Hola! Como estas?
Thanks so much for taking the time to catch up some on the happenings of my life in Honduras (currently). I write this blog in hopes that you have a greater appreciation of the normalcies you have in the states. Sometimes we take for granted the things that we have and you don’t realize that you miss those things until you don’t have them.
Coming onto the World Race I expected to leave behind a lot of comforts. I didn’t really know what to expect as the new normal though. Below is a list of things that have become the new normal, at least temporarilly.
– Throwing your toilet paper in the trash rather than flushing it (every country thus far).
– Sweating everywhere all the time – in El Salvador and again in Honduruas, and most likely some more next month in Nicaragua.
– Because of all the sweat, we usually don’t smell the freshest either.
– Having water every other day, usually (a few times in El Salvador, continuously in Honduras).
– Having electricity most days. I think it has gone out 3 or 4 times now and the longest stretch was 27ish hours (in Honduras).
– Music playing loudy somewhere nearby (all countries thus far, some more than others).
– Having people cat call at you when walking down the street (in Honduras).
– People always looking at us because we are white aka Gringo’s (all countries thus far).
– It isn’t unusal to see a person with a machete (in Honduras & Guatemala).
– Slower pace of life. Having a schedule but not really being strict about the times for the most part (all countries thus far).
– You greet everyone with a handshake, hug & kiss on cheek (Central America). I usually skip the kiss on the cheek part – this shouldn’t surprise those of you who know me well, LoL.
– Clapping on the off-beat when singing in church, i.e. not clapping when the snare drum is hit (in Honduras).
– Not being able to drink the tap water (all countries thus far).
– Looking outside at any point and see some random farm animal passing by: goats, cows, chickens, pigs, horses, dogs, cats, donkeys, etc. We live on a dirt road in the middle of town with a lot of businesses and houses around and not much open land for the animals to roam around on.
– Walking around town if we want to go somewhere. If we want to travel far, we hire someone to take us either in the back of their truck and ride the “chicken bus,” which is an old school bus with a new paint job.
On a different note: I have some information to share with you about our ministry next month (April, month 4). We will be travelling March 28th & March 31st (prayers appreciated). We have an all squad leadership training between months 3 & 4. We will remain on our same teams but have a different Team/Squad Leader. Team Relentless will be led by Lauren again – we had her our first month in El Salvador and we are all looking forward to having her back. We are going to be staying and doing ministry at a place called Vision Nicaragua located in Chinandega, Nicaragua. I am not sure what ministry will look like yet, but when Lauren was on her Race she was placed at Vision Nicaragua and this ministry has hosted several WR teams in the past. Please pray that we continue to adjust to the heat as it will be nearly 100 degrees next month for the average temperature.
Lastly, I am almost Fully Funded… only $450.00 to go. It’s not too late to donate to help further the work being done through me by God in Central and South America. If you’d like to give a tax-deductible gift, then look on the left side of the screen and find the Support Me! tab, click on it, and follow the intstructions on the next page. Thank you for both your financial gifts and many prayers.
