A week in review

Well, this is Holly. We are home now for 2 days. My mind is always on Honduras. I can't stop thinking about our trip, how I've been changed (for the better), how our family has changed and how I can't wait to go back. I have so much unfinished work.

What follows are excerpts from some emails I sent to the States while in Honduras. They may be a tad random but they were what I was thinking and feeling at the time

Sunday - March 29
Well, getting on the internet is much harder than I thought. It's Sunday night at 9:30. We've had a wonderful day today. The kids at the Hogar are so cute, polite, not shy, loving etc. It's warming on one hand and so very sad on the other. Despite the language barrier, we seem to communicate just fine. Mostly, the kids just want someone to sit with them, play with them, smile and laugh with them. It's heart-warming to know how much our work is needed and appreciated. The wood carver we went today told us that he talks to the members of his church about the Eden Prairie groups that visit to use as an example of great work in the name of God. It was neat to know what we do means so much to the people here. I need to run as we never know how long the internet will be up. We will have great stories to tell. I'm so proud of Jack and Allison. They have taken this opportunity head on.


It’s Monday Night.
We are having so much fun and working very hard. The poverty is undescribable, yet at the same time, the people are all so friendly and the city of Comayagua is so very clean. They work hard to keep what they have well maintained. The Hotel Quan is simple yet clean. I already feel like it's my home away from home. After 2 days of cold showers, we finally got some hot water, I actually think I enjoyed the cold showers more. Funny how quickly we adjust.



We went to the Central Square after dinner. Here, people gather at night to enjoy the view of an amazing cathedral built in the early 1600's. It was truly spectacular. The central square had trees and benches and lots of families enjoying the beautiful evening. It was a wonderful sight.

Tomorrow, we’ll work on building more desks/countertops for the computers. We’ll also make yarn dolls, sock puppets and help the kids with a photography project. They love taking pictures and they all know how to use a digital camera. They are so comfortable with technology. It’s so hard to imagine the internet can get to places in the world that don’t even have clean drinking water. But I now appreciate how important the Internet will be for the kids here. The internet gives them a chance to learn about the world in a way not possible before. It will open new doors and opportunities for them. I would love to be here when they start exploring the internet.

Wednesday

Yesterday we danced with the kids before we left. It was really a great time. The language barrier seems less of an issue now. I’m thinking in Spanish more and more which is really cool. I can see how if you lived in a place for a while you would slowly learn the language.

We had a great dinner last night at a restaurant not too far from our Hotel. We walk to dinner every night and more aren’t too far. It feels good to be outside in the cooler evening temps. . I had grilled chicken, beef and pork, It was delicious. Tons of food and all very good. The 15 of us ate for $90. Can you imagine that. More food than you could eat and all for about $6/person.

We went to a brick factory yesterday. They make the bricks my hand. The man has been doing that for 30 years, he makes 360 bricks a day for about $12/day. So, he’s making a pretty good living on Honduran standards since the poverty wage is about $2/day. He seemed very proud of his work but it was back-breaking. The clay is extremely heavy and working in the hot sun all day much be very tiring. The people here work very hard to earn a living. It's difficult to stop comparing everything to the US.

Jack loves the fact that the people here really LOVE futbol (aka soccer) . And, unlike in the US, they really appreciate and understand the game. Tonight, Honduras plays Mexico. It will be huge. He’s excited cuz you’ll hear the locals yell from all over town if their teams scores. He’s looking forward to watching a bit of the game. It’s sort of like Super Bowl Sunday when the Honduras National team plays futbol. But, unlike the Super Bowl which is only once/year, the Honduras National team plays probably 1/week. If Jack were here he'd correct me on this.

I love the busyness of Comayagua. Trucks all over delivery goods to wherever. People sweeping up sidewalks and getting ready to open their stores, people riding bikes to school and work, older folks taking strolls. I don’t think any of us will ever be quite the same after this trip. I’m getting to know some of the kids pretty well. Most just want love and affection which is true of any kid. They love to hold hands and be hugged and held. Jack is great with the little guys. Allison loves to hang out with the girls and just talk and goof around and laugh. They laugh alot together.

Thursday


Good Morning! Today is Thursday. It’s 6 a.m. I’ve been up for awhile and finally decided to get out of bed and sit on the balcony. Despite being so far from home, this is so comfortable here. The noises of the birds, roosters, trucks, dogs all seem like we’ve heard them forever.

Today is our last day with the kids, except for the 4 that will join us in La Ceiba on Friday and Saturday and Sunday. This morning, we will go to a Catholic Girls School in La Paz called Santa Clara. About 7 girls from the Hogar attend this school. They are some of the older girls. We will see the students perform the Stations of the Cross for us. It should be great. Then we will head back to the Hogar to finish up our projects and say our good-byes. It will be hard to say goodbye to these kids. I’m glad a few get to join us for our final days.

Jack did get to watch the Honduran soccer team play and beat Mexico in futbol (soccer) last night. The restaurants were all packed with fans. People brought their TVs outside to watch together. It was great. After the game, people screamed and honked horns for hours, literally. It was very fun for Jack to experience this because it’s nothing like you’d ever see.

We made dinner for the kids at the Hogar last night. What an adventure. Imagine no running water, to make homemade baked beans, hotdogs, mac and cheese, jello and cookies. At first, the task seemed impossible. Afterwards, it was like, “wow, we did it”. We made the mac and cheese over a fire which they keep burning 24 hours a day. They use that to make their tortillas and beans each day. If it wasn’t hot enough, we stood by that fire for hours. Yet, we had about 10 girls to help. And oh my gosh, I don’t think we could have done it without them. They knew exactly what we needed. They all worked together to dice 15 lbs of cheese, slice 150 home made hotdog buns from a local baker, make the kool-aid, cook up bacon for the beans, etc. I didn’t think they’d be of much help at first, but without them, I don’t know we’d have eaten before midnight. After our dinner, we hired a local band to play for all of us and we danced for a hour or so.

Jeff and I have become very attached to Rosa. I think she enjoys being with us and seeing our whole family together. She seems to like us and has written each of us a letter that we cannot read until we are on the plane. She’s 15 and is very smart . She will be going to the Czech Republic in September to study. I worry about the culture shock she might experience. We want to get her address so we can write her while she’s there. She’s a great kid. She’s only been at the Hogar for 3 years. So she arrived when she was 12 or so. I’m sure it was very hard for her. It's hard for me to know that when we come back, she will be gone and so I may never see Rosa again.

We just arrived back from Santa Clara School. The Stations of the Cross was amazing. It was a wonderful experience. then I drove the truck back from the school with all 15 of us. The horn, blinkers, drive shaft all did't work. But it was really fun. I had to maneuver 2 round-abouts, several cows and folks on bikes all while looking through a cracked windshield. I then got stopped by the National Police. I'm assuming it looked a tad strange to see a Gringo woman driving with 19 people, 15 of whom were in the back of the truck in the truck bed. He was very nice and thank God I had my driver's license. A Honduran jail wasn't looking all that good to me. I'm sure he's telling his family about this crazy women from Los Estados Unidos driving a beat up old pick up with tons of gringos in the back.


That's not all that went on in my head during this week. Most of it I'm still processing, but wanted to share a few things I was thinking and doing. We will all be forever changed. I'm so grateful we had an opportunity to take this trip and to do it as a family.



Peace
Holly