I apologize for the long break in blogs, July proved a challenging month, and words did not seem to convey what I wanted to share. I felt a strong need to be really present here in Honduras. Then after a brief and wonderful vacation in August, the craziness that is September at the farm did not fail to arrive. In an effort to get you all back up to speed I wrote a list of 90 things that happened in the ninety days between Arturo´s confirmation in June (my last blog) and the volunteer retreat in September (my next blog). I hope you enjoy.
1. Nils went on a well deserved vacation for two and a half weeks. The Satterlees also went on vacation. I was the only adult from the finca in La Ceiba with our teens for 12 days.
2. David visited from the farm to help cover the first few days of Nils´vacation.
3. Sor Keidy went to a conference in Ecuador.
4. Jose Manuel and Julitza, kids on the farm, celebrated their birthdays in the same week.
5. I continued to sell cookies at local stores to raise funds for the farm, around 180 to be exact.
6. Scott and I went to lunch at Applebys to celebrate the 4th of July.
7. I made a traditional dinner of chips, watermelon and hot dogs for the teens on the 4th of July.
8. We celebrated the patron of our apartment's feast day July 6, the feast of Maria Goretti.
9. Tami moved back to the states to take a job as an Assistant Principal at a Catholic primary school in California. Saying goodbye was bittersweet for all.
10. 8 people form the farm (3 kids, 5 adults) visited the apartments at once on the same weekend.
11. I saw my dear friend Suyapa, former house mom of house four, at the hospital in La Ceiba while she was helping her mother.
12. I skyped called my friend Alden´s Iphone to attend my dear friend Cassidy Blair´s wedding to Dan Gerber.
13. Nils came back from vaction.
14. Nolvia, Nelly, and Carlos´ school had a festival, I won earrings at the mini bowling pin station.
15. I attended Magdalena´s epic finca wide 12th birthday party and got to spend the weekend at the farm hanging out with her and all her friends.
16. I rode in the land cruiser to Ceiba and then said farewell to my beloved Magdalena. She moved to a wonderful home for girls with special needs in Comayagua where she will be cared for and able to attend a wonderful school which can meet all her needs. It was the hardest farewell I have yet to make at the farm, but also bittersweet, knowing she was headed to a wonderful place.
17. I beat Arturo in Catan twice, and beat him and Nils in Yahtzee three times.
18. Sheena and Francesca visited Honduras!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (my friends and former vols from last year)
19. Nils and I attended the baptisms at the farm. Jose Manuel, Duncan, Kimberly, Brittani, Nahomy, Angel, Hildebrando, and neighbor Waldina´s baby Esteban were all baptized.
20. Suyapa, Rony, and their son Danni visited the farm for the baptisms as well, as the godparents of Duncan.
21. We had a finca wide dance after the baptisms that was epically fun.
22. Honduras advanced to the quarter finals of the Olympics men soccer tournament and Arturo, Marina, Nils, and I watched it live at Burger King with Scott.
23. Peter Tooher and Erin Ramsey visited the farm!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (my friends and former vols) ...and I beat them both in a game of Catan.
24. I went to the states for 10 days to attend the wedding of my life long friend Angela Lankford to Braden Matthews.
25. While on vacation I slept, snacked, and watched the olympics, all in copious amounts.
26. Also while on vacation I shocked my ballet teacher by showing up to class without her even knowing I was in the country.
27. I saw the new Batman in IMAX with my dad (still on vacation).
28. Luz, Lily, Darwin, Sara, Harrison, and Ruben all had birthdays in a 10 day period.
29. Chris Castro, Annie Lauer, Sara Vogelpohl, and Dan O'shea visited Honduras!!!!!!!!!! (former vols and good friends of our teens, Nils, and myself)
30. Chris, Annie, Sara, and Dan took fase 2 out to pizza and the new Bourne movie in La Ceiba.
31. They also went with us up to the mountains to spend a day on the river with all of us.
32. To top it off they even took Nils and I out to dinner while the kids went to youth group.
33. Erin Marina and Erin Lucia celebrated their borthdays on consecutive days.
34. I cooked lunch, alot.
35. Nolvia and Marina feel in love with chocolate pudding.
36. I worked with Janet on her masters thesis and got excited about the possibility of grad school.
37. I attempted to shoot the moon in hearts (card game) more times than I can count.
38. I actually shot the moon in hearts three times.
39. Marina marched in Ceiba independence day parade with her school, aka she is a rock star.
40. Nelly sung the song lyrics "un minuto de silencio te estoy pidiendo" about five million times.
41. The new Wendy's opened up around the corner.
42. Carlos played in a mini soccer tournament for his school.
43-88. Nils and I picked up the daily newspaper around 45 times.
89. The new generator at Wendys in combination with the other local generators created a noise beyond the scale of decibel meters whenever the power went out.
90. Carlos, Arturo, Marina, Nolvia, Nelly, Nils, Sor Keidy, the Satterlees and myself lived 90 more days in la Ceiba, and we are all still alive and well to talk about it!