This week on Sunday afternoon, Sarah´s parents came to visit for a couple days. This meant that I was on my own as far as work because she got a little vacation while they were here. Before Sarah had come, I went to work for weeks by myself and was totally comfortable. But I guess since I have gotten used to having a companion I was a little uneasy on Sunday night and Monday morning before I went out on my own. I prayed the whole way, as I walked, as I rode, and as I walked again. I arrived safely and was completely at ease. Usually when I get to work the secretary, Gloria, is there first. I thought maybe I had arrived a little early so I waited and waited for anybody to show up and no one ever did. Of course on the day that no one came I chose to bake muffins and there was no one to eat them....So I ate 2 myself:) The accountant, Lety, usually comes a litte later and then Myrtille comes in too but I guess I missed the memo that no one was coming so I went back home. The next day Gloria wasn´t there again but Lety came in for a little while. There was some sort of riot that was going to happen that afternoon so she had me leave early and ride home with the kids from school so I wouldn´t be by myself. I didn´t go to work Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday because Myrtille was sick and I had no work to do. So I got a little vacation myself. I helped in the kitchen each morning and then just hung around Casa Hogar for the rest of the time.
I am feeling much better healthwise! No doctor visits or shots this week. Last night one of the kids was in a play so a few of us went to see it and then went to dinner afterwards. It´s always a treat to go out at night because we really don´t do it often. We had another birthday party this afternoon for the August birthdays and for some reason we had to pretty much beg them to come! Who would have thought that you would ever have to persuade a kid to come eat cake and ice cream and drink soda! It was so weird.
It´s hard to believe October is almost over. I hope everyone back home is doing well. I love hearing from you all! I´ll update again soon.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Friday, October 17, 2008
Shots:(
My family coming to visit was about a half way mark of my time here. It is the most bittersweet thing ever to think about coming home. It really keeps me on my toes here knowing that I really don´t have that much time left. It forces me to check myself constantly making sure that I am helping and loving in every way that becomes available to me and not letting the opportunities slip away.
Nothing incredibly out of the ordinary has happened lately. Last weekend we had a TON of rain. I woke up to a swimming pool under one of my windows and mopped out a bucketful of water...a leak that still needs to be fixed. It´s not the first time it has leaked and I guess I kinda hope that each time it rains it´ll just close itself up:) We were supposedly expecting a hurricane on last Saturday but I´m not really sure if it ever came. Living in a place with 60 kids makes it very difficult sometimes to get a straight answer for any question even something as simple as, ¨Did the hurricane come?¨ Sarah and I slept with the girls in their rooms that night and had a ¨hurricane sleepover¨.
There is a guy down here who has been here for a couple weeks now named Mac that is teaching P.E. at the Christian School that some of the kids go to and is living at Casa Hogar too. Sarah, Mac, and I started a little tradition last weekend. We decided that we wanted to have birthday parties for the kids who have birthdays while we are down here but then we thought that wouldn´t be fair to the other kids who don´t have birthdays so we decided to have a party for each couple of months. Last Friday was our first one for the birthdays in September and October. We baked a cake for them and had ice cream and soda. We tried to make our basic kitchen look as festive as possible by hanging balloons from the ceiling fans. There were 11 kids total and besides the fact that they didn´t really know what to do with themselves when they first came in, I think they enjoyed it. Tonight the party is for the January, February, and March birthdays.
Every Saturday I have been helping the two women that work in the kitchen, Mary and Lucy, prepare the food for he kids. They always have the most to do on Saturdays and it works out nicely for them because that is my day off. On Monday, Sarah and I did not have to go to work so we stayed home and helped out around here. I went to the kitchen and as always they could use a hand. Everything was going very nicely as we made a million quesadillas and made some watermelon flavored water as a treat for them to drink with lunch until Lucy had me slicing tomatoes....Now this is not the first time she had assigned me this task. Actually just this past Saturday I had been put in charge of slicing all sorts of veggies and I completed the job without any accidents or mishaps at all. But this time the tomatoes were wet, and some of the kids had come in the kitchen, and I was distracted.....and I cut my left pointer finger. I looked at it and immediately started feeling a little queezy. I rinsed it off and they got me a bandaid. It really was not a big cut but I had cut right through my nail. I got really lightheaded and sat down. Mary asked me if I was ok and I said no I really didn´t think I was. They sent me to go lay down in my room for a while. As I walked out of the kitchen my head started pounding and my eyes were going in and out and I was so so dizzy and felt really nauseous. I just wanted to make it to my kitchen to get some water. Right before you get to my kitchen you have to go down about 5 steps and I remembered they were there and I was scared I might fall down them so as I thought I was getting close I crab-walked to them. The second I got to them my eyes went completely white and I fainted. I´m sure it was only a couple of seconds and then I just sat there for about 5 minutes with my head between my knees. With so many people here it is very unlikely that something happens and somebody doesn´t see it but not one person saw me faint. I´m actually kind of thankful for this because who knows what I looked like as I dizzily made my way to the kitchen:) Once I started feeling better I went inside and drank a big cup of water. I was fine for the rest of the day but once I told some of the kids what had happened they thought it was quite funny.
I ended up getting sick Tuesday night with a fever and went to the doctor on Wednesday where they told me I had a stomach infection. I ended up having to get two shots in my behind, one on Wednesday and one on Thursday. The doctor offered a pill or the shots and I of course chose the pill but she somehow convinced me that the shot would get me better faster so I chose the shots. Neither were fun, that is for sure, but the one on Thursday was significantly less painful than the first! So I guess I take back what I said at the beginning...this week has been pretty out of the ordinary:)
Mr. Creech, I hope this font is better for you!
Nothing incredibly out of the ordinary has happened lately. Last weekend we had a TON of rain. I woke up to a swimming pool under one of my windows and mopped out a bucketful of water...a leak that still needs to be fixed. It´s not the first time it has leaked and I guess I kinda hope that each time it rains it´ll just close itself up:) We were supposedly expecting a hurricane on last Saturday but I´m not really sure if it ever came. Living in a place with 60 kids makes it very difficult sometimes to get a straight answer for any question even something as simple as, ¨Did the hurricane come?¨ Sarah and I slept with the girls in their rooms that night and had a ¨hurricane sleepover¨.
There is a guy down here who has been here for a couple weeks now named Mac that is teaching P.E. at the Christian School that some of the kids go to and is living at Casa Hogar too. Sarah, Mac, and I started a little tradition last weekend. We decided that we wanted to have birthday parties for the kids who have birthdays while we are down here but then we thought that wouldn´t be fair to the other kids who don´t have birthdays so we decided to have a party for each couple of months. Last Friday was our first one for the birthdays in September and October. We baked a cake for them and had ice cream and soda. We tried to make our basic kitchen look as festive as possible by hanging balloons from the ceiling fans. There were 11 kids total and besides the fact that they didn´t really know what to do with themselves when they first came in, I think they enjoyed it. Tonight the party is for the January, February, and March birthdays.
Every Saturday I have been helping the two women that work in the kitchen, Mary and Lucy, prepare the food for he kids. They always have the most to do on Saturdays and it works out nicely for them because that is my day off. On Monday, Sarah and I did not have to go to work so we stayed home and helped out around here. I went to the kitchen and as always they could use a hand. Everything was going very nicely as we made a million quesadillas and made some watermelon flavored water as a treat for them to drink with lunch until Lucy had me slicing tomatoes....Now this is not the first time she had assigned me this task. Actually just this past Saturday I had been put in charge of slicing all sorts of veggies and I completed the job without any accidents or mishaps at all. But this time the tomatoes were wet, and some of the kids had come in the kitchen, and I was distracted.....and I cut my left pointer finger. I looked at it and immediately started feeling a little queezy. I rinsed it off and they got me a bandaid. It really was not a big cut but I had cut right through my nail. I got really lightheaded and sat down. Mary asked me if I was ok and I said no I really didn´t think I was. They sent me to go lay down in my room for a while. As I walked out of the kitchen my head started pounding and my eyes were going in and out and I was so so dizzy and felt really nauseous. I just wanted to make it to my kitchen to get some water. Right before you get to my kitchen you have to go down about 5 steps and I remembered they were there and I was scared I might fall down them so as I thought I was getting close I crab-walked to them. The second I got to them my eyes went completely white and I fainted. I´m sure it was only a couple of seconds and then I just sat there for about 5 minutes with my head between my knees. With so many people here it is very unlikely that something happens and somebody doesn´t see it but not one person saw me faint. I´m actually kind of thankful for this because who knows what I looked like as I dizzily made my way to the kitchen:) Once I started feeling better I went inside and drank a big cup of water. I was fine for the rest of the day but once I told some of the kids what had happened they thought it was quite funny.
I ended up getting sick Tuesday night with a fever and went to the doctor on Wednesday where they told me I had a stomach infection. I ended up having to get two shots in my behind, one on Wednesday and one on Thursday. The doctor offered a pill or the shots and I of course chose the pill but she somehow convinced me that the shot would get me better faster so I chose the shots. Neither were fun, that is for sure, but the one on Thursday was significantly less painful than the first! So I guess I take back what I said at the beginning...this week has been pretty out of the ordinary:)
Mr. Creech, I hope this font is better for you!
Friday, October 3, 2008
Food Glorious Food!!!
Before I left to come down here, a huge concern was the fact that I disliked Mexican food very much. I mean, I really didn´t like it. It was a specific prayer request that I would at some point be able to not only suck it up and eat the food but that I would really be able to enjoy it. I am thrilled to say that the prayer has been answered 100%!!! I have been able to try all different types of genuine Mexican food and I am honestly able to say that I enjoy eating it. A special message for the Creech boys, Rachel Bradley, and Jesse Walsh: I love tacos el pastor! I NEVER thought those words would leave my lips:) I had tried them in a previous trip to Casa Hogar and was not a fan but I gave them another chance and now I really look forward to eating them whenever I can...which sadly isn´t that often. For those of you that do not know what tacos el pastor are they are tacos made with a special type of meat which is pastor. I´m not sure exactly what type of meat, probably pork, but it is hung in the restaurants on a huge slab and shaved off onto the tortillas. Then you can put all different toppings on them. Cilantro, pineapple, raddishes, salsas, onions....mmmmmm. I used to be such a wimp when it came to spicy foods but my tastebuds have really grown up here:) I really am so thankful that I like the food now because first of all, it just makes things so much easier and second of all, I don´t have to pretend that I like something when it is offered to me, it´s really the truth!
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