Honduras Stories Part 2

Day 4 December 20, 2010:
       This day started off bright and early. We were off to Tesorito and boy would it prove to be a LONG day. It's about a 3-4 hour drive. We drove to pick up Miguel and Jose Carlos. Miguel stayed at the mission house with Tenisha and I back in the summer of 2008 the week prior to camp. He was just a little boy back then. We took him to the mall for the first time he was beyond fascinated with the escalators. It was GREAT! I can remember watching his language grow so much in the week he stayed with us. He joined in our nightly prayers about half way through his time with us. It was beautiful watching him grow. My how he has started develop into a man over the past two years. His language has taken evident growth! He's almost to the "I'm too cool" stage but it's easy to break him out of it. I hadn't remembered meeting Juan Carlos. After picking them up we turned around and drove 45 minutes back the way we had come to hook up to a BUMPY, DUSTY, dirt road leading to Tesorito. It took forever! But we finally arrived and had a big welcome by Irma. The program is always hosted at her house and she is quite the host although she is beyond poor. She has 8 children the youngest is three and just a cutie! Her family is on the brink of being  malnourished yet they sacrificed a chicken for us to have a meal. I shared with Phillip and mom due to being pregnant but what bits I did eat were YUMMY! We held the village program with the normal drama, craft, and pinata. For this village we added a cake just for extra fun and let the winners of the drama questions pick out clothes. One sweet hearing girl that lives at the house won and picked out pretty sandals for her mother. It's always humbling to see the poor give so much, even their children who have nothing and have a chance to get something of their own sacrifice and get something for their parent or whole family. We walked to where the foot bridge use to be. It's been washed out and there is an on going project to get a group down to help fix it. Then it was on the road again but not before driving the 15 minutes into Trujillo so everyone could see the bay. It was a very quick trip! Then it was back down the LONG, DUSTY, road! We finally made it home where I'm pretty sure we crashed.

Day 5 December 21,2010:
       This was the day we ventured into my old favorite village. HA! I say that because until the next day Elixer had always been my favorite village. More for the Deaf people in the village than the hearing folks. This village is vastly different from the other villages especially Tesorito. While still just as poor the people are far less hospitable. I love the Deaf in this village though. Especially Gershen. He was my favorite boy from camp my first year in 2007 and has remained my sweetheart. I jokingly told Phillip if I ever left him it would be for Gershen. He is great and totally animated, which of course leads to a lot of fiction. :) The girls house we host the village at is 17 and recently married. She is Deaf and married to a hearing man. It is believed she is pregnant.. While this is shocking, although not so much these days, the average age for being pregnant in a village like her's is 15. We pray and hope she is in a loving relationship. This was a great day. We got back to town and took Lillian her Christmas basket. She throughly enjoyed it as did her twin girls Ani Paula and Ani Patricia. We went and ate at a seafood place. It was the best fish I had in all the visits to Honduras. Mom and Phillip wimped out and didn't join the "I ate Fish Eyes Club". We went back to Robin and Jeff's for a couple of hours just visiting.

Day 6 December 22,2010:
        Today we got up and drove to my new favorite village and a new one to me, Tosca. It's a small quaint village. Not lost the the world like Tesorito but still so nice. I made a new hearing friend named Celeste. She spent her only Limpera to buy my mom and I gum. She was a priceless girl. We again presented the Christmas drama, did a craft, snack, and pinata. It was a crazy village attempting to do the craft but it was fun none the less. The deaf in the village were not new to me, I had been with them previous years at camp. They are great and have grown so much as well. We got back early and decided to go eat at The Ponderosa. I LOVE that place the food is So yummy. It was actually pretty chilly this evening.

Day 7 December 23, 2010:
        Christmas EVE EVE. This was our last day going into villages. It had been such a great time getting to see all of the villages again and getting to see everyone again. But today we went to my mom's favorite village Nueva Armenia, also known as Africa. Nueva Armenia is a Garifuna village. Very unique, totally own culture, language, and tradition. My mom supports this village on a monthly basis. I knew it would be her favorite and it brought a great surprise. We found a new Deaf girl. She is 10 years old and named Maria Celeste. I'm almost 100 percent sure Phillip and I would adopt her in a heart beat. She is 10 years old and BRILLIANT. She defiantly is not 100 percent Deaf and we think she got sick and lost her hearing later in life because of her pronouncation of things, Hola,  Tia, Vamanos, etc. She was great. She had the absolute best laugh! LOVE her! Nueva Armenia brought a great surprise that even I was expecting. Robin honored my mom with a small gift and explaining to the kids that she gives them money to have the program there. The was a huge group photo and a cake. Robin taught the kids to say "Thank You Tina" in English. So precious. During our play time a freaky painted teenager came into the village blowing a whistle. Apparently this is a Christmas tradition (he was early) he goes up to kids asking for a Limpera, if they don't give him one they have to be painted. While this doesn't sound all THAT bad, it is actually beyond terrifying for the kids. They screamed and scattered when he came. He actually came back twice the second time he picked on a teenage boy and actually made him cry and showed exactly how scary this was. Three years ago this village had never heard the Christmas Story. They had no idea who Joseph, Mary, or Jesus was and why exactly we celebrated Christmas. But boy were they on the spot of knowing who was who in the Christmas drama. It was great. They were able to win toys for answering questions correctly. Unfortunately there were not enough to go around so we made the mistake of grabbing a handful of stuffed animals and throwing them into the WILD crowd of children, who then swarmed Robin, Amanda, and I knocking Robin to the ground. It was a pretty priceless moment. After the program we did the traditional boat ride to the beach. It was hazy and half rainy so we didn't stay away very long but it was still a nice time. We left and got back to La Ceiba just in time to take Jose the guard home and deliver his Christmas basket. This man lives on the side of a mountain and in the last big storm his house was washed down the side of the mountain. They are currently rebuilding but still living in the tin sided shack with nothing but mud floors. We had to climb up the muddy, rocky, edge to their house. It was a nice visit. Jose takes care of his three grandchildren, two girls and a boy, their mother recently died from cancer. They were very appreciative of the gifts and gave us tamales to eat. I had to opt out of the meal but ate bits and pieces of Phillips and moms. We left here and went to eat Paposas. They are yummy! We got a chance to visit with Robin and Jeff before heading back to our house for the evening.

Well that concludes all of the village program days. Come back for Christmas Eve, Day, and our last day. :)