The Luckiest Girl in the World?

I shouldn't be at home right now.  Jose and Karla had planned a long weekend up North after the conference finished Friday. Jose put all new tires on his car and took it to be cleaned, but they cleaned the motor and then it wouldn't run.  For the first time since I got here, I was anxious to have a car of my own.  Walter's truck isn't running well enough to go that far so we all took the bus to the conference and home again, but we had to miss out on visiting the lakes, hot springs and Walter's family in Siguatepeque.

The conference was excellent.  It was at a beautiful retreat center outside of Siguatepeque.  Wednesday evening before the conference Lourdes said she hoped I would be able to understand what they said at the conference.  I had been worried all week about Jose's bad tires, so I hadn't even considered worrying about the language barrier.  As I headed inside to pack Wednesday night I decided all I could do was pray.  I was excited to call Lourdes Thursday afternoon to let her know that I was understanding EVERYTHING.  Every hour or two I would hear a word and have to ask Jose the meaning of it, but I thought that was pretty awesome!

The conference started at 10 a.m. and finished at 8:30 pm the first night.  After dinner my brain was a little tired, but the information was really helpful and interesting.  In total there were about 8 groups who did presentations.  Alexis Pacheco, from our church, was the first presenter.  He spoke about violence in general and how it is affecting Honduras.  Did you know that in  two of the four most violent cities in the world were in Honduras?  (San Pedro Sula is #2 and Tegucigalpa, where I live, is #4.)  The worst part is that in 2011 violence other countries (except Beliz) is holding steady or decreasing, but violence in Honduras has been getting worse and worse.  Since most homocides are people between the ages of 10-29, it seems right to work with that group of people.  This conference was about how to connect with jovenes (teens-early 20's), how to guide them, lead them, teach them, influence them in a positive way, keep them safe and away from drugs.  There were a lot of amazing people at the conference.  Many people were pastors.  I saw license plates from Belice.  I felt really honored to be there.

As everyone else was settling in to bed Karla asked me if I wanted to go into town for ice cream, so we piled into a truck with some of her friends and went to a cool little ice cream shop.  It felt a little bit like sneaking out after curfew, since everyone else was going to sleep.  We closed down the ice cream shop and headed back to go to bed.  I fell asleep immediately at 10 pm, which is unheard of for me, but my brain was exhausted.

The next morning I was planning not to shower, but when Karla came out complaining about the heat of the water I couldn't resist.  Wow!  It was the best shower I've had since I got here.  There were two knobs, like in the states, one for hot and one for cold.  So exciting!  I had to turn on a little cold water because Karla was right - those showers were HOT!

We walked up the hill to the conference center in time to hear them starting to sing.  I recognized, but didn't  know most of the songs well enough to sing along.  My favorite song was the one we sang before each meal.  It was a prayer that there be bread for those who are hungry, and for those who have bread, may they hunger for justice.

Many people asked what I am doing in Honduras, what church I am with, and how long I plan to stay here.  They became very emotional and grateful when I told them I am here for as long as God allows me to live in Honduras.  They thanked me for being here and said they think the breakfast program sounds amazing.  During a break a bunch of people asked to have their pictures taken with me.  What an honor to have these special people want their picture taken with ME!

We headed back by bus - here that means school bus.  Our butts were already sore from sitting for two days.  I never realized how hard the seats of a school bus are!  I have made this same trip now two weekends in a row.  Each time I have been stunned by how beautiful it is.  I am a mountain girl.  I would prefer not to have to live in the city, but for now it is safest.  Getting out into the mountains refreshes me.  So on the way home I put on headphones and looked out the window, soaking in everything I could see.  The school bus was good for that, since it travels slowly.  I looked out over the mountains and rivers and tried to see every tree, every blade of grass, every trail that the native people have carved out in the mountains over the years.  As we passed through the part where most of the indigenous people live, a woman stood outside of her house bathing herself.  Nobody else on the bus seemed to notice.  I felt sad that the woman and her family have probably lived on that land since long before a four lane highway ran past.  Now she has to bathe on the side of a four lane highway.  A few feet down the road were her three kids, one freshly bathed.  He swung his feet up into a tree and hung there like a little monkey, putting on a show for the bus.  Further along there were two boys on a bike.  One steered, the the other petaled on a road that ran parallel to ours.  Let me tell you, these boys had two person biking down to a science.  A car in front of them stopped suddenly, but they swerved quickly into a ditch and kept right on going.  I watched as they got back onto the road and wondered where they might be going.  There was no town in sight.  I got the feeling they might do this every day.  Then suddenly they looked up at the bus, as straight at me.  I smiled at them and they smiled back.  Then, on impulse, I waved.  Their smiles got bigger and they waved back excitedly.  I still smile thinking about those boys and how they picked me out of that crowd on the bus.

At one point the natural beauty of the mountains almost brought me to tears.  I would have allowed the tears to flow, but I didn't want to have to find the words to explain how I was feeling at that moment if anyone asked why I was crying.  So I fought back the tears.

I'll never forget that specific place.  I'll see it again. Far below the road a river carved through the mountains and came to a "V", then wound its way back into the mountains.  There was some kind of power there that was overwhelming.  I thought to myself, "I am the luckiest person in the world."  Those were the words that came to mind first.  But then I realized that luck was not what put me in that place at that time.  Luck could never take a little girl from Lyons Falls, NY and place her in the mountains of Honduras, surrounded by people who love her and more beauty than most people ever get to see in their entire lives.  Only God could give me this gift.  It is God's blessings and love for me that allow me to be in a place I love, with people I love, who also love me, learning things and seeing things that are rare and amazing.  For a moment I started thinking, "Why me?  What did I do to deserve to be here?"  But quickly I knew I did nothing to deserve this.  Nothing I could do would be worthy of this.  This is simply the path God has chosen for me.  I am so grateful that lately His path has been full of so much beauty and love.

Getting home from the bus wasn't easy.  Everyone was headed in different directions with no cars, but I knew not to worry.  Everyone here looks out for me.  It started to rain, so we had to abort the plan of catching a cab at the mall because all of the cabs would be full.  But I finally got home safely.  Walter asked if he could come in to use the bathroom before he headed up the mountain to his house.  He is the only one of my friends who doesn't like Jett.  He calls her Mel, for Mel Zelaya, the former president who was taken out of his bed and removed from the country because he refused to follow the constitution.

As he was leaving, Walter noticed Jett's litter box and asked, "Is that was her house?"  (It's got a cover.)
I said, "No, that is her bathroom."
He asked, "Does she sleep in there?"
I said, "No.  She uses it as a bathroom."
He asked, "For everything?" sounding shocked.
I wasn't sure what he meant exactly, but I said "Yes, she does everything in there."
He was very curious and sat down next to the box.  Then he asked if she would use it.  I can't make her go on demand.  Usually she never uses it in front of people but right at that moment she walked toward the box.  I figured she would sniff around and leave, but she went inside.  He was so excited, but said, "She's going to lie down!"
I said, "No, she is urinating."   Then he asked how I taught her to use the box.  I told him it was natural instinct for cats, I really didn't have to teach her.  I said in the US, this is extremely common.
He watched in amazement.  I couldn't help but laugh.  He didn't care.  When she came back out his eyes were wide and he said "WOW!"  He couldn't believe it!  Walter has now changed his mind about cats.  He said he thinks everyone should have a cat because then you would never come home to "surprises" on the floor, like dogs sometimes leave behind.  Jetty and her litter box won him over.

CLICK ON "OLDER POSTS" to check out my weekend get away with Lourdes and Jairo for fishing!