Monday, March 30th

Hola todos!

Hoy fue un buen dia - un dia buenisima! Que grupo de Minnesota!

We're having a fantastic time. I suppose I should really speak for myself, but I feel fairly confident to speak for the entire group in this regard.

In a nutshell, we shopped in the morning for food in La Paz at a grocery store and an outdoor market, we worked at the Tierra Santa school helping many of the students write letters back to students in Eden Prairie, some of us got started on building tables for the new computer lab, we played soccer, we constructed kites, we played with balloons, and we began a weeklong art project.

When I say "we", of course I cannot include myself in all those experiences. At any given moment we have two or three various things going on simutaneously. And if you asked the group, they'd probably tell you that I wasn't really doing any of them. Ha Ha. Actually I love to bop between activities and give my support wherever it's needed.

I pitched in this morning at the school helping with the letter writing. Thankfully, so did Debbie. She was a big help in talking with the teachers and making sure we all knew what we were doing. The first class was a bit difficult considering we were working with 1st and 2nd graders. Think about writing letters with 1st graders back home, and you'll know how difficult it is writing letters with students in Honduras who have not had nearly the quality of education that most Minnesota kids have had. In most cases, we read the letters from the EP students to the Tierra Santa students out loud. And in many cases, we also wrote the letters back taking dictation from the kids here. They told us what to write and we wrote it. The second class was much easier. This class was made up of 5th and 6th graders. They seemed to love the project and love the fact that they were corresponding with real live kids an ocean away.

One of my highlights outside of Tierra Santa today was the open air market in La Paz. I just love that place. I started out my stroll by buying a plateful of fresh fruit. Later on when that ran out I bought a donut from the local bakery. I was tempted to later buy some fresh french fries cooking in grease before my eyes, but I held off. Regretting that decision just a bit. I reunited with some old friends in the market. Not really - but I did deliver pictures to some of the vendors I had met last time. They thought it was quite a kick that I had a picture of them in my pocket. One of the guys even stared me down as I was walking up to him. He actually remembered me, and I remembered him. He's my new friend now, Luis.

At Tierra Santa I had a lot of time to hang out with the kids today. I spent a lot of time with Ricky. I am his padrino, or in English, god father. He just stayed at my side most of the afternoon. Earlier in the day, I delivered to him a gift I had brought with me. It was a Twins shirt, Twins shorts, and a Justin Morneau cap. He loved it all. He's a great kid, nine years old just like my daughter Sammie.

One of the best things for me, and I've mentioned this before, is just strolling around the Tierra Santa courtyard and having children yelling out "Christopher" as I pass by. I love the fact that I'm getting to know these kids on a more personal level.

We ended the night with a dinner at La Fonda. We were joined by Jeff and four Tierra Santa kids - Jesus, Henry, Karolina and Yani. After dinner we all strolled down to the central square and enjoyed some ice cream. My favorite moment of the night was watching all the kids, Tierra Santa kids included, playing catch with three juggling balls at the foot of the cathedral. I think that image with stay with me for a very long time. Thanks to all the EPers for a great journey so far!!!