Hey it's good to be back home again. Yes it is.

Hooray!  I am back in Honduras!!!!  My time in the US was incredible.  I always feel so rushed, like I can barely catch my breath the whole time I am there.  But having the flight cancelled was a blessing in disguise.  I got to spend three days doing nothing.  In reality I did a few things, but only what I wanted.  I napped and chatted with my Mom and ate.  And ate.  And ate.

Don Juan told me today that I look too skinny and I need to get back to my diet of Honduran food.  I didn't bother to tell him otherwise.  I loved pigging out on my favorite North American food.  I ate chicken wings FOUR times!!!  (Normally I am a healthy eater but something got into me.)  I am happy to get back to Honduran food.  Don Juan brought black beans still in the pod and Ana made a black bean soup with rice, a chunk of fresh cheese and Don Juan's famous chili (hot sauce).  It hit the spot!

The kids were extra happy to see me.  I got lots of special hugs that were extra tight and extra long.  Everyone wanted to know all about my vacation and how is my family (especially my Mom and nephews) and if I went to K2 to see my home church.

I learned I will now be teaching the kids ages 12 and above.  This week a church leader will help me and as of next week I will be on my own.  It will be a challenge.  Some of them are a handful in a far different way from crazy Samuel who refused to eat his vegetables.  Some are tough kids with a tough home life.  I am eager to see what we can do together.  I am a little nervous about my language being a barrier.  It is not normally, but working with teens can be touchy.

If I want to focus on English I am encouraged to, and bible study too of course.  I would like to integrate the two if I can figure out how.  I want to work a lot on self esteem and finding their personal strengths.  I am thinking of talking to them about the immigration problem the US has with kids their age.  The majority of the immigrants are from Honduras.  It would kill me to think of one of them attempting that trip.  So when the time feels right I will discourage them from trying to seek refuge in the US right now, no matter how desperate their home situations are.

After the Breakfast Program I went to the DMV to get my license renewed.  It was about to expire on the 16th so I wanted to get that out of the way.  It felt great to be able to navigate that process by myself.  You have to go from one building to another and wait in line for this and then for that.

I didn't have to get blood drawn this time because it already says my blood type on my license in case I were hurt in a car accident.  But I had to give a medical history, have them check my blood pressure, heart and vision.  Then I had to take a psychological exam.  The only question I missed was the date.  Haha!  That's what happens when you take a test immediately after a vacation.

The psychological exam was basically to assess if you are aggressive or not, and assertive or not.  That's what I got out of it.  It asked if you like to watch Lucha Libre or dancing.  If you like to read a book or do exercise.  It said if two kids were fighting would you stop them and try to fix the situation or would you try to pretend you didn't notice.

All of the pilates ladies are eager to start pilates again.  That was nice to hear.  Sometimes if I take a month off from exercise it is hard to get started again.  But we are starting tomorrow!

Marlin is not working in the kitchen as much anymore.  Ana said some days she has been by herself.  But she is happy to be there, not complaining.  Ana kept saying all day that she was extra happy today because I am back. Her 16 month old daughter did not want to let go of me.  I was a little surprised because I expected that being away more than a month a that age she could have forgotten about me.  Definitely not.

At church yesterday they announced that I am back and everyone cheered.  That felt wonderful.  In the US people are never so interested in how your family is doing and how your vacation went if you go somewhere.  Here even people I am not very close to all wanted to know.

I had the opportunity to go to San Pedro Sula next weekend with friends to visit their family, but I had to say no because I have already missed four weeks of swimming and there are only 3 more.  I want to be there for every minute.  Plus I don't want to give my Mom a heart attack because San Pedro is the city with the highest murder rate in the world.  But actually I hear it is a beautiful place.

Did you know that you cannot wear shorts to the DMV in Honduras?  Neither did I.  But the guy behind me in line today got pulled out of line and was told, "You can't be here like that."  I looked for a pistol in his sock or something until the people around me explained shorts are not appropriate attire for the DMV.

Then at another part where they look up your criminal history I handed over my residency card.  The police man said, "You are not Honduran?!?"  I said no.  He said, "Wow.  I really thought you were Honduran.  How long have you lived here?"  I told him 2 and 1/2 years.  He asked if I like it and where I live.  I told him I love it and I live in the mountains.  At that point he asked if I seen much of the city.  (Some visitors who live in the mountains do not go into the city and do not ever really learn very much about the culture.)  I told him I am a missionary in Los Pinos.  At that point he stopped talking and looked at me in an analyzing sort of way.  I could see him summing me up in his head.  Then looked me in the eye, shook my hand and said very sincerely, "Thank you."  THAT was cool.