Corinna is allergic to Campo?

We intended to stay at Campo until today, but ended up leaving Friday morning because Corinna´s hives were so bad (even with tons of Benedryl, Claritan & Zyrtec), and she ran a fever all Thursday night. (We were so grateful for the very well-stocked medical kit at Campo!) So we headed north after breakfast, stopping in Granada and Massaya along the way for a wee bit of shopping. We made it to the Buzzbee´s around 3pm - just in time for the girls to really enjoy their swimming pool. Before dinner, we visited an art show Melissa set up to raise funds for the Buzzbee´s programs. All the art work was created by kids at the school in the dump. They really do a great job with these programs.

Today (Saturday) we visited Casa Havilla, the home Melissa runs. The 9 girls who live there all came from families who live in the dump. The parents allowed their girls to move to Casa Havilla, to give them a better life. We gave each girl a backpack filled with wonderful treats. When we first arrived, they definitely looked at us as if behind glass walls - very shy and reserved. After they received their backpacks, their faces lit up and there were smiles all around. Mike said it was amazing to see them sharing the items and passing them around, because only a year ago when they came to the home, they would have been fighting over everything (not maliciously, but rather because they had to fight for everything in the dump). They sorted throught their bags 10 times while we were there, smelling all the soaps, reading the books, and playing with the toys. Thank you to everyone who contributed - it was pure joy to see these girls receive such treasures.

So the reason for the title of this post is that when we woke up this morning, Corinna´s hives and fever were gone, and they haven´t returned! It´s wonderful because those three days were really tough, but a little sad because now Peter thinks his granddaughter is allergic to his campo! Who knows - it could have been anything. We´re just glad it has passed!

Now we are at the beautiful Barcelo hotel in Montelimar. Such a contrast to where we´ve been and what we´ve seen over the past few days… I must admit I feel a bit guilty! But it was also glorious to take a hot shower! (And will be glorious to sleep in air conditioning!) The girls are loving the pool - I think they swam for 5 hours already today.

I guess that about sums it up for the past two days. It´s been somewhat of an emotional roller coaster, but the final outcome is all good. It prompts me to pose the following question (to myself as much as anyone else): what pushes you to do the things you do? Is it a desire to succeed? If so, how is your success measured? Or maybe simply a desire to survive? Or perhaps a desire to please someone… yourself, others, or the One who created you?

Sorry if that sounds a bit more philosophical than usual for me, but a trip like this certainly makes one ponder such questions. Time to let Wyeth use the computer for a bit… my next post probably won´t be until we return. Adios!