Before and After

So I'm home. It's strange, but I feels like I never left. My heart knows differently and I truly miss being there. The carpet feels odd under my feet, I had to turn a fan on to have some noise when I slept, and I swore I heard a cow this morning, but it was actually the neighbor firing up a chainsaw. I ran errands, took a nap, and went to a graduation party today. Typical American day. It's so very good to see family and friends! At the same time, I don't want to forget or just go back to life here.

I had to fight back tears as I was leaviing Monte Llano. As I pulled out of the school and taking in my last time in the streets, my heart sank. I love these kids. The last day was precious. The normally rough and tumble pair of Marta and Regina sat on my lap for a good half hour, when they got up, Felix climbed in, then came Neifi...next was Diori. It was a sweet time of just holding them and praying over their lives. God is big enough to save them and change their lives. Saying goodbye to staff was quick as I am the worst person ever with goodbyes. I can't stop thinking about them though.

I forgot to tell about the second to last day. I had taken Angel with his mom to the denist at the public hospital. This was one of the worst experiences of my life. When we walked in the Denist was so rude to the mom and Angel. She asked me to take a seat and attempted to numb Angel up. Not slow like in the states, but within one second the entire amount was in...along with him screaming out. She waited a minute or two, he knows what's coming and starts to stress out. She keeps making threats, he's hanging on to his mom who is holding him down for dear life. Then she starts in with the instrument. I try to get up to hold hand and comfort him, but she tells me that "it's ok if I want to stay seated over there." I watched in horror as Angel is screaming and pleading at the top of his lungs, his body is shaking...not the I'm scared shake, but the uncontrolable shaking you get when you are experiencing so much pain. I could feel myself getting angry, wanting to ask her to give it a few more minutes, and tears rising with my grip tightening on my shirt. Thankfully, the rest of the tooth came out quickly...with a blood bath. I am a nurse. I love blood. It does not freak me out...but there was a lot of blood coming from that mouth! Mom did great though and didn't pass out. The dentist wrote a script for antibiotics and sent us on our way. By the time we get the medicine, Angel says to his mom, "I can't feel the side of my mouth now." Are you kidding me? 45 minutes later and he is just now feeling the effects? I know he was probably just losing it and was scared so he didn't know he probably couldn't feel much before, but I also know that he felt plenty. He was dying for a bag of chips on the way home, so for 12 pesos, I bought him some. At that point I probably would have bought the kid a years supply. Angel being the sweet kid that he is gave me a hug on the last day and thanked me for taking him to the dentist.

Diori's foot got infected but looked better after I did some serious cleaning and removal of flapping skin.





Luis Miguel head looks so much better, thanks to an antifungal pill that he still chews rather than swallows.



And I ate steak tonight...=)


I'm thinking the blog will be coming to a close. I may write a couple more as I process through everything I saw and experienced. Chris Tomlin's song "God of this city" is stuck in my head. I think God put it there on purpose.