"I'm a son of God"

Sitting on a vintage couch, in a different country, drinking a chai latte, with the windows open, I felt blogging was the proper thing to do. And maybe also because this is the first chance I've had to actually sit down and record events and work out thoughts. 

***Disclaimer, if you read anything, please read the last section. All else in this blog is nonsense compared to that last story.

This week has been crazy. 

Saturday night, the stomach bug hit me. And it hit me hard. At first, I only had a fever and thought that if I took some Motrin, the fever would be gone by morning and I would be able to go to church. About 8 pm...that was not so as I uh...gave up the fight against nausea. 

These are the thoughts going through my head as this is happening.

Did I forget to wash that tomato?

Did I accidentally drink some water?

Do I have that disease from mosquitoes?

Does this mosquito bite look infected?

I wonder what the Hospitals in Honduras are like?

I want to go home. I'll bet I could get a seat by the restroom on the plane. 

Oh wait, I'd probably have to ride in a taxi or a bus to get to San Pedro. That might make me worse. 

I'm going to die. 

I wonder what they'll say at my funeral. 

No. 

Don't think that. 

But did I wash that tomato????

And so ensued my night. 

By Sunday morning, I was fairly dehydrated, had a pretty high fever, and couldn't sit up, let alone stand. My roommate, Bethany, and my neighbor, Jenna, stayed home with me, gave me medicine, made me soup, and made me drink some gross stuff (Apple Cider Vinegar & Water is disgusting). By this time we had ruled out any kind of food-borne or insect related illness and had it down to the 24 hour stomach bug. I didn't know what I was going to do if I didn't feel better after the 24 hours was up. But I didn't worry. I slept all day Sunday and still had a slight fever into Sunday afternoon. This led to my decision to not attend the first day of school (boohoo) but everything else at school is crazy enough without a stomach bug epidemic. 

On Monday, I cleaned a little, slept a lot, cleaned a little, slept a lot, cleaned a little, you get the picture. 

TUESDAY! This was my first day of school and it was exHAUSting. I've discovered that in First Grade, the students don't know as much English as they did when I was a substitute (in March, after they had been in school for almost 8 months). So the kids didn't understand hardly any of my instructions and kind of went wild. My voice, what was left of it after being sick, was pretty much gone. I also have lunch duty, which had no idea what that meant. The lunch ladies and other Spanish teachers (so sweet, and so patient) were trying to explain to me what to do, which is a lot more than I originally thought. You have to give the kids their vitamins. Make sure they don't make a mess. Pass out their cups. Pass out their toothbrushes. Put toothpaste on 27 toothbrushes. Make sure they don't spit on each other (they brush teeth in the courtyard). And then there's the bathroom. *phew* I also helped in Prepa (Kinder) and those kids are SO sweet! I'm getting to help teach the boy Brittany fell in love with last time she was here, working in the village of Los Germanias II. And I see why she fell in love with him. He's the SWEETEST thing! At the end of the day, I  help with 4th grade, who I substituted for in March when they were in 3rd grade. As Teacher Kathy says, they are a JOY! So sweet! So smart! And for the most part, obedient. So 4th grade is always a good class to end with. 

Wednesday. 

Ah, Wednesday. For the most part I had things under control. My amazing assistant, Tori, has been a huge help! She helped think of some fun games so the kids would have fun while they were reviewing some of their vocabulary. Wednesday was much better. Much. Much. Much better :) 

And then there was today. I have lunch duty down to a science. Still working on the bathroom portion though. 2 stalls. 27 children who don't understand most of what I'm saying. It's interesting for sure. 

***Read this part if you don't want to read the rest!

If we were verbally talking right now, this is where you would hear me squeal, "Oh! I have to tell you a story!!!" Kathy had the kids write their spelling words in a sentence. One of their spelling words is, "I'm." One of the sweet boys asked me, "What is hijo in English?" So I told him, "Son." He nods his head and begins writing. I was called away but came back to check on his work. I just about cried when I saw his sentence. 

I'm a son of God.

And I knew, that though the work was hard, frustrating, annoying at times, it was that sentence that made it all worth it. 

THIS KID KNOWS IT!!! And it makes me SO happy! Now that I'm at home, away from prying eyes, I can cry. And boy. Am I crying. Because that truth that he knows now, will get him through this world into the anxious, waiting arms of his Father which is all I can ask for in the lives of these students.