Hey all!

Honduras is still beautiful and I cant stop staring at the mountains.  Today we roughly laid out the building and then mia, bridget, dr dinehart and me went into azacuelpo (sp?) to get some groceries for dinner and breakfast tomorrow.  Other than that I wasn’t too busy so I got to spend a lot of time with two of the boys-Oscar and Christian.  They are both the sweetest boys, and during school, Oscar drew me a picture of Honduras so that I would never forget what it looked like.  Christian and I spent a lot of time just talking about his past and how fortunate he feels to be here at Amigos de Jesus.  Tonight, a soccer team from the local town came by to play the older boys and some of the volunteers here.  It was probably the best soccer game that I have been to.  With all the little kids cheering constantly in Spanish and the amazing foot skills that they all had, it was so much fun.  So far it feels like the week is flying by, and while I cant wait to come back and see you all, its definitely gonna be hard for me to leave. Clue 2: White

Love and miss you all J

Love

Mags

Hi everyone!  Today was the first day that we did engineering work.  The structures folks stuck around the orphanage and laid out their building while we water types went for a great hike up at the stream.  We surveyed down to the existing dam site.  Last night was freezing.  I didn’t bring a blanket, because last time I was here it was really warm at night.  But I regretted it last night.  I covered up with my rain jacket and a stolen airplane blanket.  Tonight, a few guys came up from Posas Verdes, which is just down the road, to play soccer with some of the boys.  I didn’t end up playing, but it seemed like a fun game and it was pretty intense.  I did get to spend some time with some of the younger boys while we were watching the game.  Then I went up to the cross later in the night and enjoyed the view for a while.  The cross is up on a hill and the view is awesome.  You can see all of the towns in the surrounding area and you can almost see to the Guatemalan border.  I hope everyone is having fun in the cold weather and the snow.  Hopefully it’s all gone by the time I get home. Clue 3: Bottom

Love,

Andy

Hola everyone! Today was a good day…we met with the orphanage psychologist today to talk about some of the boys and come up with a game plan for therapy.  It’s so exciting that we’ll come up with a plan that they will continue even after we leave! Oh…we told the Villanovans our story of my battery dying and sitting outside of Dr. Dinehart’s house for an hour and a half…they loved it but mocked us for being so pathetic and insecure. J  Today we also went for a ride into town to go grocery shopping.  We saw a lot of crazy things…can’t wait to share pictures with you all!  Miss everyone terribly! Dad, you would love the view of the mountains here. Mom, tell Paulus and Jules I said Hi! Nicole, thanks for writing to me on here. Oh wait….

See you in 4 days…Mia

Today went by really quickly, and I can’t believe we’re already almost halfway through. It will be hard to leave. We finished the stream survey, so that feels good. It was fun to be back in the stream, but I didn’t get to use the machete this time. For the CEE faculty reading this, Dr. G is loving his surrogate role as a water resources prof. He hiked the stream with us and tried to give good advice for surveying. Murph, Matt,  Lauren, Andy, and Kati came too. I wonder how SPG’s renewed interest in water will translate to his role back on campus…I’m sure he’ll try to deny it, but we’ll all know the truth. Anyway, I’ve been hanging out with Oscar, Chilo, Gerson, and Rony (and some other boys). Michelle, if you’re reading…I told Fernando that you said hello and he looked absolutely elated. It was adorable. He’s so shy and sweet. I haven’t gotten to talk to Chris yet, but I’ll tell him the same. Mom, glad you liked the birthday card. Did you have a day off from school on Monday? Hope all is well.
Love, kel

Hey everyone, I hope this finds you well.  Today we marked out the front of the girls dormitory and began placing batter boards for the foundation and column layout.  The building is massive, and the means and methods of construction only add another challenge to be overcome.  Rich, I took some soil data, but it has been rather overcast as of late and drying the soil has been difficult.  Mom and Dad, I hope you two know how important your never ending support have been.  Being with these boys and knowing that many of them may never experience something as simple as a hug from their mom when they come home from school is a hard pill to swallow.  But they are happy, they are strong, and they carry on; which only makes me appreciate you too even more.  I love you both very much and look forward to that hug when I come home from a long day at school.

Clue 4: Tiny clothes

Love,

Colin

Hi Everyone! Dad, I hope you got the website address and you can see what I am up to for the week! Today was a great day. We woke up and after we figured out some tasks for the day we kind of all split up doing different things. I walked down this stream and we got a cross section of it. It was good. Then later after lunch we ended up hiking up a huge hill then down a stream. We ended up hiking for a good four hours, down the stream through like the jungle it was great. We got a lot of data and it was so much fun being in the depths of nature! We came back and had dinner and tonight there is a soccer game to watch which I might do, although I am pretty beat from the hike. I am glad I have got to hear from you each day, and I will keep you posted! Miss you all so much! (And mom, can you give Jess Tyree this website address too, I think she would like to it!) Love you,

Kati

Hey all,

  First of all, thanks girls for all the messages, <3 my ADPi’s J.  I had a busy day today; in the morning I went to survey the stream that runs along the side Volunteer House that we are staying in.  This afternoon I worked out in the field where the Girl’s Dormitory is going to be built, and let me tell you, construction in Honduras is pretty different than in the United States.  I had another fun day with the boys, tonight there was a soccer game between the local town, Posas Verdes, and Amigos.  It was pretty fun.  Today was another remarkably cold day, considering we are in Honduras.  We are all freezing!  I know you guys are cold too.  Have fun with the snow storms!  Miss you all, keep the posts coming and look at the pictures!

                -Catherine

Hey everyone! 

I can’t believe we are halfway through our trip.  This has already been such an amazing experience. Today, Maggie, Mia and I went into Azacuelpo with Dr. Dinehart and Rob.  On the way home we had to stop the car in the middle of the road for a herd of cows to go around us.  Typical drive in Honduras, I guess!  Mia and I also spent a lot of time with the boy that we are helping today and met with a psychologist to evaluate what needs to be done to help him and some of the others.  Other than that, the day was fairly relaxed and I got to spend even more time with the boys.  They really are incredible little kids.  I wish you could all meet them.  They would amaze you.  Mom and Dad, Tommy, Caitlin, Kevin, Molly and Grandmom- I miss you all! I’m taking lots of pictures though so I’ll show you everyone and everything!  Teen- I’ve been doing a lot of TPOPT, but it’s tough down here, it’s heartbreaking a lot of the time.  Hope everyone else is well! Love you all and I’ll see ya in 4 days!

Love,

Bridget

Hola, la verdad es que hoy estoy bn cansado. Primero estubimos trabajando todo el dia en la alineación del dormitorio de las niñas que todavia nos falta bastaste trabajo. Despues estubimos como siempre jugando con los niños. Todo el dia los niños me abian dicho de jugar soccer por la noche, pero nunca pense que ibamos a jugar contra jugadores profecionales, osea que el juego estubo muy rapido para mi.

Los quiero,

Ramon

Murphy

Derek Jeter

Hi, everyone!  We have officially reached the halfway point.  My time here has been very powerful and I look forward to the coming days.  The simplicity of life here is pretty amazing.  This morning, I worked with a boy named Nahun (nah-oon).  The work started off as me opening the barbed-wire gates as he wheeled wood to the back of the kitchen in a wheel barrow.  Nahun cannot speak; however, he is far more intelligent than he sounds.  By noon time, not only did he have me wheeling the wood around, he also was sitting on top of the wood in the wheel barrow going for a ride.  The joy on his face was an indication of the value that the boys put on simple pleasures in life.  The appreciation for love and the family that they’ve found at Amigos de Jesus is truly admirable.  It reminds me of how grateful I am to have all of you in my life.  Thank you for always having my back and remember to let simplicity guide you.

Love,

John

ps Thanks for the message J

SO I AM OFFICIALLY A BUSHMAN OF HONDURAS! Today was a great day I went bushwhacking though the jungles of Honduras to help survey a river. Me and my faithful machete had every tree and vine begging for mercy. I also had to use my cowboy skills to move some wild horses out of the middle of the road. I can honestly say I will never forget this day and I feel inspired to explore more jungles. The only disappointing part of the day was I didn’t encounter any snakes haha.  Plenty of photos were taken to document our expedition today so feel free to check them out Mom and Dad.

-Matt