Day 9: Three Sisters, Three Perspectives

Caroline: This was my favorite day of Honduras so far! We continued painting all morning, but after lunch I rode with June and a missionary woman named Lisa into the nearby village Balfate. I rode in the bed of Lisa's pickup truck as she drove up and down the dirt roads between houses. Local children of all ages came running when they recognized the vehicle, and eagerly climbed in the back with me. We drove to a grassy lot and spent an incredibly fun hour playing with the forty or so kids. June helped Lisa with the little ones, and I played tag and dodgeball with kids between 6 and 13 years old. Then we gathered in the grass and an older Honduran boy named Deneri read them a Bible story (in Spanish of course), inviting them to participate with his fill-in-the-blank questions. June and I did our best to follow along. After we prayed together holding hands, I helped pass out cookies and then we dropped off the children on our way out of the village. I was delighted when my new friends Caramen, Cindy, and Lurabin hopefully asked if I was coming back next week, but I think I'm looking forward to it more than they are!
Janie:  Once I start a project, it takes a lot for me to quit. So while my sisters took a few detours, I persisted in the painting of the walls and guard shacks. Me, Will, August, Jack and the Browns continued to paint all morning and afternoon. Even though our breaks are longer and we start work later, I feel like we have done a pretty good job. Once we actually started the project, it was a lot harder than expected. After scrubbing every stain of mold and dirt off, we went on to paint and paint and more paint each layer on the concrete wall. Like usual, later that afternoon, we played soccer. And Jack scored not one, but TWO goals!! I was so proud of my little baby Jack.
Mary McCall: After hiking up a mountain face with my dad, another doctor from the hospital, his daughter and 4 other women from Loma de Luz for an hour, we finally got to the house where the mission was going to be held, which had a big porch for the worship. Our group pulled out 2 cloths, one a world map, and the other filled with multiple pictures illustrating the whole Bible. We hung them up and passed out the guitars that we had carried on our back up the mountain. With some of the kids playing the guitar, the rest of the group sang songs about the world oceans, the continents, the big world rivers, and of course my favorite, this past years World Cup finalists. We broke into groups and I was teaching kids to play the keyboard. It kind of failed because they could not understand the concept of A chord, D chord, over and over. Without the help of the woman from Luma de Luz, who is bilingual, it would have definitely failed. The hike down was much more enjoyable.

Day 8: El Murro part II

Today we painted a wall for Jesus. Even though we didn't finish, we made a lot of progress. Later this afternoon the kids piled into the back of a pickup truck with a couple of other MKs and drove about half an hour to a waterfall. The steep cliffs on either side of the powerful waterfall were fairly easy to climb, and we all had fun jumping into the deep pool. Will and August impressed us with their midair flips. We competed to see who could swim closest to the torrent of falling water, and August and Will continued to impress. We hiked just past the top of the waterfall to a natural rock slide that several of us enjoyed. Afterward, our hosts took us to a restaurant on the beach-- the only sit-down restaurant in this area. Because they cook their food so fresh, we had to order our entrees the day before, and we could taste the difference!
Spill Count: a lot of white paint and two glasses of sticky orange juice

Day 7: El Murro

Today we scrubbed a wall for Jesus. After the three sisters ran up the (fun, said by caro/ killer, said by janie/ entertaining, said by mary mccall) hill, we began our first day of mission work.The current task for the eight kids in our group is to clean and paint the concrete wall at the hospital's gate. From 8 to 3, we slaved away scrubbing at the mold, with no breaks. Not including the lunch break...plus the mid-morning snack break...plus the rain-is-falling-too-hard-right-now break. Celia is a woman who runs a small restaurant at the hospital gate, and we happened to be cleaning the wall in front of her enterprise. Sweet Celia brought us a snack, drinks, and gave all eight of us a hearty Honduran lunch, including rice, beans, tortillas, and her famous and delicious fried chicken. Her kindness was a wonderful motivation to persevere in defeating the persistent dirt and mold, and by the end of the day we were proud of our progress.
Spill count: multiple buckets of bleach water

Day 6: Macaroni & Cheese

With a group of ten, shopping and preparing food is quite a challenge, especially with four teenage guys. The nearest grocery store is 80 minutes away (in a city called La Ceiba) and across three bridges, which often wash out during the rainy season. So families in Loma de Luz typically travel to La Ceiba once every 7-10 days. The day we drove here, we first shopped for food and other supplies in La Ceiba. Finding our needed products in the huge supermarket, deciphering the Spanish labels, and mentally converting the prices to American money made the side trip an experience. We checked out with three full grocery carts. Today we made nine boxes of macaroni and cheese, cooked in a huge pot with two cups of milk and two cups of butter, not to mention all those packages of cheese. When Mary McCall and Caroline were trying to figure out how much to cook, Will and August assured us that they would each eat their own box's worth. Even though they held true to their word, everyone had plenty of food, especially with the fresh papaya fruit.
P.S. Caroline counted her mosquito bites in church today. The grand total is currently 43.

Day 5: Gringos and Geckos

Still being oriented about Loma de Luz, today we were given a tour of the campus and hospital. Afterward, we walked across the road to the Caribbean Ocean. Later in the afternoon, one of the missionary kids introduced us to a bunch of the local guys. The Hondurans referred to us as 'gringos,' which is slang for 'white people,' and immediately challenged us to play against them in soccer. We held our own and only lost by one point. The game was very fun and we think Honduran soccer in the afternoons will become one of our routines.
A Special Note from Janie:  So last night I was in the shower and I looked up to see a gecko crawling on the wall right above me! I freaked out and rushed through washing my hair. When I was ready to wash my face, I did so very cautiously, squinting my eyes open every 3 seconds, ignoring the sting of the soap, to make sure the little creep wouldn't jump on me. I couldn't stop thinking about Parent Trap, when the step mom gets one stuck in her mouth.
Spill Count: 3 cups at lunch. dont worry, we were outside

Day 4: Bienvenidos a Loma de Luz!

Our New Years Eve started off with a rush! Water rush, adrenaline rush, and fireworks rush. The water and adrenaline came with white water rafting with the cutest Honduran guide. Hiro es muy hermoso! Not only did he a) improve our Spanish and charm us with his English, b) sport a sick earring, c) win a Michael Jackson dancing contest in the city, d) have an adorable smile, but he also e) bonded with the fam by eating lunch and playing Uno with us. Not to mention his incredible rafting skills, including a daring, brave, and quick-thinking rescue of Janie, who fell out at the very beginning of a class 1 rapids but got swept through, and might have drowned in and might have DIED in, a class 4 rapids. We begged dad to let us take our new love Hiro home with us. A few hours later we arrived at Loma de Luz, the hospital mission where we'll be staying. The missionary kids were friendly and welcoming at their New Years party, which included new names and faces, a bonfire, and fireworks. We're really looking forward to the opportunities in this new year, especially what God might bring us here in Honduras.

Day 3: New Country=New Experiences

We woke up this morning when it was still dark, to the sound of mysterious tropical animal noises.We've never been on a hike with a guy carrying a machete. We had fun talking to our Honduran guides who only spoke Spanish. We tasted cocoa beans, which grow in fruit on trees (who knew?), and termites, which we decided have a woody flavor (no surprise there). Never in the States would tourists be allowed to climb the slippery cliff of a waterfall-- but we got to do it in Honduras! Janie's Chacos dominated. Back at hippie/couple retreat camp, the food we ate wasn't new to us, but who can say that they've eaten bbq chicken wings in Honduras?
Spill Count: 5 glasses of various drinks, but no broken glass for once