Day 2 in Tegucigalpa

Another busy but good day in Teguz. In the morning we headed out of the city with Pam again at the wheel and drove up into the mountains outside of town. Really beautiful and spectacular scenery. We went to the town of Valle de Angeles which is in the next valley over from Teguz to a very historic and typical rural town. We wandered into the town square just as everybody was opening shops and headed into morning Mass at the church. There was a very pretty central plaza with lovely plantings and a fountain that was filled with water but not functioning. Britta and I insisted that we take a pause to enjoy the number one Honduran export: coffee! So we had a lovely cafe con leche and felt fully revived and ready to roam.

We went to a small ¨Museo¨which was more of a private collection of old photos and stuff from someonés attic and then wandered through a few shops for some small purchases. Many darling kids all wearing the Honduran national soccer team colors in anticipation of the big game tonight against Costa Rica that was the talk of the country. After more meandering we headed back down the mountain nad stopped for lunch at a restaurant that served some typical and very delicious fried fish and fried green bananas. The surprisingly large fish (Pam warned us to only order ¨grande¨and NOT ¨jumbo¨) arrived whole on the plates but were easily dissected and lovely and mild. They were the biggest tilapia that I have ever seen.

Back in Teguz we made another foray to visit a couple different pastors who work with Pam and Pastor Rafael in a couple of different neighborhoods, i.e., slums. Incredible poverty, terrible roads, ramshackle accommodations but families who are working hard together to improve their lives by selling homemade foods o the street, etc... All the kids attend school and the mothers are all busy scrubbing clothes or preparing food in outdoor tubs and kitchens. We were warmly welcomed and heard about all the improvements that are happening in their homes , communities and churches. One of the pastors was Gladys who has been working against all odds and the denomination to build a thriving congregation and church building that houses a literacy program as well. Because the President of Honduras decided that the response to the global economic crises was to raise the minimum wage by 50%, there have been massive layoffs acrtoss the country by all businesses and Gladys was laid off yesterday from her work at a daycare center. But her faith as a Christian and not wanting to behave disgracefully after such terrible news (she had worked there for 20 years) was helped by our presence and encouragement. Amazing.

We bounced back to Pam´s apartment with the expertise of Oscar driving us down roads so terrible and steep I would have been afraid to be on foot but he negotiated the route without incident. So we had a quiet evening at home and got totally packed up for our departure tomorrow morning at 5:00 a.m. via bus to Copan Ruinas where we will be for 3 nights enjoying the Mayan ruins, some tropical bird watching and maybe even a tour of a coffee plantation.