a visit from PA!

I was very honored this week to have a very special friend visit from PA! Also, her initials are PA, so the title works out nicely J I tried to give Paula a good mix of touristy activities while also showing her what my life is like here, and getting to know some of the various projects me and MCC colleagues are a part of.

Paula arrived on Sunday and we spent the day hanging out with my family, resting up after a long morning of travel, and generally adjusting to life in my house in Honduras.

On Monday we ventured out to Valle de Angeles, a touristy little town nestled in the mountains outside Tegucigalpa. It was a pretty quiet day, but we enjoyed some time to shop, catch up and have lunch together. In the evening we played Dutch Blitz with my host brothers (they have pretty much loved it from the day I taught them!) and were thrilled that team Honduras kept scoring “goals” on team USA. A bit embarrassing, since I taught Axel everything he knows :P

Tuesday morning we left early to head to Amor, Fe y Esperanza, the school where my MCC friend Johanna teaches. She gave us a great tour and overview of the ministry there. They work with children and families who live in the city trash dump…not easy work, but they have seen some tremendous change in the community there and are continually expanding their projects and programs. We had lunch at Johanna’s house and then went back downtown for the afternoon. We took in the National Identity museum (interesting, but completely in Spanish…and I got tired of translating!)…checked out the 2 main catholic churches (a requirement of any visit to Central American countries)…did a bit of shopping, and had dinner at a crepe restaurant. To wrap up the day of events, we met up with a bunch of foreigner friends and went to a free jazz concert at the National Theatre. It was a fun day, but we were pretty tired by the time we got home at 10.

Wednesday was Paula’s MCM orientation day. I let her sleep in a bit, then brought her to my office to meet my coworkers and show her the different components of MCM. After lunch, we sat in on a bank meeting (for our mutual microfinance interest :) and then Paula went to visit the after-school library program started by our Danish volunteers. Although she does not know much Spanish, she did not let that keep her from playing with the kids and even playing UNO for about an hour. In the evening we went to the Troyer’s house for a delicious dinner and good fellowship. We spent the night there and took regular showers in the a.m! (as opposed to the bucket showers Paula learned to master at my house :)

Thursday we visited ASJ (Assoc. for a more Just Society) where my MCC buddy Elise works. She did a great job sharing the work ASJ is a part of in Honduras, working to create more just systems and helping people who often have no voice with the government. We visited one of their community centers where they offer free legal advice and psychological counseling to the community. It was really inspiring and fun for both of us to learn more about what Elise does.

The afternoon of Thursday deserves its own post…so I will try to post about that soon. But, it was the last class of the 8 week training I have been working on for awhile, and then the “graduation” dinner or certificate ceremony in the evening. It was a great day, and I was so glad Paula could be here to share in it with me. I have to admit, this made her think I am very busy and always doing important things…I assured her (and now all of you) that this is not the case. I work for about 3 months without much to show for it, or at least much to keep me going, for 1 or 2 days where I feel like something is happening. I guess I’m just glad she got to witness the “something happening.” It was a really fun evening and even though Paula didn’t understand every word, she definitely could share in the general sentiment of joy and accomplishment that filled each one of the women who came Thursday evening.

Friday and Saturday did not go quite as we planned, but turned out well. We went to Picacho, the National Park across the city from where I live. We visited the zoo (a bit scary with monkeys roaming around outside their cage), checked out the view of the city, saw the large Jesus statue presiding over the mountain and had a good time together. On Saturday we spent more time with Virgil and Kathy and even made bagels from scratch! We were very proud of our efforts and enjoyed a relaxing day at the Troyer’s house.

Sunday was a bit crazy, as we went to church and then had to leave early to head to the airport. Although it was sad to say goodbye to Paula, I was ready to go home and take a nap J

I appreciate Paula’s willingness to come and visit me here in Teguc, even when her family told her it wasn’t a good idea. She was very flexible and willing to live just like I do for a week, and that meant a lot to me. It was so fun to catch up and share my experience with a great friend. I can’t thank her enough for coming!

enjoying baleadas, a Honduran essential.

making bagels! from scratch! won't my momma be so proud of me?