CI Day, Part 3 – Jonathan's House:
We went to visit Jonathan's house next, where I was able to meet his father and two teenage brothers. The family lives in a very nice house (by Honduran standards) in addition to having a fairly decent monthly income (again, by Honduran standards). I can only assume that the family's economic situation was worse when Jonathan was first enrolled with CI many years ago? In any case, I had selected Jonathan to sponsor because he was the closest child in age to Connor on the CI website. I had hoped when choosing Jonathan that he and Connor could become pen pals and possibly meet each other someday. I had no idea that it would be so soon!
We were invited into the house, and again we declined the offer of a drink. The first thing Jonathan showed me was the photographs I had sent him, which were on display (all the time or just for my visit, I don't know). Passing through the kitchen to the backyard, I saw that they had one of those big containers of purified water – like is in office buildings – so I requested a drink after all, since I was super thirsty. So, cups of water were handed out all around.
When everybody was settled into chairs in the backyard, I gave Jonathan the backpack full of goodies that I had brought for him. He did not seem very comfortable with the idea of opening it up and taking out each item like Carlos had with his gifts. The CI rep urged Jonathan into exploring the outside pockets, all the while clicking her camera and telling him to "smile", "hold that up", and "give Mack a hug". There was a somewhat awkward attitude of "you MUST love this person!", but Jon was amiable enough about it, if still a little embarrassed.
I let him off the hook, and did not insist that he finish opening the backpack. Instead, I took out the new soccer ball and shin guards I'd brought, along with the cap and jersey of Honduras' national futbol team. These gifts definitely got smiles. I happened to be wearing the jersey of Jonathan and his brothers' favorite local team (which I'd bought for myself because I liked the green color), so I'm sure that helped relations.
I decided I wanted to hold one of the family chickens, which offered some comic relief as everybody laughed while I chased the birds around the yard. Jon eventually cornered one and gave it to me. I asked if I could meet his dog, so the family began calling for him to come. Stewart is not much of a guard dog, because he was running around the neighborhood while his home was intruded upon by a gang of gringos! He was a nice dog, though – even if he refused to eat the treats I brought for him.
It was time to be on our way, so I said goodbye to Jonathan's father and brothers, and we all got back into the cars. The rest of the sponsored kids/mothers had waited in the front yard during our visit. This was the one downside, I think, to seeing them all on the same day – the lack of "privacy" when spending time with the individual families. At Carlos' we'd been alone, and Jon's house was OK, because we were mostly inside or in the backyard out of sight of the others. It was different at Wilson and Axel's house, but I'll tell you that story later.
Victor's thoughts: Not a lot to say on this section as this is about Mack's kid and I just sat back and let her have the floor, as it were. It did seem a bit awkward with the other families in the front of the house - I wondered if I should be hanging with them but both of the translators were (appropriately) with Jon and his family, so I would have been limited in my ability to communicate. I can speak some Spanish, but understanding it when spoken to me is a lot harder.
Jon seemed to be a fine young man - very well brought up and with a good family. I did find it amusing that both Carlos and Jon had dogs with English names (Blackie, Stuart) whereas my dog at home has a Central American name! (Cocoa)
Jon was clearly very happy with his gifts, but I think the translators felt that perhaps he should be as physically expressive about it as Carlos had been with me and that's just a difference in ages. Carlos was half his age and anybody who has been around kids knows that the younger set are a lot more likely to be demonstrative
We went to visit Jonathan's house next, where I was able to meet his father and two teenage brothers. The family lives in a very nice house (by Honduran standards) in addition to having a fairly decent monthly income (again, by Honduran standards). I can only assume that the family's economic situation was worse when Jonathan was first enrolled with CI many years ago? In any case, I had selected Jonathan to sponsor because he was the closest child in age to Connor on the CI website. I had hoped when choosing Jonathan that he and Connor could become pen pals and possibly meet each other someday. I had no idea that it would be so soon!
We were invited into the house, and again we declined the offer of a drink. The first thing Jonathan showed me was the photographs I had sent him, which were on display (all the time or just for my visit, I don't know). Passing through the kitchen to the backyard, I saw that they had one of those big containers of purified water – like is in office buildings – so I requested a drink after all, since I was super thirsty. So, cups of water were handed out all around.
When everybody was settled into chairs in the backyard, I gave Jonathan the backpack full of goodies that I had brought for him. He did not seem very comfortable with the idea of opening it up and taking out each item like Carlos had with his gifts. The CI rep urged Jonathan into exploring the outside pockets, all the while clicking her camera and telling him to "smile", "hold that up", and "give Mack a hug". There was a somewhat awkward attitude of "you MUST love this person!", but Jon was amiable enough about it, if still a little embarrassed.
I let him off the hook, and did not insist that he finish opening the backpack. Instead, I took out the new soccer ball and shin guards I'd brought, along with the cap and jersey of Honduras' national futbol team. These gifts definitely got smiles. I happened to be wearing the jersey of Jonathan and his brothers' favorite local team (which I'd bought for myself because I liked the green color), so I'm sure that helped relations.
I decided I wanted to hold one of the family chickens, which offered some comic relief as everybody laughed while I chased the birds around the yard. Jon eventually cornered one and gave it to me. I asked if I could meet his dog, so the family began calling for him to come. Stewart is not much of a guard dog, because he was running around the neighborhood while his home was intruded upon by a gang of gringos! He was a nice dog, though – even if he refused to eat the treats I brought for him.
It was time to be on our way, so I said goodbye to Jonathan's father and brothers, and we all got back into the cars. The rest of the sponsored kids/mothers had waited in the front yard during our visit. This was the one downside, I think, to seeing them all on the same day – the lack of "privacy" when spending time with the individual families. At Carlos' we'd been alone, and Jon's house was OK, because we were mostly inside or in the backyard out of sight of the others. It was different at Wilson and Axel's house, but I'll tell you that story later.
Victor's thoughts: Not a lot to say on this section as this is about Mack's kid and I just sat back and let her have the floor, as it were. It did seem a bit awkward with the other families in the front of the house - I wondered if I should be hanging with them but both of the translators were (appropriately) with Jon and his family, so I would have been limited in my ability to communicate. I can speak some Spanish, but understanding it when spoken to me is a lot harder.
Jon seemed to be a fine young man - very well brought up and with a good family. I did find it amusing that both Carlos and Jon had dogs with English names (Blackie, Stuart) whereas my dog at home has a Central American name! (Cocoa)
Jon was clearly very happy with his gifts, but I think the translators felt that perhaps he should be as physically expressive about it as Carlos had been with me and that's just a difference in ages. Carlos was half his age and anybody who has been around kids knows that the younger set are a lot more likely to be demonstrative
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