Thursday, March 22, 2012

February 21st, 2012- Recalling Honduras

We met the team, except for Allen, at Salem UCC Church at about 1:30 in the morning.  The drive there was uneventful, except that, minutes before we departed Rachel locked our keys in the car.  After prayer, we divided the team into two suburbans and began our journey.  We only got as far as Emlenton (about 10 minutes) before the other suburban had oil pressure problems and had to stop.  After a change of vehicles, during which we arranged for Cindy Weimer to get the other set of keys from my mom, we were finally on our way to Pittsburgh International Airport.  We were glad that we had allotted a little extra time.  Most of us slept maybe an hour on the way to the airport.  Made the trip noticeably short.

After dealing with a rather surly lady at check-in we made our way to the terminal in  time to grab a quick breakfast.  Having not flown in sometime, I was excited to be at the airport, to be on an airplane.  Trouble started with a long delay, which turned out to be the airport's fault.  Something about the gas pump not reading the airplane's fuel level correctly.  We lost about 30 minutes, which made me nervous because we only had 45 allotted to make the transfer in Houston.  (I'll have to do something about that travel agent!)  The plane was something of a puddle jumper, only three seats across.  When we finally took off, Rachel was quickly asleep, but I struggle to sleep while sitting up.  I chipped away on the week's Spiritual Formation class assignments.  Through a few short cuts, we managed to regain about 20 minutes to reach our next plane which, as misfortune would have it, was nearly as far as it could be from our landing gate.  Rachel and I ran ahead to hold the plane, but to no avail.  Thankfully, the rest of the team made it with literally moments to spare.  It texted my relief to my Dad and my friend Mark Livengood.

I lost all phone connection once we got decently above the clouds.  I was surprised how long it held on.  The plane to San Pedro Sula was much nicer than its predecessor.  Six seats across.  I had my own row.  There was space for my legs.  There was power for my laptop.  I had a second breakfast and finished a bag of Mom's fabulous chocolate chip cookies in anticipation of the heat of Honduras and unknown food supply.  When we reached Honduras, we all found it quite beautiful from a bird's eye view.

We eventually landed (about noon) and got processed through customs without much drama.  Miraculously, our luggage all arrived safely.  We met Ed and Val, who quickly escorted us out of a very modern looking airport.  We loaded our bags into Ed's truck (which has lasted, I later learned, for ten years) and a van that bore a resemblance to a VW bus, but more angular.  It was hot in San Pedro Sula, but not unbearably so.  We traveled toward Zambrano on a trip that would take the rest of the day to complete.  We stopped at a Wendy's about  two hours in to eat lunch and meet some of Allen Hansen's relatives, who are also missionaries to Honduras.  The Wendy's featured an armed guard and was missing many items from the menu, including soda.  I had a chicken sandwich, which was rather overcooked, and a frosty, which was nearly perfect.  We stopped at a mall in the same complex as well, and had a drinks from a Cafe Americano (I had a blackberry slushy which was yummy.)  I also perused a hat that they wanted, shockingly, $60 for.  Perhaps a front for drug money laundering, Val suggested.

As we traveled, we plied Ed with questions about Honduras and their ministry and enjoyed some beautiful scenery, interspersed with brief brief periods of sleep.  I unfortunately missed most of a breath-taking lake.  We observed, with Ed's insight, some of the corruption of the Honduran government, chiefly in the form of unfinished bridges and some poor roads.  As we traveled on the terrain became drier and more mountainous.  We arrived in Zambrano shortly before dark.  The place where we are staying, Casa De Santiago, is a very well maintained guest house featuring beautiful, colorful, Italianate decor.  After some thought, we settled on married couples separating, men and women in separate dorms.  Before supper, we had orientation in the living room.  While Val was speaking, the power went out and we were sitting in complete darkness.  Val acknowledged the situation briefly and then continued her comments.  A generator restored power after a few minutes.  We had a supper of thin ham slices, refried beans, fried plantains (woody & sweet the taste), fried eggs, and extremely sweet and sugary juices.  Given that we were all rather worn out from a long day of travel, it wasn't long before we headed to bed anticipating our first day's work to begin at about 6:30 in the morning.  It was a sweet rest.

Today, I thank God for a safe arrival in Honduras, that our luggage made it, for good food, gracious hosts, a team that seems to get along, comfortable weather, and a sleep worthy bed.  God is good.

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