Hola mi familia!
The past week was a week full of miscellaneous things here is a short list:
1. I finally started the process of applying for my residency. I had to obtain a few things and pay for a few things as well. One of the biggest hassles of obtaining what I needed was purchasing a "Certificate of Health" from a bank (weird huh? You have to purchase a form for a complete physical at a bank.) and then I had to hunt down a doctor to have him fill it out, stamp it, then sign it. Joyce knew a doctor in the Emergency Room that spoke English so we decided to pay him a visit. It took three hours but eventually he was able to fill it out. He took me into a room and asked me a few questions then told me to wait and he would return with the form completed. Half an hour later he returned with the form completed and a full health report and it was free. Pretty nifty huh? I had a physical and blood test without having to go through it! That saved alot of time and ALOT of money. Hopefully within a couple weeks I can go to immigrations and simply pay $20 a month to renew my visa instead of having to fly to the states every 3 months! :)
2. A month or so ago, Shari and Terry (the two missionaries that Alba lives with and that have a feeding kitchen for the poor of the city) asked me if I could deliver some donated cakes to an orphanage because they would be in the States during that time and I agreed to do so. Friday that is what Alba and I did. We stopped by the bakery, picked up the cakes, then delivered them to "La Casita" which is a all-female "orphanage". The orphanage ran by IHNFA and the orphanage is literally a prison like Alzira was for the children. When I was there a few memories came back from the first time I met the children. The lack of proper nutrition, proper utilities, the lifestyle, the hoplessness, etc. What made it even more difficult was the fact that it was an "all-female" orphanage. I could imagine what would happen to the girls in this "orphanage" when there was nobody around. When I was there, I learned there was a 13 year old girl that was already 7 months pregnant! That was hard. This country has such a dire need for children to be adopted but the country is too stubborn and prideful to do anything about it. That is why very few adoptions in this country is successful.
After La Casita, Alba and I then went to the orphanage that she worked at for four years to drop some clothes off. I visited this orphanage back in March with her, Shari, and Terry and I can tell that this one is a nice one. It is a privately ran orphanage owned by Alba's church "La Cosecha". The facilities here a much, much better than what Al Zira was or what La Casita is. When you walk in it has the entire story of Jonah painted on the inside of the facility. For me, it was cool to see Alba with the kids that she is close with. They all call her "Tia Alba". I watched as they all came to her one at a time giving her a hug when they returned from school. The smile on her face and the affection she showed them was great.
3. Sunday after church, Alba wanted to take the kids to the park so Bob and Joyce could have some quiet time and that is exactly what we did. Every time she spends a day with the kids I can see her growing closer and closer with them. It was good to watch her yesterday. Unfortunately, Mauricio and Fabiola couldn't go because Mauricio had stitches in his mouth and Fabiola had alot of homework to do and she was going to help Bob grade some homework.
4. For Bob's second week of teaching he is a big hit with all of the children but he can not stand to grad papers. It is pretty cool to see kids walk up to him out of nowhere saying "Hey Mr. Bob!". It shows that he hasn't instilled fear in their hearts yet. :) Truth is, Bob is a big goofball so kid's are naturally drawn to him and that is one of the reasons why I think they like him so much.
5. We continue to have many problems with Antonio and his conduct both at home and in school. Please pray for him. Angel has been battling a nasty cough since Friday. Rosa has made honor roll after just a few weeks of being bumped up a grade level. I sincerely believe that if she is pushed she can perform very well in school. Pedro and Cesar are loving their new school and you can kind've already see a change in them both for the better.
ALSO: We are looking for a Christian married couple or woman that would be willing to come down from the 1st of November to the 15th to help me with the children so Bob and Joyce could return to the United States to conduct some business. If you are interested email me, or Bob at bcoder@tds.net for more details. You can also call us on skype via your cell or home phone (is a TN number) at: 423-546-4323. You will only have to raise funds for airfare. Everything else will be covered.
Thanks for reading and your prayers!
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