family fun

On January 14th I eagerly awaited the arrival of my parents to the airport in San Pedro. Although they were the very last people from their flight to claim their luggage, it all arrived and they were happy to see me waiting on the other side.

We packed their 10 day visit with lots of different things, mostly so they could see what my life is like in Santa Rosa, and meet all the people that are so very important to me. We toured the town on the only sunny day of their visit (I did warn them, I do NOT live in the tropics!) and we took time to visit the historical Mayan ruins in Copan. We visited my favorite cafes and restaurants in Santa Rosa, went on 2 work visits over the hills to the rural communities where I work, and my dad an I preached at my church! Of course, I made sure there was plenty of time to get to know Henry and we had lunch with his family and coffee back at their house. By the end, I think we were all pretty tired, but it was great to spend so much time with them and share so much of my life in Honduras with them. Here are some picture highlights of their time here:

checking out the ACDIM office

me and dad at the church in the park

shopping in the market for dinner

welcome to the newly refurbished stairs of Santa Rosa!
election year brings some good things, I guess ;)

one of the 30 wonders of Honduras, supposedly

community visit with Ruth, my director

visiting some of the women in Plan Grande and buying bread

trying to capture the essence of the road...doesnt quite do it justice, right Dad?

dinner in Copan

having some fun in Copan

enjoying Copan Ruins in the rain

Henry with the smiling jaguar

a giant Ceiba tree

of course, there had to be a flat tire... but we fixed it. for $1.50.

parents meet the parents!!

the rest of Henry's family ( L to R: sister, bro-in law, niece, younger sister)

preaching and translating in my church

cows on the road. gotta watch out for those, along with millions of potholes.

enjoying the hot springs

So so so so very glad they came and were able spend lots of time with me and Henry. It was a great visit. Now I think I need another vacation to recoup ;)

home sweet home

could she BE any cuter?

I have been on US soil for almost 4 days now and I feel like time is flying. It has been great to connect with my family and get reacquainted with my favorite niece who is almost 1 whole year old!

Someone asked me how I can deal with the culture shock of being in one place for so long, spend a few hours on a plane, and drop right back in to the crazy, technologically-advanced, option-loaded life that is American culture.

And the truth is I don't know how I do it. It just happens. I move from one "life" to the "other" feeling like I have each foot in a completely separate world...one where I miss my family and friends, and the other where I learn and discover new things every day, immersed in a completely different language and culture. There are so many good things about both! And of course, there are frustrating/scary/difficult things in each respective location.

Since the shiny-newness of Honduran culture has worn off a bit, and I just returned to my homeland, I will list for you some observations that hit me in the first few days:

1) Americans are sloppy dressers while traveling. This will come to no surprise to many of you, but now that I have to put on earrings and cute shoes just to walk to the grocery store, my idea of "comfort" has changed. Hondurans dress up to go ANYWHERE. All I saw in the Atlanta airport were girls with shorty shorts, flip-flops, and pony-tails (nothing color coordinating, mind you) and I thought "You should go back to bed, child. What do you think you are doing in public?"

2) Toilet paper goes in the toilet. Common sense, I know, and something I did for the last 20-some years of my life before Honduras...but new habits die hard.

3) options OpTiOnS OPTIONS! Everywhere you go (mostly grocery stores) have an overwhelming array of options. An example: you go to the store, lets say for a cookie...first, there is an entire aisle of cookies... so you narrow it down to an oreo. now there is a whole oreo section with at least 13 varieties to pick from.  I cant even take it. Im pretty sure in Santa Rosa my oreo options are regular y dorada (white cookie choco center...).

4) cost of living things...food, gas, etc. Most prices seem to be comparable, especially in grocery items, and in fact gas in Honduras is much more expensive...but incomes are not comparable in Honduras. Monthly wages are much lower which drives the demand for more public transport and a very different living standard.

happy to see my poppa at the airport!

These are some very basic observations in my short time back, but its helpful for me to process the differences between my two cultures, from the funny and ridiculous to the serious and challenging things.

I am very grateful for the privelege of being able to travel, all the "luxuries" of home, and some restful vacation time with my family.




Here are some pics of what I've been up to. Hoping to blog soon about some more recent things that happened in my sometimes crazy and dramatic Honduran experience :)

first eats in the states: Taco Bell.
Yes you can cringe...but I love me a Crunchwrap Supreme at 11pm :)

starbucks love with my big sis

 

finally warming up to the aunt she barely knows.
 its ok. i'll soon be her favorite.

she's unimpressed by my photo-documenting of her life

nuevo año

I realize I'm a little late in my 'Happy New Year' post...but things have been a little crazy for me the last few weeks...so, let's hit the highlights:

December 25: Christmas dinner with fellow foreigners. Delicious food and a fun time together.

December 27: My mom, dad, and little sister came to visit me in Tegucigalpa!
It was so great to have them here and be able to share my Honduran life with them. We spent some time with my host family (where I got to translate everything)...ate lots of typical Honduran food (baleadas, pupusas, tortillas, tacos, etc.)...saw the sights in and around Teguc...visited Lake Yojoa for a fun boat ride and fried fish...and spent time with my fellow MCCers, the Troyers. It was great to have them here, but hard to say goodbye.

December 31: Año viejo. The Honduran tradition to ring in the New Year is to burn the "old year" or "año viejo." Old year is basically a scarecrow-looking man, that sits in the street for the week leading up to the 31st. Children and teens hang out in the street, collecting money from any passer-by for the "año viejo." Their intention is to buy firecrackers with the money to stuff the man and light him on fire...I am skeptical the money is only used for fireworks, but alas, I did contribute :)
So, on the 31st, all over the neighborhood there were groups of children lighting the scarecrows on fire and watching them burn to nothing. The one outside our door first got a dousing of gasoline, plus the firecrackers...so it didn't take too long to get rid of the old man. My parents and sister also got to witness this exciting event, so don't be alarmed if you've seen my dad's pictures on facebook. They really aren't burning an actual person, it just looks like it.

January 1: my family left for the states. I was pretty tired, but when I got home to relax and rest with my host family, I found out they were going to Picacho (a park up the mountain) to spend the afternoon, so of course I went along. Turns out most Hondurans enjoy spending New Years Day at the park, so we sat around eating tajaditas and tamales and enjoying the outdoors with 60% of Tegucigalpans.

January 3: Grandma's birthday (more cake, more festivities, more hilarity with the Honduran extended family).

January 5-9: MCC Honduras retreat at the farm. It was really fun to get together with the whole Honduras team for a time of planning, fellowship, and fun. We spent lots of time catching up on each others lives, planning for the year ahead, worshiping together, eating, playing games, and even doing a little swimming. I am continually blessed by the people who make up this team and am grateful for their friendship and partnership here in Honduras. It's never easy to leave reatreat and get back into routine, but its good to be at home too.

So...that brings me to today. Back to work...hoping to find some time to catch up on sleep, but per usual the schedule is filling already :)
Today is my fellow SALTer's bday (happy bday Elise!) so we will be celebrating later this week.
Another SALT friend from Nicaragua is stopping in to visit, so I am excited to see her.
I think there is another family birthday party on the horizon...
...and who knows what else.

Thanks for your continued prayers and support. As I come up to my 5 month anniversary in Honduras, there is more and more pressure to figure out what my next steps are after SALT. Your prayers for wisdom and open doors would be appreciated too.