Sunny Days and Cloudy Skies

It rains a lot here. I guess that is just part of the package of being in the tropical zone. I'm happy I finally got to go to the beach on a beautiful sunny day. Two of my friends from the gym Sarahi and Juan decided to have a mini picnic out at Playa de los maestros. Apparently this was the go to place for all young adults and their dogs. It was relaxing because the sun wasn't too hot and the ocean's breeze was refreshing. I made pico de gallo, Sarahi brought the chips and drinks, and Juan came prepared to just enjoy it all. At the gym, I've made quite a few friends which makes me happy. Though, they all think it's crazy that I like to lift weights. After some convincing, I got them to try CrossFit with me and they love it as well. I think if I had more time to spend I would gladly try for a job as a trainer at the gym, but the trainers have to be there for 8 hour shifts everyday and honestly my other obligations interfere with that time.

Speaking about my time, I've grown to love the work that Red Cross does. They truly have a wonderful perspective on community building and unity to work together. In the department of disaster prevention, the goal is to teach a few so that they can teach others. Since there is so much rain, the risk of flooding the streets is very high, thus said, the people need to know what to do in that kind of situation to prevent flooding in their homes as well as transportation in and out of their towns. I also joined in an EMT/Paramedic class that is every Sunday from 8am-6pm. It's pretty demanding but manageable. Plus I get to volunteer with the ambulances and help out in their shifts so that will be a good experience for me as well!

I started volunteering at an orphanage as well 3x a week. I felt like at first I might be stretching my time ouot too much but after meeting the kids I think I can manage to get over there from 6am-1pm every MWF. These kids come from a background of violence and abuse. After being offered a place at the Hogar de Amor, these children never have to worry about being set out in the world by themselves after they turn 18, they can stay as long as they need to in the Hogar until they are ready to leave. I go out to their school which is up in the mountains, it is called the Jungle School.

The school director assigned me to first grade, not realizing that I do have a huge problem with patience. However, this is why I need these kids because they teach me to be patient and I teach them that they can receive love. They are adorable and being with them 3 days out of the week really makes me happy. The luxuries of being a teacher are abundant, but it surprises me that I can adjust the class to include things that I find have value, such as morals. In Davis, I taught a spiritual education class to the children of Windmere Apartments, not once did I think this job was useless or a waste of my time because being with those kids who came from a low-income family, made me realize how much we have to value in our lives. Reflecting on those classes I decided to introduce the same quotations we studied but in Spanish such as: "En el jardin de tu corazon, no plantas sino la rosa del amor." What is even better about teaching 3 days a week, is the fact that I can really implement learning these quotes and understanding the meaning behind them 3 days out of the week instead of once a week which is what I did at Windmere. We spend about 30 minutes repeating, singing and making drawing to represent the quote, then they surprised me at lunch when I found out they memorized it.

Now to the fun stuff! Weddings!!! A good friend of mine, Tahereh Dooki got married this weekend! And being the wonderful people we are, her sisters, Azar, Bahi, and myself hosted a bachelorette party the night before her wedding! The cakes were to represent the different time periods of her life, 80's, 90's, and now! So the 80's cake was a rubric cube with Shea on top and a cassette play for Tahereh's music mix. Then 2000's and beyond was representing her time with Junior, her husband, and how she apparently tried to run away from marriage. The cake-artist, knew Tahereh and Junior pretty well so he creatively designed the figurines to show off their wonderful... "assets." As well as show how Tahereh is running away from Junior, but Junior has his foot on her dress so she can't escape. Man were these cake awesome!

There is a saying in Honduras that rain is a sign of good luck. Apparently Tahereh and Junior are going to have a lot of good luck because that day was pouring! The wedding was beautiful, regardless of the rain. Yet all that ceviche and meat didn't settle well with me because I came down with a stomach flu. I forgot how wonderful it feels to clean out my digestive track. I hope to be fully recovered by tomorrow so I can eat again and hit the gym hard!