Funny Stories!

Hello friends and dedicated blog readers!! :) With October has come the end of hurricane season (YEAH!), and the start of rainy season (DOUBLE YEAH). We are enjoying the cooler temps, the humorous sight of chickens huddling under eaves of the roofs, and the rare sunny day that offers dry clothing (if you get in line to wash your clothes early enough).

Because I love telling stories, I am going to tell you all funny story or two (though it is a lot better in person because I can use gestures, and when you uses gestures when you are typing it ends up that nothing shows up on the screen). So here goes...

El viejito

Once upon a time, (last thursday) I was headed back to the finca (where I live) on a bus. The volunteer I was traveling with had some melted ice in her cup (water) and asked me to throw it out the window as we pulled away from the bus stop. The problem was that the window was not right next to me, but rather behind me a bit. So I turned around and awkwardly stuck my arm out the window and poured it out. As I was turning back around to face forward, out of the corner of my eye, I saw an old man standing on the side of the road, throw up his arms as if to say (if he spoke english) “WHAT THE HECK!” Sure enough I hit him dead on with my melted ice. Slowly, spanish rumblings and giggles spread inside the bus, and within two minutes, the entire bus was rolling with laughter at the gringa (that's me) who threw the water on the viejito (little old man). While I did feel quite badly about the old man, I had a hard time stifling my laughter, especially as the volunteer to my left was also in hysterics. The end.

The ant trail

About a week ago, I was sleeping soundly in my room when I felt something tickle my face. Still half asleep, and thinking it was just a cockroach, I tried swatting it away with my hand several times, but had no luck. Finally,it grasped onto my fingers. I lied there a moment, somewhat confused and then violently swung my hand backward when I realized that it was not a cockroach, but a crab crawling on my face and now was holding onto my fingers. The crab flew back, hit the wall, and fell down below my bed. Not wanting to get out of bed because it was chilly and I just wanted to go back to sleep, I reasoned in my dreamy state that the crab could not climb back onto my bed, so I was safe just to fall back asleep. So I did.

I imagine that the crab was a little angry at me for throwing him (or her) against the wall, so while I was sleeping, it stood on a box under by bed, reached it's little crab claw up through a crack, and pinched my butt. I immediately sat upright in bed and sat in shock for a few moments trying to decide on the best way to proceed. I took out my flashlight and peaked under my bed, but not seeing the crab, and still feeling pretty tired, I decided to go back to sleep.

The next day, I searched the room for my attacker, but when I didn't find him, I figured he found his way out. Three nights later, I was again asleep in my room when I woke with the crab dancing on my hand. I instinctively flung the crab across the room towards my roommate (sorry Floro!) and feeling safe again, I went back to sleep. I searched my room the next day but again the crab was no where to be found.

Many of you are probably now thinking that I may have been dreaming or hallucinating, and I admit, I was wondering the same myself, until we found the trail of ants. The next day, my roommate discovered a trail of ants under her bed that lead her to discover the perpetrator, dead. I don't know if it was his final flight across the room, starvation, or guilt that killed him, but he met his demise and became ant food. I felt vindicated. :)

Well friends, I hope you all are doing really well. I miss you dearly, and can't wait to hear from you soon!

Love,

Jenny

Happy Halloween!!!

p.s. I am feeling quite detached from the news in the states. I don't get much news here unless I take the time to look it up online when I am in town. If you see an interesting article, send it my way!

same 'ol...

Hey everyone! I hope this finds everyone well and in good spirits!

I was writing my brother a letter today and decided it might be blog appropriate (nick, hopefully you will get the letter in a week or so).
I haven't been sending as many letters as I have in the past because it seems that life has somewhat normalized. When I do write, I often find myself saying “not too much going on around here. Pretty much same 'ol stuff.” It seems so strange that this life, once so foreign, has now become my norm.
It is normal to only check my email once a week. It is normal to have the lower half of my body covered in mosquito bites, while the upper half is drenched in sweat and heat rash. It is normal for the electricity and/or water to go out at any moment (and sometimes I even enjoy it). I am not phased when a gecko falls off the wall and hits the table. I anticipate having to pick ants out of the sugar, so I allow a few extra minutes when cooking. When I am late, I shrug and give thanks for the extra protein. When I hear “tappty-tap-tap” in my room, I calmly look for the broom and sweep the crab out from under my bed.
But I guess everything hasn't lost its magic. My heart still bursts with joy when Elsi sits in my lap during prayer or Jose Pastor shoots me his mischievous little grin. I still get goosebumps when I hear a baby's heartbeat in its mother's womb. I still cross my fingers that I will receive letters or email (a shameless request for you to write more, I know). I am still stopped in my tracks and stare in awe on moonless nights and I think I can see every star in the sky. I am still stopped in my tracks and stare in awe at when the moon is full and shining out every star. I still scream when I see a tarantula or scorpion or jellyfish or stingray (all non-poisonous). I still laugh out loud at every one of Sarah Floro's jokes. I am still brought to tears when mothers ask me to abort their unborn baby because they cannot feed the ones they already have. I still feel ashamed when I eat three meals a day, and many of our neighbors are lucky to get one. I still believe that God is somehow making sense of this mess that we call the world, and am so blessed to be a tiny part of it.
To you my friends, thank you for being apart of this messy and beautiful world and making it a little better every day with your presence.
paz,
Jenny

Quotable quotes

Hello to my oh-so-dedicated friends and family who still read my blog a YEAR after its beginning. You are amazing! Next time we meet, I will give you a big hug of thanks, but until then I give you a gold star!
This week I will not recount stories of herding and being bitten by small children in mass, scary allergic bee stings or an incredible homecoming hour of adoration that moved me to smiles, laughter, tears and songs of praise. Rather, I will let another much more articulate man do so. I have recently started reading “Into the Wild” by Jon Krakauer and found a quote by Thoreau so inspiring that I want to read Walden again (the first time through I struggled with the cliff notes). So, find a quiet place and be inspired by the following:

“No man ever followed his genius till it mislead him. Though the result were bodily weakness, yet perhaps no one can say that the consequences were to be regretted, for these were a life in conformity to higher principles. If the day and the night are such that you greet them with joy, and life emits a fragrance like flowers and sweet-scented herbs, is more elastic, more starry more immortal,--that is your success. All nature is your congratulation, and you have cause momentarily to bless yourself. The greatest gains and values are farthest from being appreciated. We easily come to doubt if they exist. We soon forget them. They are the highest reality.... The true harvest of my daily life is somewhat as intangible and indescribable as the tints of morning or evening. It is a little star-dust caught, a segment of the rainbow which I have clutched. “

One may live a life full suffering or challenges, but I think life will emit those sweet fragrances, weather living in Honduras, traveling the world, or working a 9-5 at a construction site. We are challenged to pick a path that we believe in and the truly experience and greet each moment with joy.

Go. Greet your days and nights with joy.

Jenny

Bean reflections

Myself and a few fellow volunteers were walking to communion service the other day that we lead at our neighbors’ house, and I was carrying a cup of beans for the homily as the gospel was on where you sow your seeds… in the good soil, in the rocks where they are eaten by birds, or where they will be choked by the thorny plants. As we were walking, I made fun of Laura, one of the other vols, and she hit my hand, knocking the cup to the ground and spilling the seeds in the rocky soil. Well, it must have been divine intervention that I made fun of Laura, because we picked up the previously clean beans, and in the process a couple of sticks, some dirt and a few rocks. During the reflection, Anne asked us to reflect in which type of soil our beans or seeds were planted. I couldn’t focus on the soil, because I just kept thinking about how dirty they were. I picked out the rocks, the sticks, and dusted them off until they were pretty and shiny. I sat there admiring my three pretty beans and wanted to put them in my pocket to save for later. It then occurred to me how I do the same with my faith. I have been good in the past about studying, praying and educating myself about my faith so that it became pretty and shiny. But then what did I do with it? I picked it up and put it in my pocket to pull out at my convenience for a good theological discussion, polished it off again, and put it back into my pocket to keep safe and clean. But is that what Christ is calling me to do? What good is a seed in my pocket? Of course it needs to be planted to give life. It needs to be shoved into the dirt, have a little shit thrown in it’s face, drowned by water and left to sit alone in the scorching sun until the point at which it breaks into two giving life to a small green plant. At the point where the bean is actually useful, it is no longer recognizable as a bean, and only if you are lucky can you see a pale shadow of what it once was.

Well friends, it is my turn to make dinner tonight, so I’d better get going. I hope that your beans are well planted.

Love you all!

Jenny

Who is teaching who?

Hi Friends! How is everyone doing? Things are going quite well at the farm. We have been having incredible weather (cool breezy mornings with thunderstorms in the afternoons. Somehow the weather really sets the tone here.
Last week was my first experience teaching health classes. So maybe “teaching” wouldn’t be the best word choice. Last Friday, the school needed a fill in for first grade health class, and since I had taught health to 2nd and 3rd already that week, I figured that 1st would be a walk in the park. I have never made such a grave error in judgment. As I entered the 1st grade classroom, frowns instantly spread across the room along with shouts of “NO! Not you! We want to watch a movie!” Apparently, the regular teacher had promised them a movie, which I now believe to be some horrible form of hazing for new teachers. Trying to be upbeat I told the kids that we were going to read a story and then if they behaved we could draw afterwards and them go run around on the soccer field. The boy to my right stuck his hands over his ears with elbows pointed outwards and shouted “I’M NOT GOING TO LISTEN”, immediately climbed under his desk and laid on the floor. Three other children followed suit, while the rest of the class started crying and/or yelling that they didn’t like to read and wanted to watch a movie. It was so over the top that I couldn’t help but laugh out loud (that didn’t go over so well) and expected the camera crew to come out shouting “you’ve been punked”. If only…
Upon recounting this story to a fellow volunteer who is actually an elementary school teacher she said “If it had been me, at that point everyone would have their heads on their desks and had to sit in silence for the rest of the class.” If only I had thought of that! Instead, I sat down on the floor in front of the class and started reading the book. Within 4 or 5 minutes, the kids were sitting on the floor around me listening to the story and now only complaining that they couldn’t see the pictures very well. Well, the one kid was still laying on the floor, but you can’t win them all over right? They did well until we had to switch activities and then it started all over again. Needless to say, I will not be looking to continue my career in elementary education. I hope everyone is doing well. Write me and let me know how you are doing!
Love,
Jenny

Looking for help!

Hello friends!!!

The farm is still looking for volunteers for next October. If you know anyone who might be interested in volunteering this year, please let us know. The farm´s website is farmofthechild.org. If you are interested, you can email either me (jennymontague@gmail.com) or Andrea, our volunteer coordinator, at farmofthechildusa@yahool.com

paz,
Jenny

Back in Honduras

Hi friends!

I am back in Honduras! I had a wonderful time in the states, but it is good to be back at the finca with a little extra energy and a little chocolate I snuck back with me to bribe the kids. ;)

Honduran Medicine. Last week I translated for a medical brigade that came down from Arkansas. It was fun getting to work with and learn from some great doctors. Obviously, there was not time to treat everyone in the week that brigade was here, but they helped many people with the time they had. It did reinforce for me the need to work on putting some structure to the health care system that is in place so that Hondurans have access to good medical care year ‘round instead of just one week a year. There is so much need. Sometimes it is difficult to find the best place to start.

Scorpion on the loose! As many of you know, I talk of spiders as my arch nemesis, but I have to admit that I have an equal dislike of scorpions. Since I have been here, I have not had to deal with this unwanted creature because when I find them they are either already dead, or I run the other way while the male volunteers “take care of it”… until last night. Several of us were brushing out teeth before going to bed last night when I hear “SCORPION!!!” ring down the hall. I paused for a few seconds waiting for the first macho male volunteer to come to the rescue. But I soon realized that they were all gone on vacation and I was going to have to take care of it. Trembling and with broom in hand, I walked into the bathroom to find the fattest scorpion I have ever seen. Somehow, the fat ones are scarier. I stabbed at it with the end of the boom and when I completely missed, his stinger instantly flew into the air in attack mode. After my second failed attempt he fell to the floor, and I went flying out of the room. I poked my head back in the room just in time to see his fat tale squeeze through a hole in the wall. I banged on the wall several time with the end of the broom as if to say “and there is more where that came from if you show up here again” making sure I was well out of stinger’s reach if he actually crawled back out of the hole. All I can say is that the boys had better get back from vacation soon…

The voices of Christ. Every morning all of the volunteers and kids gather in the church for morning prayer. This week the kids are on vacation from school, so Monday morning only a handful of kids made it to prayer (I admit it was difficult to get myself there). One of the volunteers walked over to find out why the kids hadn’t come that morning (assuming they were still asleep) and heard 3 small voices praying inside the house. The kids were stuck in the house because their parents had over slept, so the girls gathered around a book and prayed together in the house. It is in these moments that I know that despite our insufficiencies, God is alive and doing great things.

Well friends, as always, thank you for your letters and emails. It is always so wonderful to hear about how you are doing, the latest on tech invention, medical break through, good wine, the election or funny stories from Hollywood. Please write me and tell me how you are doing on the completion of the first half of 2008. I love you all dearly and look forward to hearing from you soon!

paz,

Jenny

Oh happy May!

Hello friends, family, and groupies!

I am writing to wish you a marvelously magnificently merry 3^rd ‘o may!
Dude, is it really May? Yikes! Where did April go?

Thursday, April 10, 2008. I went over to casita uno (little girls’ house) to hang out for a bit and was greeted by 4 sticky little girls. They were munching on suckers that one of the kids’ moms brought over. Sadie walked up offering her sucker to me by putting it mere centimeters from my face. Instinctively, I recoiled as to avoid being slimed with the sucker, instantly set the girls into a frenzy. They immediately jumped up, all “offering” their suckers to me with devious giggles. I surprised myself in how long I was able to keep them at bay, but eventually it was either be slimed or fall off the porch. So, I fell off the porch. Haha. If only. I spent the next hour picking strawberry flavored sucker out of my hair. To get back at them, I told them all they had to go inside and brush their teeth before I left. haha! The perks of being the finca nurse!

The drizzly Tuesday, April 19^th. I was looking through the cabinets in search of inspiration to make lunch for the community. Instead of inspiration, I encountered two sets of whiskers attached to wiggling noses in one of the tupperware boxes where we keep our food. I sprang into hunting mode, slamming the box shut to trap the mice inside, but they were one step ahead of me! They chewed a hole in the box and rat #1 hopped out and ran up the wall (yes, the rats here, much like Spiderman can climb vertical walls). While I attempted to smash him with a rake, I completely missed and he ran to safety, so I focused on rat #2. Not wanting t get bit, nor wanting to let him get away I covered the hole with a potholder while screaming for help, but sadly no one came to my rescue. So much for the role of damsel in distress! I wrapped my hands and arms in potholders, towels and oven mitts and carried the box outside. Laura, a fellow vol, happened to be walking by the house, so I yelled at her to get the cat that lives in the house next to us. After a mini eternity, she came back not with out mouser, but with a machete. I ripped the box lid off, a got my toes out of the way as she slayed our feeble intruder. Laura and I shouted in triumph and danced a jig in the rain as our Honduran co-workers watched on, shaking their heads. “They are so strange,” one of the Franciscan sisters said. “They won’t even kill the chickens”

Wednesday, April 30^th, 2008. I was sitting in the clinic while TWO patients were being seen by two different doctors, and trying to remember what, as a nurse, I should be doing. I had forgotten how much I love being a nurse! While I do miss being in on the consults (I like being detective) we discuss the interesting cases, and I am learning so much more with them than I when I was by myself. One of the doctors is a short term volunteer from the states and the other is Honduran who showed up at the door looking for a place to volunteer. Incredibly, God manages to answer my prayers that I thought too hopeless to pray.

I hope you all are doing well, and I look forward to emailing and talking to you sometime in the next month!

Lots-o-love to ALL!

Jenny

¡¡Hola de Honduras!!

Hey everyone! I am sorry that these blog posting are becomming less frequent (I feel that I start every posting like that now!) I am finding it more challanging to write down my experiences and thoughts partly due to the fact that as my Spanish improves, my English get worse, and partly because there is always so much going on it is difficult to choose one story or experience that would be worthwhile sending to y’all! Thanks for all the letters and emails!! It is so great to keep up (at least a little) with your lives and stories! Keep them comming!! :)

So I have to start this out by saying, scabies are quite annoying! I have new empathy/bitterness for all those little children who have come into the clinic infested with that horrid little mite. Empathy as I realize that they itch worse than anything I have ever experienced, and bitterness because the little turds gave them to me! Oh well, occupational hazard, huh? But I have to share the secrete to stopping the itching. Listerine! Yes, the mouth wash. It is truly a miracle liquid! It not only sooths itchy skin, but also repels mosquitoes! The best part is that the off brand works too! I love that stuff!

A couple of weeks ago, the vols had a retreat at a retreat center in the middle of an orange orchard. It rained almost the entire time we were there, so I let the rain on the tin roof lull me to sleep. It was wonderful! We had a watermelon spitting contest, and my 12 years of chewing sunflower seeds in softball games proved to be most beneficial. After collecting oranges to eat (so delicious) we found a tree that was lacking leaves, but full of rotting oranges. Out of no where came a bat shaped stick, and a couple volunteers, myself and two random kids that showed up found ourselves playing soft toss for at least an hour. Should the opportunity ever come up to play soft toss with rotting oranges in the future, I will give you some pointers. The smaller ones that are a little harder fly better (good for showing off), but the big squishy ones are really fun to smash (and put a lovely orange aroma in the air).

What else… prep for visiting dentist next week (I am so excited!), visiting docs, med students, unconscious pregnant women, CPR in moving vehicles, 4 new children at the finca, giant Easter egg hunts, new tire swings, teaching swimming lessons (yay for sharks and minnows), collapsing on the floor from laughter, beautiful rainy days, writing budgets, crying from exhaustion, malaria outbreak (I am protected because I take a preventative medicine every week), reading the Joy Luck Club, visiting a nearby (8 hours by bus) orphanage and kissing the ground in thanksgiving when returning to the farm (we have such wonderful kids and staff!), treating asthma attacks in rain storms, biting ants, beautiful friendships, missing family and friends, good letters, interrupted prayer time, more prayer time, and a lot of loving- both given and received.
I love you all and miss you! I hope that the easter season is finding you all full of joy!
Blessings and peace,
Jenny

New Year´s reflections

MERRY CHRISTMAS! HAPPY NEW YEAR! HAPPY GOUND HOG’S DAY! (ha! I am early for one of them!)

How has the holidays left all of you? Hopefully refreshed with God’s love and ready to conquer 2008!

Christmas here was quite a treat. Christmas Eve morn began chasing around two 7 year old boys with their new carritos (little cars) from Santa and winded down after mass, Christmas plays, tamales, neighbors, a midnight prayer circle under a full moon, and a late night discussion of Christmas traditions.

Even with all the joys of the Christmas season, I find myself struggling spiritually. We have a plethora of prayer services. The days when I am really focused, and the priest is really clear, I can get the homily, but even these days are dry. Last week, I was in mass with the children, and for the first time in a while, I was consumed by God’s presence in the room. It stated to rain pretty strongly, and there was a wind that made the rafters of the church sing. In that moment, I could feel God’s love. It was like giving a glass of water to a parched man in the desert. The entire mass went like this. It was wonderful. During the kiss of peace (when you shake hands and say “peace be with you” with other members of the community), Magdalena came up to me (if I have not told you about this little girl before, I apologize. She is a 7 year old girl with enough gozo (joy) to bring peace to the world, and a smile that would make the worst dictator melt before her) put her hands on the her cheeks smiled at me with a little squeal of excitement. I picked her up to give her a hug and she put her hands on both of my cheeks and brought by head forward so our foreheads touched. I almost started crying as I was overtaken by God’s love through this little girl.
My struggles here are a result of God’s changing appearance. He used to look like a well kept church, a man dressed in robes, a little wafer of unleavened wheat. Here, God is Magdalena, José Pastor, Sadie, Angel David, the mother of 10 who breaks down in tears of despair as I find her 11th child’s heartbeat to be strong and healthy in her belly, the volunteer who spends extra money and 5 hours to cook a special Christmas meal for the 10 of us who are missing our friends and families, the two determined boys who walk down a mountain with heavy sacks of vegetables while their older and stronger brothers complain as they carry a stick of sugar cane.

I encounter God every day here. Some days, when my eyes are open, I see Him.

Despair often creeps into the work here, and there are many moments when I want to throw up my hands in disgust and take the next flight home. After three months, I am finding myself shrinking. I am reminded that this is not my project. I am not the master builder, but only one worker. I am not here to fix centuries and cycles of poverty and abuse. I am here to do my little part by loving those people whom I get to encounter. I am here to work with what I have and with who I am to do the work God has given me; nothing more and nothing less.

Thank you for the work that you do. Thank you for saying YES to your part in this world as it is good, necessary, and of God.

learning what love is,
Jenny