Reflections from the first week

May 8, 2007

It has been a full week that I have been here in Honduras but I do not think I have adjusted yet to the temperatures of upper 90’s and 100’s. Thankfully someone told me yesterday that these temperatures are unusually high. This evening Abigail Williamson, the 6 year old, was visiting with me in my house while I was finishing up a dessert for dinner. Somehow (and without any prompting from me) the subject turned to snow, and she told me that she is praying it will snow here in Honduras but that others will be praying for it too and will send winter coats down just before it snows. I had to smile, but I told her that I am praying for the snow to come too – probably not with as much faith as her though.

On Sunday the Williamson’s and I drove back into the city and went to the church that owns the camp. I was excited to run into Francisco, a man who I had met almost 2 years ago at a Father-Daughter ministry day at camp. I had been “life guarding” at the creek and he was there with his 4 year old daughter. While she played, we got to talking and I had shared that I was considering returning to Honduras for missions. In our conversation I was blessed by his faith, insight and prayers. Last year I had tried e-mailing him with some information about diesel vans that he had requested, but it never went through. He recognized me right away because he still has a picture of his daughter and I. If I remember correctly, most of his children are my age, but then they have Cristina who is still very young. I was able to meet his wife yesterday too which was neat though I did not see Cristina.

I am learning why life here is so “tranquilo” or slow (from my perspective). For some the intense heat has a calming effect and for this reason there are afternoon siestas. The pace of walking is slow, often because of the heat. Even with this reason, I will probably still not slow my walking pace too much. Perhaps it is my sense of competition or maybe the fact that I like to do as much as possible, but slowing down when walking is a challenge for me. Anyway, everything seems to take longer here, whether that be cleaning, cooking, or going to town. The roads do not allow high speeds, especially out here in the villages. On Monday I got into fourth gear on a paved road segment and I was quite excited. I had also ventured out further on my own than previously so that was fun.

Cooking takes so long because of the need for careful food washing and preparation. I am forever washing and then drying my hands because the water is anything but clean and so even a drop of water on my hands that touches the food I am about to eat, could make me sick. I am thankful that so far I have I have stayed healthy.

Finally there are the simple, random events that change the schedule. Monday when I was about to head to town for the Internet and veggies, I drove around camp and discovered that I could not leave because I was locked in. I do not yet have a gate key and so I had to wait until Wes returned from a walk with his son to head to town. Tuesday I went to town only to find that the Internet Café was closed. I returned to camp (only about 5 minutes away) and later after talking to Wes (they were all in San Pedro), I decided to go to the next town up. I arrived to find the Internet Café open but without service. Since it had been a long day with a lot of “wasted” time, I decided to stop in Pinalejo for an ice cream so that my trip would not be in vain. But when I entered a little corner store, they had nothing and directed me across the street. At this store the first worker did not seem to understand what I was asking for. Perhaps my pronunciation of “helado” was terrible, I do not know. The second guy pointed me back down the street the way I had come from. I decided it was not worth the trek and returned to camp with nothing to show for my travels, but I had at least had a few exchanges in Spanish.

And even as I struggle with accepting and enjoying the “tranquilo” pace, I know that such a pace is often a good thing and I have lots to learn from the culture. Why do I rush around so much and cram so much into my day that I cannot even enjoy it? Why do I so often measure a day by how much I think that I have accomplished? Here you really only get things done when you know people and have built relationships. That may mean that you sit and chat with someone for an hour before you actually bring up the reason why you are visiting or mention what your need is. And so perhaps my measurements need to change to include, how did I do with building relationships today?