Saturday, July 13, 2013

Honduras won!

Jetty slept well last night.  I'll give her the second dose of Prednozone today.  This morning when Jose called me at 6:45 a.m., I noticed the sun was shining so I opened all of the windows in the house.  The dehumidifier seems to get us down to about 57% humidity, but that's still too high.  I'm hoping the rain will hold off today so I can keep the house open and air things out.

In the US I was always taught not to call anyone before 9 a.m. or after 9-10 p.m.  In Honduras at least once/month someone calls me before 7 a.m.  I think it's because the sun comes up at 5:30 so most people wake up early.  I was in the middle of a nice dream and would have loved to sleep past 6:45 this morning.  Ended up Jose wanted to know if I had a copy of "March of the Penguins".  I don't.

Tonight I am going to Jose and Karla's house for dinner and to spend the night.  We always have fun, even if we don't really do anything.  When I visited Honduras in 2009 I lived with Karla and Jose for 3 months.  We have been close ever since.  They are so busy with full time jobs, full time college and 2 kids (one with Down Syndrome) that I appreciate every second I get to spend with them.

Last night at Belinda's we had a full house.  When the sofa and chairs were full we spread out pillows on the floor.  We made nachos and ice cream sundaes with lots of different toppings. (I got Skittles as toppings because the boys I used to work with in the US loved them on sundaes.  My Honduran friends seemed to agree with me.  Skittles do not belong on sundaes.)  We watched the game and ate until we were going to burst.  Then we gave our leftovers to Belinda's son, Daniel, who kindly finished off what we couldn't eat.  I had fun pointing out the fútbol players I met at the airport last month and showing off the pictures on my phone of me posing with them.  The game was tied at 0-0 at the end of 90 minutes.  The only thing I don't like about fútbol is that it can end in a 0-0 tie.  For some reason that frustrates me.  But they had 3 minutes of overtime.  Right at the very end Honduras scored!  It was exciting.

Friday, July 12, 2013

Preschool has quadrupled in size in 3 days

The preschool class is already growing!  On Wednesday there were four kids, yesterday seven and today twelve.  I am thinking back to how it grew to 27 and hoping it will be more manageable this time.  Belinda said that the younger kids can go into the nursery like they used to after Lourdes realized how unproductive it was, so that will help out a TON.  Now I need to assess where the kids are and what they need to learn.

Usually I ask the kids if they can write their names.  If they say no, I write it on the top of their paper for them.  Today when Jose said no I took his hand in mine and helped him write his name.  He had done two pages of work so when I started to help him with the second page he shook my hand off and said he wanted to try by himself.  He did it!  He looked at the letters on the first page and copied them really well onto the second.  The S and the E were a little bit higher up on the paper than the first two letters of his name, but he wrote them all!  He is a really smart boy.  I also learned that Misael has retained all of the colors he learned a few months ago.  That was great to see.  He is maturing a lot lately.  He still has crying fits, but they don't last as long.

There was a new boy, Bryon, who is only 3 years old but was able to concentrate and did really well too.  I told his older brother, Kevin, how well Bryon did today in hopes that Kevin will bring Bryon back on a consistent basis.  Only Scarlet screamed and cried.  But she stopped eventually so I am very hopeful that we will have a productive learning environment.

A couple of days ago Kevin asked me to teach him English.  He has a workbook that we worked in yesterday.  When the other boys saw they all gathered around.  Now we have a conversational English class while we eat lunch.  So far it has been mostly identifying objects asking the difference between a cup, a mug and a glass, but that is a good start.  The boys keep surprising me when they use English to speak to me at other times throughout the day.  I find myself answering in Spanish by accident, which I know is not what they are looking for, but my brain is in Spanish mode.  I need to be more sensitive to that.  It is funny most of them will tell you that they know no English, but when you talk with them, they actually have a good foundation.  It surprises me since I know the educational system they come from is horrible.

Today Jairo and Belinda gave Marlin and Jacky buckets full of supplies that we received from the government a while ago.  The bucket had towels and washcloths, laundry soap and body soap, feminine hygiene products, nail clippers, but the thing that made Marlin most excited was 4 Ziploc bags, each with a toothbrush.  I am pretty sure she was not excited about the toothbrush because I just gave her 2 really nice ones about a month ago.  It had to be the Ziplocs.  She kept showing the baggies to everyone.  I brought two sandwiches to the Breakfast Program today, each in a Ziploc and gave one to her.  People here don't use Saran Wrap, tin foil, baggies, napkins or paper towels like we do in the US.  Some household have napkins on a regular basis.  But generally those things are seen as non-necessities.  If someone has a fridge they stick leftovers in without covering them.  Or sometimes they might cover something with a towel.  We also do not use sponges here, except to clean cars.  In the kitchen we use a flat, square, plastic scrubber which is not absorbent at all.  It drives me nuts to wash the counters at the Breakfast Program with no sponge.  We don't have sponge mops either.  I have searched everywhere and asked other North Americans.  Everyone uses the rope mops.  I am not good at mopping with the rope mop.  That is one thing I may never, ever get accustomed to.

I am home for a couple of hours to turn on the dehumidifier.  Then I am headed back down to the city.  A bunch of us are gathering at Belinda's house to watch Honduras play El Salvador in fútbol.  I am going to bring ice cream sundae makings.  Perfect for a hot day.  I was hoping to get to spend some time with the girl from North America who is here visiting, but apparently she left yesterday for Copán and won't be back until next week.  I talked to her for the first time yesterday.  She said she is leaving in a week.  I remember how I felt when I came to visit for 3 months.  That last week was hard.  In fact everything after the half-way point was hard.  I was so sad about having to go, and at the same time I knew I needed to enjoy every second that I had left in Honduras so I shouldn't waste time being sad.  It was a difficult combination of emotions.

Jetty and I both got a better night's sleep last night.  She was a little wheezy at 3:30 a.m., but the Prednizone seems to help.  I hope it will continue to help her so she doesn't have to be wheezy at all.  In the meantime I am running the leaky de-humidifier whenever I am home and awake.  It is surrounded by towels which I have been wringing out until my hands are raw.  I hope Carlos, my landlord, might have time to figure out where the leak is coming from this weekend so I can stop with the makeshift towel situation.  Both this morning and this afternoon the house was at 90% humidity before I turned on the de-humidifier and it hasn't even rained outside in almost 48 hours.

I am excited to see how the preschool unfolds.  How many kids will there be?  What will they be like to work with?  This is the beginning of another fun new adventure!

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Time Flies

Today was the last day for the team from Canada to help out.  I was a little sad to say good bye to them.  It's been nice having them with us.  One of the men has a birth defect.  His arm is not fully developed and he drags one leg when he walks.  It has been extremely inspirational to watch him.  His disability doesn't slow him down a bit.  He works really hard and plays really hard and he always seems happy.  The kids loved him.  He would finish his lunch and rather than gab with his peers, he got up and played with the kids.  He only speaks French, but language was not a barrier for him.  The whole team was great, but he stood out most to me.  I have a feeling he stands out a lot - in a good way.  What an exceptional human being.

Today I actually felt like I was back to normal life.  I had my car back, I bought groceries and hangers and hung some of the clothes I had left in the US until now.  I moved the Jetty's litter box out of my bedroom since she can go downstairs now.  THAT was nice.  It's tucked away where nobody has to see it.

The humidity has been insane.  It rains every night and most afternoons.  My house is growing mildew everywhere downstairs - curtains, walls, the sofa, wooden chair legs.  I scrubbed all of that today.  Last night poor Jetty was awake with asthma.  She's been diagnosed with asthma before, but it was always on cold, snowy days in the winter.  I'm pretty sure this time it's from the mildew.  I was really worried about her.  Did some research while I was awake with her last night and everything says the best treatment is Flovent with a nebeulizer.  Wonder how much that will cost.  I am thinking I might try some Prednizone in a small dosage first, since it is so situational.  Need to study more about that.  But I can't stay up every night with a wheezy cat.  And the rainy season will get worse in August, so I have to do something.

Misael has been practicing on a 2 wheeled bike for about a week.  Lucky for him there are plenty of people willing to push him around.  Finally yesterday I told him that if people are going to push him he at least has to pedal or he'll never learn to ride by himself.  This morning I was talking to his mom in the kitchen and he came around the corner riding all by himself!  I started yelling and cheering and we all ran outside to see him ride.  The bike has no brakes, but it's small enough that he can put his feet down to stop.  He is still practicing steering.

Preschool class is going well.  Today one of the girls brought a kid whom she claimed was two years old.  Who knows.  He was non-verbal and could not sit in the class room.  As much as I want to help all of the kids, when one kid keeps me from teaching all of the others I feel a little frustrated.  The others need to get ready for kindergarten and have a lot to learn.  I had to completely change our plans for the day, but still he couldn't really participate and I spent most of my time focused on him.  I am going to ask Belinda if they can at least be verbal before they come to the preschool class.  He couldn't even tell us his name.

Can't believe tomorrow is Friday already!  Time flies in Honduras.

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

The latest news

This morning Jairo picked up the newspaper and handed it to me.  The cover story was about a journalist whose body was found chopped into pieces.  He is the 35th journalist to be killed.  Only one of the murders has been solved.

Yesterday the paper was about church leaders being killed.  It is happening every day.  They are being killed for two reasons it seems - either they are working to get people out of gangs, or they are not paying the extortion fees that gangs are charging most churches.  My church seems to be one of the few that is not asked to pay the local gang members for "protection".  We think it is because we are feeding so many kids.

Jairo asked if I made it clear to people while I was in the states that I am safe in Honduras.  He asked if I explained the precautions I take.  I told him I did explain.  With so much danger around, how can people believe I am safe?   It is hard to understand, even for me.  Basically I am always aware, I don't go into many areas alone, I ask for and follow advice about what I should and should not do, and I pray a lot.  I have a lot of other people praying for me too.

On the way to the church this morning there were police blockades everywhere.  Usually there is one and they only pull over specific vehicles.  But today there were four checkpoints.  The police and military were searching cars and frisking people.  None of us could figure out what they were looking for.  They were definitely searching for something or someone.  It made me a little nervous.  I was happy to be traveling with Jairo.

As we pulled up to the church the DHL (like UPS) van pulled out.  We cheered.  I accidentally left my purse in the US.  My friend Julia sent my drivers license, credit cards and bank card on Monday and it got here this morning, completely intact.  Eunice asked if I felt better now.  I said that I really hadn't been worried about it.  Either the package was going to arrive, or it wasn't.  I could choose to wait anxiously or wait calmly, so I waited calmly.  In the past I was not capable of this.  Living in Honduras has taught me about being more "tranquila".   I must admit I have had dreams full of anxiety.  I wonder if it was because of this.  Possibly.

One other thing is bugging me.  It is out of my control so I am trying to ignore it.  It's hard!  We always want the best for other people, but sometimes you have to let them make their own mistakes.  Especially when they have already shown you they have no intention of taking any advice.  Right now the situation is a learning experience for me, teaching me patience and how to let go of things that are out of my control.  In the end it doesn't effect me at all, so I am trying not to care.  Some day I hope the other person will learn from this experience too.

There is a Canadian group from Mar y Mundo at the Breakfast Program this week.  They are fun.  They pitch right in and help in any way they can while the kids are around.  In the afternoons they have cleaned the property and re-arranged the things in storage.  Tomorrow is their last day with us.

Yesterday Belinda asked me to start having class for the preschoolers every day like I used to.  I told her I would love to!  For the past few months we have suspended classes because many days I was the only one there to watch all of the kids.  Belinda told me she was offered Lourdes' position as leader of the Breakfast Program so she will be at the Breakfast Program every day.  I am really happy about it.  Belinda is much better at running the program than I would be.  Plus she really needs the income.  I love working with Belinda and am excited to see how everything unfolds.  Today was our first day back in the classroom and it felt great!  The kids are all looking forward to tomorrow.  So am I.

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

2 life lessons and a joke

I learned two life lessons today.

#1 is - It is smarter to admit your ignorance.

I remember when my friend Kate, whom I had just met, and I were driving to the airport for my first trip to Honduras in 2008.  It was about 5 a.m.  Her boyfriend asked us what we were going to do in Honduras.  We looked at each other, laughed and admitted we had no idea.  He asked a few more questions and we didn't know the answers to any of them.  (I was in their wedding a year later and their first baby is due in about 7 weeks!!!!)  On the plane we joked and felt embarrassed to be doing something so big while being so clueless.  But looking back now I realize we had nothing to be embarrassed about.

Over the past few weeks I have been in situations with people who thought they knew everything.  I have lived in Honduras for almost a year and 1/2.  I still don't know much about this country and its culture.  I know the kids I work with and the things I see.  But I am pretty sheltered, so I admit there are many, many more things for me to learn.  And there always will be.  On the plane on my way back from vacation I sat by a boy who knew everything.  He was on his first mission trip to Honduras.  But he already knew it all.  I sat and listened.  He clearly had good intentions.  He was right about some things.  Other times his ignorance was apparent.  I thought at first it could be his age, but I had a similar experience with someone much older while I was in the states.

Kate and I might have felt foolish for not knowing what in the world we were doing or where we were going, but at least we were smart enough to admit it.

#2 is about gratitude.

Today we received a package that a friend sent from the states on August 12th, 2012.  At the time she was very excited to send it to us and anxious for us to receive it.  We expected the package to take about 2 months to get here.  When it didn't come in 3 or 4 months she gathered everything together again, and sent us another package which we did receive.  Today Jairo was sitting with the box post marked August 12, 2012 and called me over to show it to me.  I took photos and emailed them to her.  Her response was awesome.  She said, "God is so good!!!!!!"  She never complained that her first package took 11 months to get here.  She only was grateful that we received it!  I HOPE that would be my response.  But I'm not sure it would be.

And something to make you laugh.

You know how the pool exploded on Sunday after the baptisms?  Our new joke is that it was so full of sin it exploded.    (I must clarify - This is not a reflection on any who were baptized.  It's just a joke.)

Monday, July 8, 2013

The pool exploded

This morning I got into my car and noticed that Walter seemed very somber.  I asked if he was tired or not feeling well.  He said no to both, then told me he had bad news for me.  I told myself to stay calm, but I was pretty worried.  He said there was an accident at the church.  My first thought was that someone ran into my car yesterday and we didn't notice it at the time.  I was trying to imagine where the car had been hit and how badly it was smashed.  Then he said Don Juan called him last night to tell him that the pool exploded.  My immediate response was no.  He laughed and said that's exactly what he said when Don Juan called him, but it was true - the pool exploded!  I asked how the pool could explode and he said he wasn't sure.  Don Juan had several theories.  But the day I and all of the kids from Los Pinos had been looking forward to since last year was not going to be a day of swimming.  The pool exploded.  Part of me was relieved.  My car was fine.  But what were we going to do?

This is what we saw when we pulled in:


Jairo showed me what happened:

Jairo was really sad about the situation
I took a million pictures of what proceeded to happen.  Then Walter took me to get my residency card.  Finally the machine was not broken!  I was so happy when they handed me my residency card I was jumping up and down in the crowded immigration building.  Then we went to the transit place (think Honduran DMV).  We talked to a bunch of people and found out that I have to get an eye exam, blood test so they know my blood type in case I ever have an accident (makes sense, right?), 2 passport size photos, copies of my residency card and passport.  I paid money to get an appointment on July 16th.  Then I show up with those things at 9:30 in the morning and I think I get my drivers license.  It feels so great to have all of these things falling into place!  I'm going to really be official soon.

I told Walter he can keep my car until I get my license.  Yesterday and today they had a road block outside the church.  This morning there was a lady sitting there looking very disgruntled.  I do not want to be that lady.

Here are photos of today, and of my friend Marlin's birthday party which was also today:

Lourdes set up the hose







After the kids started shivering we bathed them.

And washed the girls' hair by hand for them

Memo was chilly

Cindi didn't like going under the hose

Then Josselyn had a brilliant idea!


A water slide made from the sides of the pool!









Vanessa



Jarvin















Memo




Cristian


Pierce



Luis

Kenia

Vanessa


Lesli







Marlin's Birthday Party:













Sunday, July 7, 2013

Baptisms!

Baptisms were scheduled to happen while I was in the US, but were postponed until today so I was able to be here!  I was so happy.  My friend Marcela, my landlord's daughter, chose to be baptized today.

The boys from El Sembrador were visiting for the week.  Lourdes and Jairo said good bye to them and told them if they want to go to college in the US, they should work hard and will always have a place to stay with the Sarmientos in California.





Photos of today's baptisms:

Chema's son chose to be baptized.


Deborah and her father, Dr Gustavo

Marcela and her father, Carlos, as he spoke to her before her baptism

Jairo praying


Submerging

Hugs for Marcela!

Marcela and her father

Walter and Marcela

Joss and her best friend, Marcela

Lourdes and Annette

Jairo



Tomorrow will be one of my favorite days at the Breakfast Program.  The kids will get to swim in the pool that we used for the baptisms.  They love it!  Can't wait to share the photos.