Hello to all!
Becky and I are still doing well! There is a huge strike right now in Honduras, a lot of people are unhappy with the government or wages and are picketing. We are safe where we are, but some people that live near the airport could not get to school yesterday because picketers had blocked the bridge. Also, Pastor Ken could not leave for Costa Rica because the bus drivers were on strike and he was supposed to leave Monday morning on a bus. It is much better than we initially heard, though! At first we heard that the water and power companies would probably strike as well so we would be without running water and electricity, but that did not happen. Hooray for electricity! From what we hear, it will all be over within a few days.
The kitties were having a little trouble adjusting to the heat (it gets up to about 90 here every day). So guess what we did? WE CUT THEIR HAIR! They look pretty funny. Becky says they are ugly, but I don't think so. They are doing much better now. They are running around and playing more, especially in the evenings, when it is a little cooler. Pictures are coming, I left them at home. We will probably try to save up for an air conditioner for the spring, when it is supposed to be the hottest here.
Happy Birthday to Becky!!! We stayed home Sunday, Becky wanted to cook a Honduran recipe. She made a dish with chicken in coconut milk, it was delicious! The only downside is that the jalapenos in it made her hands burn from cutting them and my hands burn from doing the dishes. They aren't that hot in the states!
I need to get a crown done here... I should really set up an appointment soon. Apparently, I had ANOTHER tooth that needed a root canal (I hate my teeth). I found out right before we left for Honduras. The root canal was done last week, here in La Ceiba. It went pretty smoothly, but it hurt a bit more than the previous ones. The endodontist that I went to was very good; she goes to our church and is a member of the school board.
Last week, in addition to being the first week of school, was also the youth rally at the church. The youth had worked for a long time, preparing their own programs with skits, songs, and games. It made for one busy week, but it was very good. Our next door neighbor, Carly, wanted to go with us to the rally, so she came Thursday and Saturday. Our neighbors are very nice, we like them a lot! They also speak beautiful English, which is a huge blessing in many ways.
School is going pretty well, we have a lot more planning periods that we ever did in Florida, but there is a lot more here to do. We help out in a lot of ways around here. We fix computers a lot. We also proofread tests, quizzes, and handouts that other teachers are printing. Yesterday we helped Lourdes and Pastor Corona move their offices. Also I have 4 labs to prepare for, yikes! We also have to write our own tests and quizzes, which I am finding out is kind of annoying. Compared to last year, I have a lot less students, but Becky has more. I feel very disorganized at this moment. We have so very little free time! I want to organize, but have too many other things to do. Things will settle down, but pray that we use our time wisely and make the most of the work time that we have. It will get better, I am trusting in God!
8.28.2007
8.22.2007
WE ARE OK!!!
our street is flooded! (up the street view)
our street is flooded! (down the street view)
right outside the church
Dean has passed, and we are all safe here at the school. It brought a lot of heavy rain Monday, and the city flooded in some places. We had an interesting taxi ride during one of the first squalls that came through, but it was good because we got home just before our street flooded. It stayed like that for a few hours, and then the water went back down.
The first day of school (Monday) went pretty well. It was only a half day, which was good because we had many questions about policies, etc before the day was over. Yesterday, we did not have school because of the weather (which actually wasn't bad) so we spent the day regrouping and planning. Today classes went well- it was our first full day of class! Things are up and down, we are usually very happy to be here, but sometimes we just wish we were home.
Rufus and Tiny are doing well! They just had their third, and last, trip to the vet . Now the vet can send all of the paperwork to the capital, Tegucigalpa, so our cats will be officially Honduran. The paperwork was much more expensive than we were told when leaving the US, so we will be making the cats clean the house and do dishes to earn their keep.
Keep the people of Mexico in your prayers, the rain was pretty bad here and we were nowhere close to the eye with much much more rain and high winds.
Most of this I wrote yesterday, but the power went out after this was typed but before I got it posted. Bummer! But praise God for auto recover! The power seems to go out a lot here. It went out today as well in the middle of class, but the church has generators which they use in cases like that.
Dave and Becky
our street is flooded! (up the street view)
our street is flooded! (down the street view)
right outside the church
Dean has passed, and we are all safe here at the school. It brought a lot of heavy rain Monday, and the city flooded in some places. We had an interesting taxi ride during one of the first squalls that came through, but it was good because we got home just before our street flooded. It stayed like that for a few hours, and then the water went back down.
The first day of school (Monday) went pretty well. It was only a half day, which was good because we had many questions about policies, etc before the day was over. Yesterday, we did not have school because of the weather (which actually wasn't bad) so we spent the day regrouping and planning. Today classes went well- it was our first full day of class! Things are up and down, we are usually very happy to be here, but sometimes we just wish we were home.
Rufus and Tiny are doing well! They just had their third, and last, trip to the vet . Now the vet can send all of the paperwork to the capital, Tegucigalpa, so our cats will be officially Honduran. The paperwork was much more expensive than we were told when leaving the US, so we will be making the cats clean the house and do dishes to earn their keep.
Keep the people of Mexico in your prayers, the rain was pretty bad here and we were nowhere close to the eye with much much more rain and high winds.
Most of this I wrote yesterday, but the power went out after this was typed but before I got it posted. Bummer! But praise God for auto recover! The power seems to go out a lot here. It went out today as well in the middle of class, but the church has generators which they use in cases like that.
Dave and Becky
8.18.2007
Pre-Dean
So we haven't been able to post in a while, due to flaky internet and lack of time (apparently we have to work, we can't just hang out....) but we finally found the opportunity so we decided to snatch it up!
We've met our neighbors, who speak beautiful English!!!, and they are really nice. They're helping us get settled and feel our way around. Today she was telling us about preparing for Hurricane Dean. It's not supposed to hit Honduras, but the rains can cause some pseudo-severe flooding... Nothing too dangerous (and our apartment is on the 2nd floor so our stuff will be fine) but we just needed to stock up on some kerosene, water, and food. Thanks again for the lantern Mr. Sharp! For the price of a gallon of kerosene we would only be able to buy 1/2 a pack of batteries!
We start school on Monday, and we're really not prepared... I don't know how it
will go but God is sovereign and we trust Him in it. If you're the praying
type, you can pray for a smooth start to the school year!
Last Saturday we went to Los Chorros (the waterfalls) with Pastor Ken, his family, and another family. It was wonderful! The falls are all natural and go up the mountain for miles with a waterfall, then a pool, then another waterfall, another pool, etc. At the base pool is a part where the water swirls around to make a natural whirlpool. We played there with the kids for hours!
Oh! and we found a scorpion near our house! It was pretty cool! (well, I mean, had it stung us, we probably wouldn't find it that cool, but it didn't so YAY!) Dave, of course, took pictures and then carried it in a tub back over to the empty lot so it wouldn't bother anyone. Everything is so different here in La Ceiba, it's a little hard to get used to, but it's really exciting at the same time! I want to post a picture, but I can't seem to get it to load on this connection... I'll try and get it later!
We love you and miss you all! Hope everything is going well in the states (We heard about the heat wave! but at least you all have air conditioning!) We'll try to post again soon and let you know how we rode out the storm :)
We've met our neighbors, who speak beautiful English!!!, and they are really nice. They're helping us get settled and feel our way around. Today she was telling us about preparing for Hurricane Dean. It's not supposed to hit Honduras, but the rains can cause some pseudo-severe flooding... Nothing too dangerous (and our apartment is on the 2nd floor so our stuff will be fine) but we just needed to stock up on some kerosene, water, and food. Thanks again for the lantern Mr. Sharp! For the price of a gallon of kerosene we would only be able to buy 1/2 a pack of batteries!
We start school on Monday, and we're really not prepared... I don't know how it
will go but God is sovereign and we trust Him in it. If you're the praying
type, you can pray for a smooth start to the school year!
Last Saturday we went to Los Chorros (the waterfalls) with Pastor Ken, his family, and another family. It was wonderful! The falls are all natural and go up the mountain for miles with a waterfall, then a pool, then another waterfall, another pool, etc. At the base pool is a part where the water swirls around to make a natural whirlpool. We played there with the kids for hours!
Oh! and we found a scorpion near our house! It was pretty cool! (well, I mean, had it stung us, we probably wouldn't find it that cool, but it didn't so YAY!) Dave, of course, took pictures and then carried it in a tub back over to the empty lot so it wouldn't bother anyone. Everything is so different here in La Ceiba, it's a little hard to get used to, but it's really exciting at the same time! I want to post a picture, but I can't seem to get it to load on this connection... I'll try and get it later!
We love you and miss you all! Hope everything is going well in the states (We heard about the heat wave! but at least you all have air conditioning!) We'll try to post again soon and let you know how we rode out the storm :)
8.08.2007
We're not dead!
Hey everyone! It's been a while since we've posted, and we want to let you all know that we arrievd safely in La Ceiba and are alive and kicking! The cats are fine (though apparently they need even more documentation that they are healty and not going to spread some weird cat disease to all the cats in Honduras...) and we even (finally) have all our baggage!
Our apartment is very cute (read: small), but we're really happy with it. We even have a stove (with one funtioning burner), a fridge, and a MICROWAVE! Also a washer/dryer available to all tenants and a bathtub! And don't worry mom, we have bars on our windows and a guard at night, so we're really quite safe! It may seem like we don't have much, but we have everything we need and more, we're very blessed, especially by Honduran standards!
Our teacher orientation has already started, and though we're excited to begin working, we were hoping for a little more time to adjust. A school year is a little like a roller coaster, one it starts rolling, you can't get off til the end so buckle up and hang on!
We love you all and will try to post again very soon with some pictures!!!
Our apartment is very cute (read: small), but we're really happy with it. We even have a stove (with one funtioning burner), a fridge, and a MICROWAVE! Also a washer/dryer available to all tenants and a bathtub! And don't worry mom, we have bars on our windows and a guard at night, so we're really quite safe! It may seem like we don't have much, but we have everything we need and more, we're very blessed, especially by Honduran standards!
Our teacher orientation has already started, and though we're excited to begin working, we were hoping for a little more time to adjust. A school year is a little like a roller coaster, one it starts rolling, you can't get off til the end so buckle up and hang on!
We love you all and will try to post again very soon with some pictures!!!
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