We started the day visiting a community built precariously around the dump of La Ceiba. Anyone who has seen Slumdog Millionaire can accurately imagine the scenes we found ourselves walking through. We went with a Loma de Luz missionary named Lisa who leads several children's outreaches, including the one Caroline and June participated in on Wednesday. While two of Lisa's Honduran helpers taught kids Bible lessons in the church, the rest of us hiked through the trash-filled streets, giving milk to one family and checking on sick children in several others. The experience was a bit overwhelming, but definitely eye-opening by giving us a sharper perspective on how drastically different the lives of others can be from our own. With the mud of a family's yard under your own feet, the stench of the dump itself overwhelming the air, and the sight of thin, poorly dressed people picking through the debris, it becomes impossible to deny the harsh reality which is simply the way of life for many, many people.
It was a drastic change to drive just a few minutes to a touristy zipline canopy tour. Our favorite part was the slowest, longest zipline where our guides shook the cable so that we bounced as we rode it. The next bit of random was a visit to the nearby natural hot springs. We loved swimming in one pool in particular where a hot stream and a cold stream mixed. All fifteen of us piled back into the overcrowded van and drove to a souvenir shop, and then to the Ceiba supermarket. We said goodbye to the Browns, August, and Will, who then departed to the airport. After grocery shopping, the remaining Lelands, with Lisa and her friends, drove back home to Loma de Luz.
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