Dia Dos

Me: What should I tell them?
Him: Second day a lot like the first, with only 1/3 of the patients.
Me: There were supposed to be only 50-100 people, all adults. There were 275, mostly children. We ran out of vitamins.
Him: The guys built a highly-efficient wood-burning stove in a family´s house for about $150.00.
Me: How did YOU do today?
Him: Mostly just translated for the doctor, sterilized instruments and tried to calm upset children.
Me: I did that. I kept letting them suck on my pen.
Him: That´s so hot.
Me: Sometimes I even got to clean it between babies.
Him: Not only hot, but sanitary as well. Anyway, it´s about time for a little R & R before we put together the meds for another 700+ day.
Me: Ugh.
Him: But then I think our last day (Sunday) will be a day in the capitol city (Tegucigalpa) just walking around.

Estamos aqui

We made it! We´re safe, the weather is warm (not hot) and rainy in the afternoons. Yesterday was a "free day" where we packed and organized medicinas and labled everything (until 12AM). Today was our first Brigade and we passed through 750 people in one day. The medical staff is only one American doctor, one Honduran doctor, and Stephan. I spent the day translating, and Stephan helped the doctors see the patients. It´s after dinner now and time to load up the suitcases for tomorrow´s Brigade (only 100 people expected tomorrow. Dulce!)

That´s it. We´re exhausted. Gonna sleep well when we get home. Thanks, again, to everyone who made this possible. It´s amazing what your $20 ($50, $100) donation has been able to provide people here.

Not crying- sleeping soon.

PS Someone please call Stephan´s mom and tell her we´re ok. Thanks.

Keeping Track of Us

Just for fun, here's our flight information! We're flying TACA, an El Salvadorian airline that operates in the US.

June 24th
TA flight 589 ORD (OHare) to SAL (El Salvador Airport) 3:05am-8:00am
TA flight 374 SAL (El Salvador) to SAP (San Pedro Sula, Honduras) 8:50am-9:45am
TA flight 175 SAP (San Pedro Sula) to TGU (Tegucigalpa, Honduras) 10:15am-11:00

June 30th
TA flight 216 TGU (Tegucigalpa, Honduras) to SAL (El Salvador) 5:30pm-6:30pm
TA flight 588 SAL (El Salvador Airport) to ORD (OHare) 7:05pm-1:50am

Honduras Information

Google Map of Honduras.

Weather today for Tegucigalpa, Honduras (the city we're flying into).

The Honduras.com website.

Check out the latest news from Honduras.

Beautiful photos of Honduras.



Me: What else should I put in here?
Him: Huh. Tell them you wish you could tell them where we're going, but you don't know yet.

11 Days Later

I finally get on the computer. I have TONS of Honduras information I'll post before we leave. In the meantime, check out the photos from our New York City Trip.

Visit Medora

Seriously. Visit Medora. Trying not to be boring... here's what our night consisted of. Are you looking at the photo above? That's the view from the table we ate dinner at. Sure, we were outside, and it was a little chilly, but you seriously can't beat that view.

And then the musical was fantastic. Outdoors, of course, but look again at that photo. That was the backdrop. Forget the fourth wall, the first wall was incredible. The second act consisted of a recreation of the Battle of San Juan Hill with an actual calvary of horses and riders, and a cowboy lit with a spotlight riding across the nearest ridge. There were also fireworks, lots of songs and dancing (even tap dancing!). It was a really fun time, and we slept really well that night.

If you're interested in visiting Medora check out the link!

Me: Stephan, tell me about the golf course.

Him: Awww. Just put, "it [...] rocks."

Me: I can't use that word.

Him: How about 'freakin'?

Me: Anything else? People are used to actual description here.

Him: The front 9 is beautifully manicured golf course with difficult sand traps and water hazards played against the Badlands as a backdrop. The back 9 plays through the Badlands, using elevated T's, dropping down onto wide green fairways with nothing but steep rocky slopes in between.

Me: Very nice. How many balls did you lose?

Him: I only played the front 9.

Me: How many balls did you find?

Him: I found 4.

Me: So you netted.... how many?

Him: I bought 4, found 4, came back with 3. You do the math.

Overheard: June 8th, 2007

Me: I, Anna, take you, Stephan, to be my husband. I promise to trust you, especially when things aren’t going according to plan, and when I’m scared. I promise to always respect you. I promise to listen to you when you need to talk. I promise to follow my dreams as I support you in following yours. I will ask for your help when I need it, and I will help you without judgment. When you ask me, “what’s wrong?” I will answer you honestly. I will listen to what you have to say before I respond. And I will work side by side with you to find solutions to our problems. I will be proud of myself, I will be proud of you, and of us, because we are two amazing people creating an even more amazing future.

Him: My Love, although I’ve been yours since the night we first met, this is the part of our journey where we stand up and tell everyone what’s important to us, and just how much you mean to me. It’s the point where we publicly vow to spend the rest of our lives together, loving and supporting each other. I love you. I respect you. And for the rest of my life, my worth as a man will be determined by the expression of my love. Poetry is written one line at a time, and our story will be written one day at a time. I vow to show you each and every day how much this means to me, how lucky I am that we will are together.

Ed: KISS HER!

Rev. Wayne: You can't do that yet. Until I say. I'll kiss your [Ed's ] head if you don't behave.

People: [Laughing]

Rev. Wayne: Stephan Edward Koruba, this woman you hold by the hand is to be your wife. In your life, conduct, and character lies all of her happiness in life. She has given you one of the most sacred things under heaven, a woman's life, and a woman's love. She can give you nothing more. Mark this: it is not what you give to her in a material way that will make her happiness. Riches without love are nothing. The gift without the giver is empty. But it will be the practice of love as a Husband, that you have shown as a lover, that will keep you as the champion of her heart. And you vow here, as you have promised to her, that you will be true, loyal, patient in sickness, comforting in sorrow, and under all circumstances and in all conditions that you will be willing to forgive and forget. Do you so vow? If so, answer "I do."

Him: I do.

Rev. Wayne: Anna Christine Gavula, this man whom you hold by the hand is to be your husband. In your life and love lies all of of his help and inspiration in life. He is going to look to you for encouragement, for cheerfulness, and for confidence. No matter what the world may think, people my forget him or lose confidence in him, but you must never do that. It has been truly said behind every successful man is a more successful woman. May your life be the inspiration, and your love the protection that he will need to play the part of life well. And you vow here as you have promised to him that you will be patient in adversity, a comforter in affliction and sorrow, and at all times that you will exercise mercy that forgives and forgets. Do you so vow? If so, answer "I do."

Me: I do.

Rev. Wayne: Stephan and Anna, you are just beginning today to celebrate your marriage. May you continue to enjoy each other as long as you live. We have heard their promises, witnessed their love, and shared their joy. With great pleasure I tell you all that Stephan and Anna are now husband and wife, together in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. NOW you may kiss your bride!

Checking In

Mostly I write about whatever's going on in my head, but I discovered this neat little add-on that I want to use to see what you all like reading about the most. Voting is anonymous, and does not require any signing up, or signing in, or logging on, etc. etc. etc.

So... what do you think?

Which subject interests you the most?

• Ranching/Farming
• Small Town Life
• Charity Causes
• Our Day to Day Stuff
• Photos
• I'll read whatever you write

Created on Jun 7, 2008

View Results

more at twiigs.com...

Not My Fault

Amazing that this kitchen accident wasn't caused by your dear author. Stephan turned on the front burner instead of the rear one to boil water. He was also making brownies for the branding last weekend but when he tried to take them out of the oven they slipped right out of the pan and landed on the floor. In a hurry he threw the pot holder onto the stovetop to try to rescue the brownies. He didn't see the smoke, but I did and started yelling, "fire. Fire. FIRE!" and grabbed the pot holder off the burner. After a few minutes I noticed that it was still smoldering, so I doused it with water.

I took a photo as proof and, of course, saved the evidence.

As karma would have it, I then sliced the top of my left thumb off on Wednesday night, thusly banning myself from hot and sharp kitchen objects.

Dinner for the rest of the week will be cereal.

FAQ: When do You Leave for Honduras?

Answer:

(I typed an answer to this, then got nervous that I'm telling the internet when the house will be unoccupied)

Answer: the end of June. We'll be back in plenty of time for Stephan to go to work on July 4th. We're getting really excited about it. Stephan got his last vaccines, and we have the malaria medicine and just-in-case stomach medicine. We haven't started packing yet though. Packing is going to be a bit different this time- the goal is to pack minimum personal items (cloths, etc.) and leave plenty of room for the medicines and medical supplies. Everything gets measured and weighed so we can distribute it evenly across everyone's luggage.

In case you haven't seen it yet, check out the Global Medical Brigades website, some photos from their recent trips, information about the 2008 Medical Brigades, or the local organizations that we're going to work with, click on the links.

Weekend Post

Heard this song, it changed my day. The lyrics are great- the repetitive message is vital.



Take all of your wasted honor
Every little past frustration
Take all your so called problems
Better put 'em in quotations

Say what you need to say
Say what you need to say...

Walking like a one man army
Fighting with the shadows in your head
Living out the same old moment
Knowing you'd be better off instead

If you could only
Say what you need to say
Say what you need to say

Have no fear
For giving in
Have no fear
For giving over
You better know that in the end
It's better to say too much
Then never to say what you need to say again

Even if your hands are shaking
And your faith is broken
Even as the eyes are closing
Do it with a heart wide open

Say what you need to say
Say what you need to say...