My heart was fluttering. Goosebumps crept up my back.
Jesus, calm my nerves.
We walked up to the orphanage gate with a couple getting handsy at the door.
Jesus, you have a sense of humor.
It was 6:30 pm, normally our curfew, and my night was just beginning. Earlier Friday Chelsey had asked the head nurse, director, and boss of the cerebral palsy orphanage if we could man the night shift alongside the nurses. While she asked in Spanish, I speed-prayed in English until the word “yes” slipped into my ear.
I was going to spend my first all-nighter working at a cerebral palsy orphanage in Guatemala.
7:00 pm
Our shift started. All of the nurses from the day and night shifts walked with us from room to room, reporting an each patients’ poop consistency. Oh, you heard my right, poop consistency.
7:30 pm
Traveled to each room to spoon-feed limeade to the patients. Got a beautiful face-full of limeade from Sarita who was a little upset with me for waking her up. Thank you, Sarita.
8:45 pm
Washed (and by washed, I mean super-scrubbed every inch) of the wheelchairs with washcloths, sponges, and toothbrushes (oh, we went there).
10:00 pm
Made the rounds to check on, change, and cover the patients with “ponchitos” (their word for blanket which I learned after staring at them blankly for five minutes while they laughed).
10:45 pm
Dinner time (aka my favorite time). Each of the nurses brought her own homemade food to share with the group. They graciously filled our plates with tostadas with beans, feta cheese, cabbage, and homemade salsas, washed down with their very own hot chocolate. While we ate we talked with the nurses, one of the highlights of this extremely memorable night. Our conversations ranged from them laughing at our hand-washing fails in the center of San Pedro to interesting food they eat (cow tongue and squirrel, the usual) to boys (a roomful of seven women?…you know it had to come up sometime) to their husbands and kids to how long they’ve worked there… and when we didn’t know what else to say, I would just make a really sorry attempt to speak in Spanglish.
12:00 am
Cleared our plates away as we pulled out cleaning supplies and washed all of the mats the patients nap on during the daytime.
12:45 am
Made another round to check on, change, and put more blankets on the patients. It may be Guatemala, but we quickly realized it gets cold at night.
1:30 am
Hung up laundry, sheets, and foam pads outside to dry. For some reason, hanging up laundry at 1:30 in the morning made me feel both productive and rebellious.
2:15 am
We were finished for a while, at least. We all sat in chairs outside and showed them photos of our trip while lightning flashed and bats flew around our heads.
2:50 am
One of the nurses suggested Chelsey and I sleep in room #4 where it was warmer.
3:45 am
Started drifting off to sleep in the closet to the sound of crying, screaming, bed creaking and grinding teeth. Every time someone would cry in the room, one patient, Rebecca, would laugh at the person crying, which at 3:45 became hilarious.
4:50 am
At first, walking into a room that had been closed for 5 hours causes the smell of soaked-in pee and poop to become a little rank, and dressing grown men at five in the morning was…well, our horrified faces said it all. Smiling, the nurse pointed to the face cloths in the corner and asked us to clean their faces and help open all the windows.
6:00 am
The rain started to pour, and we sprinted to take in all of the laundry we had beautifully hung up.
6:20 am
Said goodbye to all of the patients that we’ve come to love and feel so close to.
7:05 am
The nurses met together to change shifts and reported how the night shift went.
7:20 am
We hugged and said goodbye to the nightshift nurses (aka our new best friends) and trudged home in victory.
And as the orphanage gate closed behind us, a bank of memories opened, memories that still keep me smiling two days later.
During our naptime in the closet, Chelsey helped me stay awake by opening up the Bible and randomly reading the first verse her finger landed on. It was Hebrews 13:2, “Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.”
No particular moment of this night stood out to me upon leaving, though one feeling was laid upon my heart. Without a doubt, I know that I know that I know that our God exists and loves each and every one of those patients as his very own precious child. Those nurses would feed, kiss, change, embrace, and love on each kid and adult with a smile whether it was 7 pm or 5 am. And whether or not they are angels, they’ve taught me a heavenly message I can’t shake off.
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