Friday evening: My gringa friends' host father (also my coworker's father) was in the hospital for an accident that occurred at work on Thursday. His fingers were cut pretty bad, but they were able to reattach them after a 3 hours surgery. So, I was invited to go visit Arturo in the hospital. I was really glad I went for several reasons. One, it was a good way to see the public hospital, and a good way to know I never want to be admitted there! Two, it was fun to cheer Arturo up and see the reaction of other patients to the gaggle of gringas he had visiting him. Apparently he was quite popular among the patients after we left :)
So after that excursion, I hung out with Elise and Allison at their house and had a fun time chatting and eating and generally forgetting why I was bummed about not being in Virginia on Friday.
Saturday: I made plans to run some errands and go to the mall with Elise and Johanna. We had coffee together and caught up on life, then wandered around the mall, shopping for random things that each of us wanted. Then, on a whim we decided to catch an afternoon movie at the cinema in the mall. It was fun to just relax and enjoy a movie--something I rarely splurge on here. The movie was in English (with subtitles) and for a moment you can almost forget you're not watching in the U.S.
So we did a bit more shopping and then headed back to Suyapa before the daylight went away. When I got back to my street, my host mom, my aunt and our two neighbor ladies who run the pulperia were making pupusas and selling them on the corner. This was part of a project from the church...we were all given a talent of 100 Lempiras (about $5) and within 10 days we have to invest it and bring back more than 100. Our group decided to pool our money and sell food together. Since they had started without me, I figured it was only fair to join in and help with the marketing and selling. It was really fun hanging out with these ladies on the corner, an activity usually only enjoyed by Honduran men...and it was nice to have some fun with them. I personally sold 11 pupusas, and they were extremely impressed. One man only bought 5 because I was part of the group...the other 6 I sold to my gringo friends, Virgil and Kathy.
Sunday morning: I went to church with the family. It was communion Sunday so I helped Lucia with the cups and soda and bread and then joined the service. Of course, it always goes long when communion is involved. Then the church ladies were selling pupusas at the chuch (to raise money for the new building) so I had to support the cause (again!). Delicious.
After church I took a nap, ate lunch with the fam, and retired to my room to do some reading. Around 2:30 Elise called and invited me to the Via Olympica (outdoor sports facility) to exercise with her and Allison. It was blazing hot, but I went any way. We walked around the track for awhile and sweat enough, so we didn't feel the need to run :)
When I got back from the Via, our "talent" group was selling tacos to further increase our return on investment. I was given a hard time for skipping out, but sales turned out fine without me. I took a quick cold shower to refresh before the family birthday party at 6. We went to Aunt Lila's house to celebrate Uncle Telmo's birthday. The usual chaos ensued...women cooking up a storm, children running wild, older men watching futbol on TV and generally being in the way ;) We had a delicious dinner of pincho (grilled steak), chismole (fresh salsa), beans, rice, cheese and tortillas. yum.
Everyone left kind of early, which is rare for this side of the family. My household was the last ones hanging around, helping to clean up. This was about the time their uncle pulled out his bb-gun rifle and challenged me and my host brother to a best-shot contest. I am proud to tell you I shot a Coke bottle across the street 3 out of 3 times! Axel was shocked. As was his uncle! I knew I would not live it down if I missed it...and now I have full on bragging rights! I think Axel was like 1 for 4. hehehe. awesome.
So...with all that random-ness, it was suddenly Sunday evening and then my alarm was going off for work on Monday morning.
I am thankful for a good host family who keeps me entertained and their extended family who always welcome me with open arms. It is also great to have some close friends who invite me over just when I need a break from moping around in my homesickness. Love you girls!
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