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Published: March 2nd 2009
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Happy March everyone!
Well, March came in like a LION here. So I don't know if the saying is true here, hopefully it will go out like a lamb. March and April are very dry summer months here, with hot, unbearable temperatures. At least, that is what everyone told me. Yesterday we were in the service at church and this incredible rain came down, I thought the gusts of wind and the rain would pull the roof off. And it is COLD! But I suppose in two weeks everyone will give their left foot for a bit of cool weather so I won't complain too much.
The highlight of every February is Valentine's Day, and we had a nice party at school. It seems like every party day is the same here, the same games, the same activities, but the kids don't get tired of it. They LOVE a day to come to school and not have to do any work! I worked with board games, I guess that is my 'spot' when it comes to fun days, but I don't mind.
The next great adventure was a day in Copán with my friend April. She came the
14th and we spent the day walking the streets of Copán, visiting friends of hers, and going to the bird park. She came down to Honduras for three weeks to visit and to help with her missionary friends in La Joya. I had a blast! I spend a lot of time with friends here, but it is amazing how much communication can go on when both people talk the same language. :-) She is a wonderful person, she introduced me to many of her friends, showed me around the bilingual school she taught at, and gave me some wonderful teaching hints. It was such an encouragement to talk with her about similar classroom experiences.
That Saturday night there was a crusade here in Santa Rita, thousands of people showed up to see the singers and the evangelist that came from a nearby town. I wasn't too keen on the evangelist, it seemed like a lot of hype and emotion and about two inches of depth. But I was VERY keen on the music, and I ended up buying both cds of the music group that sang. Come to find out, I like Norteña music. They sing so clearly, I
can understand all the words and all the songs are really good songs too. Very biblical and straightforward. You can compare Norteña to american blugrass, only Honduran style. It is very catchy.
The next event, which really wasn't an event but rather a great learning experience, was waching Doña Tona kill a rooster. I have always wondered just how people hand kill chickens to eat them, and I found it really is not that hard. All you have to do is securely tie the feet, hang it from a low branch, slit the throat with a sharp razor blade, and let the blood drip into a pan half filled with water. When the rooster is dead, cut off the head, pluck all the feathers, and pull out the insides. And then you can cook it however you want to. Easy as pie. Five minutes and it's over. And don't worry, no hens were harmed. Just one rooster. Actually, to be serious, this is how people live here. Not everyone has money to go to the market and buy the frozen chicken. Some have to do it themselves and I was so happy to finally learn how to, just in
case the need arises.
The following weekend I went with my friend Vilma to her parent's house. Her sister had an engagement party that evening and we went to help out. I learned how to make Pastelitos, which are a lot easier than I imagined. First we made the rice and potato mixture that went inside, and while that was cooking we made the tortilla mix, with a little color and zing to it. Then instead of making the tortialls by hand, which is the usual, we made very thin totillas with the tortilla maker. We put a little potato and rice mixture in the middle of the tortilla, folded it in half around the mixture, and fried it in grease. They were SO good.
Vilma's sister arrived a little late, she had been in clases all day, then the party got underway. The official title of the party was the "Pedimiento", the "asking for" and it is when her boyfriend officially asks for her hand in front of both sides of the family. Everyone said they didn't have a problem with the marriage, and he popped out a rose which turned out to be a ring holder.
It was very sweet. But before we knew it, we had to leave because the last bus leaves out of Copán at 5:30. We arrived to the bus stop about 6, which, there were no busses, so we waited on the side of the road for a "jalón". Another girl was waiting as well so we made a little group, Vilma, her kids, me, and the other young girl, and we flagged down a few trucks. Finally some young man driving a truck let us hop on and we reached Santa Rita in record time. I didn't imagine people drove so fast with young children in the back of the truck but no one fell out and we arrived safely!
A friend and I have been planning to go to Los Planes, but it seems every time we plan a day, something happens. Well we still haven't made it, but one day last week, Elvira, the sister of my director, told me, "let's go to Los Planes", so we did. It was a long, difficult climb up the mountain, but the sights were just fantastic. When we arrived it started to rain so we left quickly, we barely entered
the town. I will go again to actually visit the town and the pottery places they have up there. But I am so glad I was able to sneak a trip up the mountain. You can see for miles and miles, it is just amazing!!
Last week our church started a two-week prayer-a-thon, I guess you could call it in English. We started getting up at 4 am every morning and meeting at the church to pray. This week we decided 5 am was early enough...but I have been encouraged to see quite a few people from the church arrive every morning to pray. We are praying for an overall growth in the church and also for the crusades we will hold in Limón. The church in Limón has very low attendence and we are going to try to reach out to the families later on in March. Pastor's wife Vilma and I have been doing a little visiting too.
I have been progressively getting busier and busier. My plans for March are to go to teacher training in San Pedro Sula with the teachers from the school, help host the crusades in Limón, and travel to a
few more interesting places near Santa Rita. And Vilma and I will probaly go visiting and I'm sure a million other things will happen in between all that. But life is good, my Spanish is improving, and I am finally enjoying myself a little bit. Before it was all work work work, trying to get used to the language and the culture. Now things are almost normal!
I hope you all have a wonderful March! Saludos!!!!
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Solana
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Abril and prayers
How wonderful that you got to spend with Abril!! she is such a blessing to our family, though we only know her through our trips to Honduras. I am very excited to hear about the prayer-a-thon for the church in Limón. Certainly seeking God''s face is the very best thing we can do to bring about growth. so often we American Christians try everything else under the sun instead f prayer. I will be praying for growth in El Limón and will ask others who traveled there with me to do so.