So in the midst of our adventures getting to Trujillo, we never managed to exchange our dollars for lempira. No problem, I thought. I will have time to get some Friday and still have time to buy some materials at the hardware store. The bank will only let you exchange $500 at a time, so Rachel, Brian, and I planned to meet at the bank at around noon, when the lines are typically not as long, and each of us exchange $500. After waiting 2 hours in line, we were told that we could only exchange $100 apiece. Then, we were told that only two of us could exchange money at all. Apparently, the bank was running out of money.
I guess we should count our blessings, because by 3:00 pm, the bank had closed early, because they had run out completely. Apparently, this happened everywhere across the country today. I’m not 100% sure of the reason, but apparently it’s because there is a certain amount of uncertainty right now in the Honduran government. I don’t think it’s anything to worry about, but there is a power struggle between el presidente and the senate right now. Depending on whom you listen to, Mel the president is either trying to become the new Chavez or trying to return the power to the people by allowing national referendums on the ballots for certain issues. Fortunately, the majority of protests happen far away from Trujillo in the larger cities. Here, people are talking about it, but we’re not close enough to the centers of power to be worried about anything here. I hesitate to even mention all of this on the blog, because I don’t want people, especially family, to be alarmed. At the same time, I don’t want you catching something on CNN about Honduras and getting worried about us.
Also today, a group of 22 from a church in Washington State arrived in San Pedro at about 11:00 am. They planned to come all the way to Trujillo today. They were travelling in a chartered bus, which is actually a recycled US school bus. They also had a 15-passenger van they had rented to help with transportation while in Trujillo. For those of you from West Metro Church who came last summer, I’m pretty sure it was the same van we had last year. It will not be very surprising to you that somewhere around Tela, the bus gave up the ghost and breathed it’s last. The rental company didn’t have another van, but they brought another vehicle for them to drive. At about the same time they were getting back on the road, the school bus was busy breaking down in La Ceiba. The driver got it going again, saying it was a problem with the fuel filter. Jared, the group leader, and I talked on the phone, and we didn’t share the driver’s enthusiasm when he assured them that the bus was fine to make the rest of the trip to Trujillo in the dark. After a few phone calls, we found the group lodging in La Ceiba. They are split between Villa Helen’s and the Canadien Hotel in Sambo Creek, just out of Ceiba.
In the midst of all of these inconveniences, everyone has remained safe, and for this we thank God. Lord willing the group will make the rest of the journey here tomorrow morning and the situation with the government will settle down quickly. I expect that it will. As always, we ask for your prayers and thank you for following along with us.
On a funny note, our friend Alfonso just spilled sugar all over himself.
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