A Tour

I am so thankful for the invention of the camera. Looking back on the pictures taken in Honduras, I suddenly am there again, talking with friends, laughing at all our Spanish mistakes, worshiping side-by-side on Saturdays. One of the things I like most about photos though, is I can bring you along. You can meet some of the people I met, and see some of the things I saw. It's not much, but it's a window to my summer, and I would love it if you would peer through with me.

This is the team, minus the leaders. The friendships formed with this team (along with all the inside jokes!) made this summer something special that cannot be replaced. I'm so glad I met every single one of these jovenes (young peeps).

This is the team who went to Limon. They either helped in the day care, the nutrition center, the English classes or the computer classes. I know from what the leaders have said that they really blessed the children and the staff with their presence, smiles, and friendships. 

This is the HIV/AIDS support team. These two women are fantastic -- they pour themselves into everyone they meet -- the people they assist, and the two girls from our team that got to spend a summer with them.

And here's my homies (haha): the Casa Hogar Vida team. I love that we got to hang out every day for two whole months! We were definitely a close family by the time we left... Mrrr! Miss them!

We hosted an exercise class for the women to get a chance to meet each other in the Casa Hogar Vida neighborhood. By the end, four women were consistently showing up (unfortunately one was sick this day) -- by the end of the summer, it was a normal sight to see the four women sitting together in the park or on a porch. I loved sitting with them. So much fun. The women were excited about the class, not only to get to know each other, but also to get healthier -- the woman in the middle-left lost twelve pounds in a month! Xan (left) did a fantastic job of teaching the women exercises and really emphasizing that God loves our whole selves -- the spiritual part of us and the physical part!

Speaking of the spiritual part of us, here's the women's Bible study we had every Wednesday. We went through Acts 2:42-47, which talks about the early church community. It was so encouraging to share what we knew with them, and to have them share with us; I think we all learned a lot! I was inspired to witness their passion to know God more.

Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday were class days for the kids! Tuesday was Bible class, and the other days were English. It was challenging but awesome to see the kids grow -- a few of them were extremely dedicated and learned a ton. The girl in the pink shirt is one of them :-)

 This is Sarah -- she goes to my school too. We worked now and then in Manualidades, the craft shop. Sarah was the main girl of our team to help Manualidades -- I mostly just helped with translating and making bracelets. It was fun! Everything they sell is handmade, and gives the women a source of income, which is desperately needed. They're talented, too! The bags and jewelry are very well-made. 

One day, I had the opportunity to teach mediation to the leaders at Casa Hogar Vida. I had just taken that class in the spring, so I was able to translate my notes into Spanish and teach them the basics. As with every community, there have been relational conflicts, and I was glad I got to share what I know to help resolve them. God definitely planned that out, giving me tools at the right time to pass on to others. He's pretty cool like that!

Once I got more confident in Spanish, I spent a few mornings reading the Bible to some of the women at Casa who can't read, one of which is pictured with her family. It was wonderful to talk with them, to share what I liked about the passage and to hear their insights. After, we would just chat about life. This was my favorite part of my job :-)

We went to the malnutrition clinic at the city hospital, where six babies and their mothers were crammed in a tiny room. It was heartbreaking to see, and to hear the stories of the women. They had to stay at the hospital 24/7, even though they often had other kids at home in the more rural areas of Honduras. The hospital would take care of the symptoms of malnutrition, but then send them back once they were out of the crisis -- too often the babies would die later.

It was sad to hear, but it made me hold onto God even more. He cares about the mothers and the kids in that sweaty, dingy room. He can bring them hope and provide for them, if we would just open our mouths and tell them about Him, and open up our resources to help. That's one of the biggest things I learned this summer: Jesus, and all that he brings, is the only solution. His death and resurrection for us, to reconcile us to him, is the greatest love story of all time. And that's what these people need: LOVE.

Thank you for looking through the window to my summer with me. I'm going to leave you with a couple more quick pictures, but I wanted to end with this: The world needs Christ. If you don't know him, you should give him a chance. He will change your life in awesome ways. Ask me how he changed mine sometime :-) If you do know him, I just want to ask you, does it show? Are your actions ones of love towards others? Are you using your resources to help others and bring God's kingdom to earth?

Now I leave you with some last quick glances out the window:

These are the twins who live in the orphanage at Casa Hogar Vida

This is the tia (aunt) who works at the orphanage. She became a good friend of mine.

This woman has HIV, but she doesn't let it interfere with her friendly spirit.

This woman also has HIV -- her story is beautiful! She also became a good friend of mine

These are her two boys, who rock my world and brighten my life!

Thanks for coming!

A tiny update

Hey!

Thanks for stopping by :-)

I don't know if I'll be writing more on this blog or not. I probably will, because I get to write a bit about my experiences for a conflict management class, so I might just stick those writings on here.

Other than that, we shall save this blog for whenever I go back. I know I will, it's just a matter of when. As we made our goodbyes, everyone kept asking us if we would return. I always said I want to, if God will let me. All I gotta say is, he better let me. I still think often of the friends I have down there.


Thanks for taking a moment to look at this. Like I've said multiple times, thank you so much for all your prayers and support! I still mean it :-)

I'm going to try to post pictures on here, so we'll see how that goes. Until later then, my dear fellows!

SUMMARY: Week 5

Sunday: We rested in the afternoon (Elsa did the grocery shopping)... run and grab all the clothes as it starts sprinkling, danced in the torrential downpoar (with the wind, it stung!). We got milkshakes in the evening because it was Peggy's last day. After, some peeps hung out in our apt while Peggy packed – the highlight for me was when we were all jamming to Bohemian Rhapsody and Criz (the only Honduran) watched bemusedly :-D

Monday: Did some writing for my conflict management internship stuff... English class in the afternoon (Some of the kids are really catching on! So great!). Visited Espresso Americano (Starbucks equivalent here... good stuff!). The power went out in the afternoon because of a storm. After dinner, the storm had passed, but the electricity was still out. Since Peggy was gone, we didn't have a Bible study, so there was a worship night with ukeleles instead! Sarah and I walked around the compound and listened and talked and prayed. It was a magical night, with the lights out and the mountains and fireflies and random lightning in the far distance... Yes.

Tuesday: For Bible class, the kids memorized Ephesians 2:10 – all of us had it memorized by the end, even the non-spanish-speakers (haha!). KFC for dinner, band practice in the evening.

Wednesday: In the morning, I read my Bible and brainstormed for internship stuff. For the women's Bible study, we talked about the importance of reading the Bible. We all read a chapter in 1 John and discussed. Right as we were about to leave, it started POURING! After dinner, we had some band practice, then the monthly prayer meeting. I prayed in Spanish! Yay! One of the singers made me go with her group instead of the Gringo group :-P

Thursday: Usual day at Casa, except that Xan's mom was here! English class, hang out at the park afterwards. There was a group of women there that we chatted with. HLT session in the evening.

Friday: Criz and Nicole came along to help with evangelism. Pray for the people we met and a continued boldness to share the gospel!

Saturday: I went to band practice at 2-4, then stayed since dinner was at 5. I got to see the drama team practice and help with folding bulletins (flashbacks to when I was like, 7). After church, we had an unconventional pool party! The pool was drained so we had fun clambering around and having dance parties and eventually just laying down and stargazing... at the bottom of the pool. :-D

Sunday: went to the beach! On one side in the distance was El Salvador, and the other side was Nicaragua. Cool no? Lunch was fried fish and shrimp (fish still had the head on! :-) After lunch, I just chilled on a hammock and read and listened to music and soaked it all in. So great! Dinner was a bbq party with a bunch of church leaders. Had no idea that was happening until we showed up. Yay Honduras! Food was good.

SUMMARY: Week 5

Sunday: We rested in the afternoon (Elsa did the grocery shopping)... run and grab all the clothes as it starts sprinkling, danced in the torrential downpoar (with the wind, it stung!). We got milkshakes in the evening because it was Peggy's last day. After, some peeps hung out in our apt while Peggy packed – the highlight for me was when we were all jamming to Bohemian Rhapsody and Criz (the only Honduran) watched bemusedly :-D

Monday: Did some writing for my conflict management internship stuff... English class in the afternoon (Some of the kids are really catching on! So great!). Visited Espresso Americano (Starbucks equivalent here... good stuff!). The power went out in the afternoon because of a storm. After dinner, the storm had passed, but the electricity was still out. Since Peggy was gone, we didn't have a Bible study, so there was a worship night with ukeleles instead! Sarah and I walked around the compound and listened and talked and prayed. It was a magical night, with the lights out and the mountains and fireflies and random lightning in the far distance... Yes.

Tuesday: For Bible class, the kids memorized Ephesians 2:10 – all of us had it memorized by the end, even the non-spanish-speakers (haha!). KFC for dinner, band practice in the evening.

Wednesday: In the morning, I read my Bible and brainstormed for internship stuff. For the women's Bible study, we talked about the importance of reading the Bible. We all read a chapter in 1 John and discussed. Right as we were about to leave, it started POURING! After dinner, we had some band practice, then the monthly prayer meeting. I prayed in Spanish! Yay! One of the singers made me go with her group instead of the Gringo group :-P

Thursday: Usual day at Casa, except that Xan's mom was here! English class, hang out at the park afterwards. There was a group of women there that we chatted with. HLT session in the evening.

Friday: Criz and Nicole came along to help with evangelism. Pray for the people we met and a continued boldness to share the gospel!

Saturday: I went to band practice at 2-4, then stayed since dinner was at 5. I got to see the drama team practice and help with folding bulletins (flashbacks to when I was like, 7). After church, we had an unconventional pool party! The pool was drained so we had fun clambering around and having dance parties and eventually just laying down and stargazing... at the bottom of the pool. :-D

Sunday: went to the beach! On one side in the distance was El Salvador, and the other side was Nicaragua. Cool no? Lunch was fried fish and shrimp (fish still had the head on! :-) After lunch, I just chilled on a hammock and read and listened to music and soaked it all in. So great! Dinner was a bbq party with a bunch of church leaders. Had no idea that was happening until we showed up. Yay Honduras! Food was good.

SUMMARY: Week 4

 Week 4: SUMMARY

Saturday: Went to the mountains, very disappointing – just a resort type thing, no hiking and views like I was hoping for. However, the mayor of Choluteca was there. Church in the evening.

Sunday: Sarah was sick, so we looked for meds (no pharmacies are open on Sundays), then helped clean up the church for the event in the evening. Grocery shopping, skyping, dinner... The church put on a concert event for the youth that reminded me a lot of my own high school conferences – Jammin music, a speaker, presentation of the gospel, the usual crowd jumping to the music in the front :-)

Monday: Talked with David, English class, dinner at Toita's, Joshua study. Usual day :-)

Tuesday: Just Xan, Taylor and me. I went to Manualidades to braid bracelets in the morning, then we had Bible class in the afternoon. The kids were crazy! For dinner, Toita's husband Louis made us bbq! Hung out with Kent girls that night.

Wednesday: Hung out with Edith after exercise class (she's so super cool!), had a women's Bible study on gossip – huge problem here! Hoping they get the message :-) Hung out at the orphanage, asked the tia about how Hondurans deal with conflicts (she said they either ignore it or kill each other. Wow.). Heard about the small electrical fire at our apartment at dinner (sarah was still home sick, so it wasn't a big deal). Had Tiedown with the HLT group, just to see how our summers have gone... Princess Bride in the evening (Yessssssssssss)

Thursday: Everyone was officially back at Casa (Yay!). David had news about a cult that thought the world was going to end on Saturday (oh look... it didn't). English class was so encouraging because the kids remembered a ton of stuff! We played hot jicaro instead of hot potato (kids loved it!). HLT session in the evening with Pastor Geovany (Geovanni? Giovani? I swear they change the spelling every week). None of the usual translators were there, so we just had a willing volunteer from the audience. He made a valiant effort, but I just tried to understand Geovany because it was rough going. I got the gist though, so that's good.

Friday: Hung out at the orphanage until after the exercise class, then went to the kids school with Maura and David! So interesting to talk about the educational system with David on the way back. Make me very thankful for the education we have in the US. Even though we have our own issues, at least we do have school most of the year, with decent supplies and teachers. We evangelized in the afternoon (Rachel, me, Mandy and Michelle – only Rachel didn't know spanish, but it was still difficult!). Edith fed us baleadas (score!). Pizza in the evening, late night watching movies :-P

Saturday: Posted photos – took all day (thanks internet!) Rested. Church in the evening, gave a ride to a family who walks 30 minutes to church every week (what?!). It was cool to get to know them a bit on the way back.

Beaches, Birthdays, and Bibles (A Novel)

Okay.... So last Friday, Criz and Nicole (both Hondurans) came with us to hang out for the day. David, Criz, Taylor and I hung out and talked for a bit which was fun. I learned the word for people who have the same name. I forget it now, but I'll hopefully look it up before I post this so that you can know it too! Haha. After lunch, we did evangelism – with two groups: Criz's team and Nicole's team.

Evangelism time went well – my team visited three houses – Criz was our awesome translator :-) If you think of it, pray for Juan. His wife is a strong Christian, but he isn't. But apparently, his wife thinks it's inevitable that he is going to become a Christian – so pray that whatever is holding him back would disappear. Also pray for another house – they're Christians, but they don't go to church or lifegroups too often because of work. Pray that they can either find a different time to have some Christian community or something, because that is definitely necessary to stay strong in the faith. :-) The other team actually talked to some of the younger girls for the majority of the time. It was eye-opening how much these girls need Jesus too – just because they're growing up in Casa Hogar and go to the church does not mean they understand the gospel. It was a great experience, from what I've heard!

On Saturday, I did some laundry, then skyped the Kent h2o summer reunion party in the afternoon. Soooooo fun! I LOVED being able to see people's faces and wave hi and such. I miss all a y'all, but can't wait to have another school year with y'all in a little over a month! Exciting! After that, I went to band practice and got to hang out after to watch the drama team practice and help fold bulletins. The drama team was hilarious! My … supervisor(?), Eli, was an angry man yelling at his wife and kids. It was fun to see him jump in and out of character, especially since he's actually a super kind, more soft-spoken guy :-)

Actual church was good – the pastor talked about the lie of “that's just the way I am, and I can't change.” God is all-powerful. If we depend on Him, he can change anyone. It was good!

After church, I was just hanging out or something when Sarah runs in and says, “Come to the pool it'll be super fun!” and I'm like okay... I get there and Sarah and Elsa are walking around on the bottom of our drained pool. Immediately I'm like, where's my camera?!? If you haven't seen the pictures on facebook yet, you need to :-) It was a bunch of fun! We just hung out and read our bibles then started climbing the walls and dancing around... eventually we found out how to turn off the lights and we had a dance party with Taylor's laptop and Sarah's strobe light app on her phone. Super funn!!! So dark though, pictures don't look so great :-) Then eventually we got tired and started stargazing. At the bottom of the pool, there's no glare from any nearby lights, so the stars look a lot brighter. Another fantastic night!

Sunday: We went to the beach!!!! It was so fun!!!! I'm so glad I went!!!! We joined Ryan and Melissa and their crew (Sierra and R&M's two kids), and had a marvelous time. I'll get pictures up soon, but basically there's this mass of huts – more pavillion-like – poles with thatch or tin roofs with hammock hanging from almost every possible spot. Once you maneuver your way through all that, the horizon opens up and there's the ocean! With distant mountains interrupting the skyline on the edges – one side was Nicaragua, and one side was El Salvador. Cool, no?! We played in the shoreline for a bit, chasing bricks (or running away from them – apparently there was a big storm or something so there was a lot of debris – big rocks and bricks), building sand castles, taking pictures... For lunch, we had fried fish, chicken or shrimp. They literally just gut and fry the fish – head and bones and all – so that was a fun experience! Sarah and Elsa even ate the eyes. I didn't, once I heard they tasted super fishy. The shrimp was delicious as well. All the meals were served with plantain fries/chips, which tasted good when paired with the spicy oniony type thing they had. Descriptions are so much harder! Pics soon, I swear.

After lunch, I just wanted to sit in a hammock and read, so that's what I did! Then I listened to some praise music and just soaked in the day. It was glorious!

We had a bit of time after the beach to freshen up before dinner, then went to Toita's like usual. I was so confused though – there were a bunch of cars there and we went straight to the back, where there was a bbq party going on – surprise! It was fun, but a little unexpected, so it threw me off a bit. :-)

Back to business on Monday. Sarah and I sat at the park and read our bibles until the exercise class was done and joined us for Xan's lecture. Then Taylor told us that Eli, Maura, and Oscar wanted to talk to us – have a meeting, per se. Basically they just wanted to check up on us and see if there's stuff that we should do differently, if we're stressed or confused about anything... It was a very good meeting. I enjoyed it a lot, because it helped me feel more like the things we're doing here are intentional. Even though there's only three weeks left, it was good to remember that God's not leaving in three weeks, so we can't just slack off or be like, “well, we're almost done. No big deal if we just do what we've been doing, because changing things now wouldn't be worth much.” At the end of it, Eli also said he might have some “special missions” for me that have to do with conflict management – obviously, in any community there will conflict :-) and I may be able to help resolve some? Hopefully! We shall see!

After lunch, we tried pave at Edith's house (a kind of dessert that's really hard to explain... it was cold, and slightly jelloy but more firm... layers of different flavors with graham crumbs separating them... with whipped cream and fruit on top.) Then Sarah and I read our Bibles at the park again and invited others to join us. English class in the afternoon – we presented the bridge diagram in Spanish, but used English key words. It went well – a bit of bad behavior from some of the kids, but overall it was good :-) While the kids played at the park afterwards, I chatted with Sulema (the former tia) and Erica. I looove getting to know them better! So fun!!!

Right when we were about to leave though, a kid got Xan and April because apparently one of the women we talked to like the first week here was really sick. She had a lot of stomach pain and was crying. We took her to the hospital (Xan, Ed and April went in, the rest of us waited in the car). Pray for her, if you think of it :-) She's doing a lot better now, but she's had chronic stomach pains for a while now...

Since it was the last night Criz was going to be with us, we had a huge farewell party for him. Coffee involved, of course. A couple of games of Mafia as well. Sad to see Criz go, especially since he's had so little time with us...

Tuesday was Sarah's BIRTHDAY!! Elsa and I had a blast planning it and putting it into action. We made her breakfast and packed her lunch with the favorite foods we can get down here :-) Started a scavenger hunt that continued on to Casa Hogar... One of the presents was getting to talk to Hilda – that was so fun! It was just me and Sarah, and Hilda was excited to talk with us, as always. It worked out great because Sarah was sitting between me and Hilda, so Hilda could talk to Sarah and I could murmur the translation in her ear pretty well, so we got along well. Sarah understands a ton more Spanish than she used to, and God gave me the ability to understand Hilda and translate things decently. Today I think was the day that it just clicked and now I feel a ton more comfortable with Spanish. Crazy!!!

We had Bible class – since it was Sarah's birthday, we talked about being born again in Christ. We also reviewed the bridge diagram. It was super exciting – there were some people there that hadn't come before and the kids that had been before remembered a lot of the bridge diagram! So great!

We went to Espresso Americano for Sarah's b-day (coffee is a must! I got the caramel granita again). Since Ed was in Teguc with our cook (taking Xan's mom and Criz back and doing some stuff with the cook), we had Wendy's for dindin. :-) Had band practice soon after that with Xan. Fun times, but after it was over, we waited for Taylor to come pick us up, but after it was about time for him to be there, we called the apartments and he was swimming. Fail. So we went with Walter and the rest of the band to one of the singer's houses to visit their family, because their 1 month old baby is sick :-(

Busy day! Mrrrr!

Wednesday Sarah watched one of the mom's baby so that the mom could go to the exercise class, so I read at the park by myself until I remembered that one of the women we've talked to can't read, so I went to her house and read a bit of the Psalms to her. Then we just sat and chatted and I met her little sister who was visiting. Hey guys! I can carry on conversations in Spanish! Ahhh God is good :-)

We had coffeeeee and cookies for Sarah's b-day, since Eli was gone for the majority of the day yesterday so we couldn't have any. After lunch, we talked more as a group about the meeting on Monday and things we can improve on, etc.

Women's bible group went well – we talked about the importance of teaching your children the gospel. They all shared a good bit, so that was good – other days, the discussions haven't really taken off. And today! We got to use the meeting house instead of crowding around the tree with the hormigas (fireants) and constant distractions, so that helped a ton!

Tonight was the HLT session, for some reason. Probably just when the speaker could be here, I guess. He was from El Salvador. It was a great message – I don't know if it's because Frank was back from El Salvador as well, so the translation was actually clear or what, but I really enjoyed it. He said God is innovative (he will reveal great and mysterious things that we do not know), he's new (his mercies are new every morning), and he's absolute (he's constant and unchanging). So good to hear.... Also, I got to jam out to Eres Fiel, which was SO FUN!!!! That's all :-)

 At Casa on Thursday, I read a bit at the park, then decided to continue the trend of reading the Bible to someone who can't read, and since Maria had joined me at the park (she wanted to play with my dictionary, like always), I had her take me to her house. I read Ephesians 1 to her mom, then chatted a bit. She wasn't as chatty as the woman the day before, but it was still good to hang out for a while at least :-)

After that, I helped Sarah out with looking after the baby, and I got to meet a girl, LG, who was hanging out there too – she's had a bit of a tough life, but it's cool to see that she's hanging out at the house of one of the stronger Christians here :-) I pray she continues to get to know God and rely on Him through the trials of life.

During lunch, I asked Eli if he'd be interested in me teaching a mediation class for the leaders of Casa Hogar (well... Xan got the conversation started for me... thanks for the initiative! Haha). He said definitely, and scheduled it for next Tuesday! Praying that that goes well and I can prepare well :-) Eli and I chatted a good bit about his experiences after college, when he was the supervisor of 50 people at a factory – the patience he learned, the people skills, the ways to resolve conflicts. He learned a lot! Definitely knows more than me, I've only ever learned stuff from books and a few experiences with friends. Supervising fifty people is an entirely different matter! Haha

We got to have English class in the meeting house, which worked well since we wanted the kids to draw out the bridge diagram – in Spanish and in English. It went well, in my opinion! There were some new kids and (for the most part) everyone behaved! After class, while the kids played at the park, I sat on the fence with Faviola and talked about life. It's so much easier to talk to people now! I love it!

And then who would be in the truck to pick us up than Criz! Surprise! He left in the first place because he had school stuff to do, but now he has like a week before the next thing, so he came back! Haha. I love Honduran culture. That's how it is all the time here. It's one thing one day, then changes so quickly! (In some ways it reminds me of college life too in that way).

Band practice in the evening, and a birthday frosty celebration for Jack (Happy birthday!!!). Fun stuffs!

Friday: Nicole came along again, and we met up with Nisis (who lives in Casa). I played at the orphanage for a bit, then helped make bracelets at Manualidades with Sarah. During lunch, I wrote out everything I could remember about mediation – I think this class shouldn't be too hard!

We split into two groups again for evangelism. The other group finished up the last of the houses while my group (Sarah Xan and I [David and Ian tagged along]) went to find LG to hang out and get to know her more. She wasn't home, but her dad was, so we got to talk and pray with him. He's a sweet man. :-) We visited Senora S to see how she was doing (she's the one who went to the hospital on Monday), then chilled at the park with the kids. Soon I went to sit with four of the women who were sitting on a nearby porch, and hung out with them for the rest of the day. I enjoyed every bit of it! Even when they eventually just started talking to each other and my brain was so fried it was hard to keep up, but just sitting there, sharing company, and laughing whenever I did understand something was so great! I must be crazy. :-)

In the evening, we hung out at the pool and ate pizza and talked about life. After dinner, we had a spiderman piñata, just for fun, which also gave everybody who has ever been thrown in the pool by Taylor a chance for revenge... mwahahahahaaaa! He took Elsa with him though! Sooo funny!!!!

And today I've just been hanging out, working on mediation stuff and blogging. Yup yup yup! I'll be going to band practice in a few hours, then church tonight!

Acquaintances to Friends

Hey peoples! Thanks for stopping by... here's the past few days, in a nutshell. Now that y'all know the usual schedule, I don't feel the need to tell you every single detail, so the days' descriptions are getting shorter :-)

Tuesday: So today I read some of the Honduran newspaper, which is very interesting. It's the news, so there's a lot of bad stuff on there -- murders and strikes and how the government's not handling anything... The opinions sound a lot like American newspapers, but I'm struck by how well we actually do have it in the US. Our government isn't perfect, but at least it's not corrupt. Our education system may be relatively ineffective in certain cases, but at least our kids know how to read and are in class for the majority of the school year. Our jobs may not be as abundant as years past, but at least many can get even minimum wage jobs, which pay better than many jobs here... okay, I'm off the soapbox.  

After lunch, we had the Bible class with the kids – we had them memorize Ephesians 2:10 and we put motions to it – it seems like it went over well! They had a lot of fun and we all at it memorized by the end of the time, even those who don´t know Spanish haha. Some of us were pretty sick of it by the end actually :-) I got to chat some with Maura – she had already memorized that verse, but in a different version. I love that I´m getting to the point that I know poeple here :-) In some ways, I feel like some of the acquaintances I have here are turning into friendships. Love it! Dinner was KFC at the church, and I had band practice later. It was just me this week, which was interesting – I definitely had to put my Spanish ears on!

Wednesday: Today´s women´s group went well, I thought. We talked about reading the word, then had everyone read a chapter in 1 John and discuss it. Some of them had some really good insights and some were still new at reading, so it was cool to be able to share the Word in community :-D (Made me think a bit of Total Church!) Right when it was over, it was threatening to rain – then it started to POUR. We picked up Maura, Joana and David, and in the time it took them to run from the house to the car, they got very wet! Dinner was rice and chicken and some kinda delicious fluffy roll that made me very happy :-P Since today´s the first Wednesday of the month, they had the prayer meeting at the church. It was great, because I actually played piano this time, then prayed with a bunch of catrachos (Hondurans) in Spanish! Practice makes perfect. When we got back, I caught an episode of the Office with Taylor Jack and the Kent gals – it´s so ridiculous! But nice to have a taste of American humor :-)

Thursday: Xan´s mom is here! Also, Cindy (a gringa) and Edgar (the PK aka pastor´s kid) came as well. We hung out in the morning – stopped by manualidades, played a bit at the orphanage, chatted with David, introduced Xan´s mom to people here... After lunch we had English class. It went pretty well, even though April wasn´t there :-) Some of the kids pick it up so fast! What I´m trying to figure out now is how to stop the three kids who know all of it from yelling out the answers before the other kids have a chance. Something to think about... We hung out at the park afterwards and I got to meet a couple of the other women at Casa – I´ve decided just sitting and talking to the women is one of my favorite things to do :-) I could do it all day. I should do more of it... (cocks eyebrow). And I can tell my Spanish is improving -- it's a lot easier to understand people and have real conversations with them :-D yay!!

Now we´re just waiting for pizza (Toita is in Teguc I think, so Friday night pizza is tonight) and tonight´s HLT session. I´ll leave an edit on this post once this day is done, so check back tomorrow :-P (Hopefully the internet doesn´t go down...)

Edit:: Tonight, Edwing spoke -- he works with a lot of the youth in Tegucigalpa -- and talked about God in the family. It was cool. Apparently a lot of the headsets weren't working though, so a lot of the gringos ended up reading their Bibles instead. I taped almost the whole thing so I can listen to it over and over until I get it all :-) I think at this point, I had reached full capacity with Spanish... everything was going straight through one ear and out the other. I understood while he was talking, I knew the words he was saying, but the meaning slipped by unnoticed. It's okay though. Sleep should help with that :-)

I also found out that Criz knows 2 very important Chinese phrases, so I'm going to teach him and Slizzard more phrases -- if I can get into Chinese mode at all... Spanish is a little stronger in my mind right now for some reason :-P

Gnight yall!

(End edit)

And can I just say... You people rock my socks :-) Thanks so much for all your support and comments and updates – makes me feel more connected to home and more excited to continue sharing what God´s doing down here. Peace out!