sad goodbyes and another adventure begins...

sad goodbyes and another adventure begins...

Thursday was to be my last day with the kids. We were going to have class in the morning, play soccer after lunch, go running to Jutiapa and get licuados, have dinner / huevos rancheros / and then I was going to talk with all of the kids and say my goodbyes. Oh and I was going to do laundry and pack my 7 months worth of life into my travel backpack. The director had a different plan which wasn't communicated very well so it ended up being a very late night for Bethany and I but I still got to say my goodbyes and get soccer and a run in. I played soccer with the kids and a couple of other volunteers for about 2 hours after lunch and then we, Bethany and I, took Gerson, Reina, Francisco and Moises running to Jutiapa. We bought them strawberry licuados and caught the bus back to the Hogar. Bethany and I split a watermelon licuado (my new favorite flavor!). Marlen, one of the cooks, made a special plate of huevos rancheros just for me and said goodbye. Saying goodbye to the cooks was equally as hard for me as saying goodbye to the kids. Orbelina, the other cook, was taking her time off (10 days) and relaxing at her house. I had seen her son earlier and asked if she was going to be there all evening so that I could make sure to say goodbye to her before I left. I walked over to her house and she introduced me to her husband and grabbed a chair for me and a glass of coke. She lives with her family, her daughter, 2 sons and husband in a one room straw and thatch roofed house with a mud and clay stove for cooking right in front under a champa. I had tears in my eyes when I said goodbye to her and gave her a hug and walked away back to the Hogar. She is a lovely woman with a great heart and I already miss her!

My amazing friends Angela and Della sent down tons crafts for making necklaces. With all of the supplies I was able to make each child their own necklace with their names on them and used their favorite colors. I was also able to sit with each kid and allow them to make their own piece of jewelry being able to pick from everything that was sent down. The kids loved it and it allowed me to spend some quality one on one time with each kid right before I left. There were a ton of crafts leftover to make bundles of jewelry. I packed it all up and gave it to Orbelina when I said goodbye, letting her know she could use it as she chose. I told her I thought it would be nice if she wanted to make jewelry with the women in the community to sell it, or that she could put it to good use with her church. I felt very good about doing this and hope that it is truly put to good use. Our cook and other kids that attend our school live about 150 yards from the Hogar on the other side of the fenced wall and it is a totally different life! They live in houses without electricity, with mud and clay stoves and thatched roofs all having to work nonstop for their food and money, the kids included. And then there is the Hogar which is almost like a mansion compared to how the locals in the village are living and the kids have toys, books, 3 hot meals a day, clothes, shoes, beds, toilets, running water, etc. It is just so crazy. I realized walking away from Oreblina's house after saying goodbye and giving her the beads that my biggest regret wasn't going to be not cuddling more with the kids at the Hogar, or not reading to them more, or not tucking them in every night, but rather not spending more time with the real community trying to help with the locals that really have nothing... But that is an entirely different entry.

Ok back to the last day. We ate really quickly, showered and then headed into La Ceiba to watch the local Circus. That's right, a circus came to La Ceiba. They had a tent all set up like Cirque de Soleil but about 1/5th the size. The kids were so excited! We went to the 7pm showing and it was so interesting! This culture is so sexual. I didn't think you could make a circus rated R but this one was! The kids got to see elephants, tigers, a zebra, a pony, and camels. The elephants danced to Daddy Yankee, while the human acts stripped to Stayin' Alive! It was insane! I never thought a circus, which is obviously targeting kids, would incorporate the kinds of acts that this circus incorporated. And I feel that I am an open and liberal person...

We got back to the Hogar late and Bethany and I got to packing and doing our laundry. I woke up to a thumping on the door around 7 am which was/is normal at the Hogar. I went to the door and when I opened it all of the kids were at my door holding a cake. My eyes welled up and I was bombarded with hugs from each of the kids and given cards by all of them. Then Bethany snuck off and came back with a Honduran flag with all of the kids hand prints on it. Bethany had pulled each of the kids one by one into a side room to make me the best going away present/souvenir of my time at the Hogar and in Honduras I could have asked for. I then went in room by room to say goodbye to the kids and give them their necklaces and pawn off the accessories that I was leaving behind. Conditioner and deodorant were the most popular amongst the girls. Running on 4 hours of sleep Bethany and I then headed to La Ceiba to catch a bus on to San Pedro Sula where we would begin our journey.

It is now Tuesday and I have been away from the kids for only 5 days and it feels like weeks. I was sad to leave but happy to begin traveling and I really feel that I will be back. It is a pity the organization isn't in better hands. If it operated properly I would highly recommend it because the kids are great... But I wouldn't. I don't regret my time their but I do have lots of recommendations for people interested in volunteering abroad and would not suggest this project. I do plan to return someday soon to check up on the kids as I really grew fond of them. I will miss my door being knocked on first thing in the morning by a child wanting a toothbrush, I will miss being able to walk out of my door to get a hug whenever I want, I will miss eating with Francisco and having someone with me that shares my passion for food, I will miss the cooks and hearing them laugh at me whenever I showed how excited I was about the meals, I will miss Ruth and her crazy laugh, I will miss Moises and his millions of questions, I will miss Gerson and his excitement towards soccer, I will miss running with Reina and Daniel, I will miss hearing Carolina speak English, I will miss Joel and his eyes and smile, I will miss so many things. I will miss many things but there are only a few things that I will not miss, I will not miss the bugs, the cold showers, or the pounds of vegetable oil cooked into every meal. Oh and I will not miss Maynor's scream! The two things that made this experience were the kids, the amazing, totally unique and loving kids, and the amazing people that I have met from volunteers to cooks to hitches. Overall this was an amazing experience that I will never ever forget and has forever changed me. Seeing how people live happy lives with so little...

I am now on my journey to Panama. I talked Bethany into traveling with me for a bit so we went from San Pedro Sula, to Copan, Honduras on Friday and spent the night in Copan. We then went from Copan, Honduras to Antigua, Guatemala where I did the volcano hike again which I did with my brother back in September. This time it didn't rain on us! We then left early Sunday morning to go to Chichicastenago for the Sunday market which is amazing! From there we headed to Lago Atitlan which is a huge lake surrounded by 3 volcanoes and is breathtaking! We are now back in Antigua gearing up for a full day of travel tomorrow to El Salvador where we will spend a couple of days. From there we are going to Tegucigalpa to spend the weekend with the grandparents of a past volunteer and from there we will part ways. Bethany will head back to the Hogar and I will head on to Nicaragua. I have to say Guatemala is AMAZING. I am in love! I cannot think of a person that I know that would not enjoy it here. I know my mother would LOVE it and I keep trying to think of a person whom I think would not find it beautiful and ideal and I just cannot. I don't want to leave but I am extremely excited to see what the rest of Central America has to offer.

My time is done at the Hogar so I will just write a couple of more entries while I travel to let everyone know that I am safe and having fun! Thank you all for reading my blog and to those of you whom responded. It let me know people were really reading it and that I wasn't wasting my time writing it. I hope that everyone is doing well and that you are all staying warm, dry and safe and spending lots ofquality time with people that you love.

Take care.

OH! Also, I will post all of my pictures when I get home. It takes way too long on the computers here in Central America. But there are some amazing pictures that I guarantee will convince people to come to Central America, especially Guatemala.