Chicken, Rice, and Michael Jackson

Hola from Honduras! I have decided to keep a blog about my year here at Rancho Santa Fe in Honduras. I have limited time and access to the internet so I thought a blog would be a good way to keep in touch with family and friends. I am going to try to update every week or so. Originally I was pretty anti-blog so we'll see if I'm successful.
For the next year I will be working as a nurse at Nuestro Pequenos Hermanos, Rancho Santa Fe. The ranch is located about an hour outside of Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras. It is an orphanage for children who otherwise have no where else to go. We have a total of about 500 kids here at the Ranch and at satellite homes in Tegucigalpa. Most of the children are orphaned as a result of HIV/AIDS or other diseases. Some of them have lost their parents unexpectedly, and some have been removed from their homes because of abuse and neglect. Each child has a story that will break your heart, but from the outside they appear just like happy, healthy kids. Their perseverance is amazing.
The kids are split up into different "hogares" or homes according to age and gender. There is a K-9th grade school, as well as a school that teaches specific trades. The kids attend high school in Tegucigalpa. The Ranch will pay for their college tuition if the kids choose to pursue higher education.
Casa Eva and Casa Pasionista are two other important aspects of our NPH home. Casa Eva is a home specifically for elderly people that have no family and no means of supporting themselves. Casa Pasionista is a home for adults in the late stages of AIDS. Many of the residents of Casa Pasionista have children that live here at the Ranch. It gives them hope and assurance that their children will always have a save place to live.
My job as a nurse involves working in two different clinics, as well as a surgical center. Every morning I work at the external clinic that services the surrounding rural community. We provide health education, treatment, medication, and other resources at a very low cost. A consult costs 30 Lempira, the equivalent of $1.50. In the afternoon I work in the internal clinic with the kids from Rancho Santa Fe. We do normal well-child care, any kind of first aid, and any other kind of medical treatment necessary. We have a large number of kids who are living with sever disabilities. Also, many of our kids are HIV positive. Other common occurances at the internal clinic include Tuberculosis and parasites of all varieties.
Each evening every volunteer works with a different group of kids. I work with the youngest kids at the Ranch in Casa Suyapa. There are about 50 kids, ages 1 through 9 in this specific hogar. Most of the time they run around like crazy, and tackle me as soon as I walk through the door. I have only been here for about a month and I have already fallen in love with these kids. They are so adorable, usually uncontrollable, but adorable. They are so full of joy! All of them have been through very sad and tough things, but they are still able to play and just be kids. They always say and do the most hilarious things and I can't help but laugh! One common theme and topic of conversation in Casa Suyapa is naturally Michael Jackson. For some reason that I can't quite figure out, all of the kids and Tios (Aunts and uncles in Spanish) have an unnatural obsession with the deceased King of Pop. I often end up in heated debates with 5 year olds about whether or not he is actually dead. Its not uncommon for me to come to Casa Suyapa and find them all gathered around a tiny TV watching the "Beat it" music video. Their favorite is to imitate Michael's dancing which I find very entertaining. Overall they are a great group of kids and I really look forward to spending the next year with them!
Over all I have really enjoyed my time here so far! The other volunteers are fantastic and I love working with the kids. It is challenging to be in a new country, far from friends and family, and learn how to do a new job in a new language! I am still adjusting, and miss home sometimes, but I really think it is going to be a great year. I know that I'll continue to adjust over the next few months and face many new challenges. One of the smaller challenges includes the food! For the most part I am not a picky eater, but I have already had my fill of Chicken and Rice. We eat it every day in mass quantities. Right before I left the States I had a fantastic meal at Moody's Pub in Chicago with the famous Allie Markland. I often find myself dreaming of this meal when I sit down to savor my chicken and rice yet again. A Moody Burger with bleu cheese, and french fries with ranch dressing. Communication is currently another challenge. I can understand basically everything in Spanish and usually I can communicate and get my point across, but sometimes things definitely get lost in translation. It is hard adjusting to language and cultural differences. Also, one of the ways that I communicate most is through humor and lets face it, I'm just not that funny in Spanish. Some of you may argue that I'm not that funny in English. It is definitely going to be a challenge to be away from my family and friends for a year, but I do think that this year will be a good year of learning and growth for me. I especially miss all the Dutch folk in West Michigan, and the girls in Chicago! Right now a year seems like a long time, but to put things in perspective, a year from now I will already have been home for a month! Time will fly.
That's all from me for now. I will update every so often with lovely and humorous anecdotes from my life here in Honduras.

Peace,
Anna