Wednesday morning arrived with a flurry of activity. I was so tired because I kept hearing ghosts in the night. The sound that woke me up was a whooshing sound with a bark at the end. It sounded surreal and freaky being out in the jungle and all. I asked Trish about it when we arrived at their house and she told me that the howler monkeys had come down from the mountains in the night and that is what I was hearing. It was just so cool!

After breakfast, Moriah and Sammey ran off to go play while Trish and I walked to the hospital.  Trish volunteers in the eye clinic every Wednesday morning. Her jobs consist of sorting glasses, entering into the new data base and seeing patients who need glasses. The Lions club donated a new machine and sorting system to the hospital to help with patient exams and sorting the dontated glasses. It works like this:  When an eye patient looks into the machine it measures their eyes and tells the person who is running the eye clinic which glasses will be the best fit. All of the glasses have been donated and I believe I was told that there are upwards of 50,000 pair in various bins within the clinic. The Lions club also donated a new computer system that measures each pair of glasses, assigns them a part number and when a patient is examined will tell the examiner the specific part number that will fit the patient the best. This is wonderful because right now all the glasses are separated out into bins and they have to wade through 30 or 40 pair to find the prescription that fits. It’s time consuming and a little frustrating.

Trish in the Eye Clinic

Trish and I were able to catalog a few glasses before her first patient for the day came in. The lady that came in was a Garifuna woman who was needing a written prescription to take into La Ceiba (city) because the eye clinic didn’t have what she needed. She came in with a big smile on her face and chatted happily with Trish.

Trish and her patient

After she left Trish decided that it was time for me to get the grand tour of the hospital. I was surprised at the equipment and the hustle and bustle around the building. Most of their equipment is older but functioning. Of course they are always in need of supplies and updated equipment for the hospital as you can imagine.


They had several operating rooms, one of which was in use. Let me preface this a little by saying that I have always loved watching surgeries and stuff like that. Okay, we got to watch the last part of a toe amputation surgery. In Honduras, one of the biggest medical issues facing the people is diabetes. One of the largest reasons for this is that the water they have is generally not clean so they drink soda pop. The soda pop is one of several reasons diabetes is so prevalent but it is a pretty big one. Trish was reiterating to me again that most of the people the hospital sees are very poor and live a ways away so they don’t tend to get treatment for their ailments until it gets really bad. That was the case with the man getting his toe amputated. It was fascinating to watch the surgery. Trish wasn’t as excited about it as I was. In fact she slid around the corner so she didn’t have to watch.

Toe Amputation Surgery

When Trish works at the eye clinic she also gets to be a translatorgets to do when she is working at the hospital is help translate. She said that one of the nurses that works in the wound care area has called her in to help translate a number of different times. Like I said before, Trish isn’t a big fan of blood and pus so she usually stands there trying not to look at the wound being cared for while she is translating. She said that she has nearly lost it a couple of times. While she was telling me about translating, the very nurse who does wound care, asked if she could come and translate something. Trish tentatively walked in and invited me to come along. Sure enough, the lady needing translation was up on the table getting her leg cleaned up. Trish covered her turned so she couldn't see the wound and translated for the woman on the bed.

The lady getting her wound cleaned wasn't the only one in the room getting wound care.  There was another lady who was sitting in a chair with her leg in a bag that was connected to a hose. The bag was all puffed up like a balloon around her leg as she was recieving an oxygen treatment.  I had no idea they did things like that.

Hospital Loma de Luz is built in a circular fashion. Trish walked through the whole thing with me, showing me the different rooms used for varieties of medical situations. It was bigger than I thought and I was pretty thoroughly lost at one point.



Part of touring the hospital included meeting the many doctors and nurses on staff. I believe all of the doctors working at the hospital are from the States. Many of them live full time on the Hospital campus but many of them come in and out for a week or two at a time. There are some pretty stringent and time consuming hoops they have to jump through before the Honduran government will let them come down and practice medicine. The nurses have to go through many guidelines to work in Honduras as well. Trish was telling me that in order for a doctor or nurse to come serve, they have to submit an application and paper work to the hospital several months in advance. That paperwork is then submitted to the Honduran government for approval.


Trish & I modeling the "ugly glasses"

When we were done with the tour, we went back to the eye clinic to see if any of her other patients had arrived. They hadn’t so we went to check on a patient that had just received surgery. As we left the eye clinic I noticed a bench full of pregnant women that weren't there before.  Trish told me that we were next door to one of the doctors that does the check ups for women having babies. 

As Trish was talking we walked into a room with an older Honduran woman who was diabetic and had a large open sore on her leg. She had it removed and they did a skin graft as well. While in the hospital Trish discovered that she was using a pair of glasses that had been super glued so many times that you could hardly see through them. In fact, she even had her finger prints super glued on the lenses. Trish showed them to me and I am truly amazed that she wasn’t walking into wall and stepping in holes. They were terrible.

Trish had spent several hours with her, helping her pick out new glasses. When we went to check on her, she seemed pleased but was frustrated that they didn’t work as well as her old ones. Trish thought her eyes hadn’t adjusted yet because the new ones were so much better and they were the same prescription as the old ones.

One of the reasons I got to meet this wonderful woman was because I had brought some Spanish devotionals to Honduras with me and Trish wanted to make sure this lady had one. She was so excited to receive it and showed us her stack of books. She had an old bible that was clearly loved as well as books by Spurgeon and D.L. Moody. I was astounded to see those. She said that those were her favorites. Again, I must have looked like I was trying to catch flies with my mouth hanging open. Those books are so far beyond me. I just wanted to sit and listen to the wisdom she had oozing out of her.

We were done at the hospital around noon and picked up Brad and the girls to go out for lunch. Down at the gatehouse is a little open air restaurant. The woman who operates it is named China (pronounced cheena). Trish said she makes some delicious friend chicken as well as oriental rice. We got a plate of oriental rice that had all sorts of things in it. Many veggies as well as some sort of meat and shrimp.  To be honest, I didn't want to examine it to closely. 

When Moriah spotted the shrimp in her food she froze. She is not a fan of seafood of any kind. I told her to eat around it and she reluctantly did so but I think it spoiled her appetite. We also enjoyed a nice cold soda pop with our lunch and sat at a table with a view of the garden. Okay, so I need to tell you that the restaurant would not fly in the states. It wouldn’t pass any of the health codes. It consisted of some concrete walls and a concrete floor with a roof to provide shade. The kitchen area was a counter that held a bowl of food, an old soda pop refrigerator and a small sink. The chairs and tables were plastic and there was a stray dog running around cleaning up anything that spilled on the floor. Even though it wouldn't have gone over in the states I thought the restaurant was charming and fit right in with my experience of Honduran life.

Wednesday was the day we didn’t have a lot planned so we hung out a bit and talked and then Trish and I took a little tour of the rest of the area. She drove up a driveway that had some houses for staff to live in but the thing she wanted to show me was the view of the ocean. It was stunning! I took a couple of pictures but don’t think a photo can do it justice sometimes.

A View of the Carribean

When we got back to the Ward’s house we had some down time which was nice. Moriah, Sammey and Sydney played the Wii while Trish and I sat and talked for a bit.

When Brad came home we all decided to go for a swim in the ocean and then drive up to the water towers on top of the hill to get a look at the area. All of us climbed to the top of the tower to take in the spectacular view. Brad showed us where the property belonging to the hospital ran and we talked about deforestation and conservation a bit.

The Water Towers that Provide Clean Water to Hospital Loma de Luz, the Children's Center and the Housing on the campus.

Before we left the house to go swimming we got to see a howler monkey. He was amazing to see. Sydney started grunting at him which got him riled up a bit. He jumped from branch to branch and then climbed up on the roof of the Ward’s house. Sydney continued to grunt at him and he grunted back. I must admit that I was a little afraid that he was getting ticked off and was going to jump on her head. We were able to get pretty close to him because he finally perched in a tree right outside the Ward’s dining room window. Now I can check that off my list of animals seen.


After we were done swimming and looking at the views on top of the water tower, we headed back to the house to make some dinner. The evening was very laid back and enjoyable. Moriah and Sammey were back on the Wii which just wasn’t sitting right with me so I asked Moriah not to play the Wii while we were in Honduras. My thought was that we are in a different country with all sorts of things to do and see and she can play the Wii anytime she wants at home. I was really proud of her because she responded very gracefully to my request. She and Sammey decided that Moriah should sleep over so around bedtime, I walked down to staff housing by myself and went to bed. In the middle of the night, I heard some rustling and the door opening. It was Moriah. She got a little scared at Sammey’s house so she got up, at around 2 am, walked outside all by herself, in a strange place, with a jungle right next to her, so she could come to sleep in our room. I thought that was so ironic.

In winding up the day, I was starting miss my boys and going to bed alone in our room left me some time to let my mind wander a little. I was thanking God for my Ipod and wishing I had a voice recorder because I was just too tired to pick up a pen to journal or a book. I crashed hard on Wednesday, and fell asleep thinking through all that we saw and the people we met. It was a good day.

Tuesday morning arrived and again I looked over at my little cherub. Sammey, after starting out on the tile floor the evening before had crawled into bed with Moriah and she was sleeping curled up in a little ball and Moriah’s feet in her face. I cannot believe the way kids can sleep. They are like a pile of puppies.


When we got up and had breakfast, we decided that it was hot enough that we’d like to go swimming. It was only 9:00 in the morning and it was already blistering hot. I think Tuesday may have been the hottest day Moriah and I experienced while in Honduras. We got ready and drove down through the gate house, out onto the road and then Trish turned into the Children’s Center and started driving out through the farm. We reached the gate dividing the farm from the Enchanted Forest and had to stop to go through the gate. Trish asked Sammey to get out and open the gate. I leaned out the window and asked Moriah to go help her and told her to do it like she does at Grandpa and Grandma’s house. We let the girls struggle with it a bit and then got out and showed them how to use their shoulder to open it easier. The gate was not a simple metal one like you find in a pasture in the states. It was made from barbed wire wrapped around tree limbs. My family has used this kind of gate on the property I grew up on and I remember the frustration of trying to get it opened and closed. My Dad and I had many go arounds about those gates until I finally learned how to use my leverage to get the things opened and closed.

When we got it open we drove through the enchanted forest to the beach where we found a Honduran man and his young son building a small out building right next to the beach. Trish and he conversed in Spanish for a few minutes and then we headed to the water. Apparently, he had talked to Brad the day before (Moriah and I had seen him the previous day while touring the farm) about a possible job on the farm. He was anxious to show Trish his hard work. They offered us water and bent over backward to be friendly and accommodating which was little odd considering the fact that we were not at their home but on a beach getting ready to play in the water.

A little bit about the beach we were on: This beach happens to be one that has outlying coral reefs close so we saw lots of huge pieces of coral embedded in the sand as well beautiful, twisted pieces of drift wood all over the place as well as tiny sea shells. Trish and I took off walking down the beach while Moriah and Sammey played in the surf. We talked about everything while enjoying the sun and water. No, I’m not going to tell you all the details of what we talked about. I’ll just tell you some of the topics...  I think maybe this was the first time we had been able to just let everything go and catch up completely on our friendship. We talked about being missionaries, marriage, old friends, scrapbooking and raising kids. It was such a wonderful time and I just felt joy overflowing from hanging out with Trish.

We went quite a ways down the beach and turned around to go the other direction. We walked as far as the point talking and laughing as we went. Every once in a while we would glance over our shoulder to see Moriah and Sammey either running down the beach or heads bobbing in the surf.
For those of you who are worrying about us letting our girls wander farther than 5 feet from us, I would say a couple of things. The first is that the surf is not like what we have here in Oregon. It is gentle rolling surf just a little bigger than you would find at a lake and second both of our girls have a lot of common sense and familiarity with oceans and water. We really weren’t that far from them and they were having the time of their lives especially not having their mothers hovering over them.

Trish and I started to really feel the heat of the sun and decided it was time to do a little swimming our selves. We floated in the waves and continued our girl talk for a while longer when we looked down the beach at our girls. They were jumping up and down and shouting at us about some treasure they had found. We made our way to them and come to find out, they had found a bed of sand dollars buried just beneath the surface of the sand. I couldn’t help but think of my mother-in-law and all the sand dollars we find in Seaside. It was so fun to pull them up and look at them. They are more delicate than the ones we have on the Oregon Coast and their shape is a bit more oblong from side to side. We could have pulled up hundreds of them. It was fun to look at the sand dollars and talk about the different parts and what they do. It was one of those moments in time that felt perfect. The four of us picking sand dollars out of the surf, laughing and smiling is captured in my memory. So much joy in a simple thing. I didn’t want it to end and I never wanted to leave. I felt like the weight of life that I had been carrying was just floating away with each lap of the waves.

Unfortunately, it did need to come to an end because we had other things that needed our attention. Trish needed to get some more propane so we got in the truck, went through the gate and drove to the village of Lucinda. Moriah and Sammey sat in the back of the pickup grinning and giggling the whole time while Trish and I enjoyed a little air conditioning. Have I mentioned yet that it was really hot and humid, in ordinarily so.

The village of Lucinda is a tiny little town with a very small store and a river. All along the road are small houses made out of brightly colored stucco or huts with roofs made from palm fronds. The flowers grow in riots of color all over. We drove about half way through town and stopped at the store to exchange a propane tank. While we were there we bought some Honduran popsicles made from Tamarind juice. The popsicles are funny because they come in what looks like a sandwich bag tied in a knot that has frozen juice. You bite the corner off and suck on it. I was astounded at how refreshing it was. The amazing thing was that it cost about ten cents US.
Once we were done at the store, we all hopped back in the truck and Trish took us for a ride across the river, Rio Lucinda.


In rural Honduras, you generally don’t find a lot of bridges so you drive through the river. Rio Lucinda was about a foot deep but Trish said that during the rainy season, the rivers water is so high sometimes that they cannot pass through. Rio Lucinda was such peaceful looking river at the time but I can imagine how it must rage when the rain hits the jungle mountains and roars into the rivers.

We spent a lot of time Tuesday morning and early afternoon just laughing and having a fun time. After we were done in Lucinda we headed back to the Ward’s house for lunch. One of the animals on my list to see while in Honduras was a toucan. Today was the day I got to check it off my list. Toucans are noisy creatures and nothing like Toucan Sam on the cereal box. In fact, I didn’t actually see one up close because they were in flight constantly so my glimpse of them was of a flash of black and a colored bill.

Shortly after lunch, we packed up our art supplies to go down to the children’s center. Trish found some mugs in the staff housing that were undecorated and had the idea of having the children paint them and then sell them in the gift cabinet. I found paint at Michaels here in the states that could be used on porcelain and ceramic and then cured in a regular oven.

Our class consisted of kids that ranged in age from about 5 years old to 9 or 10 years old. Trish got everyone’s attention and translated for me as I quickly showed the kids some different ideas to paint the mugs using their fingers. I didn’t have to show them much before they were ready to go. One of the things I had them do to clean their fingers was to wipe the paint on my apron. They thought that was so funny and now I have a memento of colorful little fingerprints all over my art apron.


We decided that we needed two projects and to split the class in half. One half painted mugs while the other used colorful tissue paper, crayons and the like to decorate a face I would be drawing on a piece of paper. The only problem was that the faces needed to be drawn. I took a couple of minutes and quickly drew 12 face pictures. Some of the faces were a little wonky with different sized eyes and ears that but the kids didn’t seem to mind.

It was hilarious watching the kids and staff using colored paint, crayons and tissue paper. Everyone was having a wonderful time and there was lots of chatter and laughter especially as the kids wiped their painted fingers all over my apron. Moriah and I walked around saying “bonita” and “bonito” hoping to express our delight in the results.

Moriah was my photographer and one of my helpers. The children loved hanging around her so they were excited for her to either take their picture or help them with their art projects. For the first little while, she took my camera and shot photos of everyone working on mugs. Then as the mug painting wound down, she helped the little kids by showing them how to stick tissue paper on their pictures by wrapping it around the eraser end of a pencil, dipping it in glue and sticking it on their picture. The girls especially loved doing that and Moriah had fun trying to communicate with them. She even learned the Spanish word for glue.


Toward the end of the class I paused to look around the balcony area and was struck with the joyful spirit that seemed to be surrounding this place. There were scraps of tissue paper in every color you could imagine floating around and blowing in the breeze as well as smiling kids running around playing with some toys we had brought from home to give to them. It is another moment framed in my mind.

When the kids were done decorating their face pictures each one took it to their bedroom and posted it on the wall above their beds. Trish was kind enough to grab my camera and take pictures of everyone with the picture they decorated while Moriah helped with the last art projects and I worked on cleaning up.

Once we were done cleaning up at the big house, we headed down to Ian’s house with the plan of getting Orlin’s footprint on a few mugs. He was sound asleep in his crib so we very carefully went in and painted his little foot with blue paint and pressed it onto the mugs. Trish’s plan was to get a couple of them painted to give to Ian and his wife. About half way through the second mug, Orlin woke up and didn’t much appreciate what we were doing so we worked quickly to finish up and get his little foot cleaned up.

Ian had to run an errand really quick so Trish and I hung out with Orlin. We stood on either side of his crib quietly talking to him and loving on him as he cried. We discovered that he really loves the base of his toes rubbed. It seemed to sooth him and he fell back into a light sleep.

We visited with Ian for a couple more minutes and then it was time to leave. Honestly, I really didn’t want to leave the children’s center. There is something about those little ones and the people who care for them that made me want to stay for a very long time. There joy knows no bounds and it flows over to everyone who is around them.

It was time to say good bye to the kids and go back to the Ward’s house. On the way, we decided to go to a different beach and go for a swim. We spent a half hour or an hour body surfing and floating in the ocean. It was so refreshing after the hot day. Again, it was a sweet time with my friend Trish where we talked and shared. She is such an encourager and her wisdom runs deep.

When we were done swimming, we took the “long” way home and went into another little village to check out a soccer field and look around a little. We decided to get a little adventurous and drove down a small road that lead us down to another river. We decided not to cross it so we turned around. Moriah and I got a close up look at some typical Honduran houses that are made from branches and palm fronds. They are really beautiful and simple in the way they are constructed.

After dinner, the Ward’s neighbor knocked on our door and told us he had a baby boa constrictor for us to look at. It was only about 10 inches long and definitely a boa. I don’t know what came over me in Honduras but every time someone yelled that there was a new critter to look at I came running, even if it was a spider which we did get a good look at a rather large spider running across the Ward’s kitchen floor. I didn’t get very close to that but was curious enough to take try and get a picture of it. It moved really fast so I made sure to stay a safe distance away.

This was the evening that Trish and I walked a bunch of souvenir items over to staff housing for the gift cabinet. One of the projects she had for me to do while in Honduras was to help her arrange the gift cabinet so it looked inviting for people. We took everything out cleaned it up and went through it.
One of the reason’s Trish and I get along so well is that she is incredibly organized and able to think through tasks, break them down into bite sized pieces and delegate how they need to get done. I, on the other hand am extremely creative and able to think outside the box to problem solve however I am not good at breaking tasks down into bite sized pieces, organize the people to do the job or delegate the tasks well. In other words, I really need Trish to organize me and my ideas so that the job can get done well.

She had several different ladies who had made jewelry as well as some beautiful Linka pottery, some purses that were handmade, key chains, a couple of preserved frogs, yes I said frogs and I did buy one for Caleb so if you ever want to see it just ask, machetes and some really great t-shirts.

We spent a couple of hours talking with young women who are living in the staff housing while I re-arranged the cabinet. You can imagine the evening with us in an open air living room type place, a hammock swinging in the breeze, chatter among friends and a couple of chirping geckos running across the walls snacking on flying insects for an evening meal.

As I was listening in on the conversations that night, my respect for the life people who are serving in other countries continued to grow. Being a foreigner and visiting for the first time for 1 week, I could have romanticized the life these people lead. Honduras is beautiful with hot weather, palm trees and a beautiful blue green ocean. The missionaries at Hospital Loma de Luz live in a pretty tight knit community depending on each other. It’s almost like having built in friends however, I began to get my first glimpse of the hardship of being a missionary. They are living so close and working so close with a small group of expats. Everyone knows everyone else’s business which can be good and really bad. Privacy is hard and if there is a personal problem between people it must be difficult because you can’t just ignore it or up and leave. I would think it has to be worked out because you see all these people multiple times each day. In addition to that, they are living in a country that despite its beauty is extremely poor, a bit dangerous on many different levels, and is a world of different away from American or European life.

One small example of the blessing and struggle of life at Hospital Loma de Luz is a rather ingenious system used to communicate between the missionaries. They use a ham radio system so when anyone uses it, they all know it and know which station the people talking are going to in order to communicate. It was fun to listen to people calling on the radio but I can see how frustrating it would be because it is not a private way of communicating. A side note, they don’t have telephones to call each other and cell phones don’t work well in the rural area they are in.

I think up until Tuesday I was existing in Honduras with a very sunshiny view of life. I know that being a missionary is difficult and have never thought any differently but my experiences so far were far and away the best experience I had had in a foreign country. As I lay in my bed, sweating and listening to my iPod, I mentally recounted the details of our trip so far and tried to let it all soak in. There is so much to say and yet the words I come up with seem so inadequate to express the duel perspective I was getting. I think one of the best ways to put it is that I was an American in a 3rd world country for one week, ready to serve in any way I was asked, for one week, knowing that I had the hope of a date I had to get on an airplane to fly home. I think on Tuesday night I began to see that the Wards didn’t have the hope of a deadline to leave, this is their home. Yes it is a wonderful place but there are perils and poverty that are intense and by the grace of God Moriah and I weren’t going to have to look those in the face for very long. What the Ward family is doing is so beneficial and they do it with joy in their hearts and good humor knowing they are right where they are supposed to be. Again, I reiterate my statement above by expressing my respect for the heart of these missionaries and what they are accomplishing in health care, education and relationships.

Honduras 2010 - post #2 of ...

Another installment of our adventures in Honduras is here.

Monday morning arrived with sticky, hot weather. I rolled over in my bed and looked over at Moriah. She was sound asleep with crumpled and dried out handkerchiefs all over her and a glisten of sweat on her face. Her hair was beginning to curl all around her in a ray of blond making her look like a sweet little cherub.


Moriah and I got up, had our cold showers and got ready for the day anxious to see what the plan was for the day. We both slipped on our flip-flops and headed toward the Wards house happily chatting about all the jungle sights and sounds we were seeing.


As we rounded the corner of the building, I saw Trish sitting on her front porch surrounded by drift wood and a burning tool carving Honduran sayings into pieces that would be made into decoration and sold in the gift cabinet. As she sat in her chair, I noticed her bible, and devotional on a little table next to her. I was imagining how amazing it must be to wake up in the morning grab your coffee and head outside to listen to the jungle sounds and spend some good personal time with the Father. It was another thing that made me smile. One of many.

I plunked down in a chair next Trish and she started telling me about her ideas for items to go in the gift cabinet. The idea behind the gift cabinet is to sell souvenir type items to people who are on short term missions at Hospital Loma de Luz. A lot of times the people coming in don’t have any time to shop in the city so this would give them an opportunity to get some mementos of their trip and help to support the staff housing and children’s center.

We finished our brain storming, got some breakfast and began our tour. Trish drove us in the blessed air conditioned truck down to the East farm and Children’s center. I was surprised by how large and homey looking the children’s center building is. It is a really beautiful building that sits at the middle, back of a semi-circle made up of smaller houses called sanctuary housing.

A view of the Children's Center

The children’s center is a place for kids to live while they are being cared for at the hospital or on more permanent basis as they may be abandoned or orphaned. In addition, the smaller houses, called sanctuary housing, are a place where children can go when something bad has happened. They will be cared for by volunteer “parents” when they arrive at sanctuary housing.
When we got to the children’s center we found Brad out in back of the children’s center supervising the building of the barn, compost stalls and shade house. He kindly showed us what they envisioned the building looking like when finished. I am looking forward to going back to see the finished product.


Me holding a chick (Moriah didn't want to)

From the barn he took us over to one of the sanctuary houses and inside we found 100 chirping, tiny chicks. The chicks are a new venture for the farm. Brad told us about their life cycle which is truly amazing. They are fully mature 6 weeks from the time they hatch. When the chicks are mature enough to be out of their “play pen”, they are then put into chicken tractors daily and placed in between the rows of African Palm trees. There, they feed on insects, poop, scratch to find insects, which spreads their manure which happens to be really great fertilizer and the process is repeated which in turn, lends to a very eco-friendly, organic process in farming. After the chicken’s are fully mature, several village women are hired to butcher the chickens and prepare them for selling to the missionaries at the hospital and the people in the villages. Some of them are given to the staff at the children’s center to cook for the kids too. All that to say, raising these chickens is very beneficial for many people.

The baby African Palm Trees and the Mangrove Forest in the background.

I mentioned African Palm’s which are a huge part of this farm project the Ward’s are involved with. African Palm’s have been planted in the West and East fields. The big deal about them is that the fruit they produce is turned into palm oil which is sold for cooking and as a component to make bio-diesel. The yield from the fruit is upwards of 75% which, if you think about it, is a huge yield and potentially very profitable. The idea being that these African Palms, in a matter of 5 years will be in full production and will be helping to support the operation of Hospital Loma de Luz and the children’s center.

In addition to the African Palms, Brad and his crew are experimenting with other crops that are proving to be beneficial to the communities around them as well as eco-friendly to native jungle, soil and ocean reefs. He has a small banana and plantain crop growing like gang busters, has been experimenting with rice and has several other really cool ideas brewing. It was fascinating to hear the plans, the reasoning behind the plans and careful thought put into all aspects of what they are doing on the farms.
They are very conscious of making sure not to harm the environment but also hoping to help impact the outlying villages in a positive way economically, educationally and in the people’s health and nutrition.

Touring the fields proved educational on a global level for us and on a very personal level. We became familiar with the ants that are in Honduras. As Brad put it, it’s a good idea to keep moving so you don’t end up with little biting insects crawling up your legs. Moriah and I each got chewed on about 10 times. The little things really sting when they bite and then a couple of days later; they itch worse than a mosquito bite. I have never had anything itch like that.


Brad & Sydney

At the back of the East farm is a mangrove forest that is a barrier between the farm and the Caribbean Sea and reefs. The Wards call it the enchanted forest because it is so beautiful. Brad and Sydney took Moriah and me through on a slightly raised path and we got our first glimpse of the Caribbean Sea. The waves gently rolled onto the white sandy beach as warm wind brushed our sweaty hair back. We stood looking at the ocean for a couple of minutes and talking about the mangrove forest.
When we turned to head back through the enchanted forest we noticed a small dugout canoe at the base of a giant mangrove tree. Brad said it had been carved out of a tree and is used for fishing. It looked pretty small to me but then Hondurans are small people.

Sydney and Moriah in the dugout


Hospital Loma de Luz

As we passed through the gate back out into the fields, I had to pause just to take in the scenery. Behind me stood the enchanted forest, a barrier between a farm and the Caribbean Sea and in front of me stood mountains covered in lush, green jungle. About half way up one of the smaller hills sat a large white building with what looks like a bell tower and a cross on top. That is Hospital Loma de Luz, a city on a hill so to speak. Just to the left and down sits the children’s center. A place filled with activity and love and accented with the laughter of children who for all intents and purposes have no good reason to laugh. But, as it stands, they are children and children laugh and play, even when they have been through more than most adults can tolerate. I just stood there looking, trying to preserve all the images, smells and sounds in my mind. A totally foreign place I quickly fell in love with. Alas, as Brad says, it’s a good idea to keep moving. The ants, they were marching and biting.


Yuca Trees being harvested

We met up with one of Brad’s foremen who was harvesting a plant called Yuca. It is a tree that grows tubers that are used like a potato. Like many plants in the tropics, you cut a branch off the mother tree, stick it in the ground and it grows. As they were telling about yuca, the foreman began to chuckle and in Spanish told us about how you must plan your crops. You must plan for a percentage to be eaten by critters, a percentage to be stolen by passersby and the rest you can harvest, hopefully. He told that they had been having trouble with people coming into the field at night, pulling up the yuca trees, breaking off the tubers and sticking the trees back in the ground. The famers, not knowing this go to harvest yuca, pull up their yuca trees and there is no tuber. Dissappointing.

Once we were done with the yuca, Moriah and I helped carry some of them up to the children’s center where Trish and Brad introduced us to a bunch of the cutest kids you will ever meet. Michelle was one of the first to greet us and immediately jumped into Sydney’s arms. Sydney proceeded to twirl her around and around upside down until the living area was filled with gales of giggles.

Sydney & Michelle

All of the kids have difficult stories. Whether it is an illness that takes them out of the jungle to get healing or the loss of parents and anything you can imagine in between.

Andrea was the first girl we met when we pulled up to the children’s center. Andrea is the same age as Sammey and they are great friends. She and her Mom came to live in one of the sanctuary houses while her mom was very ill. Her mom passed away and left Andrea with no family so her new home is at the children’s center. Now, as she heals from her loss and sadness, she is in a situation where she is being well cared for, receiving a terrific education and lots of love. Of course, nothing can replace a mom and her sadness lingers.

Another little girl, Fannie, is at the children’s center because she has a terrible bone infection that has been recurring. She and her parents live 2 hours into the jungle by foot and because of that journey, Fannie remains at the children’s center until she is all well. She has had 4 different surgeries to clean out the infection and each time, her parents come and take her back home before she has fully recovered only to bring her back to the hospital because the infection festers again.
According to the docs at Hospital Loma de Luz, because of the heat and humidity of the area, it is like a microcosm of bacteria and nasty stuff that festers quickly. This leaves many people in a situation that can go from a small cut to something very, very nasty in a short amount of time. In addition, because the people are so poor, they tend to wait to go to the hospital for help until the situation is really bad. Can’t say I blame them. When you have no extra money, you have no extra money.

The overseer and caretaker of the Children’s Center are Ian and his wife. They are from Scotland and have such a heart for the kids. In addition to their son, they also care for a baby named Orlin(pronounced Orleen ). Orlin’s story is difficult to be honest. He is around 1 year old. No one knows for sure when his birthday is. When he was very tiny, around Thanksgiving, the police brought him into the hospital and placed him in the hospital’s custody. His little head had been slammed or crushed somehow and he was on the edge of death. The doctors that worked on him didn’t think he was going to live more than a day or two. He has held began to heal but is still in very bad shape with severe brain damage. When you look at him, you can see a flat spot on the front and directly across the back side of his head. He has a stomach tube and must be kept in a semi-upright position because he can neither swallow nor hold down his formula which has caused no end to medical issues. He has had pneumonia every month of his short life because of these issues. In addition to that, Orlin requires feeding every 90 minutes around the clock due to the small amount of formula he can hold in his tummy at any one time.

Our first time seeing Orlin and Ian was when we were invited to come into Ian’s house. There standing in the archway between the living room and one of the bedrooms was Ian holding a very unhappy Orlin. Orlin was inconsolable as Ian, feet splayed as if he was in for the long haul, gently swayed back and forth, balancing Orlin with his bottom on Ian’s belly and Orlin’s head in his hand. He alternated between telling us about Orlin’s condition and talking to Orlin about this crying and grumpy attitude, all with a Scottish brogue.

Ian had been on Orlin duty for upwards of 48 hours without his wife. Her brother had passed away so she had flown back to Scotland to be with family. I think the picture of Ian, the Scotsman, holding that helpless baby with eyes that were so tired and the stance of a momma in for the long haul will forever be impressed into my memory. It is one that is heart rending and sweet.

Ian, Orlin & Trish

Hopefully I have given you an accurate picture and feel for the importance of the farms and children’s center in this rural area of the North Coast of Honduras.

After our tour of the East farm and the children’s center, we climbed back into the pickup and Brad showed us the West farm. They were planting African Palms and also experimenting with a new way to slow release nutrients into the soil. Brad learned about it at Echo in Florida. The process uses bio-charcoal planted at the base of the trees. I will be excited to hear how the experiment turns out. Brad said that they are already having some unexpected results. I hope that is a good thing.

The West farm is situated on the Caribbean Sea as well. It is many acres with fields that have been leveled out and planted with the African Palm.
Once we were done looking at the properties, we dropped Brad off at the Children’s Center again and then drove back up to the Ward’s house for lunch and a little relaxing. That afternoon, I was scheduled to teach an art class to 10ish of the missionary kids so I was beginning to feel a little nervous.
I decided to head down to our room and try and rest for an hour or so. The traveling was starting to catch up to me. I really thought I wouldn’t be able to sleep much because of the heat but I turned on my iPod and drifted off for about 45 minutes. It was a much needed nap.

After waking up and taking a cold shower, I headed back up to the Ward’s house and Moriah and I worked on setting up for the art class. We had pre-prepared art kits to give to the kids as well as a bunch of extra supplies that they could use. We were going to teach art journaling techniques.



It was so much fun to watch all the individuals make a layout representing themselves. Each one was different and representative of its maker. The class was really fun to do and I probably learned more than the students.
After the art class, we cleaned up and Brad made us some amazing pizza for dinner. Of course I had a hard time not eating way more than I should just because pizza is one of my favorite foods of all time and it was just delicious.

We cleaned up and Trish and I went into her air conditioned bedroom and she showed me her new sewing machine and several projects she was working on. I must admit that after sweating so hard through the art class, air conditioning was very, very welcome.
While Trish and I were bonding, Sammey and Moriah were busily playing with American Girl dolls and Polly Pockets in Sammey’s room. By the end of the night, Sammey’s room looked like a girls dream party. Dolls had exploded from every nook and cranny and were put in all sorts of places doing all sorts of things to simulate the imaginations of two playmates in full glory of imaginings.


Sammey decided to stay the night with Moriah and me at staff housing. I tell you what; we were up until close to midnight as those two girls came up with all sorts of mischief. At one point they were running around the room in their underwear playing hide and seek. Small spaces make for some of the most creative hiding in the world. As I sat trying to download pictures on the borrowed computer I got to listen to the giggles and squeals of two girls having more fun that one could have thought possible in a tiny dorm style room with 2 sets of bunk beds.

As it got later, I realized that we weren’t the only ones in staff housing and so I told them they needed to quiet down a bit. They transitioned from hiding and seeking to art journaling in the middle of the tile floor and laughing their heads off about the different things they were coming up with. It was a very fun evening and I fell asleep with a smile in my heart.

Stay tuned for more of our Honduras trip. Your comments and thoughts are welcome.

Honduras 2010 - post 1 of I dont' know how many... :-)

I need to sit down and write about our trip to Honduras. There is so much to say and so many things going through my head. I am afraid this may turn into a 200 page book. I think the best way to present all that we saw, did and experienced in Honduras is to blog in installments. So here goes.


Of course, Brad, Trish and the girls could not have been better hosts. I am really grateful and appreciative of all they did to make our trip amazing. I am also so aware that if God ever called us to be missionaries in Honduras, it would be another ball of wax and I must admit that the language barrier is quite intimidating to me.

Preparations for our trip started in 2009 and snow balled in intensity until we were ready to leave. Originally, I had intended to go down with some other women from our church but due to many different issues ended up being the only one who was going go. After talking with Trish about it, we all decided that I would still go down which I was so excited about.

My prayer for going to Honduras and visiting with the Wards was to see how God was working in Honduras, how he was working in the Ward’s life, and that I would be a gracious guest able to know where help was needed and just reconnect with one of my dearest friends.

The plan was that I would go alone however Moriah was gifted a plane ticket so that she could join me. I am really glad because the time I got to spend with my girl was precious. She is growing up fast so I treasured this trip with her beyond measure. She makes a great little traveling buddy and is brave even when she is quaking in her boots. Having her come with me was so perfect. I got to see her grow and watch as her eyes were opening to the world around her. I think seeing a new experience through the eyes of your child is quite possibly one of the most awe inspiring things that God could gift to a parent. I felt privileged to have her with me and to be able to watch her heart grow.

We took 3 suitcases and a duffle bag for our checked luggage which we filled almost entirely with things going down to the Wards. I think the funniest part of the preparations was going over to Julane’s house and realizing just how many baby quilts needed to be packed and how many glasses needed to go down. It was astounding. I figured out that you can stuff a baby quilt in a gallon zip lock bag if you squeeze the thing as tight as possible. I also had towels and kitchen utensils as well as some sort of carborator or something. It looked a little like a small motor to me. Top all of that off with a gianormous amount of art supplies and you have a puzzle to pack and repack 3 different times. Oh, and don’t forget the baby clothes, Tupperware, m&m’s, crystal lite and a miriade of other odds and ends.

We got as much packed as possible and before we knew it the day arrived for us to leave. Moriah and I were both incredibly grateful that we could check those crazy suitcases and nothave to think about them again until we reached San Pedro Sula.

We boarded our first flight in Redmond kissing Todd, Caleb and my brother and sis-in-law goodbye. After a 2 hour flight we landed in San Francisco and began our wait. Our layover in San Fran was 3 ½ very long hours. We managed to get a bite to eat and Moriah got a tour of part of the airport as we tried to figure out where our terminal was.

At 10:15ish we boarded our flight to New Jersey which proved to be interesting. It was supposed to be an overnight flight so we were expecting to catch some zzzz’s however, the guy next to Moriah kept drifting over into her seat as he slept which upset her to no end. I finally changed seats with her and used my elbows and knees to move him over. The Momma in me came out I guess and I wasn’t horribly gently about pushing on him.

In the meantime, Moriah managed to sleep for a couple of hours. She wadded herself up and put her head on my lap as I tried my best to snuggle with her in the cramped space. As for me, well, I can sleep anywhere just about so I was nodding off from the time we took off to the time we set our wheels down.

We landed in Jersey at 5:00 am Jersey time and we were pooped. Our connection to San Pedro Sula was like stepping into a different universe in the New Jersey airport terminal. The chatter, laughter, screaming children, crying babies and general cacophony was, well, loud. At this point, Moriah was starting to feel sick from lack of sleep. The final flight was 3 ½ hours of screaming children and crying babies and my baby was one of them. Moriah was feeling so nasty that she was in complete tears which stopped up her nose which made her ears hurt. I was so relieved when we landed.

Before we landed, we got to know the lady sitting next to us. She was a Honduran woman who had been living in the States for 30 years. She was making her way home to see her sister and nephews and nieces. She was from the town of El Progresso which is right outside San Pedro Sula. I asked her if she had any tips for first time visitors and she gave a us several , of which I can’t remember a single one. Oh yes, the most important, don't go out after dark.

The view out of the Plane window - Our first glimpse of Honduras

Once the plane landed and we gathered our stuff, our new friend helped us get through immigration. She told us which line to stand in and what to do as we were interviews. We stood in line for about 15 minutes waiting to see the guy behind the counter. Moriah was starting to feel even worse from sleep deprivation and the heat so I had her take her backpack off and lean against me. That seemed to help her. Her demeanor perked up when we spotted the Wards jumping up and down and waving at us through the glass barrier.

We had to pick up our baggage and tote it over to the scanners to be checked. I was trying to make it as easy on Moriah as possible so I started stacking backpacks on suitcases. I decided to wait for the line to clear out a bit and so it was wonderful when a porter came and helped us get our stuff through the lines. He was really kind and wheeled our stuff through to the Wards and then Trish and Brad took over. It cost us about $1 per bag to have the porter’s help which seemed like a tiny amount to me.

Brad ran ahead and got the truck while Trish took me to a guy in the airport who changes money from US or Euro’s to Lempira, which is the Honduran currency.

Moriah & Sammey

The next thing we knew, we were loading into Brad and Trish’s truck and heading through San Pedro to our hotel. The air conditioning in their truck felt so good and I am so, so thankful that they had that available because adjusting to the heat and humidity was a stretch.

Once at the hotel – It was called Villa Nuria – we went through the guarded gates and checked in. Again, thank the good Lord for Brad and Trish because Brad was able to navigate check in and payment for me a bit. It was great because the hotel took a credit card.

The Wards had reserved a really nice room for us, with air-conditioning. It had a small kitchenette, 2 bedrooms and of course, a bathroom. Trish told us not to drink the water, that the hotel staff would bring a pitcher of filtered ice-water we could keep in our refrigerator. I’m glad she told us that right off because I was very, very thirsty.

It wasn’t long after we got all of our stuff into the room and Trish knocked on the door and asked us if we would like to go to a little store to get a soda and snacks. Moriah chose to get a sprite and I got a Coke Lite. We headed back to the Wards room and Trish had picked up a bunch of Honduran candy and chips. I think my favorite was the candy coated peanuts and the plantanos that are fried up like potato chips. We also tried some goats milk candy, some sesame type brittle as well as a few other things. All of which were good. Moriah being the trooper she is, gave everything a try and ruled the plantano chips yummy while the goats milk candy didn’t float her boat.

We headed back to our room and Moriah got her swimming suit on while Sammey waited and off they went to the pool. I took a few minutes to collect myself, sort through some of our stuff and get my head put back on straight.


As I sit here recounting the details of this journey, I realize I have already written a book even gotten through our first day in Honduras. In addition to all of that, I haven’t really recounted all that I hoped would happen between me and Jesus nor have I recounted my thoughts on it. To tell you the truth, I am still sorting and examining all of that. I don’t feel like I went into this trip with a lot of expectations. In fact, I worked really hard to go into this trip with as few expectations as possible and my ultimate prayer was one of begging the Lord to help me step outside of myself, be a servant and keep my eyes open for Him.

A couple of weeks before I left, 2 of my friends and I were studying Ephesians and a new concept came up that has been holding tight to my soul. The word Love, as in agape, is defined as a “love feast”. That kind of freaked me out a little when I saw that but then I went on to read about what that means and the closest thing I could get to was that of a mother who loves her child so much she just wants to “eat ‘im up”. You know, blow bubbles into his neck, kiss every square inch of him, hold him as close as possible…a love feast. Our God loves us, dare I say, he loves us in such an intimate way.

I went to Honduras with the love feast on my mind. My prayer was that I could be empty of me and show the people I know and meet agape. As an innately selfish person, I know that under stress, I tend to turn into a hag. I so badly didn’t want to go to Honduras and be that person. I wanted to go with the Spirit, ready to serve, sit, talk, listen, whatever that was requested of me at the moment.

I know that was a bit of a sideline from my events of the first day, but I thought it important to address. Now back to our regular programming. Oh, with the warning that it could be pre-empted at anytime.

After a few hours of rest, we all hopped into the truck and headed into San Pedro Sula to run some errands and get dinner. I can’t even tell you what I saw because I think I may have been on overload at this point. However, I did spotted some hammocks being sold on the side of the road. Brad kindly did a u turn, or as close to a u turn in crazy traffic as anyone might try and headed back so I could look at the hammocks. Come to find out, the hammocks were just outside the prison walls and were made by prisoners to sell in order to make money for food and clothing.

As we got out of the truck and walked down the sidewalk, the smell of cigarette smoke mingled with the smell of a city. The hammocks hung just outside of the prison walls. A lady come up to us and would gruffly tell Trish the price. As I looked into the womans bloodshot eyes I wondered how many days she sat out under her canopy selling ehr hammocks. It was intimidating to be outside a large prison in a foreign and dangerous city buysing hammocks.

What the Wards told me about the prison system in Honduras was chilling. When someone does something that lands them in prison, they may have to wait for a very, very long time to get a trial. In addition, those prisoners really depend on family and friends because they may not get fed or clothed if someone doesn’t bring them food and clothing on a regular basis. Trish said that some days, there lines of people that are blocks long as they wait to bring their loved ones inside the prison food and clothing.

Hearing that made me want to buy several more hammocks than I had intended. Moriah picked one out for herself that was black and white striped and picked another out for Caleb that was green and gray. We paid 400 Lempira for one and 350 Lempira for the other, approximately $20 and $17 US.

Once the hammocks were procured, Ace Hardware and dinner were the next things to tackle. We ended up at 2 different, huge shopping malls. The first one was where Ace Hardware was located. This is also the place that I realized that Moriah was drooping. We were talking about it and figured out that she had had between 2 and 3 hours of sleep in the last 36 hours. I was feeling like a really bad mom at that point. My poor girl was not feeling good and she continued to march on even though she was dead on her feet. I decided that we needed to get her fed and back to the hotel as soon as possible. By the time we got to the other mall, she was walking like a drunk sailor. I’m surprised she remembers any of this at all.

Tired Riah

The Malls were beautiful. They had marble pillars and tile, high end stores and couture everywhere, I think they may have rivaled something you would find in a large city in the US. I was not expecting nice food courts with McDonalds, Wendy’s, KFC, Pizza Hut, Popeyes and a number of other US chains. To tell you the truth, at that point, I was a little comforted by familiarity as was Moriah I think.

After dinner, we headed back to the hotel and I barely got Moriah out of her clothes and into her jammies before she crashed.

Sleeping Riah

The following day was Mother’s Day Sunday which, from what Trish told me, is a very important holiday in Honduras. It’s up there with Christmas and Easter. On every street corner were people selling flowers or something to give to the momma’s of Honduras. It was very heartening to see.

Trish & Rikki

We got up Mother’s Day morning and Moriah and Sam wanted to go swim. We made them eat breakfast first which they did quickly and they were in their swim suits and jumping into the pool. I felt a little funny letting Moriah just run off with Sammey in a foreign country that I had heard is dangerous. Brad and Trish seemed comfortable and Moriah and Sam both have good heads on their shoulders so I tried to relax and go with it. I did well I think but breathed a sigh of relief when the girls showed up to give us the room key back.


While the girls swam, we packed our suitcases and loaded them into the truck. We left at about 10am to head out of the big city. I felt like a gawking tourist the whole way. Brad and Trish must have gotten tired of hearing my questions as I had a thousand. They pointed out the African Palms, the bridge that had partially collapsed in an earthquake (we were driving over the uncollapsed part) and I realized as we drove that I was very, very, very glad that Brad was driving and I wasn’t.

In the states, our roads and traffic are so rule based while in Honduras, there aren’t enough police or money for police cars so there aren’t many traffic cops. The rules of the road seem to be more of a suggestion than rules and yet, through the craziness, people are courteous. Red lights are obeyed mostly but you have to have the senses of a warrior I think. I was impressed. The checkpoints were very strange to me. As you drive down the road you will see cones coming and know that you need to get your windows rolled down so the truck load of police with machine guns can see in. If they point at you, you pull over and they inspect your vehicle and documents.

As we drove I kept seeing buildings looked like a bomb had been dropped on them. Brad told me that because there are no building codes per say in Honduras, when someone purchases a piece of land, they start to build with the materials they have. He interjected in the conversation that as a general rule, Honduran’s tend to be wary of Banks so the idea of handing your money over to a bank makes them nervous. Because of this, as they get money they may buy materials to build a wall and that is it until they have enough money to buy materials to build another wall. This is the reason why you see a wall here and a half of a building there. Add to that the humid, hot weather and anything metal, like structural supports, rust quickly so it looks like they have been sitting there for 20 years in a heap of rubble.

Just outside of San Pedro Sula is a town called El Progresso. Trish needed to stop at the grocery store much to my delight. You can tell much about a country by what is in their grocery stores. I noticed that many things come in bags like mayonnaise, mustard, salad dressing, shortening, tomato paste and milk to name a few. Milk also comes in unrefrigerated boxes similar to the soy milk we purchase in the states. They also have US products but the prices for those things is extraordinarily high. For example a box of Stove Top stuffing was upwards of $5 U.S. I must have amused Trish with all my enthusiasm. There are so many different things to look at and exclaim over.

Bagged Milk

When we were done shopping we headed down the road. A number of other stops were made as we wound our way through the Honduran countryside. We stopped at fruit stands along the way to purchase bananas, bread fruit, pineapple and lychees. We got a bunch of bananas, as in 25 or more still on the stem for about $2.50 US. The pineapple we picked up were so sweet and yummy and the lychees were a new taste experience. Moriah really liked them and chewed on a pit for about 2 hours claiming it was helping her not feel so car sick.


The funny thing about the Lychee stop was that we were boogying down the road at a nice clip and Trish spotted the Lychee stand, told Brad to pull over so he hit the breaks and pulled off the busy road. Trish rolled down the window and there was a girl standing there ready to sell her Lychees. Trish didn’t even have to get out of the truck. It all happened so fast and it tickled my funny bone for some reason.

For lunch we ate at a Texaco gas station. It had a little restaurant connected to it and we were able to get a really nice lunch.


Our drive was a long one, about 4 hours from San Pedro Sula to Brad and Trish’s front door. We passed through many little towns and the sights were varied and welcome to my eyes. Our final stop before we got to the last leg of our journey was in La Ceiba at another grocery store. The area the Wards live in is about an hour away from a grocery store so we needed to make sure we had everything we needed.

From La Ceiba we headed into a tiny little town and then down a very long dirt road. I enjoyed seeing the many trees and jungle mixed in with pastures and small houses/huts. Cows and horses roamed around. Some fenced and some free. I also noticed that it must be spring because many calves and foals were following their mamma’s around. Moriah and I cooed at the babies.

About 14 miles down the dirt road and a half hour later, we came to the Hospital Loma de Luz gatehouse. I cannot tell you how excited I was to be there and get aquainted with hospital grounds. Brad and Trish’s triplex and staff housing sits right next to the jungle. Walk out your door, turn right and you face big beautiful trees of many different varieties as well as all sorts of jungle sounds and sights.


One of the first things I noticed were the ants. When we arrived, we saw a long line of ants marching across a sidewalk, through a garden area, up the side of a wall and out into the jungle. The Ward’s neighbors said that it had just rained and I guess that brings out the ants. Within 15 minutes the ants were completely gone.

The Ward’s welcomed Moriah and I into their home. It looks just like a home Trish would have. It was very welcoming and friendly. We got the luggage up and lined it up against the wall and then got a tour of the house and staff housing. Brad and the girls made Trish and I French Toast and the most amazing little sausages for Mother’s Day dinner. I really enjoyed it but it made me miss my boys at home.

I got an education on clean up that first night. In Honduras they have bugs. Lots and lots of bugs. Sugar ants are teeny tiny little ants that are amazingly fast at finding any little crumb left out so you do dishes quickly, put lids on food and if you have food stuffs to throw away, you throw it away in a sealed container until it can go to the compost pile. They are kind of part of life in Honduras and nothing to get excited about when you see a few on your counter.

Over the week we were with the Wards, I began to fall in love with the process of washing dishes. We all rotated through washing and drying dishes and I have to tell you that I really began to love standing there washing dishes and putting them on the drying wrack. This seems so silly to me being from the land of appliances, but there was a reminder in this experience that sometimes convenience isn’t necessarily more desirable, especially in the world of computers, texting and dwindling relationship building time. I cherished the time, not because of the chore but because of the people I did the chore with. It’s kind of odd that washing dishes in Honduras is one of my favorite memories.

After dinner the girls were invited to a girls movie night at the IT guys house. Well, his wife invited us. When we got there, it was a party in the making. Brownies had been baked and a projector had been set up so we could watch Young Elizabeth. I really enjoyed the movie and to be quite honest, it was nice to be able to sit in a chair, watch a movie in English for a bit.

That night, Moriah and I climbed into bed and crashed hard. We didn’t have air conditioning anymore so we both slept with no blankets at all and I even debated about getting down on the tile floor. Truth be told, if we weren’t on the bottom floor with an open window with blinds that didn’t quite close, I might have stripped down to my underwear to sleep. However, I was a little worried about the sight anyone walking by our window might have had in the morning.

Moriah came up with a great way to stay cool and that was to get 2 of her bandanas wet and lay them over her legs and on her neck. The fan blowing in the room kept them coolish which helped her get to sleep.

I took a cold shower before we got into bed every night and that helped me get to sleep. Speaking of showers, in Honduras the showers are called widow makers because they have water that pours through electrical coils to heat it up. I’m sure can imagine what might happen if one didn’t have a cover and you accidentally stuck your hand in it when washing your pits.

I asked Moriah how she was doing so far and she told me she was just so excited to be there. She was having the time of her life already and it was just like she and Sammey hadn’t been apart at all. I fell asleep with a smile on my lips.

Our first couple of days in Honduras had been like nothing I could have imagined. We were loving our time.

Stay tuned for more about our trip. I know it’s long but it’s worth it.