P.S.

Ends up "pan de pan" is bread pudding. We are making it with pineapple. Mine was the top one. Karla was shocked at how much mine rose. I told her it rose higher because it was made with love ; )

I also wanted Dina to know that since there has been no school this week Karla has been working hard with Valery to use the signs. Yesterday evening Valery knew almost all of them! There are only about 5 that she doesn't do consistently. Now we are teaching the family and her sister so everyone can use the signs. When school resumes we will ask the teacher if she is willing to integrate signs for Valery. That would be so awesome.

Valery looooves to talk, but you can't understand anything she says so these signs are great for her. And they are also great to show her parents how quickly Valery can learn things. The only down note is that with so much use, the cards are not in the best shape anymore. Last night Valery curled up on the couch with her mom and me and went through them all. She'd look at the pictures, then make the sign and we'd clap for her. It's exciting to watch her learn so much so quickly! Right now they are having their third "class" for the day.

Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

Today I got up and watched the news. They said that the borders are closed and that you can't travel from city to city. That accounts for the milk shortage my cab driver was speaking of yesterday. And Karla's father is stuck with a lot of fresh cheese that he can't sell because it can't be transported from Olancho, where her family lives.

We hear planes flying overhead sometimes, but not too much.

I made it to the breakfast program and back just fine, and found plenty of milk at the big supermercado Karla suggested. My cab driver was very happy to get some for himself as well.

I bought 5 gallons and that ended up to barely be enough! Lots of kids showed up today. Since they don't have school they expected to just wander in at any time, but I told them that I need them to come promptly at 10 am tomorrow and we will all leave at 11 am. They were super about praying today - 2 kids volunteered before we were even circled up! That was really great! And when it was time to go they all saw my cab outside waiting for me and hurried out so that I could leave. In the meantime we ate and played games like normal. It was fun to be around them again. I haven't seen them for breakfast since last Wednesday.

I came home and registered with the US Embassy, mostly to please my Aunt and y mother. Then we had a nice big lunch. And now Karla is going to teach me to make "pan de pan", which interests me mostly because of the name - bread of bread. I'll let you know what it's like.

Oh, and I should add, the streets from home to the church were perfectly normal. It's only downtown where there are huge crowds.

I know my family and friends are worried. I wish there were some way they could be here to see that the situation for me as an individual is fine as long as I stay away from downtown. I have really great friends and smart people around me here who would never allow me to be in a dangerous situation. And I am really trying to be conservative and wise in my decisions. My concerns are more for the well being of this country as a whole, than for myself right now. It will be interesting to see what happens when good old Mel returns.

Time to start dinner - well, I think pan de pan is dinner. Maybe it's desert? I'll keep you updated on the pan de pan situation, maybe even take some photos.

La Tigra

Today we went for a hike in La Tigra. It was so nice to get out of the city. It was one of the most fun days I've had since I got here. I love the mountains. I was so excited to write a fun, uplifting message in the blog about what a great day we had but coming back into the city really popped my bubble. Haven't heard from the Utila folks, but I'm sure that no news is good news and they are safe and feeling as relaxed right now as I felt this afternoon in the mountains.

Passed by the place where I stayed last year and thought about all of the ladies at home.

I tried to label the photos, but couldn't get the words to correlate with the photos. Notice how huge the fern like plants can grow - larger than a person! But at the same time they come in all shapes and sizes as another photo illustrates.

The red mushrooms made me feel like Alice in Wonderland - no I didn't eat one, I meant just looking at it.

The beige steps are all naturally formed of stone. In real life they had a lot of colors on them.

The shelter has a tire on top. Nobody has been able to tell me why.

I forgot the name of the little animal that scurried in front of us, but Walter was excited to see it so I'm guessing it was something cool. It looked like a woodchuck to me.

We got home to find the streets packed with cars. It took hours to drive what should have been minutes. I'd like to report differently, but after a perfectly serene day in the mountains, the city feels pretty sketchy.

We called Jairo to ask him if the church will be open for the breakfast program tomorrow. From what Karla understood, Jairo was at the church today at prime time for the breakfast program. She said either no kids, or very few, were there (she didn't know which). To me, this is very strange because school is cancelled indefinitely. I figured they'd all head to the church. All of the kids in Los Pinos must have been house bound or something.

Jairo told us to watch the news in the morning and make a judgement from there as to whether or not it is safe for me to travel to the church to run the breakfast program. I have already talked with my cab driver. He has agreed to drop me off, then pick me up at 11 am sharp so I am assured an early ride home before the city becomes too active. I just have to call him in the morning if I decide to go. I feel obligated but unsure. Jairo said it was a very "ugly" day in the city today and for me to be careful if I go.

I'll watch the morning news and make a decision from there. My cab driver says there is no milk in the city. Without milk the breakfast program cannot happen. So another obstacle could be finding milk in the morning. Karla told me to try one certain store and if that store doesn't have milk then no store will. We'll see...

Please continue to pray for a peaceful ending to this political mess.

Safe and Sound

Today was an experience. I'm not sure how else to put it. Last night we had a going away party for The River Church. It was a nice get together at a local home. We made plans to stay together after church today and leave for Utila tomorrow, very early in the morning in order to avoid any possible political/military problems. As we tried to leave the party Jose realized that his tire was completely flat. The girls were crying and exhausted. We popped off the tire in the dark, dropped the girls off at home and went to the same tire place we just visited a week or so ago, to repair the tire. Since we didn't have the metal interior ring we couldn't buy a whole new tire. Jose said that would have to wait until morning after church.

I got home and washed all of my clothes, then woke up at 5:30 am to finish and get them dry before church. All of my clothes were hanging on the clothes line and I was reading in my bed when Karina's phone rang next to my head. She woke to answer it. She only talked on the phone for a minute, then jumped out of bed and headed for Karla and Jose's room saying something in Spanish and putting her wrists together as though she were in hand cuffs. I thought maybe one of her friends had been arrested and needed help so I kept reading. Then she came back and said that there is no electricity and no water. I said there was an hour ago. That's when she explained that the president had been taken from his home this morning by military force. By this point it was about 7 am.

I said to Jose, we have very little water, no batteries and we still need a tire for your car. Plus we hadn't had time to shop for food this week. He said let's hurry up and do all of that stuff before church because we don't know what might happen after church. I asked should I wear my church clothes or clothes I can run fast in? He said running clothes. We left the girls with Karina and got out of the house as quickly as we could, thinking the earlier we get back home, the safer we would be. On our way out the door we got a call from Jairo saying church was cancelled.

The gas tank was on empty so we stopped and got gas as soon as we found an open gas station. Later the lines for gas were way out into the street. We saw several spots (I'm guessing where the voting poles would have been) where there were paper fliers or ballots (not sure which) strewn all over the streets. After getting gas it was 7:45. While we got a new tire I noticed there was more traffic on the streets. We saw a helicopter and a military plane flew low and fast overhead.

Our timing was great - we got to the store soon after it opened at 8 am. We packed the cart with everything we could think of - ice, batteries, and lots of food. (We failed to think about the fact that both the stove and the microwave run on electricity.) By the time we were ready to check out it was really hard to find the end of the cash register line because the lines for each cashier twisted into the aisles. People who were still trying to shop couldn't use the front aisles of the store. There was a lot of tension in the air - people were starting to freak out. They were talking about the military closing the streets. An announcement came overhead saying to please be patient in line, but please help the baggers to bag your groceries as quickly as you can. The shelves were full of food and workers were restocking, packing more food tightly onto the shelves.

At one point it was nice to be a gringa. Jose had gotten 3 bags of ice, but I thought we needed more. (Turns out we didn't.) Anyway he said it was impossible to get back to the area with the ice because the aisles were all blocked with people waiting in line for the cash registers. I thought back to my days of being a cocktail server in crowded bars - I knew I could make it through this crowd easily, especially since I was not carrying a tray of drinks. So I headed back toward where he said the ice was. There was no ice "in front of the juice" as he had said so I asked a guy who was stocking the shelves where the ice was. Not only did he lead me to the ice, he asked how many bags I wanted, then grabbed them and proceeded to carry them to the exact register where we had been standing in line for the past 15 minutes. I was chasing after him as he pushed through the crowd, but people let him through because he had a store uniform. I tried to tell him where to take the ice, but before I could catch up with him to say anything he had already dropped off the ice at the correct cash register and told the cashier it was for me. Later he was the one who helped bag our groceries and take them to the car so I gave him a big tip.

As we drove home there were many, many police lining the sides of the road. Jose and Karla saw a lot of military men bearing their weapons around the president's residence. I missed it because I didn't know where to look.

We got home safe, put all of the groceries away and I went back to bed since there was nothing else to do. When I woke up the lights were on and they were having a picnic lunch in the back yard. We spent the afternoon/evening watching the news until we couldn't take it any more, then we watched movies. (Gran Turino is just as incredible in Spanish as it is in English, but there's nothing that compares to the tone of Clint Eastwood's real voice.)

At one point all of the news stations were off the air except the one supporting the (now)ex-president. That was a little strange. And they announce a curfew for the next 48 hours from 9 pm- 6 am. At about 8:30 pm the new president announced that everyone should go about business as usual tomorrow.

Throughout the day we discussed/prayed about whether or not I should go to Utila with the group tomorrow. At one point the whole trip was cancelled, but at this time they are planning to leave in the morning. I made a personal decision not to go. I can see both sides. If there are problems in this country, the safest place you could be is a remote island, but for me the concern was driving the 6 hours to the port city and then getting onto the boat safely to get to Utila. I know that all of us feel good about our choices and have prayed hard about it. I feel strange to be the only one who is not going but I believe I was told several times that it was not the right choice for me. Who knows what God has in store for me this week, but I do my best to listen and do as He tells me, so we'll see...

Please pray for the safety of those who are traveling tomorrow. And if you are the praying type, please also pray for peace in this country as they settle in with a new president. As for me, I'll be staying home for one more day to feel things out. Then I'm going to do the breakfast program for Tony for the rest of the week. That's all for now. So nice to fall asleep listening to the rain. Especially since all of my clothes are clean and dry.

Quick Thought

My family has all gone their seperate ways today - Karla got called in to work, Karina took Valery and Dana Sophia with her to get her hair cut, and Jose is leading his youth group. There were some dishes in the sink so as I was washing them I was thinking about 2 things.

First, how in the world do they get these baby bottles clean? When I was cleaning my nephew, Jack´s bottles, we had special little gadgets to get inside the bottles and inside the nipples. We had baggies to sanitize things in the microwave, and we were particular about his food being organic. Here we don´t even have warm water.

I was also thinking about when I came the first time we had numerous team meetings to talk about what we could share with or teach the Honduran people. One of the things that we thought of was sanitation. Knowing what I´ve learned in this trip, I am so glad we didn´t do that. We didn´t realize that many of the people we would be speaking to would not have running water in their homes, never mind hot water. We didn´t know they wouldn´t have refridgerators, or even electricity. And we were going to ¨teach them¨ how to wash dishes in the ¨correct¨ way and how to store food in the ¨correct¨way. Which in this case meant in the way that is best for us, but impossible for them.

Anyway, I´ve been washing dishes with cold water for over three weeks now and I´m still alive!

Time Flies

I haven`t been able to post for a while because I am unable to get onto the internet from home. For some reason my computer is not working right and with all that is going on politically here I was unable to go to the church during the day. Last night we went to the church for a huge party (inappropriate time to bring my computer and hide out in the office working on my blog). Over 100 people attended the party last night, but yesterday morning there were protests in the streets and all of the schools were closed so taxis were not running. Seems like people are just taking things as they come.

We went to the movies to watch Star Trek Wednesday night. It had Spanish subtitles. Right when I would get sucked into the movie and feel like I was back in the US, the glowing red emergency exit sign would catch my eye (Salida de Emergencia) and I would realize where I was again.

Thursday was my day off . We kind of had a girls´day. We hung out in our pajamas and watched the news as things continued to escalate in the streets. On Thursday supporters of the president protested. On Friday Karla and I were supposed to work at the church but we woke up and watched the news. Schools were closed and people who oppose the president were protesting in the streets downtown so we were unable to get to the church. Both protests ended with out any violence, although it felt from the safety of my home that Thursday´s might have escalated if the rain had not started to downpour about an hour into the protest.

The bottom line is that tomorrow there will be a vote. The president requested that this vote be held because he wants to run for another term. But the problem is that his term is over - it´s like if president Bush had said there was going to be a vote to see if the people wanted him for an extra term. The president here thinks that if he gets enough votes on Sunday he can try to change to constitution and run for another term. The voting itself is against the constitution, nevermind trying to run for another term.

Yesterday they tried to make him take a test to check his ¨competency¨ (aka sanity) but of course he refused. He is turning against many of his closest staff. So far the military has stood up to him when necessary, from what I understand. I don´t know what will happen tomorrow. I think there will be a vote, but I dón´t know what good it will do. Only time will tell.

At this point the plan is still to drive to the north shore and take a boat to Utila early Monday. We do expect there to be problems on Monday, but we will leave before anything begins.

The language barrier has been less of a barrier lately. I don´t have to focus as hard and I understand more things more easily. Until now I was having a really hard time following conversations with more than one person and often felt really frustrated. Everyone would be laughing and I would have no clue why, but for the past two nights things have been easier. I can even joke along now.

I have some great photos to post of the kids making and setting off rockets with the people who are visiting from The River Church on Wednesday afternoon. I´ll post the pics when I can upload them onto my computer. Thursday, because of the problems in the streets everyone got sent home from the church at 2 pm so the project for that afternoon was cancelled.

It was great to see such a nice turnout for the dinner last night! First we played Duck, Duck, Goose (Pato, Pato, Ganso) in the dark with glowsticks around our wrists. I lost the first time and almost lost the second time. I couldn´t see who I was picking to ¨goose¨. After loosing the first time I picked a kid who looked little, figuring he would be easier to outrun, but I had two factors working against me. The first was that there were 52 people in my circle so I had to run a long way. And the second and more challenging problem was that the little guy I picked was Conejo - the little rabbit who can run like the wind! I´m not sure if I really slid into my spot on the gravel before he tagged me, or if the kids pitied me, but that time I won ¨by a hare¨. We set off more rockets and ate chorizo and fried plantains. I think it was very successful night.

I cannot even conceive of how difficult the physical labor they have been doing at the house they are working on. They start at 8 am and sometimes don´t finish until after 4 pm in the blazing heat. But they have put in a cement floor, strengthened and painted the walls and more. I haven`t seen their work because I´ve been doing the breakfast program, but I know that they return to the church looking physically exhausted. And then they go back for another day without complaint. I really respect what they are doing. I like to think of myself as someone who can handle physical challenges, but I honestly don´t think I could do it - especially in this heat.

My stupid IBS has been acting up lately. I have meds for it, but they are at home so that doesn´t help much here. I rarely have problems with it, so I didn´t think to bring my meds. Everyone here thinks that my stomach can´t handle the food, but the sypmtoms are different.

Got a lot of laundry done yesterday and it didn`t even rain! Bought some books and am ready for Utila. Still am not letting myself get too excited in case something happens and we can´t go. We won´t have any contact with the outside world once we get there, so I´ll take lots of pictures and hope my computer works when I get back.

Noticias (News)

Last night the news showed 90-100,000 people protesting in the streets of San Pedro Sula, a nearby city. I asked Jose why nobody was protesting in Tegucigalpa. His response was, "Because the people here are stupid." As opposed to Monday night, last night the entire broadcast was dedicated to the political turmoil. They interviewed numerous government and military leaders whom all said they are hoping for cooperation from the president "Mel", and that they all expect him to step down.

Now we are waiting to see what happens Sunday - if the people will be allowed to vote at all, and if so, what the results will be. If there are problems they will probably happen Sunday or Monday.

Today we had more kids than ever at the later breakfast program. I took some photos of a little boy whom I absolutely adore. His nickname is Conejo (rabbit), but his real name is Christian. Last week Don Juan and I suited him up in a pair of sneakers and new clothes. He used to keep to himself, but he has begun to play with the other kids now. After he eats breakfast he runs as fast as he can in the blazing heat around and around the church playing tag.

Right now we are about to make rockets with the kids for the afternoon program. Tonight we are going to the movies. Life goes on as usual for now...

Breakfast and Rockets

Conejo (rabbit) and Me

Home Life

Dana Sophia

Valery

Coctail de Camerones!

Fun and Games at the Breakfast Program

Boys Jumping Rope

Milk Cartons are a hot commodity. They can be used to bring home clean drinking water.

Don Juan and the boys

An Example of Why These Kids Need New Shoes

At least he didn't have to paint them black!

Rockets at Church!

Lychee Fruit - Once you peel off the prickley skin, you suck on the milky looking part and spit out the seed inside.

We had about 30 kids for the breakfast program today. One of the families from The River helped out. I think at first the father was concerned b/c his kids had not begun to assimilate yet, but as soon as everyone was done eating his daughters were quickly caught up in a game of tag and language was no longer a barrier. When it came time for the morning group to leave a bunch of them stood outside the fence, still playing with his girls through the fence.

This afternoon The River church had organized some really cool science projects. They made magnets, kaleidoscopes, and harmonicas with the kids. It was fun to watch the kids warm up to the new adults around them. At first the kids kind of sat back, but by the end everyone was running around, screaming and laughing - including the adults. And in the meantime they had learned about color refraction, how sound vibrates and magnetic force! At the end they set off rockets which fly about 300 ft into the air all from air pressure from a bicycle tire pump! On Wednesday the kids will make their own rockets and set them off.

I learned today that I will not actually be going to Utila, which is a remote island off Roatan. In reality we are staying on an even more remote "cave island" off Utila. (I'll let you know what exactly a "cave island" is once I find out myself.) The island is a 30 minute boat ride from Utila. We will have to bring in all of our food. We will have radio contact with someone on the main land in case we need anything, but otherwise we will be all on our own - like Gilligan's Island. There are 2 houses there and we are renting both. I was told today that there is room for 20 people, but we only are bringing 10. I can't wait! We leave one week from today - next Monday and return on Saturday, the 4th of July.

There is a special 4th of July party in Tegucigalpa for anyone who can show their US passport. I am hoping that Tony and I will not be too tired because I would really LOVE to go to the party. We're going to try to make it happen, but it will be a long drive from the north shore back to Teguc that day.

Today Jairo pulled all of the adults aside and talked to us. He said not to be overly afraid, but that the government of Honduras is in turmoil and is ready to explode. The problem is that the president is about to complete his term as president, but refuses to step down. He is trying to have a vote next Sunday to change the constitution. But by trying to have the vote in the first place is against the law.

I have not heard of any people here who support the president. They say he is crazy and very corrupt. Recently he dared the military to come and get him - basically challenging them to try to physically take him out of office.

Anyway, Jairo said that we need to be aware. He said that if the county does go under military rule there will be mass chaos and we must stay exactly where we are - if that is at church or at home, because the streets will not be safe. He has contact with people high up in the government and journalists as well. He was on the phone with them for part of the afternoon trying to figure out exactly what is going on.

Tony described one uprising which he witnessed where people overturned cars and burned tires in the road so nobody could pass. For this reason, when we go to Utila Jairo would like for us to do as much of our traveling as possible before the day begins. Because if nothing has happened yet, it will probably happen on the day we are driving to Utila - the day after the proposed illegal voting.

I'm sure that Jairo will stay in touch with his contacts in the government and be sure it is safe to go. I am thinking that as long as we can get there, a remote island would be the best place to be if the country goes under martial law.

Please pray for the people here. Pray for their continued democracy and that they can get rid of this crazy man in a peaceful way without any violence.

You know I can't have a post without mentioning food so I must tell you about my dinner for the past 2 nights. Last night we had fish which was rubbed in garlic and herbs and pan friend. We also had coctail de camerones - which is a dish my mom and I have loved for more than 10 years, but have never figured out how to make. Tonight we had tamales the size of a Nalgene bottle. Some had chicken, but some had bits of potato and rice. Those were the best tamales I have ever had in my life.

I am enjoying getting to know the folks from The River as they begin to settle in here. They are working on one family's house every morning - building walls, painting, making a cement floor, and a water system. Then they do science and sewing classes at the church in the afternoon. It is definitely a full day for them.

I admire how they are really trying to build relationships with the kids. They hand out name tags so they can remember names. Although their Spanish isn't great they have no shame in trying their best to speak in Spanish, which is also very admirable. If the rest of their classes are anything like today, the kids are in for an amazing week!