Hola Gringa.

Today was our first day at the school with Dr. Don. Just to fill in anyone that has no idea what I'm doing here in Honduras, I'll explain a little bit. My friend, Karin's parents has friends, Penny and John who work at the hospital here in Honduras. Karin was interested in a medical internship (she's wanting to become a nurse as well) and she pitched the idea to me, and as they say, "the rest is history." Anyway, we are staying with some other missionaries here, Dr. Don and Suzanne Rumbaugh, at their intern casita (pictured, to the left). They have been so hospitable and just the sweetest hosts I could have ever asked for. The hub of the ministry here at Loma de Luz is the hospital. So many of the missionaries here are doctors and nurses. Dr. Don, the one we're staying with, has a side passion of teaching at schools in various surrounding villages. He wasn't able to offer Karin and I a medical internship so instead our work here has shifted to helping him in the schools. I'm here to help teach English to the kiddos, develop relationships and possibly live in the village later on. We'll also have the opportunity to shadow John (a midwife) in his travels into the villages, helping women through their pregnancy, etc. So there's a short synopsis of how my time here will be spent. Today was our first day at the school. The school we will be interning at this week is a bilingual school. Usually, we'll be going to multiple schools in a day, but the bilingual school is short staffed this week so Karin and I will be serving as their maestras. As soon as we arrived at the school, I could feel my heart jump inside of my chest. We were introduced to the classes (there were 4 rooms, each with about 8 kids) and I soon as we walked in the room, a little girl shouted, "Hola, gringas!!" For those of you that don't know, "gringas" means "white girls." Thus, the name of this whole blog translates to 'A White Girl in Honduras.' Ok back to the kids. I seriously had to hold back tears at the sight of adorable Honduran kids running around. They're so incredible. The bilingual school teaches about 30 kids and we got to meet the director, Bictelia, who had the vision for this school. You know when you meet someone and you just know that they'll probably be one of the sweetest people you'll ever know? That's Bictelia. Dr. Don mentioned that his idea for this internship (or whatever you want to call it) is that we'll be able to live in community with Bictelia and her family in the village. I'm so thrilled with this opportunity. I really hope Dr. Don's idea comes to fruition. I would LOVE to live in community with the locals here, help them cook tortillas and laugh with them on the porch while swinging some babies in a hammock.


After we left the school, Karin and I came back to the casita for some lunch and rest. We ended up being distracted by the howler monkeys in the back. Ever since we arrived, I've heard them outside but had yet to see them...until today. I saw SIX. I want to bring one home. These are the cutest little monkeys I've ever seen. SO much better than the Tulsa Zoo.



After the new monkey sighting excitement wore off, Karin and I trekked up the mountain to the water tower. Below is a picture of the coastline view from the water tower. Not too shabby, if I do say so myself. We climbed up the water tower and just sat at the top, soaking in the Carribbean, its breeze and the coastline. Today has been overwhelming and exciting. Tomorrow, we'll return to the school without the help and guidance of Dr. Don but fortunately Penny will accompany us to make sure no kids get injured in the process of us teaching them English. I'm just ready to get used to everything and actually know what I'm doing. Until next time..."Adios, gringos!"