Honduras Day 8 and 9

Sorry to have been slacking off the past days. I had a paper due for my online English class last night I was working on and had to finish it. Monday, we took about a three hour drive north towards San Pedro Sula towards a waterfall. Me, Ben, Garrett, Mark, and David all piled in Mark's rented toyota and headed out around 8:30. We got to the national park and there is a waterfall there that is only 30 or 40 ft shy of Niagra Falls. It was completely worth the drive and was just a natural wonder. Mark then asked if we want to go under it; of course, we did. So, we pay a tour guide to take us down to below the falls in some caves. When we got close to the waterfall, you could not see anything. My head was down and could see about a foot away. It was one of the most intense things I have done. Imagine being in the worst part of a hurricane. We got right next to the falls and the guide said the current was too strong to keep going so we stayed put in this cave below the falls. He then took us to this mini waterfall next to it that we could jump off of. It was awesome. Mark said jump and sure enough, we jumped. It was only 10 feet or so, but when you are next to a 140 meter waterfall, it's something else. We then explored and body surfed down some rapids above the falls for a little while. We then left for the 3 hour or so ride back to Tegucigalpa. We got back and went to eat at Nobu, a Thai restaurant. Ben got terreyaki steak and I got some shrimp. Garrett really talked this place up because he had eaten there before. Everything was delicious, but probably not all what Garrett made it out to be...sorry Garrett. Tuesday, we left the house around 8:30 and headed to the warehouse. We sorted through more clothes and Josue and some, I mean all, of his family came to get some stuff. Then David took me, Ben, and Garrett up to this kitchen to serve lunch for the elementry children. In this community, there is a kitchen that is funded by a Baptist group that serves lunch to elementary kids Monday through Friday. We sorted through pounds and pounds of beans taking out the bad ones. Once lunch started, Ben sanitized all the kid's hands when they walked in. Garrett and I were making the plates (beans, rice, goat cheese). That was a very good experience and that lunch feeds a lot of children. We brought extra snacks and gave them to the cooks to take home for their work. About that time, Mark came and picked us up. We had to move a sewing class from one community to another. We went to one community got the 15 or 16 sewing machines (old fashioned ones with the pedals) and chairs, tables etc and brought them to the next community. Mi Esperanza, Lori's ministry, puts on this sewing class and teaches woman skills that they normally are not taught. It was around 4ish when we got done and Lori took me, Garrett, and Ben home. On the way home, we hit some horrible traffic. The police eventually turned us all around because the teacher strike had taken over the road and took over the University. They were burning tires and throwing things at police. Life in Central America. After that, we headed to a soccer game in Estadio Nacional. We took some Hondurans we know and packed in the pickup all the way to the stadium. The game was between Montagua and Toronto. It was a conclave cup (I believe) that is between the Americas basically. Montagua had to win to advance. The atmosphere was unbelievable. The fan section had fireworks; running up and down during goals. The cops got sick of them throwing sparklers on the field, so they came up there with PVC looking pipes and beat anyone who threw one. We were sitting in the nice seats in the corner, so our corner was pretty chill. Montagua ended up losing the game, but it was an experience none the less. Went to eat at Don Chotos and had a bunch of meat on a plate. It was good as always; Hondurans sure know how to prepare meat. Mark loves the blog btw...Tomorrow morning we might go shopping because we don't have to be at the airport till 10:30 am. Thanks for all the prayers and support. Ben and I could not have done this without the financial support and prayer support of all of you. Thanks for reading and the prayers! Also, more pictures are up; they are Garrett's though. So, type in Garrett Fox on Facebook and he is mutual friends with me and Ben to look at them!

Honduras Day 7

Today was the relax day. Woke up and attended church, via internet at Disciples' Fellowship in Bham. Fever went down some not all the way but I am on the road to recovery. Thankfully, no one else is sick. Went to go see Jonathan play soccer at about 11 this morning. His team did really well; he scored a sick goal and they won 5-1, or 5-2. We went to go shopping at Lori, Mark's wife, store that sells Mi Esperanza stuff. Mi Esperanza means my hope and is all about educating woman to break the cycle of poverty. They make pottery, dresses, jewelry, and other neat things. So, Ben and I went shopping there for some people and finally decided on what to get. Y'all should check out that ministry at http://thewomenofmyhope.org/. After that, we came back to the house and Jonathan brought his playstation 2 over to play a FIFA tournament. After about 3 hours, Garrett won, I came in second, Jonathan in third, and Ben in fourth. Ben got eliminated because Jonathan said so. We then went to Creolos and met up with some of Garrett's friends from Unite for Sight. Ben and I got some chicken nachos. Saw Baskin Robbins across the street and decided it would be a good desert. Stopped by Baskin Robbins and had a good talk with everyone about the poverty cycle in developing countries versus developed countries. One of the disheartening things to hear was when Mark told us that the really wealthy Hondurans who live on the mountain are building a concrete wall to keep the rich from having to look at the poor Hondurans. The poverty cycle here is so much more difficult to get out of because of how extreme their conditions are. That is why Mi Esperanza equips some of these women to break this cycle. Anyways, we are home now chilling out and taking it easy. Tomorrow, might check out some waterfalls towards the coast depending on how everyone feels. Keep praying!