Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Moved....but not moved on :)

As in...I've moved to Milwaukee...but I'm not forgetting Honduras.....as it will always be in my heart.

It was a good couple months being able to spend time with my parents up in the Northwoods...and now it's good to be getting settled (again!) in a new home. I will be in this place for the next 9 months and then we will see where God decides to take me after that!!

The past couple days i've just been moving in, and exploring the area really! It's nice to be in a city with things just minutes away.

I'm in the library posting today as i don't have internet in my house yet...but hope to within a couple of weeks.

The job search is still ongoing.....and hopefully will land something soon! Definitely a faith-trust builder!

Well, that's about all for now :)

Friday, July 31, 2009

It's about time?!?!

Well, much has changed since I last wrote!

I have moved back to the USA, and am now living with my parents until mid-August, while job-searching and re-adjusting to USA life.
Do I miss honduras?? Yes...tremendously, and a part of me is always going to be there.
Is there really a war going on in honduras right now? Well, there's not technically a so called "war" going on. They ousted the president..and that is a good thing...and the president wants to be back in power and that is causing all kinds of demonstrations by both parties. Peaceful demonstrations by those who do not want him back in power, and destructful ones by those who do want him back in power. Does that tell you anything? Anyways...if you are interested in this ...i am going to scan an article into this blog one day soon that describes, very well, what is happening. Please do not listen to all the news that you hear...the USA is not doing a good job at covering this at all.

What are you doing now with your life? I am looking for jobs in Milwaukee, WI. Social-work jobs that involve youth, and bi-lingual needs. (spanish/english of course).

Why Milwaukee? Well, because it made sense. There were a ton of jobs available in Milwaukee, and it was a God-thing that my former roommate from college, whom is a dear friend of mine, was looking for a roommate, and i was looking for a place to stay! Perfect! God knows best...

Will you ever go back to Honduras? This is a loaded question for me, but the easy answer is ...of course! I plan to go visit, if it is financially feasible, at least one time a year. I have very dear friends there and plan on keeping up with those friendships.

Are you afraid you will lose your spanish? Like anyone who doesn't speak a language 24/7, I know i will lose a bit of the "easiness" of speaking it. But it's still very fresh in my mind, and i do e-mail, chat, and talk on the phone in spanish several times a week. Also I plan on leading a spanish bible study once a month and also hope to use it in whatever work i have in the future.

So....there's an update on the typical questions :) I would love to hear from you all...please feel free to email me at sarainhonduras@gmail.com
No..i am not changing that e-mail address...like i said...there will always be a part of me in honduras :)

I'll leave you with some pictures of my last days in Honduras, and also some pics of my time here in the USA so far...



Joshy (my cousin's baby)and I...such a joy-giver!


4-wheeling in Wisconsin

My last night in Honduras....so sad!!! With a bunch of my friends...

Two of my good buddies in La Ceiba...Byron and Tayron.

Visited the Ranch the day before i flew out to say goodbye to the kids..so hard! This is me with my baby...who's not really a baby anymore! Darwin...




Friday, May 8, 2009

It's been awhile!

Sorry that I haven't written a blog in a long while. Maybe since i've moved to La Ceiba. I haven't even looked at my blog ha! But maybe that's a good sign....I've been busy!

Typical day is that i leave my house at 7:00am and walk to school to be at school by 7:30am and start classes. I have spanish from 7:30-11:30 every day....walk back home for lunch. And then lately it's been typical to have some friends over in the afternoon. (Spanish speaking). At night i usually hang out with some other friends, or just hang out here with the people who live in the house.

Here are some pictures...cuz as by now you know the saying...pictures definitely speak louder than words.


Me and baby Angie. She is the daughter of one of the girls I live with!

Oneida and I. She is one of the girls i live with and the one who cooks for us.

There are lots of rivers here
Having fun with some other students and a friend of mine

My friend is a professional dancer so he taught me and 3 other students (one not pictured) salsa, merengue and bachata one week! It was very fun


God has blessed me with a great friend!

......I FINALLY got my nose pierced!!!!!!!


My school


The ocean


At a restaurant with about 10 other people (that you cannot see). It was the birthday of the dude (a student at the school also) to my right and so these guys where playing and singing some....music you could call it :)

Monday, March 9, 2009

Despedidas y Una Amiga!!!

To translate.....going away parties and a friend!!!

I always knew March was going to be a busy month. And a sad one! I leave in 19 days from the Ranch. It is breaking my heart, but I am truly savoring every moment...it's almost hard to decide where and who to spend my time with as I know the opportunities to spend time with these people on a daily basis is coming to an end.

On Saturday, we had a Despedida (going away party) here on the Ranch for 4 people...Me, another former teacher, Jesse, and a couple, the Mallasch's. All of us are leaving (the couple already has left) the ministry this month...and so the party was a good time of all getting together, playing some softball, and just enjoying fellowship.

This week, last friday, my friend Tammy came to visit me and the Ranch! It's been so fun to have her here again. She was my roommate when i first moved to the Ranch, and we have continued to stay in touch, even though she left the Ranch after being here for 3 years...and has been living in IL now for the past year and a half.

The pictures are from the Despedida mostly...and some of Tammy.

¡¡¡¡I AM SURE GONNA MISS THESE FACES!!!!

brayan, tammy, shelly and I after a night of games

wilson and i



The frosting got a little out of control :)

Junnior and I!!!

Obed and I

Steve, Brayan, Oscar, and I

Me, Tammy and Steve--friends re-united!




Wednesday, March 4, 2009

nothing much new!


I thought i would write a quick post, even though there really isn't much new right now. ..here are some of my thoughts:

**I'm glad I'm not super sick anymore....tired yes, sick no!

**I'm sure gonna miss these kids...

**I am so thankful for the less-rainy weather upon us. Although the windchill is a bit chilly still!

**I just made an awesome peppermint brownie torte ...yummm ...3 layers of brownies, a layer of a whipcream/creamcheese/mint extract and then a layer of chocolate whip cream! can you say double-yum???

**I finally have my ticket to fly up to Ceiba. Yes, I'm flying. Why...well i don't feel like getting into Ceiba way at night like i could if i took a bus, and also i get really impatient on busses, and honduras is playing a big game that night and i don't want to miss it ;)

**It took forever to get my ticket to fly up to Ceiba...cuz the comp. froze as i was buying it online so i didn't know if it had gone through or not. Thanks to a bi-lingual 15 year old here on the ranch, who called the airlines for me and got it all straightened out....i now for sure have a ticket AND confirmation number....!

**I think that's about all for now :)

Blessings on your day!

Sarita

Thursday, February 26, 2009

doctors, dentists and eye-doctors!

Ha this is going to be a random post, but as i got to thinking, lately, I have been to a lot of doctors recently....first eye-doctor, than a visit to the ER, and then to the dentist! Whew! Good thing medical care here in honduras is fairly cheap! Here's the rundown!

Total eye-visit including new glasses and lenses cost less than $25 USD. See picture.

I had to go to the ER due to major dehydration after being extremely sick....they gave me an IV and pumped me full of other drugs....and was MUCH cheaper than in the states, but still a decent chunk of money so i'm not gonna put that on here :)

Then I went to the dentist and turned out that I didn't need to get any work done, like i thought i had, and so all i was charged for was the x-ray: $15 USD. total.

God is good :)



House of Joseph

Oh the House of Joseph. This house is the home that when I was originally accepted to work with WGO, I was told would be the "main" house that I would be working in. That has indeed stayed true, as I am in their house every month, except the 5 months that i was full-time in another home of precious kids.

I was in the House of Joseph again this past month for 5 nights...well actually turned out to be 4 nights...see next posting and you'll see why :)

Here are some pics of the kids in the house...it amazes me how much they've grown up since i was first there!!!



Marlon--"smile with your teeth showing!" (oh and a little food on your cheek :))

Wilson: his name should be "dennis the menice" :) hehe

Favio...being himself.

Kev: Heyyy!

show me your "pearly whites!"

Friday, February 20, 2009

Host Family Assigned!

I got my "host family" assigned to me......so everything is set for good ol' language school. I'm getting anxious to get there.....although it is going to really, really break my heart to leave the kids here. Sounds like i will be living in a busy/crazy but good host family/home. Better that then one where I would be bored, right!

I've been in the house of joseph this week and will be in it until Monday, when the foster parents get back from vacation.

Haha...funny story...I called the dentist today....there's some dentists in teguz that speak english. Well, i called and since in situations where it really matters if you get what you need across, i don't like to speak spanish i immdiately asked the receptionist if there was anyone there that could speak english with me. Well, she said no. But then took my name and phone number and WAS going to have the dentist call me back in english ....but then i guess she realized i could speak some spanish and went on to ask me what i needed and stuff...and ends up i made my appointment :) haha! It's times like those where i proove to myself that maybe i know more spanish than i thought :)

Have a great night!!!!

HERE ARE A FEW PICS THAT SOME OF THE KIDS TOOK, THAT I JUST THOUGHT EXPRESSED PURE JOY AND LAUGHTER :)


...joy...

...laughter...

...more laughter!....

Darwin :)

Here's a few updated pictures of Darwin. For those of you who do not remember, Darwin was the youngest of the four boys that I was foster-mom for, for 5 months. Those boys are all so special to me! Darwin was out on the campo with his new foster family the other day, so we got to have some hang out time!

so precious!

he's obsessed with cell phones! i thought it was funny it so looks like he's texting someone!

Yup! He turned the big 3 this month!

i love this kiddo!

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Beautiful days and Soccer Games! ¡La Vida Bonita!

It has been absolutely gorgeous out lately! Yesterday I was substitute teaching all day...and sat outside for a bit during recess...and even got a tan!! woohoo! It's so nice to be getting into the summer weather again after rainy and cold!!! Here are some pics of the soccer game yesterday and the sky that was just gorgeous! God blows me away with his beauty constantly with the evening sky!


A bunch of us watching the game.

Kelly and I watchin' the game....yay! Kelly is *hopefully* going to be joining me in language school in June when she gets done teaching! Yay!


OKAY THE COOL COOL SKY PICTURES WERE SUPPOSED TO BE HERE BUT THEY GOT DELETED ACCIDENTALLY AND WELL NOW THE INTERNET WON'T LET ME UPLOAD THEM :) SORRY~



the sky dark and eerie!

a nice action shot.....Obed kickin' it in

Kelly and I watchin' the game. We lost :( But it was fun anyways. Next game: the day i move to La Ceiba. My host family better love soccer ;)

Sunday, February 15, 2009

A day in the life of.....

I'm trying to make a habit of writing on this blog much more than i used to.. so even though I don't have any fun pictures, I'm going to write today anyways :)

Yesterday was, as we call it here in Honduras, "The Day of Love and Friendship." For some reason I like that title better than just "Valentine's Day." It seems more meaningful! I had a good day hanging out with friends....my day went like this:

6:45am: wake up...don't want to get out of bed...have to get out of bed because I have soccer training.

7:00am: get to the soccer field. my coach is there but no one else showed up...again. So we wait for 25 minutes to see if anyone else is coming...and then head back to our houses.

7:30am: crawl back in bed and sleep until 10:30am! yay!

10:45am: get out of bed..re-count my money and write out information to make a deposit that my roommate is making for me at the bank today for me for my language school! yay! I'm officially paid....wooohooo!!!

11:00am: Kelly brings me Home Improvement Season 6....and gets 3 eggs to make cheesecake that we were going to eat for Valentine's Day Dinner

1:00pm: My roommate gets home from the city=deposit made! YESSS! success the first time, sometimes is unusual here in teguz!

I think my times are off now...oh well!

3:30pm: Go to a Mario Party Tournament...whoever wins the tournament wins the LAST caramel brownie/blondie. Competition is ON!

4:45pm: I tie for first in the tournament and receive my prize! (1/2 the brownie since it was a tie :))

5pm: Go watch the soccer game up on the campo.

5:10pm: It starts to pour...but it's okay cuz i brought my umbrella! I have everyone surrounded around me trying to stay dry while watching the game :) It was a fun game to watch!

5:30pm: Go back to my house, and get ready to go over to some friends for dinner.

6pm-9:30pm: Enjoy friendships, and an awesome dinner....and AMAZING cheesecake :) We had 3 types: plain, regular with mora (blackberry) topping/glaze, and chocolate! mmmm

9:30-midnight: relax at my house...watch some home improvement and read the last few chapters of the amazing book i just read "Every Now and Then" by Karen Kingsbury (my favorite author!)

Sooo I'm sure you all wanted an hourly update on my life so there ya go. Ha! If you made it this far I commend you :) and also wonder if you are bored? ;)

What happened to comments being made on here???? Does anyone read this anymore :( ?

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

WGO 25 years old...Re-play

I got this off my friend/co-worker Abby's blog and thought it'd be interesting to share with you a look at WGO since it began...highlights of what has happened through the years:

In September 1995 the first kids were taken off the streets to live in our first orphanage donated by John Arevalo. In November 2000 the first group of kids were brought to Rancho Ebenezer · May 2003 started the Bridge House (the house for college/young adults) · November 2003 Cloud Forest coffee started (2007 produced 16,000 pounds of coffee) · June 2004 electricity makes it up to the ranch · April 2005 bought new property for the Mission House (where the medical brigades stay) · May 2006 our first student is launched off into adulthood from the Bridge House March 2007 I join the ministry · May 2008 started building the new Mission House · July 2008 ministry now has 32 kids living at the ranch and 9 others living at the Bridge House (with one new house waiting for more girls to come from INFA)

Monday, February 9, 2009

A good quote ....

"Holiness is not God asking us to be 'good,' it's an invitation to be 'His.'

We belong to Him.

The best synonym for holiness is the word freedom.

Friday, February 6, 2009

Youth Band!

Every week day, after lunch (except wednesdays) a bunch of youth, and a couple adults gather in the bodega to practice as a "youth band" for chapel. I've joined in to just encourage and cheer along the youth who are in it...and i occasionally sing :) Here are some pics i took today. Fridays are more laid back practices...so this friday we actually were organizing the music binders cuz they were a mess! So i got some candid shots. Some of these (like the posed ones with the binders) were actually taken for a surprise that we are doing for the professor that leads the group...but i'm not gonna write more about that lest i spoil the surprise ;) hehehe But i put the pics on here so you could get a look at the kids who make up the band...we have a good time!!


audrey, caleb, me and brayan

:) i don't know what was so funny?!?!?! :)

brayan and mr. william


me, yefry and william take a break to pose for the camera

Audrey :)

Me working on the binders


Abby-vocals

Audrey-keyboard

Mr. (Professor) William.-In charge...plays everything :) mostly lead guitar and lead vocal.

Caleb-guitar and Brayan-drums

Yefry-learning guitar