Day of ketchup... I mean katsup... I mean catch up!

Hello my faithful readers! I must apologize first for not blogging in... much time. Ill get to the reason for that in a bit. This is going to be like a master blog in which wraps up all of everything that has happened to me since arriving in Tegucigalpa up to now. So I'll actually have to use paragraphs now. Let's begin.

Aug 6th
First of is my Day of Sponsor Child Visiting. First of I have to say to my little bro Noah that, Noah, that morning on the tv, I kid you not, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse was playing in spanish. Sounded a little funny though. For everyone else like you know when there's a movie in english playing and then you go see it in spanish? The voices aren't the same as the original. Anyways we went to this breakfast place called Super Donuts (literally because we couldn't find Dunk'n) and found out that though the food was the same, the taste was not up there with Luis' B&B breakfast. After that we got ready to see Eduardo (my sponsor child). The van with the overseer guy came to pick us up. He then took us to the "Project Site" which was a church and I saw Eduardo for the first time. I was taller than him but no suprise there and also I was (me the mexican and all) much whiter than him. It's ok because I wasn't exactly what he expected either. Apparently Andrés is an old guys name so... ok ok laugh it up guys but we actually had a good time. Eduardo's grandma wanted to meet me so we went to see her. She was actually a passenger in The Hudson River plane crash on Jan. 15, 09 so it was kind of interesting meeting her. Anyways, after meeting said grandma Eduardo was hungry for (can you believe my luck?) burgers! So we went to a Burger King in this like mall thing. Although being in a different country they do there burgers differently, needless to say, I'm still biking to Tom's on Thursday when I get back. After this the overseer guy (I should probably give him a name), Oscar was his name, took us to this arcade thing where we did a basketball thing (Michael Jordan would've been impressed if he were there), a soccer thing for Eduardo (Michelle Akers would've been less than impressed in me), a bowling thing (mom was 5 pts away from making it into the top five), and this Balladium thing. The Balladium was a thing where you went into this room and you basically shot foam balls at each other with this air pressured gun. It was fun. I also found out that Eduardo played in a Minor league for soccer in Tegucigalpa. You know like the Majors and the Minors for baseball? Eduardo was on the Minors for soccer. Needless to say he must've been good. After this we went to get some Ice Cream and that was pretty much the end of our visit. Oh we went to his house to to deliver some stuff and see where he lived. (I feel lucky now because I share my bed with my 4yr old brother (yes he has his own) but he's gotta share his bed with a I would say 18yr old brother). Then we went downtown (like the song) to type up some blogs. Following that we ate dinner, (ladies went shopping while I was singing in the rain next to a guard with like a 44 gauge shotgun), and went back to room to watch The Dark Knight and went to bed.

Aug 7th
So now we get up pack up and head for the out of doors to catch a taxi (by the way if you got a thing about having to wear seatbelts... don't come here, Honduras is not the place for you alright?) The taxi first ended up taking us to a station that didn't have a bus (famously known as the Chicken Bus) coming for like a long time. So he took us to another station for like 50 more lemps than paid for. Turns out that station didn't even run a bus to Guaimaca. Mom was not a happy camper. Luckily the, like, owner of the station took us to a station that did. We boarded and, thanks to a security guy with another 44 gauge, Jen's suitcase was saved of being robbed. Guard didn't shoot him or anything he just took it back from the guy as he was walking off. So the bus took off and along the way street vendors offered us stuff while we were still moving in a crawling traffic (in fact... if you've got any driving issues at all don't come here). I ate a pizza. Was tasty. So we get to Guaimaca, got our baggage and called a taxi to the orphanage. We talked to the head person in charge of certain things there, Katja (I think thats how it's spelled), and went to our house which was by the farm. After getting settled in we went back into town (here there be walking everywhere you go) to get groceries. The supermarket thing had cobwebs the size of 5 dollar footlongs at subway hanging on the cieling. Anyway, we got back, put the groceries away, and left again so mom could give us a tour of Orphanage Emmanuel. While giving us the tour mom talked to the principal person of the high school, Merethe, and she let mom see her friend Doris in the school. I guess it was a good thing mom came because Doris' grades were slipping. So after this we went back to the room and we relaxed for about 10 minutes before going to supper (they eat supper at like 4... which would be 5 our time). I missed out on dinner due to tardiness to the table. I brought something that I was a good thing to bring to the orphanage, this thing is something that if you know how to play it well it doesn't get you too many popularity points with the ladies in America, in Honduras though it is cool. I brought my chess set. All the guys there like to play chess. My first game a huge crowd of people gathered around and watched. I decided to bedazzle them with a set of moves they've never seen before. The 4 move checkmate. Everyone was amazed. I felt important. Life was good. Then this kid sat down in front of me. His name is Christian. He wants to play me. Among my homies in NHCS I was a pretty good player. This kid beat me on our first game. The crowd kind of dispersed after that. I hung out with the guys a little bit longer before they had to go to bed. Bedtime is at 6:30 (wow big shocker I know). Then I went back home and to bed myself as I was beat.

Aug 8th
I got up for my first day at the orphanage and took a shower that had warmer water than Luis'. Then I went down to the guys to have breakfast. It was like this oat cereal thing with powdered milk, peanut butter on the spoon, and a moon pie. Not my ideal breakfast me being a Wisconsinite and all. That day we found out that the orphanage got rid of there wireless so we couldn't blog (hence the reason for not posting). Also Katja asked us to help out a team volunteer group with an activity day thing. The first part of the day was consisting of me being official water balloon filler man, this job comes with drawbacks however because the activity day was for the little girls of like 7 and about every 3 minutes they came up to the hose where I was filling to demand water. The job tok a while. The funny thing though was that they did face paints and after getting there face painted they came to the hose (again where I was filling) and tried to wash the face paint off because they thought there face was dirty. The second part of the day consisted of me being soccer translater man. I took leave for lunch to eat with the guys. Lunch was spaghetti with veggies. After the activity day I went to have dinner with the guys. Beans and rice it was. As I was eating I came across something very hard in my mouth. thinking it was an uncooked bean I ate it. About 5 bites later I came across another hard crunchy thing in my mouth. I ate this as well. I started to watch my food a little more carefully and not 3 bites later something else crunchy and hard was discovered in my mouth. I pulled it out and realized that (no it was not bugs if your thinking such things) as well as the bean and rice for supper, I was dining on rocks. That was pretty much the end of my meal. After dinner/supper I played more chess with the guys (didn't get to play Christian). After they went to bed I played a long term named Jon and our game lasted a good while and then I lost. Was good to talk in english to someone though. After this I went home, did some spanish homework, and went to bed. It gets dark there around 7. Right now I gotta go back to the hotel but I plan to edit this and write more when I get back as the ladies want to go to a mall to shop. Until then my readers.

Mmmk I'm back.
Aug 9th
I got up, showered, got in my church clothes (white polo and navy cargo pants) and headed to the guys to eat breakfast (ditto). We played some chess (need to beat Christian). We went to church and listened to a sermon that was about listening to God's call and watching for Him. After this I went to change clothes before going back to play more chess. I beat a long term named Jordan, I beat Jon, and I lost to Christian. Our record was 3 to zip him. We had lunch played some chess and I taught some guys some basketball drills to do that, hopefully my future varsity basketball coach, taught me. Then it was another rocky dinner for me and we went to the house den to watch Oceans 12. After this I went home did some more spanish and went to bed.

Aug 10th
Up we go to take a shower and have the same old breakfast. I shadowed a dude named Darwin in the 9th grade to see what it was like. During recess I learned how to play Connect 4 (don't laugh) and lost to Darwin. Then we went into the computer lab and worked on Excel. The teacher told us to put a password on it and to minimize it. I thought he meant get out so I closed out of Excel without saving my work. Oh yeah, Im smooth. Monday class ends early so after lunch (consisting of spaghetti again) mom, Jen, and I went back into town to buy more stuff. We came back in time for dinner which consisted of hot dogs and beans (rock-free) and I learned that this type of dinner was a once a year thing. Then we went to the gym to play basketball and soccer. I teamed up with another kid named Alejandro in a 2 on 3 and we ended up winning. Bed was early for them so I stayed in the gym with the team group to play bastketball and volleyball (I have gotten better). Then I went back home, did spanish, and went to bed.

Aug 11th
Showered, breakfast (cereal thing is really getting old), chess and school. In school we used Word in computer class. The guys (and gals don't get me wrong) had typed up a report and were adding to it. Now I know Amanda Roth could probably have done it in half the time I did but I managed to type up the whole report (by looking over someone's shoulder) in have the class period. Recess consisted of chess in which I beat Christian! Now our record was 3 to 1 him. Lunch consisted of a noodle casserole thing and back to school. Eventually school got out and we went to a bible study which they have everyday in which that day Jon gave his testimony. Then we had dinner (back to rocky food). Following dinner we watched LOTR:FOTR.Then went back to the house to do spanish and was done for the day.

Aug 12th
Today I woke up to a mosquito buzzing in my ear at 2:30 in the morning. So I slept in the living room on the couch until I had to get up. When I did I went through the same routine. I was developing a habit of it. I went to breakfast and guess what I found! More oat cereal staring me in the face. Bogus, but I ate it. Anyway we played chess, went to school, did some chess, went to class again, and breaked for lunch. Lunch was a noodle ramen oriental thing. After that we did some guess what! More chess. Then, when the guys went back to school I went in the library to help Jessica (a long term white hispanic, just like me (well the white hispanic part anyway)) to organize the library. I started, right there and then, to hate libraries and appreciate librarians a little more at the same time. I've also decided that the Dewey family is not in my good books (pun intended). I went home after this to take a malaria pill before I was sent forth again to the bible study. It was another volunteer's testimony. Dinner time consisted of more rice, more beans, and more rocks. Could make a movie out of that. The Fast and the Furious. The Rice, The Beans, and The Rocks, starring Vin Diesel. Anyways I gotta get back on track if I wanna get all these days in, by the way, did you know I had cereal for breakfast again? Just kidding (but I did though). Did some chess and went to Wednesday night church where a Danish guy gave his testimony.

Whew! 5 days left. I can do this.
Aug 13th
Thursday I was not feeling to well (courtesy of same food all the time and dehydration) so I stayed in the house most of the day sleeping. What's to say about that you wanna know what I dreamed about or something? No. That's classified. When I was up I drank fluids when I was down, well, I was down and out for the count. At the end of the day I watched A Knight's Tale with Heath Ledger. No similarities whatsoever with the Joker 'cept for his hair and some facial expressions. After this I went to sleep.

Aug 14th
Happy to report feeling better Friday and so I went to school with the guys (skipped out on the lovely oat cereal to talk to another house cook to eat there) and, well, learned stuff. I ate lunch with the little guys and had some tasty stuff. They gave me a chicken gizzard and, actually, it wasn't that bad. It tasted like, well, chicken. Supper was also eaten with the little guys and I taught some guys how to play chess. I then went home and found a termite nest as I was looking on the cieling for lizards (lizards are our friends, they take care of the spiders, although I'm sure a tarantula would have a lizard for breakfast... and not oat cereal with a moon pie and peanut butter).

Three... more...
Aug 15th
I showered and skipped out on breakfast. One can only take so much oats with powdered milk, peanut butter, and a moon pie if that one is a Wisconsinite. I went home to clean up a bit while the guys went to work. As I did this mom and Jen went into town to get souvenirs. I got done before they came back so that gave me time to relax a bit. When they came back mom brought word that we would be leaving Tuesday because our flight got bumped up to Wednesday. I had lunch with the little dudes again and then back home to break for a while. Supper was also eaten with the little dudes. I went to the big guys to play chess. Christian beat me again. it was now 4 to 1 him. I then went home and we watched Pirates of the Caribbean (it is spelled right) and went to bed.

Aug 16th
MMMM. Same routine blah blah blah and Church! Church was about living right in God's eyes. I went home to change clothes and went around for picture time with my compadres. We then took another kid from the orphanage named Andrés to a restaurant just in front of Emmanuel to eat. The chicken tacos were good. We came back and Andrés and I went to go get a movie so the little dudes could watch it. I then went to the gym where Jon, the watchful guard to make sure no one leaves unattended, was napping just outside the gym doors. Jon really likes the suckers covered in chile by the way. As do I. But the guys were playing soccer and I played chess. I then went home, watched Hancock, and went to sleep.

The last melon... (sorry Ice Age quote) The last blog day thing.
Aug 17th
Not much to say about yesterday (Monday). Same old routine. However, the students in the class were learning math, and they were learning to add mixed numbers. I was catching up on journaling yesterday during math but when the Profe, as the students call their teachers, put some problems up on the board, the guy to my right, Juan Carlos, would notify me and I would pull out another paper and answer them quickly. The first set of 2 problems probably took me about 10 sec (be proud Mr. U) although I got one wrong (but not too proud Mr. U). The second set of three questions took me about 15 seconds and two things happened that were kind of funny. Firstly the kids were all amazed at how fast I did the problems, called me a machine they did, and secondly the Profe said that he had the answers for tomorrow then as I handed him the paper. When school was done I ate meals with the little guys and, it being my last night, went for the final showdown. I was ready to even the score to 4 to 2 him. I was going to take Christian off his throne of chess righteousness. And I did! Using the strategy of a hanycapped guy at lifest who creamed me the past 2 years I defeated the undefeatable. The strategy if you want to know was to have a set of plans for both ends of the board. Then pick a side and begin to set your plan for that side of the board in motion. As you are doing that occasionally move a piece on the other end of the board for the other plan. Since you will secretly be working 2 plans the plan in which you move the pieces most frequently will get stopped by your opponent. But by then you should have your plan on the other side of the board pretty much wrapped up. This is how I beat him. 4 to 2 the score was. I still lost but I was happy. I then said goodbye to all, went home to pack up some and waited for the next day.

That was like the post of the century. Anyways Imo' give some answers to prior comments now. But first off thanks for using the comment box. After all that is what it's there for. Secondly Emily, to answer your question, I do miss my burgers. Like I said I'm going to Tom's the day after I get back as I get back at like 10 at night.

And now... The moment you've all been waiting for...

Answer to Previous Riddle: A river (good guess with the clock though)
Riddle of the Day: A bear can only walk into a woods so far. How far can he walk into the woods?
Answer to Emily's Riddle: Carpet (nice try Emily)