I only meant to eat half of the chocolate bar.

One of the students living in my house passed his entrance exams to start medical school in the Capital next year. I thought that deserved a congratulations present. I went to the store to buy him a Snickers. I asked for one. Then I asked for 2. Then I gave him one last night. And I just ate the other one right now. Supper is an hour and a half so I thought eating half would be a good thing. And half a chocolate bar IS a good thing. But do you know what is even better? A WHOLE chocolate bar. Maybe it will be beans tonight and I won't really want to eat anyway. :)

I started school again this week. And I had such a compliment today!!! My teacher said that the lightbulb seems to have turned on! I don't know what she was implying about the first 11 weeks that I studied but I will take it!! :) Maybe having a break let me just build on my base and now I feel like I can move onto the harder stuff and try it in real life. This week of school seems to have flown by for me! Which is unusual. I mean, we are talking about school here. But I am glad. I will study for the whole month of August. And I am looking forward to being able to say "should". It is a tense, not just a word. And I found out it is the last tense I will learn. But have you ever tried to explain the meaning of "should"? It is really hard. Try it some time. Then try it in a different language that you have not mastered. Fun times people!!!  

I don't fear going into stores anymore and I don't practice every sentence in my head before I say it when meeting new people. I have even thought in Spanish a few times so I MUST be getting something through my head. 

Also this week, I went back to the school I went to last week. On Monday the kids did these little choreographed dances (each grade did one) to welcome the group that was here from England. It was adorable!!! They were so cute in their little costumes and their little moves. I stupidly did NOT bring my camera. What was wrong with me??!!?? Then on Tuesday afternoon the group did a presentation for the parents and pastors in the community. There were a lot of people. And a lot of kids. I was sitting in a section that had free space behind me so of course the kids congregated there to play. So it was a bit noisy and I tried to not be distracted too much. One of the speakers has been blind since birth. She spoke about her experience. She had some books that her mom had made for her. They had writing and braille and had textured things to make the pictures. One was called "Where is Phillipa?" It had a door that opened, you looked under the bed, etc. It was pretty great. One man shared a lot of verses from the Bible talking about people with disabilities and sicknesses, about guilt, how to treat them, etc. It was good. And an occupational therapist talked about ways to relate and communicate with people with disabilities. 

Tomorrow I am going to meet with a nurse that I worked with when I did the surgical team. We are going for lunch. I met her daughter at the same time and she has been here in Antigua studying Spanish the last 6 or 7 weeks (and before we met as well). We have been trying out a bunch of restaurants. I recommend nachos at Rainbow Cafe and the chicken and cheese quesadilla at Sky Cafe. 

And I am finally going to see a movie in a theatre! One of the students in the house has gone to a theatre several times so he is taking me and another student and another friend into the city (Guatemala City). The other student in the house is a 62 year old Japanese man and he wanted to ride a chicken bus. So that is why we are going. :) It is a really cheap theatre (about $1.50) so they are probably old movies but that is okay. One day I am going to find someone to go see 'My Sister's Keeper' with me. 

Oh, and guess how long it took me to finish the bag of sour wine gums. Well maybe I won't tell you and let you give me the benefit of the doubt. :)

Take care all!!!!

Sour Wine Gums are sooooo yummy.

At the beginning of July I only had 2 bags of sour wine gums so one for July and one for August. I managed to wait until yesterday to open my August bag. I am pretty impressed with myself. They really are a very good candy. 

Last week I started volunteering in the afternoons at a place called Casa Jackson. It is a hospital/home for severely malnourished kids. There are only 7 kids right now but they have room for a lot more. There is a nurse present all the time. And the kids eat pretty much every 2 hours, even through the night. They drink a fortified milk for the snacks and something more substantial for meals. 

There is a lot to work on developmentally with these kids. One little guy is almost 4 years old and I think he was 24 lbs. when he came in 3 weeks ago. He doesn't talk. He makes a noise like a bird, kind of like the sea gull noise that Drew Barrymore makes in the movie Fever Pitch (it is a good movie if you haven't seen it). He also doesn't walk by himself. And there is a 2 1/2 year old (they think he is 2 1/2-was found on the street) that walks but is very short and doesn't talk either. They all have pretty severe stats. in terms of weight and height etc. 

So I am trying to work with them the best I can. Most of the volunteers have no training so mostly play with the kids and love on them. Which is good but they have to work on other stuff. The almost 4 year old was pretty fussy when I first made him walk but quickly went from 2 handed help to one hand. Then yesterday he walked by himself! I was so proud of him and gushed all over the place to let him know how great it was. He walked about 6 feet to the wall and 6 feet back and as I was watching him come back I could see his little legs just a shaking with all the exertion (kind of how my legs shake after I rock climb!). But I think he was excited about it. He just needs to practice to build strength. It won't take long. The speech is another matter. He has said a few words, he repeated "boca" (mouth) the first day I was with him. But the next day refused to talk at all. I tried! Yesterday he was better. I praise him all over the place when he says a word and he responds well to the attention. His comprehension seems fine. He just needs to practice his words as well. I am not a speech therapist but I hope to help him a little at least. The 2 1/2 year old also responds well to the attention when I praise him for talking. So I will keep at it with them. I hope to go 2-3 times a week in the afternoons after class. 

A funny thing happened at Casa Jackson. There was only one other volunteer and myself there yesterday. We took 4 of the kids up to the playroom and I took two up at once. They only weigh about 25 lbs. each. When we were getting ready to go downstairs I said to the other volunteer (she is 21 and has been there almost 2 months I think) that I wasn't going to take both at once as they had been hitting each other etc. She said to me that is was better if I only took one at a time. It was safer that way. HAHA! I am pretty confident with my baby handling but I didn't want to insult her so I didn't say anything. I had a good laugh in my head though. 

Last week I also went to visit the school of the nurse I wrote about a while ago (she has the school for kids with special needs). I went with Amy, she is an occupational therapist there and has been working there for 7 years (and she is my age. Well, she is in the '30' range but only about a year or two older than me. But I am still in my 20's!!!!). It ended up not being a normal class day for the kids so I basically just toured the school and they left early. We went to visit a couple of families in their homes. The school is in a small village outside of Antigua. I had gotten so used to being here that it surprised me again when we visited the houses. I had seen it before so it shouldn't have. But next week there is a group coming from England to hold workshops and presentations for 3 days about handicapped kids and integration. So I will go to those and I am looking forward to it. What I would like to do there is help tutor the kids one on one outside of the classroom. Some have physical handicaps, some have mental handicaps and some have learning disabilities. So it is something I have no experience in but I am excited to try it. 

Watching the kids practice their songs (they were doing dances to songs to prepare for the group that is coming) I ached again to work more with handicapped kids. My wish would be to have a kids home here for kids with mental and physical handicaps. That is not where I am feeling led right now but maybe later. I pray that that is in God's plan for me. 

I am trying to be better at updating this. And now I am finally doing fun things that I can write about!

Oh, and last night I was talking to a friend from home. She has twin girls who just turned 2 almost a month ago. She let me say hi to them quickly (they are talking so much more now!) but then she had to go to put them to bed. I got a phone call about 20 min later from Amy. Jocelyn was crying and sad and Amy was cuddling her and asked why. She said because she missed Nomi. AHHHHH! So she felt better after talking to me. But then I was crying because I miss them so much. And I didn't think they would really remember me enough to be sad. Amy shows them my picture and talks about me so that makes me pretty happy. When I go home to visit they will be almost 3! They will have changed so much. Abby will too (she is 4 now) but I know she remembers me and will still be my friend when I get there. :) 

So missing people from home remains my biggest complaint. But I don't feel lonely. Finding more people to hang out with and more things to do. And my friend Taraleigh is coming to visit me in Sep. and that will be fantastic! 

Have a great week everyone!