Elections...

Honduras held its elections today.  The day has been peaceful and violence-free, which is a tremendous answer to prayer.  Mel Zelaya, the former (ousted) president, had been trying to stir up his supporters, to boycott the elections and inciting them to violence.  It looks like his efforts failed.  According to early results, Pepe Lobo, the guy from the Nationalist party, is leading so far.  Final results won't be in until Wednesday -- or so I'm told.

This afternoon I needed to go over to the Esso for some Coca Cola.  The highway was quite empty.  Not as completely empty as during the toque de queda, though.  I was very aware of the peaceful feeling of the nation.  It was palpable as I walked back across the street to Enlaces.

Because of the elections, groups were not allowed to meet.  That meant churches as well as university classes that are usually held on Sundays.  So, instead of church, the pastor and his family came over here for lunch after they voted.  Antonio and Esperanza are Jenny's future in-laws, too.  We all had a great time, and a great meal of fish, baked potatoes, and green beans.  Brownies and ice cream for dessert rounded out the meal.

Jenny doesn't have school tomorrow, because of today's elections, so we're going to visit las cuevas de Taulabe (the caves of Taulabe). Mariel and her boys are going to join us.  It should be a lot of fun.  It's been about 13 years since I've been to the caves.  I'm also going to show them the mission there where I first came, back in 1995.  Yes, I'll have the camera with me.

Christmas. Celebrate Different©...

First, for all of you grammar buffs, you and I both know that it should be 'celebrate differently', but that's my wink and nod to Apple and their brilliant marketing campaign of several years ago.  Hence, the copyright symbol.

Now, the Christmas season is upon us.  It never ceases to amaze me how Christmas items make their way to store shelves earlier and earlier each year.  When I was very young, Christmas didn't arrive in the stores until the day after Thanksgiving, and that day wasn't yet called Black Friday.  Then a few years later, Christmas was on the shelves a week or two before Thanksgiving.  Fast forward a few years and Christmas made its entrance immediately after Halloween.  Now, Christmas arrives before Halloween.  I'm sure that, soon, we'll be able to do our Back to School and Christmas shopping all in one trip.  I mean, surely that will save time, no?  

This will be the second Christmas that I've spent in Honduras.  I love the way Honduras celebrate the holiday because it focuses so much more on family and friends than gifts and overspending.  And, frankly, since I no longer have a job that would allow me to overspend, I'm grateful!  I'm already looking forward to finding ways that I can bless my friends here.  Perhaps invite them over for a meal.  Maybe some homemade bread or a pot of soup?  I'm praying for creativity, that's for sure!

One of my Facebook friends posted this link...  http://tiny.cc/wearepregnant  Watch it and be challenged to perhaps change some (or even just one) of the ways that you celebrate Christmas.  Really, the HolyDay is all about Jesus, anyway. Right?

So, with that, I say Celebrate Different©

Julio...

Tonight I met Julio.  He works with Jenny and drove her home after a meeting at their school.  Nice guy!  He speaks English quite well.  I'm glad he does because, boy, did he tell us quite a story.  It seems that about 4 years ago, Julio decided that he would go to the United States to get a job.  Nope, he didn't plan on going there legally.  He figured he'd do what so many others have done: go wetback.

As Julio continued his story, Jenny and I were both intrigued.  He told us how he left a note in his room, knowing that his friends would find it long before his mother would know he was missing.  Julio told us about walking through the mountains, across the Honduras/Guatemala and then the Guatemala/Mexico borders.  They walked through torrential downpours so hard that you had to hold on to the person in front of you or you'd quickly get lost.  Julio told us about walking day after day for 20 hours each day, just to make progress.

Jenny and I sat at the table in rapt attention as Julio told us the story of a young girl from San Pedro Sula who joined them on their journey.  The girl was 17 years old and 6+ months pregnant when they started out.  It turns out that this girl's baby was fathered by a gang member who told her to get an abortion and that if she had the baby, he'd kill her.  So she did the only thing she thought she could: leave the country.  Julio told us that once they were in Mexico, they had been walking for several of their 20-hour days with no breaks.  They came upon a small village and found an abandoned shack where they decided to get some sleep for a while.  Julio said that most of the others fell asleep right away, but he couldn't, because of the thickness of the mosquitoes.

After a while, he heard that the girl was crying and rubbing her belly.  Julio knew that wasn't good, so he sat next to her and started to talk to her to try to help take her mind off of the pain.  When it was light enough, Julio and the girl's brother, who was also traveling with her, went out to look for someone who might be able to help.  They happened upon an old woman, living with "many animals; many, many animals", as Julio said.  They told the old woman what was happening to the girl and were instructed to bring her to the old woman's home, which they did.

Yes, you probably guessed it: the girl had gone into premature labor.  Julio and the girl's brother got to assist in the baby boy's delivery, which freaked out Julio so much that he bolted during the delivery.  When he finally went back inside, after the screaming subsided and he decided that it was safe, Julio was soundly insulted by the old woman for "being such a wuss".  (That's my paraphrase, as I don't want to write the truly colorful words that Julio used.)  Since the baby arrived roughly two months early, the old woman rigged up a type of incubator and told the girl and her brother that "her work was done, and now they needed to find someone who could take care of the baby."

The old woman, it turns out, was 98 years old, and well known in her small village as being the only one who could have helped in this situation.  Wow!  Talk about God's mercy!  After that, the brother found some sort of social service agency that was going to help with the baby and his care.  Julio didn't see them again, as he continued on with the group while the girl, her baby, and her brother stayed behind in Mexico.

While they were in Mexico, they jumped trains several times.  Julio told us of the banditos who would rob them, or try to rob them.  He also told of one village which, as the train was passing through, people from the village would come out and give food to the people who had jumped the train, encouraging them on in their journey to the U.S.

For the sake of brevity, I'll jump to the end:  Yes, Julio was caught.  He was in Texas and had been without food or water for almost a full day.  Most of his traveling companions had been caught the day before, but somehow Julio had managed to outrun his pursuers.  When he came out of hiding, he was turned in by someone who had seemingly befriended him.

To hear Julio tell it, he was treated quite well by the police and INS. He tried to pass himself off as Mexican, so that he would only be sent back to the town he was claiming to be from.  He had even spent quite a bit of time while still in Honduras doing his homework: he knew many of the Mexican presidents, knew about the various Mexican states, learned regional words and phrases, and even learned to sing the Mexican national anthem.

During his time in custody, Julio was interviewed by a Mexican to determine if he was really from Mexico.  The guy told Julio that he had all the right answers, but he still didn't believe that Julio was from Mexico. It was only while they were searching through his backpack that the officials found a piece of clothing that linked him to Honduras.  Looks like it's "game over".  So, Julio was eventually flown back to Tegucigalpa, Honduras.  He once again lives here in Comayagua with his family.  Julio has a good job as a teacher, has a small side business repairing computers and has even been able to buy a car for himself.  It looks like even without getting to the U.S., Julio is doing alright.

But, wow, it was a crazy story to hear.  I suspect that Julio will come for dinner again.  In fact, we'll probably make sure of it.

Sunday, Again...

Wow!  Has it really been a whole week since I've written?  I've GOT to do a better job at updating this or no one will read it... not that I know how many are actually reading it now.  But, I like to write, so I'll continue.

Friday was graduation for the school.  It was incredible!  We had it at the Campo de Golf (golf course), so they took care of most of the decorations and such.  I'm sure that was a huge help to so many of the teachers!  Graduation was for prepa (kindergarten) and 6th grade.  For graduation, everyone dresses to the nines.  I mean, really, really dresses up.  Seeing formal gowns on both parents and students is not at all unusual -- for the females, at least.  Many of the men are in suits and ties.  It's really a big deal here.

Here's one proud family...

See what I mean?  All dressed up!!

The prepa children sang "I Am a Promise" in English, and here they are while they're getting ready to sing...

After the ceremony, we had a wonderful dinner.  It was fantastic to see all the proud parents, and all the smiles!

I left the Campo a little before 9pm and all was going well until I got stopped by the police on the boulevard.  I was only about 1/2 mile from home.  Road blocks and routine checks are, well, pretty routine here.  Although, with the election being a week away, it seems that there are a lot more of them set up lately.  I asked Hermes about that, and he confirmed that there are defnitely more right now.  I think the government is really stepping up to make sure that things stay on the up and up for the election. 

Anyway, I got pulled over... So, the guy who stepped up to my window wasn't a policeman, but Honduran military.  "Documentos, por favor," he said.  I reached into my purse, got out my wallet and gave the guy my Kansas driver's license.  I've learned that during these stops it's important to not show how much Spanish you know, so I struggled through saying, "This is my driver's license."  Then I apologized, slowly, and with some purposeful mistakes, that I don't speak Spanish very well.  Yeah, I know... Weak.  But, it's seemed to alleviate problems in the past, and I so no reason to discontinue the practice now.

Then the guy asked for my registro, and I looked in the glove box, but only found some cables for phones or something.  I told the guy that I live at "Enlaces, enfrente de Pizza Hut."  But he said he needed my documents.  I told him that the car wasn't mine, but belonged to the ministry.  About that time, Hector & Sandra went by me, slowed down when they saw me talking to the military guy, and pulled a bit further in front of me.  It was then that they got pulled over for a check as well.  As Hector & Sandra passed, I said, "I work with them  at Enlaces."

Well, I guess the guy realized that I'm not much of a threat to national security, because he gave me my license back, to which I replied, "¿Todo está bien? (Is everything okay?)"  "Sí.  Todo está bien.  (Yes.  Everything's fine.)"  Sometimes it's a good thing to not let on how much of the language you know or understand!!

As I passed Hector & Sandra, I gave them a 'thumbs up' and then I pulled a little bit ahead of them, to wait and make sure they were fine.

While driving the last little way home, it dawned on me how natural the whole transaction seemed.  No, I don't necessarily like being pulled over, but it's just something that happens here.  A lot.  Heck, I've even learned how to bribe police, I mean, "pay the ticket today, to you, so that I don't have to come back later."

Thank you, Lord, for your continued, ongoing protection!!

It's Been a Long Day...

It's after 10pm while I'm starting to write this, and it's been a long day.  Really long.  I left the house about 7:30 this morning to open up classrooms for the nursing students who are meeting here on Sundays during November.  Then, I opened up the Center and got things read.  y for the church that meets here.  Rosie got here a few minutes before 8am and immediately started getting some sandwiches ready.  That was a good thing, because by 8:10, a few people were already asking to buy food. 

Church was good this morning.  But, the guy who taught was inconsistent with his microphone placement, so I had to really stay on top of it at the sound board.  That made it difficult for me to actually listen to what he was saying.  Sometimes I feel like my Spanish skills are "one step forward, two steps back".

It seemed that no sooner had the final "Amen" been said than we had teens arriving for the break dance competition being held at the Center today.  They were actually quiet and respectful, and waited for us to mop the floor before they started setting up for their contest.  We had a ton of people here for the contest.  It was great.  Everyone seemed to have a lot of fun and I took about 150 photos.  Some of these kids are incredible dancers, or I guess I should say, they've got mad skilz.

Tonight, after most of the break dancers left, the Center was still super busy.  Everyone knew that we were giving away the final Christmas tree tonight.  In order to get a ticket, they needed to buy 15 Lempira's worth of food.  Drinks don't count.  We had some really awesome food on offer today: tajaditas, nachos, and fried chicken.  And Rolyn was really pushing the food.  He made it lots of fun.  The family that won the Christmas tree tonight is from Tegucigalpa.  I asked the mom if she had tree at home.  She said, "No."  I'm really happy for them and their tree.

Tomorrow will probably be another long day.  I'm going to Tegucigalpa, to Immigrations, to try to get an extension on my visa since my carnet de residencia is not available yet.  On our way to Immigrations, we're going to pick up Jenny.  She left for Teguc today because she needs to go to the US Embassy tomorrow to get more pages for her passport.  I guess they only do that from 8:00 -- 11:30am.  I imagine we'll also go to PriceSmart and Hiper Pais.  It would hardly be a trip to Teguc without going to PriceSmart!!!

Good Intentions...

Yes, I really do mean to update my blog more often, like every 2 or 3 days, but somehow it seems that the best of intentions just don't work out according to my plans.  Sometimes, though, that's a good thing!

Take yesterday, for example:  I'm still waiting to get my residency carnet, but in the meantime, it looks like I will need to get a 30-day extension of my visa.  I was going to do that yesterday.  Daya said she'd go with me to the local immigrations office, so I got the truck (Sandi & Currie's truck) and brought it around to the front of the school.  I went back into the school to see if Daya was ready, and she asked if I knew exactly where the office was.  Well, I know approximately, but not exactly.  No one else seemed to know exactly where it was either.  Then I had a great idea ~~ we could just ask a taxista.  If anyone will know, a guy driving a taxi will.  Just then one of the mom's came in and I asked her.  She told me that we don't have an immigrations office anymore.  She said there was one at the base.  OK, guess I'm not taking care of that today.  So, I got back in the truck and brought it inside the back gate.  I ended up asking Charley and he said that 'yes' we still had an office and 'yes' asking a taxista is the best thing.

Within a few minutes of me being back in the house, Daya came over telling me that there were some North Americans looking for me.  Hmmm, I've been expecting a group to come by for a tour, but they were supposed to call first.  It was the group.  We had a great visit together, even if most of them were from Missouri!  Or maybe that's WHY we had a great visit.  They wanted to see the ministry here and hear about all the things we do.  I started by telling them that if things had gone according to MY plans, I would have left for the immigrations office 15 minutes earlier, so their visit was definitely a "God thing".  It really was a great visit.

Today, since I was reconvinced that there is an immigrations office in Comayagua, I asked Daya if she thought my Spanish was good enough to go there by myself.  She said, 'yes' but then told me she would go with me since she lives in that general area.  OK.  Cool!  From there, I went over to Mrs. Juanita's 5th grade class to see if I could help her, since she has such a large class.  I helped for a while until recess.

Then, during recess, Mrs. Juanita's son, Juan Francisco, fell while playing fútbol.  It turns out that he broke his elbow and needs surgery to have screws put in it  ~~ just like what happened to Isaac two weeks ago.

So, after recess and after lunch I was in the 5th grade class.  School was supposed to be over at 2pm, but one of the girls wanted to take a math test.  I told her I would stay.  While Nahomy was taking her test, I saw Daya leave for the day.  Darn!  I waited while Nahomy finished her test, then graded it and gave her her next PACE.  Then I went over to the school to see if anyone else was there.  Hermes was in his office.  He also thinks my Spanish is just fine to go to immigrations by myself, but said that he'd be glad to go with me.  So, once again, I got out the truck and brought it around to the front.

Then, I saw that Luis, from Siguatepeque, was in the bodega (warehouse).  He was picking up some supplies that he is going to take to El Salvador for the people who have lost everything in the floods and mudslides.  I went in to talk to him for a while.  Hermes came out looking for me, saw Luis, and also ended up talking to him.  After a bit, the conversation turned to my trip to immigrations.  Luis told me that 'no', there is no office in Comayagua anymore and that I'll need to go to Tegucigalpa.  It looks like Hermes and I will do that on Monday.  Luis also gave me several names and phone numbers in case we have any difficulties Monday.  We shouldn't, but this is Honduras, and good intentions...

Iguanas, Iguanas, and More Iguanas...

OK, before I start with the iguanas, I need to tell you about something that happened today...  I was outside, checking some laundry on the line, and I heard something thud on the ground behind me.  I turned around in time to see something come to a rest.  It was a diaper.  A disposable diaper. Used.  And all wrapped up in a neat little bundle.  It caught me totally off guard, so I went over, picked it up and threw it back over the wall.  Yeah, that may not have been the right thing to do, but it was my first response.  I mean, someone tossed a dirty diaper wad over our wall as they were walking by.  I'm sure it was not aimed at us as gringos, or anything like that, but, still...  It was pretty strange.

Now, about the iguanas.  I've caused quite a stir on Facebook today, posting several iguana pictures. 

Here's a pic of one of the many iguanas who live on our property and come out during the heat of the day...

And here is a pic of what they look like when cooked...

No, that's not a meal that I prepared.  I found it while doing a search on iguanas.  The pic actually comes from El Salvador.  But, for the record, if I ever have the option, yes, I will try iguana.

So, then I started looking a bit more.  It seems that you can buy canned iguana consommé...

And even canned iguana soup...

Did you notice that the canned products claim that the iguana product is an aphrodisiac? Natural energy... Yes, folks, just a bit of iguana and the Little Blue Pill is obsolete.

Rain, Rain, Go Away...

It rained yesterday morning until about 9am. It rained (hard!) last night, starting at about 9pm. It started raining again this morning and didn't quit until about 8am. Then, it started raining about 4pm today, and is still raining. Yes, it's definitely the rainy season here. I'm just hoping it will quit long enough tomorrow, and that the sun will come out with intensity, so that I can get few loads of laundry washed and, more importantly, dried.

Church this morning was a totally cool experience for me. We had our normal time of praise and worship, then the offering, and then Esperanza started to preach. After a few minutes, she divided us into three different groups to discuss the Scriptures and questions she had prepared. The very cool part is that I was completely engaged in the discussion. I mean, I understood around 90% or more of what our group was discussing. Not only that, but I could actually contribute -- in Spanish. Wow! That felt really good. I welcome more times like that.

Last night I was talking to a few people from the team who were working at the Center. We were talking about the possibility of starting some English classes for them. Several of them told me how much they can hear my Spanish improving all the time. I don't hear it. I don't see it. And, so many times, I certainly don't feel like it. But, I will graciously accept their compliments!

The Problem With Dirt Roads...

...is that during rain they become mud roads. Quickly. Although it's sunny right now, we've had a lot of rain lately. It's actually our rainy season right now. Normally that means that it rains at night. Sometimes we can even watch the rain descend from the mountains. It's pretty cool.

Yesterday it rained most of the day, and last night I found out why: Hurricane Ida. Ida hit Nicarauga and started heading up toward the Honduran border. Thankfully, she hit in the extreme eastern part of the country. Even more thankfully, Ida was quickly downgraded to a tropical storm.

But the mud! Yesterday morning when I walked across the street to the Esso station, I had to dodge all the mud and mud ridges right in front of our property. Because parents, taxis and busitos drop off kids in front of the school, when the ground is soft due to rain, we get lots and lots of mud ridges. That's what we have right now. When the sun comes out, those ridges get dried out and hardened, pretty much like cement. That makes driving fairly tedious. We've got a lot of that going on right now. All over town. You can't drive too fast because of all the mud ridges and pot holes.

Here at Enlaces, we apparently got a truckload of rock to put down in front. Wow, what a difference that makes. It was so much easier when I needed to walk across the highway today. A big "thank you" to whoever made that happen!

Oh, and, this morning, when I was walking over to the Esso, I think I may have seen my first Honduran transvestite. I tried not to be rude and stare, but that really caught my eye, probably because I was caught off guard. That's not something I particularly expected to see here in Comayagua.

It's Thursday...

It's Thursday, the penultimate (I love that word) day of the regular school year for us. Most of the kids are absolutely bouncing off the walls. Many of them still have a lot of PACEs to finish, but no one seems to care. There's definitely a party atmosphere around here. So, I think I'm going to do my part and contribute to the organized mayhem. I found out yesterday, that my 7th graders are expecting a pizza party from me today. I told them, "No, but you can expect a quiz."

Well, I decided to dump the quiz idea -- they're not getting a grade from me this year, anyway -- and give them a little party. LITTLE. My class with them is at 8:30am, so even if I wanted to, pizza is out. I have some pop in the fridge, and earlier this morning I went over to the Esso to get some chips. I know at least two of them will complain that there's no pizza, but they'll drink the pop and eat the chips anyway.

I'm sure I'll do something similar tomorrow for my 6th graders. When word of this gets out, my 8th graders will feel slighted: they had a quiz! I'll find a way to make it up to them.

Next week is their 'recuperation week'. The students will have one final week to finish all their school work. If they don't finish within that time, they will need to attend summer school (though, it's not summer here), for which there is a fee. That alone should motivate the students, or their parents, to make sure the work gets done in a timely manner. We'll see.

So Much for Milestones...

Hmmm... After being so proud of the progress of my Spanish skills early last week, it didn't take long for me take a tumble down Pride Hill. On Thursday, I found out that Hector and Sandra's youngest son, Isaac, had broken his elbow and needed surgery. Another teacher went with me to the hospital, where Hector, Sandra, and several others were gathered. It was there that I found my Spanish to be woefully lacking. Yes, I know the Spanish word for elbow: codo. (A special shout out to my JCCC Spanish teacher, Martha, and her weekly trabalenguas [tongue twisters])

But, my speaking skills were woefully inadequate. Yes, both Erica and Hermes were there and could translate for me, but I want to be able to speak, well, for myself.

On Thursday and Friday, I filled in as best as I could for Sandra, helping in the pulperia at the school. I also somewhat helped with some of the banking on Friday afternoon. Hermes really did the bulk of that, again, because of my Spanish deficiency. I'm sure I'll get there, eventually. But, I'd really like to be fluent now.

On the positive side, just this morning I sucessfully talked to Sandra, using the subjunctive. I thought through my words in advance, and realized that I needed to use the subjunctive form of the verb in order to be correct. So I did. Successfully.

Progress, it seems, really does come poco a poco (little by little).