Kayleen?

Greetings from Honduras!

I am on day 5 already. Wow, it seems like I just got here yesterday. Not a lot has been going on the past few days. They made it that way on purpose. I am supposed to just sit around and do nothing for the first week here. By doing this I observe how things work around here and where I will fit in best. I still don't know for sure what I will be doing here. I will be teaching the English class three times a day, but I am expected to have other responsibilites as well. Which is great. I want to help out wherever I can. SO I am getting to know the staff and who I work best with. This will determine where I will work.

Now I haven't exactly been sitting around and doing nothing. I have been enjoying the company of the kids here at Escalon. The kids range from 13 years old to 19 years old. It has, of course, been easier to get to know the smaller girls right now and work up to the girls closer to my age. The better I get with my Spanish, the more I will be able to communicate with the older girls. For now, the younger girls are content with playing games with me and helping me with my Spanish. One girl in particular, Maylin, has been a great help. SHe's a beautiful 14 year old girl with a great heart and a real knack for teaching Spanish. We've spent many hours together looking at books or just walking around campus talking.

Now the funny thing is, I have, as most North Americans would, a tough time pronouncing a lot of thier spanish words and names. I can't even role my "R's" so it's been interesting. What I didn't expect to find is the Hondurans having such a hard time pronouncing my name. It usually ends up sounding something like "Kayleen?". SO now when I introduce myself I will say I am Katelyn or Katelina. They understand Katelina. SOme are now calling me Katelina while others are determined to call me by my real name. Last night, I went into my room earlier than usual to sleep. It's so hot here that all of my windows are open and I live right in the middle of campus so I here all the kids outside. It's kind of nice. But last night when I went in I turned on some music and started to get ready for bed. It started out real faint, but after a few minutes I started to hear, "Kayleen? Kayleen?" I turned off my music and figured out which window the mysterious voice was coming from. It was Maylin and she wanted me to come out and talk. It was so sweet. That was the first time I was invited by someone else to do something. I am hoping to hear my "Kayleen?"'s coming from my window in the future.

Prayer Requests:

• Dad flies back to the States tomorrow. Please keep him in your prayers.
• I will be on my own then. It's a little intimidating, but I'm ready.
• Continued prayer for the language barrier. I'm getting better, but still have a lot of work.
• Tree of Life Missions www.tolm.org