A Navidad ill never forget

I thought this year was going to be hard.  My first Christmas away from home, I had no idea what to expect. No family traditions? No lights on the beach? No decorating the house? No candy canes?! Well, yeah I did miss all that. But this was by far the best Christmas. I didn’t wrap a single gift. I didn’t receive any gifts under the tree. I didn’t deal with the madness of the holiday. And I didn’t have to freeze from the cold! What did I do? ... spent it what I love doing most.

Christmas Eve morning we woke up bright and early to begin a busy day. We headed down the street to meet a few other volunteers to help pass out gifts to some neighborhood kids. A select few homes were chosen to be part of this distribution of gifts, clothes, and food. Homes and families that were in obvious need of help this year. We went around, house to house and passed out gifts to parents and children. The Minister of Youth in Honduras was present and so were his media and a local news crew. Not sure if this was out of the pureness of his heart, or just a publicity stunt, but an interesting morning indeed.

Around lunch time, Rafael picked us up and we headed to a campesino village in Jutiapa, about an hour out of town. He had prepared food ahead of time to hand out to the local children. We spent the afternoon there, then back to El Porvenir for the remainder of the evening. We put together some last minute gifts for the kids in the kinder and had an amazing dinner at Charlie and Amalia’s. Rice and beans, pico de gallo, potato salad and of course, tamales. Whats a Christmas without tamales? Janna and I headed to Christmas Eve service, which all I can say was interesting. A service I will never forget.

Christmas morning I woke up to sunshine. Sat on the porch for a few minutes to enjoy the beach, on Christmas! Perfect. We had planned a day full of eating, watching movies and relaxing at the beach. Breakfast began with cinnamon rolls and pancakes. Movie time then to the beach! Back to make some fries, puppy chow and some more movies! Mmm, all this food ive wanted for so long now, so good! Its actually a bit ridiculous the amount of food we ate that day.

Sunday was another jam packed day. This is Santa day with the kinder kids! We headed over to Charlie and Amalia’s to start cooking all the food at about 8:30 in the morning. About 12:30 we rounded up the kids in Charlie’s pickup truck and brought them to the house. Charlie dressed up as Santa and each kid received a toy from him. Some were thrilled, some were scared, others had NO idea what was going on. Rice, chicken, apples, cookies, cake and candy, soon they were wound up. Each kid got to choose a pair of shoes, which they were very ecstatic about. Ronal came up to me after so excited to show me the pair of shoes he picked out. I took him home afterwards on bike, when his brother rode up besides us. Before he could say anything, Ronal shouts out to show him his new shoes.

It was a perfect Christmas. Reggaeton blaring through the streets of El Porvenir. Neighbors cooking tamales in each and every house. Families on their porches. Kids out playing. Christmas songs on the radio. Church nativity plays. My first Christmas away from home, yes, I did miss my family and friends. But, I wouldn’t have changed it for the world.

“Alabanzas al Rey” by Marcela Gandara

A breaking heart, full of scars

Two weeks ago, Mom, Allison and Riane came to visit me. It was everything I wished it could be. They got to see this life that I love, the kids I wake up for each morning, and the town that glows more and more each day. They were able to put faces to the names I write about in my blog. They saw the flawless mountains in the distance, the beach from the porch of my house, the wild cattle roaming the streets, and hear the chickens waking us up every morning. They saw grandma Nerea, at the corner of the block, each and every minute of every day. They saw the old man at his window, with his music blaring and a friendly wave each time we walked by. They got to know Rigo, better known as Manny (from Modern Family) as we often called him. They met Senor Funez, the owner of the local Mini Super down the street, greeting us daily with an “hola babies!” And we mustn’t forget little Bryan, cuter than ever, which they all fell in love with the moment they met him. Now, they understand why im here for a year (if not longer).

Sunday they arrived from San Pedro Sula, three hours away, with a taxi driver that claims he knew me…Im still not sure how. We wasted no time and immediately started playing with the kids. It was a perfect, a bit too hot, day so we took the kids to the beach. Couldn’t have been better. Sand in our clothes and in our hair, sweat pouring down our face and salt water in our mouth. But kids smiling left and right, laughter surrounding us and hugs to last us a year, made it worth all our time. We piled into the back of Charlie’s pickup truck and headed home, but not without a million questions of when we would come back again!

Monday we headed off to Cayos Cochinos. Islands of paradise you could call it. The most beautiful colored blue water I have ever seen, with islands that looked like a picture out of a magazine. So beautiful I would have believed it if I were told they were fake. We spent the day snorkeling, exploring and relaxing on several islands in the Caribbean. Even saw a past Survivor TV show, island! For dinner we ate on the beach in El Porvenir, swinging in hammocks over the water. Perfect day with the most perfect people (minus dad!).

Tuesday night we had dinner with our Kinder teacher, Rosa. We can always count on her to make an amazing dish. Empanadas with potatoes, beef and veggies. Everyone thought they would have to force the food down, just being polite and eating what was in front of them. But none took me seriously when I said Rosa is an amazing cook! One bite and they were sold.

Wednesday night we had a pizza party at the SOS orphanage. Food and dancing with adorable children and it was another perfect night. Thursday, thanksgiving! We had our morning vacation care class, including environmental week and making baskets with any and all types of decorations you can think of. Then, we went to a woman’s house down the street for Stone Soup. Locals and volunteers came by and we had a huge pot of soup, tortillas and pie to enjoy together. Off to afternoon vacation care, relax a bit, and Mayan ceremony time! Interesting sounding, I know. And it was. I really cant explain what a Mayan ceremony consists of, without it sounding completely bizarre, so I won’t even try. It was just a bonfire and we celebrated close to how the Mayans might have celebrated Thanksgiving.

Friday is the big day. And the best day I have had in Honduras thus far. There have been favorite activities, favorite nights, and favorite trips, but this was by far the BEST DAY. Our kids in vacation care were putting on a talent show, “El Gran Show de Talentos” reads the whiteboard. Everything from lip singing, to dancing, and poetry reading. Definitely a winner with the kids, they even loved our modeling show that the volunteers put on. We came home, grabbed lunch and headed straight to the beach. A few Christmas pictures with the fam, then Thanksgiving dinner time (one day late)! We all dressed up as either Pilgrims or Indians, to get us in the Thanksgiving spirit. We all chipped in a few dollars and a few of the volunteers made a huge dinner for everyone. We ended up having chicken, the turkey might have flown away? After our feast, it was time for something we have all been waiting for all week. THE CIRCUS! Yes, the circus has come to El Porvenir! Only $2.50 got us front row seats in the “box” section. All of us parade into the tent and the crowd of people in the stands starts cheering. Not quite sure why…but we went with it. So the line of gringos enter, sit in our box seats (plastic chairs on the ground) with hoots and hollers for a good five minutes. We start the wave, however that didn’t really go very well. The show begins. Nothing at this time could be better. I really couldn’t stop smiling. Three little girls come out and do a front flip on a trampoline, another girl does a back flip on the trampoline, the whole time one of the workers is literally holding the trampoline down on the ground. If this doesn’t tell you how the rest of the circus went, I really don’t know what to say. There were clowns, who went off on the fact that all us gringos were there. They had a SpongeBob Square Pants dance with the same girls that were the trampoline girls. The same guy that was the clown, was also the motorcycle rider in the cage, and who also sold pasteles at intermission. One of the women, who danced to random songs throughout the night, was also the tortilla lady and the ticket collector. Very multitalented circus performers, to say the least. I wish I could put into words how very funny the whole situation was. After the circus was over, a few of the workers from the SOS orphanage came over to celebrate Poppy’s (volunteer) birthday with Karaoke.

Saturday morning Mom, Allison and Riane left. It was honestly the perfect week, perfect weather, and perfect adventures. Plus, they brought me candy :) THANKS FOR COMING, LOVE YOU GUYS!

Along with them, they brought a special gift that many of you have contributed to. I honestly don’t have the words to express how much this means to me. You all wrote me letters that mean more to me than anything I could ever ask for. Mom put them into a scrapbook, with a few pictures from my trip in Honduras up until this point. These letters are such an encouragement to me, especially being so far away during the holidays. I have read each and every letter (there were many) and they have each brought me to tears. I love you all dearly and I can truly see the support and love I have from each of you.

Allison, wrote me something that I really think we can each learn from. This comes from and relates to something she learned in her anatomy class…”so when you break a bone, it hurts. It looks ugly and brings tears and a few moments of purely painful moments. However, when it heals, it really heals. In fact the bone becomes stronger than before. And you can see the scar on the bone for the rest of your life, but the bone itself is better. CRAZY! Everytime I read your blog or talk about you, this is what I see. Your heart is keeps breaking. It is painful to hold a sick boy. It is beyond words ugly to see the pain and suffering in a four year olds eyes as they walk to school with no shoes on or taking care of their family. Being a households provider and defender when they should be playing outside. Carefree. But, everytime you experience these things, you grow. You get stronger. You are forced to draw closer to the Lord, and your faith strengthens. And I pray you always have those scars so you remember who you are and how you got that way and who was a part of that.” I think Allison, really captured my feelings in the perfect way. Each time my “bone breaks” I just want to work stronger, love deeper and grow in my faith. Its hard sometimes. A lot of the time. But its worth it. Its so worth it. I pray that we can all take this metaphor and really live by it. To not pity others, but to really do something about it. To not let that bone break, but heal, and let it become part of who you are.

You better BELIZE it!

I was off to a country I knew nothing about. We “planned” our trip the best we could, but a lot would be up to us to figure it out when we arrived. Belize? When would I ever travel to Belize? Well, to renew my visa that’s why. Every 90 days I have to leave the country to get a new tourist visa. Of course Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras are considered “one” country visa wise. So you have to travel outside these four to renew your tourist visa.

Sunday morning, Cristina, Janna and I left the beach house and made our way through the country to Puerto Cortez, on the northwest coast of Honduras. We spent the night in a hotel and woke up early the next morning to take care of our visa business. The ferry guy came to pick us up, take us to immigration and then to the boat, only 3 hours ahead of time. Nothing like sitting on a boat, with the smell of fish around you, and nowhere to go, for 3 hours, right? Around 11:30 am we finally got going to begin the two hour ferry ride to the coast of Belize. We pulled into Big Creek, Belize, which was actually a big shipyard with boxes and boxes of cargo all around us. No “Welcome to Belize” sign, no one around, not even a dock. The immigration lady came onto the boat, pulled the immigration stamps out of her purse and stamped all our passports. We jumped on shore where a different lady checked our bags, on the ground. We were told to keep walking to the gate where we could find a taxi to the bus stop. So we walked. Keep in mind this was all outside, through cargo box after cargo box. We got to the “gate” and got in a taxi where we were dropped off at the “bus stop”. It was an open dirt lot, someone’s house and a small run down restaurant. No sign saying it was a bus stop. So we sat and waited. About an hour and half later we figured out we should walk across the street in front of the grocery store to wait for the bus. Makes sense? The bus comes, we jump on and make way for our 5 hour ride to Belize city.

The scenery is beautiful. This country amazes me. Rolling mountains beyond mountains in the distance. Im trying my best to figure out the culture. The official language is English. I see a Hispanic lady and start asking her a question in Spanish (forgetting they speak English here) and her response is “I speak English”. This is WILD. On the bus I hear dialects of English, Spanish, Creole and what it seems like, a million other languages. This is so weird to me. Im in awe. I feel like it’s a hidden country of wonders that no one really knows about. On the bus comes an Amish Family. I feel like Im in a movie. If I woke up and found myself on this bus, I would really not know what country I was in. I honestly felt like a representative of each country was on the bus. On comes a family, all with dreads. From the toddler and the older girls, to the parents, they all had dreads. I can only laugh. I think I’ve found my new favorite country! We finally arrive at our hotel in Belize city. Were right on the water, it’s a beautiful night.

Tuesday morning, its cave tubing time! We strap on our life vests, secure our head lamps, sit in the tube and we begin our adventure! We enter the cave, see natural sculptures of rocks all around us, waterfalls and openings. All we do is sit and relax in our tube! We float a bit down the river and its all over so quickly! Short and sweet :) 

Once we get back to Belize city, we must catch the boat over to Caye Caulker, an island off of Belize in the Great Barrier Reef. Not before catching the boat are we attacked by anyone and everyone wanting to sell us stuff. Everything from nail paintings, to jewelry and bags. Oh yeah, we even made some new friends. “Hi, they call me Weed. Ya want some?” …. So we get to Caye Caulker and immediately fall in love. I don’t even care that we had to search for a hostal for an hour, the island is just so adorable and the weather was great, it was so worth it! We get settled in our hostal for 6 dollars a night and eat dinner in a restaurant on the beach with swings for chairs! Mmm, this is the life!

Wednesday morning we wake up to sunshine. I eat breakfast in the hammock by the beach. I could definitely get used to this. We sign up for a full day of snorkeling  and lay out for an hour before the snorkeling tour begins. As were getting on the boat, it starts to rain…bummer. “No worries mon” were still going out to sea! By this time its pouring. They encourage us we will still see everything we normally would. We start out, in two sailboats, to our first destination. Not before long does one of the sailboats break down so we all have to cram into one boat….in the pouring rain. However it turned out to be a very fun day, even with the rain! We saw and even touched sting rays and sharks. We also snorkeled with eels, turtles, and a ton of huge fish. They fed us on board with chicken or fish sandwiches, fruit, ceviche and drinks. Even through all the rain, it was an amazing day at sea, one I will never forget!

Thursday morning, it was still raining. We found a nice bakery with 25 cent cinnamon rolls, exactly what we needed. We got the boat back to Belize city where we took another 5 hour bus ride to Placencia, a beach town to the south. We stayed there for the night in a rickety-rack room so we could catch the ferry back to Honduras in the morning. Friday morning we woke up at 6:30 am to take advantage of the town, since we arrived once it was already dark the night before. The beach was beautiful, even on a gloomy day. Everything was so colorful and calm, giving it a nice beachy feel to the town. That “calm” feel didn’t last very long. We boarded the ferry and started to make our way back to Honduras. Well, this tropical storm, that was bringing all this rain, also upset the seas. I was honestly scared for my life. Not only was the boat quite small and the seas rough, the engine kept turning off. I don’t normally get sea sick, but I was this time. The waves were as big as our boat, on both sides. Then the engine would turn off and we would just be chilling in the middle of stormy waters. The waves would toss and turn the boat dramatically. My hands were clenched to the seat. I tried to put in my ipod to take my mind off it. The lady next to Cristina was throwing up. The passengers facing me on the other side had eyes wide open everytime we would crash into a wave or turn sideways a bit too much. I honestly considered what I would do if the boat tipped and we went underwater. Let’s just say, it was good to be on land. Back in Honduras! Now just two more bus rides and a taxi and we would finally be home…9 o’clock at night and we finally arrived. Ah, the feeling of being back in El Porvenir, so gooooood!

Overall, I enjoyed the trip to Belize. Everyone we met was exceptionally nice. They would go out of their way to help us. The country was a melting pot of cultures. I was in awe the whole week, one thing after another was just so amazing to me. Its beauty, the people, the languages, all of it. Incredible. I guess you could say it was…unBELIZEable. 

Catalina, Catalina, Catalina!

A lot has happened since the last time I wrote. Where can I even begin?

The kids, I know I can always find something to say. Oh how much I love them. Its hard to even imagine how much I love them, they aren’t even my own children. Walking to their homes each morning, they see us come down the street and start running with arms wide open to us. It’s almost a game to see who they will pick that day to hold them. Their smiles and joy as we walk to Kinder together is what starts my day off right. So perfect. Then in the afternoons on Tuesday and Thursday we play with them. Sometimes to the soccer field, basketball court, or the beach. The next day all we hear is “are we going to play again today?” I wish I could find the energy to play all day, every day with them. It’s tiring. They want all your attention, 110 % of it. Last week we went to the beach with the kids and as we were playing in the water all I heard was “Catalina watch me! Watch me Catalina! Catalina! Catalina!” Every single kid wants you to hold them, play alligator with them, be their horse and run, or watch them do some amazing new trick they came up with, then 429 times over again. But, I love it. I absolutely love it. I couldn’t think of a better way to be spending my time here than this.

About two weeks ago at Kinder, we had a ton of sick kids that we had to send home throughout the day. It breaks my heart to see them coming to Kinder, sick to their stomach, throwing up, just because they ate something sour off a tree for breakfast, or didn’t eat breakfast at all. We had a few with fevers, but there was one who captured my heart, all of it. Little Jose David came into Kinder, the first time in a while. We were so excited to see his beautiful face, it wasn’t until about an hour into Kinder that we realized something was wrong. He began to cry so Janna (one of the volunteers) took him outside to hold him on the steps. She had been holding him for a while, trying to get him to eat something, not realizing how much he was burning up. He was hot all over and you could just tell in his eyes he was hurting. Since I knew where he lived, Rosa had me take him home, Anni and Ismael tagged along. We made the long trek, in what felt like 120 degree heat, holding a child with a fever who was burning up already. We got to his house, only to realize his mom was at work, and would be until 5 pm. His two oldest sisters were home, under 11 years old. I asked the oldest where I could put Jose David down, and we walked into the house, straight into his bedroom. There were two beds, one double and another smaller than a twin. I put him on the bed and asked for some water for him to try and drink. He sat up, climbed back in my arms and tried to sip some water. He was sweating he was so feverish. I asked the sister if she had any medicine or money in the house to buy medicine. She didn’t. Ismael, who came with me is 13, I asked him to ride his bike back to Kinder to ask one of the volunteers for some money to buy him medicine from one of the local Pulperias (store). While he was gone, I held Jose David in my arms, looking around the room. Walls made of cardboard. You know that cardboard your new flat screen TV comes in? You know the cardboard from that frozen box of pizza in your refrigerator that you threw away? That cardboard was being used as his wall. I held him in my arms, as tears fell down my face. It was right there that I felt like Jose David was my own child. I felt his pain, his hurt he was feeling. I just wanted to make him better. He had his hands wrapped around me, crying himself. I had to hide my tears as his older sister and Anni were still in the room with me. Ismael came back, with two Panadol, children’s pain reducer tablets. He had spend 2 lempira on two tablets, equal to 5 cents each. He swallowed the medicine and laid back in bed. He turned over, curled up in a ball, as more tears fell down his face. I rubbed his back and that weird sense came over me again as I began to feel like his mom. It was hard to leave him there. A sick 5 year old and his older sister to care for him all day. I gave her the 3 lempiras that were left from the 5 to buy the first two medicine tablets. I explained that the money was only to buy more medicine for Jose David, and if she needed anything, she knew where I lived and to please come to the house. I left Jose David on the bed as he quickly dose off to sleep. The next day I found out he was taken to the hospital. He had some kind of infection, so was taken to the hospital that night. I saw him that day, went to his house on our way to play with the other Kinder kids in the afternoon. He saw me as he came out of the house and began to cry. I picked him up to hug him and he immediately stopped. I don’t think they were tears of pain or fear, they were tears of relief. Relief that I was there, he knows I would take care of him. And that’s the story of Jose David, who stole my heart, every bit of it.

This Saturday was our kids graduation. Kinder is over L. Until February that is when the new year starts. We had twelve graduates from the class that will hopefully attend first grade next year. That all depends on if their parents send them or not. Graduation began as Rosa spoke about the year a bit. We called each child up to receive their diploma, take a picture with them, in their cap and gown and all! Then, it was performance time! They sang a goodbye song, interpretative hand motions by Rosa. Then, we had been practicing a dance with the kids so we did the dance, followed by a special Honduran folklore dance that four of the kids had learned. The most adorable dance ever. Period! We had rice and chicken to close the ceremony along with gifts and candy for the kids. The day was a little chaotic but it was a day I’ll never forget. Some of the parents had come up to us afterwards to thank us for everything we had done. It was unexpected and I had taken each word to heart. I couldn’t be more happy for those that graduated, I just hope to still see them from here on out. The ones that were too young, didn’t graduate and will be coming back next year, along with a whole new batch of kids! And Rosa is one amazing lady. We have had a few nights of amazing home cooked food, gracias to her! She has a heart for those kids and for us, it’s hard to keep up with her.

Now that Kinder is over, we have had this week of break. The weather has been amazing, a nice break from rainy season. We have been to the beach and river everyday, biking through town, cookouts and hanging out!

So, about a month ago, Cristina, Janna and I were in Ceiba doing some shopping. As we were waiting for our bus to take us back to Porvenir, one of the several hundred children selling stuff came up to us, trying to get us to buy a plate of rice and chicken. We started talking to him, Hazel, 13 years old. At the time, Janna was looking for a place to buy a cell phone, so he took us all around the bus stop to places that sold used phones. We just got to talking and said we would see him the next time we came into Ceiba, not knowing we would actually see him again. So, the next time we came into Ceiba, I was shopping in the grocery store across the street, and up comes Hazel with his little sister, Katy, 5 years old. He starts chatting away and Katy, before I know it, has become my new best friend. She tags along with me as Hazel has gone on the mission of finding me groceries throughout the store. He gives me the in and outs of what’s good to buy and not. Of course he knows what’s best, would a 13 year old know otherwise? We leave the store and head across to the market on a search of the best yucca around. Then he goes to find me a jalapeño and some lichas.  My own personal shopper! The two join Cristina and I on the bus, waiting for it to leave. Katy sitting on my lap, sharing Cristina’s ice cream and my candy, as someone comes up and asks if she is my daughter. Really? Haha.. so anyways, this past Monday we all go into Ceiba with Dany (our friend from Porvenir) to catch a bus to Rio Cangrejal. And who do we run into at the bus stop? Hazel! And who decides to join us on our trip to the river? Hazel! So we spend a great day at the river with all the gringos, Dany, and our new 13 year old friend, Hazel. I’m just waiting for the day he shows up at our house, waiting to “hang out.” Seems like a bunch of kids like to hang out with us. I wake up to my name being shouted from outside the house. Or walk out of my room as kids are climbing the tree outside to see if we are home.

This next week coming up, we have training for a new program we will be doing for vacation activities for the kids. Since they are out of school, were going to start programs of all sorts of activities for the next 3 months or so. We had an information session on Monday where about 100 kids signed up! We have one more session coming up where we will hopefully get more and more kids interested. Can’t wait to see what this will turn out like!

Gringos in paradise

There is a book written on El Porvenir, titled, a Gringo in Paradise. This is exactly what we are. GRINGOS IN PARADISE! I wake up every morning and am excited to see what the day will bring. May it be a child crying because the ants were biting his feet, milk spilling all over laps, a scorpion on the ceiling wall, or trying to tame the children as they take out any toy within sight, it’s all so worth it. No matter what I’m feeling, the 3 hours with the most adorable children can make any bad day, wonderful. To see their smiles, cries, laughter, screams, whins and the oh so common “chiname (pick me up),” I cant help but pick them up. They need so much love.

 Marlito was recently moved into his uncles house. His mother said she no longer wanted to care for him. Marlito is one of the children we pick up on our way to Kinder each morning. He used to not come much because he was “sick” or he “didn’t have underwear” or “he wasn’t home.” The first day back to Kinder after he moved in with his uncle, he showed up with a haircut and new outfit, but there was something off about him. He was giving more hugs and love and was very calm. I could tell he was missing something. Even though he is only 5, he is the only boy in his family. He has 4 sisters that he probably cares for, since his mom leaves them home alone everyday to go to work. I think he misses that. A few days ago in the Kinder, before class even started, he just started to cry. He wouldn’t stop. I tried to talk to him, figure out what was bothering him, and the only thing he wanted was to go back home. Back to his old house.

Nicole’s mother used to, or still might, sell drugs. Abner has been introduced to many things that a boy his age should not know about at the age of 5. Adrian had to move houses because his old one didn’t have electricity. Ronald lives in a 2 bedroom dirt floor house with 11 siblings. Yeison and Rossel buy sugar sticks or a small bag of chips before Kinder each morning as their breakfast. Bryan has worn the same shirt for the past week. Yeison is asked why his brother didn’t come to Kinder and his response is in tears, his mom hit him. And this is just what I see on the outside, I cant even imagine what else goes on at home or the pain they feel in their hearts.

This past weekend we had a few tropical storms pass by which brought tons of rain. Kinder was cancelled a few days because of it. A bunch of our kids houses were flooded after a big downpour a few days ago. The next day we had low attendance and Rosa, the teacher, said it was because there was still flooding in their neighborhoods. She said a lot of their houses were completely flooded out, ruining the little they have, and dirt floors turning to mud.

Children Against Hunger supports our kids in the Kinder. We have boxes and boxes of prepackaged rice to hand out to the kids weekly. I was overjoyed the first time I handed them out to the kids. At home, I’ve helped package them, but never did I even think about being there when the children actually receive the rice. I was so overjoyed. It was so perfect to be able to see not only how they are made and the process of making the rice bags, but also to be able to be the person to give it to the children. We handed the rice bags out before the rain storm came, but the day after we had visitors to our house asking for some extra rice. I guess that’s the only downfall of being the gringos in town, EVERYONE knows where we live. We even get some that pass by and just shout random English phrases up to us. 

Every Monday and Wednesday we have a class “the sandcastle” where a few of the older boys (about 11-13) come and we help them out since they are not in school. We have been working on math and reading lately. Some can’t read at all and others have been doing really well by sounding out words. It’s so great to see them trying and once they get a word, I feel such a sense of accomplishment for them. Teaching is actually kind of fun! It’s also good for me because I feel so successful when I can teach a child in another language! It’s an adventure, but an beautiful one.

To switch subjects, I wanted to talk about a little of what has been going on with me. As some of you might already know, about a week ago, Cristina and I were approached by a man who tried to rob us. To make a long story short, we were walking ahead of the rest of our group, towards our house. As we got close to our front door, a man ran up to us, with one hand behind his back. He started asking for our phones, we said we didn’t own one. He then asked for our things, and our money. Since Cristina and I both speak Spanish, we could understand what he wanted but we were so in shock of the whole situation that we couldn’t say much of anything or think clearly. He threatened to kill us if we didn’t give him our money. Some of the girls were walking up closer to us and all I could say was “girls”. I think then they realized something wrong was going on, through the terror in my voice. They got the neighbor, who then came out and chased the guy away. My whole body was numb. It was one of the most scariest few moments of my life. However, to calm all your nerves, he did not have any sort of weapon with him. We were all fine and got into the house safely. We told those we needed to tell, the police were called, and we are in the middle of filing a report so that this guy is on file. Now, I don’t want you all to think El Porvenir is a dangerous town. I have actually never felt more at home and safe, in all my travels, as I do here. Word travels fast in this small town, so the community knows what happened, they know the guy, and with everyone looking out for us, he will not harm us again. 

Other than that one incident, its been nothing but fun. We have been going on small weekend trips and day trips to places nearby. Even the $1.50 movie on Tuesdays has been a hit. Some other activities we find ourselves doing:

-Reading at the beach while a fan club of locals forms behind us

-Walking through town and saying hi to anyone and everyone who passes by

-Meeting the children’s families.

-Doing Zumba in our downstairs as people pass by and stare through the window.

-Watching the sunset along the beach from our porch.

- Playing bananagrams.

-Preparing for the next day activities with the kids.

-Having children show up at our house wanting to play soccer. Then going to play soccer and random children join us to create the soccer teams ‘Mexico v. Barcelona.’ Not only do children join in on the fun but the town seems to gather as well and watch us.

-Coloring with the kids and seeing how happy they are once they make a masterpiece.

-Translating a book into Spanish (trying to at least)

-Learning to cook (again, trying to)

-Becoming pros at hitch-hiking because there are no more buses for the day and a dollar-per-person taxi is just too expensive.

-Picking up the kids from their houses on a random afternoon and taking them to the local soccer field to play ball for a few hours. Then walking home as Bryan falls asleep and drools on my shoulder. 

“The honest cries of breaking hearts are better than a hallelujah, better than a hallelujah sometimes.”

It’s never ending fun. I’ve now been here for a month and have done so much, but also have so much more to look forward to. 

I think about you all often. How thankful I am to have amazing, loving parents who never had to leave me home alone daily with a one month old because they had to work. How Riane would love to play soccer with the kids and probably beat all the boys. I watched The Last Song, I held in my tears throughout the whole movie, but when the song "When I Look at You" came on, I couldnt help but bawl and think of the Holroyds. I think of Allison and how much passion she has and how she would love every minute of being here. I pass the Pulperia Yenny and think of the unforgettable travel stories we created this summer. I think of Megan and Katie and our last two years living together and how weird it is to be graduated. I hear "Un Beso" on the bus into town and think of the forever relationships made this summer. I could go on and on about how many times I hear something or see something that reminds me of you all. I miss you a ton and would love to hear from you all!! Besos

My first two weeks of bliss

I arrived in Honduras and I knew almost immediately I was in love. It was hot, yes, but I knew I was going to have the best year of my life. I got off one of the smallest planes I had ever been on, walked across the landing strip, through the airport to await Charlie and Amalia (the coordinators here). As we drove through El Porvenir, I couldn’t believe it. It was almost everything I dreamt it might be. Side dirt roads, people out and about, small stores on every corner, soccer fields, children running everywhere, bright colors everywhere you look, mountains behind and the beach in front, animals here and there, etc. I couldn’t take the smile off my face. We pulled up to the beach house where Im staying, I love it! It is right on the beach, all open aired, two floors, lots of rooms and randomly decorated. The downstairs has a big room that we are using to hang out with the kids, do extracurricular activities with them, help if they are behind in school, and so on. Eventually, we will be doing Vacation Care every day downstairs which will start in November, similar to their summer. Anyways, as I write this, I sit on the porch looking onto the most beautiful view. A nice breeze, sunny day, and dare I even try to explain the heat. I have never sweat so much in my life. Its come to a point where I feel like I have no more sweat left in me, I wonder how im still perspiring. From the moment I wake up, to the time I go to bed, I sweat. I get out of the shower and I never actually dry. It’s kind of ridiculous. But everything else makes up for it. I can sit on the porch, enjoy the amazing view and be entertained enough just by the animals. Chickens, geckos, lizards, horses, crabs, scorpions, dogs, and so on. The best is at night, when your walking down the street and along side of you is a wild horse, church music in the background, kids playing in the street, mountains in the distance, the beach at your front door step, and the sounds of Spanish all around you and the usual “hola gringa” as you walk by.

Street view in El Porvenir:

So, Ill start with my first day here. The Kinder starts at 8 am till 11:30. We walk from the beach house to the Kinder, and along the way we pick up some of the kids. These kids are the most adorable children ever. They are just genuinely beautiful. I believe the kids that are chosen to be in the Kinder are from families that are struggling to provide, have working parents and are left alone, or need care for whatever reason. But in general, they are the poorer children in town. These past few days Marlito hasn’t been coming when we pick him up at his house. His reason is because he doesn’t have underwear or shorts to wear. Another boy, Oscar, said he doesn’t go to school because he can’t afford shoes. To just give a background on another, Bryan, comes from a mother who is only 22 years old. She has 5 children, a 5 year old, three 4 year olds and a one month old. Two of the 4 year olds are twins, and they are visibly malnourished. When I asked her how old they are, I was expecting her to say 2, maybe even younger. Their arms were thin and they were obviously not growing as they should for her age. Then, I took the one month old from her and just held her. When the mom, Rebekah had her, she was just laying on her lap, almost like she didn’t care. Amalia was telling me one day Rebekah brought her the baby and said “I don’t want it anymore.” She gave her the baby, blue in the face, sick, she was dying and just said she didn’t want to care for it anymore. Amalia also said she leaves the kids at home, for hours a day, with no one to watch them. Rebekah is my age. She has 5 children. No husband. She lives in a one room house. Its hard to imagine…

Bryans House:

On a lighter note, the afternoon of my first day I was in a parade! What a way to welcome me to town, huh? It was a parade of some sort for education so the mayor invited the volunteers to walk in the parade, front line nevertheless! So throughout my first week in El Porvenir, I met a lot of people, met the children, the teacher for the Kinder, got to know the town, went to the river, etc. Everyone is really super nice. You walk down the street and people are always saying hi, some come and talk to you, some sit on their porch and wave, and of course you have the whistles and cat calls that seem inevitable wherever you go.

So, a “normal” day, begins with the Kinder. We pick up the kids (they are all about 3 - 5 years old) from their houses, then walk to the Kinder to meet Rosa, the teacher. We sing songs, do small easy activities that they can do without wanting to climb the tree, or scale the barred wall, or chase each other in the yard. Then, as break, they wash their hands, eat Corn Flakes as their nutritious meal, brush their teeth and have recess. To wrap up, we go over the alphabet, numbers, and whatever we’re focusing on that week. (Last week was taste and this week is touch). After the Kinder, we walk the kids home, and by that time we’re alal sweaty, dirty, tired, thirsty, hungry and anything else you can think of, just ready to nap. Then, in the afternoon were starting a class for some of the older kids who wanted some help. Were going to start with 5 kids, about 10 years old, who sometimes come to the Kinder for food, or just for something to do. I think some of them are left at home all day, don’t go to school, so were going to start this afternoon class to give them the help they aren’t receiving at home. We are also helping in a night class in town that teaches older kids and adults in all subjects. Right now were working on multiplication, for example 348 x 92. They are having a hard time with their multiplication tables so were trying our best to teach them. Even the adults don’t know how to do it. They still have to make tally marks or think hard about something as simple as 4 x 6. This past class we went to, we were working on spelling Spanish words. I could spell better than all of them. Shocked me a little, but I guess it is to be expected. Those that come to this class, I believe have either dropped out of school and want to go back or are in school and want extra help. They must pass the 6th grade exam, so they come to this class for help. Plus, I think they like the fact that gringas are teaching them ;)

That’s basically what our days look like. In between we do Zumba, use the internet at a local hostel/hang out place on the weekends called Nicks, go for walks, go to the beach, go to the movies, bonfires, etc. There is also a workout group in town that a bunch of locals do everynight at 6. Its very relaxing here. I couldn’t ask for more.

Friday the 10^th was Children’s Day. We had our Kinder and another local Kinder come, along with the Queen of El Porvenir, the Ecotourism class at the college in La Ceiba, local families and friends all in their best dress. It was a big day for the kids and they had been talking about it ahead of time for days. “Im going to shower on Friday!” “Im going to wear my green dress!” So come Friday, they had cake, rice and chicken, piñatas, icecream, prizes, toys, games, etc. It was probably one of their best days of the year.

Childrens Day:

This past Wednesday through Sunday we went to Copan Ruinas. It’s a town about 6-7 hours away that hosts the Mayan Ruins. It was absolutely a sight that I will never forget. Incredible ruins years and years old from the Mayans. It was a miniature Machu Picchu, Honduras version. We also went to hot springs which is natural hot water in the middle of the mountains. In the states, it could have cost hundreds of dollars to do what we did. They had mud baths that you rub all over and soak in the hot water, foot massages from rocks in hot and cold water, and several small pools in the middle of a forest. It was like a natural body therapy for just 10 dollars. We also walked around the cobble stoned streets, climbed to the highest point for a beautiful view of Copan, ate delicious baleadas (flour tortilla, refried beans, cheese, cream, and sometimes eggs, chicken, avocado, etc) off street vendors. Baleadas are my new favorite food :)

Copan Ruinas:

I know I wrote a lot, but there is so much more to write about, I had to pick and choose!

Love you all