Moving along

I am still here at the casa, 3 more weeks before time to head back to Va. again. Things have been going along as normal. It is hotter than ever; 104 degrees Friday and Sat., 107 on Sunday and supposed to be the same today. And no it is not a "dry" heat like Arizona, it is sticky. It is so hot inside our house that it burns when you touch the table or kitchen counters. No, we don't have a/c. My toothpaste has melted into toothliquid and the liquid hand soap is very hot when you use it. It was 120 degrees when I was in Egypt years ago and this heat is way worse than that desert heat was.

http://www.timeanddate.com/weather/honduras/san-pedro-sula/historic

Kimberly, the youngest girl at thee casa, went back to live with her mother. It was a little sad because she was doing so well here. She had recently learned to walk on her own and she had been moving about the casa alot. She was eating really well and gained a lot a weight, a real chubby little girl. That was the main reason for her coming here; to get well and in good health. The sad part was that her brother, probably 2 years older than her is skinny as a twig and really malnourished. The grandfather says he does not like beans or vegetables so they don't make him eat either. The fear is that will happen to her when she returned to her family. They talked to the family services people who said since the mother placed her here at the casa voluntarily she can take her home when she wants and there is nothing they can do. We will pray for the best for her and hopefully the family will put into practice the nutricion advice they were given.

I went to lunch yesterday with Darwin and Mauricio. Darwin is my friend who grew up at casa Amor y Vida and left there 2 years ago. He lives about 2 hours from here and comes every other month to the hospital for his check up and get his HIV medicines. We always go to lunch when he is in town. It is nice to keep up with him after he left the area. He started back to school in Feb. after being out a year due to missing paperwork he was never given when he left Amor y Vida. Mauricio had his hospital visit the same day and came along with Darwin who me met through me in the past. Mauricio lived in my casa for 2 years and returned to his family, living with his aunt and uncle, in Dec. He is doing well and is growing a lot.

Two months down, one to go

Obviously my blogging has changed during my return to Honduras. This is partly due to me relocating with the boys to our new house a few blocks away. It is not that far of a move, but far enough that the office, which before was just a few steps from my room, is now a couple blocks away. Also, I am busy most mornings when I would use the computer the past few years. All the boys in our house now go to school in the afternoons, except Jaime who splits days with Masbely, Sandra and me for homeschooling. Unfortunately he has not changed much.

Speaking of Jaime, one of his older brothers came to visit him for the first time a couple of weeks ago. His brother, Wilfredo, is 16 and lives in another childrens home here in San Pedro Sula. He spent a little time with Yohanna and Jaime who are siblings. They have another older brother Rigoberto who is 18 or 19 and lives with their father. Maybe some day they will come to take Jaime to live with them. I think living in a family would be the best thing for him.

This week was Milton's 18th birthday. Last year he was told that he would have to move out the day after because he had be somewhat of a problem as well, but that changed and he is going to continue on here hopefully to complete school if he sticks with it and does not get into too much trouble here. Milton is the 4th boy from the casa to reach 18, the other 3 have already left. Josué and Carlos live next door to our new house so I see them a lot. Unfortunately, neither goes to school nor works which is a disappointment. This is the main reason they decided to let Milton stay dispite his problems because they did not want to see a 3rd boy being unproductive. Sindy will turn 18 in May and Alba in October so this year there will be 3 reaching the age of "majority."

Last week was Semana Santa (Holy Week) and the kids were all out of school. Thursday, Friday and Saturday are national holidays and almost everything was closed. We set up the swimming pool again and the kids got to swim. We even have a little one in our house for the boys to use. I went to Tegucigalpa on Friday to bring Maynor from NPH here for the week, but unfortunately there was bad miscommunication (not on my part), normal for Honduras, and Maynor went camping with all the other boys for several days. I had just gone there 2 weeks before to finalize the visitation and everything was on track and all the right people knew, so I don't know where the miscommunication happened after I left. Anyway, I spent a night at NPH alone and returned the next day without him. Everyone here was disappointed that he did not come for the week.

I have just about 1 month left here. I leave on May 14th. My plans are to return to work after returning home. I don't think I will have to shovel 4 1/2 feet of snow this time back.