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Published: October 28th 2008
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Another month has slipped by, and this month has gone by rather swiftly for me. I have become very ocupied with school, church, and my new found friends!
At school we finished September off with the Peace March, which was basically an Independence Day but much calmer. The schools came out to march, there were speaches, etc. but the excitement level was much lower and not as many people showed up. It is not a march about world peace, rather, they talk about internal peace, and stopping the violence that plagues this country. Daily many people are killed in the bigger cities because of drugs and gangs.
Another big event at the school was exams week. There are four periods and we completed the first period two weeks ago. We had block schedule testing, two tests every day, two and a half hours each test. The kids were under a lot of pressure. But they all did great, and to celebrate they had a pajama day on Friday. I forgot my camera and was kicking myself, they were so cute in their matching pajamas. They played games, ate cake, and had fashion show to display all their matchng pajamas.
The next event with the school is Culture Night, October 31, where the children show off their singing and dancing talents. They have been practicing for several weeks now and are very excited. Here they do not celebrate Halloween so I think it will be a nice change from what I am used to.
We are also gearing up for the Christmas Program. It is the 20th of December and the children will be performing a Christmas play and singing Christmas songs in English. I am excited about this and have already selected what song my second graders will sing.
The month of November there are absolutely no holidays in Honduras. I am thankful because that means I can teach a five-day week uninterrupted. It has been very difficult to teach everything necessary in four days, and test the fourth day. I have also made some personal teaching goals for myself starting the second period.
Now, about my church. My church is slowly starting to grow. We went to the small town of Cabañas this month, to have a service in a house. 19 of us piled into several vehicles and on a dark, stormy night
we made our way over some very muddy roads. When we got to Cabañas, there was no electricity so we had the service with candles. It was a very beautiful time. We were all a little wet (because some of us traveled in the back of the truck) but we sang and there was preaching and prayer and it was wonderful.
Also my pastor and his family went to help a medical brigade this month in the town where our other church is, Limón. I went with them and met some very nice missionaries that live in the next town over, some nice Southern Baptist folks from the Carolinas, and got a fabulous sunburn. I helped a very little bit with translation while my pastor gave a salvation message to groups of people. Before they could recieve medical help they had to listen to his sermon. He preached all day and also went the following day to another location with the group.
A new family started attending my church and this past Sunday evening we had a whopping 31 people at church. And not everyone came! It is very exciting to see growth, even a little bit. We
are planning several events in the church. The first big event is finishing the floor. There is still a dirt floor and they would like to finish it soon. Each family will donate the money for one bag of cement and hopefully within the month the men will complete the floor. Also, the 22nd of November is the church's 7th anniversary. They will invite several likeminded congregations to help celebrate. The ladies of the church are going to make Tamales and I am so excited. I learned how to make them recently and even though it is a lot of work, it is also a lot of fun.
The congregation is also planning a trip to visit the new family. They live 30 minutes by foot from the church and their 5 year old daughter is having a birthday next Tuesday. So we are going to take a hike (literally) and visit them. They are a very sincere and humble family, and I am excited to get to know them.
The last area of my life here is friends. I have three friends here, Vilma, the pastor's wife, Carolina, a co-worker, and María Jesús, the wife of a
missionary. I am so thankful to have friends down here. Vilma invites me to dinner and we also visit a lady to have a Bible study with her every week, Carolina invites me to her church and house and I will be attending a wedding in her church this Saturday, and María Jesús and I spend time talking together. They are such a blessing because it is hard to be in a new place with no one to talk to. One special friend I have is Damaris, the pastor's 9 year old daughter. She always comes to visit me in the store and last week we spent several hours scouring the city looking for baking cocoa. There is none here, but we spend a good two hours asking in every single Pulperia (little store). I enjoy spending time with her because she teaches me new words and phrases and doesn't mind when I don't make sense.
All this to say life is very busy here. They will get even busier the closer we get to Christmas. But I am finally feeling like this town is 'home' when I walk the streets and greet people I know. Spanish is still
a never ending struggle but it is much improved and I will hopefully take some classes this coming month. Thanks for your emails and letters! I really appreciate them. And a special thank you to my brother Dan and my friend Sarah who both sent me chocolate and I received their packages the same day. Dark chocolate is not popular around here and I was in the throws of despair. But now things are peachy keen. Thanks a lot!!!!
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April
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Hi Anna!!!! Love hearing of life back "home"in Honduras! :) Glad things are settling down ... but i know there's always struggles. Did you contact either of the Spanish schools in Copan? I miss learning spanish. :) Right now I'm visiting a super-good friend in Germany for 3 weeks, so am trying to learn some deutsch. je je je it's fun but slow-going! I love you and am praying for you! vOS SOS MUY ESPECIAL! :)