On a Rainy Day All You Need is...a Washcloth?!

I was at Immigration today picking up my residency card (I am now officially a resident of Honduras!) and it was down pouring.  So much so that it was hard to see outside.  People here (especially the women) will put anything on their heads to "protect" them from the rain.  Most women opt for a plastic bag if they don't have an umbrella.  Today I saw a women wearing a washcloth on her head.  It would have helped for maybe 0.25 seconds in the downpour.  I had to hold my laughter in, but the woman seemed to think it helped.

But, I probably got more looks than she did.  I wore a rain jacket with a hood.  I got all sorts of looks and people didn't even bat an eye at the lady with the washcloth on her head.  Just another difference in cultures during rainy season!

Ants and Dirt

Dear goodness has it really been since April that I last blogged?!  Guess I've been a little busy.  Learning another language can do that to a person - make them busy.

Well I have a little story to share with you that just happened to me today.  Here in Honduras we have these rooms called bodegas or empleados (storage or employee rooms where the maids sometimes live.  These little rooms usually have a toilet, sink and shower or some variety of the 3.)  I use my bodega as a storage room.  I went in there today for the first time in several months to get some things out of storage.  I knew there would be some spiders and ants, etc.  But to my horror I never thought I would find a HUGE pile of dirt up to the top of the toilet seat with cockroaches and ants!!

I spent the next hour cleaning up this pile of dirt/cement.  I didn't know what to do with all of this dirt (no, I don't need more dirt in the yard.) so I decided to put it in garbage bags.  Brilliant idea, or so I thought.  First I used a huge yard trash bag and after a couple of shovels full, the bag was so heavy I couldn't move it.  "No problem, I'll just use the smaller trash bags." I thought.  This was a great idea until I picked up the bags and each one of them broke (you know, you can't have a trash bag stronger than kleenex here.)  So, after triple bagging and sweeping up all the dirt a-g-a-i-n I finally got it all cleaned up.

My lessons for the day 1.) go out to the bodega a little more often than once every few months. 2.) triple bag the bags before putting dirt in them.  Unless, that is, you don't want a dull day.

Could that really be?

Today I saw something that I knew my eyes could possibly not be seeing.

Here in Honduras you can often see people at intersections trying to earn money by doing different things or by selling something.  They could be "blowing" fire, juggling, balancing different objects, begging, washing windows, etc.  Or they could be selling flowers, fruit, phone chargers, phone cases, stuffed animals, newspapers, toothpaste (best buy of the year for me - a big tube of Colgate toothpaste for $1 - yes!), or about anything else you can think of.  At my intersection there is always a guy sitting in a wheelchair.  I'm not sure how many times I've come close to hitting him because he sits in the middle of a lane sometimes.

Today as I was going to meet some friends I was stopped at an intersection.  I saw this guy in a wheelchair wheel himself into the dangerous area (the place I call where if you move one more inch forward you will be run over by a turning vehicle).  They think this is a good spot to perform because they are out in front of the stopped traffic and many people can see them.  I think they're risking their lives for a few pennies.  Anyway, this guy proceeds to the dangerous area in his wheelchair.  The next thing I know, I see his left foot up above his head!  At first I thought he had a prosthetic leg and was holding it up and waving it in the air.  Nope.  It was his real leg that he could bend at the hip straight up.  Now, I'm a nurse and have seen my share of bendy people, but I had never seen someone able to sit in a wheelchair and pull their leg straight up with their foot above their head.  I was tempted to track him down and ask how he does it.

Sadly, this is how this particular man was earning his money today.  After I stopped laughing at the sight of someone sitting in the middle of an intersection with their leg straight up in the air - it is funny if you think about it, I was hit with what some people will do just to earn a few dollars to be able to survive.

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words. That is, if I had a picture...

Sorry for not posting for, well, I can't quite remember how long it has been.  Apparently life has been a little busy, or I have just been lazy and procrastinating. More likely, it's the latter.

I've said numerous times that I wish I would take more pictures here, especially while in the car.  But, I don't think driving while taking pictures is the best idea I've had.  So, you're just going to have use your imagination on these.  Here are a few things I've seen around Honduras:

*2 Policemen riding in the back of a police pickup.  Both sitting down (at least they were sitting).  One in the bed of the truck.  The other on a motorcycle with out a helmet and with the tailgate down.  Not the brightest of men serving Honduras.

*A man riding a motorcycle.  Not a huge man, but not necessarily skinny either.  He's carrying a spare tire. You guessed it.  He's wearing the tire around his middle like a floatation device used in a swimming pool.

*My friend's and I look of surprise when we noticed that the lame and beggar have traded "roles" on the street corner.  I almost gave them money for effort.

*A man washing his shoes in a puddle, in the street, of a busy intersection.  Traffic was backed up for a ways because of him.

*A family taking a lovely evening stroll.  In the rain. In the dark.  Down the middle of a very busy road.

*(This one happens all. the. time.  In fact, I almost hit 3 of them in less than 2 minutes one day because of where they walk.)  A man pushing his ice cream cart down the lane of traffic when there is a sidewalk 2 feet away.  They could not care less that traffic is backed up because of them.  They are going to sell that ice cream!

*A woman walking down the mountain carrying a tub of items on her head without using her hands.  Oh yeah,  she was wearing 3 inch high heels and a mini-skirt.

*A major intersection without functioning traffic lights.  I have never seen a traffic jam so big in my life! No one was willing to move an inch so someone could get through.  I had to go home and take a nap after that day of driving!

If you don't believe me, come on down and see for yourself!  I would hire you for a day just to take pictures.  :)

Ladies Day, 4-wheel driving and Drunks

I don’t even know where to begin to tell this story and even if I can portray it correctly.  It may be one of those times where you just had to be there.  It is definitely an adventure I won’t soon forget.  (Sorry it is so long and if it's hard to follow, it was hard to write.  I applaud you if you make it to the end of the adventure!)

A team of ladies came down from the States to hold a Ladies Day for several of the different churches my wonderful friends (the Allen’s) are working with.  I was asked to be part of the team.  (It was a wonderful blessing to be part of the team and I am so honored they asked me to help.) 

The church that we were at on this particular day had a horrible driveway up to the church and only 4WD vehicles could make it up.  It was also a difficult walk up and down it for those who are young and in-shape.  After each Ladies Day was over, the team would give the ladies a 40lb bag of food, a hygiene kit and a bag of soap to take home.  This was a huge blessing to the women and they usually had no problem carrying it all home.  Well, this day was different.  The older women definitely could not make it down the mountain with this kind of load.  We had also bussed in women from the next town over and they needed rides back home.

Since my vehicle was one of the 2 with 4WD, I had to drive the ladies down the mountain.  This is where the adventure starts.  I thought I was just going down the driveway to drop everyone off so they could get on the bus we had rented and to take two ladies home.  When I got to the bottom of the hill, I turned right because I thought the women who were riding the bus would get off there and then I would head to the hardware store that I had to drop off someone was to the right and then come back and drop off the last lady who lived to the left.  (this is what I had understood after numerous different people telling me what I was going to do).  Well, when I turned right out of the driveway, I had a whole carload of Hondurans yelling at me in Spanish.  I told them I had to talk to Matthew to see exactly where I was going, because I wasn’t sure.  They didn’t want to wait for me and kept yelling at me.  After I got turned around (after much yelling by them), no one got out of the car like I thought they would.  Interesting.  I dropped off the one lady to the left and contined on since they all seemed to be pointing straight ahead.  I thought I would make one more stop and they would all get out. 

Well, after the next stop I still had 3 women in the car.  I had no clue where to take them or what to do with them.  The other two guys (Ken and Matthew) who were driving the other two cars, told me to follow them to the next town – they must live there.  I thought it would be a 10 minute drive there, we would drop them off and come back.  No big deal.

Oh, did I mention Pedro (a leather worker) who jumped inside my car at the church?  I had just met him that day and within 2 minutes of him telling me about his family he told me I had horrible Spanish and that I must work and study harder on it.  I told him I had only been in the country for 10 months and I’m doing the best I can.  He didn’t care.  I spoke terrible Spanish according to him.  Oh, and he’s deaf and speaks English.  Still haven’t figured that one out.  I didn’t really realize he was in the car with me until after the second stop and he jumped into the front passenger seat.  Not sure what to do with him, I got in line and followed the other vehicles to the next town. 

When we turn off the main road, Matthew gets out of his car to tell me to put my car in 4WD and we’ll go as far as the road will let us.  This is when he realizes Pedro is in my car.  He also had no idea Pedro came along and has no idea what to do with him at this point since he lives in the town we just came from.

So, we continue on our way.  Up and over a muddy, rocky path.  Matthew, in a Defender, Ken in a 15 passenger van/bus, and me in my Pathfinder.  Matthew and I are able to go farther than Ken and we drop off a group of women.  We get turned around and I am now in the lead. This is when drunk man number 1 tries to sell me something while trying to climb in my window.  I try to close the window, but he hangs on and becomes more persistent in selling and trying to get into the car.  Matthew finally yells at him from his vehicle to leave me alone and we move on.

I come upon Ken who is stuck along the road.  This road is mostly large rocks and mud cut through the side of a mountain.  We (or the men, I should say.  I did absolutely nothing other than stand there and watch) finally get the van turned around.  We continue along the way with Matthew honking “friendly country greetings” to the people along the path.  Ken thought Matthew was honking at him so he stops.  This is when drunk man number 2 enters the story.  I had noticed him on when we were going the other way and he just stumbled out of the way when I drove by.  He must have remembered me when we stopped because he stumbled his way in front of my vehicle and would not let go of the side mirror while banging on the window.  I finally had to drive off and hoped he would let go!

A couple of hills later, Ken decides Matthew should go in front of us with the Defender in case if we needed to be winched out.  That was an experience playing musical vehicles on a road that is one lane.

The next big hill Ken gets stuck.  Time to use the winch.  The guys get it out and ready only to discover the van has nothing to hook the winch to.  Ken mentions that he thought he would have more trouble going over the hills with the women in the van – more weight – but is having more trouble now that he has a light load.  We look at each other, shrug, and pile into the back of the van.  Ken is able to get over the hill without any problems. 

Thankfully, we make it back to the church without any more problems.  A short little drive to the next town had turned into at least a 1 ½ hour adventure.  You never know when the next adventure is right around the corner here!

In True Missionary Style

This one is for you, Elisa. :)

My little neighborhood had been having power outages frequently for unknown reasons, but one day we had a scheduled outage.  I didn’t know this because I hadn’t bought a paper saying where the outage was this particular Sunday.  The outages can last anywhere from a couple of hours to all day. 

This particular Sunday, in only a way things seem to happen to me, I missed getting home by 5 minutes before the power outage started.  I pulled up to the driveway and pressed the garage door opener.  Nothing happened.  I pressed it again.  Nothing.  I hit the opener on the dashboard a couple of times (the landowner said you have to do this sometimes because the button sticks.)  Nothing happened.  By this time, a few of my neighbors had pulled up to their driveways and discovered they couldn’t get their garage doors open either.  They were honking horns and yelling at their family members to open the door.  This is when I realized the electricity was out.

“No problem.” I thought.  “I’ll just unlock the garage door, pull it open and be inside in no time.”  There was one problem with this thought – I didn’t have the key with me for that door.  “I’ll just unlock the other door, go around and open the garage door from the inside.  It worked that way the last time the electricity went out.”  I then realized there was a slight problem with this idea too.  The key for that door was stuck in the keyhole on the inside of the door.  There was no way to get inside since no one else had keys.

At first I thought I could sit outside for a little bit and wait for the electricity to come back on.  Then I remembered I was in Honduras and it could be a looong wait.  Oh, did I mention the thunder that was starting and the few raindrops I had felt?

By this time I was determined to get inside my house no matter what it took.  I noticed the wall in front of the house wasn’t all that tall.  I then noticed that the back of my car goes up the wall a good distance.  So, I backed up my car in the driveway, took my shoes off, climbed up the back of my car and up and over the wall in true missionary style.  Of course, as I was walking along the top of the wall for a place to climb down on the inside, the neighbor guys came outside.  (They already have to think I’m nuts with cutting the grass in the front yard by hand.) 

I made it over the wall with a few bumps and bruises and blue paint dust (the best way I can describe what was all over me from the roof on the wall), but I was inside!  (With no water to wash off the "paint dust" until 4 hours later.) I was never so thankful to have worn pants to church that day!  Can you imagine me doing that in a dress?! 

Health Riot

Me, who avoids conflict at all costs, has caused a riot.  I never meant too, but it happened.  Thankfully no violence was involved.  Just a small protest.  What was it over you ask.  Health care lessons.  Yes, I caused a small group teenage boys to demand that they get at least 15 minutes of health lessons at the end of their Bible Study.  Oh, it was too funny when I heard that teenage boys were demanding to learn how to be clean!!

Here's how it all started.  On Thursdays I have to opportunity to travel to Las Casitas with a couple of other families for Thursday Church.  This small village doesn't have a pastor, so on Thursdays we all pile into the vehicle and travel 2 hours to Las Casitas.  Matthew holds a Bible study for the preteen and teenage boys before church.  Since the rest of us are there (we are like the circus that comes to town every Thursday) the other kids come early.  I asked if I could take that time and teach the kids about health, nutrition, clean water, etc.  The others were thrilled with the idea.  So, off I went.  

The first week was on handwashing.  You would not believe how black that water was after we all washed our hands singing "Cristo me Amo"!  The next couple weeks were on dental hygiene.  For dental hygiene we talked about what foods are good and bad to eat, how to take care of your teeth, and how to clean your teeth.  At the end of the lesson, everyone got their own toothbrush and toothpaste and mixture of backing soda and salt.  The next week after the young men found out they missed out on getting the goodies, they rioted.  Demanding they get a health lesson too.  I don't think it's so much as they want the lesson, but they want the goodies.  Little do they know, there will be no more goodies for a long time.  But, if they want health lessons, it will be health lessons they get! :) 

 Here the kiddos show what they received after learning about how to clean their teeth.

Carlos wants to make sure he has the directions clear and spends some very intent moments reading his tube of toothpaste.  

 Leonardy inspects his toothbrush.  He is one of the smartest kids in class.  He always pays attention, knows the answers and is a good role model for the younger kids. 

Hopefully, I will be better in the future and not cause any more riots.  But, if I do, hopefully it's more people demanding to know how to be healthier and how to take care of their bodies.  Because after all, our bodies are a temple of God and we are to take care of them in order to honor Him (which is what the kids are learning!)