Free stuff

A friend of mine has been eager to meet with the family of a Honduran boy who attends her home church in the US.  He studies at a university near her home church and for several years she has visited him when she goes home.  This year he encouraged her to meet his family in Honduras.

The family doesn't speak English and she is still working on her Spanish, so she invited me to come along and translate for the meeting.  Man was I glad I went.  We ate at Ni-Fu Ni-Fa, which I have only been to once before.  It is a nice Brazilian restaurant with a big salad bar and MEAT.  Now you know, I don't normally like meat.  But this is some good meat and I figure my body could use it once in a while.

After great food and great conversation, my friend and I parted ways with our new favorite family, promising to meet again soon.  Next time they would like to cook for us at the home.

We had some errands to run so I translated for my friend at the cable company where she needs someone to fix her modem and her cable box.  Then we were supposed to go to the bank and the grocery store.  But we got side tracked.

At the mall where we paid the cable bill the center area was turned into a huge display of beauty products with demonstrations of how to curl your hair, handmade soaps, anti-aging products and a bunch of other things including a Clinique counter.

My friend said she used to wear Clinique lipstick when she lived in the US.  If something is expensive in the US, it is usually much more expensive, and also can be hard to find in Honduras.  So we stood on the second floor looking down over the Clinique booth and decided to check it out.

We both ended up getting makeovers!  It was really fun!  Then we acted like silly teenagers and posed for selfies at the mall of our new looks.  For some reason most Honduran teens I know take selfies when they go to the mall and post them on Facebook.  I'm not sure why, but it seems to be the thing to do.  My friend and I didn't post ours on Facebook.

As we were leaving I said wow, someone rich or important is parked next to your car.  There were a ton of military guys parked all around us, probably waiting for the rich or important person to come out of the mall so they could follow the person in a caravan with their lights flashing to their next destination.  That's how rich or important people travel in Honduras.  It was a little intimidating because I am still getting used to men in camouflage with huge guns and they were all around our car.

As I tried to get into the passenger's side of my friend's car, I noticed the car next to us had parked at the most absurd angle.  It was bizarre to imagine someone leaving their car parked like that.  Not only did it make it impossible for me to get into the passenger's door, it was going to be hard for my friend to back out.

When the men noticed that I was saying how ridiculously the person had parked they all agreed and each one of them jumped into action.  My poor friend had - she said four, I thought five, men with big guns yelling directions to her as she backed out of the spot.  I, knowing she didn't understand what they are saying, start yelling to her in English.  So she had five men and me all directing her out of the spot.

When we got out I thanked the men.  They seemed more than happy to have helped us from our dreadful parking dilemma and deliver us on our way.

As we were finishing our errands I called Fany.  At that point I had been gone for hours.  But the day before I told her I was meeting my friend for lunch.  Before she even said hello she asked in a strong and concerned tone, "Where are you!?!  Your car is here, but you are not at home!"  I said, "Fany, remember I had to translate today?"  "Oh, " and I could hear her relax.  I was just calling to see how much clothesline we need because ours broke and I was in a place that sells it.  So we figured out the clothesline and Fany was able to relax for the rest of the day.

I am so blessed to always have people looking out for me here!

We continued with errands, still complimenting each other on our beautiful makeup.  My friend said, "And we don't even have dates tonight!"  I don't think either of us has had a date in years, but with our gorgeous new look we just couldn't go home.  So we decided to go have 2 for 1 chicken wings.

Neither of us were hungry, but sitting in our houses alone was not an option and 2x1 chicken wings is the most social we get outside of church.  So we went,  She had self control and only ate half of hers since we weren't hungry.  I ate all of mine.

Then we stopped at a gas station where the two young attendants (you can't pump your own gas in Honduras) catered to our every need and practiced their limited English with us.  They cleaned the windows and offered us every car service that an attendant can do, all with big smiles, jokes and loads of congeniality.

On the way home we stopped at a pharmacy which happened to employ about 10 men and only one woman.  We also happened to be the only customers in the place, which meant every eye was on us.  I told my friend, I am not sure if it is because we are two North Americans, or if it is our beautiful makeup.  But I have never attracted so much attention in my life.

When I got home Laura came over and climbed onto the bed.  Then Fany hopped on too.  We sat and talked and watched music videos (Laura's new favorite thing to do) until Laura said she was tired and wanted to go to her bed.

It was a simple day, but really fun.  Free lunch, free makeovers, good company, male attention (which every woman needs once in a while) and lots of laughs.  I am translating for my friend again on Monday.

I wonder what is going on.  The church bell has been ringing for more than 15 minutes and there are lots of fireworks at 11 a.m.

I have noticed that EVERY time I ask someone what is going on - if there is a parade, or a day off of work, or fireworks - they answer, "It's a holiday."  Well yes, I know that.  When I ask what they are celebrating hardly anyone actually knows.  Usually they say, "Some saint."  Or, "Well, this month has lots of holidays so we are celebrating them all together."  After three years of the same, I rarely bother to ask anymore.