Settling In

- by Raquel

Sunday June 22 we had a simple b’fast, purchased on our way into town at a gas station the night before…Bimbo bread and water. Yum!! We can get Bimbo bread at RaceTrac (the gas station) at home, but they don’t have the kind we get here. We had some raisin bread and some cinnamon sweet rolls. After worship the kids asked to go home with some friends. So Thad and I took a much needed nap and headed down to the beach to find a restaurant to eat lunch. That afternoon we went and met with some missionaries that moved here just about a week after Thad was here in Feb. They work with Little Hands Big Hearts which is a social work agency that ensures special needs children get the care they need. It was great to meet their family. They have 4 kids here that are close in age to our kiddos and are homeschoolers (Even before they came here) so we chatted as I helped a bit in the kitchen as when we got there they were busy preparing dinner for a team they have in from California. Thad and Brian chatted over happenings around Trujillo. Sunday night we went downtown and met with a Christian from Tennessee who owns property here. He was a member at the church in Slidell, LA when they started the Trujillo Christian School. It was nice to finally meet him. While we sat outside and chatted, the kids walked around with friends exploring the Carnival that was going on. They ate cotton candy (not at all the same flavor as at home), popcorn, and played a game or two. But by far all of our favorite thing that night was watching the town boys and teens attempt to climb this tall wooden pole with a flag on the top. We sadly, didn’t have the camera and were so sad we didn’t. They would attempt it different ways. But they would basically form a human ladder standing on one another’s shoulders. It was great fun to watch and cheer them on!!

Monday June 23, we headed to the bank. A crazy experience here, to say the least. On our way downtown our friend called us to say he’d gone on and gotten in line for us. He was #20 in line at the bank. I was thrilled to hear that as the line can wrap about the building so that was pretty far up in the line, and the bank had yet to open. It was probably 45 min to an hour by the time they got into the bank. The kids and I went and grabbed some b’fast and sat on the porch of the bank and waited, and waited and waited. They went in and never came out. Many people who had gone in after them came out…but not our guys…arrgghh!! I ended up with one child with an upset tummy and both who had to use the restroom. Joy! And no way to tell hubby that we were leaving to go anywhere, there is a guard blocking the door who only allows so many from the line in at a time. He has his shotgun and although I thought I might could get through that my husband was inside, I didn’t think it would matter, and I had the key chain with pepper spray which isn’t allowed inside. Finally I just decided to head back up the mountain on foot to our house and trust Thad wouldn’t worry and would check at home first. We ran into a friend on the way with a cell, and I attempted to ask him to call them to tell them we had gone home, but my message was lost in translation completely as they actually ran into him later and he not only hadn’t called, he didn’t mention it to them…I need my Spanish classes to start HA HA!! I thought for sure they would be done and pick us up on the road along the way and we wouldn’t have to make the full hike, but we’d been home an hour or more before they pulled up. MaryKyle says everyone here has really strong legs to walk without whining and hurting…ha ha!! We are all hopeful by the end of our 5 week adventure our legs will be strong too!! Also on Monday we received a stove/oven from the school. It was an extra there, and the hotel where our apartment is located (it’s the previous owners old townhouse back behind the hotel) provided us with a refrigerator. HOORAY!!!! My friend Eda agreed to come on Tuesday morning to help teach me to cook Honduran food!!

Tuesday June 24, My friend came at 6:45…whoa!! I’d actually been up cleaning and unpacking for a couple of hours, but had not showered and dressed. After I quickly got ready the lessons began. The menu for my first lesson was just about the most typical of Honduran foods: Pollo frito, frijoles, arroz, y plantanos (fried chicken, red beans, rice, and plantains). The fried chicken is very different than American style…lots of sauces and flavorings it marinades in before breading and frying it. I love to cook, but I’ll be honest, I buy things like a package of chicken breasts, or wings or whatever, I’ve never cut up a whole chicken. I had to learn a lot. Just turning on the oven and stove was a learning experience for me. It’s gas with the tank sitting beside the stove/oven so each burner must be lit with a match as does the oven and you must remember to shut off the safety valve when you aren’t using it. The biggest difference is there are no thermometers. I have not a single clue how hot the oven is at any single moment. Should make for some interesting baking for sure!!! I have also never in my life cut up a whole chicken for cooking/frying. I know silly I’m sure to many of you, I’ve boiled a chicken and cut or picked the meat off, but just never cut up the entire chicken into the individual pieces. Eda has never purchased a package of chicken breasts. She has only ever cut up an entire chicken any time she wants chicken. Her Mom is in the US now helping her sister who lives in Maryland with her new baby. She called Eda to tell her all about the “beautiful meat” and how it was cut and all the choices. I was not very good at finding the joints and things to cut easily, she did it so fast and knew just where to put the dull knife. I’ll get it. But one thing I will not get nor do I want to do again is taste the chicken as it marinades…the RAW chicken. Eda did not understand why I was unsure of touching my finger to the raw chicken and tasting it….aahhh……but I have lived to tell the tale and just don’t plan to do that again if I can help it. The food preparation process was different than in the states, but the food was so delicious and I had a great teacher!! I have now sorted, cleaned, soaked and cooked for hours dried beans. Something I’ve only attempted 2 times in my cooking years and never had great success at. John Mark asked for beans about every hour yesterday and then for b’fast this morning…ha ha!! I think I did okay, although the true test will be doing it without the help of my friend. I chose to boil the plantanos. We could have fried them too, but I decided fried chicken was enough fried food for one meal (and way more fried than we usually have but fried is the cooking method of choice around here). It was all really good and I look forward to trying it on my own in a few days!! I can’t wait to see what yummy things come from my next cooking lessons!!
Thad met a missionary that lived in Trujillo for several years operating the Little Hands Big Hearts agency. We have good friends (Nadine and Alfonso) that worked or lived there and have heard a lot about this man, but always missed meeting him on previous trips. He is back in the states now but was heading up the team from California that is working there for a week . Thad spent time going to the hardware store and setting up the supplies for our team when they arrive and also getting a few things for our house. Like a new lock. There was only one key to our previous lock and with Annina and Nadine arriving in a few days plus just Thad and I going different directions some days, we needed more. Plus it’s just nice to have a lock that no one has ever had access to on the door. We now have 4 keys, one for each of us…perfect!! Our entire family headed down the mountain to shop in town for some supplies….food, fruit, skillet, cake pans, etc…Cake pans and skillets and other cooking things, not cheap!! $10 for a skillet and the cake pan wasn’t too far behind. Not high quality, just your every day wal-mart variety. No wonder ladies here use things like sardine cans and other little tins to bake in! On our walk down the hill, our friend Jeffrey passed and offered us a ride. He invited us to a devotional a bit further up the mountain that night. The group from California is in town were going up there to another missionarys house to swim and have a devotional. Thad had met them once in the past so we made our shopping trip quick and headed back up the mountain to clean up and get to the devotional! It was wonderful to see Maybelline and her new baby Jack!! He is 26 days old and Nadine if you are reading this…oh my goodness he is PRECIOUS!!!! Maybelline is doing wonderfully. Here when you have a baby you do just about nothing for 40 days. A family member moves in and does all the work. Marybelline’s sister was with her to help her. Can someone please make a proclamation in the states to start such a thing and I might just have another little one just to take advantage??!! It’s a true team effort and the new Mother gets all the rest she needs!! It was nice to meet with other North American Christians and worship. Our team will be joining theirs on Saturday for a devotional and we look forward to that. The kids didn’t make it for the entire thing, we had to leave. They were so exhausted from the trip/hike to town and two swims in the pool that MaryKyle was begging to go home to bed and John Mark crashed right there in Daddy’s arms!

Wednesday June 25th, Well, that brings us to today…hmmm….we actually slept a little late with no big plans for the morning for once! I didn’t get out of bed until 7 am! The sun comes up around 4:30am and a bird starts knocking at the back window. For my neighbors and parents reading this can you believe this?? Our first morning here we were woken by a familiar sound….peck peck pecking and tweet tweet tweeting. The kids, Thad and I sat up and laughed. At home we have a cardinal that has been doing the same thing for almost 4 months now. He’s even started torturing some neighbors too. We have decided “Joey” (what we named out cardinal because after a few months he’s just part of the family) somehow sent a message to the Honduran birds to ensure we were made to feel right at home!! Ha ha, it worked and we started the trip off with a great laugh! This morning Thad and I just looked at each other and smiled when it started and rolled over and went back to sleep.
Thad is currently down the hill at the school setting up meetings to go over everything with the evangelists here in preparation for our Bible school event with our team and to get their input and ideas so we can ensure it’s what they will find useful and helpful, so that it won’t just be our event. We will be enlisting Christians here to do most of the work and our team will just be support and crowd control since we could never communicate a message as effectively as they can! Plus it is important to us that they see they are capable of doing such things because we don’t feel we would be effective missionaries if we did all the work ourselves as we are here to equip. Later tonight we have been invited to eat with some other missionaries in their home where the team from California is staying. It’s nice to touch base with others. We will gather with the area congregations to worship. We are hoping to get out to Santa Fe area to meet some North Americans that I have been in contact with that own a resort out that way. Each day seems to get so busy I don’t always get the want to things done because the list of need to’s gets so long. But we are starting to feel settled. We have a stocked ‘pantry,’ leftovers in the fridge, and clothes are unpacked. Life is good….we thank you for your prayers and for reading this book. We promise we don’t plan to make it a habit to write this much each time we update. We just know family and friends are anxious to hear about our days and lives here. At present, John Mark is eating a mango on the balcony to keep the mess out of our living room. MaryKyle is….reading of course. As soon as I’m done typing we are heading to the courtyard pond to see if the turtles are sunning and if the baby cocker spaniel is out playing. When Thad gets home we hope to go downtown to the internet café to check emails and post the update with pictures!!
Please continue to pray for our team members who will be arriving starting tomorrow night.