One Year Anniversary Dinner

On Wednesday Jairo, Lourdes, Josselyn, Belinda (Lourdes' sister) and I went out to dinner.  A few weeks ago I asked Jairo if I could take his family out to celebrate the fact that I have now been in Honduras for one year and to thank his family for all that they do for me.  We planned to go to our favorite pizza place, which is really nice, but when we got there it was closed for Semana Santa.  I was really disappointed.  They asked where else I would like to go, but I don't know other places except chinese food.  I wanted somewhere special.  We drove around, but restaurant after restaurant was closed.  Someone suggested Denny's.  I kept my mouth shut and prayed (yes, I prayed we would not go to Denny's).  I really did not want do go to Denny's, but people here LOVE Denny's and since everything else was closed it seemed we may have no other choice.  We stopped at the stoplight by Denny's and turned the corner but Jairo drove past Denny's.  Phew!  He went to a gorgeous place he and Lourdes had never visited before.

When they told us to sit anywhere, Lourdes found a private room for us!

Delicious!

Me, Lourdes, Jairo, Josselyn, Belinda

Jairo asked this special opps man if I could have a photo with him.

The restaurant was called Haciendo Real.  My landlord's brother had told me it was a really, really nice place.  He was right!  We had an amazing dinner and really enjoyed each other's company.  It was a really special night.  We talked about the highs and lows of my time in Honduras.  We gave praise to God for bringing me here.  I thanked Lourdes for giving me feedback a few months ago that was a turning point for me.  Everyone agreed they have seen a difference in me since that talk.  They see me as more open and I feel more happy.  The Sarmiento family has been a tremendous blessing to me.  If I need to go to the store, if I need advice, no matter what, Jairo is always there for me.  We reminisced and laughed.  I felt very loved and expressed my own love and gratitude for everyone at the table.  We left with full bellies and full hearts.

In the parking lot there was a special forces military man standing outside to guard one of the people who was eating inside.  Jairo and I have a mission to try to take pictures of the military men on the streets.  We are not supposed to so we have to be sly about it.  But Jairo walked up to him and asked if we could take a picture with him.  He asked who would be in the picture.  When Jairo pointed to me, the man said, "Sure!"

I was surprised.  I stood next to him and he said, (in Spanish) "With the gun, or without?"  I told him, "WITH the gun!"  Jairo explained that in the US, people don't walk around with huge weapons.  He put his arm around me so I loosened up a little and we took a bunch of photos.  As we walked away, he and his buddy talked.  Then the friend said, "Wait!  You have photos of him, but he has none of you!"  So I went back and got my picture taken with his camera.  That was the ultimate topper to a great night.  We all had a super good time!