The end of orientation

Well, I'm officially done with orientation. The first two weeks were a whirlwind of information, visits, and questions. Although there is still so much to learn and figure out, I'm glad I had a few weeks to get my feet on the ground here. Typically, orientation lasts 3-4 weeks, but since all but one of the July volunteers had to get back to the States for jobs and medical school, we had to squeeze in some job training/shadowing before they left. So it was a shorter, but more intense, couple of weeks. 

I'll share with you the highlights of week two, along with some pictures.

Monday through Wednesday I spent time at school learning more about my job. I got to explore my classroom, meet the students and staff, and start to see what a typical day is like at Escuela Rancho Santa Fe. I also visited Casa Angeles in Tegucigalpa, where I will do therapy once day a week. 

On Thursday, we visited Talanga, a town about 30 minutes away from the Ranch. We spent time at the Comedor Infantil, which is a soup kitchen for children. The children come each day for lunch and stay to do homework. In order to attend the Comedor, the children must be enrolled in school. The soup kitchen provides the children with a safe place to eat and spend time, in the hopes that they will stay in school. When the children arrived, they wanted to play soccer (of course,) so we all headed across the road to a makeshift soccer field. I honestly haven’t played soccer in 10 years, but it was really fun! I’m not good at all, but the kids had a blast. Some of the boys started to cheat (we were playing boys vs. girls). For those of you who know me well, the rule-follower in me was dying a little, but the kids were having fun, which was the most important.

Sorry, I didn't snap a lot of photos here. I was busy playing soccer!

Delicious tacos for lunch in Talanga's center.

On Friday, we spent the day in Tegucigalpa. We visited the NPH offices in the city and the rest of my orientation group met the sweet kids who live at Casa Angeles. It was nice to go back, because I could practice with names before I officially start doing therapy there. The kids who live at Casa Angeles have severe disabilities, and/or medical needs that require them to be closer to the city and a doctor. The Ranch is about 45 minutes outside of Tegus, so it would be really challenging to have the kids live so far away. Plus, many of the children have limited mobility, and the Ranch is full of hills, tree roots, cracks, and bumps. I haven’t wiped out yet, but it’s bound to happen soon.

After lunch, we went to Pasos Pequeñitos, which provides childcare and support for single mothers. As soon as the kids saw us walking towards the door, they started to scream “una visita!” which means “a visit!” The kids were so excited to have us there. We got to see them hit a piñata and play with them. When it was time to leave, they asked us to stay. I really enjoyed spending time there.

Pretending to be a monster. He waddled around in the tunnel trying to scare us for a long time.

He told me to fold my arms, but I didn't know we were supposed to make serious faces. 

Throughout the week, I continued to visit different hogars each night. It has been a fun way to get to know the kids and see where they spend their time outside of school.

That’s what my second week in Honduras looked like. I’m continuing to adjust to the food and water (I’ve successfully made the switch to Ranch water!), mosquito bites, and the Honduran heat. I will share more about week 3 soon! 

Here are a few more pictures during my first few weeks here:

A playground on the Ranch. 

The awesome view from my classroom! 

I stepped outside my classroom one day, and this is what I found. 

My currency for the year. Approximately 20 Lempiras is equivalent to $1.

For those of you who know me well, you will understand how excited I was to see this is in the volunteer house library. I hope to get through the series in Spanish over the course of the year!