Only for the record...archive...annals...buckle your seatbelts!

Entry from 7-30-10
Two days ago, I had an adventure. Colegio was canceled for the day, so the kids wanted to go to Río Coco and Bambú. Peter, Karli, Josh Bradley, James Morrow, and I went with. Río Coco was beautiful and refreshing. Bambú was also nice...until a naked catracho came streaking through the rocks, kyped our bags, and ran off into the jungle! We were all so stunned by his state of disrobe and leafy headband that we didn't react quickly enough to catch him. ¡Qué raro! No one was hurt, however, and we only lost 3 cameras, some moto keys, a shirt, a couple drivers' licenses, a cell phone, etc. Just stuff. And we now have a rather hilarious story. :-)  
My camera was one of the ones kyped, and I was so disappointed; I would not have access to getting a new one the rest of my time here.  However, a visiting team of Canadians heard our adventure, and Andrew gave me his!  I was blown away by his generosity, and am ever so thankful.  Now, I can still record the beautiful sites and sounds (video) of my time here.
Entry from 9-23-10
At the beginning of last month, I began to teach Samuel McKenzie judo, though I remember very little indeed. We began with just proper running form and stretching, and progressed to basic falls. It's fun getting back into some sort of training.
Sometime midmonth, the teachers all over Honduras went on strike. The kids didn't have school for a terribly long time, and now, they're double-timing it to try to finish on time before their rainy season break from mid-November to the first part of February.
Amy came over for a sleepover on the 19th. We made crepes in the morning, watched Psych, caught up for hours, and then went to her house to make pizza and talk with Don. We went down to visit Karli, who seemed a bit better. It was very difficult to say goodbye...
I moved my stuff back in small waves due to the Yosts' return on Wednesday afternoon. That same evening, two backpacking bros showed up on the chicken bus. They stayed here a few days on their 5-week trip around Central America. We made killer spaghetti the first night, drank chai the second, and then had pizza and my gingersnaps on Friday. I had spent the whole afternoon on the beach with Amy, so the day was FULL.
I was dragged into town Saturday morning by Samuel, and it turned out to be a good thing because we were stopped at a checkpoint, and Samuel discovered he didn't have his license...or any documentation...with him. God worked it all out; instead of him going to jail and the car being impounded, Howard came and talked the cop out of the L1200 bribe he asked for and paid him L500 instead. I had to drive home. Later that weekend, we had a game night at the Lents and played a derivation of Banana Grams/Speed Scrabble, In a Pickle, and Apples to Apples.
Entry from 9-24-10
"Leaving, on a jet plane..." I will arrive to Denver in a little less than 3 hours, only to drive all the way back down to Houston. I must be crazy! The last week before leaving Honduras, I let a lot of emotional stress points go and refocused on what I know to be important in my work here. Once again, I came to the end of me, and now I can once again move forward in freedom. That's always such a lovely place to step forward, but seems to cost so much to get to that point!
Right before leaving, Samuel led the Thursday night discussion, and he talked about "when life sucks". It was a nice discussion of how we get through deserts, and our response should be one of not self-preservation but of willing sacrifice. And that is how we are triumphant. How Jesus lived the most painful life of all, full well knowing what life ought to be like, what food should taste like, etc., but suffering through it to bring ultimate redemption and restoration. We each have a little piece of the knowledge of what life should be like, and hence, the discontent with sickness, disasters, evil, and all things not excellent. I appreciated the perspective he shared.
Friday, we packed into the Wards' truck with René at 4:40 AM to head to San Pedro Sula. Joelle and I were on the same flight to Houston, though Samuel went through Miami. Aleisha met me at the airport and took me back to her sweet apartment in Kirby Place. We pretty much just talked forever, catching up on life, experiences in third-world countries.
On Saturday, we spent the most tranquil, lazy morning ever! We went out for a late lunch to Pappa's Burgers. I ate so much food! The highlight was the choco-banana-peanut butter shake. Sooooo good! We were too full for dinner, so we had rootbeeer floats instead.
We drove to Galveston for a day on the beack on Sunday. I read "The Alchemist" for the first time. We capped the night with more rootbeer floats and "7 Brides for 7 Brothers". Aleisha had class all day Monday, so I got up, worked out, packed, napped, and spent a relaxed day alone. Later in the evening, we went to a global discussions group. The host lived in labyrinthal complex, so we had a bit of an adventure just arriving. Dinner was delicious, and I enjoyed a stimulating political discussion with a brother in Christ, Edwin, from Africa. We were wiped out by the time we got home. Aleisha took me to the airport in the morning to fly to Denver. The parents and Sara met me at the airport.
I got to drive to Chris and Sue's. We had a lovely lunch on their porch, and I was pretty tired from the flight and lack of oxygen, so I napped for a little. Joel and Quentin made it for dinner, and we had a lovely family reunion time over a delicious fare. We stopped at Focus on the Family in Colorado Springs the next day, had scrumptious Wodfamchocsods at Whit's End, and found some fun shirts at the bookstore. We spent a couple hours touring the Broadmore Hotel, Carriage Museum, and grounds before lunch. It was a beautiful place, but I can only imagine how expensive it would be to stay there. When Dad, Nana, and Papa stopped there in the 70's, a room cost $150.00/night!
Dad accidentally forgot to pack a luggage with his Tarzan book inside, so I bought him "Riders of the Purple Sage" by Zane Grey at Wally World and he, Sara, and I took turns reading aloud for the remainder of our trip. It was fun to experience that part of the West while reading a novel about it. We stayed at the Cow Palace in Lamar, CO, stopped in at Dodge City to take pictures with Matt Dillon, and snapped some pictures of the romantic sunsets into which western heroes always seem to be riding.
We were able to spend a short time with the Lawrences in Dallas, TX for a night and half a day. I could hardly believe how big the kids have grown since they left! It was a lovely visit, which just left me wishing we had more time together.
We made it to Austin before night fell and ate out at a joint named Hoover's. We all had a version of catfish. Aleisha and her Turkish roomy, Zeynep, came the next morning, and we all toured the capitol and ate lunch at Hoover's again before I said farewell to my family and began a much shorter roadtrip back to Houston. I SO enjoyed our conversation on our return. Zeynep treated us to Starbuck's coffee, and we talked girl talk the whole way back. It was such a refreshing time!
I met up with Symon in the airport early the next morning, ate breakfast before our flight, and then boarded the plane for the last leg of my journey. Iain picked us up at the airport since Sandy, the anesthesiologist, arrived on the same flight. We made it to Amy's birthday party when we returned, I threw some rice and veggies together for dinner, and then he crashed. The next day, I showed him around and handed him off to Brad to start some agriculture project.
Entry from 10-2-10
I jumped back into the swing of things after my day of reorientation, and loved being back with the kids! I took the whole lot of 'em to Bambú on Saturday, though luckily, the naked man was absent! The 28th was a cultural day for Honduras, a sort of extension of their Independence Day on the 15th. I was so excited to see German's and Jayson' folkloric dance, but after a 14-hour day, running the kids back and forth, a deluge cut short the celebrations, and they will have to wait until next year to do their dance. It was still an enjoyable day, despite the disappointment of missing their dance twice.
Wednesday was Symon's last day, so we had a bonfire in the midst of Bairon's English session. He had never toasted marshmallows before! Natasha and I had hung out most of the day, drinking tea, making cookies, and talking, and she wanted to see the sunrise, so she, Symon, James, Macknezie, and I arose at 0515 to go to the beach. We made egg-in-toast for breakfast, and then said our farewells.
I didn't have to do any school runs on Friday, so I was on-call translator for the new Dr. Abby. We just had one 8-year-old who needed stitches. Abby taught me how, and said I could to the next ones! We had a group dinner and game night after that. It was quite enjoyable.
We played Loaded Questions with Abby, Rimas, and Bairon. I finally caught up with Joelle afterward, since I had barely seen her since her return to Honduras.
Everyone was gone to missionary conference in Siguatepeque, and I was glad for the quiet solitude. Today, I cleaned, danced about when no one was watching, listened to music, and relaxed in general. Good day!

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