Back in Honduras – July 12

A short two and a half weeks has flown by. My daughter graduated from High School so a trip to Canada was in order. There were many other things that needed to be done as well so the trip was filled with activity. Alberta being what it is, huge in comparison to Honduras, a great deal of time was spent travelling from place to place.

This morning the power is off so, fortunately, my laptop has enough battery power to work for a little while. I just showed two of the workers pictures from the graduation so that seemed to use a fair bit of the battery.

Trees and plants have grown considerably in the two weeks I was away. One group of bees is still hanging around and building on the outside of the hive. So strange to have them clustered about in the elements when twenty centimetres away is the entrance to a dry and safer location. Obviously the queen said she wasn’t moving. I see that a number of cuttings have been planted and are sprouting. That is always so exciting to see.

My trip to Honduras was made eventful by my stupidity. Going through the security check in Edmonton, I sent the basket with belt, watch, pens, vest, coins, shoes and the kitchen sink through the scanner. As it disappeared, I realized that my wallet was still in my pocket (I am sure you picked that up while reading the last sentence.). Dutifully, I shoved it into a front pocket of my carry on and zipped it up. On the other side, distracted by someone who was having trouble going through the body scanner, I emptied the basket and went on my way, forgetting to rescue my wallet. Well, by the time I reached Minneapolis, I had forgotten about where I had put the silly thing and, upon reaching for a business card, began to panic. I was sure that I had left it in the basket. So, a frustrating hour finding the phone number for Edmonton lost and found, buying a phone card, phoning home to put holds on credit and bank cards. Fortunately, I have a classy Tilley vest (by the makers of the incredible Tilley hat line – if you are over 50 you know just how incredible it is) where I carry all my different currencies, passport and other valuables. Only my Canadian money was in my wallet. To make a long story short, the next morning, in a last, vain attempt to double check, I went through my carry on and, of course, found the missing wallet.

Atlanta airport has a wonderful feature. They have a curbside check-in service. So, instead of finding a cart (they charge $4.00 there) or wrestling with luggage through the terminal (the busiest in the world), you can check in at the curb, get your boarding pass and then waltz through the terminal (good thing for me as they changed my gate from Terminal E to A and back to E) with only your carry on.

On the plane to San Pedro Sula were several groups of people coming to do projects or mission work in Honduras. Their group T-shirts made them very obvious. One group had the logo, “Harvest Honduras” on their shirts. Several thoughts crossed my mind. Who did the planting, the weeding, the watering? Who benefits from the harvest? In a nation with churches on virtually every other block, who is the harvest for?

Coming through customs in Honduras was lovely. The Bronze medal game of the World Cup was due to start in ninety minutes and all the officials and workers were feeling the pressure to get things cleared before kick off. As well, having a number of groups tends to focus attention on their luggage and behaviour so my usual strange collection (this time two small incubators and a vacuum food sealer) was waved through with only a casual glance.

I took a taxi to the terminal and then a bus home. I missed the game but was happy to get home in the early afternoon. It is good to be back in Honduras again. We will see, as the morning progresses, what all has to be done. We are having official visitors later in the week so I imagine there will be a bit of stress in the next couple of days.
TTYL
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