I rode to church with a chicken today.

Seriously...well most of the way.

I went to a small Honduran church today.  It was awesome, and I think I may have found my church home while I'm down here.  On the way there, about a kilometer or so from the Ranch, we stopped to pick up a family [mother, three kids, and a granddaughter].  About another kilometer or two down the dirt road we stopped by a group of people, and one woman came up with a plastic bag (it was double bagged actually)...and a chicken head poking out.  This was a live chicken.  It moved and it clucked.  She handed it through the window to one of the house moms who was riding in the van with us...and we kept going.  With the chicken.  I was informed (upon questioning Melody) that this particular house mom spends Sunday with her family back in Teguc, and this isn't the first time she's gone there with a chicken.  It definitely was a first for me.

The church, as stated, was small and very welcoming. We weren't even meeting in a church building, it's in a small building that houses a kind of corner mini-grocery store (pulpería) where they sell pop and snacks downstairs, and we were in a large-ish room upstairs that had other rooms coming off one end of it.  They looked kind of like apartments or offices, I couldn't tell.  We were singing songs with lyrics off of an overhead projector (the ones that require clear transparancies), and sitting in plastic chairs.  But the people are amazing, and in conversations and in the preaching there is a definite sense of God's presence there.  I was able to understand some of what the pastor was saying, and what I didn't pick up on, Luis translated.  [He translated the whole thing, I just sometimes paid attention to him, and sometimes paid attention to the pastor.]

Afterward was the weekly stop at the mall for lunch and shopping.  Conversation was good, shopping is tiring...and we had some fun getting back.  It's been raining a bit more lately (it's raining as I type)...and the dirt road gets a little more eroded, a little more slippery and the stream crossing the dirt road gets a little higher it seems each time we travel it.  I was a little concerned about us making it across (obviously we did).  There was concern about making it up one particular hill as well (which we did...barely...last night it took us 4 tries to get up that hill!).  For some reason, a day in the city exhausts me.

Oh, last night...yeah.  Last night we went out for sushi to celebrate Kim's birthday.  It was a lot of fun, and the sushi place was really good.  It never occured to me I'd be going out for sushi in Honduras, but why not.  The food was excellent, and food and drink together cost $10 (almost exactly...a little bit over).  You can spend more than that in fast food places...I have spent more than that in fast food places.  So all around a good evening, and if the drive back was a little...interesting...I have complete confidence in Andrew's ability to drive...or at least I tell myself that...since he hasn't given me a reason to doubt yet.

School starts tomorrow, so as it's already 9:30, I'm heading to bed.  I'm sure I'll write more about it later...provided the storm doesn't cut out the power yet again. :-)

Home Sweet Home?

I spent much of the last two days (Wednesday and Thursday) in Teguc, working with my home church in a medical brigade (on Thursday).  It was a very busy time.  I enjoyed catching up with people, conversations that we had both on the bus ride back to Teguc as well as Wednesday evening at the mission house.  It was really good to see people from back home, but at the same time it was very strange to see people from back home.  I spent the day Thursday at the brigade with them.  There was some definite spiritual warfare going on.  I spent the morning splitting my time between evangelism and optical...and the afternoon, I just prayed pretty much the entire time...at times for specific people that I saw, and at times just for the brigade in general.  It was good...but not necessarily restful (granted, brigades rarely are).  I went back to the mission house afterward, ate dinner with everyone, and then about 45 minutes later said goodbye and Miguel drove me to the bridge house so I could get a ride back here with Kim today. 

I understand that short paragraph is totally inadequate to describe all the emotions and activities that happened in that span of 30+ hours.  It was great to see familiar people, talk with them, ask how things were going and share with them what God's been doing in my life the last week...but it was strange, a little surreal maybe, to realize that I'm leaving them, staying here...and they're going back "home".  Then again, I could write many paragraphs and still not be able to completely convey everything that's going on.  When I was at the bridge house last night, I was completely exhausted, and just thought "I want to go home"...but in that context I meant back here, at the Ranch.  It surprised me a little to realize how comfortable I've gotten living here at the Ranch in a relatively short period of time.  It's good, but odd at the same time. 

I got back here this morning in time for meetings to start, and didn't realize until 10 when the power cut that we've been going on generators for the last day at this point.  There was a storm that came through last night, cut the power, and the best they can estimate is a few days to maybe a week or more before permanent power is restored.  The generators are a huge blessing!  At the Ranch the generators are run on a schedule so that times when the electricity is most needed (mostly meal times and after dark) electricity is available.  They cut out at 10, but that's okay, because I'm probably going to be ready to sleep long before that.  It's been an tiring couple of days.  The good news is I'm ready (or so I think) for the first few days of school...through Wednesday at this point.  By then I should have a good idea of who my students are (all 8 of them) and have a better grasp of class pacing, etc.

1 Week In

So, when I said that I probably wouldn't be online much more now that I had internet on my computer...I'm finding that was something of a lie.  I'm not on it for games as much as I was at home, but it basically has become my communication source (and e-mails are always appreciated!).  The last few days have been school meeting/lesson planning from 8:30-4 (with an hour off from 12-1 for lunch) and then spend the evening with the girls in my house and/or the other teachers on the Ranch. 

Tonight after school I answered a few e-mails and then I made dinner for myself and Melody (one of the other girls in my house).  I am my mother's daughter...I started out with the recipe...found it rather bland, and experimented (it was essentially tortilla soup).  In the end, it was good.  I know all the ingredients I added to it...but I wasn't really measuring amounts...so I'd have to recreate it by taste.  And perhaps I'd chop up some onions next time, add fresh garlic rather than powder (which was all we had) and more chicken this time around...none of which were in the original recipe I was working with.  But it was good.  I like my kitchen...it's open and spacious...and has a decent amount of storage space. 

Right now it's pouring out.  I'm waiting for the power to cut out.  I was surprised...it barely sprinkled earlier, and normally it rains before this...but about 10 minutes ago (while I was waiting for the picture to upload) it started coming down...rather quickly.  Which means I should probably upload this before that happens.

Tomorrow my church from home is coming out to the Ranch (they've been doing brigades this week).  I'm going to be going back to the city with them to join them for a brigade (medical) on Thursday.  Then I'll be coming back to the Ranch Friday morning with the Honduran teachers and workers.  It will be good to see everyone...but also a little strange, because right now I have definite divisions in my world...there is life in the States and life in Honduras.  Tomorrow...they meet.

With Pictures :-)

The time for a few pictures has come...it seriously took 30 minutes for these 5 pictures to upload...but I let the computer sit while I started laundry.  I've been here long enough to have accumulated enough laundry to where it needed to get done sometime soon.  Today was the first institute day...so we met together with the other teachers, had some time to get things organized and planned out (which I had started last week, but this time it was "official" time), and had a gathering with the parents.  But really, the purpose of this is the promised pictures.

A view of the school

This is a view of the school from just outside my front door.  There's a path you can kind of see on the right hand side of the picture...it's about a 2-3 minute walk.  And for those who are somewhat photography minded...sorry about the sun.

 My Classroom

This is a view of my classroom as you walk in the doorway.  I have rearranged some, and still have a bit more rearranging to do.  The classroom is about 18 ft x 18 ft.

The view from sitting at the teacher's desk.  The back wall has cabinets, which at some point in time will get more organized.  There are things mostly haphazardly thrown in there at the moment.  More organization stuff for me to work on in the future.

 My House

This is a front view of where I'm living.  It's a duplex - I'm in the right side of the house.  The busito (van) in front is one of the ministry vehicles, usually used to go into the city and back. 

The View

This picture definitely doesn't capture the vastness of what's around us.  Blame the camera or the photographer, I don't care.  The trees tower, the sky seems to go on forever, the sun, when it's out, is amazing.  I'm surrounded by wonderous displays of God's creation.  It's a beautiful country! [The trade-off to it being very unspoiled is transportation is fun...there is a self-imposed speed limit of 30 km/hr in the busito due to the conditions of the roads...but the view is amazing!]

Internet is here...

...but it doesn't help too much when the power is off.

This doesn't mean I'll be on THAT much more than I was already, but it does mean that I'll probably hit up the internet once or twice a day.  Today (being Sunday) we went into the city for church.  I went to a Spanish speaking church with a few other people (of course I had to hitch a ride because I don't have a vehicle or license down here).  The church was very interesting, and they are English-friendly...you can get a headset and there is someone in the back translating the service into English.  The pastor was preaching out of Philippians where Paul is talking about forgetting what is behind us and straining towards the goal...our purpose.  He used some interesting word pictures...things that I probably wouldn't think of using (and some that may not translate as well) in the American culture. 

After church we went to the mall for lunch and groceries.  They have a Wal-Mart here.  I was told that it's relatively new.  But that does mean there were some familiar brands...of course they were twice as expensive as the Honduran brands, so I didn't actually buy them (at least not for most items...I think I did get OFF brand insect repellant). 

And then the drive back to the Ranch.  In the city, traffic is crazy...not heavy really, but people drive differently here.  Once we get off of one of the main roads out of the city, we still have pavement for a bit, but here the pothole adventure starts...meaning try not to hit the large ones, and if you can't avoid them, go slowly.  A few miles down the road from there, we turn onto the dirt road...which in some areas is smoother than the previously paved road.  In other areas erosion has had some fun with the road.  There is an area where we cross a stream...and as it's a dirt road, there is no bridge.  I was rather glad to get "home"...and we got here a few minutes before the rain started.  It's rained pretty much every night starting somewhere between 4 and 6 local time.  Sometimes it lasts minutes, some times an hour or more.  Sometimes the power stays on, and sometimes it goes off.  The ranch does have backup generators which will kick in eventually if the power is off for too long...so we don't have to worry about our newly purchased food spoiling.  I'm sitting by the window, and it's still light enough to see.  And my computer was almost fully charged (oh, another thing purchased today was a surge protector...because there have been times when the generators have caused issues when they've kicked in).

Tomorrow is the first day of teacher meetings.  I don't know when exactly they start; I'm assuming my roommate knows.  That may be a poor assumption.  If she doesn't, I'll call Jen after the power comes back on.  I need to talk with her anyway about going to the city later this week to join my church (who is in the city this week for a brigade).  It will be fun to see old familiar faces (as opposed to the familiar faces of people I've met in the last couple of days). 

[And 30 minutes or so later, the power is back on...so I can post this now.  I tried posting a picture and 10 minutes later it was still trying to upload it, so I may have to try a different time of day or something.  I will do my best to get pictures up!]

Getting settled in :-)

I've been here since Wednesday afternoon.  Security, flights, baggage and customs all went very smoothly, so that's been a huge answer to prayer.  I've spent the last few days getting acclimated to the elevation (we're higher than Denver), getting to know a few people and finding my way around.  Pictures will be coming later, but I still don't have internet access on my computer (so I'm using my roommate's computer to write this).  Hopefully internet access will happen soon.  I've also spent some time getting my classroom in order.  I've met a few of my students already, a few of the house parents, and some of the other teachers.  

First impressions - well, it's mostly really quiet up here.  At night, the only noise is that of insects...and roosters, and other random animals.  It's peaceful, at least right now.  I'm sure things will get a little more lively once school starts up in another week and a bit.  The people here seem very friendly.  Many of them speak English as well as Spanish.  There are a few house parents who only speak Spanish, so my ability to converse with them is limited at this point.  I have understood a lot of the Spanish I've heard, which is encouraging.  I haven't had too much of a chance to practice it myself...I've had a few short conversations in Spanish.  It will be interesting to see how the school year starts and progresses.  I've had some fun spending time in my classroom...I've been there enough where it is starting to feel more "mine" and less of a random room.  I've rearranged it a bit, which has helped the feeling. 

I really like the house I'm in, both the set up and the people.  There are a lot of windows, so we get a lot of natural light coming in.  There's a screened in porch in the back (my favorite place so far), with access from our side and the guys side (it's a duplex - two attached houses - one with 4 female teachers, the other with 4 male teachers).  We're still waiting on a few teachers to come in - one is arriving Monday and the other is still in process of fund raising.  The one who is fundraising will be the 4th one living in my house.  The one arriving Monday is in the house on top of the hill.  I know most of their names at this point, which is good...I probably know more of the teachers than kids or house parents...which is understandable I guess.

Anyway, I should probably get going and give my roommate back her computer.  Once my computer gets internet access I'll post some pictures.  Have a great week!

Less than 36 hours to go...

In 36 hours, God willing, I'll be in the air on my way to Houston...I have a little over an hour layover there (with no clearance of customs necessary, which means that shouldn't be a problem provided planes are on time) and then on to Tegucigalpa.  Yesterday my parents had an open house for me, which was fun.  I enjoyed talking with friends and family who stopped by.  Today I mostly got the rest of my to-do list taken care of.  I still need to finish packing my last bag, I want to get some pictures printed so I can take a photo album down there, and I should probably finish cleaning my room.  Otherwise, I think I'm in good shape to go down there.  I'm sure when I'm there for a day I'll realize 5 or 6 things that I missed or didn't get done...but that's just life. 

It's weird thinking that my time here is so limited.  I have 1 more night to sleep in my bed (I'm leaving for the airport at 2:30 in the morning, so I won't be sleeping much if at all tomorrow night), I went to school today for the last time in a long time, I went to my church for the last time (until December) yesterday.  Soon I won't be driving (I won't have a license down there...but that's okay, because saying the school is within walking distance makes it sound farther away than it actually is), I won't have phone access (at least until I get a cell phone down there), and things are going to be very different. 

Intellectually, I know all of these things, but I don't think it's going to feel very real until I'm actually on the plane...potentially until I'm actually at Rancho Ebenezer. 

Prayer Requests -
- Safety in travel
- No issues with customs
- Finishing last minute details
- Start building good relationships

38 hours later

In some ways having no electricity was refreshing - it gave me quiet time.  In other ways, I definitely missed it.  I'd like to say that I'll never take electricity for granted again, but ask me in a few days and I'm sure I'll wonder what you're talking about.

Power came back around 9:45 tonight.  So of course I've had to stay up to bask in the wonder of turning on a light switch (and getting internet on my computer).  I also had to check the fridges and freezer...the food in the chest freezer downstairs mostly held up, the stuff in the freezer of the newer fridge also fared pretty well...the old fridge freezer...well, not so much.  I already dumped out the milk from the fridge before either of us drinks it without thinking.  The ice cream met a similar fate.  Tomorrow I'll have to take a relatively brief shopping excursion to restock some basic necessities (milk, eggs, etc).  My parents decided to cut their camping trip short, and will be returning tomorrow. [I'm thinking it's because my father would prefer to deal with the fallen tree taking up half of the backyard sooner rather than later.]  I hope they enjoyed the time they had camping despite the phone messages and texts we were exchanging back and forth.

Through it all, I'm definitely thanking God for safety, for the restoration of power [ahead of schedule], and for the wonderful places with backup generators and free wi-fi (like Panera) where I've been spending a lot of time these past two days.

An Interesting Day

It's been a day with no power...and I haven't left the country yet. 

There was a thunderstorm this morning, which didn't drop too much rain, but did generate a lot of wind.  I woke up at 7:19 AM to the tree in my parents backyard splitting in two with one side crashing to the ground (which fortunately hit nothing but the ground...but now half of the backyard is taken up with tree).  About 5 or so minutes later, the power went out (probably because another tree didn't aim as well).  So today has basically been a constant quest to find places that have backup generators and free wi-fi.  [I'm really not that shallow, but my only communication device that works without electricity (aka my cell phone) had one bar of battery left...so it's more been looking for places to charge my cell phone...because my parents are out of town camping in Wisconsin, and I need to ability to get in contact with them if necessary...and as long as I'm looking for somewhere with available working outlets, I might as well look for somewhere I can entertain myself as I wait for the slow cell phone to charge.]

My first thought was Starbucks, because I was planning on meeting a friend there for coffee around lunch time anyway.  So I drove to the one by school, where I usually hang out.  It was closed.  The one down the road had a truck out front selling drive through coffee only, but that didn't help me.  I went further down the road to Barnes and Noble and there I got lucky for a while...however, once I got a partial charge on my phone, I was nice and gave the outlet up to someone who had their computer die on them.

I came home after meeting with my friend (we talked for over two hours, it was good times), cleaned out my car because A.) it had to be done some time in the next 9 days and B.) it doesn't require electricity to clean (until I get around to vacuuming, so that hasn't happened yet).  I read for a little while, wrote in my journal for a little while, played a game of Monopoly on my iPad (which started the day with a full charge, and still had a pretty full charge)...and then went with my sister to Panera for dinner.  And as we were looking for a table (both carrying laptop bags) a woman asked if we were looking for an outlet, and said she was just about ready to pack up...good timing.  So I'm currently in Panera with access to an outlet (and it's air-conditioned in here - bonus!)  Once my phone is charged, we'll leave, and I probably won't have to look for anything tomorrow, because the phone should hold the charge for a few days...and hopefully by that time, the power will be back on.  Talking with people who talked with ComEd...that may not be for up to 5 days.  I'm hoping it's sooner, but until then, there's not too much I can do about it (other than going out and finding free wi-fi and electricity).

Details, Details, Details

There are days when I feel like I work all day and never get anything accomplished, and there are days when I feel like I hardly do anything, but realize that I've checked a lot off of my to-do list.  Today (fortunately) was one of the latter days.

This past week I had a chance to visit friends in Indiana, which was a much needed break/rest...however I realized when I came back that I have barely two weeks left before I leave, and I still have a lot of details to attend to.  Yesterday I had little direction...I did a little bit of one thing, left it and did a bit of another...so I was working, but it felt like it was futile and nothing was getting done.

Today was very different (due in part to the preparations and things I had done yesterday).  I officially registered my house as being leased with my association, including a copy of the lease and contact information for everyone involved, I went to school and finished up the organizing and things I needed to do there, I almost finished my online Spanish class - all I need to do is burn my oral final presentation to disc (it's recorded and sitting on my computer right now), write another paragraph (which I may do tonight before bed) and mail it in.  I can very likely have that all taken care of tomorrow.  After that, I have a few phone calls to make, and I have to pack.  Otherwise, I think I'm mostly set.  There are still minor details to get worked out.  I'm going to help my mom clean the house for my going away party. I have a few letters of recommendation still to write (I should probably wait until I have fully reverted into English, because right now I'm still thinking a lot in Spanish).  But I'm not panicking about only having two weeks left to go (we'll see if I'm still saying the same thing when I have two days left to go...but for now I'm feeling pretty good about things...)

Two weeks from tomorrow I will be in Honduras (by this time at night).