Welcome to Honduras

First of all, THANK YOU SO MUCH EVERYONE who came over to my house before I left. It was so nice to see everyone and all the cards and everything you guys gave me where so nice and generous and reminded me of how lucky i am to have such awesome family and friends. I love you guys.

Okay, so anyway I had to start this entire blog thing over because it deleted my old one, but here is my entry from my first 2 days. I have offically been here a week, but it just took me like an hour to set this up so I am going to have to fill in more later! I have been typing up things on my laptop in my room, and then when I have time, I bring my laptop to the internet area where there is wireless. that is where I am now, and I am going to paste some of the stuff I wrote earlier.



Everything has started off better than expected! The place here is sooooo nice. When I got off the plane, I was first surprised at how nice the airport was. I ended up seeing this girl wearing an NPH t-shirt with her family and I went to talk to them. They ended up being this family- a mom, dad, daughter and niece- who all came to volunteer just for a week. The mom and dad were here last year for a week helping build the surgical center and that’s what they were back for. So, they helped me get all my luggage and load it onto a cart. They were super nice, and we waited together for Annemarie, the volunteer coordinator who was picking all of us up. We found her right away and another girl was with her- Jennifer, who had arrived a day earlier but the airport lost her luggage, so she was coming back to pick it up cause they had found it. She was a year volunteer like me. So Annemarie picked us up at like 12:30pm, but we couldn’t get this girls luggage until 2:30, so we went to the mall. We got to the mall and I was shocked- it was sooooooo nice. Like, better than Bradley/Bourbonais mall at home. It was like Orland Park style- 3 floors, a nice food court, everything. So we eat and stuff there, and go back to get her luggage. We are in a big van thingy, but it was real nice too. Then we drive the hour to the orphanage, but it started pouring (its rainy season) so we had to stop and wait for a little while. We finally got there and it was still raining, but it was okay. The place looked real nice but it was hard to tell cause the weather. They dropped me off right at the volunteers’ home (called Casa Personal) and I unloaded my stuff and a bunch of people ask me if I am Kristen, because my parents called and are looking for me. So, now everyone already knows me because I am the girl who everyone was looking for. Anyway, when I walk into the volunteers’ home, its like a resort. Its gated and locked, and when you walk in it felt like I was walking in the secret garden (minus the flowers). There is a middle area with a bunch of benches and a bonfire pit (all open, outside). Then, surrounding that, are all the doors to the rooms, like motel style, in a square. Then, up at the front right when you walk in, theres a sitting area, an open meeting room, and a kitchen complete with a stove/oven, a fridge, sink, counters, etc. They said alot of the girls get fat because all they do is bake brownies and cookies and stuff.

So the next day, Monday, August 6, we had our first real day of orientation. We had meetings and stuff all day- A LOT of English speaking which is annoying. Almost all the new volunteers are from America- only 1 girl from Belgium and a family from Germany. There are a few old volunteers from Germany and 1 from Austria. So we had tours of the ranch and everything and it is really nice. All the homes (hogares) have dining rooms, bathrooms and bedrooms where all the kids have their own bed and like a locker thingy to keep their things. Its really cute, the bedrooms are the only part that remind me of an orphanage because there are like 10 beds and all the beds are triple bunk beds Everything else just looks like a ranch or summer camp or something. Its really cool and reminds me just like Mexico- all the buildings and the scenery. There are mountains to one side of the orphanage which is a pretty view. So we had a bunch of meetings today and didn’t get to see the kids that much until the end of the day. Then at dinner time we each went to different hogares. This week and next week (orientation), we go to a different hogar each night to spend night routine and dinner with them. Next week, we can request which hogar we work in. They are separated by age/maturity level. So today I was with 15-18 year old girls. I was really scared at first, cause they are old and my Spanish is not that good. But they were so sweet. They were soooo excited that new people were coming there and did not stop talking. They told me how they loved American boys and showed me pictures of their boyfriends (American volunteers who were never really their boyfriends). They said they don’t like Hondurans (they used the work Guacala- jess or Amanda or sandy or whoever I told that to, which means like “yuck”). They said all the Honduran boys at the ranch are players (sorrillas I think was the work they used- boys who have lots of girlfriends). I taught them a lot of English phrases which they thought was the coolest thing ever. Then, before bed their Tia had a lecture with them cause I guess they were all having bad behavior. One girl got up in the middle and the Tia got pissed and shes like “Tengo un Pedo” which means like I have to fart, and she farted and all the girls were laughing. Anyway, before bed, all the girls were giving me hugs and were like “see you tomorrow!!!!” Anyway, that is all, then I came back to my room and some girl made all this crazy lasagna that was sooo delicious. Okay well I am going to bed, its almost 10pm here and I am tired. Oh breakfast today was beans and platanos and some nasty cheese block. Lunch was 2 corn tortillas, rice and a meatball. Dinner was a hardboiled egg and a platano. Oh, and they have this cute little room with this cute little lady who has been working here for 14 years, and she makes tortillas all day. Its just corn and water, mashed up, spread out and cooked on a stovetop. Its so cool. Anyway, that is all and I am tired. Okay, love you all and miss you.

Sandy, next time I come on, I will answer ALL your questions that you emailed me. Also, I will try and post some pictures soon./ The kids are OBSESSED with cameras and taking pictures so I already have like over 100 pictures in barely over a week. Okay so I will write soon! Love you! Bye

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