The box that never ends...

A couple weeks ago I received a huge, heavy box at school. I have to travel to Santa Cruz to get any cards or packages, but this one came all kinds of fancy in a delivery truck right to school. Of course directions are tough here without street names, but I was able to pass my cell to Doña Estela who helped guide the delivery man through Peña. I was outside teaching PE (which I'm sure is quite the site...sometimes we just do some calisthenics so Miss Harris can get in some jumping jacks and/or push-ups :) when the dudes arrived, so my kids were all kinds of intrigued. The guy wanted proof I really am the person whose name was on the box, and that got a little dicey. I don't carry my passport to and from school, or my driver's license, so I literally had no form of ID. I asked a few of the teachers to please confirm my name for the nice man, but they were all Honduran and know me as Suzi!!! To be honest that part cracked me up, but this guy had been trying to get a hold of me all day so I felt bad. I forget what finally convinced him, but I think it was a mixture of my honest face, his patience finally wearing thin and/or how excitedly I answered all of his questions, "Yes I know Cristina Rugo! Yes this is my phone number! No I don't know where you can find the c/o person on the box, I just use his name to receive packages..." My kids were all so confused! Looks of "Who is this guy and why is he asking her so many questions, and why is her face so smiley?" littered their faces. He wheeled the big box into school, and had to get my picture with it to confirm my receipt. So formal! And thank goodness it was the last class of the day, because I couldn't wait to get home and see what on earth was packed into that box. 

It was literally the box that never ended! Big shout out to Cristina Rugo for all of her incredibly thoughtful hard work, and huge thank you to all the folks in her neighborhood for their overwhelming response to her call for supplies. I feel like I could type all night and not do this thing justice. It was like an office supply store exploded on my table. Along with a few items from the toy aisle, and some snacks :) and an overhead projector. An overhead projector! I still can't get over the abundance of classroom support that was crammed into this box. Looking at the pictures had me awestruck all over again. I'm sitting here trying to type all the contents, and I think you really just need the pictures. Maryann was standing by with a camera, and she couldn't stop laughing at all my, "Oh my goodness!" and "No way!" and "I can't believe she!" "Wow look at this!!!" " Ohhhh they're going to love this!" Then I got a little quiet, and she wanted to know what I'd found. I was at a loss for words for a few seconds as I extracted not one, not two, not three, but four bags of raw, delicious nuts and a BAG of dark chocolate bars. All from Trader Joe's. I felt so spoiled! And so stoked! Now let's see if I can make the snacks last a while...

hello lovers, it's been too long...

cruncher love :)

It's always exciting to get mail, especially being so far from home right now, but this box was about more than that. It was so full of pens, post-its, note pads, markers, kick balls (!!!), wall decorations, stickers (!!!), craft tools, idea books et al that I should able to support a few different ministries. It means so much that people would donate so many items to be sent to a stranger, and sweet Cristy (who I feel like I've known all my life even if it's only been a few months) would contribute so much and thoughtfully ship such a hefty package down south. The saying really is true that people come into your life for a reason, and I am ever grateful for teaching swim lessons this past summer. The box even held a love-note from Guilianna (Cristy's daughter) which was much appreciated. A lot of the supplies will be put to great use at school, but I am allocating some for local orphanages and schools who need a little extra support. I have been scouting around to see where the biggest needs are, and am going to try to share the wealth as best as possible!

Ever grateful for the support of friends and family back home, and ever blown away by the support of new friends and unknowns. Your kindness stretches for miles, and I'm sending some big hugs up north!