We have water

To all of you who are wondering and/or worried - our water system was fixed on Monday afternoon. Many are thankful, and others are disappointed, because now the river is off limits again. But we are clean, and have water to drink. So all is well.

Also, we are able to get the diesel fuel needed to stay functional. I don't know if everything is back to normal, but I guess I would know if it wasn't.

Back to the river

Amy and I went to the river again this morning. This time, we took soap.

El Sembrador's water system stopped working this week. El Sembrador has it's own well that provides all the water for drinking, cooking, etc. When it breaks...oh, what a problem. It slowed down considerably on Thursday, but we were still able to take showers, etc, at night, when the crew turned it back on. But then, Friday, it stopped working altogether. No showers, no cooking water, no drinking water.

So what are you going to do with 120 boys who need to bathe? Send 'em to the river! After all, that's where they go on hot Saturday afternoons. Generally, this is verboten, but being an extreme circumstance, they now have permission to visit the river to take a bath and clean up a little bit. For all but the most finicky, this is not a hardship but a special occasion. They can spend all day at the river, and go back again after dinner! Woohoo!

As for us women-folk...we were not about to go down there when the river was full of teenage boys, some of whom swim in nothing but their tidy-whities. Amy and I decided that the best time to go take a bath would be while all the boys are in church, so as soon as we heard the service start this morning, we went out the door in the other direction, soap and towels in hand. I felt a little guilty about contributing to the water pollution, but wow did I stink! This is not a country in which to go without bathing.

Amy said, "this will be the first time I've ever bathed in a river." I corrected her, saying, "No, you've bathed in a river before. This is just the first time you haven't showered afterwards." I can't say I feel squeaky clean (we walked back to the house through a field full of cowpies), but I don't smell so bad anymore. The system won't be fixed until Monday at the earliest, so I guess we'll be back in the river tomorrow.

It's hard to complain, knowing the water problems in other parts of Honduras and the world. We have it good here, with clean water from the well (when it's working), and a decent river close by. It's amazing, though, how important it has become. I will certainly appreciate it more when everything is back to normal.

Down to the river

It was hot last Saturday (big surprise...). So Amy and I decided to go swimming. There are a couple of nice swimming holes in the river on El Sembrador's property. They are deep and calm and CLEAN. Who knows what kind of bacteria is floating around in the water, but as far as debris and cow stuff, etc, the water is clear and free of such nastiness. We were in waist-deep water, and I could clearly see my feet, and all the little fish that were darting around. There were a lot of fish. It was certainly refreshing. I am looking forward to going again.

As we got closer to the river, we could hear voices coming up from the water. We peeked around a bush and saw clothes lying on the bank, and little black heads bobbing above the water. Now, the students are not allowed to go to the river. Hmmm. Rather than bust them, we decided to scare them off, for this "first offense". Amy and I started to talk a little louder. The voices in the river went silent. We peeked again, and could see pairs of hands hanging onto a log in the river. They were "hiding" behind the log, so that we couldn't see them. Amy told them that we knew they were there, and that we promised not to tell if they just went away. We heard a little "vaya pues", which means "okay then", and some splashing. We saw a couple of heads running away through the bushes. And then the river was empty! We identified a couple of the kids, but we did promise, after all. Next time we go swimming, we'll go while the students are in class.

Here is the swimming hole.

This is my impression of the boys hiding in the river. You'd never know I was there, right?

That's how clear the water is in this part of the river.

Mother's Day

Sunday was Mother’s Day. They celebrate it on the same day as we do in the United States, and, wow, it is a big deal. The stores are filled with big and red, as if Valentines Day was back. We had a special service in the church, to which all the families of students were invited. Not all could come, of course, but many did, and the church was almost full. The service featured special music, solos and songs about mothers, and we watched two skits, also about mothers. Students then came forward to present gifts to their mothers. It was a very special day for these families.

The bible students sang the "Hymn to Mothers".

The ninth grade class presented a drama about Mother's Day gifts.

David presents the class gifts to the school cooks, Doña Maria, Doña Maria, and Doña Maria.

Cultos Unidos

Saturday night, the youth group hosted a “culto unido”, or a “united worship service”. They invited three other youth groups from the Catacamas area to come to El Sembrador to sing, preach and eat.

We started the service at 5:30, with only a small crowd of El Sembrador students in attendance. I was disappointed, because they had worked really hard to prepare for the event, making the snacks by hand and practicing the songs all week long. But about 6:30, a bus pulled up and unloaded a bunch of people, followed by another bus a few minutes later. So, the guests did come. They were just an hour late. The worship team didn’t miss a step. They just kept on going as if late guests were perfectly normal. And maybe it is.

We had the service outside on the basketball court, to enjoy the cool(er) air. Manuel led for most of the service.

Rigoberto treated us to his favorite song.

Smoky Days

When I flew into Teguc, the sky was so brown and hazy we couldn't even see the runway until we were almost directly over it (yikes!). This is because the country is burning right now. During the dry season, people deliberately light fires in the forests, to burn out the underbrush and to clear fields for grazing and planting. These fires are all over the country. You can see black patches all over the mountainsides where burns have been. One night, I looked out at the mountain and could see a glowing red spot, which I presume was a fire. Plumes of smoke and yellow haze sit over much of the countryside. When the rains come (and I've been told they are only weeks away), the water will clean up the air and turn the mountains green again.

Back at the farm

We made it back to the farm, oh, last week, on Monday. We were able to leave the capital not long after I posted my little story about the gas shortage. That doesn't mean the country is back to normal. Still a gas shortage. But I have nowhere to go, so not much of a concern for me right now. I am just trying to catch up on all the things I missed while I was gone - random Spanish lessons, violent and unskilled basketball games, grading English tests...I gone on a field trip, a youth group party, and a mother's day church service. I have lots of pictures, but they are still in my camera. I'll add them and the stories very soon.

Most of my students passed their English exams. I was pleasantly surprised by some of the students' efforts. Maybe they really did learn the material? I was heartily amused by others - they butchered some answers beyond recognition. I couldn't help but laugh. I am such a bad teacher. What kind of teacher laughs at their students?

Out of gas...

There are two ways that you should interpret this title.

1. I am tired. Or at least I was last night. I flew back to Honduras yesterday, Sunday. It was a long trip, being that I was up all night the previous night. So I was worn out, and thoroughly enjoyed my bed last night.

2. The country is out of gasoline. Really. There might be a little bit of regular gas somewhere, but diesel is gone. This is a problem since so many vehicles use diesel, and all of the mission vehicles are diesel. Missionaries picked me up at the airport, but we had to stay in Tegucigalpa last night, since their truck did not have enough fuel to make it three hours to the farm school. All the gas stations say, "manana, tomorrow, we'll have gas tomorrow." That was three days ago. So we are hanging out at the guesthouse in Teguc, waiting.

On the bright side, maybe I'll be able to snag one more mochachino from Espresso Americano before we leave the capital.

Thank you for your prayers for safe travel, and for those of you who helped me get back to Honduras so quickly. Now that I'm back, I will be posting and writing more often, to keep you informed and entertained. Hasta luego.