Round Two Begins

Back in Honduras after three weeks in Canada visiting family, getting things organized and having a chance to enjoy cold, cold and more cold. It is over 30° C here today and it was -27° C when we left Vegreville Tuesday.

The flights down were uneventful. I found out that the seats in front of an emergency exit on TACA flights do not recline. That was a long flight trying to snooze. Fortunately, I had a lovely pillow and the window seat so was able to catch a few winks. Sitting in the airport in San Salvador I was able to see my luggage being loaded and that was a very nice sign.

Chepe and Manuel were waiting for me at the airport and had a pick up truck there as well. What a treat to be able to leave directly from the airport without fussing with taxi and bus. The trip home was quiet with only one small detour to pick up a bed for Chepe’s house.

After delivering the bed, we went to Laura’s, one of the CPI Board, house for an amazing lunch. Dessert featured a type of pudding made from fresh young corn, milk and sugar. Very impressive. It is a good thing she lives an awkward rapidito distance away or I would go there often for meals.

By two in the afternoon we were back in Santa Cruz and I was able to unpack a bit and catch some needed zzz’s. In the late afternoon, I headed up to Jose’s Barbershop for a trim. With the warmer weather, I need any advantage I can get to keep cool. Some shopping and two baleadas to go and I was home again for the evening.

This morning I made a stew for our team lunch and set it to work in a new slow cooker I brought with me. After opening the office, I went to the store and got two pounds of chicken meat (menudo) – well, it was hearts, necks and livers. Now, I actually enjoy those parts of the chicken so that was one of the reasons I bought it. The other was that it was half the price of regular chicken meat. I used some curry spice that I picked up in an Indian shop on the way to the airport. The power went out at ten o’clock but, fortunately, one of the girls remembered that lunch was cooking. We dug out the solar cooker and had everything cooked for noon. I tried adding a pasta (called marmahon) which looks like tapioca but that didn’t work out well. Next time I will cook it separately and then add it to the stew. A cup of rice saved the day and made it rather good. Everyone else added salt to their plates but all enjoyed it.

Most of the trees we planted are still growing. We need to be a bit more vigilant about some of them. Birds and ants are taking their toll and the trees need to get a head start on that depredation.

The two Grade Students are 1/8th done their course work in two weeks. That bodes well for them finishing both Grade 8 and 9 by the end of the year. While in Canada, Rueben, a member of the CPI Board in Canada, put all the textbooks into PDF format. Wow. What a huge boost that was for us. We are currently putting all the sound tracks with the text and will have a full, workable course in just a couple of weeks rather than months. Will see tomorrow if we can get the girls working with the new material.

Each time I surfaced to consciousness, I was able to enjoy the chorus of dogs that is part of the nightly entertainment package here. The local lively church thumped and clanged for a couple of hours but shut down in good time. By morning, the room had cooled off enough to need a light blanket. That is a good sign. If you can cool off for a few hours a day you can handle the hot hours so much more easily.
Will write more later.
Bryan