This morning I picked up Molly in Los Pinos. She is still not able to meet with some of her families due to extreme violence in the sector where they live. We met in front of a Pastor's house, so I got to meet him. He gave us permission to host a Mother's Day party in his church so we have to get to work planning that.
We picked up Erika, who had waited in the sun for a half an hour for me with baby Marjory. I felt bad, but there was nothing I could do. She doesn't have a phone so I couldn't even let her know I was running let. I apologized.
We went to the school where I learned that I have turned into a mother bear. I was glad Molly was there because her Spanish is better than mine and she did not get defensive like I did. She didn't actually say much to the director of the school, but afterward I was able to replay what went down and get an accurate assessment.
I felt like the teacher was professional, but believed that Erika was manipulating us. So she made a big point to say that Erika was not a good student, had not been to school in years, and did not take her studies seriously. I already knew all of that and felt frustrated that Erika is now wanting to take the step to go to school but the director, who only needs to hand over the transcripts, first felt the need to say such negative things. In my mind, that was the past. We are here because Erika wants to move on and make a better life for herself. Instead of being critical she could have said, "I know school was really tough for you. I hope you are going to improve your attitude this time and really focus so you can be successful."
I assured the director that this was all Erika's desire and I was just there to give her a ride. The director emphasized that Erika will need a lot of support. Good, I thought. That is why God called me to serve her first, before my plate gets too full. I will give her all of the support she needs. But if that director thinks that Erika is doing this for me, because I am telling her she should, that lady is wrong.
And that is the end of my rant.
We didn't get the transcripts. They won't be ready until after Semana Santa because the lady who prepares them is working on a special project. This may hinder us from getting Erika enrolled in classes because she should have been enrolled by the end of this week. But God will make a way if Erika is supposed to start school after Semana Santa. We moved as quickly as possible on our end, so we have done all we can do.
Fany needed to go to the bank again. It was a miracle that we have never, ever seen before. There was NO line at the bank!
After that I decided to start working out again. This morning as I was getting ready I realized that every single day, as soon as I think about getting dressed, I am in a bad mood because none of my clothes fit any more. Even tee shirts are tight! It's because I am eating too much and spending all of my time reading or writing or sitting. I haven't exercised since my gym membership ran out in November.
Fany and I found a gym close to the house 2 weeks ago. I kept trying to convince myself that I could work out at home and not pay the membership fee. But day after day went by and I continued to be miserable each morning.
So today I joined a gym. It is 438 steps from my house. I felt every one of them on the way home. They have a guy there who trains you and then gives you a program to follow for free! He was tough! We started out with 30 minutes on the treadmill. I was quite proud of myself. I ran almost all of it at a good pace. Then an hour of lifting weights. It was all legs and belly. I am going to be really sore, but it felt good to get my blood pumping again.
Gyms here are really expensive. Most of my friends who go to a gym pay $100/month. My last gym was "cheap" they said, at $50/month. This gym is $28 per month. You pay one down payment annually (in this case $10) and then they are month to month, so there is no big commitment. It is not really in my budget, but I am going to have to find a way to cut back somewhere else because I need to go to the gym.
So far I liked it there. The people were mellow. I noticed around 4 a lot of teens came in. My last gym was more people my age. But this is a cheap neighborhood gym, so it will attract a different crowd. There will be no armed body guards standing outside the door like there were at my last gym.
Oh, and two really funny things to finish off. You might remember that people here paint "Toyota" onto the tailgate of their cars, whether it is a Toyota or not. Toyota is the car to have. They also steal the Honda or CRV decals. I am told repeatedly that they sell for a lot of money. People have tried to sell them to me, because someone stole them from my car before I bought it. But the I know that my car is a Honda CRV. I don't care if others know or not.
Anyway, yesterday I saw a work truck with a big bed and on the tailgate was pained "JMC". One of those things that you shake your head and say only in Honduras.
Today as I was driving through Los Pinos I got stuck behind a truck hauling Coca Cola. It was an immense pick up style truck filled with big bottles of Coca Cola. In the back, on top of the bottles of Coke, was a man with a weight belt around his waist, presumably the delivery guy. Seated next to him in a security uniform was a man with a huge gun. Because you never know when you might be overcome by Coca Cola thieves and need to shoot them. Once again, life in Honduras.
