At Casa de Esperanza, we love birthday celebrations. Yesterday, we celebrated Dilcia's birthday. Dilcia was our very first employee. We hired her before we had kids. About 4 months before. We knew she was a good employee and hard worker and didn't want to lose her. Oh how she loves these kids and loves us.
We found out her favorite kind of cake was chocolate. On Tuesday, Marc ordered a chocolate cake from the bakery. Yesterday, before lunch, Marc and I walked up to the bakery and got the cake. When we walked in the door, she was so grateful. The kids sung happy birthday and everyone got a piece of cake.
Most days, Dilcia and her sister have to ride the bush two and a half hours to get home. As another surprise, we were taking them home. What they did not know, was we were stopping at Kentucky Fried Chicken and buying enough chicken and french fries for their whole family. We did this. It was two huge bags of food. When we got them home, they got out of the truck and they were so appreciative. They thanked us and hugged us and thanked us and hugged us. Seeing that kind of gratefulness brought tears to my eyes before we drove away.
I am sure that family enjoyed every morsel of Dilcia's birthday meal.
Terri
Friday, January 25, 2008
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Speaking Spanish
Speaking spanish is still very hard, as is listening, understanding and reading, and I do not even attempt to write yet. But I am improving. I have been able to pay the employees. I have asked Dilcia many things about ordering the food and been here to pay for those deliveries. I discussed some receipts on my house with Timoteo and understood most of what he said. I had Marc standing there as backup. And it is definitely baby talk spanish. Timoteo said I was doing good. He was just being nice. I can go to the grocery store without my spanish english dictionary. That is the only place I can go without my dictionary. I am understanding most of church these days. At least, I can get to the scripture references. That helps a tremendous amount in knowing what the sermon is about. I still provide a great deal of entertainment for the Hondurans when I say things like "Nicole is my eye" instead of Nicole is my daughter. They laugh with me, not at me. But, they are kind and patient with me and are trying to help me learn.
My vocabulary is growing daily. Some words, though, I will never have a chance to use. For instance, I don't think I will ever be able to use the words for sugar mill and oil cloth. I still have a very long way to go. I may not ever learn all the tenses, or all this masculine or femine stuff, but just the fact that I am slowly improving is enough encouragement to keep trying.
Terri
My vocabulary is growing daily. Some words, though, I will never have a chance to use. For instance, I don't think I will ever be able to use the words for sugar mill and oil cloth. I still have a very long way to go. I may not ever learn all the tenses, or all this masculine or femine stuff, but just the fact that I am slowly improving is enough encouragement to keep trying.
Terri
Monday, January 21, 2008
Trusting God
Trusting God. That is what we are suppose to do in all things. Sometimes it is easy and sometimes it is not. Right now we are facing trials personally and at Casa de Esperanza.
Thursday, Nathan called to let us know that he and Julia are expecting another baby. Oh how excited and delighted we were. Last night Julia called and all things may not be ok with this pregnancy. How hard it is to not be able to get to my kids. I have to trust God on this one.
Brayan, one of the boys here at Casa de Esperanza, had blood in his stool last night. He has already seen the doctor on the property this morning. We will be taking him into town to the lab tomorrow. May be appendicitis, may be something else. We have to trust God and place Brayan in His hands.
In July 2005, we broke ground on Casa de Esperanza. We took our first kids in June 2006, a miraculous feat in itself in Honduras. Our first 5 kids are brothers. Oh! How we love everyone of them. Their dad was in prison for murdering someone and at least one of these precious little guys witnessed this. In addition to having murdered someone, he is an alcoholic and abusive and has anger issues. The dad is now out of prison. At this moment, we do not know if we will get to keep these 5 little guys. They may be placed back in the home. All of us are tense and anxious. All of us are saying many prayers and shedding many tears. We need strength, courage, and wisdom. We have to trust God that He will do the very best things for Yovani, Marvin, Maurio, Francisco, and Antonio.
Nothing can prepare us for these kinds of events. We will trust in God and God will give us peace.
This week we solicit your prayers for the above mentioned precious souls.
Terri
Thursday, Nathan called to let us know that he and Julia are expecting another baby. Oh how excited and delighted we were. Last night Julia called and all things may not be ok with this pregnancy. How hard it is to not be able to get to my kids. I have to trust God on this one.
Brayan, one of the boys here at Casa de Esperanza, had blood in his stool last night. He has already seen the doctor on the property this morning. We will be taking him into town to the lab tomorrow. May be appendicitis, may be something else. We have to trust God and place Brayan in His hands.
In July 2005, we broke ground on Casa de Esperanza. We took our first kids in June 2006, a miraculous feat in itself in Honduras. Our first 5 kids are brothers. Oh! How we love everyone of them. Their dad was in prison for murdering someone and at least one of these precious little guys witnessed this. In addition to having murdered someone, he is an alcoholic and abusive and has anger issues. The dad is now out of prison. At this moment, we do not know if we will get to keep these 5 little guys. They may be placed back in the home. All of us are tense and anxious. All of us are saying many prayers and shedding many tears. We need strength, courage, and wisdom. We have to trust God that He will do the very best things for Yovani, Marvin, Maurio, Francisco, and Antonio.
Nothing can prepare us for these kinds of events. We will trust in God and God will give us peace.
This week we solicit your prayers for the above mentioned precious souls.
Terri
Saturday, January 19, 2008
A Nice Drive
This week has been busy for both Marc and I. Starting with the painting of the kindergarten, an outing to town, paperwork, errands, getting clothing to a child that needed some just to name a few. Yesterday we began sanding the stucco in our house, a really dirty job. After some unplanned events, we both frantically took off in different directions. This morning we sanded some more and began to paint. A side note on the progress of our house. Wednesday we were told it would be finished on Tuesday. I was thinking "no way." Today, we were told it would take all next week. Perhaps. Sounding more and more like "The Money Pit" isn't it?
After working until around 2:00, and then cleaning up our mess and ourselves, we took a little country drive. One of my favorite things to do. The road was much better than the major Honduran highway to Copan. It was a pleasant break. We live on top of a mountain, so any direction we go immediately leads into a valley. We headed toward San Buena Ventura. Almost immediately we saw the most amazingly beautiful bluffs. There were orchards and flowers and vegetation. That was surprising in itself, as we are in the dry season. We drove and drove and drove and could have kept going, but knew we needed to turn around in order to get home before dark.
Not only will we do this drive again when we need a little break, but probably there will be a food distribution out there this summer. I don't think too many people have done food distributions out that far.
I hope everyone takes a nice little break this weekend.
Terri
After working until around 2:00, and then cleaning up our mess and ourselves, we took a little country drive. One of my favorite things to do. The road was much better than the major Honduran highway to Copan. It was a pleasant break. We live on top of a mountain, so any direction we go immediately leads into a valley. We headed toward San Buena Ventura. Almost immediately we saw the most amazingly beautiful bluffs. There were orchards and flowers and vegetation. That was surprising in itself, as we are in the dry season. We drove and drove and drove and could have kept going, but knew we needed to turn around in order to get home before dark.
Not only will we do this drive again when we need a little break, but probably there will be a food distribution out there this summer. I don't think too many people have done food distributions out that far.
I hope everyone takes a nice little break this weekend.
Terri
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Bathrooms
Bathrooms, not a common blog subject, but they are like so many other things. In the United States, we take them for granted. Nearly everywhere we go we can find clean bathrooms with toilet paper. Not always, but most of the time. Not so in Honduras. Nicole has always said, quite honestly, that I was a bathroom snob.
I have already discussed water issues, so therefore, where there is no running water in a community there are no flush bathrooms. The other day when we went to paint the kindergarten building, I just did not drink anything before we left. I knew in that community the bathroom (outhouse) was down a hill so steep that the only way I could get there was to slide down on my bottom. And if that is not deterrent enough, there is turkeys running everywhere and pecking as I slide. Been there, done that, not going to do it again. Some bathrooms are better, some are worse. In addition, some of these lovely little places don't have doors that close tightly and may swing open at any time. And that is not even the worst of the bathrooms. Trust me, I know where the good ones are and I know where a bunch of the really bad ones are and I try to stay away from those.
Where there is running water and flush bathrooms, you cannot flush toilet paper, so many places just don't provide that necessity. Of course, I carry it in my backpack. Some places provide paper in most unusual places. At the mall, there is one huge roll. You stand in line to get paper before you go in. Yesterday, I was in a place that the roll was at the top of the door. Not convenient, if you don't see it up there first.
Today Jen had to meet some friends at the Marriott and we took her. I just had to enjoy a nice clean bathroom with toilet paper that I could flush while I had the opportunity. Rarely do I pass up the chance for a clean one.
Oh, by the way, I am not quite as big a bathroom snob as I once was. As much asI would like to be, in Honduras, I have no choice.
Terri
Terri
I have already discussed water issues, so therefore, where there is no running water in a community there are no flush bathrooms. The other day when we went to paint the kindergarten building, I just did not drink anything before we left. I knew in that community the bathroom (outhouse) was down a hill so steep that the only way I could get there was to slide down on my bottom. And if that is not deterrent enough, there is turkeys running everywhere and pecking as I slide. Been there, done that, not going to do it again. Some bathrooms are better, some are worse. In addition, some of these lovely little places don't have doors that close tightly and may swing open at any time. And that is not even the worst of the bathrooms. Trust me, I know where the good ones are and I know where a bunch of the really bad ones are and I try to stay away from those.
Where there is running water and flush bathrooms, you cannot flush toilet paper, so many places just don't provide that necessity. Of course, I carry it in my backpack. Some places provide paper in most unusual places. At the mall, there is one huge roll. You stand in line to get paper before you go in. Yesterday, I was in a place that the roll was at the top of the door. Not convenient, if you don't see it up there first.
Today Jen had to meet some friends at the Marriott and we took her. I just had to enjoy a nice clean bathroom with toilet paper that I could flush while I had the opportunity. Rarely do I pass up the chance for a clean one.
Oh, by the way, I am not quite as big a bathroom snob as I once was. As much asI would like to be, in Honduras, I have no choice.
Terri
Terri
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Silence
This morning we woke up and found we had no water. How ironic is that? It was solved in a very short amount of time as one of the valves had been turned off.
I love the kids here and I love everything we do. But sometimes, most of the time, it is just so noisy around here. Today, the kids were going on an outing and I had so much paperwork to do. I declined the outing. Other than 3 of the Honduran ladies, I was the only one on the property. The silence was heavenly. It was a near perfect day, weather wise. I sat in the dorm with the front door open and worked away. I was working diligently and never once thought about what time it might be. Just a few minutes after 12:00, Dilcia walked in the dorm with a tray of food for lunch. She didn't have to bring me lunch, she just did. The people that work here just want to serve. It was a good meal. I was afraid I might have eaten too many cucumbers.
I continued to work after I ate. I accidentally deleted 20 pages of my work. I thought about crying. Instead I got busy retyping. Marc came in around 2:00 and we walked down to look at our house. It was suppose to be finished this week and, until today, we thought it might be. When we walked in, all of the workers were standing there in a shocked, sad silence. Not the golden silence, I enjoyed this morning. We knew it was bad news. They had begun to lay the tile and found the floor is higher on the side, on which they are currently working than the other side and one of the bedrooms is even higher. They had hammers and were going to start chipping away until the floor is level. After we left, I said to Marc I guess losing 20 pages isn't so bad after all. No telling when I will be in my house now. But it is what it is.
Tonight, on this mid-January night, with the stars brightly shining above us, and the temperature around 60, we walked up to the pupusa place and ate a pupusa. We then walked on to the bakery and Marc got a piece of cake for himself. It was a beautiful, peaceful, silent evening.
Terri
I love the kids here and I love everything we do. But sometimes, most of the time, it is just so noisy around here. Today, the kids were going on an outing and I had so much paperwork to do. I declined the outing. Other than 3 of the Honduran ladies, I was the only one on the property. The silence was heavenly. It was a near perfect day, weather wise. I sat in the dorm with the front door open and worked away. I was working diligently and never once thought about what time it might be. Just a few minutes after 12:00, Dilcia walked in the dorm with a tray of food for lunch. She didn't have to bring me lunch, she just did. The people that work here just want to serve. It was a good meal. I was afraid I might have eaten too many cucumbers.
I continued to work after I ate. I accidentally deleted 20 pages of my work. I thought about crying. Instead I got busy retyping. Marc came in around 2:00 and we walked down to look at our house. It was suppose to be finished this week and, until today, we thought it might be. When we walked in, all of the workers were standing there in a shocked, sad silence. Not the golden silence, I enjoyed this morning. We knew it was bad news. They had begun to lay the tile and found the floor is higher on the side, on which they are currently working than the other side and one of the bedrooms is even higher. They had hammers and were going to start chipping away until the floor is level. After we left, I said to Marc I guess losing 20 pages isn't so bad after all. No telling when I will be in my house now. But it is what it is.
Tonight, on this mid-January night, with the stars brightly shining above us, and the temperature around 60, we walked up to the pupusa place and ate a pupusa. We then walked on to the bakery and Marc got a piece of cake for himself. It was a beautiful, peaceful, silent evening.
Terri
Monday, January 14, 2008
Painting
Today we went to paint the new kindergarten building. As you can tell by the picture, we painted it orange. Yes, orange. Perhaps, you are thinking Marc and Terri became Honduranized quickly. Even though orange is a standard color here and we did not even have to have it mixed, that is not why we chose orange. We have worked in this community for several years. The mayor had been asking for a while if we could build this kindergarten building. While we were in the states, some friends of ours donated the money for this building to be built. They not only live in East Tennessee, they went to college at the University of Tennessee and are big UT fans. We chose orange, Tennessee orange, in honor of the donors, our friends, who graciously made this kindergarten possible in a poor community.
The last time I saw that much orange paint was on the walls of my rent house and I was trying to cover it up, not but it on.
It was a fun day. The painters were Marc and I and two men from the community. It took us about 2 hours. Nicole, I know you won't believe this, I was not covered from head to toe in paint, as is my norm. I had so little paint on me, no one would have ever known I spent part of the morning painting. The only thing missing about the day was "Rocky Top" should have been sung.
Next task to find the desks and chairs and this new kindergarten will be ready before school starts.
Terri
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)