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!”

Dia del Niño

I remember as a child asking my mom, “Why is there a mother’s day and a father’s day but there isn’t a day for kids??” She responded by pointing out that moms and dads work constantly to keep the small ones alive for little to no recognition; lovingly providing the essentials for life while also occasionally buying us things we don’t need like ice cream, clothes we want, toys we just “have to have”, etc. 

“Every day is the child’s day,” she told me, and she was right. That has stuck with me, which is why I initially had some trouble understanding the HUGE deal that is made over Dia del Niño in Honduras.

After hearing the perspectives of my girls, I have a better understanding of the day. Yulema says that Dia del Niño is the holiday she looked forward to most as a child. 

In the states we have Halloween, which is basically just about candy, and though Christmas has a deeper meaning, because of Santa Claus and other traditions it is the day that many children look forward to most in the year. 

To many Hondurans, Santa Claus is a weird story about an old man that never came to visit them or anyone they know, and Christmas is a day to spend at Church or with your family that may include a special meal. (That is not true for all Hondurans. However, it pretty much covers the ones that I’m working with.)

Dia del Niño happens in Honduras on September 10, and all around the country there are fiestas and celebrations galore. It’s a huge deal.

This year, the new church in Contamal asked Stacy to help them out by donating something (like a cake) to make their first Dia del Niño special. So I went with Stacy and the kids to deliver her pretty cake and spend the morning at the Dia del Niño celebration. The church members in Contamal chipped in for a piñata and food, which in my mind automatically makes it a pretty fun party.

Children and adults alike had a great time. There was a Bible lesson, games, a piñata, food (since obviously it isn’t a party without tortillas, and in this case fried rice), and cake. We were there for about 4 hours. It was a great way for this new church to reach out to the community and provide a special/fun day of activities for their children. I was happy to be a part of it! Yet another cultural experience to check off the list..:)

Bodas

I had the chance in July to be in another wedding, this time here in Honduras. I am now a semi-professional bridesmaid internationally!

Melisa is the sweet friend that asked me to be a bridesmaid, who is the daughter of our bus driver and CREO's cook, Angel and Rosa. If you've ever visited, odds are you know them. She married Josh Shields, who is obviously a gringo and also a friend. Listening to Jeremias announce everyones' names (especially Josh's) might have been the most entertaining part of the wedding.

The wedding was really beautiful, and it was fun to see the Honduran/US cultures mix. They announce the names of the wedding party as everyone walks down the isle. Then we stopped and stood in two lines in the isle and blew bubbles as she walked through us. They do the civil ceremony where they sign the license before the ceremony begins, so the wedding party gets to sit. Also, because the reception is always in the same place as the ceremony they don't walk out after the wedding. Josh wanted to do that, so we did, but there was much confusion. Dinner and cake were provided by the hotel, and it was all delish.

Laura was a bridesmaid as well, which I believe is her 4th, not including her brother's next summer.. Which means that as a 16 year old she is well on her way to ACTUALLY being the girl from "27 Dresses."

(They're obviously very serious about the corsets. It was a great cultural experience.)

August Update

It's the end of August, which means we are a month out of having groups here every week and are pretty much back into a normal routine. Here are some things I've been up to since the last post about our vacay.

Organization. My office is completely cleaned up and reorganized. This doesn't sound like a big deal, but since my office is the pharmacy and overall place for "I don't know what that is, just stick it in there," it actually required a lot of work. I'm happy to once again know where to find everything in here!

Meetings. Debriefing from the summer, reviewing suggestions and changes to make for the next brigade season, staff meetings with the whole MUR staff, etc. They always take twice as long as we think they will, but generally they leave me thinking about how blessed I am to have this work family. I don't know, but I doubt it's normal to enjoy meetings so much.

Etc. I have done research on things that we learned of over the summer, and programs to possibly have us participate in. I've found and made more materials to use for education in villages. I've of course seen patients that have arisen this month, and tried to fix some broken items from the summer (unsuccessfully). Probably most importantly, I have spent time with the girls doing things that they needed to get done and to try to make up for being gone so much during the summer. Obviously, I've done a lot more than I can write and you care to hear about, but those are the highlights.

It's been a great month getting back to "normal", catching up on sleep (as much as I can with Stacy forcing me to wake up with the sun to exercise:), and pretending to parent as always! Looking forward to the coming months of case managing, education, and village work.

Roatan!

As a mission organization, we at MUR have a typical summer schedule, which means every week for a couple of months or so we have short-term groups here.

I love having these groups come and go. I meet many good hearted, hard-working folks, and I am blessed by getting to know them, even if just for a week.

I think it's safe to say that those of us that live here use every ounce of energy that we have during the summer. Between doing the work with and for groups and our normal tasks, we all stay very content but very busy! That's why it was such a blessing for the gringos of MUR to be able to go to Roatan for a week after the last group left.

Phil and Donna have some friends that have a condo in Roatan, and they are nice enough to lend it to them for free from time to time. The Waldron family invited the Stacys and myself to go with them to wrap up the summer months. We had a blast relaxing, debriefing the summer, bonding even more with each other, and renewing our spirits at my happy place: the beach.

It was a great chance to relax before jumping back into work. Now I'm ready to start fresh and see what God has in store for the rest of the year!

<<Water taxi ride to another beach.

<<Jon's friend, the spider monkey. It proceeded to steal his sunglasses and                eat them.

Jon may or may not be happy about this picture of his nap, but I had to share his resourceful use of his children's pool supplies.

<<Dinner. Laura may not love this one either...

Water taxi Ride!

Free Medical School and Grace's Visit

            We finished the summer stream of short-term groups a couple of weeks ago with a group from VCOM (the medical school I’ve blogged about), and what a week it was! I must say it was my favorite week of the summer, but I’m biased because Grace was here!

            I love VCOM brigades for a different list of reasons than the others. They bring a coordinator that takes care of all of the details that I do when I’m "in charge", so I get to spend the week translating. They see less patients so that the attending physicians can take time to teach the baby docs, as I like to call them… (also known as first year med students.) It’s basically free medical school without having taken biochem or mammalian or physics. Yahtzee. (Don't be too jealous; does not come with credentials).

            This group had some obstacles to deal with, and dealt with them with grace. Long story short, their flights were messed up which resulted in them arriving so late that they missed their first briade day. That meant Tuesday they had to split up and go to the two separate villages and see twice as many patients as normal. They were all exhausted, but worked hard. If they complained I didn’t hear it.

            Thankfully, Grace was able to stay for a few days after the group left. After a busy summer, some good sister time was just what my soul needed! It was the first time one of my best friends has been here during an actual brigade, so I really loved getting to share in the experience of mission-work-from-the-other-side with her. Also, her constant astonishment at my ability to speak Spanish was probably good for my self-esteem.

Basket and Backpacks

This week we had the Legacy group from Texas here to do construction and VBS. While they were here, the backpacks for our Keeping Kids in School program arrived! They've been stuck in the limbo created by Honduran politics, but they're finally here. Legacy packed a handful of the bags before they were sent, so it was cool that they got to see the gratitude and joy on the faces of the kids that received them this week. The kids were so excited! Now to stuff and hand out the hundreds that are left.... :)

We also had Scott Galloway from Atlanta here to teach a basketball camp in El Por Venir. One day our translator couldn't come so I ended up translating... Figured out quickly that basketball Spanish words are words that I have not learned. I still enjoyed being there! It was a fun reason to be out of the office.. Plus Angie was there and literally stood right behind me telling me what to say for half of the camp. One day she will get over her nerves and just speak English, and she will be a fantastic translator. (hint, Angie, it's time!)  

Anyway, this is Jorge hanging the net by climbing up and taping it down. Honduran basketball camp at its finest.