Ponderosa
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
"Diamonds in the Sky with Lucy!"
Summertime in La Ceiba and the livin' is easy (at least until Friday when the next team arrives). The last couple days have been filled with endless swinging in Lucy's new red swing in the backyard, painting our nails with "prosh" (nail polish), smelly rotten mangos, an air-conditioned lunch at KFC (undoubtedly, the most physically comfortable 45 minutes of my day), obscene quantities of Zucco lemonade and Cheerios, relentless bug bites, "sess-me street", and profuse sweating.
Last night, Lindsey and I made a special meal for Josh in honor of his last week in Honduras. Lindsey, Sean, and I thought it only appropriate to christen the Bostonian with his first ever shrimp and grits dinner (complete with sausage, bacon, seasonings, and plenty of cheese and butter). I'm proud to say he thoroughly enjoyed the Southern cultural experience. I've truly loved all the opportunities I've gotten to help Lindsey in the kitchen and now have several new recipes to bring home. The evening was concluded with cheesecake and several more raucous rounds of nerts. I no longer believe myself to be good at card games.
Today, the McCann girls and I decided to temporarily escape the heat by spending our morning at a nearby hotel pool. By purchasing an inexpensive lunch, we got to swim free! As it approached lunchtime, Lindsey gave me the task of ordering inside. As I proceeded to open the door, however, I was greeted by nearly 20 Honduran men using computers and 20 pairs of eyes staring at me. Trying to ignore the smiles and the snickers, I made my way to the back of the room, looking for a menu. It didn't take long before one of them directed me to the front desk and restaurant next door. I feel like I should probably have been embarrassed by this experience, but I've become far too comfortable with my role as the "stupid foreigner" to really be fazed anymore.
We all left the pool feeling full, sleepy, and sunburned (perfect recipe for a beautiful naptime). Awake once again, the girls and I enjoyed a walk around the neighborhood in pursuit of some homemade popsicles. We slurped on rapidly melting coconut and strawberry "vasitos" (literal translation is "little cups" because of the molds in which they were made), each for only about 30 cents. Returning home to change wet clothes and wash sticky hands, we prepared for our next excursion: Josh's goodbye dinner at Ponderosa steakhouse with the entire team. Two chips-and-dip appetizers, two huge plates of chicken, pork, and beef filets, two heaping dishes of sweet fried plantains, and two doggie bags later, we made our way back to the McCann's house to share sentimental Josh memories and Erin's homemade cheesecake.
And so I end another day in Honduras exactly the way I start it, with a cold shower and bug spray.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Making smoothies at the McCann's is an extra special experience, given that the main ingredient (mango) can be found right in the backyard. Lucy is a true fan and is always thrilled about starting the day with some "smoovies." I am too :)
Yesterday morning, after our smoovies, we met up with Josh and the Pettengills and made the short trek to a nearby church (the least Pentecostal in the area). About midway through the service, the pastor asked the row of gringos to come up in front so he could pray for us (what, did we stand out or something?) Once again, we were warmly greeted by everyone. The extra tambourines offered for any desirous members of the congregation was a nice touch too. On our way out, we picked up some homemade Honduran lasagna to take home for lunch--I love this church!
After the McCann's daily siesta and the embarrassing Mexico/USA soccer game on TV, we all headed over to the Pettengill's for "gringo church," a small time of worship with the team. Back home, it was dinner, baths, and bed for the girls. Josh came over and spent the evening with Lindsey, Sean, and I playing a vicious game of nerts (a card game much like dutch blitz, so obviously, I was hooked). I immediately felt right at home with this group of gamers as they all appeared at least as competitive as I am (even sweet, soft spoken Lindsey;) )
Another Monday and another "Klid's Club" (Lucy lingo). As always, we left the house with only the bare necessities for Ellie and Lucy's daily lives: pacifiers (aka crack cocaine), toys, extra diaper, new outfit, wipes, juice box, water, and about 300 snacks. For Lucy, real meals are just overrated. She thrives on snacks and treats, namely cheese and jellybeans. Klid's Club today began with a water activity, which rapidly transformed into a full-on aquatic battle. This week, I enjoyed a mini-celebrity greeting by some of my favorite Armenia girls: Estela, Blanca, Gabby, and Oneida. Estela is the youngest sister to Blanca and Gabby, and each day is newly fascinated by all my freckles and piercings. Oneida is nearly mute and her story is a sad one. Having undergone a lot of abuse and at such a young age, it breaks my heart to see how clearly excluded she is by the other kids. Apparently, her nonverbal communication toward the gringos, however, shows major improvement. It's pretty amazing how quick the children are to grab your hand and pull you into a game, or to jump into your arms and give you a big wet kiss on the cheek. They're so hungry for attention and approval, for someone to tell them they drew a GREAT picture.
I thought I'd close this blog with a little update about the political situation here in Honduras given the various inquiries I've received about it all. I live in La Ceiba, which is a good 6 hours from the capital, Tegucigalpa, and have in no way felt endangered or stuck at any time. There have been a few teacher strikes since I've been here that have served more as inconveniences in blocking traffic than anything else. Zelaya has attempted to enter the country three times now and has been successful once...barely. For a number of reasons, it seems this is just one big publicity stunt on his part. He has very few supporters here and seems to lack any kind of plan after he reaches the border. Likely, the political unrest will remain at a stalemate until the new elections in November. Unfortunately, the USA media has really blown the entire issue out of proportion. If anything threatening were to happen, we'd be evacuated via helicopter within thirty minutes. Not bad! If you'd like to read a more detailed account of the current and previous political situation in Honduras, take a look at Sean's blog:
http://mccannsinhonduras.wordpress.com/
Saturday, July 25, 2009
river-swimming, thunderstorms, and too much dessert
This day's events began after a pancake breakfast and Ellie's 1st nap of the day (around 10:30) when Josh, the McCanns, and I headed out to a swimming hole at the river nearby. Quickly ignoring the bottles on the bottom and the freezing water, I felt like I was swimming in the middle of a beautiful, tropical jungle. We spent the morning jumping off rocks, playing with floaties, and getting butt bites by mysterious river critters. Soon after our arrival, we were joined by a group of Honduran kids celebrating a birthday (apparently, breaking an egg over the birthday person's head is customary here). I had no reason to feel at all threatened by their presence until one of the boys decided to take my picture, without shame and without permission. No doubt the Spanish motherland passed down this kind of behavior to her colonies as this was all too familiar from last semester.
"5Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
6Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
On the way home we stopped for lunch at Wendy's, leaving only after Lucy had succeeded in riding the play place slide a solid 10 times. Naps all around at the McCann residence were only enhanced by one of the loudest thunderstorms I've ever experienced (although, the tin roof might have something to do with it).
Tonight, Lindsey and I enjoyed a girls' movie night in, while Mike, Josh, and Sean took some of the Armenia boys out to dinner and a soccer game. As we lounged and enjoyed our big bowls of vanilla ice cream (complete with hard chocolate shell and reeses chips), I marveled at how quickly and effortlessly I've readapted to life abroad. Something about these extended travels cause me to drop all exercise and diet plans and become lazy and gluttonous instead. Once again, I'm thankful for the reality check and am learning a lot. I've gained new freedom by serving others instead of solely being preoccupied with trying to control everything in my own life. This passage from Philippians 2 is a great reminder:
6Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!"
All I know is that I'm going to have a very tough time readjusting to JMU again after my 8-month long vacation.
Friday, July 24, 2009
When 9:30 am rolled around and Lucy still wasn't up, we knew something was wrong. The poor girl was throwing up within her first waking moments. 3 towels, 2 doses of meds, and 5 outfits later, it was lunchtime. Lu finally settled down for a little Elmo entertainment, toast, and a long nap. Unbeknownst to the sleeping sickling, Ellie, Lindsey, and I headed off to a 1-year-old friend's birthday party at the beach (not bad considering she won't even remember it tomorrow!) A small group of family and friends gathered for swimming and carrot cake at a lovely resort next door to the one I'd visited last week with the team.
Even traffic here is fun, as Lindsey describes our drive as just a game of Mario Kart. We pulled back in to the McCann residence and were greeted by a sweet familiar voice that sounded as shrill and chipper as ever, "YOU'RE BACK!!!" We were back, and Lucy was back too :) Soon enough we were hanging out with Patito ("little duck") again at Kiki and Coocoo's house (new imaginary friends I had the honor of meeting today).
Tonight, Sean and Lindsey are out to dinner celebrating their fifth anniversary. Choosing a place in La Ceiba is easy when you eliminate fast food and rice-and-bean joints from the mix: very few options for fine dining remain. (Dad, this is not the city for you)!
This ends another wonderful day in the life of getting eaten alive by mosquitos, changing diapers, avoiding teacher strikes, being bossed around by a 2-year-old, and lugging a little fat human oven on my torso for hours on end. And I couldn't be happier.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
VIDA!
After a full morning of hanging out with Lolly and Toto (Lucy's top two imaginary friends), the McCann clan and I met up with some real friends for lunch: Pettengills, Josh, and the Clows (Kathy and John are potential MTW team members in Honduras). The nearly unanimous restaurant choice was one of the four local Pizza Huts in La Ceiba, where you can get a salad, personal size pizza, and drink for under $5. Back home for naps, we finished off the afternoon by helping Lindsey run errands and prep a delicious spaghetti dinner.
With the girls having been bathed and put to bed, Sean and I hailed a taxi down to the stadium where Josh, the Clows, and Mike joined us for the Vida/Olympia soccer game. Although Vida's no Real Madrid, I really enjoyed the game since I didn't get a chance to see one during my time in Spain. The stadium was filled with jumping men swinging T-shirts above their heads, whistling, cursing, throwing drinks, and in one case, a purple road flare emerged from the crowd, sending smoke and spectators in all directions. Sitting through almost an hour of a full-on thunderstorm only added to the excitement. Although Vida lost 2-1 in the second half, they'll have another chance at victory when they play Victoria (other La Ceiba team) on Saturday. Chiva!
Monday, July 20, 2009
Monday means Kid's Club in Armenia. With a disappointing turn-out initially, Josh and I made the rounds in the truck, calling kids to come hang out with us (the desperation in our voices could have fooled one into thinking that we truly need a bunch of 7-year-old friends). Pulling out the jump ropes and soccer balls back at the field, however, brought the kids running from all corners of the neighborhood. Soon enough, I had little ones attacking me from all sides and little girls I'd never met grabbing me by the hands and begging me to play them in a game of marbles. One 14-year-old boy named Ariel even took it upon himself to find me a husband right then and there in Armenia. His two best options for me were a toothless 60-some-year-old man or himself. And that's when Josh and I had to break the news...that we were already happily married.
Today the Bible story was about Esther for which Josh hand-crafted a short skit where I debuted as the Queen herself. The skit, of course, wouldn't be complete without our Latino audience enjoying a few good laughs at the bunch of costumed gringos trying to speak their miserable Spanish. The craft involved a coloring sheet and GLITTER PAINT, which with one careless swipe on Josh's part soon became a full-on battle. I managed to leave relatively unaffected with only a blue arm, while Josh proudly sported his new tie-dye T.
Packing up and getting ready to make the trek back, Erin pulled out a surprise stash of clothes to give away. You'd think these second-hand items were made out of pure gold by the way the children swatted and begged for them. One small boy, with teeth rotted to the gums, was given a Mickey Mouse T-shirt, which I soon discovered was the first shirt he'd ever owned.
For the past several weeks, public school teachers have been on strike on account of Micheletti's refusal to recognize pay increases promised by Zelaya. As a result, children have been out of class for weeks (public schools here run from February to November). Many speculate that the public schools won't reopen until the initiation of the following school year. It's really a travesty how just a few people can impede on the rights and lives of so many more through jeopardizing the education of an entire generation. I'm already learning so much from getting glimpses into these small vignettes of the children's lives...a true perspective transformation.
As we headed home, sitting in the bed of a truck on a bumpy gravel road, passing aimless cows and chickens on either side, I had another one of those "this is my life" instances. Kind of like Northern VA, huh?
Back at the Pettengills, Mateo (family friend from Costa Rica) graced us with his presence while Erin and I prepped some fab falafel and hummus for dinner. Afterwards, Josh was determined to show me his favorite restaurant/bar in La Ceiba (Expatriados) and introduce me to a few friends. Meeting his Latino amigos made me miss my Spanish amigos and my own favorite bars in Spain. This having been said, I did enjoy the tiki-bar atmosphere and learning some new Honduran slang. My personal favorite phrase was "que pedo?" (their equivalent to "what's up?", but literally translates as "what fart?") HA! A little surprised to be leaving at 10pm, I had to remember myself--where I was, and on a Monday. I guess I'll never fully be able to shake that Spanish siesta-fiesta syndrome from my system ;)
Friday, July 17, 2009
Wrapping up a Fantastic First Week!
Yesterday, the day's activities began around 10 AM when we made our way into Armenia, first to check up on the construction site and then the Clinic. This is where Erin (our certified nurse practitioner), along with all our helping gringo hands simulate a mini doctor's office once a week and admit as many members of the community as possible. People came from all over and began lining up outside well before we opened. A patient can wait up to 5 hours before his/her number is called, and many times, they have to be sent home at the end of the day without even being seen. You don't see anyone complaining though, because a trip to the public hospital downtown could mean an entire day's wait. Maybe I'll have a little more patience next I spend just 30 minutes in the waiting room before seeing the doctor in the states.
Breaking for lunch, Lindsey, the girls, and I headed next door to Yami's for some delicious baleatas. Yami runs a very prominent truck-stop restaurant in her house and has become a dear friend of the McCanns. Not surprisingly, I love this woman too. She is an incredible cook, complimented my Spanish, and speaks slowly and clearly so that we can actually understand what she's saying. After eating enough to feed a small army (and only paying about $6 for all), we headed home for naps. Around this time of day, it's often a battle to keep Ellie awake in the car, so Lindsey has given Lucy a very important job: KEEP ELLIE AWAKE until we get home. Lucy doesn't take this job lightly either. At any flutter of the eyelids, any relaxation of the body whatsoever, Ellie gets her rude awakening, "ELLIEEEE STAAY AWAAAAAKE!!!!" all the way home. That screechy little voice may have kept everyone within the region awake, but there was no stopping Ellie. We had already lost her.
The team regrouped for dinner at Masapan, where we loaded our plates from a vast Honduran buffet. Rather than enjoying the food, however, Lucy preferred dancing to tacky 80's music videos on the television and Ellie was determined to suck the disgusting table. This made Lucy's infamous request for a snack on the ride home even less surprising than usual. After dinner, the adults headed back to the McCann's for fellowship and black bottom cupcakes.
This morning began with "playing chapstick." Playing chapstick involves a ziplock bag of Lucy's personal collection and the two of us sampling each of the 25 different flavors. This is followed by "making a rainbow" where we have to line up the tubes in order, which, like everything she does, has to be done just...the..right..way. The fact that Lucy has even concocted a game out of tubes of chapstick is proof enough of her ability to make anything hilarious and fun.
And just when you thought the chapstick fun couldn't be topped, it was (!) with a walk to the bank to exchange cash, the bakery for Lu's banana bread fix, and to a very neglected neighborhood park.
After a full week of babies and baking, Sean and Lindsey were kind enough to allow me the rest of the day off to enjoy a team trip to the beach. About a 20-minute's drive out, we arrived at a semi-abandoned paradise resort with a beach front view. The place was built by a group of Canadians a while back, hoping to make a small fortune on their grand investment. This never happened, however, and they've been trying to sell the place ever since. I honestly don't know how this place stays in business as we were the only customers on the entire grounds (and Mike says this is normal). In a strange way, the whole ghost town aspect of the place kind of creeped me out. This having been said, I really couldn't complain about my tropical getaway. We enjoyed lunch under cabanas and playing in the water, which was approaching jacuzzi temperature. My personal favorite part was reading by the pool, mostly because it was the first time I could remember sitting for more than ten minutes without sweating profusely (a little breeze goes a long way down here). As I drifted in and out of a poolside nap, sandwiched between the mountains and the shore, I was reminded of my mantra in Spain: "this is my life." Already this week, I have been overwhelmed to the point of tears at how blessed I am to be here. "The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands" (Ps. 138:8).
The entire McCann clan leaves for Mexico tomorrow to renew their visas. I'll stay behind in La Ceiba (sleeping at the Pettengills), awaiting their return Tuesday evening. We're praying all goes smoothly with their flights as there are rumors that Zeyala will be attempting to re-enter the country again tomorrow (and it wouldn't be the first time this dude has halted their travel plans).
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Winner of the Losers' Circle
Another early start this morning, Laura, Donnette, and Elizabeth (a few of this week's team members) came over to help Lindsey and I make casseroles for future teams. A trip to the grocery store, the cutting and browning of the chicken, cooking the rice, grating the cheese, sautéing the onions and celery, chopping the bread crumbs, and baking the five completed casseroles kept us busy until lunch. Meanwhile, Lucy spent the majority of the morning feeling threatened and annoyed by her playmate for the day, a sweet 4-yr-old boy named Jude. She had initiated the invite, however, as soon as he showed interest in playing with her mini bottle of febreeze she calls "bug spray," Jude was immediately and permanently on her bad side. Even as a male, Jude didn't have to use much intuition to sense Lucy's opinion of him. When his dad came to pick him up, he confessed that he did have fun, but that Lucy didn't want to play with him much. While, I confess, I found this both hilarious and heartbreaking to behold, Lucy seems to have a similar effect on most children. They are all naturally drawn to her (especially the kids of Armenia who constantly poke and prod her and squeal her name), but she is easily overwhelmed by the attention and can be pretty selective with whom she chooses to give her heart. No doubt Sean will cherish this quality when she begins dating ;)
Afterwards, Lindsey treated us to homemade guacamole, sandwiches, apples, coke zero, and ICE for lunch! I know these women were truly overjoyed with their day off from construction. Around 2:30, we piled in the big blue van (both girls on seatbelt-less laps as always...wow this is the 3rd world) and made our way to the ESL class in Armenia. Today, the kids had warmed up to me more and were willing to hold real conversations instead of just making me feel awkward by responding with a smile alone. According to Lindsey, I even have a few secret admirers within the group haha.
Leaving Armenia once again around 5, the group headed over to dinner at a local Honduran restaurant with a beach front view. Their specialty dishes were tacos cachrachitos (like bigger tacitos) and kebabs...neither of which left anyone disappointed. Honduras seems to have inherited their mother country's sense of time, which was made plain by the extremely slow service. It was a completely new and cultural experience for many of the team members and I was further reminded of how good it is for us (especially as Americans) to be forced to wait sometimes.
Lindsey and I left the restaurant early, taking a taxi home to get the girls bathed and in bed and to begin prepping dessert for Kids Night at the McCanns. All nine children in the group enjoyed a raucous night of brownies, ice-cream, and of course, some very intense Wii Mario Cart Tournament. After my rapid elimination from the winner's bracket, I took pride in earning the title as "winner of the loser's bracket." Maybe one day, with a little faith, hard work, and determination, I could become "loser of the winner's bracket." Just maybe.
Each day as I sweat my weight in water, watch my clothes get Cheetoh fingers and drooling mouths wiped on them, sport no make-up and frizzy hair, and allow 8-year-old Honduran kids to make fun of me, I'm semi-amazed at how much joy I could have found in such an environment. I've laughed to the point of an aching belly, been moved to the brink of tears, and fallen in love with a family and a country in a matter of days. After a semi-tumultuous process of getting to where I am now, this finally feels right. How could I have ever guessed that God would plan this for me all along?
Monday, July 13, 2009
Kids Club
Today began at 6:30 am (really haven't trained very well for this part of the job description so far during the summer). Ellie and I spent the morning together while Lucy, Lindsey, and Sean hung out with the team at the construction site. Ellie's sleep schedule is really amazing. After waking up at 6:30, she then naps again at 8 for over an hour and then again at 12 for 2 hours. Not a bad lifestyle if you ask me.
Lucy and Lindsey returned home to pick us up for a special lunch at KFC (where they call coleslaw a "salad" by the way). La Ceiba offers a wide variety of American fine dining, ranging from Pizza Hut to Applebees, basically everything besides McDonalds. Back home, we all settled in for naps --for me, it just wouldn't be traveling abroad without it.
At 2:30, we headed out to Armenia for Kid's Club, a time for games, skits, songs, and crafts for kids of all ages in the community. It's amazing to see how quickly the kids latch onto us and how genuinely happy they are. Once again, I love practicing my Spanish with the little ones because I feel like we're more or less on the same level.
Ellie and I spent the evening together as Sean, Lindsey, and Lucy ate dinner at the Pettengills. It was definitely a first being paid for babysitting with a plate of rice, beans, tortilla, and watermelon, but I can't say I'm complaining. In fact, I wouldn't have it any other way :)
My New Adventure
At first, I considered merging this new blog with my old Spain blog, but ultimately decided against it given the dramatically different natures of the two trips. Really the only similarity between my experience in Spain and the one in Honduras is that I live with a family other than my own in a Spanish-speaking country. Allow me to explain.
Waking up Saturday at 2:30 am, I made my way for Dulles airport to catch my 5:30 am flight to San Salvador, which would eventually take me to La Ceiba, Honduras. Two wrong gates, a mistake through customs in San Pedro Sula where I thought I'd lost my bag, and a ridiculously rickety La Ceiba landing, I made it to my final destination in one piece. Thankfully, I recognized Sean at the airport because he definitely did not recognize me (maybe it was the 3-year-old family picture I had sent him?) As soon as I stepped outside I knew Lindsey (Sean's wife) had been right. Honduras is definitely HOT and muggy. After living on the 8th floor of Eagle without AC and in madre's boiling house for 4 months, I'm fairly confident I've had sufficient training.
During the brief drive from the airport to the McCann's (family I'm living with) house, Sean filled me in on a few La Ceiba facts. Here's what I know thus far:
-Driving the width of the city only takes about 5 minutes.
-We live 1 mile from a very polluted beach and about a 15 minute drive from a relatively clean beach.
-We live in between mountains and the beach (mountains to the south, beach to the north)
-La Ceiba is a kind of huge tree (originally found around the Dole banana port that once made this place famous)
-The city was almost entirely built by the Dole Banana Company about a hundred years ago
-The currency is Lempiras and 18.8 Lempiras amount to $1
-I can't drink the water
-Toilet paper goes in the trash can (yikes).
Now for a bit about my living conditions, new family, and nature of work. I live with Sean and Lindsey McCann (both 27) and their two young girls Lucy (2 1/2) and Ellie (8 mo.). I live in a guest house behind the main house and conveniently enjoy the only air-conditioning unit :) Already Lucy wants me to do everything for her, at times preferring me even to mommy (apparently being allowed to bath her the first night was a pretty big deal). She has a contagious smile and extremely expressive face, almost cartoonish. With a head full of blonde curls, sweet blue eyes, constant impromptu songs and dances, and her pure excitement for anything and everything, she really had me at the get-go. I think this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship J
Ellie, a woman of few words (zero, to be exact), is basically just fat and happy.
My first day basically consisted of me getting settled into my new home. I enjoyed a typical Honduran lunch of baleatas (modified with pulled pork, cheese, tomatoes, and avocado all wrapped in a tortilla) with Lindsey and Sean, unpacked, and took a much-needed nap. Later, we headed over to the Pettengills (Mike and Erin are also MTW team leaders with Sean and Lindsey) to help with dinner and wait for the arrival of the new weekly team. With the team's flight delayed, dinner was relocated at a Chinese restaurant (apparently, Honduran food isn't something to get too excited about). As Sean, Lindsey, Josh (18-yr-old intern who will be at Elon in the fall), the girls, and I pulled into the parking lot, I was reminded that I was definitely far from home. Twelve or so loitering men greeted us and then dashed at the snap of one man's fingers. No doubt some big drug deal was going down...just a day in the life I guess.
Back home it was baths and bedtime for the girls, Wii for adults. I think they just made me play to boost some self-esteem. I mean, SOMEBODY'S got to lose. Josh saved the day and came over to babysit while Lindsey and Sean left to meet the team (for real this time) and I caught up on sleep. I enjoyed a cold shower, blasted the oscillating fan, and fell asleep beneath a tin roof and mango tree. Chiva! ("Cool" in Honduras--I think it will be a while before my first instinct isn't to say "SUPERGUAY!")
Sunday 7/12/09
The day began with a big pancake breakfast at the McCann's. All 15 new team members, plus the Pettengill and McCann families piled in to enjoy classic, sludgy Honduran coffee, eggs, pancakes, and cultural debriefing.
After playtime and lunch with the girls, it was nap time (for everyone). At 3, we headed off to "gringo church," which is just another name for team worship at the Pettengills. After dinner, we made our way into Armenia Bonita, the very poor community in which MTW does most of its ministry, to attend a Pentecostal church service. Between the ear-blasting music, children dancing in the aisles, arms waving, the "alleluias!" and "amens!", a man pounding a tortoise shell for percussion, and the pastor yelling the sermon in Spanish, I had more than a few "pinch me" moments. How could I have been running errands in Falls Church just two days earlier?
Among other things, I was really struck by how welcoming they all were. Throughout the entire service, the pastor repeatedly said how grateful they were to have us, that God is so good for blessing them with people like us to help them, etc. Several members of the congregation made it a point to go around and shake each one of our hands before choosing a seat for him/herself (in the back of the room too since they had reserved the front section for us). Their extreme kindness and hospitality were almost embarrassing. After the service, I was talking to a man holding a beautiful baby girl. I told him I thought she was cute and asked if she was his. He nodded and said her name was Naomi, and plopped her into my arms. I have since found this to be completely commonplace here as people seem to find no problem with grabbing Ellie out of my arms without saying a word.
The night came to a close as we made the trek home, being pulled over by 2 different cops on the way. I guess a huge blue van without license plates crammed with 13 gringos was cause for interrogation. Apparently, these random cop stops are fairly normal too.
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