SIX!

     Precious Raindrop, you are 6!  How much you have grown since you were given to us in the middle of a gentle, evening rain six years ago.  And though your name was a blessing, it has become a picture of who you are to us.  You are so gentle and tender and kind-hearted, noticing the feelings of others, and desiring to water the environment around you with encouragement.

     You notice details and love beautiful things - from clothes, to flowers, to people.  My prayer is that you would have eyes to see God's fingerprints around you, and that you would continue to encourage others to look and see as well.

     You are so naturally nurturing, and I have loved watching you care for Liam this past year. I can't wait to see how that gift continues to grow in you.  You asked me the other day if we could invite some little kids over so you could practice taking care of them.  I laughed because it seems like you have plenty of opportunity to practice with Liam around, but you had an older little kid in mind.

     I loved seeing you interact with the students at the school in Honduras - you were bold to help and befriend, even though you couldn''t speak Spanish.  Language is so much more than mere words to you, and you really pursue others in creative ways.

     Dear Raindrop, we love you.  Happy Birthday!

Teacher Luncheon and the Finished Wall

Today the wall was finished.  The team worked so quickly - they built twice as much as what they had planned on.  Afterwards, to celebrate and show appreciation, the Honduran teachers cooked a delicious fried chicken lunch for the Americans.  What a fun surprise.

In the morning the girls and I volunteered to practice English with some 12th and 10th grade students.  After Cuatro woke up Corrie came to switch and talk with the 11th graders.  We had a ton of fun, and made plans to visit one of the local girls named Helen.  Her father is a farmer and has 2 horses, and I thought it would be fun for Songbird to see what a Honduran farm is like.  Unfortunately, the afternoon rains came shortly after school was out, and so we will have to postpone the walk for another day next week.

Cuatro continues excelling at his special ministry of cuteness.  Every time he walks by, the students say, "Awwww!!!! Liam, Liam, Liam..."  It is not uncommon for girls to "marry" at 15 around here, so I have had many opportunities to encourage them to finish their studies first, then marry a Godly man, then have a baby! 

The group from Alabama leaves tomorrow and we will miss their company (and all the jobs they had for the kids to help with).  We will have to find some new kid-friendly tasks for next week, and see what ways we can be involved.

This afternoon the kids were able to play hide-and-go-seek with some local children.  I am amazed at how quickly they pick up words here and there.  Songbird especially is able to process out loud the Spanish language acquisition process, and it is so fascinating to hear.  She understands more and more every day, and she is getting bolder and more confident trying out new Spanish phrases.

Teacher luncheon in the office.  Fried chicken, pasta, salad, and coke!

Electricity is back...so keyboards are on!

Barba Amarilla

The dreaded yellow beard - one of Honduras’ most venomous snakes, was seen slithering just beyond the in-process cinderblock wall this afternoon.  Marcos acted quickly and killed it with a shovel, abiding by the campus rule that only venomous snakes may be killed.  BRO got to witness this, as he worked for 8 hours straight on the cinderblock wall (that kid is an amazing worker who pays great attention to detail).  Hubry and Raindrop got to witness the event as well.  Ms. Cindy said they only kill about 6 snakes a year on campus, and we are 2 for 3 days!!  Yesterday Marcos killed another snake that had a bright blue lizard hanging out of its mouth.  I’m not sure what type of snake this was, and whether or not Marcos was abiding the campus rule with that one.

Raindrop helped in arts and crafts class again this morning, and when they were finished making their wooden bracelets Ms. Karen asked to have a class photo.  At the end of the photo, the students asked to have a picture with “the child.”  This was in reference to Raindrop.  I was so impressed by her intuition throughout the project - the way she gaged when a student needed help, and her swift response to that need.  In fact, she helped cut tiny pieces of tape in a precise manner, and she helped students tie knots, and I didn’t even know that she was capable of those skills :)  She said this afternoon she thought she would be a teacher when she grows up.

Songbird helped again in a couple of English classes.  She also buried herself under a pile of books in the library, as she was extra sleepy after rising at 5:15.  

Hubry started “practice interviews” with the students - teaching them how to actually use the voice recorders, and he said the class was full of giggles and pena.  He let 16 students check out recorders to begin the interview process.  Tomorrow 16 more students can check them out, and Friday 16 more.  We’ll see how it goes!

The students worked hard on their sea turtles this afternoon in art, and it was nice to have both Songbird and Corrie’s help teaching the students how to use oil pastels. We also talked about the difference between warm and cool colors.  Most of the students caught on to these ideas quickly, and out of a class of 45 there was only one pink and purple sea turtle (and it’s a guy’s)!

Corrie got to share about some of her various missions experiences in an English class this afternoon, which was a blessing to all.  And some of us ladies were able to enjoy a few quiet moments of conversation on the hammock porch.  I was so encouraged by the news I heard of all the missionaries gathering for various events - homeschool Moms, Bible study, prayer time….

This afternoon another storm rolled in.  The sky grew grey, then the rain poured and thunder clapped.  Then, around 4:30, the power went out.  We ate a candlelight dinner on the toucan patio with the group. And as I type we are sitting in a dark room with a few flashlights hanging here and there. The kids had no trouble going to bed by 7:30, and it is 8:15 and we are following close behind.  I hope Cuatro can sleep soundly even without the help of the noisemaker in his room!!!

The growing walls

Art class

School courtyard

Flashlights...Can you see us?

Music and Magicians

Our second day of classes, and everyone seems to be finding their niche and getting into a rhythm.  Somehow, Cuatro missed the memo, and continues to operate at random according to his whims. :)

Raindrop adores helping Sarah and her Mom, Ms. Karen, teach arts and crafts. At lunch break she came to me beaming, telling me how she's made so many new Honduran friends, and how she can't wait to make some more!

Songbird was asked to help in the 8th and 9th grade English classes and truly rose to the occasion.  She mentioned several times tonight the activities she'll be helping with tomorrow.  

Bro alternated between helping out in Hubry's class and working on the cinder block wall.  The Mobile group told me that although Bro is a lad of few words, he is a hard-worker.  And of course, as soon as Conner gets home from school and finishes his homework, they are off playing with paper airplanes, cars, or soccer balls.

Corrie was able to teach a music class today, which we all enjoyed peaking our heads in on.  She was teaching 4 boys to play a praise song on the guitar.  I think they'll get to practice it again on Thursday afternoon.

For afternoon devotions a group from Florida stopped by to give a special Gospel message via magic and interpretive dance.  If it piques your curiosity, you'll have to ask us about it later!

Years ago, when I spent a semester abroad in Las Mangas, I met Martin and Wendy.  They were starting a clinic in Rio Viejo, which at the time was a one-room cinderblock building.  This afternoon  we took a tour of the clinic, which is now the Jack Dyer Regional Hospital, and is located across the street from the school.  The hospital has recently started delivering babies, doing minor surgeries, and hosting a weekly clinic where they treat everyone who shows up.  That's right, they turn no one away.  They simply work until all the needs have been met.  It is pretty incredible and is meeting a great need in the river valley!

P.S. I am unable to post pictures from my camera until after I return home, so most of my photos are coming from Corrie's phone at present.  I hope to add many more in a few weeks!

The students watching the magic show.

Our First Day on the Job

Monday started when Cuatro awoke at 4:30, which gave us a generous 3 hours to get ready before the start of school.:)  In fact, we put him down for his morning nap just before we left the house, and Tante Corrie stayed at the house with him while the rest of us walked down to greet the students and reconnect with the teachers.  It was so good to see them all again!!

Hubry is teaching 6 Social Studies classes in a row, with a 10 minute break after the first 3.  And he's doing it mostly in Spanish.  So by the end of his last class, his brain was hurting, and he felt pretty exhausted!

The kids and I helped Karen and her daughter Sarah with the arts and crafts classes.  They were making clay beads to string together necklaces.  Songbird helped the group from Mobile build a wall out of cinderblocks, and Raindrop, Bro, and I visited Hubry's class and students here and there until Cuatro awoke, and then Corrie and I switched places.

After lunch Sarah, who is 16 and wants to be a professional ballerina, shared the gospel message via a dance routine that she created.  It was beautifully done, and I'm pretty sure our little Raindrop thinks that Sarah hangs the moon!

After lunch I began the sea turtle project with the 7th graders.  I have 45 students in class at the same time, which is a lot for an art class, especially when it comes to tracking whether or not everyone is following along.  But overall they did a great job.  None of the students have ever seen / used oil pastels, so I'm excited to get to introduce them.  The teacher is so excited to have the watercolor paper, too.  She says it is really difficult to buy nice art supplies at a reasonable price in the city.

After school was over, we decided to take a family walk through the village to buy some Sprite at a Pulperia.  We wanted to show the kids the village, and the animals, and see if we could see any students while we were out and about.  Also, the backpack is one of the only ways we can contain Cuatro where he remains content.  We can't let him play on the grass because of all the ants.  And we have to be careful with the drop-offs and the dogs, and the chemicals, and the electric outlets (where he's already been shocked once) and, and, and...

He's waking up again.

Family walk

Chatting with girls outside the local elementary school 

So many beautiful butterflies

The Sabbath

I am so glad we came to Rio Viejo on a Saturday, so that our first day here was the Sabbath.  I remember the long school days and the hot Sun and feeling so exhausted from daily work, but the Sabbath is equally long and equally restful.

The government decides to save electricity around here by just turning all the power off for 8 hours at a time.  That, coupled with natural power outages, makes for power that works about 4 out of 7 days. Sunday morning they decided it would be a good time to save electricity, so off went the fans (and the oven that was cooking breakfast).  Somehow, even with the loud noise of dogs barking all around, Cuatro was still able to take cat naps throughout the day, which he needed after our long day of travel.

After waking up at 4:30, breakfast at 8:00 felt like an eternity away:)  By the time we gathered for a house church service, Cuatro was pretty much ready for his afternoon nap.

We spent most of the day getting to know the other group, lazing around on the hammocks, chasing Cuatro, and talking about the week ahead.  In the afternoon we went down the road for a swim in the river, which ended up being a raging river because of the storm from the night before.  We did get to play near the edges, and the children were able to collect some lovely stones.

Because we enjoy learning about birds together as a family, I thought it'd be fun to bring down Peterson's Bird guide to this region.  It's funny, but Hubry and I remember very little about the birds down here.  Even though we lived here for 14 months, I only remembered in specific seeing the Rainbow Macaw's of Copan Ruins, and hearing this enchanting Lark at the tip-top of our El Tigre hike.

Within our first 2 days here, the children had identified 8 different species, and had located multiple nests with babies in tact.  The birds seem so extravagantly dressed here.  They wear so much bright blue, green, yellow and red.  And they are everywhere!!  How could we have missed them before?

Here is Songbird's list:
Crimson-collared Taniger
Grackle
Chachalacha
Black-Headed Trogon
Lessens Mot-Mot
Great Kiscade
Various Hummingbirds
Egret
Pelican
Weaver Bird

And this is just the beginning!

We have also enjoyed watching the geckos in the window screens, gigantic toads, frogs (which we can not touch because many are poisonous), and some large fish in the Caribbean Sea.

Bird-watching above the school

The King's Institute

Do you see him?

Atlanta to Honduras

Saturday, July 29th

We left our house around 7 Am in the morning, and we arrived to our volunteer house in Rio Viejo around 6 PM in the evening.  After getting to the airport and having to wait in a long check-in line, we were told that they could find no ticket on record for our infant in arms.  After momentary panic, and 30 minutes of checking through our records and trying to find a paper trail, we ended up having to purchase another ticket for him.  I am so thankful it was only his ticket that was missing, and not an actual seat ticket, or we would have been in trouble.  We still aren't sure what happened, as Hubry made all the flight arrangements over the telephone (because we had an infant in arms!!!!!)  But I am thankful for a helpful Delta representative who spent a lot of time on our behalf.  And I am thankful that we still got to the gate in the nick of time.

After fighting loopiness for the first hour of the flight, Cuatro finally fell into a deep sleep.  The other children enjoyed having their own TV's and watching multiple movies.

When we landed, someone was waiting with a sign that had Hubry's name on it, which was very much a surprise to us.  He said he was there to take us to the ferry, so he took our bags and told us to follow him.  We did happen to see my sister in a crowd of people as we were rushing to follow Frankie, and called her hither.  Aside from Cuatro somehow wriggling out a leg hole of the backpack and almost choking himself (thank you kind lady in line behind us for catching this before it turned into a tragedy!!) we made it through customs without any issues.

Once we were safely in the van with all our luggage and Frankie, we were finally able to ask hime who he was and how he knew we were coming.  I, for one, would have like to know this before we got in the car with him, but it turned out for the best.  Apparently the school had arranged this ride for us, and we thought they were arranging our ride from La Ceiba.

The most exciting part of our journey was on the ferry.  Our two girls boarded the ferry with wiggly teeth, and left the ferry having lost their teeth!  Raindrop lost her tooth first, and after it came out she said, "This is such an important day for me.  It's my first time to lose a tooth, and my first time to go to Honduras!."

For Songbird it was her 10th tooth to lose, and she decided to throw her tooth into the Caribbean Sea!  "I think this would make a romantic story to tell my Grandchildren someday..."  We thought it would make a fun creative story as well - the eccentric travels of Songbird's 10th tooth...

The ride from La Ceiba to Rio Viejo is about 1.5 hours of extreme bumps going on average 15 miles per hour.  I had to strap Cuatro into the baby Bjorn and then hold his head steady to keep him from jostling around too much.  He was not happy about the situation, but finally fell asleep 15 minutes before we reached our destination.

Our hosts, Cindy and Dave, who are the school administrators, were so welcoming and had the volunteer house all ready for us and a delicious dinner as well.  There is another group from Mobile Alabama here this week as well, and within the group are three generations that have been coming to the school every Summer for 8 years now!

Because there's a 2 hour time difference, and it was a full day of travel, the kids were all asleep by 7:00, and we were asleep by 8:40.

Deboarding the plane on Roatan

Spotting their first exotic fish outside the ferry

Aboard the Roatan ferry