Last night was a Honduras night all round. I was told to be at place X at 5:00 p.m. to sing with the music group. As well, I was told to wear a purple shirt. Five o’clock came and I was still eating supper (didn’t want to venture on an adventure without some fuel). Five fifteen it began to rain. Still raining at 5:30. How late did I dare be? Put on a jacket and wide brimmed hat and headed out. By the time I had walked four blocks, my pants were very damp. I arrived at place X. No one there. Traveled on half a block to one of the homes of the group. None of the group there. Sat and waited till 6:15, helping one of the girls with her English homework in the meantime. Finally one of the group arrived and asked why I was wearing the wrong colour of shirt. I explained that, in English, this colour was indeed purple. Sigh. Mauve is ‘purple’ and purple is ‘maroon’. Now I know.
At 6:15 we headed to the location of the presentation. Two of the group were setting up the equipment. Eventually found out that the program was for 7:00 p.m. So, I helped set up stuff and, generally, hung around in wet trousers. I had really hoped that hanging around in wet pants wouldn’t start for another twenty years or more. All depends on the situation, right?
At around 7:30, the music started. At 9:00 p.m. we were served a plate of fried plantains, some salsa type toping and a soft drink. By 9:30 I was able to graciously leave and head home.
One neat thing happened during the evening. The house we were at was on the upper edge of a wide valley. It began to rain on the far side of the valley and as the rain moved across, the roar of the rain on the tin roofs grew louder and louder. At first I thought it was a truck climbing the far side of the valley but as the sound grew in volume it became apparent that it was the rain. Since our group had their amplifiers, the rain was not a hindrance to the festivities.
We have one group of bees that have built their combs on the outside of a trap hive. Last Friday, Santiago dressed in the equipment and climbed up to put some holes in the hive near the bees to encourage them to make the step to the inside. He got stung a couple of times but is ready to try again tomorrow. He will try and make the hole a bit bigger. The first attempt used too small a bit. It seems so strange to have these bees in the rain but ... they seem content.
My truck was to be ready this week. We are still keeping our fingers crossed for Saturday. I am worried about the cost of fuel the first week or so as my list of things to do in various places is growing daily. I have a zillion seedlings to move and that will mean several trips right there. Then to find some fruit trees, coffee seedlings and so forth. I hope they will all get planted successfully by the end of August.
We are now at 96 students in Grade 7 alone. We listen to the stories of the students from the rural communities and are so pleased with what we are doing. Only about 10-20% of Grade 6 students continue on to Grade 7. The “official” numbers are better but the anecdotal numbers from people counting themselves are grim indeed.
I will also post a reflection on Namaan later. We are so ready to evaluate others by their outward presentation. I keep hoping that it will be easier to look past that as I gain more experience (meaning ... get older). Hmm. Wonder when that will happen?
TTYL
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