Bienvenidos a Honduras!

After months of preparation and accumulation of expectations, waiting patiently for the day to arrive, I am finally here! Sitting in the room that will be my home for the next six months, if all goes as planned that is. Ethan, Natalie and I all share a little room with three twin beds tucked next to each other. It's cozy but we think we will manage. The house has two other rooms, one occupied by Eddie, an extremely nice volunteer who is apparently a chef. We all decided that is going to come in very handy, though he doesn't know it yet. The third bedroom is taken by Robert. We have not met Robert, and are all three slightly scared to. He was first mentioned to us by Cristy, the volunteer coordinator, who said only that he was "interesting and on meds". More information later came out when we went to pick up our key to the house from another volunteer, Kim. She had rented a house and any mention of Robert sent her begging Cristy not to give him her number. Unfortunately for Kim, Cristy already had. Woops. So he is still locked in the third bedroom and has not come out for the night. We may even get away with not meeting him because he is leaving in the morning back to the states to "rest and get better". Hmmm. As I write, Natalie somehow managed to break the string for the toilet. She is walking around the house trying to find more string. Hah! Wait, Eddie to the rescue. He is going to be the papa of the house. We can tell already.

Our travels all went relatively smoothly without major hitches. When i arrived to LAX we had a few interesting problems checking in. First off, the woman at the check in thought I was 12 years old and needed paper work to fly unaccompanied. I mean, I understand being rejected from an R rated movie (twice) for looking young, but 12 years old? Then, she gave us some trouble because I had no proof of onward travel before my 90 day Visa was up, but in the end she helped me out by faking a return ticket before that time in case I had trouble at customs. My 12 year old charm must have worked. Natalie and Ethan were not even questioned about return tickets, but I made Ethan come up with a story in case he was asked questions at customs, because his return ticket was for longer than 90 days as well. He would be traveling by bus around the countries with Korey once she joined him. So when we did arrive in San Pedro Sula and walked through customs, I was slightly nervous he would be sent home. But of course the airlines are over cautious and the immigration officers didn't even ask us a single questioned. I'm convinced they looked at us and knew we spoke no Spanish, so thought it wasn't worth their time. We were two hours late into San Pedro Sula because of "mechanical issues" with our plane. I don't typically like to hear that our plane has mechanical issues, especially since we almost took of three times before turning around. So what was supposed to be a two hour plane ride turned into four.

Lenner is the single nicest person i have ever met. Let me say that right off the bat and emphasize it as much as possible. I don't think they make people that nice in the states. Lenner is Cristy's brother, and he picked us up from the airport at 10 and brought us to the Hilton. We all squeezed into his two person truck, and he rattled away about all the different things we should know in San Pedro Sula and in Honduras. He just seemed thrilled in order to have a chance to practice his English. When he heard that we were staying for six months, he became so excited. "Ah! Are you serious?!! And you guys are single, man it's going to be such a fun trip!" Which made us all laugh. He took awesome care of us, arranging for our room, luggage, breakfast, money exchange... literally anything we needed. And then after dropping us off at the bus station he wouldn't even let us give him some money as a thank you.

Cristy and Meily were just as helpful when we arrived in La Ceiba. They picked us up from the bus station, settled us into the volunteer house, and then gave us a little tour of La Ceiba. We stopped by they gym, ate some lunch, and then went to the Hogar de Amor. Everyone who went to Honduras last spring fell in love with the kids. We left a little of our hearts in Honduras, and when I saw their faces, my heart felt whole again. I walked into the Hogar relatively unnoticed. The kids were busy doing homework. I could see Joel on the couch with a book, and Rosa on the computer. Suddenly Rosa turns around to look at the new faces, and the biggest smile lights her face. At that moment, any fear I had of not being remembered was gone. She comes up and gives me a hug and asks me if I cut my hair. I told her that Jack said hi, and the blush that was so often on her face returned in a heart beat. Many of the kids didn't remember me, but when they heard a name that they new they became so excited, asking me when they were coming back. Reina asked constantly about Alexi. "Cuando va a volver, cuando?". Little Joel laughed while remembering Danny's flips, Carolina called out her old cry of "Chelby!" , and Mercedes asked after Harper. I was so happy to tell them they would be back soon. In April! A game of tag soon began, which perhaps was not my wisest decision, especially in flip flops. As I rounded the corner of the hogar, running from the clutches of Ruth, my feet completely flew out from under me and I fell butt first into the mud. Not 10 minutes into my visit and I was sopping and muddy, but laughing so hysterically I couldn't get up. I looked almost as bad as Nate when he purposely dove into the mud patch. Carolina and Lourdes took good care of me though, scolding me for falling, and taking turns washing me off with the hose. No harm done. The kids took Natalie and Ethan in just as easily as they accept any stranger into their hearts. Tomorrow we visit the school, and little by little we shall settle in!