And Already Going Back Home *Weeks 2 and 3*


On Saturday I left with the team members that had decided to stay for only one week as some of the group was hanging back for another week. When I left, Papí(founder of the orphanage) sent the team off with some encouraging words. I left the keys to my house with Danielle and parted from the orphanage. At the airport I sat with Matt and his wife and David and his wife. Matt's wife has been sponsoring a girl named Yessi for a long time and since she left the orphanage several years ago they agreed to meet up at the airport. While sitting with Yessi I asked her if she remembered my mom and her eyes lit up and told me that she remembers my mom very well along with my older sister Alina. It was a very cool experience being able to talk to her. However positive this was, the negative was that the flight that was coming to pick us up got delayed by an hour, shrinking my connection in Dallas to 30 minutes. Being an international flight I knew there was no chance I was making that connection, and I was right. When the plane landed I sprinted through the longest hallway I’ve ever been in all to get to a baggage claim section that made me wait 20 minutes before they even started delivering my flights bags. So I missed my connecting flight but I was so calm the whole time which I was pretty proud of myself for. Since the flight was delayed due to maintenance issues my hotel was paid for which I was very thankful for. The ladies at the American Airlines desk were very helpful to me and kept a smile on my face. Until I called the hotel for a shuttle… I called the Super 8 for a shuttle and after an hour and two phone calls from me they still didn't show up so I called an Uber at about 11:30pm. The night in Dallas was very comfortable and in the morning I ubered back to the airport for my flight into Chicago.


        Once I got to Chicago, my mom picked me up and we started the four hour ride back home. I used the rest of the day that I had to get some rest. Since I was back in the states I thought I might as well visit y-care to see the kids I’ve been watching since summer. So the next day I planned on going to after school care. I went out to my car that I’ve been lending to my little sister since I’ll be out of the country for a total of 5 months, and the ignition was broken. That was such a delight! Anyways, me and my dad went to work on it and eventually figured it out after a week and a half. The night we got it fixed I pulled an all nighter so that I didn't have to wake up at five in the morning to say hi to the kids. So once morning came I drove over to morning care but when I got there the room that we normally set up in was pitch black. So I was wondering if maybe they switched rooms while I had been away. Then I turned around and saw a bunch of cars I recognized, so I opened the door and there were like 3 families waiting to be let in. Turns out my coworker that was supposed to be there couldn’t make it in that morning but it wasn’t communicated in time, meaning I was in the right spot at almost the right time. I had a great visit with the kids none the less and told them I’d be back tomorrow(Thursday) for after care since I didn't get any sleep over night.


I was able to surprise the kids at after care on Thursday but before I did I stopped in the bus lot of the middle school to say hi to the kids that don't do y-care and there were two fifth graders that really appreciated the things I helped them with while I was at the middle school that gave me huge hugs because they missed me after only one week of me being away. It was so incredible to come back after only a week of being out of the country and seeing all these children overjoyed that I came back. Surreal. And I guess I should mention that at some point during the two weeks I was back, I went to get my teeth checked out. They told me that I had the green light to go back down to Honduras again. So I booked my flights and left again on Feb. 24th. To be continued....

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