Christmastime is Here

Here in Honduras, Nochebuena (Christmas Eve) is a bigger deal than Christmas Day, so I was quite busy on the 24th. After breakfast and chores, we all headed down to the courts for games. I helped out with a game called El Dulce that is so classic Ranch it’s ridiculous. Here’s how it works. First, you go to the kitchen and get several blocks of this brown sugary substance. Then, you put it in the middle of a sack in a space marked out in a field. You then take a child, blindfold him, and hand him a MACHETE. (I wish I was joking). Whatever part of the giant sugar cube he hacks off is his to eat. No, seriously. In the late afternoon, I got to talk on the phone to several of my precious girls on their internship in the city. Then I got pretty because Deysi told me on the phone that I had to andar guapa. So I decided to go Honduran or go home and wear the dress I bought at the secondhand store three of my girls worked at. It was definitely a big hit on the Ranch, although Quinn might punch me if I wear it at home. In the evening we had the pastorela, which was a video of the kids acting out the Christmas story. We then all headed down for dinner in Buen Pastor. We had nacatamales, empanadas, and fruit that we hardly ever get (apples and grapes). They put on a movie for the kids, but I mostly hung out with my mara by the bonfire. The best part was having little Natalia (new to the Ranch, completely adorable, and desperate for affection) fell asleep on my lap. That night was kind of like New Year’s in that you stay up until midnight and then everyone gives hugs and says, “Feliz Navidad.” It felt really good to get hugs from so many people…sort of a physical manifestation of the relationships I’ve made with pequeños and grandes here. We headed back to hogar around 1:00 a.m., and I had signed up to do turno (spend the night in hogar). It was basically a big sleepover, and we ended up watching movies on my laptop until 6:30 in the morning. Totally ridiculous and really fun. By the time I actually got to my bed, one of the girls was already asleep in it!!

Christmas Day was good too. We finally dragged our sorry butts out of bed at 10:00. I had played Santa and put their presents on the girls’ beds next to their sweet little sleeping (most of them) heads. The girls were so grateful for the bolsitas I’d put together for them, and many of them were using their soaps and lip glosses, wearing their earrings, and eating their treats that day. They were really excited about the mirrors I bought for the two bedrooms – definitely a good choice. Even though we got up so late, there was still food by some miracle, and we were able to have breakfast. Afterwards, I headed down to the Buen Pastor to deliver gifts to my monton of ahijados (a chess set for Axel and framed pictures for the others). I was able to get a quick nap in before I went back to hogar. Momo and Reinhart invited me to lunch at their house, and we had a really nice time. I feel like they’ve kind of adopted me. In the evening, we lined up outside Casa Suyapa for a candlelit procession into the church. It was decorated beautifully, and mass was really nice. Natalia fell asleep on my lap AGAIN, but mass involves lots of sitting down and standing up and I was in heels, so that was more of a challenge. Each hogar was assigned a part of a poem to read or, más bien, memorize. I had two of my girls say they would do it and then back out, so as mass began, the little slip of paper was passed to me. I spent most of the first part of mass memorizing the poem with Natalia on my lap. But it went fine. I loved the music and was tickled to recognize a song I’d learned for Christmas in flamenco classes. I went back to hogar for dinner and then bowed out as soon it was reasonable to pass completely out in my own bed.

I really miss my family and friends and was so glad to get to talk to some of them on Christmas Day, but I’m not as sad as I thought I might be. As I said to my girls at breakfast on Christmas, being my first one away from home, I was so glad to get to spend it with them. Here, there is no shortage of love and affection, and I am so grateful for this experience.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Or at least feel like it. It's been really strange to sit under the sun and realize Christmas is in two days. But then I look around and see the Christmas trees, swags, nativity scenes, and lights, and I remember. The tíos really did an incredible job decorating. Tuesday was my last day off, and it was lovely. I watched Beauty and the Beast while I wrapped presents and put together bolsitas (little baggies with treats and small gifts - sort of like stockings) for the Pilares. My consentida came over around 11:00 to hang out. I made her french toast, and we played with her friend's puppy Clifford. In the evening, we had the Christmas dinner for Talita Kumi (all the girls). All the tías and volunteers wore red and put on Santa hats. Mine lit up, and I got a ton of attention for it. We all know how much I hate that. Dinner was so good. We had pork marinated in some kind of sauce with dried cherries, scalloped potatoes (!!!), salad, and flan. There was a bonfire, music, and I showed a PowerPoint I made of photos I took of the girls in El Salvador. When I got home and sat at the picnic table, my friend Juan Luis (who is a university student that I met on my trip last year and I haven't seen in months) popped by. He was quite taken aback by how much my Spanish had improved and gave me the best compliment ever - that I'm now speaking like a Honduran! These last few days, I've begun my role as tía. It's really easy in Pilares because they get themselves up, do their chores without much reminding, and head off to work while I hold the fort in the hogar. Pretty easy so far. Tonight is the volunteer Christmas dinner. Tomorrow will be a busy day - Christmas Eve is a bigger deal than Christmas Day. Estefany offered to give me Christmas Day off since she's leaving me alone and in charge when she goes to visit family the 26th-30th. I thought I might be lonely, but Tía Momo invited me to Christmas dinner at her house. So I'll be just fine. And I just might be filled with the Christmas spirit.

Vacation in Amapala

According to Lonely Planet: "Amapala is a quiet fishing village on Isla del Tigre, a 783m-high inactive volcano island. Founded in 1833, Amapala was once Honduras' main Pacific port town, before the port was moved to San Lorenzo on the mainland."

Here's how my vacation started: Leila and I left for Tegus early Friday afternoon to do some Christmas shopping. It was absolute madness there. We picked up a cake for Max's birthday and met up with the other volunteers to share it. At the bar we were at, we met several expatriates who knew Amapala well and offered to help us out. Later, at we headed to the Honduran equivalent of a farmers' market, where I ordered a torta (the Honduran equivalent of a sloppy Joe). We followed that up with a night of dancing at Mister Marino, where we encountered the entire Ranch (exaggerating a little bit, but still awkward).

In the morning, we met up with the expats in Parque Central. They guided us to the shadiest bus station ever in Comayaguela (the most dangerous neighborhood in Tegucigalpa, the most dangerous city in all of Central America). I was definitely freaked out when I was warned by one of my Pilares who is working in the market on empleo and who I ran into, my Honduran friend Chele who was to accompany us, and some random lady, that it was really risky for us to be there. Eek. I felt much better when Chele arrived and we were all safely on the bus. After four hours, we finally arrived at Coyolito. From there, we took a fishing boat to the island. The daughter of one of the guys we met was going to meet us and help us with a place to stay, but she was far away from the beach, so we went with Chele's suggestion that we stay with a woman who had always offered him a room. After walking for what seemed like forever, I started to think negatively. As in, what if there is no food and shelter because this is not the United States and I just sit down and die? Sometimes I'm a bit dramatic. Well, I shouldn't have doubted Chele because at the end of Playa Grande was a small hotel with its own restaurant run by the incomparable Doña Digna. It was literally right on the beach, and as soon as we girls got our stuff in the room (the boys opted to camp on the beach), WE SWAM IN THE PACIFIC OCEAN. As a native Washingtonian, this was just so counterintuitive for me. We finished up the night with fried fish caught fresh that day.

We woke up to the boys playing soccer on the beach with the locals. After a lovely breakfast, we set out to...relax on the beach. We drank out of a coconut and I got a ridiclously awesome tan. Digna's son Javier offered to show us Playa del Diablo. We went on a little hike, and from there the bad decisions began. To get to Playa Diablo, you have to jump off of a tree on a cliff into water of questionable depth. Which I did. After another short hike, the group decided to swim across the bay to an island. I've always been warned against swimming unknown distances because it's always longer than it looks. I am an extremely poor swimmer (not so much with the floating), but Pete and Tiffany offered to be my personal water wings, so I went ahead and did it. I'm pretty impressed with myself and how I'm pushing myself physically this year. I don't think I'll be afraid of anything after this. We headed back to Playa Grande and decided epic three-way chicken fights were in order. Jason and I reigned supreme, due to his brute strength and my willingness to play dirty combined with an insatiable desire to win. We headed into town that night and found a little restaurant on the water. Patricia and I shared a plate of ceviche (raw something-or-other that lives in the ocean) and camarones al ajillo (shrimp in garlic sauce). The shrimp was by far the best food I've had in Honduras.

We left Amapala early this morning. The girls rode in a motor taxi as much for the experience as the desire to never walk again. The bus ride was much more unpleasant this time, as most of the group had to stand the whole time. A nice gentleman eventually offered me his seat. When we got into Tegus, I finished up my Christmas shopping and went and visited three of my girls in the store they work at in the center. I hung back when the rest of the group headed up to Cerro Grande so I could have coffee with another girl, but she wasn't able to get off work. Walking around with so much stuff always freaks me out. I'm convinced I'm going to get robbed. It's not entirely unfounded since it recently happened to two of our volunteers. I was relieved to get up to the Cerro and find the rest of the volunteers, Momo and her daughter Camila, and several others from the Ranch. But that also meant that they hadn't gotten on a bus yet. EVERYONE was in Tegus today, and the buses were so full people were hanging out the doors. Fortunately, a friend of Momo's passed by in a relatively empty van and took us all the way to our doorsteps on the Ranch. What luck!

Now I'm here and getting settled in for the long haul that is Christmas. Christmas dinner is tomorrow night, and the tíos and tías leave the next day. Each hogar is assigned a university or high school student or two to be in charge (volunteers are there as a support). But not mine. It's just me and one of my girls, Estefany. I'm looking at 11 days as Tía Kimmie. Wish me luck.

Interim Visitor Coordinator

That’s me. I live in fear of hearing “Kimmie, adelante” on the radio. Not really. Since the school year is over and I’m back from El Sal, I’ve been asked to step into Marie’s shoes while she’s on vacation. I decided that would be a good change of pace from teaching and preferable to vacation courses down at the school. My job involves andaring with a radio and two cell phones, escorting visitors to and from the airport, showing them around and orienting them to the Ranch, arranging transport, being in charge of Agua Azul (purified water – muy importante), checking my e-mail and organizing (yay for Internet access during the day), and basically being pendiente of all visitors here. It’s not too bad, actually. All the directors have my back and are really excited to have me helping out. I’ve already won over the founders of the surgery center who are here visiting and are bringing a medical brigade in January that I’ll be helping with before I head home for a short visit. We’re currently planning room assignments, schedules, and meals. This week, there’s been a newscaster here from Germany. She’s filming in order to pitch a project that would potentially air on a telethon and could get us a lot of money for NPH, so she’s a VIP. She’s really laid back and nice. I took her to the airport yesterday, and she invited me to come visit her in Germany. She said I could stay with her and she’d take me on a tour of the country. Definitely some perks to this job! I’ve been working pretty much non-stop since El Salvador, so I get Wednesday and Thursday off. All the volunteers have the 17th-21st off since we’re on lockdown at the Ranch after that for Christmas. Some of us are heading south to Amapala – really looking forward to it!

Top Ten Signs You’ve Been Ranchified

1)When someone hands you a plastic bag of liquid, you immediately bite off the corner and begin sucking it out in order to drink it.

2)You know the Our Father and Rosary in Spanish, and you’re not Catholic.

3)You fervently believe that hot sauce can make anything taste better.

4)You spit out orange and watermelon seeds on the floor because you know they will get mopped up later.

5)You say any of the following Spanglish phrases: “¿Oh, sí?” “Es tan easy.” “Otro feeling.” “Que big (insert adjective of your choice).”

6)You wear shorts and a shirt over your bathing suit because you have pena about it.

7)You point with your lips.

8)You have a brood of ahijados and consentido/as.

9)You complain about lukewarm showers because they just don’t get you as clean as a cold one.

10)Nothing is more annoying to you than someone ensuciaring your newly mopped floor.

El Salvador

Seeing as soccer is the national sport of every country other than the United States, it’s seems only natural that Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos would have its own international soccer tournament. This year marks the fourth annual torneo, and it was held in El Salvador. Teams from Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Mexico all compete (we have 4 other homes which don’t participate for one reason or another). Since I went to NPH El Salvador last summer, I’d been begging to be taken along for weeks so I could see my goddaughter and my other friends there. Last Tuesday, Stefan finally gave me the go ahead. Here are the highlights (although maybe I shouldn’t call them that, since they include the good, the bad, and the ugly):

Bus Ride: You would think that 47 people plus luggage riding in a school bus for 44 would be pretty awful, but I actually enjoyed myself. It reminded me of a band or a dance team trip. On account of being a skinny-mini, I got voted to sit three to a seat. But it wasn’t too bad - lots of listening to iPods, playing travel games, and sleeping on each other’s laps. The best part was when I finally figured out why the boys kept calling the folding paper map a “hay-pay-essay.” That would be GPS in Spanish.

Soccer: I watched a lot of it. What I didn’t see a lot of was my team winning. Turns out backing the NPH Honduras teams is sort of like being a Seattle sports fan. The girls played really hard all four games, but didn’t manage to win a single one. They were all real heart-breakers, too. It wasn’t for lack of talent or effort; it just wasn’t in the cards for them. The last game was the worst; they were neck and neck until 3 goals were scored by El Sal in the last minute. The poor things had just given up, and we ended up in last place. The boys fared marginally better. They tied three games and lost one, which put them in the semi-finals. They were up 2-0 the first half, but gave up two goals in the second. It came down to penalty kicks. After NINE, we finally missed and lost the game. They didn’t even try to win third place in the last game and ended up in fourth. It was really hard to see my kids lose. I felt a strong mama bear righteous indignation about the whole thing (including throwing a minor fit when one of my kids got pulled out of the game).

Azucena: My precious 10 year-old ahijada was one of the best parts of the trip. She was as sweet and affectionate as always, and a little less timid than last time. She was thrilled to have me there and glued to my hip whenever she got the chance. I loved bringing my consentida from Honduras to meet her. She told her how pretty she was and asked her where she got her headband, knowing it was from me. That’s the two of them in the picture.

El Salvador Girls: Roxy was so surprised to see me, and I got the best hug from her. I was reminded of what a dear person she is when I attempted to hand wash my clothes. She walked me through it, did some of it for me, and then hung my clothes up next to hers. She took them down the next day, folded them, and put them in her locker for safe-keeping. I know she took care of her brothers and sisters for a long time when her mom died, but it just impresses me when a young person like that has those skills as well as the desire to care for others. It was great to cheer on her sister Gloria in the games (I got in trouble for being at all the Honduras games and missing hers, so I had to make time), even though she had to go to the hospital with a sprained wrist. Susy was shy with me at first, but eventually opened up and we fell back into our old level of comfort. Doris gave me a hard time for writing to the other girls and not her, so I made sure to give her all my contact information. She’s leaving for a convent in a few weeks, but I guess even nuns have Facebook. I had a lovely visit with Juana, and Tía Silvia was delighted to see me and wrote me a lovely letter. My Chicas Uno called my name wherever I went, and my favorite part was reading to them in their jammies on my last night there.

Honduras Girls: I really got then opportunity to form new relationships with girls I didn’t know too well and strengthen those I already had. I painted fingernails, held hats and jewelry during games, encouraged reluctant girls to dance for the noche cultural, and took girls on their first water slides on our excursion day. When you’re in close quarters with 20 women and girls, you learn to share a lot. I shared my iPod, camera, clothes, comb, nail polish, nail clippers, lotion, chapstick, ponytail holders, barrettes, you name it. The other volunteers seem surprised that I get things back, but I trust the girls (although I am pendiente of my things).

Glenda: On Tuesday, we received the sad news that one of the pequeñas in Santa María Reina (the special girls’ house on the Ranch) passed away. She was unwell in the morning and taken to the hospital, but there was nothing the doctors could do for her. Father Phil said a special mass for her, and all the Honduras delegation attended. Stefan was able to go for the funeral and return on Wednesday.

Dinner Out: On Wednesday, all the adults were treated to a dinner off the foundation at a house on a lake. It was just beautiful, and the food was delicious. We even had tiramisu for dessert! That night really helped me get to know the tías and tíos better. My Spanish was really on that night, and I felt like I could really be me. It felt great for me to feel funny in another language!

The trip had its ups and downs; it definitely wasn’t all sunshine and roses. I’m grateful that I got to go, but I definitely had some hard times. My emotions were running pretty high, and I felt alone at times. I was always included, but I didn’t quite feel like I belonged. I wasn’t a pequeña playing soccer and visiting my friends from other countries and I wasn’t a tía there to take care of the girls. I loved seeing my El Salvador friends, but they were busy running the tournament. Deysi, one of my Pilares, was my safety net this trip when I felt lonely, and she was always at my side making sure I was okay. I have to admit, I did get really homesick at one point and had some tears. I’ve been doing really well and this was supposed to be really fun; I wasn’t expecting to feel what I felt. But what I’ve realized here is that even though the lows are really low, the highs are that much higher. And I just have to remember that.