Enjoying Esperanza

Hello All,

This weekend has been truly delightful. I enjoyed my time in Esperanza very much. One evening this week, I was playing cards with Alan, one of the sons of the sisters where I live. Alan and I were a pair, and we were winning pretty consistently. He was so excited. I loved hanging out with this little man, and I told him that I had adopted him as my little brother (along with his other brother, Angel). The next day, Alan introduced me to his friends as his big sister. It was so sweet. I have started calling the little girls, Ana, Evelyn, and Ivania, my little sisters as well.

The birthday party was a great success. I hung out with Jorge, the 16-year-old son of one of the sisters. He is such a good kid, and we had a very good conversation. I adopted him as my little brother as well. He immediately took to the adoption, and we pick on each other like brother and sister. I am quite thankful to have a catracho friend here in Esperanza. Becoming attached the family and my students has paved the way for an attachment to Esperanza as well. The family is so very precious and special, and I will likely visit them when I live in Honduras. Jorge will be going to university in Tegus soon, so I told him that when I live down here permanently, he´ll have to come visit me.

Today, we went to the town soccer game. There is an adult league (which I think is so awesome), and a team from Esperanza was playing Choluteca in a tournament. It was so much fun, and it actually reminded me of my hometown of Philippi. La Esperanza is actually a lot like Philippi just in terms of community. They won 4 to 0 and will be playing next weekend in Tegus. The celebration afterward was awesome and reminded me of how great small towns can be.

Meanwhile, a stomach bug is going around, and I´m afraid I´ve caught it. So please keep my health in your prayers, and although it was rainy, my face got baked today. Eh, trivial things, really.

Lots of love,
Sarah