Sunday

I finally got out of bed today and went to church.  I've had a horrible migraine that will not go away.  I hope maybe tomorrow...  Fany has been checking in on me.  I had migraines once before here.  It's strange, whenever I get migraines Fany's husband has them as well, so tonight I tried allergy meds, just for the heck of it because nothing else has helped.  Maybe allergies are the reason we both have been complaining of migraines at the same time.

Friday I got out of bed long enough to do a little photo shoot for Fany's daughter, Laura.  We took a bunch of pictures of Laura and posted them on Facebook so family can see how Laura has grown.

At church today they asked me to take up the collection.  That was really nice.  It made me feel like an official member of the church since I have never done it before.  I also enjoyed that one of the Moms from Los Pinos whom I don't know very well chose to sit next to me.  She is the mother of some of my favorite kids.  Her daughter, Cindi, is in preschool.  Her son, Christian (Conejo) stole my heart years ago.  She knows I adore her kids.

After church we all bought soup and sat and ate together.  The soup had tripe in it, which I have avoided until now.  Today I ate it and it was good!  But then my headache kicked in.

Karla brought Dana Sophia and Valery over today so they could "know" my cat.  That's how you say it in Spanish.  Now they know Jett.  She was so good for them.  She didn't hide.  She played and let them pet her.  She is a good example for people who don't know much about cats.

As they were leaving Karla said listen.  We heard a parade coming.  Yesterday was Independence Day in Honduras.  I thought maybe this would be another Independence Day parade.  It was only a couple blocks from my house.  But Karla said it was a political parade.  Sometimes political activities can be violent, so I didn't go check it out.

After Karla left I fell asleep.  Now I'm awake long enough to drink some water, take some Benedryl and get caught up on this.  I am praying that the Benedryl will work and my head will be better by tomorrow because Lourdes has Mondays off from now on, so I will be running the breakfast program.

I talked with my possible future landlord.  The house in the mountains has hot water, which I have never seen in a house here.  It also has a balcony off the bedroom!  I told him I would really like to live in the mountains.  He said he would like for me to rent the house, but he is not sure when it will be done.  I am supposed to go see the house soon.  Maybe Friday.  I like where I live now, but I would love to live in the mountains!

El Dia de Niño

Today we celebrated El Dia de Niño (The Day of the Child) although the actual holiday was yesterday.  The church celebrated on Sunday, the schools celebrated yesterday, the First Lady's sister threw a party for the Breakfast Program today and we will have our own party for the kids on Thursday.  Can you tell this is an important holiday here?  At the time this photo was taken, there were 89 kids.  More came as morning classes let out.

Before the First Lady's sister arrived we had a time of prayer.  The kids prayed for Pat and K2, as they always do.  They also gave thanks for the special party they are having today.  They don't know we are doing another party Thursday.  They will be so surprised!  But this way we don't have to worry about having the whole neighborhood show up.  Today there were about 7 kids whom we've never seen before, which was less than I expected.  Lourdes talked to the kids about their attendance, going around the whole circle to address each of them individually.  She explained that the party is a gift for them, for the kids who are here every day participating in the program.  Why should they give their gift to someone who never participates any other day, but shows up for the party?

The kids prayed for the boys from El Sembrador.  The boys all stood up and received the prayer as well as advice from the kids.  They talked to the group about how hard they have to study and that they have to be well behaved because they represent the church.  Next year Lourdes intends to send five additional boys to the private school if they can pass the entrance exam.  It is very expensive, but it gets them away from Los Pinos and for some, away from unhealthy family situations.  For all of them it is their greatest chance to have a productive life.

Then the fancy trucks began to arrive.  Lourdes kept the kids busy singing while they hung piñatas.  They even had a jumping contest!  Memo (far left) is tiny, but he can jump!

Finally three piñatas were hung across the church rafters.

I didn't know that they would be replaced with three more piñatas which were waiting in the wings!

The First Lady's sister went around the circle and gave everyone a high five.  Of course there were a few, like Lorenzo and Daniel, who disregarded protocol and jumped into her arms for a hug.

The First Lady's Sister introduced three young ladies who painted the kids faces, and three more ladies who braided hair and painted fingernails.  (The girls got some nice pampering!)

The hair and nail painting station

Beautiful Vanessa

There was a Superman piñata, Hello Kitty, a Smurf, Mickey Mouse, Scooby Doo and Snow White.  I had never been to a piñata party before and I was in charge of all of the younger kids!  Luckily I had the help of a lady who had clearly done this before and Marlin too, since she didn't have to cook anything today.

She took Memo and Carlos under her wing

Belkis got some good swings in

Violet is smiling!  (Not crying)  Misael waited patiently.

Go Violet!

Good job Memo!

We had some near misses with the big stick but nobody in my group was hit

They gathered the candy in their shirts

And then we lined up for lunch.

Little ones first!  These are the kids in preschool class:

All of the kids until you get to the black shirts attend preschool with me

They ate subs, chips, and pineapple turnover.  They each got a box of toys, a box of food and a cup of coke.  They really wanted to take the food home to their family.  We had to really push them to eat their food.  Some had never had a sandwich before and really didn't know how to eat a sandwich.  The held it like an ice cream cone and nibbled on the end.  I had to show them how to eat the sandwich.  When the food was mostly eaten, the did a really good job cleaning up.  I noticed that our circle was the cleanest of all the age groups!  I'll tell them tomorrow I was proud of how clean they left our area and also how good most of their manners were.

The First Lady's sister came over and said goodbye.  She talked to each of them individually and asked some of their names.  She was really sweet to them and they seemed to like her.

Here are some cute photos for you to enjoy ~

Lorenzo :)

Upside down Meylin

Violet asleep on the ground.  Again.

Big sister always takes good care of little brother

Silly boys

Add caption

Afterward we were all a little slap happy with the success of the party.
Jairo pretended to preach in his special jacket to entertain the adults.

In the evening I did some errands with Jose and Karla.  Karla took me to a store called STOCK.  It has everything you could ever want from underwear to furniture to toolboxes and food!  We found some meds at the pharmacy that I've been paying big bucks for my Mom to send from the US.  Here they are over the counter and waaaaaay cheaper.  That was an exciting find and saved me a trip to the Dr. for the migraines I've been getting lately.

When I got home I let Estrella out of the front house.  She ran to my doorstep where we both found this:

on my doorstep!  I was in a sticky situation.  The cat was trying to get out, so I couldn't open the door, but the dog kept lying down on top of the spider, begging me to pet her tummy!  What a pickle!!  Finally I picked up the dog, stepped over the spider, threw open the door and ran inside.  That was when I realized the gate wasn't locked and I had to go back out there.  Needless to say I'm still alive.  The gate is locked.  And last I checked, the spider was still there.  I think it's a tarantula.

Wrapping up the weekend

Saturday I went to the mall for the first time by myself.  I set it up so that my cab driver dropped me off and came back later to pick me up.  Even got some grocery shopping done in the end.  Malls here all have supermarkets inside.

I got some embroidery floss to make bracelets to give to my class for The Day of the Child.  I browsed through all of the enormously high heeled shoes.  Found a pumice stone, a welcome mat for my front door and a cookie sheet.  After more than a month of searching I have come to the conclusion that there is no such thing as a heating pad here.  Nor are there daily vitamin packs.  My hair has been falling out by the hand full for more than a month.  I did some research on-line and I think it was caused by losing too much weight a few months ago.  I am eating everything they recommend - except broccoli.  I can't find any broccoli in the super.  Nothing seems to help.  Pharmacies only carry Centrum.

It felt nice to have some independence, even if I was still relying on my taxista.  He is so kind.  He dropped me off at home with my groceries and new doormat and told me to call him any time I need him - that he is "at my orders".

Sunday everyone was late for church so I took the extra time while I was waiting for them to get dressed up and even put on makeup.  A number of people said I looked like a Honduran woman.  I'm not sure if it was the high heels or the makeup. In any case it was nice to receive the compliments.

Lourdes took time during the service and asked the whole church to pray for Pat Pike in the US.  He did not heal as doctors expected.  The whole church stood and prayed.  It was really cool to me, that a whole church would stand and pray for someone when most have never met Pat.  Lourdes explained that the kids from the Breakfast Program are praying day and night for Pat and invited the church to do the same.  I took pictures and sent them to Pat's friend so that when Pat is conscious he can see them and also so that the people who are in Salt Lake know they have support here in Honduras.

About 15 minutes later my phone vibrated.  There was a message from Pat's friend that he woke a little bit.  He was shown the pictures of the kids from the breakfast program and he smiled.  This was huge progress.  I stood up and went over to where Lourdes was seated.  She was teary eyed as she read the text.

After church I had planned to treat myself to Chinese food.  I haven't eaten out, except as a guest of someone else, since I came to Honduras.  In Honduras most people either make homemade soup or buy Chinese food every Sunday after church.  Hondurans eat a LOT of Chinese food.  I planned to follow the tradition, but fell asleep before I could walk down the street to the Chinese restaurant.  By the time I woke up I thought of a million things in the house that I should eat and it was thunderstorming again.  Maybe next Sunday.

Lourdes got permission from the head of the church elders to take Mondays off from now on.  Today there were not many kids at the Breakfast Program because today is The Day of the Child, which is a big deal here.  The kids showed up with lots of little candies and some small toys.  People had pick up trucks FULL of piñatas.  The kids' big joke was to wish all of the adults a happy Day of the Child, pointing out the childlike side that each adult has.

When the program was over, Jairo made his special chilis with lime.  I was standing too close and got squirted in the face by a really hot pepper.  My forehead had a burning spot which didn't go away for a few hours, even after I scrubbed it with soap and water twice.

Walter was kind enough to drive me all over the city for hours today.  The internet I've been using from the neighbors hasn't worked for a few days now so I figured it's time to invest in my own internet connnection.  There was a GNC across from the internet store, so I got some vitamins finally.  Those were expensive, so I got enough to last until I can get back to the states where I can stock up.  We got Science Diet cat food for Jetty.  They even had a special hairball formula, which is helpful because Jetty has had a lot of hairballs since she moved here.  I was shocked at how inexpensive the cat food was here.  We found the only store in town that sells hot water bottles.  In Honduras there is no such thing as a heating pad.  There is not even a word for it!  But I now have a vibrating hot water bottle which will feel awesome on my sore neck tonight.

Tonight I got home and called people in the states with my new, stronger internet connection.  I got a special deal through Skype with unlimited calls anywhere for only $2.99/month.  Until now I haven't had a strong enough connection to call anyone.  I talked with my Mom, my Aunt, and my friend Jody in SLC.  It was nice to talk on the phone for free!  I didn't have to feel rushed to squeeze everything in as quickly as possible.  It will be nice to be able to call the US whenever I want to.

Today I realized that I will not be in the US for September 11th this year.  It feels strange to be in a different country for September 11th.  In a selfish way, it feels nice to be away from all of the media.  But on the other hand I feel a little guilty.  My Uncle Alan was in the pentagon on September 11th.  He was not able to call home until 2:30 pm that day.  For many hours the family was not sure that he was alive.  For me, September 11th has a slightly bittersweet feeling, because my family all came out alive and I am grateful for that.

Jairo may have found a car for me.  His brother called today to say that there is a car which might be perfect for me.  It is being shipped from the US right now.  I don't know when it will get here, or if it will really be a good car once it gets here, but Jairo seems hopeful.  Jairo is also looking into relocating me to the mountains.  I have wanted to live in the mountains since the first time I ever visited Honduras.  When I got off the plane in March I asked Jairo if I could move to the mountains, but he said there was not a way to keep me safe there and safety has to be the first priority.  I love my little house in my gated community in the city.  But today I learned that there is a house in the mountains which is even more safe than where I currently live.  It is on the gated property of a family from the church.  They live in a house on the same property.  I will be happy if I can move up to the mountains.  But if I end up staying in this house I will be happy too.  Moving will mean a longer commute to church and it will also mean that I will struggle financially to furnish the new place.  My house now was fully furnished when I moved in.  Homes in Honduras don't have stoves or refrigerators so that will be an immediate expense if I move.  In this house my dining room is also my living area, so I don't have any living room furniture at all...  But those things will come if I am suppose to be in the mountains.

Must get some sleep.  Tomorrow the sister of the First Lady is throwing a pizza party for the Breakfast Program.  I am a little worried about all of Los Pinos trying to invade the party, but the kids have all been told that only those who attend regularly are invited to this event.  I will not be wearing a tank top and yoga pants tomorrow, in case I am pulled in front of tv cameras again.  I'll be sure to get a lot of pictures and post them for you.  Blogging should not be a 3 hour ordeal now that I have my own internet!

Pat continues to do better and better.  Thank you to everyone who is praying for him.  He is breathing on his own and is responsive when people speak to him.  Doctors say his body has started to heal, his vital signs have improved, and his white blood cells count is much better.  Praise God!

New Shoes for ALL!!!

Today in preschool we sang "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes, Knees and Toes" in Spanish and English.  Then we talked about how God made each of us unique.  God made Cessia with soft, curly hair:

Cessia with her new shoes from the First Lady!

Everyone drew a picture of themselves.  I forgot how preschoolers draw themselves.  It was so interesting to see.  Lourdes let some of the older kids come into the class today too, so we had one table that had circles for a head, with eyes, nose and mouth.  The arms stuck out of the circle where ears should be and legs stuck out of the bottom of the circle.  It was so cute!  Misael's mouth was above his nose - that is not how God made him.  But he was having a rough day today overall.  First he hit Cessia in the face as they were sitting down.  Then we asked him to sit in a chair away from Cessia where he cried until he vomited.  Misael is never violent.  He is very kind, loving and gentle.  I don't know why he would strike Cessia.

At noon Lourdes asked me to keep the younger kids with me in the classroom.  They were not being sent home because the First Lady of Honduras was visiting at 1pm!  I got to work cleaning the classroom in case she happened to look inside.  Cessia and Misael played together the whole time.  :)

At 1 pm a bunch of people from the press came.  Then a lady came and set up a table with cookies, candy and new shoes for every child who regularly attends the breakfast program.  Soon another car came.  A beautiful lady got out.  Eunice had said they would send a cousin or distant relative to represent the first lady, so I asked Jairo who the beautiful lady was.  He said it was really the First Lady!  Wow!

All of the kids behaved perfectly.  They sang songs and raised their hands to speak to her.  They thanked her for things she has donated in the past such as backpacks for school and packages of food.  They told her that her gifts were very helpful necessities for them.

Oh, but I forgot to say - as she walked out to stand in front of the group she grabbed my arm and said, "Come with me."  I had no choice but to follow as she yanked me to stand next to her.  So I smiled proudly as the kids expressed their gratitude.  I thought about the fact that I was wearing yoga pants and a tank top.  Oops!  I didn't expect to be in front of TV and newspaper cameras today!

After receiving all of the words from the kids, she told them they are all very special to her and for that reason she would like to come back and spend a whole morning with them next week in honor of The Day of the Child, which is a HUGE holiday here.  Then she told them that she is not really the First Lady, but she is the First Lady's sister.  Apparently she is identical to the first lady because every single person was confused.  Eunice didn't know until after she left that it wasn't the First Lady after all.  She was very sweet, beautiful and kind to the children.

Next week she will come back again to throw a pizza party!  With piñatas!!!  She said she wanted to feed the kids something they never usually eat so a pizza party will be perfect.  I am really excited for the kids.  They are going to go crazy!

Another lady came to visit part way through.  She is the wife of a man who is currently running for president. She seemed to be there more for the photo opps.  Her husband is a famous tv broadcaster.  Lourdes and Jairo told her they see him every morning on TV.  She made a big point to say that she will always support this church and anything we need.  I don't mean to be negative, but it did not seem as genuine as the First Lady's sister.  She seemed to be fishing for votes for her husband.  She left and the First Lady's sister stayed to help the kids try on shoes, check out our kitchen to see what she would need to bring from home for the party, and make plans for next Tuesday.

New Shoes!

As she left I told Jairo that I felt very awkward standing in front like that.  He said it was best that I represent the church in that circumstance because he cannot be photographed with any political figures who might use his photo to say that he is endorsing them.  He also said very seriously that God seems to be calling me to be photographed a lot lately - with the photos from the conference last week and then being yanked up in front today.  I said it just looks good in the press to have a gringa in the photo.  He seemed to disagree and said maybe I will be a famous gringa, but didn't expand.  Jairo is mysterious like that when he believes something might happen in the future.  He prefers not to say anything until it actually comes true.  Hmmmm...  I wonder what he is thinking.

Lourdes, Jairo and Walter are all leaving tomorrow for Olancho where they will pick up the kids who go to private school there.  They are meeting with teachers on Friday morning and then bringing the kids home for a week's vacation.  Lourdes said I will be in charge of everything while they are gone.  I said I hope the church doesn't fall apart.

As all of the cars were pulling in today with the "First Lady", Jairo came out of a meeting.  He started asking about my passport and how long I can legally stay here.  I got nervous for a second because thought maybe I needed to show my passport to be in the presence of the First Lady, and I didn't have it with me.  I told him I am legal until October 18th.  He said he was just meeting with a man about my residency.  Gaining residency here used to be difficult, but they changed the laws about a year ago to make it an easier process.  However, Jairo learned today that the laws were changed recently to make it harder again.  So the church has to get a lawyer and it costs more money than we expected for me to stay here past October 18th.  Jairo said he was told not to worry about it, so we are not going to worry about it.  But he did seem a little concerned.  I am really excited about this!  I can't wait until the day I can call myself an official resident of Honduras!!!

Hugs from the First Lady's sister

MORE Hugs!

Carlo Alberto with candy and new shoes

My Conejo ;)  Christian with his new shoes

Beautiful Linda with new shoes
This photo is dedicated to Pat Pike who is currently very sick in the hospital at this moment

Praying for Pat

Spent the past few days praying for Pat Pike.  He is a friend of mine from K2 who adores Honduras and the kids here as much as I do.  Jairo and I both have the same feeling that everything will be okay in the end, but right now my friend is really struggling.  He is in ICU with tubes in his stomach and nose.  His bowels are not working and they can't figure out what is wrong.

Today all of the kids at the Breakfast Program got on their knees and prayed for Pat.  It was beautiful hearing their prayers.  We knelt in a circle, holding hands.  We prayed for at least a half hour.  Even Elvin, my most active preschooler, prayed diligently.  Both Lourdes and I praised him afterward because he has such a hard time being still.

Elvin praying for Pat

After the Breakfast Program was over Lourdes had her discipleship group.  The ladies are all from Los Pinos, the community across the street.  Their kids all attend the breakfast program.  Lourdes invited me to pray for Pat with them.

Lourdes prayed first.  Her prayer is always beautiful.  In Honduras when someone is praying you hear the sound of "S" from others around you.  The first time I visited it took me a while to understand, and then to get used to.  When someone says something that you agree with you say, "Si" or "Si, Senor" (Yes God).  Sometimes people even go off on their own little tangent while another person is praying out loud, but it is not distracting.  To me, it makes the prayer feel more powerful.

Lourdes prayed first, then I prayed.  I started out in Spanish.  With the kids I always pray in Spanish, but it is not easy for me.  My friend, Marlin, who is a part of the group said she understands because prayer is so much about what you are feeling at that moment.  It takes away from the moment to have to stop and think about conjugating verbs correctly.  So this time my prayer changed to English half way through.  Marlin prayed after me.

Marlin and I have had an instant and mutually heartfelt connection since the first time we met.  She was the first new person who sat down and talked to me when I came to Honduras in March.  (Looking back, I think this was the hand of God, because she is very shy.)  Marlin is a very close and special friend.  Her kids are incredible at prayer.  Now I know why.  She is passionate and hypnotizing when she prays.  It was awesome.  But something strange happened.  Marlin does not speak any English at all, yet we were both moved to use some of the same exact, very specific words.  For example, I prayed in English and she in Spanish, that Pat would rise from his bed with a smile.  There was no way she could have understood that I had just said the same thing.  God was clearly with us in that group.

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!

Trip with Lourdes and Jairo to San Isipido

I have been tired, still recuperating from last weekends 4 day get-away, so I have not kept up with my blog. In the morning I leave for another four days away, so I better hit the highlights of last weekend before I get too far behind.

Last weekend Lourdes, Jairo and I went for some R&R in the country.  We headed up North and stayed with their friends.  Lourdes and Jairo used to live in this area many years ago.  They showed me the home where they used to live and Jairo's former office.  He was in charge of building many of the National Forest areas, as well as all sorts of programs to educate the illiterate.  He was one of the founders of Habitat for Humanity, building many homes in this area as well as schools.  He coordinated more than 40 churches and worked with people who had never really left their villages in the mountains.  Now there are roads that never existed, schools, and most exciting for Jairo is to visit the people, who are now educated with fruitful lives.  He is not prideful, but is happy for this generation as he sees the way the programs he created have changed their lives for the better.

The drive to get there was absolutely gorgeous.  Deep green mountain after mountain with lush forests that were the home to many indigenous people.  These people make crafts or sell wood at the side of the road to make a living.  They live in homes like I'd never seen before.  I don't know how the homes remain standing with no cement or anything to hold them together.  They make a row of rocks, then put a 2x4 on top, then make another row of rocks with another 2x4 to create the walls of their homes.  There is nothing to fill in the cracks between the rocks.  Some people sold honey, some wood and some gorgeous crafts.

This was one of the big groups of stands.

Selling platanos

Hand made crafts

Part way there, they asked if I wanted to share the music on my iPod through the car speakers so we sang and danced in our seats to songs from the 70's.  It was a good trip.  We passed the small village where Don Juan was born, and where his family still lives.  We also passed an area where many of Walter's relatives live, and a store they own.  We passed the place I will go for a conference this weekend.  And we passed where Jairo was born.  He was born in a state called Olancho, which he said is known for it's agriculture and for having lots of burros.  We did see a lot of burros.  But if Olancho was known for it's burros then I think the state where we stayed, Santa Barbara, should be known for the number of men who travel with machetes.  There were people walking down the street with machetes (not unusual) people riding bikes with machetes sticking out in front of them, climbing trees with machetes hanging from a rope below them.  Machetes were everywhere.  At the same time, it was very noticeable that people there felt safe.  They walked alone at night, after dark.  I was so envious!  Such freedom and lack of worry.

The home where we stayed was nice.  The front part of the house was a pulperia, so people passed by and stopped to buy things.  They had everything from sneakers and perfume to razors and flour in the pulperia.  It was planned that I would stay in the living room, but as time came for bed they decided that all three of the boys/men should sleep in the living room, I was to stay with a daughter in the boys' room, Lourdes and Jairo got the daughter's room.  I was appreciative, but felt bad about displacing three people!

We took a ride into the nearest town.  Lourdes and I stood in the back of the truck and enjoyed the view.  The men road in the cab.  I loved every second of it.  In the pueblo, the men had to change a tire on the truck so Lourdes and I went window shopping.

Lourdes talked to me about his friend's oldest son.  He returned three days before from living in Florida for the past 12 years.  He has not seen anyone but his mother in that time.  He has a brother who is only 11 years old.  They had not met.  He was very happy to be with his family.  He said he really doesn't miss the US at all and is happy to be back in Honduras.  He was the foreman of a construction company and speaks great English, so he already has a job offer to be a translator for mission teams who work near his home, which is amazing, because there are not many jobs here.

As soon as we got back home from town, the feasting began.  We didn't stop eating the entire time I was there.  We had huge meals every 3 hours!  I gained a few pounds, but the food was so good it was well worth it.  Carlota, the mother, taught me how to make tamalitos.  Tamalitos are like tamales, only they are smaller and have no meat.  It is corn season right now, so they ground fresh corn, added a little sugar and some margerine, then poured the mixture into husks to cook.  I learned how to fold the husks.  We made fried corn, which is like a pancake with the mixture above, and some baking soda.  You would think there was cream or milk inside, but the corn is so creamy that no cream is necessary.  YUMMY!!!

I watched the men prepare for the fishing trip and said I wished I were a man so I could go.  Jairo explained all of the reasons why I can't go - the most important being that I don't have written permission from the government.  Also the men spend the entire day from 6 am - 7 pm, in a small metal boat with not much space in the HOT, HOT sun.  He said it is a tippy boat and not a good place to learn to fish with the equipment they use.  I thought he was doubting my fishing knowledge until I saw them wrapping line around Gatorade bottles and jabbing the hook into the plastic.  I guess that is their fishing pole.

The mens' catch (mostly tilapia) from Friday

Carlota with a Tilapia 

The men woke at 3:30a.m. to fish - as did the rest of the house because four men who are as excited as children on Christmas Eve are very loud.  They came back at about 8 p.m., all of them teasing the brother who just returned from the states, saying he had been in the US too long.  He agreed that he will not go fishing again any time soon.  The men had two coolers of fish. Mostly Tilapia, but some smaller (and easier to gut) fish.  I went out to the pila and watched as Carlota scaled and gutted the fish.  We had a nice time talking and getting to know each other.  She is also teaching preschool at her church.  A few days later I met some of the kids she teaches.  They were cute!

The next day was Saturday.  We all were tired, so we cooked, ate, and rested.  Lourdes and I worked on a project together for the whole day.  Jairo made chicharron, which I never had before.  It is the skin, fat a some meat of a pig, deep fried outside in a huge pot over a fire.  He stirred it with a paddle, made specifically for stirring big pots.  We also talked about the paperwork that he will be starting soon.  I had never asked about it specifically, but was really excited to hear that I will be applying for residency here!  The church will be my sponsor.  That is so cool!

Jairo and Carlota making Chicharron

Chicharron

Sunday the men fished again.  Just before dinner Lourdes and I finished the project we have been  on for a month.  Whew!  We ate dinner and headed home.  We had seen lightening since we left the house, but as we got closer to the city it was POURING rain.  The roads turned into overflowing rivers.  It was dangerous and we came upon numerous accidents, but I knew I was in good hands with Jairo at the wheel.  I noticed a sign I had never seen before.  The same way we have signs in the US to warn of deer crossing the road, they have signs for rabbits!  I never saw a rabbit, but the sign made me giggle each time I saw it.

Comayagua is home to the largest US military base in Central America.  It went on for miles, but I didn't see much activity.  We were stopped on the way home by Honduran Military Police at a checkpoint.  I had been leaning forward into the front seats to talk to Lourdes and Jairo, but at that point I sat back and tried to be invisible.  The police asked who was in the car.  Jairo said family.  Then he talked to Lourdes.  He never looked at me and told us to continue on.  I was glad.  He could have made things difficult if he wanted to, even though I was traveling with my passport.

I thanked Lourdes and Jairo repeatedly for allowing me to come with them.  The roads were almost impassable in the city.  Everything was flooded and water poured off roofs literally like a waterfall.  As I got out of the car in the downpour and crossed the river that used to be the sidewalk in front of my house, I had a big smile.  Fany heard me coming in and said Jett had been very calm while I was gone for the four full days.  I thanked her for taking care of the cat, then climbed into my own bed.  It was a GREAT weekend!