We have our forty bananas! Plus an extra forty! So with two dollars and about five days of waiting for the right banana stand to be open- we have our food for every single meal for the next week!!  There will be bananas in everything!!! 

Some updates:

*  I now know every girl's names in the Little Girls house! This is a crazy big deal for me and now that I know each girl and have asked them individually if it's okay to take and share pictures of them I will post them!

* We have a weird albino salamander living in our bathroom. It's six inches long. I know it eats spiders but honestly I'd rather have spiders. This thing is fast and creepy and yesterday I ran out of there in a panic- and when I went back it in it had hidden. Which is worse than seeing it. It could be anywhere. 

* We are making way WAY less garbage than in America. It's unbelievable. I can't get over the waste I produced before. We don't use paper towels here, we use every single inch of writing paper, we reuse plastic bags, we reuse bottles... everything. Back home our family produced at least three full large garbage bags a week. Here- it's only two small plastic bags. This saving, reusing and consuming less is a good practice for us and one we hope to continue. 

* We are reading more. Joe has actually read a full book. No- not my first grader. Joey my first grader has read many books. But  Husband Joe has completed his first novel in years, or maybe ever. Way to go Joe! 

* I don't have much access to  media down here- no TV, newspapers or any real working internet. Therefore I'm WAY less stressed about Ebola, politicians, the weather and Russia. Maybe my head is in the sand- but for now real problems that are right in front of me (like why Caterine doesn't have shoes that fit and where to get her some) are the only ones my mind obsesses on. 

Here are some pics before my internet over heats on me!
Love to all- Kate


Gah! Nevermind. The internet is not letting me upload pics. It takes too long for it to upload and the connection goes out inbetween. Here's another update though:

* I'm ready for some better internet.

 

It is just starting to feel like Christmas here at Orphanage Emmanuel! The container that is shipped from the United States arrived on Wednesday- containing packages that many people have sent to the children. I can’t wait to send you all a picture of what the tree and presents look like! It took over 26 hours to organize the presents for all the children, label, wrap and stack them under the tree. And it’s done! 

This week has flown by for our family. We’ve had a pretty bumpy few days there with my own kids adjusting, but these last few have gone well. Guy has made a sweet friend named Kenzie. She is in the Little Girls house, seven years old with a quick smile. She loves to play tag and chase and climb on the monkey bars and this past week she and Guy have been inseparable for all of the hours we are there.  When I shower the girls at night she loves to stand in the echoing space and make quaking duck noises with her hands  and mouth for as loud and as long as she possibly can. Those of you that know Guy can imagine that yes, she is a perfect friend match for him. They think the other is hysterical and it is so FUN to see them become friends despite such differences in life, language and culture. 

Some things that are not so fun? Sending my kids to bed hungry because they decided not to eat perfectly good orphanage food. : (  We attend every meal with the Little Girl House, but don’t require our kids to eat every meal. One evening that we did, it was on our menu plan- there was whining, while everyone else ate it right up. So the option passed and Elena and the boys went to sleep with nothing in their belly since 10 a.m. We all re-learned that hunger is very uncomfortable. How blessed we are to have insane amounts and healthy varieties of food available to us most of the time in America.  Joey, Guy and Elena (and even me- the pickiest one of all!) now eat what is in front of us.  Even when we dislike it, which honestly, is most of the time. 

Joe is loving the woodshop, they work, talk, take a break and eat bananas and cookies, teach/work some more… repeat. His Spanish is surpassing mine (I tend to say the same phrases over and over – “Come here, How are you today?, Where did you leave your sweatshirt?, Whose is this?, Please speak more slowly…”). A local man works in the woodshop and told Joe he could get him 40 bananas for one dollar. Tomorrow we are expecting 40 bananas- I’ll let you know if anything got lost in translation/transaction. 

I think that's about it for an update-

The mornings here are cold, the days are hot, and the nights are cold again. Tonight I hugged Joey and Guy fresh from the shower, in clean pajamas and realized that my children are starting to smell like beans and Honduran Laundry detergent. In fact, they smell just like the children in Orphanage Emmanuel at the end of the day,and that means fed and cleaned.

And in America or Honduras, it is really all children need:  to be fed, to be cleaned, to be safe, to be loved.

And we are reminded again and again- it is the small simple basics that hold up a life. 

Love, Kate

Sometimes there is so much to say that I have no idea where to begin. I have a journal next to my bed that I had planned to write in every day. I was going to use it to help process all my thoughts and emotions and record this time. We have been here less than a week and I mostly just scrawl a page right before I fall asleep.  The next morning I can’t even make out some words. Which is fine. Turns out I’m mostly writing about what we ate.  

We all are thinking a lot about food. Joey, Guy and Elena could probably write a whole blog post on their thoughts about it but I’ll save that for later. Our days are finally getting into a pattern and I think we’re all appreciating feeling a routine.  Every morning we wake just before or about 6am and eat breakfast together. At 7 Joe leaves for the workshop and I go to the Little Girls house. The Little Girls house has little girls ages 5-10. My kids play with three matchbox cars on the cement while I help get breakfast ready. I’ll let you know what it is, but I don’t know what it’s called. Rice? No. Corn? No. Some sort of grain and some hot milk in a bowl.  Then thirty girls come out of the rooms and line up and my kids come over and we all sit down and eat. Meals are mostly in silence. Which I thought sounded mean, now I realize it’s brilliant. There is so much chatter during the day, silent meals gives everyone a chance to have a bit of quiet time.  Then we line up and go to the park. 

The park is a big yard with a playground, a cement area with overhang for shade, and some benches. The Orphanage with 550 children, splits up by age group and gender. This is the long break for their students, so school is not in session for three months. Each house (babies, toddlers, Power Tots-boys, Little Girls, Medium Girls, Big Girls, Little Boys, Medium Boys, Big Boys) has a staff member (full time, long term volunteer) that is oversees it. However, staff members have numerous responsibilities so the day to day running of the houses is left up to the older orphans. So, in the Little Girl house there are 6 Big Girls (16 years old-18 years old) who are in charge of the little girls. Each house has their own sleeping/eating quarters and ‘park’ that they are assigned at different times of the day. Anyway, we go to the park. The children are assigned here from 8am-12. I’m in charge of organizing ‘activities’ for them. Surprise!  So far, my ‘activities’ have included coloring, playing tag, trying to get them to put Elena down and braiding hair. I’m looking forward being more on top of my game these upcoming weeks. 

At 11.30, I walk back to the Little Girls house and my kids play with the matchbox cars and I help serve up the lunch. I’d let you know what it is, but I don’t know what it’s called. It varies on the day. Sometimes it’s leftover breakfast with broth and vegetables. Sometimes it’s spaghetti with broth and olives. Normally something with beans.  The kids line up and then we sit down and all eat. Everyone eats everything every meal. It’s good food and bellies are hungry. From 1-3 I bring my kids back to our apartment where Ellie crashes into a nap from exhaustion and Joey and Guy homeschool. At 3 Joe comes back from the workshop and takes the kiddos, and I go by myself up to the Little Girls house. All the little girls squeeze into one shower at the same time (THRITY girls!!) It’s a big shower. Then I’m in charge of lining them up and brushing out each head of hair for lice. I have my comb and no one has towels and I comb and check and take out lice and kiss their cute little wet faces.  Then everyone gets on a nightgown and we do a bible story and songs. Then we line up for dinner. It’something in a bowl.  It’s only about 3.30 or 4 so Joe brings the kids back and we all eat with the children and then eat something at our house later about 6. After dinner I hang out with the girls (big and little) and braid hair and learn Spanish and am back at my apartment at 5!   Except for the past few days we have stayed much longer just to play soccer and learn names. It gets dark at 6 and the night guards come at this time, so everyone should be in their spaces shortly thereafter. 

30 Little Girls. 6 Big Girls. I’ve got about 15 names down pat. My goal is to know them all very soon.

So that’s the schedule Mon- Sat! On Sun we have off and we attend the Orphanage’s Church and then have family day. This past Sunday Family Day included three hours with Jésus. We took him out to eat and to a playground. See, I meant to write about that. Also I meant to write about my feelings. I wanted to write about how wonderful it was to see Jésus, and also about these very special little girls. I wanted to process how challenging it is to try to be with both my children and many other children…There is so much to say and I mostly gave you the schedule and told you about food.  

I’m headed to bed and if I was journaling my writing would start to fade out. So here are some pictures. I know- only two. Because our internet is way sketchier than we had originally anticipated. We can only be on for about seven minutes at a time. But here they are! Captions? Joy. 

Love,
Kate

Hello From Honduras!

Hola! 

We are finally here in Honduras and have spent these last few days settling in!! Traveling here with the kiddos turned out to be much less stressful than I had anticipated. They did great despite a crazy early start time and being completely out of their comfort zone. We woke them up at 2am and within minutes they had on their little backpacks and were ready to go! We had a flight to Atlanta then a connecting flight to Tegucigalpa. After customs we had to grab our bags, change money, take a taxi to the mall, get an internet modem, then go grocery shopping. Then we had a two hour taxi ride up to Guiamaca and the Orphanage. Just a few teary eyes from kiddos from pure exhaustion, but no major meltdowns! We were all on adrenaline and so excited for this much anticipated trip! Their eyes were so wide the whole time as they took in normal new things, like airplanes, and not so normal new things like huts with dirt floors and a few horses sharing the road with cars. 

Now we are here at Orphanage Emmanuel and finally found where we packed socks and toothpaste.

Much to our surprise we are placed in staff housing. This means a kitchen right in our apartment, (complete with stove and fridge), bathroom, multiple rooms, etc.  Although we were more or less prepared to all be sharing one room- we are extremely extremely thankful to have the space to spread out.  Our home is connected to other staff houses, with staff children, and a locked and gated garden area for kids to play in. It feels very safe, secure and compared with the surrounding country- luxurious. We count this all as blessing. The weird working gas stove? Blessing. Well- water that is clean to drink? Blessing. A couch?! Of our own? Incredible.  

Joe is working in the woodshop and already has a list of projects that await completion. He’s looking forward to working with the young men and teaching skills that will help them find future employment.  Instead of the toddler house, I am placed in the Little Girls House (for the month of December at least).  This has worked out great with our family schedule and is really more suitable for our kids’ ages. The girls are ages 5-10 and Joey, Guy and Elena fit right in. Guy is quick to just jump right over the language barrier and immediately tries to make friends. Joey, (always more cautious), takes times to observe, but always joins in games and is actually trying to speak Spanish and understand the language. And Elena. Oh Elena. Her feet haven’t touched the ground since she’s been here. No, literally. The Honduran girls want to touch, and hold and bring her everywhere.  In fact the amount of touching was so overwhelming in the beginning, I had to make some clear boundaries with all the girls. So now they play until enough is enough and Elena sits on my lap. These Little Girls are used to new comers, and new comers mean attention, and I’m sure as we stick around the interest will wear off. Nevertheless, I am deeply thankful for their willingness, openness, and eagerness to play and include my children. I love looking across the playground and seeing my three cuties happily absorbed in a place that is not their own.  

Our Spanish is a pretty solid mix of Spanglish and dramatic hand gestures and furrowed brows. However, that doesn’t keep us from talking, and we are so grateful for different children and volunteers who take the time to correct and teach us, and we hope to become more fluent every day. 

Our first full day we went to the toddler house and spent some time the kids and with Jésus. He is as beautiful as ever . Thank you to all that have asked about him.

There is so much more to say, but I think I better wrap this post up before we lose power again. Last night it went out in the middle of the night, silencing the fan that we had running. Joe and I were wide awake at four a.m. listening to the ruckus of the local town’s chickens, wild dogs and roosters. It was strangely comforting.  We are all learning new routines and new words and meeting new people. We are very happy to have each other. The first night I fought a small strain of panic, there were bars on windows and lots of locks and everyone felt exhausted and guess who forgot to pack her children toothbrushes? (All this packing and I forget TOOTHBRUSHES!!!!)  But every new adventure feels at first strange,and now we are making this ‘home’ and finding things we love about this new place. 

Love to all,

Kate

Ps. Don’t panic. My children now have toothbrushes. : )
Pps Very soon I'll upload pics! 

Happy Thanksgiving from Colorado! 

Trip Beginning

Well, we are officially on our way and on the first leg of our journey! Yesterday evening we arrived safely in Colorado. Our dog Tino is checking out my parent’s place (and cat) with great interest and we know he’ll love the mountains and Grammie and Poppey while we are gone.  We are so happy to be here to celebrate the holidays here before we fly out.

 Our bags are completely packed for Honduras, two backpacks and a suitcase for all five of us for three months. That took quite a bit of brain power. Several times over the past two weeks and the packing process, Joe has walked into different rooms only to find me sprawled on the ground crying that, “my mind is about to explode.”    Again, details are not my strong suit. But the feat is DONE. Our packing list started out large, and of course kept getting pared down more and more as we remembered more essential items and crossed off gear that only could serve one purpose.  During this time many of our belongings were stacked up on the dining room table, our bedroom, the kitchen counter, as I gathered and counted and looked at my list.  I asked Joe to get his clothes together. A FEW MINUTES later he hands me a pile of about 8 pieces. I made him add another shirt. One week later I was done gathering my clothes, and we added our piles to everything else and zipped up the bags.

These past weeks have been filled to the brim with blessings for our family! Our amazon wish list was bought out by two friends in one fell swoop! So we wrote another one, and then that too was bought out immediately.  And still more friends have bought additional cards to amazon for us. Friends have gifted us with a ‘going away party’ and we got to see many of you and share a bit about where we were going.  Friends have shown up with gift cards and financial gifts to send to the sponsorship program. Many of you have written emails, notes, texts and have called to give encouragement. You have offered to watch kiddos, clean my house, help cross off my to do list… We’ve received handmade gifts to take with us, Christmas presents for our children made in advance, and offers to drop everything to help us anyway we need. For all of this and more – we say thank you. It is impossible to love fully without being fully loved yourself and as we gather our family and our bags to leave the midwest, we know we are loved.  When we count our blessings, (we actually name them out loud with our children), we name all of you that have stood by us in these ways. Thank you.

We have been to Honduras, we are thrilled to go back. We have seen children whom we cannot wait to go and sit with and show and say,  you are valuable. You deserve time, attention, resources, investment. God loves you where you are, as you are.  Many of you, friends, have not been to Honduras, and yet you share this joy and excitement with us. Many of you share this because you believe as we do, that the love of God changes lives. When someone knows they are loved, and really believes it, their life is transformed.  And our lives are transformed too.

Please pray for our family as we travel, as we sleep in new places, and ride in new planes, eat new food and learn and a new language. Please pray for our children, that as they take in all this new information that their minds remain alert and their hearts remain soft. Pray that Joe and I will walk wisely, gently, and surely in all ways before us.

As always, please continue to pray for all the children in the world who may not know unconditional love. If all the children in the world seem too many, then please pray for just one. Here are some names of children who could use your prayers: Jésus, Alma, Paula, Omar, Kiki, Blest, Dibora, Yeabsera, Temesgen.

Thank you friends,

We’ll continue to keep you updated here on this blog, feel free to shoot me an email too!! Kate.spadino@gmail.com

Love to all-

Kate and Joe

Joey, Guy, Elena