Goodbyes and Coming Home

It's been almost a month since I got home from Guatemala. It was a tough transition at first, but since school has started I've had plenty to distract me. Plus, I've had a lot of people praying for me, which helps even more. Of course, I'm already thinking of when I'll get the chance to go back again and little things every day are constantly reminding me of the kids and other things at Hogar de Vida. I'm so looking forward to returning again. I wish the world was just a little bit smaller so that I could drop by on a weekend or something like that :)

I meant to tell you all about the last couple of days that I spent in Guatemala, but once I got home there just never seemed to be the time. So I'll just catch you up on the highlights really quick. 

• Saturday we had clinic in Canilla and the doctors were still visiting so I got volunteered to translate for one of the OB/GYNs while she did ultrasounds on all the pregnant women. It was a little bit difficult, but not as horrible as I would've thought. There were a few communication errors, but overall I was proud of myself for being able to speak so much Spanish. But it also made me really aware of how much I still don't know.
• Sunday we had clinic in SAS again. I weighed some more babies in the nutrition program and there were two tiny newborns who came. They don't start children on the nutrition program until they weigh them over 2 or 3 weeks and see that they are losing or not gaining any weight. So we just checked over the newborns and weighed them for now. Because really, it's best for them to just have breast milk now anyways. I don't know what's happened with them since then, but I pray that they are thriving and doing well.
• After clinic, we stopped by Hogar de Vida to drop something off. I was happy for that because I had a chance to say a real goodbye that time. It was overwhelming to hear all the kids calling out "Teresa! Teresa!" when they saw me. And telling me happy birthday (it was two days before my birthday) and that they would miss me. What really put me over the edge was talking with Oralia, Sebastian and Lorena. They thanked me for all the work I had done there and told me I was always welcome to return and that it was my home now too. I told Sebastian that I didn't want to leave and he said "Well, it's better if you just stay." I wish I could have.
• Then, on Monday I left to go home. Usually the trip home gets dragged out by a long 5 1/2 hour bus ride into Guatemala City. But this time, Duane flew us out to the city in his plane which only takes 20 minutes and it was such a beautiful view of the mountainous country. It would've been more enjoyable if it didn't mean I was leaving my favorite place.

 That's all for now. But, I'm hoping to update later with a few photo blogs since I could never get pictures posted while I was in Guate.