Good Friday in Honduras

I have been asking and asking to see if anyone was going to see the "Alfombras" (carpets) for Good Friday. Last year I had just arrived in Honduras, so I didn't know about the alfombras.  This year I was determined to go.

Yesterday Hermida and I were gabbing in the driveway.  She asked what I was doing today.  I told her I wanted to see the alfombras, but nobody was going.  She said that she has always wanted to go, but had never had anyone to go with her!  So this morning we got up early.  Carlos, her husband, told me that the alfombras in Tegucigalpa were on CNN this morning.  The alfombras in El Hatillo are much smaller, but for my first experience it was perfect.  I was able to get up close and hear everything.   

We parked near the church and walked down where the procession would start.  We passed these alfombras along the way.  Some people were still making their alfombras.  Apparently families from the Catholic church get together and make the alfombras.  I forgot to ask exactly what they are made of, but it looked like colored sand.  They made the backdrop and then used cardboard with shapes cut out.  They dropped the colored sand into the cut out spot and made layer over layer.  As the day got hotter they sprayed they with water to keep them from blowing away.

We saw these on the way down to the starting point:

St Francis

The first station.  A dove.

Everyone sang as they walked to the next station

I loved that the priest wore a baseball cap.
It matched his robes and protected him from the sun.

Some people carried crosses

At each station someone read the story of Jesus' crucification
Then they applied Jesus' struggles to our struggles in today's life
and had a time of reflection.

I was really impressed by how they applied each station to real-life problems of today.  I wished I had a pen to write it all down.  They talked about how to avoid the corruption that is rampant in Honduras.  They talked about having hope - getting back up when you are down.  They addressed domestic violence, respecting women, protecting the environment - every day issues that Hondurans face.

Star of David

The Virgin of Suyapa - a famous statue found in the 1700's near my house

I was a little obsessed with the priest's baseball cap.

We also passed a little burro/pony

Someone pointed out how amazing the sky looked

The last supper - this was the biggest one

Branches above left shadows in the picture.

The last station was in front of the church

The last station - "Year of the Faith 2012-2013"

The inside of the Catholic church was gorgeous.
The photo doesn't do it justice.

After the procession Hermida invited me to join her family for a Good Friday tradition.  The ladies made two kinds of soup.  One was with dried fish which was soaked, then cleaned, then breaded in a tempura style and put into the soup with big pieces of breaded cheese.  It was delicious!  Then we had a coconut seafood soup.  It was a little like a Thai dish.  There was a type of crab inside, with the shell still on.  For desert we had a dish of sweet fruit.  One was kind of like a fig/plum with a big seed inside.  You put the whole thing in your mouth and suck on it until all of the fruit comes off the seed.  There were also bananas and mangoes in a sweet syrup.  Yummy!  We sat in Hermida's parents' yard, which is a beautiful garden paradise, and ate course after course.  Then we relaxed, talked, had coffee and talked more until the sun set and it got chilly.

Thank You Denver Team!

This has been a big week for me.  While the rest of the country was taking their week of rest, heading for the beach or traveling to see relatives, we hosted a group of teens from Colorado who served at the Breakfast Program.  They were completely awesome.  I met them at church last Sunday.  They were full of positive energy that was contagious.  They filled the church with even more of God's love and kept up the positive energy all week.

They got to experience the joy of having a lost suitcase.  Luckily, it didn't hold any of their personal belongings, but it did have craft projects they planned to do with the kids.  I don't think the kids even noticed. They kept the kids busy by playing, hugging, braiding hair, painting nails and even bathing the younger ones.  It was a great visit.  I never imagined how much those little ones would love being bathed.  What a fitting time for God's hands to bath the children.

Sometimes I had to remind myself that these guys were in high school.  They were very mature and seemed older.  I wished they could stay longer.  I'm sure the kids did too.

Homni fresh out of the shower, with lotion and new clothes!

Beth with Lorenzo

Leigh with Belkis, Cessia, Jose Manuel and Lorenzo

Scarlet having her face washed

Even Marlin got her hair braided!

In the midst of a lesson about Easter, Isaac accepted Christ!

Jarvin needed some extra hugs today

Memo singing

and dancing

Violet

Samuel

Samuel before he took a bite of cabbage and spit it all over the table

The team and the kids

The kids' first Easter Egg hunt!

Jose found two eggs!

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!