Jovenes en Camino- Summer Internship 2013: An update LONG overdue

Graduation day!

On Thursday morning, Antony (Casa amarilla) graduated from kindergarten!! He is one of the 6 boys at Jovenes en Camino that attend the Allison Bixby Bilingual School on the campus of the University in El Zamorano. We loaded up the car with Annie, all four interns, Antony, and Nelson and Christian (Nelson, another JEC bilingual student. Christian, best friend of Nelson and son of JEC worker). We arrived early and took some pictures. We got to our seats 10 minutes before the “start” and we were one of two families their. How typical of Hondurans! There were 17 in the class. We started about 20 minutes late. All of the kids processed with their parents and sat in chairs on the stage. Each kid was called to come down and receive their diploma. After the formal stuff, all of the kids quickly changed shirts. They did a dance and a song. Then we watched a video with baby pictures. Each kid recorded them saying something in English that played over their pictures. They are in their first or second year of learning it, so it was pretty funny. Afterwards, we took Antony to Espresso Americano (the Honduran Starbucks) on campus and bought him a granita (kind of like a slushy, coffee or fruit flavors).

At that point, we went back to JEC because a group was coming. The group was 12 people from Tulsa, OK. They brought fried chicken for everyone!! Best lunch ever. Definitely made me miss eating Popeye’s chicken with my family. We talked to the group and played with the boys. They decided they would leave when we had to leave again, not to mess up our schedule.

We went back to the school for a luncheon for Nelson finishing the 6^th grade. Most of the boys had some form of family there. Nelson had all of the interns and Annie. Definitely a full family. The class was presented awards for the year and then gave a performance that they worked on in their music class. Then we had a catered lunch. (It was only 100 limpira/$5 per person!) The tortillas were so great. We had an option between Coke and some orange soda, which definitely ended up being banana flavored. I do not plan on ever having any form of carbonated banana every again…

Nelson will be at a bilingual high school in Tegucigalpa next year.

Limoncillo

This past Saturday morning, I was woken up by Tio Marvin (my house dad) at 7. I was planning on getting up that early, but that was definitely not how I was planning on waking up! After scrambling to the door, he informed me that Ronald (the director of JEC) called and asked for the interns to join his family to go to the “town” of Limoncillo. Limoncillo is almost all of the way to Danli (an hour drive from JEC). It is a long way down a crazy road in mountains. It is far enough away from other communities that it is difficult to get to another city if you don’t have a car. Therefore, they are often neglected. Ronald and Chad have taken on helping and developing this community. Ronald’s wife, Daisy, and her sister Lydia, a cook at JEC, are from Limoncillo. Chad Hedgepath’s group was working with the church in Limoncillo that day. We floated around and helped where we could. A combination of painting, carrying buckets of concrete, eating a homemade meal, handing out food bags, and (of course) playing with children from the community. We met Daisy and Lydia’s mom, a tiny, old Honduran lady with short white hair. She gave me a huge grandma kiss on my cheek when we met. Definitely a full, fun day. Lots of quality time spent with Ronald and some of the JEC family. I am very thankful that during our time at JEC we are still able to go out into the country and provide service and love to the people of Honduran.

Danli

Last Sunday, all of JEC loaded up on a bus and went to Danli (a fairly large city about an hour away from El Zamorano). The road to Danli is up and down a mountain. It is such an awesome drive, and luckily the drive is pretty smooth. The congregation in Danli has been there for over 25 years and is established so much that they have 2 elders and 5 deacons, a very rare thing in Honduras or similar countries. The service was great. Latinos do not necessarily have a grasp on basic four-part harmony like is expected in the US, so “Shine, Jesus, Shine” in Spanish was quite a bit different.

Tio Marvin, Chad Hedgepath, and Tio Elvin all spoke. The general idea from all of them was that everyone has different talents and purposes in the body. Often times, it seems like there is a very cookie cutter, expected lifestyle for Hondurans. The interns really wrestled with that the past week since most of the boys see it as weird if you do not know how to play soccer or love manual labor. On our drive to Danli with Annie, we talked about that, then it was addressed in church. One of those moments where you know God is saying “I’m listening”. A neat moment.

The interns rode separately to Danli with Annie because we had to buy things for the birthday celebration on Monday. After church, we went to a restaurant that was really nice. Not many people were there and those that were seemed like they had a little bit of money. I didn’t see anything on the menu over $6.

We shopped around the street markets for small gifts for all of the birthday boys and for piñatas for all of the houses. Then we stopped at La Colonia (the Kroger of Honduras). I bought some peanut M&Ms. Heaven. On the drive back, we all laughed until we cried. Luckily, Annie didn’t drive off the road.

Food/VBS

Chad’s group spent three days in El Zamorano, staying at the university hotel. They used JEC as their base. They worked on a few projects here and many in the community. They brought the supplies to make 50 food bags for JEC employees and others in the community. I helped pack some of them Tuesday morning. At about 11 on Tuesday morning, the group went to the public school that most of the boys go to and did a skit and other things. They had different stations that rotated the different classrooms. My station gave out toothbrushes and played a game. Others made bracelets, gave a snack, etc. We left a little before the group to set up all of the stuff to sell.

Feliz Cumpleaños!!!

Every month, to celebrate all of the boys’ and employees’ birthdays, there is a huge birthday party at Ronald’s house. They fell behind, so this one was for May and June birthdays. We bought all of the supplies and gifts for this in Danli. We had to make three cakes, one for each house. We had strawberry, chocolate, and funfetti cake mix. We only had one cake pan and two hours to make them! (Side note: Monday was absolutely crazy. So many things to do and so many curveballs, but we managed and finished victorious!) We started preheating the oven and forgot that everyone uses the oven to store food from the flies. We opened the oven to put the cake in and found a melting plastic plate with pizza on it! The same thing happened with the microwave when Jenn tried to use it as a timer. Annie and I left to go to the pulperia to buy some food for the party. Jenn and Kendal let the boys ice and decorate the cakes. They were definitely creative. Covered in icing and cookies and sprinkles.

Everyone walked to Ronald’s. All of the kids played soccer and games. There was music and dancing. Three piñatas (Clifford, batman, and a clown) met their end. My candy collecting skills pales in comparison to the trained Hondurans.

In all, the party was really fun! It was almost constant work on Annie and the interns part making sure that things were happening when they were supposed to and that everyone was served. Daily I wonder how Annie does all of this by herself. My respect for her is always increasing.

USA!! USA!! USA!!

On Tuesday night, Honduras played the US. Just like the other two games, we watched it outside on the side of Casa Amarilla. Trash talking from both sides began two days before the game. On Monday night, I walked through the pink and green houses waving my American flags and talking about how we were going to win. I’m sure most of America didn’t even know our team played. However, everyone in Honduras was watching the game. I’ve tried to explain many times to people how insignificant soccer is in America. I used to wonder why we didn’t have an obsession with it, then I realized it is because we are given the opportunity to pick our passions from so many different areas. All day Tuesday, I had on my shirt with an American flag on it. I was nervous the entire game. I spent the second half of the game on the hood of the JEC bus with Marlon Caraso (my JEC BFF). No one scored in the first half. It was really boring for everyone. The US scored half way through the second half and then held off Honduras to end the game 1-0. I didn’t trash talk after that because that is not fun, but I am definitely glad I did not have to go through a day or two of it from the Hondurans.

Harpeth Hills

On Thursday, the first group from the youth group at Harpeth Hills CoC came through. They take two groups to Honduras. You can pick which week you want to go and the seniors can stay both weeks. They brought a lot of life to Jovenes. Many were student at Lipscomb Academy. Two of the guys were in choir there and recognized me from all of the things the LA and LU choirs do together. I met a girl names Megan who works with my older sister Rachel. Harpeth Hills is Annie’s home church and the church that supports her in Honduras. Her youth minister and her youth mentor were with the group. Her mentor asked her to explain her story to the group. By the end she and many in the group were in tears. They took time before they ate lunch to pray over Annie and her work. It was very encouraging to see such a thing. Even though the prayer was not for the interns or me, we all definitely felt significant encouragement from it. They really left a great impact at JEC. I am looking forward to their second group to come next week.

I will post again tomorrow!!