Jairo had his gall bladder out today. Lourdes called while I was praying with the kids. Normally I never have my phone with me, but today it was in my pocket so they all got to say hello to her. They memorized scripture and had a good group. Lourdes told us that Jairo made it through the surgery fine.
The girls had a lot of English homework. We stayed a little later than normal at the church because they needed help. My new English student came to me with a sad face this afternoon saying he can't come to class anymore because he got a job. I was very happy for him, but he was really disappointed that he won't be able to continue English classes. Getting a job is a really big deal when the unemployment rate is 48%.
I had a bunch of errands to run this afternoon. It is still a huge relief that I don't have to rely on others when I need to get something done. I even got to help out my landlord. Her car wouldn't start tonight and she was almost late for a concert. She called and asked if I could run them over to the school. I was happy to help them out. They do so much for me, it was nice to be able to do something for them.
Lourdes will be at home caring for Jairo at least for this week. Belinda had to go to her son's school for a Mother's Day celebration today. She came to the church looking beautiful after the party at the school. We had a nice conversation. Then she received a phone call that her other son was sick so she had to leave again. Everything went very well. It was just Marlin, Jacky and me. We had no problems at all.
I stopped and made copies of my keys. There are lots of makeshift places that sell key in Honduras. People just bring a machine and the rack of blank keys and set up wherever they want. This guy was on a bench on the side of the road. Don Juan recommended him. It was funny, there I was on the side of the road at the key place and I saw two people I know! A lot of people were waiting in line for keys (strange, I know). None of them had people walk up and start talking to them, but I did!
One of my friends invited me to hang out one of these Saturdays now that I have a car and can come into the city. She said she and another friend from church have been planning to have a get together with me soon. I told her I would love to hang out with them!
Monday, May 13, 2013
Mothers Day in Honduras
Last night my landlords' family and I were invited to Carlos' brother's house for dinner. Carlos and his brother bought this property together, then divided it when they got married and built houses for their families. It seems to work out great this way. We can look out for each other and Carlos' mom lives in his brother's house so they can visit often.
Man did we have a feast! Our appetizer was enchiladas, which are different than in the US. They are served on fried tortillas, open faced. Those were delicious so I had to have five. Then we snacked on pieces of ham and cheese while sipping non-alcoholic wine in fancy wine glasses. Soon we decided it was time for dinner. We had pork chops and herbs wrapped in bacon with rice and cranberry jelly, like what we eat for Thanksgiving in the states. I had made cookies, but we didn't even get to them because Hermida made 2 pies. One was lemon pie and one was 2 cans of condensed milk beaten with cream cheese. She insisted we try one piece of each and they were great together - one sour, one very sweet so they balanced each other. My stomach was crammed when I left. I could barely finish the last bites of pie.
Carlos' mother is awesome. I love her. She is in her mid-80's. She is in great shape mentally and physically, though she is hard of hearing. Sometimes rather than looking around to see if anyone is talking she announces things in a very loud voice. Usually they are nice things like saying that my Spanish was very good, or that I am a part of the family now. (That felt awesome!) Sometimes she says some really hilarious things too. You know, the things everyone is thinking but nobody says out loud? Yeah. She says those things sometimes. Loudly. Everyone tries not to laugh, but we do.
Yesterday the family exchanged Mother's Day cards. She asked us to read them to her. I read one. Carlos read another. I was wishing desperately that I had a camera. As Carlos read the card from himself and his wife to his mother, she put her forehead down on the table and closed her eyes, like she was completely soaking in every word. It was beautiful.
She likes to tell stories about the past and her best friend named Gwendolyn (a North American name she points out) from third grade. When guests are around she likes to say the prayer that Gwendolyn taught her 80 years ago. She still remembers every word and with a little encouragement (mostly for show) she leads the family in prayer before we eat. Mita (grandma) never lacks in appetite or opinion. I think it is a blessing that I am accepted by her.
Last night I didn't sleep very well and woke up with a headache and sore throat, but that disappeared with some ibuprofen. Must have been the sparkling juice. ;~P I contemplated not going to church, but knew I couldn't miss Mother's Day. When I got there Chema put me in charge of the roses for the mothers. Except that he kept changing how they were to be dispersed. Finally everything fell into place. We decided that many of the kids were too young to take a flower to their mothers, so I got to hand out flowers to some of my favorite mothers. I started with Marlin, giving her the rose, and a big hug and "Felicidades". "Felicidades" is like congratulations but is used on birthdays, holidays or any happy occasion so it's a little different. Then there was Lourdes' Mom and Lourdes and Chayito and some of the moms from Los Pinos. I don't know how many moms I hugged, but it was great. I didn't get to hug my own Mom today, but I got to honor a lot of other moms instead. One lady was not thrilled about being hugged, but I hugged her anyway. I didn't want to treat one different from all of the rest. Hugging here is a common manner of greeting, so I wasn't doing anything out of the ordinary.
As I hugged my way through the line of mothers I thought about how much I have changed in the past 6 months. Six months ago I would not have loved going down the line of ladies and wishing them a happy Mother's Day. I wouldn't have felt honored to be able to give them each a rose and a hug. I would have done it, but only because I was asked, and not with the joy that I felt today. I love how God has changed my heart and opened me up for relationships in a new way. For the first time in my life I am putting effort into making friends and deepening relationships. It was scary at first, but now it is very rewarding.
After church I gave all of the ladies in my discipleship group bags of my homemade chocolate chip cookies. The church served Chinese food, a staple of every Honduran diet. Moms were served first, then kids and finally fathers. Outside the church up on the hill was a woman who is mentally ill. Her son grew up in the Breakfast Program. Lourdes got him the opportunity to attend the private boarding school in Olancho, so he is there now. But his mother was outside the gates with her hair knotted into dreadlocks and a baby doll in her arms. She kept yelling down for food. I told Lourdes that she was up there and asked if I could take her a plate of rice. Lourdes said please do, so I did. But then the lady got upset because I didn't serve her doll. She told me the doll was hungry. I didn't know what to say. It was sad. Some of the boys started asking how many months old the doll was and she answered them seriously. I gave them a stern look and they followed me back to the church. I can't imagine how her son must feel to see his mother in that condition. Sometimes she is in worse. I am glad he is away at school where he doesn't have to see this any more.
After church I started making eclairs, but realized I hadn't boiled my beans for the day. If you don't boil beans every day they go rancid. My stove can't operate the stove-top and the oven at the same time, so I had to stop the eclairs and boil the beans. It was the first time I have made beans since I bought a blender. Wow! So much easier than mashing them with a cup! What a luxury!
After calling my Mom to wish her a happy Mother's Day I was late for my second Mother's Day dinner - this one for Hermida's family. Her family is huge but I know most of them now. One was visiting from Costa Rica and a few came from Tegus who normally don't visit. We had rice with seafood and a nice salad. Then we had two more deserts! I think I gained 10 pounds this weekend. Nobody can say that I am too thin anymore. I am starting to get chunky! I've been exercising but that only goes so far when you eat two deserts with each meal.
We laughed and gabbed and took pictures. It was a nice time. I left Jetty downstairs while I was gone, thinking that she would go upstairs on her own, but she didn't until I came back. She seems to really like hanging out downstairs. The running joke is that it will take her another 6 months for her to learn to go down the spiral staircase, but I honestly don't know if she will ever do it.
All in all it was a really nice Mother's Day. I hope it was as enjoyable for all of the mothers involved as it was for me. I like celebrating Mother's Day in Honduras.
Man did we have a feast! Our appetizer was enchiladas, which are different than in the US. They are served on fried tortillas, open faced. Those were delicious so I had to have five. Then we snacked on pieces of ham and cheese while sipping non-alcoholic wine in fancy wine glasses. Soon we decided it was time for dinner. We had pork chops and herbs wrapped in bacon with rice and cranberry jelly, like what we eat for Thanksgiving in the states. I had made cookies, but we didn't even get to them because Hermida made 2 pies. One was lemon pie and one was 2 cans of condensed milk beaten with cream cheese. She insisted we try one piece of each and they were great together - one sour, one very sweet so they balanced each other. My stomach was crammed when I left. I could barely finish the last bites of pie.
Carlos' mother is awesome. I love her. She is in her mid-80's. She is in great shape mentally and physically, though she is hard of hearing. Sometimes rather than looking around to see if anyone is talking she announces things in a very loud voice. Usually they are nice things like saying that my Spanish was very good, or that I am a part of the family now. (That felt awesome!) Sometimes she says some really hilarious things too. You know, the things everyone is thinking but nobody says out loud? Yeah. She says those things sometimes. Loudly. Everyone tries not to laugh, but we do.
Yesterday the family exchanged Mother's Day cards. She asked us to read them to her. I read one. Carlos read another. I was wishing desperately that I had a camera. As Carlos read the card from himself and his wife to his mother, she put her forehead down on the table and closed her eyes, like she was completely soaking in every word. It was beautiful.
She likes to tell stories about the past and her best friend named Gwendolyn (a North American name she points out) from third grade. When guests are around she likes to say the prayer that Gwendolyn taught her 80 years ago. She still remembers every word and with a little encouragement (mostly for show) she leads the family in prayer before we eat. Mita (grandma) never lacks in appetite or opinion. I think it is a blessing that I am accepted by her.
Last night I didn't sleep very well and woke up with a headache and sore throat, but that disappeared with some ibuprofen. Must have been the sparkling juice. ;~P I contemplated not going to church, but knew I couldn't miss Mother's Day. When I got there Chema put me in charge of the roses for the mothers. Except that he kept changing how they were to be dispersed. Finally everything fell into place. We decided that many of the kids were too young to take a flower to their mothers, so I got to hand out flowers to some of my favorite mothers. I started with Marlin, giving her the rose, and a big hug and "Felicidades". "Felicidades" is like congratulations but is used on birthdays, holidays or any happy occasion so it's a little different. Then there was Lourdes' Mom and Lourdes and Chayito and some of the moms from Los Pinos. I don't know how many moms I hugged, but it was great. I didn't get to hug my own Mom today, but I got to honor a lot of other moms instead. One lady was not thrilled about being hugged, but I hugged her anyway. I didn't want to treat one different from all of the rest. Hugging here is a common manner of greeting, so I wasn't doing anything out of the ordinary.
As I hugged my way through the line of mothers I thought about how much I have changed in the past 6 months. Six months ago I would not have loved going down the line of ladies and wishing them a happy Mother's Day. I wouldn't have felt honored to be able to give them each a rose and a hug. I would have done it, but only because I was asked, and not with the joy that I felt today. I love how God has changed my heart and opened me up for relationships in a new way. For the first time in my life I am putting effort into making friends and deepening relationships. It was scary at first, but now it is very rewarding.
 |
| Mothers in front while Samuel prays over them |
 |
| Mothers during prayer |
 |
| Flower girls |
After church I gave all of the ladies in my discipleship group bags of my homemade chocolate chip cookies. The church served Chinese food, a staple of every Honduran diet. Moms were served first, then kids and finally fathers. Outside the church up on the hill was a woman who is mentally ill. Her son grew up in the Breakfast Program. Lourdes got him the opportunity to attend the private boarding school in Olancho, so he is there now. But his mother was outside the gates with her hair knotted into dreadlocks and a baby doll in her arms. She kept yelling down for food. I told Lourdes that she was up there and asked if I could take her a plate of rice. Lourdes said please do, so I did. But then the lady got upset because I didn't serve her doll. She told me the doll was hungry. I didn't know what to say. It was sad. Some of the boys started asking how many months old the doll was and she answered them seriously. I gave them a stern look and they followed me back to the church. I can't imagine how her son must feel to see his mother in that condition. Sometimes she is in worse. I am glad he is away at school where he doesn't have to see this any more.
After church I started making eclairs, but realized I hadn't boiled my beans for the day. If you don't boil beans every day they go rancid. My stove can't operate the stove-top and the oven at the same time, so I had to stop the eclairs and boil the beans. It was the first time I have made beans since I bought a blender. Wow! So much easier than mashing them with a cup! What a luxury!
After calling my Mom to wish her a happy Mother's Day I was late for my second Mother's Day dinner - this one for Hermida's family. Her family is huge but I know most of them now. One was visiting from Costa Rica and a few came from Tegus who normally don't visit. We had rice with seafood and a nice salad. Then we had two more deserts! I think I gained 10 pounds this weekend. Nobody can say that I am too thin anymore. I am starting to get chunky! I've been exercising but that only goes so far when you eat two deserts with each meal.
We laughed and gabbed and took pictures. It was a nice time. I left Jetty downstairs while I was gone, thinking that she would go upstairs on her own, but she didn't until I came back. She seems to really like hanging out downstairs. The running joke is that it will take her another 6 months for her to learn to go down the spiral staircase, but I honestly don't know if she will ever do it.
All in all it was a really nice Mother's Day. I hope it was as enjoyable for all of the mothers involved as it was for me. I like celebrating Mother's Day in Honduras.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)