One Crazy Week

Well, last week was crazy. Happy and fun and busy, and the kind of week that leaves you unsure if it’s Thursday or Monday or September.

Oct. 15th is Independence Day in Hondo. Parades started the previous Friday and continued throughout the weekend. I went Friday because one of my girls was in it with her kindergarteners, and we all went on Sunday (girls and Laura) to watch. We stayed for a few hours and saw the Honduran veterans march (they were adorable and awesome), then saw a few of the schools march, including Lawson and Jordan with their school, Buen Samaritano. Bands would stop and play for a while, and most classes had some sort of “thing” to make them stand out…like dancers.. or a parachute.

Parades are a great Honduran experience. Everyone gets so excited, and they can be pretty neat. Then about the time someone (cough—lady from Buen Samaritano--cough) decides she’s going to preach for half an hour more than the school was supposed to have, you start to become acutely aware of things like the heat and the number of strangers that are touching you… Generally that’s a gringa thing, but even Yulema, Yeni and Damaris were ready to go. We watched the rest of the parade from the ice cream shop, which may have been a better idea anyway.

Since they were out of school until Thursday, we had a sleepover at Stacy’s on Monday night. Jon is still in the states fundraising with Phil, so she was nice enough to have us all (girls from the house) over. She made dinner and pie, I killed them at Chinese checkers, and Stacy hooked the T.V. up to the computer and played songs on YouTube so they could sing along like karaoke. The makeshift karaoke was obviously a huge hit (more with the girls than with the neighbors), so they danced and sang and had a blast.

Unfortunately, I didn’t stay the entire night at the sleepover. I went to the Waldron’s to stay with Laura and Nixi because Donna was at the hospital with Karol and Jeremias. Which means that Merlyn Laura has finally made her debut! After one incredibly long and slightly dramatic day, Karol had a cesarean and she, Donna, and Jeremias got their first hours of sleep in 24 hours. After that we took turns sitting at the hospital, having Nixi, and fighting over holding Laurita. (OK there haven’t actually been fights.) They’re home from the hospital now and are doing great. She looks exactly like a tiny copy of Jeremias, and I’m pretty sure she’s adorable but I am biased.

Last but not least, I'm getting ready for VCOM’s medical group in October. Nothing out of the ordinary, but I’ve still been quite busy trying to coax enough translators out of school for a week, and making arrangements in villages, etc.

Anyway, there’s the low down on another week in Hondo.. Abnormal because of unusual circumstances, but very typical in the sense of unplanned changes in schedules and “going with the flow!”