I was supposed to meet with my boss today about other stuff and thought that would be an opportunity to present the idea of going to the US for three months. However, donors from Sweden are in town so she was busy hosting them and we didn't get to meet. She has been nothing but supportive in the past, so I expect she will understand. I think a lot of the reason I didn't want to go to the US, and was struggling with God about the idea, is because I didn't want to let her or my coworkers down.
Saturday we had the first swimming lessons through Impacto Juvenil. The classes are at the gym I belonged to when I lived up in the mountains. It's a private gym with a nice pool which makes it easier to keep track of the kids. But all of the members are watching and asking who we are. One lady asked my coworker where all of the kids came from. When my coworker explained the kids are part of a non-profit program the lady snorted, said "Que ordinario," (a strong insult), stood up and left. We have to be sure we are on our best behavior at all times because we can't give any gym member a reason to complain.
The kids were super brave. They jumped right into the water. All of them went underwater and blew bubbles on the very first try. All but two are comfortable in the water. All but four can basically swim. We'll teach them personal water safety and the four basic strokes. I had my doubts about pulling this off in 10 one hour classes, but now that I see how advanced these kids are compared to Los Pinos kids, I'm not worried at all. They should be good swimmers in 10 weeks.
The hardest part of the whole day was getting them to take off their underwear. Sounds crazy, but it's true! The girls wanted to wear bras and underpants under their swimsuits. Boys were trying to wear shorts over their suits and underpants underneath. Once we got rid of the underwear, we were good to go.
People here are totally not accustomed to bathing suits. When I went to Jamaica I published the photo below. Laura asked Fany why I was nude and showing my "intimate parts". Coworkers commented about how much skin I showed.
Mountains of cleavage are acceptable. Nursing in public, even at church, is totally common. (I'm not saying it shouldn't be. My point is that Hondurans are not at all prudish when it comes to breasts.) Skin tight pants are everywhere from the business offices to the street, even in the heat of summer. But bathing suits are taboo here.
This morning we had a devotional about Holy Week. Holy Week here seems to end on Saturday. Nobody speaks much of the resurrection or Easter Sunday. It was the same with our invited speaker this morning. We went back to the Book of Genesis, Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden. We talked about sin and Jesus dying for our sins. We talked about Jesus going to hell and people being rescued from hell. We were told to prepare and dig deep inside, take an inventory - see how we stand with God. But we never spoke about Christ rising from the dead. I don't understand why that part is always left out.
After church I took Laura to the doctor. You've heard me rant about Hondurans and antibiotics. The overuse of antibiotics and lack of education about how germs and how they are spread are my two biggest rants.
Laura started antibiotics Friday. Today is Monday. She and the other kids who were in the waiting room together on Friday were all back for a check up today. No one improved, nor did they get worse. All four still have a fever and cough.
The first three went in before Laura. They all got an injection of antibiotics. I told Fany if the doctor wanted to inject Laura I would pay for blood work first to be sure it was an infection. Years ago the same doctor told me he gives antibiotics not because it's correct, but because it's what the parents expect. If he didn't give antibiotics the parents would say he's a bad doctor.
Thankfully the doctor told Fany the injection is expensive. He said if Laura still has a fever tomorrow, Fany should bring Laura back and then she will get the injection. I hope the fever goes away tonight.
Forrest fires started up again last week. For some reason everyone is freaking out this year. This happens every year. It's nothing new. The city becomes blanketed in smoke and it's hard to breath. This year it's not bad down here, but there have been fires in the mountains. I expect it will get worse until our first rain, which should come in about a month.
Today I got permission to publish photos of the kids on Facebook! I am excited to be able to share photos with people in the US. I was given specific instructions to only publish photos of the kids from the rib cage and above if they are wearing bathing suits. I may have to do some crazy cropping.
It is sooooo hot here. We just sit and sweat. Today it got up to 100.4 Fany said. By 8 a.m. the sun scalded my skin.
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| 20 kids from Villa Nueva learning to swim |
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