On Thursday morning, we loaded up the bus with the team of 12 from Michigan, plus 9 of us (6 adults, 3 kids) from the team here. The goal was simple: get the team from Michigan to the airport and through security, then get ourselves to Villa Nuria for a few days to relax, debrief, pray, play and prepare to move forward. Mission accomplished on all fronts!
After we got settled into our rooms, Sandi and I went to the grocery store to pick up a few things we needed. In addition to having two bedrooms, the rooms at Villa Nuria include a little kitchenette, so we were cooking there in order to not spend money eating out. We went to La Antorcha supermarket and let me tell you, that place is a haven for sensory overload. I mean, not only did they have 3 or 4 different brands of canned garbanzo beans (think: hummus), but they had three different sizes of cans, including #10 (the food service size). We didn't buy any garbanzo beans, but that's not the point. We could have.
Back at Villa Nuria, I was going to take a little nap, but got involved in the last half of a movie on TV. Then, I set up a small network for Trify, Erica and me to share the single internet connection. There's no wireless there yet. I also brought an extra switch and some cables so that we could set up a network in Sandi, Currie and Hermes' room. Yes, we all brought our laptops. There's always work to do: emails to catch up, calendars to coordinate, etc.
On Friday, we all spent time at the pool at some point in the day. Then, after a late lunch/early dinner, the 6 adults prayed together and talked about some things for the coming weeks.
Saturday morning included a leisurely breakfast, included in the room price, a little more time at the pool for those who were interested, and then packing up the bus again for the trip back to Comayagua.
As we were leaving San Pedro Sula, we saw the effects of recent rains. The rainy season has started early and flooding is already happening in several areas.
What you can't really see in this photo is that people are swimming back over to the houses to try to retrieve anything they can. A block away, we saw a bunch of men sitting around like nothing was happening. After all, this is just life in Honduras and flooding happens. I guess after a while, the people are unfazed by it. Maybe 'unfazed' is not the right word. Perhaps 'resigned' would be more accurate.
When we got to Lago de Yojoa, we stopped for a meal. Most of us decided on fish since we were at the lake. Here's a pic of last night's dinner, partially consumed before I thought to take a picture.
It's hard to believe that it's been over a week since we've had a power failure. ¡Increíble! And, although I'm not superstitious, I'm sure that the fact that I've just put it out there means we will have a power failure. Soon. At least if we do, the team visiting us from Michigan will get a little bit more of the "missions experience".
We have a group of 12 people from the Detroit, MI area with us right now. They've been here for about a week and a half and have a few more days to go. They've been giving special classes in the school (martial arts and crocheting), leading the Chapel services at school, helping with work projects around the property, and have visited the local hospital and an orphanage.
Today they are in Ajuterique, building a new kitchen for the school there. Money was very generously donated by some new friends of the ministry, to build a new outdoor kitchen, where the lunch for the school kids is cooked. The objective of the Michigan team is to build the kitchen. Today. With guidance from several of our guys, Trify is confident that at the end of the day, the kitchen should be finished, or almost finished.
Here are a few pics of what the kitchen looks like now...
What I apparently did not get pictures of is the roof over the kitchen. It's made of wooden posts, courtesy of nearby trees, and plastic -- some of it tarps and some of it trash bags. Much of it full of holes.
Hopefully the team will bring back a few "after" pics so I can post those, as well. Otherwise, I'll be able to get some in September when we are out there for Día del Niño (Day of the Child). It would be cool to be out there today and be able to say, "Move that bus", or something like it.
Well, it has been entirely too long since I've posted. Rather than beg your forgiveness and give promises to never let so long of a lapse happen again, I'll just write. It's what I love to do!
Over the last few months, since my last post, I would often see things and think, "That would make a great blog post." Then I would be riddled with guilt that it's been so long since I've written, that I wouldn't even know where to start. So, I'll just write. There. I've said it twice now in two paragraphs.
About three weeks ago, I started teaching an adult English class to members of our team here. Now, lest you think that I'm teaching bad words to adults, let me clarify: I am teaching a beginning English class to adult members of our team. The response was so overwhelming that I divided the class into two groups of 6 each. These are members of our staff who speak no English. Sure, they may know a few words here and there, but that's about it. Wow! They are doing fantastic! Each one of them is so motivated to learn English. They know it's a skill that can help them advance in life. And they're very concerned about proper pronunciation.
A side benefit to teaching the English class seems to be that my Spanish is improving. I have to do a bit of explaining in Spanish, so I'm constantly looking up words and checking for proper usage of verbs. I also have a classroom full of folks who are as eager to help me with my Spanish as they are eager to learn English. To quote Dances with Wolves, "Good trade."
This first round of classes is only being offered to our staff. There are even a few people that were not able to sign up now and will take the class at a future time. We also see the opportunity to expand the circle to whom it is offered: spouses of team members, parents of school children, and, eventually, to those in the community. The desire to learn English runs deep here. Many people know it's a way to improve their lot in life, to get better jobs, and thus, to help break the cycle of poverty. More than just teaching them English, we're excited to be able to teach people more about God and His love for each of us. Teaching English just happens to be one vehicle we can use.
Well, I'd best end this post here. We have a group of 12 people coming from Michigan for a missions trip. They'll be here for almost two weeks. We still have a lot of little things to do around here to get ready for their arrival in a few hours.
Until next time...
