Last Evening in Honduras

Really, the only thing that’s happened since I last wrote was that we ate dinner, but I suppose I should actually write more than that.

After the last period of rest, Ken and I went to the internet place, since I figured I might as well try to update the world on whereabouts. I put all of my files on his flash drive, and we set out to conquer the internet. A few minutes into our walk, we saw three of the sister workers coming toward us, and we feared we might have to acknowledge them. Fortunately, a kind couple was driving in our direction, and they offered a ride. It was really silly that we accepted, since it was only half a mile or so, but Ken couldn’t resist the opportunity to have a joke about avoiding the sisters.

When we arrived at our usual internet room, there was actually a line of people waiting to use it. intrigued and only slightly frustrated, we walked around the corner and found the other internet shop. It was of similar qualities, and it served our purpose just the same. This room had three computers running, so it was a bit stuffy in there. I’m not sure if any of the people who lived/worked there had any idea, since there was a giant air conditioner mounted on the wall with no sign of being used.

I got my blogs up and running without any hitches that I could see. I was planning on including some pictures that I took, but the upload for the first one was taking so long, I decided to cancel that adventure.

As soon as we got back to the house, it started raining for a little bit, then we all sat down for dinner. Lesvia isn’t feeling well, so she wasn’t there at dinner. Other than that, it was a particularly lively meal — in more than one sense of the word. The first was that there were more bugs than normal trying to get at us and our food. The second was that everyone was taking care of these bugs in unusual ways. Brenda instructed Alan to take care of the bug on his forehead, so he slapped himself on the head. When Daniel had a particularly loud clap, nearly everyone imitated him. Yeah, maybe you just should have been there.

The meal itself was surprisingly midwestern. Ground beef and macaroni sprinkled with parmesan cheese was the main course, and there were side dishes of beets and onions, tortillas, and tomatoes. I mentioned to Ken that it tasted like convention food, to which he pointed out that it was actually special meeting food. Then he admitted that there is little difference between convention and special meetings here, so it would serve as both.

After dinner, we all helped prepare sandwiches for tomorrow, since it’s going to be a day of travel for nearly everyone. Ken, Alan, and I are off to Nicaragua, and the sisters are going somewhere else. Their bus leaves early in the morning, I think sometime between 6 and 7, and ours leaves around 9:30. Of course, there is going to be lots of traffic, so we’re only making one trip, leaving here at 4:45. This will be interesting.

It’s funny to think that I’ve only been here three days. In that time, I really feel that I’ve bonded with this little group, even through our language barriers. Just today, Brenda revealed that she knows a little English, but she suffers from the same shyness I do with Spanish. This evening, I showed her pictures of my family and the friends in China, and we taught each other a bit of our own languages.

The others don’t really speak any English, but we can still enjoy each other and communicate as necessary. We opened the guanabana since it’s finally ripe enough, and we all shared that strange fruit. It’s not something I’d choose first, but it wasn’t entirely unpleasant. The drink we had for lunch today had a very fresh taste, and this wasn’t quite/at all the same.

The large beetles that have been flying everywhere are a great source of amusement. Brenda offered Ken a present and placed one on his hand. Vilma came over and put one on my shoulder. It’s interesting to be in a culture where things like that are just part of life. Aside from the mosquitoes, none of the other insects do much harm, so there’s no reason to kill them. If you do, then you have to deal with a dead bug, so you might as well let it finds its own way out.

I guess I should try to get to sleep now. It’s about 4 hours earlier than my bedtime at home, but I’ve been getting up about that much earlier than I normally do anyway. Tomorrow will be a special case, and I hope I survive.