It has been a while, but all is well.

The past 2 weeks have been awesome!!! For some reason when I got back from Guatemala it seems everything just has kind of fallen into place and improved. When I got back from Guatemala I was once again the only volunteer living at the orphanage. I decided to adjust some of the rules. I decided to store all of the toothbrushes and toothpaste in my room for the 10 youngest kids. So now every morning and evening they come in and I give them their tooth brush and toothpaste and can keep better track of who is/isn't brushing their teeth. Also, the four youngest kids, I help them brush their teeth. Also, after dinner I decided not to let any of the kids play with ANY of the toys from the volunteer room unless they had all bathed. While I was away the showers for the kids and volunteers were fixed which has made this much easier. I was able to get into the storage room and get some soap which I keep in my room to make sure if the kids don't have soap I can provide them with some. This has really helped the hygiene issue immensely!

Last weekend on Saturday the director of the program took the kids on a field trip to a lagoon which is a nearby animal refuge. Another volunteer and myself went along as chaperons and had a blast. He and I had more fun than the kids. We drove about 30 minutes outside of La Ceiba, took a small train about 30 minutes and then boarded on these little boats, 12 people in each and floated around a lagoon. We got to see manatees, crocodiles, monkeys, snakes, etc. It was super fun! I got eaten alive by mosquitoes (we left at 5:30 am so I didn't take the time to grab mine) but it was still a very nice day away. The kids crack me up though. I thought they would have loved the animals and the boat but the majority of them slept on the boat. Surprisingly, well I guess it isn't surprising, but what the kids found the most excited was an exotic fruit that the guide found and picked for the kids. They all attacked the guide trying to get more, claiming he hadn't given them any. The kids are hilarious about food! He stopped twice to pick them some fruit and both times they showed SO much enthusiasm all fighting to try and get more than everyone else and then putting the fruits into their pockets andcounting them over and over... I got about 4 from the kids who were kind enough to share. After the lagoon we walked about 15 minutes to swim in the ocean before heading back to the Hogar. Even the youngest boy who is 3 can swim like a little fish!

I had talked to the director about a week prior asking if I could take kids one or two at a time into town to spend some time with them away from the Hogar. He said it had never been done before and asked me about my intentions. I explained that the kids act much differently when they are away from the orphanage and when they are one on one, and that I would like to treat each one of them to a meal and either a soccer game, a movie, clothes, or a little something extra. He said he thought it was a good idea but would have to check with the board... I knew it would take about a month before I got an answer so Saturday I sat with him on the way too and from the lagoon to talk to him about it. By the end of the day he gave me the ok to take 2 kids into town the following day. I talked another volunteer into going into town with us to help alleviate any issues/stress that may arise amongst the board. WE took Ruth who is one of my students in the first grade (crazy little 8 year old girl who I have come to really love) and Carolina, the youngest girl who is 4 years old. I asked the girls first thing Sunday morning what they wanted to do. Both said that they wanted to go to Pizza Hut and get ice cream. So off we went on the bus to La Ceiba. We took them to Pizza Hut which was hilarious! It was my first Honduran Pizza Hut experience and it was actually really fun. The girl right off the bat dumped a ton of the Parmesan cheese onto their plates and licked their plates clean about 5 times before the pizza arrived. Then each of the girls ate about 4 pieces of peperoni pizza. Both girls wanted to save a piece to take back to the orphanage to share with their siblings. We told them it was their day and that we would take their siblings as well... This made them feel less guilt so they were able to eat the last of the pizza. I asked them what they wanted to do next and they wanted to go play at Wendy's on the jungle gym. Again my first Wendy's experience in Honduras we went over to Wendy's and let the girls romp around for about an hour! I had never seen either of the girls laugh so hard in my life. It was too adorable! After Wendy's we went to the mall and bought both of the girls a banana dipped in chocolate. Both girls again wanted to save their last bite to take back to their siblings at the orphanage. We let them play on a couple of little rides at the mall and then with good intentions took them inside one of the shops to buy them an article of clothing. The girls ran around like crazy saying they wanted EVERYTHING. I don't know if this is all kids or just these kids but they could not decide on anything and it got to the point where we were going to miss the last Sunday bus. My brother, Ryan, knows about the Sunday buses, they are VERY unreliable. We told the girls to give us some ideas of what they liked, which they had given us about 100 ideas by that time, and that we would come back and get them something and surprise them. On the way home we asked the girls if they had fun. They looked up at me and just kind of shrugged, this is actually what I expected, but I knew to wait until we got home before feeling any bit of offense. As soon as we got to the orphanage the girls ran up to the other kids explaining what they did and how much fun they had. All of the other kids ran up to us to see when it would be there turn. I had so much fun spending both days Saturday and Sunday with the kids. I went to bed Sunday almost in tears, it had been a really good week.

Monday we got a new volunteer at the Hogar and she, another volunteer and I totally rearranged the volunteer room (now housing myself and the new volunteer) and totally cleaned up all of the kids toys. I didn't want to leave my room all week because it looks SO much nicer! Currently there is a volunteer from England and myself living at the Hogar and then all of the other volunteers (there are 3 that come help) live in a house about a mile away, a volunteer house. The project just hired a new live in Tia who brought her 1 year old son. She has been living with us only about 4 days and has been doing a great job helping out with the kids! Also, another woman is sleeping and working at the project with her 2 kids Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays which is really helping as well. Both of these women are Honduran and can communicate with the kids better than any of the volunteers and thus far have been helping out immensely!

Overall things have been going really really well. For that reason I haven't had much of a need/desire to come into town. Today we didn't have class because of a Holiday so I was able to sneak away. I have even found a couple of volunteers I was able to talk into running with me which has been going really well also. Although the run yesterday made me feel really old! I was running with a new volunteer from a different project that I had just met. She was asking me my age and she said, "Gees for being 26 you are in good shape. I am only 18 and I cannot run as far as you." I know that she meant for this to be a compliment but it just made me feel really, really old! The only downside is that rainy season is upon us which means it rained everyday this week! Today is the nicest day it has been about about 11 days. I feel like I am back at home with the rain, although it is a constant 80-85 degrees here, even with the rain.

I am trying to think if there is anything else that I should update people on... I really miss Guatemala and cannot wait to go back someday. It was amazing! I hope everyone is doing well. I am currently about 3\4 of the way finished with the book Three Cups of Tea and I really recommend it! I hope everyone is doing well. I miss you all. I really miss ice cream as well. And my grandma's cooking! Oh also, I have still been helping the cooks out as much as I can which I love! They are hilarious and love to teach me new little tricks which I cannot wait to hopefully use when I get home. The two new Tias we have made got up at 4:30 am on Wednesday to make homemade donuts which were amazing as well! I told them I wanted to learn and they said I would have to get up at 4:30 the next time they made them... So I may sit the donut lesson out.

Take care,
Mary

PS I have tons of pictures that I will try and put up soon. When I put up my last set of pictures I somehow manage to delete every picture I had taken! But I promise I will put more up soon.