Photo shoot at a fancy restaurant after church

Jose y Karla

Bievenidos a church

After our long night last night I slept so hard that I think I woke up in the same position as when I went to sleep. We got ready for church. I was not worried when we left the house late, then stopped to chat with the cab driver who will be delivering me to church this week, because in Honduras almost nothing happens on time. Even though we were late, we were some of the first people there. I think it started about a half hour late - nobody seems to worry about time here.

I was looking around at the familiar faces from last year when Jose said to me in Spanish, "Stand up!" and he stood up. But nobody else was standing. He said it again, so I finally listened to what was going on and they were introducing me and welcoming me to this country and to the church. They even welcomed me in the buletin, which was nice - my 15 minutes of fame. It was great to be back at church and to see the people we spent time with a year ago. One girl, Helga, was leaving for college a year ago. On our first full day in Honduras last year we went to her going away party. Today was her first day back at church after a successful year at college in Texas. She adjusted very well to college and won some art shows with her amazing paintings.

After church Jose, Karla and I went to a fancy Mongolian restaurant for lunch. It was beautiful. We sat outside on a patio which overlooked plush gardens. For some reason there was a huge pile of baby turtles around one specific plant. Some kids were playing with the turtles. I asked why the turtles were there and the little boy said simply "Because they like it!". DUH! Karla and I had fun taking pictures of me wearing a new shirt that my mom just gave me. Then I took pictures of Karla and Jose because they are a beautiful couple and so far none of my photos have shown this.

Now we are all at home. Once again Karla is studying. Jose and I are resting. Karla is a very busy woman! But she and Jose are a lot of fun too. The kids will come home next weekend. I have one more week to sleep late and have my own room. When they return they get up at 6:30 every morning and Karla's sister, Karina will be my roommate.

The Big Game! EUA vs Honduras

The guys all piled into Walter's truck
Jose making popcorn

This day started off slowly. I had a hard time getting out of bed. I didn't feel like putting all of the thought and effort into speaking spanish. So I laid around for a while and started to get a little down. But then I remembered that the big game started at 6:30 pm and it would be a fun night at the church. So I showered and put on my favorite jeans to make sure they still fit. (They did.)

When I went downstairs Walter, one of the people who helped us when I came down with my church group last year, was in the living room preparing to lead the church service tomorrow. Karla was working with her study group, but she had homemade chicken soup on the stove. Everyone took a break and we had a nice lunch.

Then Jose and I went to the church to prepare for the big game. I've been hearing about it since I got here. Honduras was playing the US at Soldier Field in Chicago. Jose set up the auditorium and we popped enough popcorn to feed 40 people. Then it began to rain. We were very worried that the lights would go out - really it was amazing that they didn't. (Well, actually they did, but not until after the game.) The rain filled the bucket of water in this picture at least 5 times that I saw - we empty it and save the water.

People had a hard time getting to the church because the streets were flooded. What would normally take 15 minute took over an hour because under all of the water there are horrible potholes that people here normally take for granted. But hidden by the flood of rain, the potholes made the streets very dangerous - more on that later. In the end we had a nice crowd despite the weather. We charged money to get in and sold popcorn, nachos and soda to benefit the church.

Three girls from Denver were visting for the weekend so there were some others to cheer for the US. I really wanted Honduras to win, because it means so much to the people here, but I pretended that I cared about the US so we had a fun rivalry. When Honduras made the first goal all of the guys lept around like a mosh-pit. The jumped up and banged their chests together. It was fun to see them so excited. But that was their only excitement of the game. The US (or EUA as it said on the screen) did well in the second half and won 2-1.

However, that was far from the end of our night. While we cleaned up, Jose rode with Tony to Los Pinos to take the little boy, Carlos, home. Tony had debated doing this as it is unsafe for him to drive there at night and also unsafe for Carlos to walk from where the car drops him off on the street, up the mountain to his house. Tony had already gotten a flat tire on his way to the game and ripped the side of his truck by falling into a hidden pothole. But they headed out. They didn't get very far when they hit another hidden pothole and got another flat tire. But this time Tony didn't have a spare and he was in Los Pinos. They called Walter, who took the tire to an auto repair shop (at 9:30 pm on Saturday) and they were able to fix it. Tony said the whole experience was surreal. The rain was just dumping the whole time.

Karla and I were stuck at the church because Jose had ridden with Tony for security. And that was when the lights went out. So although we were warm and fairly dry, we were in the dark, wondering when the men would return. We had some good talks and shared some secrets. Karla also told me about her daughter Valerie, who was not supposed to live when she was born. Numerous specialists said that she had heart problems and to make a long story short, after a LOT of prayer, the final Dr could find nothing wrong with her heart at all. The Dr told Karla and Jose that he personally did not believe in God, but there is no other explaination for how Valerie's heart was made perfect. Really cool story and only one of the ways God has worked miracles in Karla's life.

Finally everyone returned to the church safely and we all headed home. I took a photo of all of the guys piled into Walter's truck at the end of the long night. They had the hour drive up to La Tigra - with some in the back covered in a tarp, but there were no complaints. Except that Honduras lost the big game.