Cuteness itself!
Pileup on the slide
After another midnight round of tylenol and antibiotics, Picklebee seems to be feeling better today; I’m hoping this means her fever is gone for good. Carl is starting to feel a bit under the weather, but the thought of this being the last day to work on the bridge seems to be keeping him going. He made a trip into Tegucigalpa to get more supplies for the truss the guys are putting on the bridge to help stiffen the center span. As you can see, most of the planks are on, but they need to wait to stiffen the center span to put on the rests of the planks.
The bridge is getting closer!
Since Picklebee was feeling better, we ventured out this morning to play on the playground outside Casa Suyapa. We had a good time playing with a bunch of kids on the slide and monkeybars. After a bit, the Casa Suyapa kids moseyed on to another activity, so we went down to check out work on the bridge. While we were there, a young woman on a horse galloped by with one of the smaller kids – the Rancho version of pony rides, I guess. Picklebee and Monkeywrench looked on longingly.
Picklebee with friends going down the slide
After lunch, Picklebee took her nap and MonkeyWrench went over to Casa Suyapa again to play, enjoying the palomitas (popcorn), and making a new friend, Paula.
MonkeyWrench and her new friend
Horseback riding
The soccer games are continuing, and I think Henry’s team has made it to the finals – but we’re here at the guesthouse baking brownies for the girls in the Hermanas de Jesus house. Unfortunately, partway though the electricity went out, so hopefully they will be baked okay. But even undercooked brownies are still pretty tasty! However, the electricity outage seemed to restore the internet, which was out all day, so I can’t complain.
I had an interesting conversation with one of the volunteers who had taught here for a couple of years, and is now a school administrator for a private school for low-income children in the U.S. It was fascinating to hear just how similar poor kids are in the US as here in Honduras. For instance, she commented how when we bring the brownies down, it will be important to give each kid one piece, and let them know that’s what they should take, otherwise their natural instinct is to hoard, and some of the later kids won’t get their share. This is different from the sharing I’ve seen so far, but I can see how both could be happening at the same time – making sure you have enough, and maybe a little for later, but still being generous with what you have.
DaddyFrog and Elmer take a wooden part of the truss out onto the bridge
Tomorrow is our last day, so the guys will probably be working as late as possible on the bridge today. It is bittersweet to be leaving – we’ve learned so much here, but are looking forward to being home.
