Me, Gresel, Jamileth and Gretel (kids from the pueblo of Veracruz)

Me, Ivonne, Andrea and Eveling at Laguna de Apoyo

Home Again

This is going to be a short post because I need to sleep, but I will write a longer post later about my trip. I am a little sad to be home, but at least am comforted knowing I will be going back soon. It was a really awesome trip. Some of it was hard, like missing the kids who aren't at the orphanage anymore, and the usual knowledge that there are so many people I am not able to help who are in so much need there. I met new friends, including kids from the pueblo of Vera Cruz and from the dump. I spent time growing friendships I already have with my friends there, and of course, spent time with my favorite kids in the world.

Estoy Aqui

It is so amazing to be back in my favorite place on earth! I am having an awesome time! I´ve gotten to hang out with my best friend/sister three times (the first night we got here, the following night and then yesterday she came with us when we took 20 kids to the lagoon)
The day we got here we went straight from the orphanage to the market to take about 100 kids feom 2 orphanages shopping for uniforms and backpacks. That night we had to be away from the orphanage for the evening since the team that was still there was having a special dinner with the kids on their last night. So we (me, Ashley and Wes-the other two Americans who are here) met up with Ivonne at MetroCenter (the mall) for dinner. Then Ashley and Wes went to pick up our friend Keren (the one who had visited the States from my previous blog) from the airport and I went back to Ivonne´s house for a while.
The next day we took kids from the dump and the refugee camp shopping for clothes. I´d thought Nueva Vida was the sadest place I´d ever seen but the dump is 100 times worse. It is so hard to fathom how people can live literally in a dump. I met an adorable little girl from the dump named Ruth. We sat together on the bus going to the market. She´s 8 and has a 10-year-old brother and 4-year-old sister. She was so sweet.
Yesterday we took about 20 or 25 kids from Casa to Laguna de Apoyo for a day of swimming, kayaking, sailing and for lunch.
Today in the morning we went shopping for clothes to give out to kids in the pueblo of Vera Cruz, where the orphanage is. The market we went today, Mercado Oriental, is the biggest market in Central America. I´d never been there before because I´d only ever gone to Huembes because it´s safer but Oriental is cheaper. It´s supposedly really bad, like 65% of all the crime in the country of Nica happens in this one market, but it was totally fine. I felt completely safe the whole time and we also had 2 Nicas with us.
After shopping we came back and gave out the clothes. We´d only had enough money to buy clothes and backpacks for 60 kids and there were still about 30 or so kids standind around watching. I felt so bad for them because they looked so disappointed that there was nothing for them. So after lunch we went to the bakery and I bought bread for the kids who we hadn´t been able to give clothes to.
Now we´re spending a few minutes here in the Internet place and then going out to dinner ´cause it´s Vinny´s last night here.
So that´s the short version. I will go into more details when I get home.
But here is a brief overview of the good, bad, shocking and just plain weird of my visit so far:

GOOD: Hanging out with my sister and family here. Now that she´s not working at the orfa anymore we were worried that we wouldn´t be able to hang out as much, but we have already gotten to, and we´re going to the beach on Saturday.

SHOCKING: Maria Cristina isn´t at the orfa anymore. Apparently she ran away to live with her boyfriend. She´s 15 and it´s so sad because she´s going to end up in the typical situation here of being a teenage single mom because her boyfriend will probably kick her out when she gets pregnant. I hope not but it happens all too often. The eventually, her kids will end up in the orfa just like she was and the cycle will keep repeating itself.

SAD: It´s just so hard to see all this desperate need around me and not be able to help eeveryone. I know it´s not realistic to even think I can, but it can get overwhelming.

WEIRD: eating at an Italian restaurant in Nicaragua. It was very good, but felt a little strange.

Okay, down to just 2 minutes so I will say Adios for now!

In just a little over 12 hours, this is where I'll be! I am very excited! I can't wait to see my kids again. Hopefully some of them will be at the airport with whoever comes to pick us up.

And I found out that on Wednesday we get to spend the day at Laguna de Apoyo, a beautiful lake in an extinct volcano. There's a pool there and a nice restaurant so Vinny is taking me, my friend Bethany who is coming from New York, a couple other North Americans who are staying at the orphanage, my sister Ivonne and her husband and their daughter, and about 15-20 kids. It will be a blast and it is absolutely beautiful there. I have never actually been down to the level of the lake, but there is a beautiful overlook in Catarina that overlooks the whole crater and you can see Laguna de Apoyo from above. It's all mineral water so supposedly it has healing qualities.

I will try to post to my blog while I am in Nica and will put up pictures when I get back. Now I am going to try to get some sleep since I have to get up in less than 4 hours to go to the airport.

Adios!

So much to do ...

and so little time. That's me, though, I am the queen of procrastination. I had intended to be a lot more productive today than I actually was, but I did manage to get a lot done. Had a meeting with a prospective Arbonne business builder and then got some ORPHANetwork stuff done and started packing the stuff for the kids. Tomorrow I need to see if I can get my other 2 dressers put together, finish doing laundry, finish packing the kids' stuff and write some more letters. I also need to go to the jewelry store my friend owns because she's donating some bracelets for the kids and she'd also sold some jewelry the kids made and has money for me to take to them. Sunday I am going to finish whatever packing remains and try to get my room somewhat neat. I like coming home to a neat room. But that's it, that's all the time I have. I am also at church till almost 1 on Sunday, then have to pick up my roommate from the airport in the afternoon and then go back to church Sunday night for our Singles' "Second Sunday". So I am not going to have much down time to rest during the day. That's okay, though, because I can sleep on the plane on Monday if I am not too excited :)
For now I am off to see "Munich" with Vinny and Mark.
Adios!

Quesillo

I have been really craving quesillo today! That's my favorite Nicaraguan food. It's a particular type of cheese (called, interestingly enough, quesillo) wrapped in a tortilla with onions and sour cream. Most Nicaraguans eat it from a plastic baggie although sometimes just on a plate. I have the onions, which I bought last time I was in Nica. It's all chopped up and comes in a jar so it's not like regular onions you buy from a grocery store here. And I can make tortillas and regular sour cream is fine. But I can't find quesillo here in the States. Tonight I went to La Tienda, the Latino store I go to often, and asked for it but the guy hadn't even heard of it. Another man who was in line knew what it was though and said how much his wife loves quesillo. So we were both trying to describe it to the guy who worked at the store and he went to the refigerated section and came back with what he said was quesillo. But I am sure it wasn't. For one thing, quesillo looks like a braided mozzarella. This cheese was not braided but came in a big wheel of cheese. And it was REALLY expensive, like $32 for the wheel. Since I have never been able to even find quesillo here in the States, I have no idea how much it would cost here, but I know it is nowhere near that expensive in Nicaragua. I am tempted to buy some when I am in Nica and bring it back with me but I am not sure how it would survive the plane trip home. Oh well, my friend Keren promised to take me for quesillos when I am there next week and I am sure Ivonne and Pancho will as well.
I am nowhere near ready for my trip, though. I've done most of the shopping I need to do, which is a start. I bought a CD for Ivonne's birthday (Nichole Nordeman's "Brave" ) and also some Ghiradelli chocolates; a cherry/caramel/popcorn thing; a bag of chocolate covered almonds, peanuts, raisins and caramels and a bag of chocolate covered blueberries for the family to share. I still need to get a birthday present for Isamar, but I am thinking a nice journal and some chocolate, and I want to hit Dollar Tree for a bunch of candy and gifts for the rest of the kids at the orphanage. For myself, I just need to get makeup brushes since mine seem to have disappeared, and some travel toiletries. Yeah, I know it's bizarre that I would even wear makeup at all while visiting an orphanage in a third world country, but I do wear it to church and if I go out to dinner with my friends, and it's fun for the older girls and I to do each other's makeup. They really enjoy it. I need to finish writing letters to the kids, and also organize and pack all the gifts people have donated. I am really hoping it will all fit in one bag so I can use a suitcase for my clothes this time. I usually just use one of my carry-ons for my clothes, which is fine, but it can get heavy and I hate having to ask for help getting my bag into the overhead compartment, which is really difficult because of my back. So we'll see.
Well, I'd better quit procrastinating. I still have to put together the dressers My parents gave me for Christmas, write some more letters to bring to Nica, and do some packing. Thank God I am not working between now and when I leave so I have some time to get everything done.

Hello 2006

As I look back over 2005, it was a pretty good year for me ... I got to go to Nicaragua 3 times, I met my best friend, started my Arbonne business, learned a lot, grew a lot. I am really looking forward to seeing what 2006 has in store. Hopefully more trips to Nicaragua (my first one coming up in less than a week from now!), seeing my Arbonne business grow, meeting new people, having new experiences. It should be an exciting journey.
I am very excited because I am finally going to get to go to Willow Creek, near Chicago, in March. I have been wanting to visit Willow Creek for the past 4 years, ever since I started going to Spring Branch. This past Sunday I found out there is a Promiseland conference in March and since I volunteer in the Nursery on Sundays and also help teach the MOPS class, I thought it would be good to go to the conference. I can't wait! :)

Prospero Nuevo Año

So this is my first post of 2006. Tonight was so much fun! Betsy had a New Year's Eve party at her house for the kids from Ukraine who are here, and their host families, and her neighbors and other friends who are/have been involved with ORPHANetwork/Frontier Horizon. My friend Keren was there and I got to make a few new friends I hadn't known before. And I learned how to say "Happy New Year" in Ukrainian. I have no idea how to spell it because they use a different alphabet, but it was fun getting to wish the Ukrainian kids Happy New Year in their own language. :)