A short one..

Michelle is 5. She is a perfectionist and tests all
volunteers to see if she has to behave.
She likes to be the example. 

Marlon is 6, the oldest child at Casa Cielo. He is
friendly, helpful and obedient.

Hello friends,
Thanks for your prayers. I can’t get the Internet to download the comment page so here’s a few personal messages.
Amanda! Yikes, I haven’t been gone that long, how could you have so much produce already? I wonder what Jordan is doing with all that stuff.
Mary Lynn—Hadley has written Alexis a long letter, but we need to buy an envelope and a stamp. That could take all week! And who knows how long it will take to arrive.

It’s cloudy again today. We’ve had clouds for at least five days now, for part of the day. Praise God. In Michigan, I get grumpy after days of clouds. Here I celebrate. I love the rain. It brings cooler air and relief.

Sleeping here is a challenge. One night, the cows that graze on two sides of our house decided to moo all night. Usually they are quiet. I remember a baby toy where you would turn a little can up side down and it would moo. Those toys had incredible sound accuracy. So one night the cows kept me awake. Then last night, Kassy woke up once whining for her water bottle. It was in the fridge because cold water is a treasure. When I went to get to water bottle (careful walking at night, there are spiders on the floor), the puppy was whining and whimpering. So I gave Copper more food and went to bed. Around 3:30 am, Kassy came back to our bed crying about a potty accident. Hadley and Kassy share a twin bed (yes, that’s been an adjustment). Their mattress had a big puddle of liquid poop, another puddle on the ground and a trail leading to the bathroom. We don’t have paper towels are here—they cost between $2.00-$3.00 US dollars for a roll. We don’t have cleaners, just bleach and dish soap. We don’t have rags. So we used our bath towels to clean up the mess, mopped the floor with bleach and then were wide awake. I took the soiled sheet and towels outside to the laundry sink. It was still dark, but the rooster next door was cock-a-doodle dooing to wake up the sun. Praise the Lord there was only one accident and no more traces of the issue so far today!.

Cano

Pam and Chris brought with us friends from Minnesota: Cano and Betty. Cano is Puerto Rican and his Spanish has been invaluable in communicating with tia and the Honduran workers at the property. Cano and Betty will leave tomorrow. We will miss them.

Alejandra and Betty

So some Honduran facts for you, from Papa Jones. Over 90% of kids in Honduras are fatherless. The culture here has little to no concept of marriage. A man sleeps with a women and feels no obligation to stay with her or to help raise the kids that may result. Domestic violence is a big problem. In fact, one morning our tia (Maria is a sweet, tiny woman who works hard and cooks brilliantly) showed up at her usual time of 6:30 am. She was crying. Her 12-year-old son was in tow. Her boyfriend had been drinking and didn’t want her to go to work. But she hasn’t worked in months (unemployment here is over 60%) and knew she needed to go because working for us is a trial for being hired at the orphanage. Her husband struck her, but she came anyway, bringing her son, for his safety. Papa Jones and Cano went home with Maria, and spoke harshly with the boyfriend. So far, so good.

My dad used to be frustrated with me because I took a bunch of Spanish in high school and a little in college and didn’t do anything with it. Languages don’t come naturally to me and I never went anywhere to actually practice. I’ve forgotten so much, especially my verb conjugations. But five of the kids in my class are from the village and know almost no English. I’m getting proficient at yelling Spanish commands and speaking simple sentences. My verb tenses are often incorrect, but the kids understand me. Dad, I’m using my Spanish!

A cow wandered down the highway
and into our ditch

Butcher shop in Village

I wish I could easily upload pictures for you (pictures you see here were added after I returned to the states.) I would upload pictures of all the bikers that go by on the highway: foreigners racing, bikers with two small kids on different parts of the bike, bikers with piles of wood or bales of food for the cows, bikers with ice cream trucks. And I’d take pictures of the houses. They know how to use color here. If a person can afford an actual cement house (as opposed to the many shacks built of scrap everything) they are colorful. Bright yellows, oranges, greens, and pinks. None of these tan, beige, or white houses of new developments in the US.

Selling mangos and avocados at market

Gotta go….thanks for reading. (I added more pictures at the end of post, scroll all the way down)