There's No Place Like Home

Yes, I said it. There is no place like home! As Hillary and I wereawaiting our drive to the airport on Monday morning, we were told, at a local coffeeshop in Charlotte, NC, that there was a tornado watch going on. We very calmly asked what we were supposed to do if a tornado came our way - the owner said that the bank had a "shelter" (he actually did air quotes ... that's very reassuring...) Hillary told me later that day, "You know, I'm okay with taking a bit more rain up in the Northwest - I'd rather have rain than tornadoes." - Yes please.

Turns out, the only thing we met was a big thunderstorm --- in the air. The turbulence of the flight from Charlotte to Philadelphia was unreal! Hillary is gripping my leg, there is a man across the aisle from me doing sudoku (how he could write is beyond me) and a women a row in front of us sharing the love of Jesus to a Canadian college kid ---needless to say, I was giggling at all the absurdity. And praying.

A few randoms at the airport: Hill and I splurged on some chips and salsa - who knows when the next time will be?, we chuckled with a TSA employee about how it was so hot in the airport because the people hadn't turned it down from the past week of cold, and Hill and I ended up running to our gate in Philly -- turns out that was a ridiculous move on our part. I think I lost a lung there...

The flight to Ireland was only five and a half hours to my surprise. Both Hill and I didn't sleep, so we've been up for days! We traveled to Killarney today by double decker city bus and train. Ireland is very beautiful - very scenic. Also, the people have been so nice - especially the old men. So many of them have helped us out today!

The dreaded "W" word was mentioned on accident at customs in the airport ... the man was hesitant to let us in the country, but then changed his mind. He said, "I don't want to spoil your ladies' holiday." And when he found out we worked in Alaska in the summers he said, "Well, I'll come over there when they start paying us proper wages here!".

When we arrived in Killarney, we were so tired and laughing about everything ... stumbling around the streets with laughter. This elderly man looked at me and I said, "We're having too much fun!" And he said, "That's what life is for!" Then another elderly man saw that we were trying to figure out where to go, and said he could help us - he walked us all the way to our hostel and told us a bit about the town and his life along the way. It's just been lovely.

Hillary and I just ate a delicious and cheap meal of chicken and fries. We just finished a LONG walk to Ross Castle in the National Park here. It is beautiful and on a lake. Hopefully I can post a picture...

Last... and perhaps least, you choose. Remember that one time Hillary and I took awhile getting through customs in Ireland? Well, while we were chatting with the nice official there, there was another official in the same boxed room chatting with a guy on the otherside. I looked at him through the windows - only took notice that he was quite a short guy. My height, maybe. Before we left, our official dude asked us if we knew who Bruno Mars was - we replied with a yes - and he said, "Well he was just right there a minute ago, apparently." WHAT?! ...Crazy! (Mom, Bruno Mars is a famous pop singer).

Anyways, keep you updated!

Going to the South! ...and then on to a great land

Well, when hillary and I set out to make our plans for Ireland, we weren't aware that it only cost twenty extra bucks to swoop by the southern state of North Carolina. Good thing we found it! We decided to stop by because we have a good friend, Kate, here - we met her in Honduras. Before I go into NC, I have to tell about our hilarious ride on the shuttle to the Seattle airport. Our driver, and Englishman, was so funny and nice - saying things like, "You're going to Ireland? Girls, let me tell you something - Don't fall for the accents!.. My wife did, haha." Come to find out, we graduated with his daughter ... we got to the airport (despite snow storm scares) safe and with laughter.

The flight to N. Carolina? One word - Agony.

Aside from the rough start, being in Charlotte has been great. We had a fun time with Kate - laughing and playing games. We also went to a museum that was showing 'Race'. It was very educational and interesting.

The rough start I mentioned involved a trip to the Emergency Room and an Orthopedic Doctor. I was told to get a cast on my arm because I had two fractures in my wrist. The E-room refused to cast it, and the orthopedic Doctor said I didn't need it, and if I had it how could I impress the Irishmen? I agreed with him. All in all, it was cool to see the locals of Charlotte and chat with some nice southern ladies (who really do have a sweet southern drawl that makes you feel so good about life).

Tomorrow Hillary and I are off to --- IRELAND! We'll arrive in Dublin on Tuesday morning and head off to Killarney for a night. And then we'll head to a little town called Knightstown on the Island of Valentia.

Knightstown: An Island of 174 people + 2 woofers (Hillary and I)

Woofers: Worldwide Opportunities On Organic Farms (Woof), a host welcomes people who work for their room and board, the work mostly having to do with organic farming

Our Job: Weeding the organic ornamental rose garden, organizing the bookstore within the cafe, and walking rescue dogs

We will be staying above the cafe and taking care the rescue dogs ... which, we haven't quite figured out which side of the fence the rescuing is taking place. I thought that the dogs were doing the rescuing and Hillary thought that we were rescuing the dogs ... haha! So we'll see... Maybe I really will need a cast later...ha, just jokes mom!

Almost Done

Well Folks --
The past few weeks has been a rush. First of all - Molly, Fie and I finished our futbol tournament and it was awesome. The kids just loved it. The winners got Championship T-shirts and all the players in the final got coke and chips. A ton of kids and staff came to watch the two final games as well, even the "Mommi and Poppi" of the Orphanage came to cheer on the kids.
Right after the tourney, myself and three other volunteers went to Copan Ruinas for a little fun and relaxation. We went ziplining, swam in a river/waterfall situation, went to a coffee plantation, and saw some ancient Maya Ruins. It was crazy to actually see the ruins in person after having seen pictures of them in history books for so many years.
Since coming back from Copan it has been a mad rush to do as many things as possible with the kids. It was a little rough at first because we had a bit of a flu epidemic here at the Orphanage... at one point 25 big boys came to the Clinic. It was nuts. We think we've conquered it mostly, which is great because we celebrate Christmas tomorrow! We don't want anyone to miss the fun.

The past two and a half days we have been sorting presents for 500 kids - and they all get at least two. Some get more depending on their sponsors. First we had to unload all the presents from the pallets, separate boys and girls, place them in alphabetic order, count how many presents each kid got, make presents for those lacking presents for multiple reasons (we have a lot of new kids which means they don't have sponsors yet), and then placed all the gifts "under the tree" in piles. It's a really cool picture to see so many presents around the tree. Apparently tomorrow we are all going to be in the church and volunteers will hand out all the gifts to the kids. They all have to wait until everyone has their gifts - I've heard it takes up to two hours! The anticipation is going to kill them! It already is because they keep asking me how many presents they have. I can't wait to see all of them open all their "regalos".

All of us volunteers decided to spread some Christmas cheer and bring a piece of home to the Orphanage (it really doesn't feel like Christmas - it's 80+ degrees most days) by doing some christmas caroling. So, the other night we started to carol at the small boys house, then onto the medium boys (they loved it and sang along) ... we pretty much sang to everyone at the Orphanage including the staff. It was pleasant - we even got some chocolate and hot chocolate from some of our audience.

A few nights ago was possibly my favourite moments yet here. Molly, Lindsay, Kate and I really wanted to have a big bonfire with ALL of the medium boys. Now, this is a big deal and really hard to get permission from staff to do something with so many kids. But, the Lord is cool. We asked and it wasn't a problem at all. We had about 70 boys ranging from 9 to 14 years old around a big bonfire (made by yours truly) - there was hot chocolate, which they never get, cookies, crackers, and peanuts. It was just a grand time for the boys. They were able to just relax and be boys - throwing stuff in the fire, running around, taking pictures, etc. Heaps of fun!

Well, I am off to play games with the team that is here for Christmas. I have four more days in this country and I plan to live it up. Thanks everyone and have a blessed Christmas with your families. And when you are with your families, if you could remember the kids here at Emmanuel, that would be amazing. I would love it if you could pray for a few things: that the staff with just be encouraged in a big way this next month, the kids would stay healthy, that the kids with come closer to the Lord, for safety for those of us volunteers that are coming and going within the next few weeks, for my hand/wrist (i may or may not have broken something), and most importantly - pray that the Lord will provide these kids with opportunities to better their country; physically, economically, spiritually, and through education.

Feliz Navidad!

Irony

Hello friends!
It's been a good, yet very interesting week. First - We successfully finished our first week of the futbol tournament! We only had to cancel one practice due to rain and change one game day to a practice ... so next week will be mainly games monday thru saturday. It's pretty exciting and the kids are loving it. It's hard work but worth it when I realize that the kids are having fun.

I think last week I wrote about a girl having dengue and malaria at the same time... well, this week we've had a strep throat outbreak and a couple of cases of e coli. Please pray for the kids' health, because they all seem to be battling one thing or another. I am actually currently in the clinic - it's four am. There are ten kids spending the night and one other volunteer. Myself and Jackson (other volunteer) and taking shifts to stay up. I'm appreciative of the power and internet we have right now!

I think this might be God's sense of humour coming out ... but I am reading a book called, The Hole in the Gospel, right now. I just finished a chapter a couple weeks ago all about lack of clean water or water all together, malaria and other diseases that are rampant amongst the poverty stricken. Well, the past two weeks we have had days with no water, no electricity and a couple of kids with malaria and many kids with other sorts of issues. I found myself one night hauling buckets of water to the clinic for Dalia, in case her fever spiked up again in the night. It was such an ironic moment for me -- I definitely laughed as I was hauling the bucket.

Today I participated in a birthday party - Jonni turned fourteen today! He is on our soccer team, so we took him and nine friends to the outdoor court to play soccer while we waited for the fire to be ready for bread-on-a-stick. It was great ... A group came in last night, so they joined us as well. They spent all of today giving away Vans Shoes to the kids! The kids really needed new shoes. They are apart of sweet non-profit organization called Soles for Souls. I talked to Katie, the organizer, and she is going to request indoor soccer shoes for my soccer boys! I really hope it happens soon...

Big News: I decided to change my flight and stay in Hondo for Christmas! I am pretty excited to spend it in a different way - it will be interesting to see how Christmas is done here. I've heard that it is just spectacular. Ps: I heard it is snowing in Ferndale ... that is so bizarre to me, cause I think I sweat out fifteen pounds today from the heat and humidity.

Well ... until next time!
Ericka

... and other things

Hey Hey Hey!

The past two weeks have been full of randomness, which seems to be more of a norm here ... at least for me. Basically I have been hanging out with kids - all the time (big surprise). In the mornings I usually go down to the yard, hang out and do a million walks to the Farm with the special needs kids and the kids that are somewhat newish. These new kids came too late in the year to enter into school... so now they wait. We are currently in a school break here - actually they just ended their school year. Interesting, hey?

Before school officially ended (which was last Friday, I believe) we wanted to end our special time with these specific ninos with a bang. We had a big photo scavenger hunt with about twenty or so kids. For those of you who don't know what a photo scavenger hunt is, here's the gist: you have to take photos of specific things doing specific things around the specific area. For example- 1. someone's head under water (Maritza stuck her whole head into water gushing out of a hose 2. karate/ninja move in la cancha (All ninos in one group have to do a karate chop at once in on the soccer court) 3. Sit cross legged in front of the casa de pollo (sit at the chicken house) ... you get the idea? It was pretty fun and the kids loved ending it at the tienda for coke and churros (spanish for chips). Another activity we put on was a Birthday Party. There are actually a lot of kids here who don't know their birthday, sadly. So, in an attempt to celebrate those who don't know, we celebrated everyone's birthday in the yard. Hillary made a fabulous pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey, we had cake and brownies, we made mustaches for everyone to wear (Laura's great idea) and we had had the kids make crowns to wear the day before. We sang, took pictures and it was amazing!

Another thing that I've become involved in here is helping out at the Toddler House. I originally started to go for dinner time (which is at 3:30PM here) to help a girl wash all the dishes and such, but because some girls are away I have been helping the little boys shower and get ready for bed. It is just hilarious! I help Gabi with ten boys (three to five years old) - they just run around naked and laughing; and this last week we haven't really had water, so it was an adventure for the boys to take a shower outside with water coming from a pipe! After we get the boys dressed for bed, they actually don't go to bed until around six or seven. I don't necessarily have to stay after they are ready for bed, but I like to play with the boys. Plus, I get to hang out with some of the older girls here at the Orphanage. A lot of the older kids here have specific jobs or duties. At the Toddler House there are about ten or fifteen older girls, ranging in age from 14 to 20, that help out. They are there with the toddlers all day everyday, and they sleep in the same rooms as these kids. So it's nice to stay later and hang out so that I can give them a break of sorts and also practice my spanish! And the boys are just the cutest! I wish I could post a picture of them on here, but I am having trouble uploading photos.

And of course there is the soccer team. They are doing well and getting really into the game. There are so many talented players on the team: Walter and David are champs at foot work, Johnny is ridiculously good at shooting, Ariel is a great team player and peer coach, Jeyson has the natural instinct a goalie needs, and Rudy is a great defensive player and also the one who makes everyone laugh. Molly and Fie started this group and they so kindly let me in on it. It's been fun thus far! We are supposed to have a mini tournament with the boys, but we'll see what happens...

Now that school is over we are going to start having mass activities for the kids. We'll be doing several activities with one group of kids for the whole morning. Groups are: Small boy, medium boys, small girls, and medium girls. The big girls and big boys have a more set schedule and are working on the farm. Fei, Molly and I will actually be helping with a massive soccer tournament that will last until Christmas. We're having a meeting about it with a staff member on Sunday, so we'll see how it goes - let you know!

A few random things: 1.There are a couple of groups from the southern states coming in next Saturday. It will be interesting to see how things are run when groups are in. 2. About once or twice a month there is a container that is shipped from ... Texas maybe ... and is brought to Emmanuel full of moon pies, clothing, and other random needs, given generously by individuals and companies. One just came yesterday full of diapers (a MUCH needed essential) and cribs. It's a pretty interesting scene - moon pies literally come cascading out when the doors are opened (Ps: if you are interested in sending anything to a nino or volunteer, let me know!) 3. There is a girl here who is currently battling Dengue Fever and possibly malaria at the same time, please pray for her 4. I think I am learning more spanish!! 5. We are already decorating for Christmas, which the kids are SO excited for

Last Sunday a lot of us volunteers went on a bit of an adventure - into the Honduran jungle! It was a blast. It started with a two hour van ride to a National Park, we hiked for five hours and saw a waterfall, went to the nearest village (which was a tourist town called the Valley of Angels), had italian food, and then had a two hour van ride back to Emmanuel. On the ride back we danced to Hispanic music, saw a catholic holiday procession/parade, and saw a mini carnival. Now, I mentioned on facebook that we were going 80 mph on the way home. Driving in Honduras is nuts, but I love it. There are no speed limits - you basically just go as fast as you want and there are no street lines ... there isn't really a street, let's be honest. In Tegucigalpa, the capital, there are cement roads, but the road to Guiamaca where the Orphanage is, it's all dirt roads with major potholes. So not only are drivers going fast with no clear path, but they are dodging potholes and other drivers as well - it's a wild ride. (Ps: the only rules for a driver in Honduras is that they have an orange cone and a fire extinguisher)

Thus far, it's been quite interesting and I have already fallen in love with these kids. I've already rambled on quite a bit and you're probably bored, but if you want to know about the other volunteers, keep reading. I'll do a basic overview. Otherwise, enjoy your evening and have a hot chocolate for me! And I apologize for my terrible spelling and grammar - I blame it on lateness of the evening and on trying to be bilingual.

Ericka

Girls:

1. Laura - Ferndale, 24 yrs old, dental assitant and tour guide, loves to chat, we've been friends since middle school

2. Hillary - Ferndale, 23 years old, Human Services Degree and bus driver extraordinaire, also friends since middle school

3. Molly - Bellingham, 24 years old, AA degree and fellow traveler, loves the hispanic culture, met in New Zealand and traveled with in Europe

4. Lindsay - Calgary Alberta (that's Canada), 24 years old, Journalist and Photographer, quit her job to come here, met her in New Zealand as well

5. Kate - N. Carolina, 24 years old, Psychology/Counseling degree, got here the same day as Molly and Lindsay, planning on going to Copan with her

6. Fie - Denmark, 20 years old, second time here, going to a Bible School afterwards in Denmark, futbol fanatic and loves coca cola

7. Lea - Denmark, 20 years old, second time here, best friends with Fie, is a great singer, a strawberry blonde Dane

8. Catherine - Denmark, 24 years old, here on an internship to become a social educator, works in the Tod House all day, loves volleyball and chocolate

9. Anne - Denmark, celebrated her 21 birthday last week, works at the Tod house all day too, makes delicious bread, and some call her Taylor Swift here

10. Leigh - Alabama, 23 years old, has been here since March, will be here for a year, also loves Coke, known as Mama, and has had Dengue Fever since being here - what a champ

11. Leiah (pronounced Lea) - Texas, 20 years old, been here since July, was placed as a school teacher here, spirited and loves to drink tea

12. Karen - Moses Lake WA, unsure of age, is fluent in spanish, has four kids, the whole family will be here for three weeks starting next week, definitely has a heart for orphans

13. Jessica - Moses Lake WA, 16 years old, daughter of Karen, entering running start soon, loves rock music, wonderful card maker, vegetarian, and eats cereal at night

Boys:

1. Jackson - Mississippi, 20 years old, skipped a semester to come here, getting degree in nutrition, works in the clinic and with the pigs, has a soul patch

2. Daniel - Mississippi, 20 years old, awarded best manager for McDonalds, been to central america several times, loves the Madea movies, known as Dan Lee around here

3. Michael - Tennessee, around sixty possibly, has three children, works with the chickens here, has the most incredible life story, and the most joyful person I've ever met

The End