It's Hard To Believe

Today, I got to sleep in until 7:30. I had a nice breakfast at the team house. The pineapple is so fresh here and tastes so much better than the pineapple you get in the states. We had a pizza party for the younger boys this morning. They had a blast and ate a lot of food, but got quite rambunctious towards the end. I hung out with some of the middle-aged boys before lunch, and had lunch with them. We had vegetables and rice, and it was actually very good. Of course, it rained all day today, on and off. The kids are getting tired of it, but they are used to it. We had a great lunch that Dunia, Marisol, and Osiris prepared. They are such great cooks. Some of the church people who have sponsored children, had them eat lunch with us. After lunch, we had a pizza party for the younger girls. Afterwards, I hung out with the middle-aged boys some more. They are probably my favorite age group. I pass out a few gifts this afternoon to some of the kids that I had bonded with. It is so hard to say good bye. It is hard to believe that I have already been here for five weeks, and I am in no way ready to go home. I definitely think this is where God is calling me to be, and hopefully in the future I will live here and be on staff. Before dinner, we had a pizza party for the older boys. They are a very fun group. One boy, Erik, made an adorable bracelet for me. Some of the boys last year made them for me, too, but thus one is so much cuter. We had a great dinner of barbecue chicken, rice, mashed potatoes, tortillas, carrots, pudding, and my favorite, sweet bread. It was probably the best meal I have had since I have been here, and I was so stuffed after eating. Every time I leave, I tell myself I am not going to cry, but it gets harder and harder every time I am here, because of the bonds with certain kids that get closer and closer. I do not want to leave. I am having a very hard time with it. I am planning on coming back for Christmas, and hopefully staying for at least three months, but hopefully from Christmas through the whole summer. This is my home-away-from-home, and definitely the place I need to be. I love it here. Orphanage Emmanuel is definitely my favorite place on earth. Tomorrow, I am leaving around one or two, and heading the long journey to San Pedro Sula. I will spend the might there, and leave Monday around one in the afternoon. So, two long days of travelling. I love and miss you all!

Some more pictures:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=42377&l=68858&id=508170298

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=42504&l=39d5f&id=508170298

Pizza, Pizza, Pizza

Today, I woke up around 7:00, and headed over to the team house for breakfast. I had some great pancakes. I do not think Dunia can make a bad meal. I had toddler duty this morning. We walked them to the team house and played with toys and ate some snacks. They were so excited. We got a new toddler, today. His name is Oscar, and he is four. He is a little scared to be here so far and is crying alot, but it is understandable coming to a new home, and it will take him some time to get used to. I do not know his full background yet, but I know he has already had to testify in court against his father, and is only four. It is very sad, but a great thing that he got to come to Orphanage Emmanuel. I went to town today and bought a passion fruit charamusca from Glenda's. She only had one left, and I was so sad. She is making passion fruit tomorrow, and I can't wait to get one. The hammock guy came today, and sold hammocks and some other handmade stuff to the team here. Everyone bought something, and he definitely made some money. He is a very good guy, and he needs the money. I got to take a short nap before lunch. I ate dinner and went to afternoon devotional with some of the middle aged boys. It was a lot of fun. One kid needed a new pair of shoes, and got a pair from the warehouse with skates in them. I don't think he had ever seen them before and was so excited. We had a pizza party for the middle aged girls and the special needs girls tonight. They had a lot of fun and enjoyed the skit, the team performed. We also had a group game for them. Esperanza gave me lessons on how to hit a soccer ball with my head. Let's just say, I am not too good at soccer. Especially not compared to the kids down here, who are amazing soccer players. One of the older boys, Fernando, had a birthday last week, so some of the volunteers gave him a birthday party tonight for some of his best friends and his siblings here. Everyone at the party had a great time. We taught some of the kids how to do the Thriller dance. They think it is so funny. The eight, younger girls who are in the choir sang for us at dinner and ate dinner with us. They are so cute. I gave Yesi some presents I have gotten together for here and she loved them. It is so great to see these kids smile. Katja and Max shared their testimony with the group tonight. Everyone on staff here has a great testimony. Hopefully, one day, I will be on staff, too. It rained pretty much all day today. Thanks for everyones prayers. I love and miss you all!

Some more pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=41957&l=1d476&id=508170298

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=42377&l=68858&id=508170298

More Rain

Today, I woke up at 5:45, and started the day. I went to the middle aged boys' circle and the younger girls' circle. I ate a great breakfast with the team, and then was off for toddler duty. We took the toddlers on a long walk all the way around the orphanage and went to the farm. They loved it, but we definitely tired them out for a good, long nap. I went to the store after lunch and got a few charamuscas, and talked to some of the people who work at the store. It has been pouring rain on and off all day. I am getting quite tired of it, I feel like I am wet all of the time. I played with the special need children for a little while before lunch. Lunch was fabulous. I am getting to eat really good since the team is here. After lunch, a few ladies from town came and sold us some of their handmade baskets. After lunch, I worked in the craft house and helped pass out gifts to sponsored children, making sure they write a letter back, if it is from their direct sponsor and not just a friend. This evening, for the middle aged boys, we had a pizza party, with chips, drinks, fruit snacks, and of course pizza. We had a short skit, and then hung out and played with the children and took lots of pictures. We had a fabulous dinner, and I think I am fuller than I have been since I have been here. Wade shared his testimony with the group tonight. It is always nice to hear it and is always very inspiring. The Tegucigalpa Airport will not open this week, and might open next week, so the group will be flying out of San Pedro Sula. Tomorrow, we are expecting a new toddler, a boy who is three years old. It is always nice to get new kids and exciting to meet them. It is also sad at the same time, because every kid here is sent from the government, which means their situation before the orphanage was not so pleasant. Sorry this is short, but once again, I am exhausted. I will try to post pictures tomorrow.

The Group Has Arrived

My morning started at the usual hour, and I went to the younger girls' circle. My family and Bonnie made it in last night at around 10:30. They were tired, but glad they finally made it here. I had toddler duty this morning. We walked to the store and got suckers and drinks, watch the cows, watched Luis make bricks, and played on one of the playgrounds. It was quite an adventure today, but they had a great time, and were definitely tired out from all of the walking. I played with the special need children after that, and had a great time. My three favorites are probably Noehmy, Pedro, and Marie, although, I love them all. The Covenant group arrived at about 11:30, they were all so happy to finally be on orphanage grounds. Dunia, Marisol, and Osiris, are cooking for the team, and as always, it is wonderful. I ate lunch and dinner with some of the older boys. They are so funny, and like to practice their English, and I like to practice my Spanish. I went to the hospital in town today to drop off some medical supplies. I also had to run to the store and get cheese to make pizza for all of the children here. I got six pounds, after much hassle, and will most like have to get more tomorrow. I had a fabulous, passion fruit charamusca from Glenda's, and I like passion fruit now. I have never had passion fruit before, and it kind of tastes like grapefruit. Sorry, this blog is so short, but I am super exhausted. I will try to post some more pictures tomorrow. I love and miss you all!

Lots of Rain

Today, started at the usual time, 6:15. I really don't even need my alarm anymore, because I wake up around 6:00, without it. I had a granola bar for breakfast. I eat them all the time, and need another type when I get home. I love these, but I can pretty much taste them without even eating them. The toddlers this morning were interesting. We played with them at their house and wen for a walk around the back of the orphanage. We picked orange and yellow flowers(weeds), and kicked over a bunch of ant hills. No accidents today. Daniel and Erika told me everytime they had to go to the bathroom, and I reminded them frequently. Erika threw one fit because she didn't want to hold Erlon's hand, and Erlon threw a fit because he didn't want to take a nap. What a life it must be to be a toddler! Eat, Sleep, and Play! It must be nice. I hung-out at the store with Dunia, Marisol, and Cinthia. We had great talks about all sorts of things. Cinthia is studying at a very expensive, university in Tegucigalpa. She is very smart and is studying to be a doctor. Dunia still wants to study in the states, and we are working on that. We just have to get a visa, which can be very difficult here because of the government. It poured for about an hour around lunch. It was so nice. Around two, there was supposed to be a soccer game from some of the middle-aged boys in Jordan's yard, however it got rained out. It started pouring, non-stop, for about an hour. We desperately needed the rain here, and it cools everything off and brings a nice breeze. Dunia is coming to our house tonight to make tortillas with us. I have the recipe, but they never turn out like Dunia's. They are heavenly. The Covenant Presbyterian Group will all be in San Pedro Sula tonight. They will spend a few hours tonight at a hotel in San Pedro Sula. They will head this way for the orphanage around 5 a.m. My family has decided to get a private taxi, and go ahead and come to the orphanage tonight. Everyone from The Covenant Presbyterian Group should be here by lunchtime tomorrow. Please pray for everyones safe travel to the orphanage. I love and miss you all!

Some More Pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=41957&l=1d476&id=508170298

Los Ninos

I woke up around 6:15 a.m.. I went to one of the younger girls' circle. My usual morning routine. I had a granola bar and peanut butter crackers for breakfast. Toddlers this morning was quite an adventure. We took them to the craft house and made quite the mess. They had just about every box of toys spilled out and mixed together on the ground. They don't really understand pick up as you go. I made a bracelet for Jessica. She had a huge smile on her face. We tried to build a puzzle with a few of them, and they don't get the concept of building it and keeping it together. They just think it is fun to take it apart. Three of the toddlers threw tantrums when we had to leave. I ate two fabulous, tortillas for lunch at the store today with a diet pepsi. I played with the special needs kids for a little while this afternoon. It was very cloudy and windy out. I got to take a nap this afternoon while all of the kids were in school. This afternoon, I watch a movie with some of the older girls. We made them cake and popcorn. We watched a bootleg copy of Step Up 2. They have seen that movie so many times, but it is still their favorite. It sprinkled for a little while, and then there were two beautiful rainbows at the same time. As soon as I got my camera out, they were gone. I played with the toddlers this evening and watched the older boys play some crazy, soccer-type game. The toddlers loved to watch them. The children here are so good at soccer. It is like second-nature to them. The crate finally got unloaded this afternoon. The two customs people who came were really nice and actually looked over a bunch of "expired" food. The only thing we had to get rid of was the rice and some drinks. However, the drinks were bad, so it was not that much of an issue. Dunia and Osiris are busy getting stuff ready for the group coming in tomorrow. I love those two girls. They are so sweet and strong in their faith and are great role-models for the younger girls, and they are both fantastic cooks. American Airlines overbooked the flight today by thirty people for my church group that is coming down here, and about eight people made it to San Pedro Sula tonight, and the rest of the group is in a hotel in Miami. Hopefully, they will be here around eight tomorrow evening. It is sad because they will miss another day at the orphanage with these amazing children. Tomorrow some of the middle-school age boys have a soccer game, that I am going to watch in the afternoon. They are amazing, and it is so fun to watch. I love and miss you all!

Some more pictures (the new ones are at the end of the album):
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=41072&l=c8df1&id=508170298

Yummy In My Tummy

Today, I woke up at 7:30, and started getting ready for church. Church is always fabulous. Pastor Herman is great preacher and his sermons are always good. The had great songs today. Jordan does a great job leading worship. It was a beautiful day today, very breezy. It felt great. Around lunch it poured for about fifteen minutes. It was great. I was walking to the store for lunch, and was so relieved to finally have some rain. It has been over two weeks with no rain here, and that is very rare, especially since it is the rainy season. Lunch at the store was great, always. Rice, corn tortillas, fried yucca, and potatoes. I didn't get any meat today. The chicken is my favorite, but I had that yesterday, and there wasn't any today. This afternoon, we had a wonderful thunderstorm. It rained alot, and the thunder sounded great. It made my Sunday nap, super good. About a month ago, a man here found a coral snake here, while hiking. He picked it up and held it by its head. He brought it back to the clinic and put it in a jar of alcohol to kill and preserve it. Coral snakes are one of the top ten most dangerous snakes in the world. I am just glad I haven't seen one. I don't think I would have been scared of it, until I found out how poisonous it was. It is now dead and preserved in a jar in the clinic. Since it rained almost this whole afternoon, the kids were all in their houses. We have taught a few of the toddlers to say "yummy in my tummy". It is so cute. I don't think they all know what it means, but they love saying it. Tomorrow morning I have toddler duty, eating with the older boys for lunch, hanging out with the special need children in the afternoon, and having a movie party with some of the older girls. My church is coming tomorrow evening, so it will be good to see everyone from back home. I love and miss you all!

The Container

Today, I got to sleep in until 8. It was so nice. I had cheerios for breakfast. So, no granola bar today. I played with the younger girls on the playground today. They get so bored out their everyday. They are so cute. It is always a challenge remembering every girls' name, but I am getting there. I had to work the store for a little while around lunch time. We got a new shipment in of drinks, ice cream, and chips, so we are good to go. I ate at the restaurant today, and had great baked chicken, potato salad, rice, and a tortilla. Dunia made the tortilla especially for me, since we only had corn tortillas today, and those are not my favorite. I like the flour ones better. The stars here at night are amazing. You see different stars here than in the states because we are closer to the equator. I have seen two shooting stars and the big dipper. It has been clear at night. Today was very pretty, and windy. It was a beautiful day. I got to take a nap this afternoon. With the wind blowing in my windows and my fan, it was a super nap. We were told yesterday that the container was being held in customs for a week, because there were two pallets of rice that were expired. However, rice does not go bad. There is a food shortage in Honduras, so customs is being particularly picky. Normally, we would have put the food at the back of the container, but got the rice after the whole container was packed and no one want to repack the whole truck. Customs doesn't check through everything, but normally the stuff at the front. Today the truck showed up, with the rice. The man from customs who drove the truck here has to stay here with the container until Monday, when other custom officials will be here to make sure the rice is burned. It is quite ridiculous considering the rice is perfectly fine to eat, there are children starving everywhere on the streets, and it is a third world country. Poppy tried to offer to pay them for the rice, but they said no. All of the custom officials said it was fine, but one, who is coming here to the orphanage on Monday to watch it be burned. The rice is from Covenant Presbyterian Church. The church sent it down because there was a shortage of it here, and now customs is doing this. It is very discouraging. Also, nothing can be unloaded from the container until Monday, when the customs officials get here. They have to make sure we burn the rice first, and then they are going to go through every box on the container. They are being very hard to get along with. Tonight, the staff had a dinner for all of us volunteers. It was so nice, and the food was delicious. Hot dogs to chicken to brownies to ice cream. Everything you could imagine. I caught lightning bugs with all of the staff children for about an hour and a half. They are much harder to catch here than in the states and like to bury in the ground. Every kid wanted to have one, and then it would fly away, and they would want another one. I think more died while we were trying to catch them, than we actually caught. The kids had fun, though. Gabriel, Katja and Max's son, named me Cuckoo. I have no idea why, but that is what he calls me now. We have church in the morning, which I am so excited about, especially since we didn't have church on Wednesday night, just girl's and boy's Bible study. Pastor Herman is great. I love to hear his sermons. Hopefully, it will rain here soon. The weather here is very weird for the rainy season. I love and miss you all!

Big Circle and The Farm

Today started at 6:15. I had a granola bar and lemonade for breakfast and was out the door. Finally, out of the four weeks I have been here, there was big circle. Wade's house performed a drama from Numbers, Merethe's house lead music, and Wade gave the devotional. It was alot of fun, and all of the children love big circle. It is so neat to see every child at the orphanage gathered together at one time. This morning at toddler duty, we had fifteen kids instead of our regular six, because some of their teachers did not show up for school today. We took a field trip to the farm. The kids love it. Thank goodness for Michell and another girl's help. We saw the cows, horses, chickens, and of course, the smelly pigs. Luis was brave enough to touch one of the pigs on the nose, but he was the only one who would do it. Leche and her baby, Henrietta are as cute as ever. Leche is getting very territorial now, and will not let anyone come near her. Erlan decided to step right in poopoo de vaca. But, there were no accidents today. Everyday is getting a little bit better on accidents. No accidents in two days. Yay! I ate lunch at the store. It was fabulous as always. Tortillas, mashed potatoes, and rice. All carbs! Every time I get a diet pepsi from the store, I always manage to get a frozen one. For some reason here, when it is opened and you start drinking, it fizzes and spews everywhere. I made quite the mess. Elvia just laughed at me and helped me mop it up. I played on the little, girls' yard today. I love those kids! They love to take pictures on my camera, and some are getting quite good at it. It sprinkled a little here today, but has been cloudy all day, and super windy. It feels great outside. I have to wear a long-sleeve shirt at night. We are expecting a container tonight, which means time to unload! The boys can unload so much faster than girls, so we just help where we are needed and put stuff up where it goes. Tomorrow, I have to pass out some gifts to sponsored kids. It will be a busy day. I love and miss you all!

Some more pictures (the new ones are at the end of the album): http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=41072&l=c8df1&id=508170298

Hace Calor

Today started at 6:15. I had my usual breakfast, a granola bar, and was off for the day. It is super hot here, and has not rained in about a week. This is very rare, since it is the rainy season here, and normally rains at least once a day for this time of year. I went to one of the younger girls' circle this morning. I love it! Every once in a while, you would get a little breeze which would feel great. All of the Auburn volunteers left today, but me. It was sad to see them go. They fly out tomorrow, from San Pedro Sula, but had to travel today since it takes so long to get there from here, and spend the night in a hotel tonight. For toddler duty this morning, I decided to take them to the store. Michell helped me and a few other older girls met up with us their. We had drinks and suckers. We are expecting a new shipment for the store any day now. They love to put their suckers in their drinks and then eat it. Out of the six toddlers we took to the store, no one wet their pants and only two drinks were spilled. It was a great morning. Not too much happened today. We were expecting a container shipment today, but now are supposedly getting it tomorrow. It is always neat to see what comes on the container. It is like opening a rolling store. Hopefully it will rain soon. We really need the rain! I love and miss you all!

Some more pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=41072&l=c8df1&id=508170298

Caballos y Chanchos

Today was quite the day. I had a granola bar for breakfast, no peanut butter tortilla today, because I was running late. Toddler duty is always an adventure. We managed to make it to the pavilion to play with no fits. That is quite an achievement. We had silly putty, play dough, animals, baby dolls, and bouncy balls. Heaven for a toddler! We had not pant-wetting this morning, but because Daniel decided he did not want to come this morning, only in the afternoon. He was a little grumpy. Time-out is never a fun thing. Especially, when you are a toddler. Since they have so many different people disciplining them, it is hard for them to really take it seriously. The only thing that works, is when they are in time-out, make them shut their eyes. They think it is terrible and throw the biggest fits. Lunch was good. Pepsi, noodles, and sauce. This afternoon we took the toddlers horseback riding. It was interesting. While waiting for the horses, guess what happened? Daniel had an accident. I didn't even realize it until Erlan told me. He is a boy, though, and only two. He has been potty-training for three months at least, so having accidents isn't really that bad, since he is so young. They love riding the horses. Grumpy is their favorite, but as long as they get to ride, they don't care what horse they are on. Erlan throws the biggest fits when he has to get off. We rode them back to the farm and hosed them off and put them back in the pasture. Then, it finally happened! We got to see the pigs! The babies are so cute. The pig pin is quite smelly. It is not even like one of those smells that you can just ignore, you have to like cover your nose. There are flies everywhere, too. This afternoon, dinner was great. Lasagna, salad, corn on the cob, cookies, peach cobbler, lemonade, and charamuscas. The reason we cooked a big dinner is because all of the Auburn volunteers are leaving tomorrow, except for me. It was nice. Supposedly the Tegucigalpa airport is opening on Tuesday, but this could change again, so who knows. I love and miss you all!

Some more pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=41072&l=c8df1&id=508170298

Pizza Parties

This morning started with breakfast. Two, peanut butter tortillas and a granola bar. It is my usual breakfast. Toddler duty his morning was interesting. There are two of the kids that are quite the handful. Erika has to "go" to the bathroom every fifteen minutes. She plays most of the time, but if we don't take her, when she has to go, she will wet her pants. Memo doesn't not want to walk anywhere and wants to be held all the time. We make him walk, which he does not like at all. He will just stop and sit down and refuse to move. I had to get Marisol to come and talk to him today. She whispered something in his ear and he got up right away and started to walk. Way to go Marisol!I had to work the internet cafe this afternoon and had no customers for the total two and a half hours. Dunia came and hung-out with me for a little bit and she made me a fabulous tortilla. They are especially great when they are hot. We had a pizza party for the first place winners of the talent show. They had a blast, and had five pieces of pizza each, lemonade, and ice cream. Tonight, the Skinner family had a ice cream and pizza party for the volunteers. It was really nice, and it was great to have ice cream. The pizza was made by Katie's restaurant, and included just about everything. It was really good. I have heard that there is an ant-eater at the orphanage and that Armando and he had a little incident. I have not seen him yet. There are also these little clear lizards around the orphanage that make this weird noise. We have enormous bull frogs on our back patio, the two biggest ones are named Ronald and Henrietta. The kids tried to feed them Cheerios tonight, but they didn't like them too much. As we were eating dinner on the patio, a huge herd of cows came through. People in town let them roam around the orphanage at night because there is grass here, and because they know we will not kill them. Most people in town who would find them would kill them. The people only find their cows when they are ready for some food. It has been very cloudy here all day, but is hasn't rained yet. It was starting to get windy at dinner, though. Tomorrow for toddler duty we are taking them to the farm, and hopefully we will get to see the baby pigs. I also have to pass out some gifts to kids from sponsors. The orphanage is expecting a container shipment in the next few days, so we are trying to get the gifts we have now passed out to kids, before the next container when we get more. It will definitely be a busy next few days, especially when the container comes in and we have to start unloading and putting it up in the storage warehouse. I love and miss you all!

The Danes

Today, the four Danish volunteers left. They had been here for four months, so it was hard to see them go, especially for the kids. I woke up at 6:15 this morning, it is my regular wake-up time. I went to the little girl's circle. I love going their. I had a granola bar and a peanut butter tortilla for breakfast, it was really good. I have toddler duty every morning, from 7:50 to 9:30. We play with the six kids who are not in preschool yet. Daniel, managed to wet his pants twice in thirty minutes, Erlon spilled a whole container of bubbles, and Memo decided to wipe his snot on the toys. Other, than that, it was quite a good morning. Jessica, finally looked and smiled at me today. She was severely abused when she was little, so this was a big step. She will not talk to anyone but her sisters, and will not look any adults in the face. She has come such a long way, though. It hasn't rained here in two days, so it is pretty hot. Hopefully it will this afternoon or tonight. I didn't get to go play with the baby pigs today, but hopefully I will get to tomorrow, or some time this week. On Wednesday night, the boys who won first place in the talent show are having their pizza party with all of us volunteers. I can't wait. It should be alot of fun, and all of the boys are super excited. I had a rice tortilla for lunch and pepsi, since there is no diet coke here. I went to afternoon devotional with the toddlers and ate dinner with them. Rice, beans, and cherry kool-aid. The lady who cooks for the toddler house, Glenda, is probably one of the best cooks at the orphanage. Her tortillas are some of the best. I love and miss you all!

Some more pictures (the new photos are at the end of the album):
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=39964&l=cdfd5&id=508170298

Happy Father's Day!

Last night, we had two girls spend the night with us. It was alot of fun. They decided they were tired around ten, so we got to go to sleep early. Today, church was great, as always. I love Pastor Herman. he is great at giving a message that applies to everyone from children to adults. Sundays, are volunteers day "off", so we don't have really anything we have to do on Sundays. The sermon today was about fathers, since today is Fathers' Day. It was nice. The talent show was a big hit last night. The first place winners were older boys who did "break-dancing". Really, their act was all of these flips and body contortion things. It was really neat, and they definitely decided to win first place. One little boy, Diego, made up a Christian rap, and rapped it for us. It was so cute. He is definitely a Honduran gansta. : )! Dunia is back from Tegucigalpa. Her uncle has cancer, he is not doing great, but is doing better, which is always good to hear. Lourdes talked to me in Spanish a few days ago which is exciting. One of the pregnant cows at the farm had her baby a few days ago. The mom's name is Leche, because she is all white. The baby is all white, but has one big brown spot on her head. The baby's name is Henrietta. Tomorrow morning, I get to play with the baby pigs. I can't wait! I have heard they are super cute. I ate lunch at the restaurant today. I had rotisserie chicken, yellow rice, mashed potatoes, salad, and tortillas. It was so good, and I was super stuffed when I left. Some of the older girls had this sled like thing where they slid down the huge hill. It was very funny to watch. I love and miss you, all!

Orphanage Emmanuel Talent Show

Today, I got to sleep in once again. There is not usually circle on Saturday mornings. I had to work at the store this morning, which was super hot. I got to wash about two hundred, fresh carrots. It looked like a huge carrot when I left. I had dirt all over me. The store is running low on food, especially charamuscas, and hopefully we will have a shipment sometime this week. Dunia should be returning from Tegucigalpa today. I can't wait to see her. Four volunteers leave on Monday, and Four more leave on Thursday. We are supposed to be getting three new ones today, but they have not arrived yet. The talent show is tonight at five, so today we have been busy setting up and helping the kids finish last minute details on their talents. It should be alot of fun. The family from Gainesville, Georgia, has two little girls who have been wanting to spending the night with us. So tonight after the talent show we are going to have a slumber party with them at their house, and let their parents have a break. : ). Tomorrow, is church. I can't wait. I must go finish getting ready for the talent show. I love and miss you all!

Hoy es Viernes!

Today, there was no big circle. It has now been three Fridays in a row with no big circle, since I have been here. I am sad. I got to sleep in today. It was nice. It was very cool last night, so I slept great! I haven't felt so good today, but I am feeling better now, thanks to a little medicine. I played with the toddlers this afternoon. They are such a mess. All of the kids in the various houses are working on their talents for the talent show. Some of them are really good! I got to rest most of today. I was super tired from my trip to Tegucigalpa yesterday, and was really feeling it today. I had quite the nap this afternoon. Four of the Danish volunteers are leaving on Monday, so we are throwing them a party tonight, along with a bonfire. We are going to have traditional Danish bread-on-a-stick, and the American favorite, s'mores. It will be a nice treat. It rained today, which felt great! It cooled down everything outside. Tomorrow, will be another busy day, especially since the children don't have school and with the talent show tomorrow night. The kids are very excited. Our house is getting infested with ants, so today I had the pleasure of getting them all. Let's just say there are no more alive ants. Yay! I have been praying about Honduras and volunteering alot, and I really feel like the Lord is calling me to be here as at least a long-term volunteer. Hopefully next year, it will all work out. Please pray for me! I love you and miss you all!

Some more pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=39964&l=cdfd5&id=508170298

Tegucigalpa

Well, today started super early at 4:30. A few volunteers and me went to the capital of Honduras, Tegucigalpa, to renew some visas and to get some food item we can't get here in Guaimaca, which has less than one thousand people. We started walking from Orphanage Emmanuel to the bus station at 5:15. We made it to the bus station at 5:30. We were on our way to Tegucigalpa by 6:00. We rode a school bus, and the total cost for the two hour ride, was thirty-two lempiras, less than $2.00. We got off the bus in Tegucigalpa and got a taxi to the immigration office. It took about an hour and a half, but finally the two volunteers who needed to renew their visas got them completed, and we had to catch another taxi. We went to the mall, El Carrion. It is not at all like a mall from the United States, but it is very nice for Honduras. There is a grocery store in the mall where we bought a few groceries. We stopped at a little ice cream shop in the mall, and met a very nice man. He was the very first veterinarian in Honduras, and is now eighty years old. He studied at Texas A&M and in Mexico. His sons are now also veterinarians, one works on horses and the other does small animals. He was so nice, and definitely did not look like he was eighty. It was very cool to meet someone like that. Everyone in the mall kept on stopping and saying hello to him. I also got a chocolate Dunkin' Donut, at the mall. It tasted so good. The best part of all was being able to drink a diet coke. It was fantastic! I am just not a big diet pepsi fan, and that is all we can get at the orphanage. I am getting more and more used to them now. I was very impressed by my Spanish, and how easy it was to get around the mall. It is so neat. Gas here is a little over $4 per liter. There are 3.78 liters in one gallon. So, it is very expensive. You think gas prices are high in the states, you could be living in Honduras. Only the people who are over middle class drive cars, because it is so hard to afford the prices of gas. We had to stop by the orphanage post off box on our way to the bus stop, but conveniently they are next to each other. Each package that is under a kilo, you have to pay five lempiras to pick up. You do not have to pay anything to pick up letters and larger envelopes. Every package that is over a kilo, you have to pick up at the airport. It is quite a hassle. We did not have time to go to the airport today, so someone from the orphanage will go next week. You have to let your renewed visa paperwork stay at the immigration office for ten days before it is valid. So, you have to go back to Tegucigalpa to pick up the paperwork and the visa. We made it to the bus station and bought our tickets. Once again, it was thirty-two lempiras, less than $2.00. The bus on the ride home was like a run-down charter bus. It was nicer than the first bus, but hotter because it was the middle of the day and it had no air conditioning. We left on the two o'clock bus, and made it back to Guaimaca by 3:45. We got a taxi who took us all they way inside the orphanage to our volunteer house. He was really nice. Surprising;y all of our taxi drivers were really nice and for the most part, safe drivers. There are not really any traffic rules that are strictly enforced. It was a great, but tiring day. I am glad to be back at home, at the volunteer house. I love and miss you all!

La Tienda

I went to one of the younger girl's circle this morning. It is probably my favorite. We sang a song about a frog this morning, and many more. I had pancakes and a granola bar for breakfast. I am getting quite good at making pancakes, out of a box. We took three girls to the store this morning, Jessy, Sophia, and Dunia. We had drinks, ice cream, and bon bons. We all came back to the volunteer house and I cut up mangoes for the girls. I just don't like mangoes, but everyone here thinks I am crazy. On the way to the store, we got chased by about twenty cows. Someone cows from town got into the orphanage, and some of the boys had to chase them away. It definitely scared the little girls. I helped in the clinic this morning, with the special needs girls. It was quite eventful. We had to tell them we were going to go tell Mommy and Poppy if they didn't behave. They were acting crazy. The team that is here now, leaves tomorrow. Tonight, there is no church. Once a month or so, on Wednesdays, they have like a youth group for the older kids in the gym. There is food and snacks, and kind of just like a big party. It will be fun. The government came yesterday. They were very nice, and said the orphanage looked great. We should be getting some new toddlers soon. It is so exciting! Usually when the officials come, they try to find something wrong, but not this time. It rained here a little last night. It was a very pretty, clear day. It wasn't that hot, so it was very nice. Hopefully, it will rain here tonight. I love and miss you all!

Crazy Boys

Today started at 6:15. I am so proud of myself for getting up on my own. I guess it is good practice for class next year. I went to one of the younger girls' circle this morning. I love all of the kids here, but I am really starting to love this one little girl, Jessy. She is such a sweet girl, and never gets in trouble. She does well in school. I had to watch about fifty boys in the gym this morning, there were three other girls that helped, too. They are so wild. They found all of these bugs and thought it was so funny to put them in my hair. After a couple of times, they decided it was not a good idea. Samuel found a giant beetle. It was so big, but it was pretty cool, though. There is wild cilantro growing outside of our house back door. It smells so good. Marisol came and picked some yesterday to cook with it. I showed some of the kids what "touch-me-nots" are. They think it is so cool. We went on a thirty minute walk today to find them. They are pretty neat. The Hate's roof is getting put back on. There is not too much more to do. The government officials were here today, so everyone had to be on their extra, best behavior. It was quite an eventful day. I got to take a nap this afternoon, with my great fan. I slept so good. It was very clear outside today. It hasn't rained in two days, which is odd, but I am sure it will within the next day or so. Thanks for all of the comments! I love and miss you all!

Some more pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=39964&l=cdfd5&id=508170298

Bubbles and Legos

Last night was quite an interesting night. With no power, I was quite hot, and then woke up cold. The power went off at about 3:30 yesterday and didn't come back on until 11:30 today. It doesn't seem that bad, but our house was completely dark. It was not too fun. We had toddler duty this morning. We had six toddlers. Our regular crew, who is not in school. Along with ten team members. There were about three people per toddlers. They loved the bubbles. They got more on them I think than we blew, but they think they are just the greatest thing. They love the legos and build towers. They fight over who has the biggest tower. We all chilled after that. There wasn't too much to do today. School is out, because the teachers decided they just wanted to be off this week. The only people in school are the high school kids and preschool. I don't know how it ended up that way, but high school is not mandatory, so they are not out when other classes are out. I walked to the store and got a giant pepsi, three liters for only $1.50. We all share it. The delivery guy came today, but only delivered big pepsis, no small one. I took a great nap this afternoon, with my wonderful fan. I have it clipped to my bed. It is wonderful. It feels so good here. At night is gets down to about seventy degrees, almost chilly. It is great to sleep when it is cool outside. Talk to you soon! Love you and miss you all!

June 8, 2008

Hey everyone! Sorry, I did not post last night, the power was out. It wasn't even raining, so no one knows why it was out. it is finally back on now. I realized without having power, how much I like my fan at night. I think I like it more for the sound, but it is great. Church was good. A team is here until Thursday afternoon, so one of the team members preached. It was the traditional if you don't have Jesus in your heart, please come up, and we will pray together....... All the kids looked completely bored. They could pretty much recite the whole sermon to you. After, the preacher from town, added on to the sermon. It was great. He is such a good pastor. Sunday, means no work. all of the boys got to relax. We have started hanging out with the boys more. They are so fun. In the bakery, Osiris is making sweet bread. It is amazing. It is sold in the store for two limparas a piece. I want to learn how to make it, but along with tortillas, it is not as good, when I try to cook it. The clinic is moving along. We are now done with all of the first grades, and working on the second graders. It takes quite a bit of time. I am on kid-watching duty at the clinic. It is very hard to keep the kids occupied on a sidewalk for three hours. We played the quiet game yesterday, and the winners one a limpara. It was awesome! The kids calmed down for forty-five minutes. They thought it was the greatest game, ever!It is very hot today. Hopefully, it will start raining, soon. At least it should tonight!

Oh, What a Day at Orphanage Emmanuel

Today was quite the day! I woke up extra early for big circle, and got all ready. But, since it poured most of all last night, it was too wet to have big circle in the field, so the houses had individual circles. Both Fridays I have been here, big circles has been rained out. I helped Dunia, Marisol, and Veronica amke breakfast for a team that came in last night. Bacon, sausage, biscuits, and eggs. It looked great. Me and another volunteer had toddler duty this morning. The six toddlers who are not old enough to be in preschool yet, have to sit at their dorm, if we do not take them to do something. We played with legos and play dough. They love play dough. No one knows the word for penguin in Spanish, so we have taught the toddlers to call it el penguino. It is very funny to hear them say it, and they will only cal it that, nothing else. We played in the special needs yard a little this morning. They are having soccer games right now, and are pretty much obsessed with it. Once again, I was asked to play, but I just had to turn them down. They really must find it funny to watch me play. Stephanie got in trouble for calling everyone pigs, and Pamela got in trouble for not staying in their yards. They do not get to ride horses tomorrow, which they love. They have decided this week that they are not going to listen to anyone. We ate lunch at the the orphanage restaurant. It is so good! The tortillas are the best. Jenny is back for the summer from Costa Rica. She makes the absolute best tortillas. She is going to come to the volunteer house and teach us how to make them sometime this week. Rudi also promised me that he is not going to have nay more torsollos. Hopefully, he will stick to his promise. So far, so good! He is doing alot better. I had to work the Internet Cafe this afternoon. I usually only have one girl from the orphanage who is working on her studies, but today, I had three women from town. It was quite interesting. But I managed to help them make an email address in Spanish. I feel like my Spanish is improving everyday, and I can understand most conversations and lessons in Spanish. It is much easier to communicate with the kids and get them to obey and listen. After working the Internet Cafe, I helped at the clinic. There are about half of the kids who have not had their physicals this year. The team that is here now, has some doctors and nurses who are doing the physicals. It is very time consuming, but it has to be done. It is hard to keep the children quiet and entertained while waiting for their turn. On the way back to my house, it got extremely windy. Trees were almost bent in half because of the wind. We heard a loud crash, and the roof of David and Tammy Hyatts house came off. It was not a tornado, but something of the sort. This whole evening has been spent removing everything from their house and putting it into storage. They will have to work on the roof tomorrow, but until then they have to be moved to another house. It was very scary, and everyone from the orphanage was helping. No one was hurt, just some bruises and scratches. I was on kid patrol, and was watching everyones' kids. It is finished for the night now though, and the roof will start being rebuilt tomorrow. It was an interesting day here, but their is never a dull moment. I love you all!

Spiral Notebooks and Tortillas

Today started bright and early as usual. I played with the special needs yard for a while this morning. Bubbles are a big hit! They love them. I was the time delegator, after five minutes, they had to switch to someone else who hadn't had a turn. It actually worked, and they shared quite, well with no spilled bubbles. I worked in the school, also. We had probably two hundred spiral notebooks that we had to take the paper out of and make stacks for various classes. It took a little while. We made flashcards with clocks and times, for the children to match. We also made flashcards with syllables on them for the children to practice spelling their words. Today, Simon, a seven year old, was called to write something on the board during school and decided he didn't want to do it, so he wet his pants. He had to pick up trash around the school for the rest of the day. He was not too happy about it. I was asked to play soccer again today, but I turned down that offer. I can't believe they even asked me to be on their team. What a joke! They must think it is funny to watch me play. For lunch, I had a bowl of ramen noodles, and two cinnamon, sugar, peanut butter tortillas. It was so good! It is starting to rain again here. It looks like it is going to storm. Last night was the first night since I have been here that I slept ok. It was a great feeling waking up this morning and not feel exhausted. For dinner, I ate with the toddler house. Glenda makes some of the best tortillas. I had two, huge ones, and am completely stuffed. I ended up with beans all over me, even though I didn't eat any, thanks to Oscar. He also managed to change my watch to army time, and I have finally figured out how to change it back. Some of the older girls are watching a movie tonight as a treat. I love you and miss you all!

Some more pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=38590&l=0e497&id=508170298

Soccer, Honduras Style

This morning started bright and early with circle. Teenage girls can have quite an attitude. Two girls this morning decided that they didn't want to go to school. they refused to put on their uniforms. During circle, Lydia-Mommy, handed them their uniforms and told them to go and put them on. One girl walked off and tore hers and one girl dropped hers on the ground and stomped off. There is not much that you can do here to discipline. The only thing that can occur, is when a girls' yard has a party, the girls who misbehave can't go. But by the time they are fifteen or so, they don't care if they have to miss a party. I went to the farm and saw the boys working and the cows. There are three cows that are super pregnant. One cow was due three days ago, and still hasn't had her baby. Hopefully, she will have it soon. There are already two, baby calves. I got a quite refreshing diet pepsi and ice cream at the store. Armando also gave us a ride back to our house. He told me that he and Esperanza are getting married next year. It is so exciting! They are so cute! And such sweet kids! I played in the special yard today and spent about an hour blowing bubbles. Some of the teachers did not come to school today, so some kids got a nice break, today and yesterday. I had quite the experience playing soccer. Rudi and Pamela were he goalies. I definitely got demolished, and have determined that soccer, is definitely not my thing. The kids here are amazing soccer players, and play a lot rougher and bend the rules a little more than in the States. It is starting to pour here now, and rained a little this afternoon. t is nice though, because it cools it down. Church tonight was amazing. The preacher is awesome, and always prepares a lesson that the children, teenagers, and adults can understand. Communion was tonight and it is always neat to see the kids that truly have a relationship with Christ. Breakfast this morning was lemonade, and two peanut butter tortillas. I don't like peanut butter that much, but it is starting to taste really good. Dinner tonight is rice with cream of chicken soup and tortillas. It is pouring here so hard, is is coming in the windows. I love the rain! I love you all and miss you!

Oh, Guaimaca

Today, I woke up early and went into town. Three girls from the orphanage also went with us, Dunia, Esperanza, and Osiris, they are all around my age. It was fun. It only took a few minutes at the hospital, so we went grocery shopping and went to the fruit and vegetable stand. I got twenty tortillas, peaches, rice, tomatoes, and a cucumber, all for around four dollars. Super cheap! We got to take the truck into town, which was a big treat! Everyone was staring and whistling, at all of us "greengos". It is quite an experience. There were only two bulls in the street today, so no major road blocks. I ate two tortillas for lunch and of course a few cheez-its. This afternoon we took the six younger toddlers, who are not old enough to be in school yet, on a walk. It is always an adventure. Memo and Erika are quite spoiled and when they get tired of walking they like to stop. They will not move. It take about fifteen minutes to coax them to walk again, and by that time, all of the others toddlers are way far ahead. I did not back down though,
and made them walk. They are always carried everywhere. Erika decided to throw a nice fit, and "cry" for twenty minutes. She finally stopped when she decided to swing and eat crackers. On our way back to the toddler dorm, we went by the wood shop, and all of the toddlers think it is just the coolest place ever, along with riding cabillos-horses. We found an enormous frog in a hole. We made it back to the toddler dorm with all six kids. Quite an accomplishment! Rudi's rock is out of his ear. He is such a mess! He will probably put another rock in his ear next week, and back to the clinic he will go. Thanks for all of the comments! It is so much fun to read them everyday! I love and miss you all!

It's Raining, It's Pouring!

Today, I woke up bright and early at 6:15. Yes, that's right, I woke up on my own with an alarm. I went to the older girls/special circle this morning. It was quite a circle. Stephanie got in trouble numerous times for not being quiet and not listening. Surprise, surprise. We had a break this morning after circle until ten. I had my usual breakfast of poptarts, and took a nap until ten. At ten, I worked in the clinic. I organized more files and determined what kids have not had physicals yet this year, and which ones must be done with the next team of doctors arrives. I went to the older boy's yard, and had a nice lunch of rice, potato, tomato, and chicken soup. It was surprisingly super good. After lunch, I went back to the medical clinic and organized even, more files. I am finally done. For dinner, I ate with the toddlers. I had two, HUGE tortillas. As we have taught Erlan, one of the toddlers to say, "yummy, in my tummy!". It poured for about forty five minutes during dinner. Lighting, thunder, and all! We definitely had to wait for it to stop before walking back to our house. Today we learned that Tegucigalpa is only doing national flights now, which means no more flying into Tegucigalpa until the landing strip gets lengthened. So, all flights have been transferred to Comoyaguela. Which means, instead of a two hour bus ride to the orphanage from the airport, it is now a four hour bus ride. Also, instead of paying seventy dollars for a taxi, it is now one forty. The more people you have in your taxi, the cheaper it will be, once the price is divided. The boy's volunteer house, has come to the conclusion that they have a rat problem. There is one big, mama rat who has litters about every two weeks. She likes to have them under one of the bed, nightstands. She also likes to get in bed, under the covers with one of the volunteers. I am so glad we do not have rats in the girl's house. They have set up numerous traps, but are still unable to catch her. I did not go to town today. Tomorrow, we are taking a girl named, Esperanza, in town for some tests, so we get to take the hospital truck! Yay! No two mile walk to town. Hopefully, it won't rain in the morning. We are going to leave around eight. Bright and early! I love you and miss you all!

Some More Pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=38590&l=0e497&id=508170298

Me gusta Domingos!

Today was fabulous! Church is always great here at Orphanage Emmanuel. This morning it started at 8:50. It is always amazing to see all the children worshipping. Most of the staff and volunteers here at Emmanuel eat lunch at the restaurant. Today we had fried chicken, yellow rice, mashed potatoes, and fresh tortillas. It was so, so good. Rudi, one of the cutest kids ever, went to the clinic yesterday. Of course he had a torsolo, but he also decided to put a rock in his ear. Who knows why? Rudi is a mess, and definitely a favorite around here. I found out today, that a few of the kids in Poppy's yard are no longer here. They decided to get together and steal four thousand limparas from Poppy. They are now in a Christian, juvenile detention. Only one kid got to come back to the orphanage. He got to come back because he was the only one who truly apologized to Poppy, and also because he is eighteen, and would have been tried as an adult. Adult prisons here are pretty much all filled with gangs and he would have been killed. Sundays are volunteers day off. Most of the time we play with kids, but I am still catching up on sleep. I took a great two-hour nap. It was probably one of the best naps ever. I went to sleep at about 8:15 last night. I took a sleeping pill, which worked until about 3 a.m. I still haven't been able to sleep great at night since I have been here. Tomorrow I think I am going to town to get a few things. Thanks so much for all of the comments and emails. I love reading them. I love you all!

Here is the link for a few more pictures. You have already seen the first few, the new ones are towards the end of the album.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=38590&l=0e497&id=508170298