Photos

OK, here are some links to all my recent photos....

Click HERE for all the photos of my birthday

Click HERE for all the photos of the house building day

Road trip to Comayagua

Yesterday I went off to Comayagua with Elizabeth. It is one of the oldest towns here - in fact the clock in the cathedral is the oldest in America, it was bought to Honduras (no idea why!) and put in the cathedral! It is a stunningly beautiful town (where I saw the sawdust carpets at Easter) and Elizabeth wanted to see it.

So we went and arranged to meet my friend Adony there - who studies at university there, and after his exam in the morning, had a free day. So the 3 of us wandered around and had a laugh. It was great for my Spanish as Elizabeth doesn't speak much Spanish (although she gets my ultimate respect for trying) and so I was translating. Elizabeth used my camera for the day and so I have all her photos. She took photos out of the car window on the way home too - which I've always wanted to do, but obviously when driving - can't!!

In Com, there is a Pizza Hut and so the 3 of us went for lunch. Now, when it is someone's birthday the staff there all come out and sing with their tambourine and you have to dance with them. It wasn't Elizabeth's birthday but Adony and I thought it would be funny if they came to sing to her. So Adony secretly told them it was her birthday and they dutifully came to sing, but alas she refused to dance with them!! Clearly it wasn't her birthday - but we found it hilarious!!



All in all a good day. Last night was volleyball night too and so I went to play...and I could!! I could actually play..amazing. The balls went in the right direction and everything. My new trainer is David - one of the older bus drivers for Providence. This whole Volley thing is great. There is a good group of us who play twice a week. Not all from Providence, we are just a group of friends from all over - so it's great. I get to meet new people, learn a sport. We are there just to relax and have fun. I actually look forward to going...who'd have thought?!



Here is the link to the Comayagua photos.......click HERE

Whoops!

So the homesick bit wore off after a day and a good night sleep! All good. Am now sat back at the Texaco Gas Station whilst my car gets repaired in the garage down the road.
So last Sunday I drove into the police and then on Wednesday I drove into a hole. Not a pothole...a hole! I wasn't very well and was not concentrating...apparently! I crashed down into this thing, everyone came out to look at me....I pulled forward out of it, went to finish my 3 point turn (was only trying to turn around!) and reversed sraight back into it again!! I am now paying the bills for this! I bent the front axle and various other things! Joy oh joy. But they are fixing it now. Mind you.....I'm paying for it! (£76 is vvvvv expensive here for car repair!)

Oh England....!

I love it here, I really do. But there are some days when I just wish I was at home in England....speaking English! Without having to think culturally or wondering if someone has broken into my garden again!? There are just days when I miss the simple things of home.

But then the sun shines again here and I rememeber it's raining in England! Puts it back into perspective a bit. I am hoping to come visit next year though - maybe January? Oh to be able to spend a WHOLE day only speaking English! Wow.

(Jean P please can you send me your email address so I can send you my newsletter! katharinemarrow@hotmail.com)

Acceptance

I'm on a blogging roll right now - but am sat in an amazing cafe with free wireless internet, is comfy, good music and smells amazing! So am sat thinking and writing!

After an amazing week and fantastic weekend I've been contemplating my life here. Last night our youth group had a prayer meeting, 19 of turned up. 18 of my friends and me. Was so much fun. After that I went back to Lorena's house and sat outside with her and Jaime. They really are my family, like a brother and sister to me. They were singing to me their favourite olden ranchero songs etc, old Honduran songs. We told jokes and sang til late into the night. (jokes in Spanish are a bit tricky to understand but I got most of them!) I am so grateful for that family, I love them all so much. It has been in the last 2 weeks that everything has changed - for the better. I have never felt so accepted by everyone or so much a part of things. I think everyone has now seen that I'm here for good, I'm not leaving and they have changed towards me and I am truly accepted. In church a lot of the families and older people are talking more to me and including me. Many of them now looking for a husband for me and praying for one! Yay! Haha. I feel truly loved by everyone. I can't explain how things have changed really, but they have, I am a part of life here. Last night they were planning meeting up to watch a football match, eat dinner together, play games etc. When I asked when and where they had planned it in my house! Everyone is relaxed enough to include me and know I will always have people round. It's like I have always been here. Is just different to life a month ago. I LOVE it!

whoops!

Did I mention that I was driving back from footie today with Jaime and Adelson and I was chatting away to them. There was a police truck (with policemen sitting in the back) going very slowly in front of me. It stopped at the t-junction, and I stopped behind. Then it went forward to go – but stopped, and I ....didn’t!!! I went into the back of it!!! Whoops. I couldn’t believe it. In Honduras there is no insurance so whoever hits the car has to pay, or whoever does anything what-so-ever to a policeman or car has to pay a LOT! Bribery. So I just looked up at the truck full of policemen and just kept saying sorry, blushing and yet laughing...whilst looking slightly mortified! The policeman driving got out to come and talk to me, I reversed my car out of his bumper (I didn’t even realise I was that close until Jaime told me to reverse – a lot!) The policemen were killing themselves laughing! There was no damage in any way. (the fact I didn’t even feel I had gone into him says a lot about that, and about my car!) Jaime spoke to them, not sure what. Then the driver came to talk to me and told me my license plate was bent – I pointed out it was like that when I bought it! Now this is the point they charge you stupidly large amounts of money, but he just shook my hand instead and then shook Jaime’s hand and we all left friends!!! Hilarious! I was mortified, yet just laughed. Of all the people to bump into it was a truck full of police!! Sometimes it really does pay to be a white girl here; no one else would get away with it!!!

My Sunday Family

Sunday obviously means football! I took my camera today as they wanted a photo of the team in the new uniform. This is my Sunday family!! I now know all the guys in the team and I am definitely part of it. When I arrive they put all their bags in the back of my car for safety and when they need anything they just come get the keys from me or whoever had the keys last. When it rains, whoever isn’t playing comes and sits in the car with me and watches and we chat away! Too funny. No rain today though – just more sunburn! I am definitely accepted by everyone and included in the whole team now.
So I’ve had a great week. I love living here, I love my friends. Love life generally really! I couldn’t ask for more (apart from maybe peace in the country!)

#3....building

Saturday was building. A family that is new to our church live almost next door to the church itself in a rotting wooden little shack of a house, just one room. So, some of the youth group and the men in the church went to build and extend their house. A burning hot day as well. We all met up early to start work. Around 25 of us of all ages....and to start with not enough to do...but I was impressed by the amount of people who turned up. We all had hammers but with so many strong men we weren’t really needed. So when the Pastor said he was going to get wood I jumped into the back of the Camion (truck) with some others and off we went. He is building a house on one of the mountains and that was where we were going to get wood. When we got there, he said he wanted to show me around. So I got a guided tour!! Back at the house there was still not much to do except take photos...which I did!! Then they needed soil to even out the floor of the house (Was a simple house – wooden walls and dirt floor). I went in the back of the Camion again to get dirt from the road side near some other property. My job later in the afternoon was to unload the truck load of soil into a wheelbarrow. It sure made up for not having done much all day. This photo is when we had nearly finished unloading it all! This is Zuko patting down all the earth we had laid down as this was there floor.
















By the end there were 7 of us still working...and I was the last girl there. It all looked really good. I however looked like a tomato I was so sunburnt! Hanging out with everyone was so much fun, and with a whole range of ages too.

Just waiting for the door and windows to be put in.

#2...birthdays

Next....birthdays. Friday was my birthday. I was wondering how I would spend it this year. I knew Lorena had something planned but had no idea what. After a quiet, peaceful day I met with Lore and we went for ice cream again (it’s hot here ok!?) This was in fact a ploy (and not particularly subtle!). She has my spare house keys as she‘s my neighbour and she had given them to Hollie and Israel so they could arrange a party in my house whilst we had ice cream. How lovely is that? When I got there all my friends were waiting for me...cake and everything! Was soooooo wonderful! Obviously I got the traditional Honduran birthday....you blow out the candles on the cake – and then they stick your face in it....then they smashed raw eggs into my hair at the same time! At the time I was grateful it was in my house so I could shower and change. They had ordered Chinese food too and so we all ate, played cards and different games and chatted. The last 2 guys left at midnight. What a birthday! It was truly wonderful and showed me what special friends I have around me here. Those who couldn’t make the party all called me to wish me happy birthday – including a group of ladies and friends who were at a meeting at church in the evening..hilarious!

Bombs, birthdays and building.....#1 bombs

I’ve had perhaps one of the best weeks that I’ve had in months! How I love vacation time. This week I went to Tegus to get my residency card. I went on Wednesday lunch time and went with Elizabeth – Israel’s sister who is here visiting (Israel is my new boss and he and his wife Hollie are v good friends of mine here). Anyway, I drove in my car, which gave me lots of time to get to know Elizabeth, and we met up with Marlon in Tegus as I hadn’t seen him for ages. We went to various places in Tegus to show Elizabeth the city a bit, whilst waiting for Jorge to finish work ( we were staying at his house). We met up at the cinema but there were no movies in English on at the time we arrived! As we were deciding what to do I got a message from Israel telling me what the news on tv was saying...and it wasn’t good! Basically, saying that they were going to close the roads with protest marches and put bombs under the bridges and that we shouldn’t come back til it was safe! So that changed our plans a bit and we went to the supermarket to get some food. People continued to call us and everyone was in a panic cos we were in the city and not sleepy Sigua. Elizabeth and I went back to Jorge’s house where we stayed up til 3am playing cards, chatting and watching movies...was great. We weren’t worried about anything going on! The next morning we woke up to....nothing! All was peaceful so I went to the government Migration office and picked up my residency card...not a problem! The universities were closed and so Jorge was able to hang out with us....was great fun. There were no buses running and so my friend Jaime called to ask if I could give his housemate a ride back to Comayagua as he couldn’t get a bus. I knew this guy and so we met up with him and got on our way. Obviously it wasn’t going to be straight forward. Just as were leaving the city the road was closed. The protest marchers were....protesting? It was all peaceful, but we were told they would open the road at 4pm – which meant an hour and a half wait. Then they said 6pm. We decided to wait til 4 and then if it still didn’t open we’d turn back and try again the next day. It opened by 3.30pm and we had a v slow drive home. From door to door by the time we’d dropped everyone off (and stopped for ice-cream to break up the journey it took me 5 hours (instead of 2). We got to know Gabriel (Jaime’s housemate) and he was great fun so the journey was simply hilarious! Was great to get out of Sigua, be with different people and relax and have fun!

update

I’m so sorry I haven’t updated this in so long, it’s difficult without internet at home. But I will try and remember everything that has happened. I will have to put it briefly or else you’ll still be reading this next week!

1. I have moved into my new apartment and I feel far more at home here, it is just up the road from my closest friends here, Lorena and Jaime. Most evenings now, as I pass their house on my way home, I drop into their house to chat to them and their mum!! Perfect Spanish practise (although even Jaime says sometimes his mum uses words that not even they understand!)

2. Amanda has gone back to Canada to study and so I live by myself. At first this was hard and I cried the first few days, but after that things went back to normal here. I’m used to being here alone and so just got back into that mode! The church know she has gone and so I am getting all sorts of invites from people and families to go to their houses and people are asking to come and visit me!! So, although I am very sad Amanda has gone, at least I am getting to know more people.

3. My Spanish is improving suddenly. Living by myself means I don’t talk English at home (well apart from my thoughts!) and so I am speaking far more Spanish! Tonight, a friend came round and we talked for 3 hours trying to sort out their life , (and not a word of English!) It is wonderful to know I can have deep, meaningful conversations in Spanish.

4. Football continues, and I continue to go each Sunday to watch. It’s great – if I want to chat to people I can and if not I can just stand quietly and watch whilst having people around me!

5. The political troubles in the country are calmer for now, as Mel Zalaya is in the USA!

6. I am on vacation for the whole of July and am LOVING it!!

7. Last Friday night my group from Youth Group all came to sleep the night in my apartment as we had planned to go to Santa Barbara at 5am Sat morning. Oh my!! In the end only 9 stayed here, 4 stayed at Lorena’s and 3 stayed at home and came early on Saturday! SO much fun. I was determined to keep my bed mind you – although I had to share it with Sindy and Yesenia. However Yesenia snored and so I ended up on the floor in the other room with the guys!! I didn’t sleep at all – they had all the cushions! We then left at 5am to Santa Barbara. Fredi’s friend needed help in her house there. She had been in a car accident where her husband and baby died. She is left with a bag in her stomach and other problems and just needed encouragement! We turned up and cleaned up the garden and then I went with her and a few of the others to the grave and cleaned it all up with her. That was hard to do! It was so humbling to go and see this woman, probs not much older than me and see her coping with everything. It was a great time to get to know the others better too. Next Saturday we are re-roofing a house near the church.

8. I am so so blessed and lucky to have my friends here. I love them to pieces!! I think in this last week my friendships have really deepened with them all. I’m also meeting new people and getting to know them too.

9. All last week someone kept breaking into our garden here. Abner – my neighbour upstairs gets more scared than me! The dogs go mad, I think sometimes they are just barking at an animal – but not every time, I heard the person when they entered too. But it is a huge garden and they don’t come near the house – nor would the dogs let them! The first time I heard someone in the night, and then heard gun shots. I thought nothing of it and went back to sleep. Apparently, the gun shots were in my garden!! Abner called the guard of the school down the road when he heard the robber who came and fired warning shots! So, I have put bolts on my doors. The one it had was so flimsy you could open the door! I have friends lined up to come help if there is trouble, we’ve put up more outdoor lights and Abner is going to buy a gun so he can warn people off! It’s really not as bad as it sounds!

10. Hopefully I will go to Tegus this week to finally get my residency card. Yay.

So that is a brief summary of what has been happening! I think most of you got my newsletter. If you didn’t get it and would like a copy please let me know your email address and I will send it to you. Sorry there are still no pics. It takes too long to upload them from here. I use internet at different places so as not to keep bothering the same person. Now I am in Texaco Cruz gas station!!! Free internet whilst they are washing my car (sounds a WHOLE lot posher than it is!!!)
So.. life is good! I’m a happy girl!