We are moving to a different blog page/site/whatever. Anyone with links, feed readers, etc. should switch to the new location: http://thetaylorites.blogspot.com/.
Enjoy!
Taylor
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Adventures in Traveling
This last weekend started with a "spur of the moment" trip to Tela, in the northern coast of Honduras. We had wanted to go before leaving Honduras, but we were not exactly sure how or when it would work on. After talking with our neighbor, Victoria, we found out that she also wanted to go to visit her family. So, I borrowed a vehicle from a friend in Tegucigalpa on Friday afternoon (after the Bible Study with some of the university students) and came back up to Valle de Angeles to load up and leave early Saturday morning.
Each of our kids took a small backpack since we were only going for a weekend (we planned to return on Monday). We spent much of the day Saturday driving and since I have not driven in Honduras much, better yet, I have not driven a car in about 4 months! We had a great trip up to La Lima where we dropped Victoria off to visit with her family in the afternoon, then we headed further East to Tela to see some more friends. During our drive we both noticed how different the surroundings seemed; we certainly we not in the mountains anymore, but even more the north coast resembled what one would expect from a place in "the tropics". Tela is a little "pueblo", or town right on the coast. After navigating through a torrential downpouring of rain and avoiding oncoming semi-trucks driving in my lane, we safely arrived in Tela, and immediately I was reminded of Galveston...or South Padre Island (basically any town right on a coast). The smell, the birds, the people! How distinct from inland places and yet how similar to each other they are.
The place that we stayed at was great! Our friends and owners of a building with several hotel-style rooms (usually reserved for invited guests) were very hospitable. While staying in Tela, our friends also had a German-Honduran family staying the the apartments. It was interesting to meet them and to listen the German-Spanish accents.
Sunday afternoon we went to the beach! For some of our kids, it was their first time at the ocean. While they were a bit timid of the waves crashing on the shore they still had a fun time. In reality, it is easier on us as parents if the kids are a bit less "adventurous"...it meant that Alesha and I could safely leave them on the shore playing and swim in the ocean...though we never did go very far. Each of the kids remembers me showing them how to "wave hop" in the deeper water. Daniel spent most of his time playing in the sand just barely beyond the reach of the waves. Nathanael slept and played quietly in his car seat in the shade; when we did take him in the water, he was not impressed at all (though the pictures that I got of him came out really nice and do not tell the true story!).
We returned from the beach exhausted and sandy. We gave the kids a quick, cold shower and put them in their beds. By the time Alesha and I did the same, I think they were all fast asleep. I woke up about 7 minutes before supper was supposed to be served...we were a bit late. ;-) After supper, we headed off to a "campo blanco" which is a new church plant that the Christians in the area were starting; the main part of the building was finished, but still needed some finishing touches (I think someone said that it was almost one year old). We got there in time for some singing. Shortly after I sat down and man started to preach and then a lady in front of me pointed toward Daniel. The next thing that happened was Alesha tossing Nathanael in my arms and she scooped up Daniel as his started vomiting (yes, during the man's message...and he kept on going...poor guy). I then looked over as Levi who was looking rather squeamish also, but after talking with him some, I found out that he just had a booger in his nose. :-p One by one though, the kids needed to leave and so we all found ourselves sitting at the open door to the building listening to the man's message and cautiously watching the children. I nice lady ran to her house nearby and brought Daniel some tea and a shirt to wear. After the meeting, when Daniel was feeling better, we all joked around about Daniel's inauguration of the building.
(Don't worry, the "fun" doesn't end there!)
The next morning, Monday, it was time for us to pick up Victoria and return to Valle. Our return trip was going swell, even though there was not much talking going on. I think that we were all very tired. Almost halfway into our return trip, Levi decided to make things a bit more interesting and follow in his brother's footsteps. Yup, he yielded up his breakfast. The rest of the trip we were all on edge about Levi and Daniel...and Glory who was sitting between the two boys...and about Nathanael who was not enjoying his car ride either. :-( We finally arrived in Tegucigalpa (almost home!), but being that it was night time and raining and well, spaghetti-road-Teguc,...we of course got off track and got lost for almost an hour. Finally, we paid a taxi to help us get back in the right direction. We got home about 8pm...not terribly late, but it was a tense adventure. Again, we all crashed immediately after getting home...oh! did I forget to mention that we forgot to eat supper! ;-D
Enjoy!
Taylor
Each of our kids took a small backpack since we were only going for a weekend (we planned to return on Monday). We spent much of the day Saturday driving and since I have not driven in Honduras much, better yet, I have not driven a car in about 4 months! We had a great trip up to La Lima where we dropped Victoria off to visit with her family in the afternoon, then we headed further East to Tela to see some more friends. During our drive we both noticed how different the surroundings seemed; we certainly we not in the mountains anymore, but even more the north coast resembled what one would expect from a place in "the tropics". Tela is a little "pueblo", or town right on the coast. After navigating through a torrential downpouring of rain and avoiding oncoming semi-trucks driving in my lane, we safely arrived in Tela, and immediately I was reminded of Galveston...or South Padre Island (basically any town right on a coast). The smell, the birds, the people! How distinct from inland places and yet how similar to each other they are.
The place that we stayed at was great! Our friends and owners of a building with several hotel-style rooms (usually reserved for invited guests) were very hospitable. While staying in Tela, our friends also had a German-Honduran family staying the the apartments. It was interesting to meet them and to listen the German-Spanish accents.
Sunday afternoon we went to the beach! For some of our kids, it was their first time at the ocean. While they were a bit timid of the waves crashing on the shore they still had a fun time. In reality, it is easier on us as parents if the kids are a bit less "adventurous"...it meant that Alesha and I could safely leave them on the shore playing and swim in the ocean...though we never did go very far. Each of the kids remembers me showing them how to "wave hop" in the deeper water. Daniel spent most of his time playing in the sand just barely beyond the reach of the waves. Nathanael slept and played quietly in his car seat in the shade; when we did take him in the water, he was not impressed at all (though the pictures that I got of him came out really nice and do not tell the true story!).
We returned from the beach exhausted and sandy. We gave the kids a quick, cold shower and put them in their beds. By the time Alesha and I did the same, I think they were all fast asleep. I woke up about 7 minutes before supper was supposed to be served...we were a bit late. ;-) After supper, we headed off to a "campo blanco" which is a new church plant that the Christians in the area were starting; the main part of the building was finished, but still needed some finishing touches (I think someone said that it was almost one year old). We got there in time for some singing. Shortly after I sat down and man started to preach and then a lady in front of me pointed toward Daniel. The next thing that happened was Alesha tossing Nathanael in my arms and she scooped up Daniel as his started vomiting (yes, during the man's message...and he kept on going...poor guy). I then looked over as Levi who was looking rather squeamish also, but after talking with him some, I found out that he just had a booger in his nose. :-p One by one though, the kids needed to leave and so we all found ourselves sitting at the open door to the building listening to the man's message and cautiously watching the children. I nice lady ran to her house nearby and brought Daniel some tea and a shirt to wear. After the meeting, when Daniel was feeling better, we all joked around about Daniel's inauguration of the building.
(Don't worry, the "fun" doesn't end there!)
The next morning, Monday, it was time for us to pick up Victoria and return to Valle. Our return trip was going swell, even though there was not much talking going on. I think that we were all very tired. Almost halfway into our return trip, Levi decided to make things a bit more interesting and follow in his brother's footsteps. Yup, he yielded up his breakfast. The rest of the trip we were all on edge about Levi and Daniel...and Glory who was sitting between the two boys...and about Nathanael who was not enjoying his car ride either. :-( We finally arrived in Tegucigalpa (almost home!), but being that it was night time and raining and well, spaghetti-road-Teguc,...we of course got off track and got lost for almost an hour. Finally, we paid a taxi to help us get back in the right direction. We got home about 8pm...not terribly late, but it was a tense adventure. Again, we all crashed immediately after getting home...oh! did I forget to mention that we forgot to eat supper! ;-D
Enjoy!
Taylor
Monday, July 4, 2011
...where mangos fall like manna
Thank You God, for free fruit! Every morning after breakfast, Dan goes outside and "hunts for mangos". This is the back of our house and the big mango tree....
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Adventures in Waiting
I went to help a friend work with some university students on Thursday. It was a good time and we are going to start meeting with about 10 students every Friday. I expect that before I leave, my friend, Grant will ask me to talk with them about science, creation, and the Bible since many of the students are asking about it...but that is not really the point of this blog...
...Grant needed money. So we went to the main bank building for a large, respectable bank. There were several floors and a security systems that rivals the Lubbock airport! We went to the 2nd floor and to a room called "Casa de Cambio" which I interpreted as "House of Change"...that seems like a reasonable place to cash a check (something that Grant had done there several times already). After waiting for about 20 minutes, we found out this so-called house for changing money in the main bank building, well . . . errr, it didn't have any money!
Next, we went to get gas. This should be easy, right...wrong! We pulled up and there were several attendants standing around. Grant asked one of them if he could get gas. The attendant responded with a "No" but in about 5 minutes we could get gas. Evidently, there was a shift change about to happen and the attendants did not want to handle any more gas until the shift change was over . . . it reminds me of nurses changing shifts, but this was only for gasoline, not people's life! ...sigh...
Check back soon for more adventures!
Enjoy!
Taylor
...Grant needed money. So we went to the main bank building for a large, respectable bank. There were several floors and a security systems that rivals the Lubbock airport! We went to the 2nd floor and to a room called "Casa de Cambio" which I interpreted as "House of Change"...that seems like a reasonable place to cash a check (something that Grant had done there several times already). After waiting for about 20 minutes, we found out this so-called house for changing money in the main bank building, well . . . errr, it didn't have any money!
Next, we went to get gas. This should be easy, right...wrong! We pulled up and there were several attendants standing around. Grant asked one of them if he could get gas. The attendant responded with a "No" but in about 5 minutes we could get gas. Evidently, there was a shift change about to happen and the attendants did not want to handle any more gas until the shift change was over . . . it reminds me of nurses changing shifts, but this was only for gasoline, not people's life! ...sigh...
Check back soon for more adventures!
Enjoy!
Taylor
Sunday, June 26, 2011
MIA
It has been a LONG time since this "regularly updated" blog was updated. I'm really sorry about that. I almost have a good excuse. Two weeks ago, the boys and I were sick. Nothing debilitating, just nasty hacking coughs and about as much energy as you would find in pond scum. :-/ We got better...just in time for Taylor and I to catch the stomach bug that was making it's way around. Taylor was EXTREMELY considerate to wait until I was better before he caught my crud. Then we got better again. We took no pictures. This is probably a good thing.
On a much more exciting note, Taylor did get the privilege of teaching and preaching for several days this past week! There was a group campers here for an "English Camp", meaning a camp where the meetings were held in English and attended by bilingual Honduran young people. There are many bilingual schools here, where for the upper grades, all classes are held in English. Taylor talked about some of the scientific marvels that leave us in awe of their Creator, about the uses and limitations of what can be studied using science, and about the history of death (how it came into a perfect creation and what the Creator did to remedy it). It was an awesome privilege for us to feel like we were able give a clear gospel message here. This whole language-learning process tends to leave us feeling pretty useless often enough. Blah. Maybe one day this will be different. :D
On a much more exciting note, Taylor did get the privilege of teaching and preaching for several days this past week! There was a group campers here for an "English Camp", meaning a camp where the meetings were held in English and attended by bilingual Honduran young people. There are many bilingual schools here, where for the upper grades, all classes are held in English. Taylor talked about some of the scientific marvels that leave us in awe of their Creator, about the uses and limitations of what can be studied using science, and about the history of death (how it came into a perfect creation and what the Creator did to remedy it). It was an awesome privilege for us to feel like we were able give a clear gospel message here. This whole language-learning process tends to leave us feeling pretty useless often enough. Blah. Maybe one day this will be different. :D
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
The Pila
In Bible Study tonight, we read the chapter where Rebecca watered the servant's camels and later went with the servant to become Isaac's wife. I was following pretty well until we got to the part where she poured out her water jar into the trough (translated in Spanish as the "pila"). I completely lost the next few thoughts giggling over my own mental picture...for you see, the only way I had ever heard that word before refers to the contraption pictured above. I don't know, the thought of a caravan of camels surrounding the rub-board in our back yard (complete with soap suds in my imagination) just made me smile. Now, I really do know that this is NOT at all what the translators had in mind, but it made me think I should post some pictures... so: what is a pila?
A "Pila" (peelah) is a wonderful outdoor sink/washboard attached to a water tank, usually near the back door...the pila is intended for handwashing clothes, but is also quite invaluable for rinsing out mops or hosing off muddy children.) Now, we have the use of a washing machine, which we use for most of our clothes, (Thank you, Don Jim! :), but we have found that dirty-grimy-little-boy socks get a LOT cleaner when they are actually scrubbed. Besides, it's just too cute to watch my "three little kittens wash their mittens" (or socks, as the case may be. ;-)
a Taylorite update
We have had a really nice week just being "here"...we have had Spanish lessons, we have walked to town, we have gone to Bible Study, but we haven't done much out of the ordinary... which means that we have actually done school. ;-) Yeah!!! We've been enjoying reading through Little Pilgrim's Progress out loud. We like to do at least some of our school work outside...which can be distracting in both a bad and a good way... today it was in a good way: when we sat down to read, we found out that the little ferns we were sitting by would fold their leaves up if you touched them! So...Glory drew them in our notebook and the boys ran around seeing how many ferns they could pester. ;)
It's been a really long time since I updated about the kids' current interests/projects, so for those who are interested, here's what we are up to:
Glory loves to have her nose in a book (surprise, surprise :) but lately she has really been enjoying playing house in the woods with her doll, 'Charlotte', and is continually braiding pine needles into bracelets, rings, and crowns. Her Spanish pronunciation is coming along really well...and reminds us why we are here while our kids are small. She has also started helping me rinse dishes on a regular basis, and is a wonderful help watching Nate. Nate is pulling up on anything he can find and has started really liking to have us walk him around while holding his hands. He likes to clap when people sing. He likes to laugh at funny faces...which is where Levi comes in. ;) Levi is getting to be a really good tree-climber and enjoys a chance to run. Periodically he will come up to me very proud and out of breath and say, "Whew! Mama, do you want to feel my sweat?" (Ummm, not particularly??!!) . Dan? He is my shadow. He sits on the kitchen counter and helps me "took". He takes it as his personal responsibility to walk with me to the house up the hill to wash clothes. (We have graciously been given the use of the washing machine there.) If he holds the door for me and helps put the soap in, he can sometimes convince me to let him ride on my back like a monkey on the way back. He carries on a happy little stream of verbage that is almost understandable. But what he lacks in clarity, he completely makes up for in voice inflection...and though Taylor still accuses him of throwing in some Quechua every now in then, he really IS getting easier to understand. :) I guess that's about it - thanks for reading my ramble! :)
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