Futbol and More

We are now settled at our final destination for a while. There was a bit of an adjustment period in order to handle the extreme difference in noise level here: none. The first afternoon here there was not a sound that I could hear...even at home, in Texas the wind at least blows, but up here in the mountains, nothing. Needless to say, we adjusted quite fine.

This afternoon, I found some people whom we had met before playing soccer/futbol. Now I realize that I'm not an expert at futbol, but I have played some in Texas with several Mexicans and an Italian. This was different. These were kids of maybe 15 years old and they were good! Maybe not professional Honduran level, but as Alesha reminded me, "They grew up playing this." No, football, no basketball, no baseball, no anything else. There is only one sport played here: futbol/soccer.

As far as our Spanish goes, I don't really "feel" like I'm learning very much (yet), but we have grown in confidence at being able to communicate. Keep praying for us and especially the kiddos that we have wisdom and knowledge to listen, learn, and speak the language here.

Enjoy!
Taylor

the Taylorites are moving camp

Lord willing, tomorrow we will move out to the camp in Valle. We're excited to get there, but we'll also miss the friends we've made. We went to Bible Study at two different assemblies here in Tegucigalpa this week, each different from where we broke bread last Lord's Day. It is hard work, but I can follow the gist of the sermon...ASSUMING that I don't lose concentration by Dan spinning round and round on the bench...or Nate attacking my Bible...or a noisy truck roaring by...or..... :) Speaking of noisy trucks roaring by, I'm still rather struck by how OPEN many buildings are here. All of the meeting rooms we have been to here in Tegucigalpa have been open to the street. They may be gated and locked at night, but during a meeting, the doors are flung open letting the light, the music, and the message float out into the night beyond. Granted, part of this difference is because there is no fear of loosing the air conditioned air, because it is non-existent in most cases. Yet, it's a difference I've really come to enjoy and I think I will miss when we leave here.

More pics from yesterday's adventure

Sorry!!! Last night when I put the blog post up I couldn't find some of the pictures I wanted. Here are some more pics us picking "moras"!

"Mora" pickin

We had quite the adventure today. We had heard that there was a pick-your-own "mora" (blackberry) field just outside the city, so we took the opportunity to experience the Honduran public transportation system. ;) The house in the picture was across the road from where we picked the blackberries and seemed rather typical of the houses on that piece of road, though there were also big gated ones. We had a great day...the Lord was gracious and helped us find the bus station. And the blackberries. AND a kind bus driver on our return trip who was willing to take us aboard even though he couldn't break the bill we had. (We had tried to break it at the blackberry place...hadn't even tried at the little mountain convenience store and were running out of options. By the way, the huge, unusable bill would have been $20 US. Oh, well, we learned our lesson.) After we got back to Tegucigalpa, we went out to eat. They don't use many potatoes here, but they don't need them when they can make potato chips out of plantains. :) *see picture* We are now "home", happy, sunburned, and eating "moras". :) -Alesha

Why are we here?

I get asked a lot some version of the question, "Why are you in Honduras?"

Since being married, Alesha and I have always had a heart for the Spanish-speaking people. Over the years, we have tried to go to Mexico once per year. Also, we have tried to associate ourselves with people who were interested in helping us learning/keep up our Spanish training from public school. The man who married us is a missionary in a border town in Mexico and we have always enjoying visiting him and his family.

The last time we were in a Spanish-speaking country was two years ago. Since that time, Mexico has become too unstable for us to travel. So when we were challenged by some close friends to look farther outside the US borders, we began to seek the Lord's will on the matter. After much consideration and praying we began by looking at Peru. However, just prior to buying tickets a friend approached us who has a house in Honduras that he was not going to use until the end of the year. He and others already in Honduras were very prompt in answering our questions and concerns about Honduran life, culture, and most importantly the internet! ;-) Seriously, internet is important to us because it means that I can continue to work at my current job.

So, "Why are we here?" We like the Spanish (Castillano) language, which we already have a basic foundation in. My job is flexible enough to allow me to travel as long as I can find an internet connection. I have a wife who is willing to travel and potentially give up some of the modern conveniences of rural Texas life for a time. We want to expose our children and ourselves to a broader worldview. We enjoy seeing the Christian church function in different cultures and yet, at the same time, in harmony with God's written word in the Bible.

-Taylor

The Tumbleweeds

A friend was setting up a Skype call with us and had mentioned that he wanted to hear our first impressions. As we were thinking of what we would say, Taylor smiled and said, "you know, I'm not sure our 'first impressions' are going to be surprising enough. We are kind of like tumbleweeds; we just roll with wherever the Lord takes us." He's right, in a way. We don't need a whole lot to be happy and are glad for what adventures the Lord brings to us. We've lived in strange, make-shift houses and have learned a little about happily making do, so sometimes it seems it takes more to shock/scare/discourage us than it used to. :)

However, for your reading pleasure..... here is our list of "First Impressions" of Honduras:

The Weather (by Alesha)

It's been Beautiful!!!!, but unseasonably cool. We've worn our jackets several mornings and it even rained one day...(we weren't expecting any rain until May!) Still, since the week we left Texas it was in the middle of an ice storm, we are delighting in our short sleeves and flip flops. We will see how hot it gets later, but we've all been well prepared for summer by our upbringing, so I don't think it will be too bad. :)

Driving and Emissions

Ok, I promised an account of Honduran driving. I've been to Argentina and Mexico where driving conditions are certainly different than in the States, but these people are crazy! Intersections, signs and even light signals are taken as FYI only and not as legal safe driving instructions. These are definitely "offensive" driving conditions. Why there are not more accidents, I do not know except that everyone expects everyone else to drive offensively and therefore by that mutual agreement there is some safety...crazy. Due to this, it can be quite dangerous walking the streets with four children wrapped around your leg, but we are learning.

I am also learning to have a greater appreciation for US emissions control. As crazy as that may sound, I really do miss it when a truck rumbles by...oh! I don't know that it is a truck by the sound as much as by the cloud of fumes that it emits. Cough, cough, cough. The fumes that our US cars emit are like fresh air here in Tegucigalpa, and being from rural West Texas, I think that this adjustment was something that we did not take into account.

Oh! One last thing: there are no street signs! Or only that major roads have street names. All directions go by the name of some place or another, but not by the street name...because it does not exist. Very weird and I'm still not fully adjusted to it yet.

-TH

Money Conversion & Spending

20:1
That is the approximate ratio for Honduran Limps to US Dollars. Should be easy, right? It still takes some adjustment. Our first time at the store we spent over 1,000 Limps...I almost choked, but then I calmed myself (barely) when I realized that it was only about $50 US. People here just don't seem to buy a large quantity of things...at least not at one time. And I really do not like getting change! One Limp is about 5 cents US, but they are 1 Limp bills, so I have to stuff 5-cent bills in my wallet and as I'm doing so I feel so self conscious stuffing this wad of bills quickly in my pocket so the people stop gawking at me (they probably don't care, but that's how I feel about it). -TH

The Mountains (by Alesha)
Wow! I think Taylor was laughing at me on our first drive out to Valle de Angeles...and probably for good reason, since my face was plastered to the window of Danilo's van. :) The countryside is absolutely gorgeous. The hills are steep and covered with pines, yet there are palms and bougainvillea in people's yards and just enough tropical plants scattered here and there to make the pine forest seem rather paradoxical. Deep gashes are cut into the mountain side where the rain has swept through. The houses look rather precariously carved into the sides of the slope. (In fact, on our way to Valle, we past the remains of one large house that slid off!) On the road to Valle, you can buy hanging plants from one of several vendors, but watch the road carefully, as there might be horses or other livestock crossing the highway.

The People (by Alesha)
The random Honduran on the street of Teguc. has been polite enough, and has tried to be helpful to the poor gringos with their backbacks full of groceries and their children strapped on like clothing. :) Their brand of Spanish doesn't seem as fast for the most part as some of the Mexican Spanish we've heard, which has been a blessing. However, they can still run words together in a wonderful roll of rrrrrrrrs that takes us half a block to decipher, even if it happened to be words we knew. Usually we have been able to communicate, though, sometimes it has taken a couple of tries.

We have been overwhelmed by the kindness of the Christians we have met. We have had preparations made for our arrival. We have been met at the airport. We have been shown the bank and the grocery store. We have been chauffeured out to Valle. (Poor Danilo may wish for the day we move out there so he can stop coming to drive us around. :) We were invited to meeting by several people. We have been invited to eat twice....and the wonderful part is that none of the people we knew before coming are here at the moment. We have felt extremely welcome. The Body of Christ is an amazing thing. :)

-Taylor & Alesha

The First Day

Ok, the first post I gave was quite simple. It was meant to hold you over for a few days while we adjusted to Honduran life and got settled in, but I had better start blogging more before y'all get restless...

The airplane ride went good for everyone. We bought 5 out of the 6 seats that were on our side of the plane and since no one wanted to sit in that other seat, Nathanael was able to use it. :-) During the plane ride, Levi almost learned to chew gum; he was able to keep it in his mouth for several minutes (but not more than 10) before swallowing it. The arrival at the airport went flawless; we had no trouble with customs. There was a porter who was helping me get our luggage, we wanted $20 to help us load and move our luggage! I gave him about $10 since we had lots of luggage, but I still think that that was too much...oh well, I'm still learning.

We arrived at our destination in Tegucigalpa safely. Some other missionaries whom we knew were flying back to the States on the same plane that we came in on. We waved at them through the glass wall. We were raced through the streets of Tegucigalpa in typical Honduran style (more about that in another post) by a nice Christian man named Danillo...he has been our chauffeur even though he lives at least 30 minutes away, so we walk as much as we can.

The "apartment" that we are staying at is furnished nicely. It resides at the back of main house and is primarily used as a meeting room for Bible studies. We have use of a kitchen, a dining room, and our sleeping room is a large upper room (not furnished, though it does have carpet). Once we dropped our suitcases, we explored the new place. There is a very nice, small courtyard with a small patch of grass and mango tree that offers shade to the courtyard most of the day. I was able to quickly establish an internet connection and immediately you wonderful people started contacting us with requests for Skype calls and more. I had to cut some of you off and ignore your calls...sorry, we were exhausted. We went to bed early. The morning and the evening were the first day.

-Taylor

Historical Rewind for Last Month

So we are in Honduras, yeah that's exciting and all, but a lot happened this year leading up to our travels that we were just too busy to blog about. So here are some highlights: 

- We had visitors from Argentina for almost a week at our house. I had to work :-\ but Alesha and the kiddos had a grand time. I think that we showed a well rounded picture of rural life in West Texas. (Picture #1)

- In the cool, non-windy, evenings we have been enjoying small campfires with hot dogs and marshmellows. (Picture #2)

- For Christmas, Levi got a wooden fire truck that had to be put together. It was reasonably enjoyable working with him; I think that he had fun getting to really build something with me. (Picture #3) 

- And then, just before we left, the snow hit (the first one). (Picture #4) It was fun to have snow, but at the same time it was a bit of a burden because our internet provider lost power to their towers and could not climb the towers to fix the problem until the ice melted off. So we were without internet the last week at home and I did a bit of commuting. :-\

So that is a bit of catchup on us. 

Enjoy!

Taylor

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To Honduras!

We made it. We are reasonably settled. We have internet! I think we're going to have fun. Levi is still asking when we are going to go to Honduras (poor guy, he really has no clue). I'm too tired to say much else.

-Taylor

and the adventure begins...

Early yesterday morning, we left Snyder, beginning step one of our adventure! We've spent the weekend visiting family on our route to Houston, where the Lord willing, we will fly out from this coming Wednesday. I'm REALLY glad to be finished packing. :) This being the Lord's Day, we drove to Austin and broke bread with some of the saints there, including my sister, Michelle and her husband, Brendan. It was fun to be their first house guests! The kids LOVED watching the trains go by in front of their flat and even Nate was big enough to enjoy swinging at the park with them. We're excited to see what the Lord has planned for us in the coming weeks; His ways are perfect and His heart is kind! I'll try to get pictures up soon, but it won't be tonight because I am sleepy and don't feel like unpacking the camera cord...it will have to wait till tomorrow! :)