Discovering myself....

Gallery: Water & Soap, let the fun begin

brenda-liz — Thu, 8 Jan 2009 22:48:00 GMT

Lets get dirty :)

Almost time to come home :(

brenda-liz — Thu, 1 Jan 2009 16:53:00 GMT

Wednesday 12/24:

Shanell and I are getting ready to hand out pajamas to our kids after they finish their dinner. They all get new pajamas so they can look beautiful on Christmas morning. Tonight all the volunteers are having a holiday dinner at Indias house. Today was a pretty special day, we went out for three hours giving out gifts to all the kids in the near by villages. It was amazing to see the kids faces, their big smiles and the gratitude they showed. Dinner was at Indias house.

Thursday 12/25:

We had a great day with our kids and all the staff. They made a feast for 100+ people and we all had lunch together in the rec. hall.

Guess what is the traditional Christmas food for the Tanzanians?
I died and went to heaven:
ARROZ CON GANDULEZ = they call it PELAO
GUINEITOS EN ESCAVECHE = forgot the name :)

I could not believe my eyes when I saw them cooking all my puertorican dishes, the only difference is that they use intestines with the guineitos and we use moyejitas.
That evening we had another dinner at Indias. We had turkey, smash potatoes, graving, broccoli and wine :)
There were around 18 people on the table, name tags used for the seating arrangement...very formal and beautiful. Dr. Frank from California was also there, so I got to talk to him for a little while, his wife went back to America to spend the holidays with her family.

Friday 12/26:

One of my mamas, Mama Sophia, has been very sick for the last 5 days, Malaria. I have been taking care of her and giving her Tylenol every 4 hours to reduce her fever, I feel so bad for her. Today she was sent to the hospital, (endito). She is like a teddy bear. This is not the first time she gets malaria. Three weeks ago she started a treatment for her first episode of Malaria. It seems that she got it again and the medicine she was taking was not strong enough to treat the new episode.
I started Shanell again on her Malaria pills that we brought from home, after the nightmare she was so freaked out that she refused to take the pill. I made her take it now, it would stink if we come down with malaria just before we leave, and it looks very painful. It is funny people here are not that afraid and none of the long term volunteers take the drugs due to the side effects and what it does to your body if you take it for too long, they talk about it like is a bad flu. The medicine they use to treat it starts to work in 24 hours.

Saturday12/27

Today we have to fit all the kids in our house for shoes and clothes for school. My house has been kind of crazy the last couple of days during nap time. Yesterday I had to go to their rooms 4 times and tell them to stop playing and go to sleep...they did not listened.
Since Mama Upendo is on vacation for two weeks (she is the rule enforcer of the house) and Mama Sophia has been sick, that left a new Mama, Mama Celina and she does not have the handle on the kids yet. So, today in the volunteer meeting, I mentioned to Sara what was going on in my house. Before I knew it, Sara went to the house and grounded all the kids. They lost movie time, and were not allowed to move from their beds until dinner time. I felt bad, but at the same time it need it to happened, they were getting out of control.

I'm now counting the days to see my guys, I miss them so much, next time they are coming with me. This is definitely an experience that C-rod needs to have... an eye opener experience. I do love this country and I can understand how ex-patriots leave their home behind and move here. It is an AMAZING place, that needs so much help and support......little things, basic things that we take for granted every day.
Yesterday, I meet a woman that is a former volunteer of the orphanage. Her name is Meredith, she came here 4 years ago to volunteer with Indias and fell in love with the country. So, every year she comes and stays for 6 to 8 months helping India out in the orphanage, and now is working with Doctor Frank at his new clinic in Karatu. Anyways, last year she started the process to adopt a baby. The process here is very hard and you actually have to live in Tanazania for a year to be able to adopt. They make it so hard due to the risk of kidnapping. Kids here are taken to be use as slaves in other countries, it is amazing and so sad that practice still goes on. So, anyways she finally got approved and instead of one baby she decided to adopt two. She was here last night, the babies are so beautiful, the boy fell in love with me. I had him on my arms all last night and this morning. His name is Colton and the girl is Adison. This Sunday I'm off , so I will be going to Karatu with one of the other girls volunteers, we are going to try to meet with Meredith and the babies.
She is currently living in Karatu, waiting for all the final paper work to be able to take the kids to her home in Ohio. It could take 4 months to another year :(
Ok, this is it for now,
Besos xoxoxo

Sunday to Wednesday – 12/28 :

I had a relaxing day yesterday out of the orphanage. Britget and I went to one the tourist hotel and met up with Meredith (the adopted babies mama, that lives in Karatu) I had my baby boy with me all day. We had lunch and got Johnny and C-rod the coolest necklace.

Monday, 12/29:

Was also a working day, this time was trying on all of the clothes that the kids owned and marking on a sheet of paper what fit, what was too small or broken. I got all the boys done. Tomorrow I will do the 4 girls. This afternoon I started a game of baseball, before I knew it the whole orphanage was playing. It was so much fun, but my team lost.
I just took a shower, it is 5:30 PM and I'm worn out. Shanell just got out of the shower and put a movie on, “Mrs. & Mr. Smith”. We only get to watch it until the solar power goes out....hopefully one hour. We are at the volunteer house and the kids are at their homes watching their kids movie.

Tuesday, 12/30:

Only 4 days for us to leave the orphanage. We will leave Saturday at 10:00 AM drive to Arusha (2 hours) them take the shuttle to Nairobi, Kenya (6 hours) I got us a hotel for Saturday night in Kenya. We will be pick up by a driver that will take us to the airport the next day, our flight leaves at 9:30 PM On Sunday January 4^th. I’m not ready to say good bye. And to make it worst, a brand new baby arrived this afternoon. His name is Emanuel and he is 21 days old. His mother died during surgery. He was left with his father, which is an alcoholic, and four other brothers. The baby was the only one that India could take, because the other kids were older than 8 years old (I feel so bad for the other boys).

Emanuel is a beautiful café con leche color baby. The other kids from the orphanage say he is:

“ sooooo white”

He is staying at my house, so I get to hold him and baby him. He kept us up all last night crying.

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

No big plans for new years on this side, maybe (hoping) to have some red wine :)

Today we worked all day getting a new house ready for new kids that will be arriving in the next couple of weeks. The baby is the first to arrived of that group. Another house will be ready for another 12 kids by the Summer (total of 24 new kids). That will be the last of the bunch.

Five houses with twelve kids each and Indias house with 6 kids, the originals kids, that are now entering teenage years. It is PARADIZED!!!!

HAPPY NEW YEARS TO ALL!!!!!!

Love,

Brenda Liz

Broken nose & tomorrow is Christmas Eve ..woohooo!!

brenda-liz — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 19:00:00 GMT

Friday 12/19

Today everything went smoothly. I’m falling deeper and deeper in love with my kids.

Let me introduce you to my angels:

1) Happy Jonh: 9 years old

A beautiful girl, she has the most beautiful smile in the world. She is in the quiet side and goes along with the flow of things. She likes to play the Tanzanian version of jax, instead of the red ball and metal shape starts they use rocks. She loves to wear dresses and loves to collect wild flowers for all the volunteers. She is also the main host in the Children’s Village, as soon a visitor arrives, she comes running out and holds their hand to give them a tour.

2) Jane: 8 years old

Beautiful and loves to be the center of attention. She loves spend one on one time with Shanell and I. When she is up-set or gets hurts she shuts down, she doesn’t cry or talk to anyone. She is the dancer of the group and she can shake her bom bom …wow!!

3)Cristina: 9 years old

The drama queen! She is the ultimate actress of the bunch always addressing me by saying "excuse me" She has a big and awesome smile. But, when she is mad watch out

She loves to play Tanzanian Jax and is the most matured of all the girls.

4) Evalina: 9 years old

The shy girl of the house but also the most gorgeous one. She is very smart. She has an infectious laugh that just makes you crack up. She loves to play soccer, volleyball, Tanzanian Jax.

5) Isaka: 10 years old

The elder of the house and acts as the caring older brother to his 11 siblings.

Very responsible and sooo cute. He has these amazing eyes full of life and compassion.

I just love him. He is the MAN of the house!!!

6) Paulo: 8 years old

He has the most beautiful eyes and smile, you just melt away in his presence. He is extremely smart and knows it. Super active and always into something he is not supposed to be doing but he can’t lie, he always tells you the true when he does something wrong.

7) Mole: 8 years old

Is the ring leader and the biggest trouble maker. Our first week in here he would change his name and the rest of the gang names just to confuse Shanell and I. He also would tell me that they were allowed to do things that were actually not allowed, change the bed time or nap time…little bugger. I love him to dead, I love kissing him, he always asks permission to kiss me at night. He is very sweet. On movie time, he is the first to sit on my lap, I have to sit him next to me so the other kids can sit on my lap.

8) Simon: 8 years old

The big teddy bear of the family. He loves to be held and hug. Always ready to help you.

He is always asking questions and very interested in what you have to say. He never ever gets in trouble. He is very active and loves soccer. He has the biggest and widest feet I have ever seen….his hands are rock solid like a mans hand and so meaty. I just love my Simon!

9) Joshua: 5 years old

Is the baby of the house and loves to sit on your lap and talk about anything. He is the funniest kid, loves to play with mud. The other day I found him digging a hole, that

then he flooded and planted some beans to grow a plant. He has the cutes smile and his ears stick out a little bit…he is just gorgeous!

10) Boaz: 8 years old

He is the lawyer of the house. He argues about anything and does not allowed the big boys to intimidate him. He has a freckle under his left eye that makes him irresistible.

He is very sweet and does not stay still for a minute.

11)Vincent : 7 years old

Is adorable, he love to play one on one with you. Has a very shy and cute laugh.

Loves soccer and his Spider man PJs and he loves to draw pictures and paint.

12)Cristopher: 9 years old

He looks older than what he really is, until you start playing with him, you can see he is very young at heart. Always testing you, to see how far he can get, before he gets in your nerves. Loving and very sweet, always ready for a hug and a kiss…in the mouth in you let him…which is NOT allowed, you just have to re-direct him.

These are the new members of the Rodriguez Family. They will always be part of Shanell and I until the end of our days:

Saturday 12/20

Today was a day full of games and coloring. It was awesome that we had the whole day to play with the kids. We went for a walk and bought a couple of Orange Fantas in the Chuka (store) which is 5x5 made out of aluminum panels. The locals from the village were having a Soccer game, so we sat under a tree and watch and cheer for them. They are really good, and their warm ups are impressive. I took video to show C-Rod what LOVE for the game really means.

Sunday 12/21

OK…..got up with a broken nose and a swollen knee. WELL…not broken but, really beat up.Shanell had the wildest dream. Around 11:00 PM she started to screaming like someone was attacking her. It was pitched dark in our room. She continued to scream, I get up and started feeling around for her bed until I reached her.

I put my arms on her shoulder and shook her and told her to wake up, she has been screaming for a good three minutes and I can not get her to snap out of it. Then she starts fighting me, kicking me and hitting me like a mad woman. She punched me in the nose and kicked me out to the floor. I landed on my knees and my nose started to bleed. The two Mamas that live with us came running to see what was going on. They litt up the keresone lamps and I finally got Shanell to snapped out of her dream. She was so scared and confused. I felt so bad for her..I have never seen anything like that. In the morning the other volunteers were in the volunteer house talking about the screams of someone they thought was been raped on the fields. They were so upset because they could not do anything to help her. I proceeded to tell them that that was not the case, that actually it was Shanell having a bad dream. They were relieved and very sad about my injuries…we all had a big laugh afterwards. Shanells dream was that a lion was attacking her, when I got to her and put my hands on her shoulder she thought I was the lion. All this is a side effect of the drug “ Malerone” that we are taking to prevent malaria. She refuses to take the drug now, it was that real for her. I feel so bad that my baby had to experience this awful nightmare.

After breakfast, we had the day off. We were so excited to get out and have some adult time. All four of us rode the Jeep with the guys that work in the orphanage. There were 11 of us in the jeep. No seat belts, people sitting on the floor, on the middle of the two front seat where the speaker were supposed to be, two people per seat. It was so much, we were all singing songs, taking pictures and videos. The guys are awesome and very respectful. The closest town is 45 minutes away. Thirty minutes in a dirt road big enough for only one vehicle, full of hills and bumps. You need a 4x4 to be able to get out of here.

The guys dropped us off at a beautiful hotel for tourist, where we lay by the pool and had some beers and Malibu with gingerale (including Shanell) what the hell we are in Africa, “What you do in Africa stays in Africa” ..LOL

Then we walked 1 hour and 20 minutes through the main town, which is stores lined up by the road, just little tiny stores selling everything you can imagine. All the locals saying hi, and waving at us. The kids running towards us and asking to take them a picture.
This young boy of around 12 years old, followed us for 20 minutes trying to sell us bracelets and massai nick nacks.

We were looking for an ATM to get money out. We went to the only three banks in town and they were all out of work. We continue our walk to this really cute gallery that is owned by ex-patriots. We were starving and ready for lunch. In our way we had to stop to let the cows have the right away, surreal!!

We got to the gallery and ate and drank some more..mmmmm!!

A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN KARATU!!!

Monday 12/22

We did all our chores and worked all day wrapping the last of the presents.

The kids and I watched Harry Poter…they love it but at the same time were super scared of the movie and going to bed in the dark.

Very Cute!!

Tuesday 12/23

Today has been a really hard day for me. I got up crying and with my heart broken. I miss Johnny like crazy and today marks our 21 years of marriage. I’m amazed at the love I feel for this amazing man. He is my life!! I’m so lucky to have found a man that loves me as much as I love him, and that is not afraid of telling me and the world how much he loves me. I’m so proud to be his wife, his lover and the mother of his kids.
Today is also his 43 birthday, and I’m not there with him to celebrate.
I got to see him for 2 to 3 minutes in Skype. That was worth a million dollars. Just to see his face and his beautiful smile,

Te Amo Johnny!!

After that I kept myself busy with the kids, and now is almost dinner time. Tomorrow will be Christmas Eve here in Tanzania (we are 11 hours ahead of the West coast, 14 hours ahead of the East coast, 15 hours ahead of Puerto Rico)

They have planned a big lunch for all of us in the Children Village, including the kids, mamas, workers, nurses…100 + people and also giving out new PJs to the kids at night. Then the volunteers have to sneak at night to put all the presents under the Christmas tree for the kids. I can’t wait to see their faces when they get up the following morning.

Also, tomorrow in the morning we are going to be driving around the surrounding villages to give out presents for the kids outside. Today we worked on their gifts, which consist of three pencils, crayons and color pencils for around 1,000 kids. They tell me it is the best thing to do here during Christmas…these kids don’t have anything, they are the poorest in the whole country. These items that are kind of not interesting for our kids, are treasured by these kids, since is the only thing they will posses for the remainder of the year and also they can use them for school.

See you tomorrow!!

Brenda Liz

Leopards and much more....

brenda-liz — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 21:51:00 GMT

Tuesday Dec 16:

Today was another day of breakfast, chores, taking care of the kids and wrapping presents J That is one thing in here, everything is plan and is the same routine everyday….which is good for the little ones, not so good for us. Still night comes and we are dead tired.

This evening was a little more exciting that our regular evenings. Jessie is leaving tomorrow, so India has invited all the volunteers to her house for dinner. We all got dressed up, even put on make up…it was so nice to feel pretty again. We had cocktails in India’s veranda, I had two glasses of African red wine….mmmmm!!! very good!

Dinner was divine, we had steak, potatoes, vegetables and a mango salsa that was to die for…I got the recipe.

That night India warned us about a couple of leopards that are roaming around the orphanage. One of them jumped on the roof of her house and scared the shit out of her and her two dogs. Her dogs were so afraid that they started to go around in circles.

So, the new rule is not to be alone in the dark outside. We have to wait for one of the Massai warriors to walk us to our houses. The Massai warriors are very nice and respectful, they roam around at night with their spears watching out for elephants, leopards, buffalos.. etc.

That night as you can imagine I did not sleep well, every noise in the roof was freaking me out, and believe me we have many animals in our roofs from bats, to rats and birds that make a very awful noise at night. That night we were Ok, no leopard on our roof, but the next night….HOLY SHIT!!! I was so scared the damn leopard was on my roof. That night Shanell took Tylenol PM and she was completely out…..I was just praying that the roof was built correctly and strong enough…..what a night, it lasted around 15 minutes and then he jumped off our roof, I went to the window to see if I could see him, but no luck it was too dark. It is so cool!!!! I don’t have to worry about robbers, rappers or killers…..my worries here are buffalos, elephants and large cats…OH! and hyenas. One got tangled in our fence two weeks ago but she managed to escape before the Massai came to kill her.

All for now,

Besos xoxoxo

Wednesday 12/17

Today we said good bye to Jessie. We did our chores, played and wrapped etc. Nothing out of the ordinary. I went for a 10 mile hike with the secondary girls that come to the orphanage on their vacation time from school. India pays for all of them to go to secondary school with the help of sponsors. Secondary school is from grades 7 to 12. The government pays from grades 1 to 6, after that the parents are responsible to pay for the remainder of the education. Around $300 to $400 per year. The schools are far away so the kids live in the school and they come home on the holidays. The sad part is that the average person here makes around $100 to $200 per year. Teachers make $30 to $40 a month, and that is consider very good. The average family has 6 to 8 kids, so it is impossible to send out kids to secondary school. Most of the kids in the surrounding villages of the orphanage are the coffee pickers, so it is better for them to send the kids off to work on the field. Before India got here, the attendance in the elementary school was around 10 percent. Out of 400 students, only 30 to 40 will go to school. When India got here she took over the lunch program and provided the kids rice and beans, maize, fruits and vegetables. The attendance went up to 99 percent. Amazing!! This will be the only meal that these kids will have for the day. It was great for the parents to send off the kids to school because that meant one mouth lest to feed.

When we walk out of the orphanage gates we are amongst the poorest region in all Tazania due to its isolation, the only means of work is coffee picking. Production of coffee has drooped but the population continues to grow, without jobs, food, health care. It is heart breaking to see, just 30 feet from us. Our kids are royalty compared to the surrounding village kids. India has done as much as possible to help the whole community, but it is impossible to help everyone. She has re-built 3 of the 6 classrooms in the elementary school, provides teachers that come here and volunteer for a year or longer, provides the hot lunch and vitamins for every kid and twice a month runs a clinic for them. She is an Angel!!!

All for now,

Besos xoxoox

Thursday 12/18

Nothing new, our routine continues to be the same. Just loving the kids and taking care of them.

I do miss Johnny and C-rod so much that my heart aches every night I go to bed without seeing them. I borrowed a cell phone from one of the other volunteer and made a call home. It was so nice to hear their voices…OH my GOD!! I was in tears after I hung up the phone. I’m so in love with my family! Johnny is the best man in this universe. I have been blessed with a husband that is so unselfish and so giving, that is willing to stay home with C-rod for a whole month, while me and Shanell are in here. He has lots of work and then he comes home and takes care of my baby. Johnny you are AMAZING!!!

I thank God every day for putting you in my life. I’m the luckiest woman in this world.

I promise to love you and take care of you until the end of my life…forever yours,

Brenda!!!

Friday 12/19

Today the village soccer team “Kiran” had their final game. The orphanage provided the transportation. Two trucks full of people, around 30 on each of them, the majority of the people are just hanging out of the truck holding to another and for dear life, it is so funny to see. The team came tied, so they will have to play another game…not sure when. I was not able to go to the game, but two of the other volunteers that have been here for over a year went with the guys. They tell us that the majority of the time, the loosing team gets so mad that they run and chase the umpire and beat him up L

More facts about the culture here:

1)Boys and grown men hold hands with each other

and it does not mean anything other than they are best friends or family members

2) A baby born left handed is consider a sign of the devil, so at very early stage they make the babies use their right hand. Another reason is that using the left hand here to eat or shake someone’s hand is consider rude and disgusting. Left hands is only use to clean yourself after you use the bathroom…funny

3) Albinos in Africa are very rare, but they are a few. Their skin is believe to be magic.

Albinos in here are in danger of kidnapping. The cut off their skin, or burn their skin for magic purposes. We have a little girl that is albino. She is from the village in front of us, every time I go for a walk I see her. It is very unnerving and surreal to see her among all of her siblings and other village kids. They are all black and she looks like snow…her face and body is full of scars, it breaks my heart to look into her face. But, it seems that the tribe sees her as just another member of the tribe. I saw her yesterday with a bucket full of water on her head walking to the village with another girl. She looks like she is 9 or 10 years old.

4) Teachers beat the students with a stick if they don’t know the material or the answer to a question ( India put a stop to that when she got to school, at least at our school)

5) At graduation the give a prize to the best student and to the worst student of the class

6) Aids is cured by having sex with a virgin.

7) It is very rude to not greet or acknowledge every single person that you come into contact with. You have to say “Shikamoo”(not moo but a long o sound) to every person that is older than you (means I respect you)

8) When you see someone working you need to say “Pole Sana” (I’m sorry for your work)

It is so sad to witness and really hard to understand their reasons for these believes.

Every one in here is trying to help and to break down the ignorance. The best weapon for this problem is education.

Our Environment :)

brenda-liz — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 16:49:00 GMT

I just finished breakfast. Today I got to sleep until 7:30, Shanell had breakfast duty in our house. She was up by 6:30 AM and started her duties of taking care of the kids, its beautiful to see he dedication. She did not complained once, she is really loving it here. We are also celebrating her acceptance to the University of San Diego. One of the volunteers made a congratulations sign for her, she was really surprised.

Yesterday, I took 7 kids to a walk to the old house where India used to live with the first kids. The kids were so cute, climbing trees, picking up flowers, picking guavas from the trees. It was a beautiful place. I was in awe to see 20 to 30 feet tall plumeria tress surrounding the house, the aroma of the flowers, and all the flowers on the ground made a beautiful perfumed carpet. After lunch the kids had their shores and then a nap. I took the down time to read, I'm actually really into "One Hundred Years of Solitude" I can't put the book down :)

The weather here is beautiful, in the 80's and with a constant breeze. The grounds consist of some grass and a rich red dirt. On our first day we got rid of our boots and tennis shoes. Sarah let us borrow flip flops from their donation container. So we are in flip flops all day long. Our feet get so dirty, at night at bath time, we need to scrub for a good 10 minutes to get rid off the dirt. I have never been so dirty in my life. It is impossible to stay clean when all the kids are climbing up on you, hugging you or playing basketball in the gym where shoes are not allowed :) Wait that you see the pictures.

The houses are built of concrete and the roof are aluminum panels, so when it rains a little or the critters(rats, bats, birds, AND more rats) walk on the roof it really sounds louder and bigger than it really is. It is amazing how humans adjust to their environments. On our first couple of days Shanell and I were freaked out about the roaches that seems to co-live with everyone in here. They are the really cute little ones, we were having our first dinner here and I saw something walking on top our dinner table, Shanell was frozen with horror and she gave me the look of disgust, our host Sara, just wiped it off the table and continue with her dinner. Now were are doing the same, just wiping them off our table, counters and continuing with our work :) AMAZING.!! They are part of our household :)

Today Jessie leaves for America. She is a volunteer-teacher, that has been here for a year and a half. It is going to be really hard for the kids and for the other long term volunteers to see her go. She is only 23 years old and an amazing young woman. Ok , got to go I have exceeded my computer time.

See you tomorrow!

Safari and arrival to the Children Village 12/10 - 12/15

brenda-liz — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 17:24:00 GMT

Hello everyone!

I want to apologized for not keeping up with my blog, the days in here are very busy and most of the time is spent with the kids. I have only have a thirty minute allowance of internet use per day.

Let me tell you that this country, Tanzania, has stolen my heart. It is a beautiful country and the people are the most gentle, respectful and loving people I have ever met.

Shanell and I arrived into Nairobi, Kenya in the evening. We spent the night in a beautiful hotel near the airport. At 7:30 AM we were at the lobby of the hotel with 5 gigantic bags full of donations. People were looking at us like were either crazy for bringing so much stuff for a holiday, or we were moving to Africa. We had a 6 hours bus ride to Tanzania. We crossed the border and had to get our visas stamped and approve by the Kenyan border patrol and on the other side of the border by the Tanzanian border patrol. We were the only white people at that moment surrounded by all the locals and Maasai people. It was the coolest experience, everyone was very nice and helpful.

Driving through the roads of Kenya and Tanzania was an education of its own. The villages that we drove by, the people walking miles and miles for their daily routine, the Maasai kids on the fields taking care of 20 to 30 full grown cows or goats. I saw kids no older than 3 or 4 years old guiding these animals. It was surreal to see this form of work be done by a child. Beautiful faces……full of dirt and huge smiles. Always waving when you drove by. We were such tourist…taking pictures of everything…I mean everything. The local people that were riding the bus with us just smiled and shook their heads.

The roads are very bad, the trip should have taken 4 hours , but instead it took six hours. We were so tired by the time we arrived to Arusha, where our Safari driver and guide were waiting for us. They waited two hours for us, due to our road delays, I felt so bad. They were so sweet, they arranged lunch at the hotel for us. The food was amazing, very tasteful. The food was very similar to my puertorican cooking, I was in heaven .

After a 30 minute break we got into our Safari truck and drove another 2 1/2 hours to our final destination, a private tent camp, were Shanell and I spent our first night. I have never seen anything like this before. It was a private property. Beautiful grounds, filled with an amazing vegetation, Acacia tress,, flowers, Oh my God….. the birds were Beautiful!! Bright colors and their songs were amazing ….I was in a dream. The property had a building with a huge kitchen for food preparation, and a couple of small rooms were the manager and groundkeeper slept and kept their belongings. The grounds were full of tents, set up in a manner that gives each guest privacy. We were under a beautiful Acacia tree. The tent was pretty big and inside they set up one full side bed off the floor, for Shanell and I. Our cook set up our table in a beautiful open area near a wood burning fireplace. I have never in my life eaten as well as I have in here….just amazing flavors, soup, breads, main meal, desert…mmmmm. This was the most comfortable evening of our next 4 nights. From there we set up at 6:30 AM to Serengeti National Park, even before entering the park we were surrounded by baboons, walking like nothing next to the truck was a family of giraffes, crossing in front of us a huge family of elephants, with the baby ones holding on to the mama's tails. Our mouths were wide open in disbelieve of what we were witnessing in front of us. It was truly amazing.

We have seen every animal that there is in East Africa. Lions walking by our cars, Cougars hanging from a branch right above us, hippos, rhinos, zebras are everywhere here…wait until you see our pictures, we have around 250. From there we went to Ngorongo Conservation area, a caldera of an extinct volcano. We had lunch down at the crater, in front of a hippo pool.

After our Safari we finally arrived at the Children's Village. An amazing place that is surrounded by coffee plantations and by the Ngoro Ngoro mountains.

Wednesday 12/10

This place is paradise, I have died and gone to heaven. Mrs. India Howell has created a little Eden in Tanzania. From the main road it takes a good 30 to 35 minutes to reach the orphanage. One lane dirt road in the middle of 3 coffee plantations, owned by people from India. One of them supplies beans for Starbucks, believe it or not. The people that live around the plantation are the workers that pick the beans. This is one of the poorest regions in Tanzania, the owner of the plantations provides brick houses for the workers that are around 15 x 15 in size. The housing is supposed to accommodate around 50 workers, but there are more than 300 hundred leaving in them. I went for a power walk with one the other volunteers that has been here for a year and half, she took me on her route that she runs every day, through the workers houses and coffee trees. We interacted with the local people, they are so nice, sweet and respectful. One of the young mamas came out of her hut to show off her new baby, the baby was beautiful. The people here are truly beautiful, physically and from the inside.

Shanell and I are living in the Serengeti House. We have 4 girls and 8 boys to care for, they are so cute and very curious. They love football (soccer)....the know all the players from the teams of Barcelona, Argentina and beyond… The house has two mamas that live with us, mama Upendo and mama Sofia, in the mornings we kiss and hug. Even though they do not speak English , Shanell and I manage to communicate somehow, if not we ask the kids for help :)

Thursday 12/11

Today was breakfast duty, so Shanell and I woke up at 6:30AM to prepare and serve the breakfast for the kiddos. After breakfast the kids have their chores to do: clean floors, clean the table, clean toilets, showers, dishes etc. It is amazing to see how respectful and hardworking these kids are. Have you ever seen a 4 year old cleaning a toilet, or sweeping……I have a lot of respect for these amazing kids. After we are done with breakfast, which is around 7:30 AM, Shanell and I come to the volunteer house to have our breakfast.

Today we worked at wrapping presents for birthdays in December and also helping the kids make Christmas cards for their sponsors. After naptime we went to the gym area and play with the kids for a while before they had to take showers. After showers is dinner time, then they do all their chores, cleaning up after every meal is required. They have a chart on the wall with a calendar and their names next to what chores they have to do. No complains , no buts…they just do it.

Every night the kids have an hour and half to watch a movie. Today we are going to watch School of Rock . Bed time is at 7:30, after reading the kids a story, tucking them in and kissing them good night, we then come to the volunteer house for our dinner. There are 3 of us right now, but next week 3 more people will arrive to work with us.

By 8:30 I'm fast asleep…..never slept so well in my life, I'm so tired that that I just close my eyes and I’m gone, until 6:30 AM. We do it all over again J

Friday 12/12

Today Shanell and I spent the whole entire day with the kids, playing soccer, basketball, drawing , coloring, taking care of cut and scrapes and breaking arguments. These kids are so lucky they have a dream life. India has done an amazing job, creating a home and a family environment. Every day we are getting closer and closer to the kids. It is very hard not to fall in love with them. Our kids, in our house are so sweet and they love us so much, you should see all the pictures and letters that they have given us. There is a little girl in one of the other houses that is 1 1/2 year old, her name is Natalie, she is so beautiful. I had her for half of the day today....I ate her with kisses :)

Her story is very sad, her mom died of aids and they don't know if she is HIV positive yet. She came in September, without knowing how to crawl, now she is walking all around the orphanage. All the kids take turns taking care of her, it is so beautiful to see how they love and care for each other.

Anyways, I have many stories to tell, I'm so grateful for everything we have. Shanell has change so much...she is a different woman.

Ok, go to run dinner time, everyone is here

Hey guys it’s Shanell, just wanted to say I miss you and I wish you were here, you would have the most amazing time with these kids. They are very well behaved and respectful- for the most part. They all have really tragic beginnings and it is so great to see how much caring for them and showing them love helps them move on. C-rod would love playing soccer with them and dad you would love drawing and being creative with them.

Love you and will see you soon.

Today has been a very busy day. The kids are out of school for Christmas. Shanell and I are up at 6:30AM every morning serving breakfast and caring for the kids. Today we worked in the volunteer house wrapping birthday presents and Christmas presents.

Got to go, we have a volunteer meeting right now ;(

Saturday 12/12

Well, today is Saturday around 8:52 AM. We did breakfast, and now we are going to spend the rest of the day with the kids. Today they will be go to bed at 9:00PM instead of 7:30, and they can watch a second movie before bed.(only on Saturdays) for the rest of the week is one movie from 5:00 to 6:30.

Also, today is when they celebrate the birthdays for the month of December, so I'm very excited about that. We will also have a slippery slide.

OK, go to go family meeting for my house ;)

love you

Sunday 12/13

The slippery slide went fantastic. The kids had a blast, we took two big blue tarps and put them together to create a giant slide, went out on the field looking for a small hill to place the tarps on. When the kids got up from their naps everything was set up and ready to go. It was so beautiful, seen these kids have so much fun. Shanell joined them on the slide, I was in charge of the video camera….so, I did not have the opportunity to get wet.

Monday 12/14

Today, after our breakfast routine, we were in the volunteer house most of the morning wrapping presents for Christmas. That is going to be our schedule for the rest of the week, to get all the kids presents wrap on time. Around 200 + presents, these kids are so fortunate to have people that love them and care for them. Thank you so much to all of you!!!

This afternoon 3 more volunteers arrived, it was nice to have a table full of people. To listen to their experiences here in Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya. Everyone has been here previously, Shanell and I are the only new ones to Africa.

Will continue to up-date you soon, go to go to the school for a review session, tutoring while on Christmas vacation :)

COCOOO!!! :)

Dropped Off at the Airport

brenda-liz — Thu, 4 Dec 2008 17:36:00 GMT

A message from Johnny:

I dropped off Brenda and Shanell today at LAX. The drive was somewhat quite as it really started to hit us on how long one month will truly feel (the longest we have been apart over the past 21 years has been 2 weeks). I can sense many sleepless nights for both of us. The hardest part of the drive was listening to Brenda leave Crod a message on his cell phone (Crod was in school). Brenda opened up and poured into the call...it was simply impossible for me to hold back my tears. On the way to LAX Shanell (the new vegetarian to our family) wanted to make a pit stop at In & Out. Shanell ordered the veggie burger (grilled cheese) and Brenda had her usual #2 with grilled onions. LAX was only a short 10 minutes after we finished our lunch. Shanell who will be documenting most of her time via the camera was shooting away at signs from LAX. We pulled into the terminal and the time we have been dreading had arrived. We were all very strong and left with a series of hugs and kisses.

Shanell...You are simply an amazing women. In your school they said you are the person most likely to fill her passport. In my book...you are the daughter all dads can only dream of their kids becoming. I'm so proud of you and love you so much!

Brenda...You are the most amazing women on this planet and I'm BLESSED to have you in my life. Te-Te-To Mucho Tanto!

Gallery: Meet the kids

brenda-liz — Tue, 2 Dec 2008 06:11:00 GMT

December 12, 2008

Reality sets in.......We leave on Wednesday :(

brenda-liz — Mon, 1 Dec 2008 10:00:00 GMT

The enormity of what lies ahead is really starting to hit me. And there are so many layers... We are going half way around the world, leaving Johnny and C-Rod behind. Will they be okay? I think a piece of my heart will be missing the entire time we are gone. Johnny and C-Rod are amazing and so supporting. They have their jobs/extra jobs and are ready. Ana Mintz will be picking C-Rod up from school and bring him home. Jesse will come twice a week to tutor C-Rod and help him with his school work. Johnny will have his hands full with work, Elvis and C-Rod and in top of all that, he will be alone for his B-day and our 21st year anniversary on December 23rd, not to mention Christmas and New Year. (thank you baby, you are truly amazing!) Our friends and neighbors are great and have promised to look out for my boys. Johnny and C-Rod have so many invitations for Holidays dinners and parties. Thank you to all my friends for taking care of my boys!!! JOHNNY.....WOW!! What can I say....you are the best husband in the world. You are the type of man that other women dream about. You are my best friend and my lover, You are the best father in the world. I am the luckiest woman in the world and for that I LOVE YOU!! I want to see the world. I want to experience the world. And most importantly I want my children to see and experience the world. Just not the way that one would think...... Being a tourist in a country is one thing - but living there and being a part of a community is entirely different. I am sure our trip will be amazing, life changing and I hope that will inspire not only Shanell and myself but also all those we reach through our family, friends, school, town and beyond. And yes, I am a little nervous too....especially about getting there. But as we get closer to our departure, for some reason I am actually feeling better and better about it. Who knows? Maybe tomorrow will bring a whole new host of thoughts and feelings! Brenda Liz