008
August 14th - La Clase de Matemáticas
This morning Lydia came to talk at the young girls circle. Since it was drizzling outside, the girls met in their eating hall. There were a few women from the California team that came. When I got to school, I tried to quickly get some tasks for the storage room lined up for the 4 California team members that Katja had assigned to me.
I went to the 8th grade math class at 9:15am and watched the "profe" teach 'Order of Operations'. He gave 3 examples and then some of the girls in the class (who knew me) asked him if he would let me teach. He asked me if I'd like to give some examples, and OF COURSE I said "yes"!!! That was probaly the highlight of the day!!! I gave 2 examples that had quite a bit more steps than the ones he gave, and the students who came up to the board to do them got them right! It was so fun. After the 2 examples that I gave, the students asked for more, even though it was time for recess. We sent them on to recess anyway. Before they left through the door, I took a few pictures of the class and gave them each a "paleta". They were wondering if I still had the "paletas picantes" that I had yesterday but I had run out, so I'll have to make a note to bring more of those chili pepper covered Mexican lollipops down next year. Believe it or not, some Latin American countries don't much care for hot foods...I wasn't sure about Hondurans, but I guess the children really liked them yesterday!
When I got back to the storage room, the volunteers were waiting for me. They knocked at the storage room door (even thought it was open) and said "¿Habla inglés?" With 4 extra people, we really got a LOT accomplished before leaving for lunch at noon! I came back around 1:00pm to work for another 1/2 hour, but the girls didn't come back until 1:30, so I had to let them know what I wanted them to do while I was gone, and that they should turn the light off and lock the door behind them when they were done. Anyone who knows me probably knows that leaving an organization task (that I've been working on) to someone else is not something I can easily do. Actually for the next few hours, I was a little bothered/worried about if they'd try to do MORE than what I had asked, lol.
Esti and I went into town (Guaimaca) so that I could change the remainder of USD that I had. I figure that if I come down here each year...it doesn't matter if I have extra Lempiras to take back home with me - since then I won't have to worry about changing them back in the States in order to get down here. On they way out of the bank, I asked the guards if I could take their picture. The guard said I could take it on Saturday, so I explained that I won't be here on Saturday. He said I couldn't right now because they were working. It was the same way with the guards when I was a college student in México for the first time. Another student tried to take a pictures of some guards outside a bank (they're REALLY interesting, especially with the BIG guns that they carry around)...but when he did, the guard came over and opened his 35mm camera and yanked out the film, yelling at him. I think they have to protect the bank at all costs, and if someone takes a picture of them outside the front door to the bank, that could "potentially" be someone trying to get the "layout" of the bank in order to rob it.
Esti & I also stopped at the "supermercado" to get a few items before heading back home. I needed more "paletas" for the math class that I would be visiting tomorrow, and I saw that they had WHOLE milk, so since I am generally a big milk drinker, I bought a box of it. Milk down here only comes in skim & whole, no 1% or 2%.
While in town, I took a picture of their town's cathedral...generally every town has one. I also took pictures of the dirt road and various houses from Orphanage Emmanuel to Guaimaca on the way to town and back. I also got some pictures of their enormous potholes, although I'm not sure that the pictures are going to do much justice to what I had actually seen in person.
After entering the entrance to the orphanage, I saw Andrés again, tending to the cows. It was about 3:00pm, so I asked him how long he had to be out with the cows. His friend said that they needed to stay out with them until 3:30 and checked his watch. Andrés didn't have a watch, so I gave him mine.
When we got back to the volunteer house, I had to quick snack and then run to the little girls eating area so that I'd get there before they went back to the house to bathe. The girls realized for the 1st time today that tomorrow would be my last time with them. I told Carlita (the older girl, with the broken arm, that's in charge of them) that I'd like to get a picture of me & her tomorrow, and then another picture of the 2 of us with the children "we're" in charge of. She got SO excited about getting her photo taken!
Doris stayed close to me the entire time I was at the girls' house. She kept asking me questions about the CD player, and also kept mentioning that she hoped I wouldn't forget about her. I reassured her that I was coming back in ONE year, and that she was the girl I knew the most...so if I forgot about her, that means I'd forget about everyone! She is 16 years old, and I can't even remember how many "big squeeze" (as my kids call them) hugs she gave me. This is SO different from teenagers in the United States.
When I got back to the volunteer house, Sheila gave me the "wish list" of medical supplies from Corelia...so I will be sure to send it Linda's way when I get back to the States. She also asked me if I could stay overnight in the clinic with the 2 children that were there, but when we got to the clinic for me to relieve Esti - Esti said that one of the boys (Cristian) wanted her to stay for the night, so she was planning to stay for the night. As soon as she said this, I remembered that Fridays are the "big circle" time, when ALL of the children gather around in a circle to recite Scripture and sing praises to God. I also realized that if Esti hadn't planned to stay overnight, I would've missed it (and I had only seen "big circle" once - last Friday). I gave Esti a huge hug and thanked her for being open to spending the night, so that I could have one last opportunity to go to "big circle".
I went to the 8th grade math class at 9:15am and watched the "profe" teach 'Order of Operations'. He gave 3 examples and then some of the girls in the class (who knew me) asked him if he would let me teach. He asked me if I'd like to give some examples, and OF COURSE I said "yes"!!! That was probaly the highlight of the day!!! I gave 2 examples that had quite a bit more steps than the ones he gave, and the students who came up to the board to do them got them right! It was so fun. After the 2 examples that I gave, the students asked for more, even though it was time for recess. We sent them on to recess anyway. Before they left through the door, I took a few pictures of the class and gave them each a "paleta". They were wondering if I still had the "paletas picantes" that I had yesterday but I had run out, so I'll have to make a note to bring more of those chili pepper covered Mexican lollipops down next year. Believe it or not, some Latin American countries don't much care for hot foods...I wasn't sure about Hondurans, but I guess the children really liked them yesterday!
When I got back to the storage room, the volunteers were waiting for me. They knocked at the storage room door (even thought it was open) and said "¿Habla inglés?" With 4 extra people, we really got a LOT accomplished before leaving for lunch at noon! I came back around 1:00pm to work for another 1/2 hour, but the girls didn't come back until 1:30, so I had to let them know what I wanted them to do while I was gone, and that they should turn the light off and lock the door behind them when they were done. Anyone who knows me probably knows that leaving an organization task (that I've been working on) to someone else is not something I can easily do. Actually for the next few hours, I was a little bothered/worried about if they'd try to do MORE than what I had asked, lol.
Esti and I went into town (Guaimaca) so that I could change the remainder of USD that I had. I figure that if I come down here each year...it doesn't matter if I have extra Lempiras to take back home with me - since then I won't have to worry about changing them back in the States in order to get down here. On they way out of the bank, I asked the guards if I could take their picture. The guard said I could take it on Saturday, so I explained that I won't be here on Saturday. He said I couldn't right now because they were working. It was the same way with the guards when I was a college student in México for the first time. Another student tried to take a pictures of some guards outside a bank (they're REALLY interesting, especially with the BIG guns that they carry around)...but when he did, the guard came over and opened his 35mm camera and yanked out the film, yelling at him. I think they have to protect the bank at all costs, and if someone takes a picture of them outside the front door to the bank, that could "potentially" be someone trying to get the "layout" of the bank in order to rob it.
Esti & I also stopped at the "supermercado" to get a few items before heading back home. I needed more "paletas" for the math class that I would be visiting tomorrow, and I saw that they had WHOLE milk, so since I am generally a big milk drinker, I bought a box of it. Milk down here only comes in skim & whole, no 1% or 2%.
While in town, I took a picture of their town's cathedral...generally every town has one. I also took pictures of the dirt road and various houses from Orphanage Emmanuel to Guaimaca on the way to town and back. I also got some pictures of their enormous potholes, although I'm not sure that the pictures are going to do much justice to what I had actually seen in person.
After entering the entrance to the orphanage, I saw Andrés again, tending to the cows. It was about 3:00pm, so I asked him how long he had to be out with the cows. His friend said that they needed to stay out with them until 3:30 and checked his watch. Andrés didn't have a watch, so I gave him mine.
When we got back to the volunteer house, I had to quick snack and then run to the little girls eating area so that I'd get there before they went back to the house to bathe. The girls realized for the 1st time today that tomorrow would be my last time with them. I told Carlita (the older girl, with the broken arm, that's in charge of them) that I'd like to get a picture of me & her tomorrow, and then another picture of the 2 of us with the children "we're" in charge of. She got SO excited about getting her photo taken!
Doris stayed close to me the entire time I was at the girls' house. She kept asking me questions about the CD player, and also kept mentioning that she hoped I wouldn't forget about her. I reassured her that I was coming back in ONE year, and that she was the girl I knew the most...so if I forgot about her, that means I'd forget about everyone! She is 16 years old, and I can't even remember how many "big squeeze" (as my kids call them) hugs she gave me. This is SO different from teenagers in the United States.
When I got back to the volunteer house, Sheila gave me the "wish list" of medical supplies from Corelia...so I will be sure to send it Linda's way when I get back to the States. She also asked me if I could stay overnight in the clinic with the 2 children that were there, but when we got to the clinic for me to relieve Esti - Esti said that one of the boys (Cristian) wanted her to stay for the night, so she was planning to stay for the night. As soon as she said this, I remembered that Fridays are the "big circle" time, when ALL of the children gather around in a circle to recite Scripture and sing praises to God. I also realized that if Esti hadn't planned to stay overnight, I would've missed it (and I had only seen "big circle" once - last Friday). I gave Esti a huge hug and thanked her for being open to spending the night, so that I could have one last opportunity to go to "big circle".
Thursday, August 14, 2008
August 13th - The Gift
Esti & I went to the little boys circle again today. Two boys immediately grabbed my hands and held them just about the entire time. The boys practiced their scripture verses and sang worship songs. The boy on my left was named Joel and towards the end of circle-time, he looked at me with a BIG smile and put 4 beads from a necklace into my hand and said "Son para usted." This just melted my heart (as have quite a bit of other things that have happened in the last week and a half). These children don't have all that much, but are SO willing to give their only material possessions to others. Sometimes I think our children (in the U.S.) could learn SO much more from these children than they could ever learn from us (parents), in terms of giving away possessions.
I went to the school today around 8:20 to talk with Katja and Merethe about giving a dress to Doris and possibly giving her a CD player. Merethe said that Doris was taken out of school today, so I should strike a deal with her to get good grades on her exams the 1st week of September - and I will leave the CD player with Merethe. If she gets good grades, she will get the player...if not, it will go to another girl in her house.
I cleaned the storage room until about 9:10am when I left to go watch a high school math class. It was a 9th grade algebra class that was reviewing multiplication of binomials. After the review, they began their new lesson - multiplying polynomials. With the teacher's permission, I took a few pictures of the class and gave the class some Mexican "paletas". It must've rained pretty hard last night, because the high school yard was flooded. After sitting in that math class, I went back to work in the storage room for an hour and a half before taking off for the internet cafe and having lunch.
While I was down at the restaurant, I bought something for Andrés (my son), Noah, and of course - my favorite nephew (& godson), Max. It's a "guy thing" that Andrés may have to show the other two how to use properly...and NO, Andrés, it's NOT a machete.
I also bought 3 bottles of Pepsi. They only cost $11 Lempiras (65 cents) here. I gave them to Andrés and his two friends on the way back from the restaurant. They were out tending to the cows again.
I worked for another hour and a half in the storage room, putting items on shelves and labeling the shelves. Katja said she's going to try to find me some help for tomorrow and Friday, so that the room can get done. I am hoping that when I return next summer - all's still organized in there! :-)
On the way back to the volunteer house, I saw Doris...so I gave her one of my dresses that had shrunk in the wash. I mentioned what Merethe had said about getting good grades on her exams and that her reward would be the CD player. I went to the young girls dorm again to help them prepare for the evening, but I had to hurry because church began at 5:00pm.
We began with singing praises, and then some of the volunteers from the California team that arrived today went up front to lead a few songs. Since David's leg got infected on Monday, a pastor from town came to give the sermon and Robert translated. The sermon began with the question, "What's the best material gift you've ever given or received?" You were NOT allowed to mention gifts to or from your spouse, since once you are married, "you become one flesh." If you'd like to know more about what this pastor had to say, ask when I get back. :-)
So as I mentioned above, a group from California came today and will be staying for one week. I think Katja will be sending me a person or two to help get that storage room done before I go.
I went to the school today around 8:20 to talk with Katja and Merethe about giving a dress to Doris and possibly giving her a CD player. Merethe said that Doris was taken out of school today, so I should strike a deal with her to get good grades on her exams the 1st week of September - and I will leave the CD player with Merethe. If she gets good grades, she will get the player...if not, it will go to another girl in her house.
I cleaned the storage room until about 9:10am when I left to go watch a high school math class. It was a 9th grade algebra class that was reviewing multiplication of binomials. After the review, they began their new lesson - multiplying polynomials. With the teacher's permission, I took a few pictures of the class and gave the class some Mexican "paletas". It must've rained pretty hard last night, because the high school yard was flooded. After sitting in that math class, I went back to work in the storage room for an hour and a half before taking off for the internet cafe and having lunch.
While I was down at the restaurant, I bought something for Andrés (my son), Noah, and of course - my favorite nephew (& godson), Max. It's a "guy thing" that Andrés may have to show the other two how to use properly...and NO, Andrés, it's NOT a machete.
I also bought 3 bottles of Pepsi. They only cost $11 Lempiras (65 cents) here. I gave them to Andrés and his two friends on the way back from the restaurant. They were out tending to the cows again.
I worked for another hour and a half in the storage room, putting items on shelves and labeling the shelves. Katja said she's going to try to find me some help for tomorrow and Friday, so that the room can get done. I am hoping that when I return next summer - all's still organized in there! :-)
On the way back to the volunteer house, I saw Doris...so I gave her one of my dresses that had shrunk in the wash. I mentioned what Merethe had said about getting good grades on her exams and that her reward would be the CD player. I went to the young girls dorm again to help them prepare for the evening, but I had to hurry because church began at 5:00pm.
We began with singing praises, and then some of the volunteers from the California team that arrived today went up front to lead a few songs. Since David's leg got infected on Monday, a pastor from town came to give the sermon and Robert translated. The sermon began with the question, "What's the best material gift you've ever given or received?" You were NOT allowed to mention gifts to or from your spouse, since once you are married, "you become one flesh." If you'd like to know more about what this pastor had to say, ask when I get back. :-)
So as I mentioned above, a group from California came today and will be staying for one week. I think Katja will be sending me a person or two to help get that storage room done before I go.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
August 12th - Los niños
Anita, Esti and I went to the young boys circle this morning. They are led by Robert and Max (Katja's husband). They sang quite a few songs and many were VERY different from what I have been hearing the girls sing. Robert led the Lord's Prayer in Spanish and then told the boys that they would have a unique opportunity today to listen to the Lord's Prayer in FOUR languages! He then went to recite the Lord's Prayer in English, and had Ingrid recite it in Danish, and Esti in Romanian. He used this as a prelude to asking "Who knows why there are so many different languages on the earth?", of course leading into the opportunity to tell the boys about the Tower of Babel. After the lesson, Robert told the boys that they had 3 minutes to give "hugs" before they were expected to be at the breakfast table, so they came running at us in herds! :-) Luis David and Eric both came over to me. I also introduced myself to a boy named Arnulfo.
Lindsey asked me to take some pills over to Cindy in the toddlers area, but when I got there, they told me she had left to go make cement blocks at the entrance to the orphanage. As Anita & I were headed down to get to Cindy, Lydia drove by and asked if we wanted to ride down to the front of her orphanage in the back of her pickup, so we hopped on. When we got down to the entrance, there were only boys working on the cement blocks, so Anita & I chatted as we waited. Finally I asked for Cindy and they said she was at the high school and wouldn't be coming down until later. The older boy offered to give the medication to her, so I left it with him.
Back up to the school Anita & I went to organize the storage room. She had taken a break today to come and help me. On the way, I saw Andrés (who's 13 years old, just like MY Andrés). He was tending to the cows. I told him that I had my camera on me and he came over. Anita took our picture together. Anita and I then continued our walk up the big hill to the school. We organized the storage room for about 2 hours. She really helped me get quite a bit done - although there is still plenty to do. It looks a little better each day. I can't wait to get all of the empty boxes out of the room tomorrow morning. That will open it up even more!
Anita & I took a short break down at the internet cafe. I updated my blog and had a chimichanga for lunch. It was $18 Lempiras (about $1 USD). Although it was okay, I will most likely stick to the "tacos de pollo" since the chimichangas had quite a few more beans than I expected. We spent an hour after lunch working back in the storage room before I had to get the young girls ready for bed.
Back at the young girls dorm, the group I'm helping with were assigned to pick up leaves in the yard before bathtime. They didn't really seem to be into doing that, and were more "goofing around", so I told them if they picked up LOTS of leaves, I'd take their picture. Children at Orphanage Emmanuel are ALWAYS asking you to take their picture! This was definitely a motivator for most of them.
It really amazes me how clean this orphanage is, especially for its size! But each group is responsible for their chores to keep it clean. Antonia (a girl I had met last week) is not in the same room as these 7 young girls, so she came up to me tonight to ask if I could help her room of girls tomorrow night. I let her know that I probably wouldn't be able to, since I was REALLY helping Carlita (who is the older girl in charge of the 5-6 year olds, who was the one that had broken her arm).
By the way...I met Corelia tonight (Robert's wife). She's the nurse that oversees the clinic. She told me she would make a "wish list" of supplies for the clinic - since the only current needs of the school are construction paper & uniforms. The children also need underwear & socks (especially the younger boys and girls)...and the older girls need feminine hygiene products.
Lindsey asked me to take some pills over to Cindy in the toddlers area, but when I got there, they told me she had left to go make cement blocks at the entrance to the orphanage. As Anita & I were headed down to get to Cindy, Lydia drove by and asked if we wanted to ride down to the front of her orphanage in the back of her pickup, so we hopped on. When we got down to the entrance, there were only boys working on the cement blocks, so Anita & I chatted as we waited. Finally I asked for Cindy and they said she was at the high school and wouldn't be coming down until later. The older boy offered to give the medication to her, so I left it with him.
Back up to the school Anita & I went to organize the storage room. She had taken a break today to come and help me. On the way, I saw Andrés (who's 13 years old, just like MY Andrés). He was tending to the cows. I told him that I had my camera on me and he came over. Anita took our picture together. Anita and I then continued our walk up the big hill to the school. We organized the storage room for about 2 hours. She really helped me get quite a bit done - although there is still plenty to do. It looks a little better each day. I can't wait to get all of the empty boxes out of the room tomorrow morning. That will open it up even more!
Anita & I took a short break down at the internet cafe. I updated my blog and had a chimichanga for lunch. It was $18 Lempiras (about $1 USD). Although it was okay, I will most likely stick to the "tacos de pollo" since the chimichangas had quite a few more beans than I expected. We spent an hour after lunch working back in the storage room before I had to get the young girls ready for bed.
Back at the young girls dorm, the group I'm helping with were assigned to pick up leaves in the yard before bathtime. They didn't really seem to be into doing that, and were more "goofing around", so I told them if they picked up LOTS of leaves, I'd take their picture. Children at Orphanage Emmanuel are ALWAYS asking you to take their picture! This was definitely a motivator for most of them.
It really amazes me how clean this orphanage is, especially for its size! But each group is responsible for their chores to keep it clean. Antonia (a girl I had met last week) is not in the same room as these 7 young girls, so she came up to me tonight to ask if I could help her room of girls tomorrow night. I let her know that I probably wouldn't be able to, since I was REALLY helping Carlita (who is the older girl in charge of the 5-6 year olds, who was the one that had broken her arm).
By the way...I met Corelia tonight (Robert's wife). She's the nurse that oversees the clinic. She told me she would make a "wish list" of supplies for the clinic - since the only current needs of the school are construction paper & uniforms. The children also need underwear & socks (especially the younger boys and girls)...and the older girls need feminine hygiene products.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
August 11th - La clínica
I had to be at the health clinic this morning from 6:30-8:00am. There was a little boy about 2 years old named Memo who had spent the night because he had diahrrea for a week. And there was also a 12 year old girl who had burnt her hand pretty severely about a week ago. Sheila (who works the clinic) told me that this girl's skin had all burnt off of her ring finger and the rest of her hand was pretty badly burnt as well.
I went to the school about 8:40am to work in the storage room some more. ***NOTE TO ALL: They will not need pencils for a very long time. I've been working on organizing pencils all day Friday and just about all day today. I'll bet they have well over 50,000 pencils. I was in the room organizing for 3 hours this morning and 1 hour this afternoon with a small break inbetween to update my blog from the weekend and to have lunch. The cue that it was time to go to lunch was Robert coming into the storage room to offer me some of his "yuca", I guess in the States it's called a Gasava root (did I spell that right, Bob would know). AFTER offering it to me and AFTER I bit into it, he said "you know it's poisonous". Then he paused for quite a while (I guess for effect) and continued by saying "until they boil it". It tasted like a home-made french fry to me. Robert even put ketchup on it.
The school had a TV news reporter there this afternoon, who was looking into every room to film a little bit of everything to put on the news. Robert asked that I work with the door closed and locked (since the room is SO messy right now). It got pretty warm in there which is another reason I was only in there about an hour. When the "coast was clear", I checked to see how everything went. The reporter's camera battery went dead while he was still over at the colegio (high school), so he'll be back Thursday morning to film the primary school. I'm just about finished with the pencils and got a little start on organizing the blue/black pens.
I went to put the young girls to bed again tonight. The normal routine for me with them is:
I went to the school about 8:40am to work in the storage room some more. ***NOTE TO ALL: They will not need pencils for a very long time. I've been working on organizing pencils all day Friday and just about all day today. I'll bet they have well over 50,000 pencils. I was in the room organizing for 3 hours this morning and 1 hour this afternoon with a small break inbetween to update my blog from the weekend and to have lunch. The cue that it was time to go to lunch was Robert coming into the storage room to offer me some of his "yuca", I guess in the States it's called a Gasava root (did I spell that right, Bob would know). AFTER offering it to me and AFTER I bit into it, he said "you know it's poisonous". Then he paused for quite a while (I guess for effect) and continued by saying "until they boil it". It tasted like a home-made french fry to me. Robert even put ketchup on it.
The school had a TV news reporter there this afternoon, who was looking into every room to film a little bit of everything to put on the news. Robert asked that I work with the door closed and locked (since the room is SO messy right now). It got pretty warm in there which is another reason I was only in there about an hour. When the "coast was clear", I checked to see how everything went. The reporter's camera battery went dead while he was still over at the colegio (high school), so he'll be back Thursday morning to film the primary school. I'm just about finished with the pencils and got a little start on organizing the blue/black pens.
I went to put the young girls to bed again tonight. The normal routine for me with them is:
- Put a dab of toothpaste on their toothbrushes & send them to the bathroom to brush their teeth and go to the toilet
- After the bathroom, I send the girls to the showers (it's a communal shower) where I have to stand outside the shower door and squirt a dab of soap into their hands to wash their bodies, and then squirt a bit of shampoo on their heads to shampoo their hair. On some nights they get conditioner as well. I have to make sure they scrub good and get all of the soap/shampoo off...and fairly quickly as the older girls start heading into the showers - so the little ones need to get out.
- I hand the girls a small towel as they come out to use for drying themselves off. They are to be dry by the time they get back to their rooms.
- In their rooms, I hand out their "blumers" as they call them (underwear) and I comb their hair.
- I send them to the living room next to get their clothes. They do not have jammies, but sleep in the clothes that they are going to be wearing the next day. They do not get to choose the clothes they wear, but instead are handed clothes by an older girl who is in charge of giving out clothes that she believes will fit them.
- Depending on the night, they either watch a movie or get read a couple of bible stories. Tonight we read about Jonah and The Creation. They wanted to hear the story both in Spanish AND English. Before turning the pages, I'd ask them questions about what was about to happen. They know those stories VERY well.
The youngest girls in this room that I have been helping out with are 5-6 years old. Their names are: Nani, Blanca, Yenci, Carol, Evelyn, Cindy & Reina.
We had our volunteer meeting at 6:00pm and Kim came to lead it. She wanted to talk about missions work so she read Acts 1:8 which says "...You will be my witnesses - in Jerusalem (your town), in all of Judea (your state/country), in Samaria (your enemy's land), and in every part of the world." We need to be witnesses to Christ, from our next door neighbor to the ends of the earth. And you don't have to GO to do God's will. We also looked at Romans 12:4-8 which reads:
- Each one of us has a body, and that body has many parts. These parts all have different uses. In the same way, we are many, but in Christ we are all one body. Each one is a part of that body. And each part belongs to all the other parts. We all have different gifts. Each gift came because of the grace that God gave us. If one has the gift of prophecy, he should use that gift with the faith he has. If one has the gift of serving, he should serve. If one has the gift of teaching, he should teach. If one has the gift of encouraging others, he should encourage. If one has the gift of giving to others, he should give freely. If one has the gift of being a leader, he should try hard when he leads. If one has the gift of showing kindness to others, that person should do so with joy. (International Children's Bible)
Each of us has different gifts, some the ability to serve, others the ability to give, and so on. Use those gifts to let God's grace shine through you!
Oliver stopped in much later to say "goodbye". He'll be heading back to Berlin early tomorrow morning. I'm the next one to leave (this Saturday) and although I do miss my children more with each email I get from Bob, the time has flown by so quickly!
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