Arrival in Honduras was fine

Hey, all,

We arrived in Tegucigalpa, Honduras without any problem except the need to wake up at 3:00 a.m. to leave for the airport by 3:30 for checking into our 5:30 a.m. flight. But a friendly electric cart driver took us to McDonalds at the airport )the only place open at that hour) and Britta and I got a decent cup of caffeine by about 4:15 a.m. Then he took us to the gate and the flight departed on time. I promptly fell asleep for most of the flight to Houston. Our arrival into Houston was delayed slightly which cut our 45 minute connection time to 20 minutes but we got lucky again with the arrival of an electric cart to take us to the train that crossed 3 terminals in 2 minutes and then I sprinted to the gate to be sure they held the door and Judy and Britta arrived via cart a few minutes later.

I again, slept most of the way except for the very dramatic descent and slow turn onto the Tegucigalpa airport. Passengers always applaud the landing as it is quite spectacular. Pam was there to meet us with the Toyota truck which we filled to the brim with luggage and bins of donated items and things for Pam´s life. Then we had a quiet afternoon with naps and reading at Pam´s spacious 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment. Pam made a delicious lasagna dinner and we were joined by pastor Rafael, his wife Patricia, and their daughter and ädopted son, Oscar. Lovely people who professed their love for us since we are friends of beloved, Pamela.

On Tuesday morning we went with Pastor Rafael and Oscar the expert driver to one of the neighborhoods where another pastor who is mentored by Rafael and Pam´s ministry. By any measure, this ¨town¨of 100,000 people is a terrible slum that crawls up one of the hillsides surrounding Teguz, but amazingly, they have electricity and water (at times) amid the shacks and poverty. Pastor Francisco proudly showed us the bathroom and septic tank he had built by hand to serve his extended family of 12 living in a Dr. Seuss-like warren of shacks. We shared some of the things we brought with his family and left more for him to distribute to his neighbors. Pam especially enjoyed seeing Joel, who is 8 years old and who had surgery in the US last year for an orthopedic condition and he is now walking rather than crawling.

We came back to the apartment and made lunch for a picnic and then headed out to visit a large park at the top of the hills surrounding Teguz. Pam was a fearless and skilled driver in the middle of the honking and chaotic traffic of Teguz. The view from the top of El Picacho park was amazing and then we walked through the botanical gardens before heading back into the fray of Teguz traffic and life. The monumental statue of Jesus blessing the city of Teguz from the top caused a natural response of ¨Jesus Christ!¨from us gringas. On the route to the top of the park we saw some pretty amazing residential neighborhoods where all the embassies are that enjoy fabulous views and tropical plants of all sorts including Volkswagon sized poinsettias in full bloom.

Alos, during our trip through the city we berated Pam for taking us to see the gigantic Jesus and the Park with magnificent views and the botanical garden but she drove right past a large store with a huge sign announcing CARRION OUTLET which was certainly something we could not find in the US. She tried to tell us that Carrion was a common last name and it was only a store selling regular stuff rather than roadkill but we want her to take us there tomorrow.

After a quick stop at the apartment to grab passports we went to the bus station to buy our tickets for our other travels and then the bank to change money. All businesses including gas stations have armed guards with automatic weapons standing around. In addition, when we were going to visit Pastor Franciso, the streets climbing up to the neighborhood were lined with machine gun carrying national police because the wife of the President of Chile was visiting. Several kids running thru the neighborhood thought one of us was she because we clearly did not belong there.

We returned home for a quiet siesta and I am able to catch up and assure all of you that I am fine and happy


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