Los primeros dias

Un aviso: This message is going to be a bit long, so you are welcome to scroll to the bottom. But then you will miss out on everything. Best to keep reading…

I apologize for not writing sooner. After the hurricane passed through town and the small shack in which I was staying fell over, I searched high and low for my computer, only to realize that a band of looters had come by and swiped it. And then I woke up. Hehe. In truth, I have been superocupado the last few days after arriving in Teguc on Saturday night. The bus trip on Saturday was mostly uneventful, save for the rain and resulting traffic that kept us on the road for nearly 6 hours! Luckily the driver had foreseen such troubles and brought along “Four Christmases” and the oldest edition of “Lassie” ever created to entertain his restless passengers. Upon leaving the bus, I was met by both rain and Dennis Cerrato, the latter being a more pleasant encounter. Dennis whisked me away in his vehicle (complete with dysfunctional windshield wipers) and brought me and my equipaje pesado to what he calls “El hotel de buen gusto.” My porters happened to be energetic children of various ages who abruptly sat me down in the living room and asked me to play Uno. Uno was followed by Dos…I mean Aggravation….which was followed by multiple rounds of Twister (just the other day I was thinking about purchasing this game at Target; after playing with niños for hours on end, I think the decision has been made for me…) and a kiddie version of Hangman in which there is no man being hanged—just blanks with letters to be inserted and a word to guess. Oh, and very informative clues that even the most elementary Spanish student can figure out. Yeah, you can bet I will be using such a game in our classes, estudiantes. When Saturday began to turn into Sunday, I decided to “park the skeleton,” as the saying goes in Spanish. So the answer to the obvious question is “no,” I did not turn on the MSU/Butler game to watch the Spartans fall. I did not even find out about the loss until last night—the night of the championship (the victor in that game has yet to be determined by this ignorant sports fan). Therefore, as promised, I must concede defeat to a certain Zachary Hoke, who prophesied last Thursday that Butler would prevail. This wise young man deserves tres aplausos. Clap clap clap.

And so the narrative continues… Sunday was Easter around these parts, which translated into an early start to the day (4:30 a.m.) so that I could make it to the sunrise service at the nearby church. Although the sun (and Jesus for that matter) had already risen, my spirits did not rise until the first few songs had been sung in Spanish. After worship, we participated in communion and then moved on to the sermon, delivered by another gringo who finished the message by tearing a work of art off the wall because it featured Jesus bearing the cross. Sure, the message was clear (Jesus and the cross needn’t be associated after the resurrection), but it was obvious from the congregation’s reaction that destroying someone else’s artwork was not the best way to deliver that message. Regardless, the service continued with more canciones and then pan dulce con café, made by the very same woman who is cooking me breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day. Sabroso estuvo, and I left the service feeling a bit more lively (Cristo está vivo!). I have to add that I spent a good portion of time after the service catching up with un muchacho that I had met the first time I was here—Ezekiel. He had been the Honduran assistant for Calvin’s study abroad program in the fall of 2006, which means that we had interacted quite a bit the last time around.

The day continued with a long, wet game of fútbol (I retired after allowing the ball to enter the goal and after becoming incredibly self-conscious regarding my soccer skills (or complete lack thereof)), a lengthy nap (no, it is not called a “siesta” here), several dubbed films (Up, Willy Wonka, Daddy Daycare, Daddy Day Camp), and a drawing session. Since the man of the house is a famous painter, he invites his children to the table every so often to express their artistic abilities (I think he is secretly judging each child’s ability to eventually take over the family business). I felt the need to prove myself after exhibiting zero talent in the athletic department, but the best I could come up with was a hybrid creature (woman and chicken) with scissors for hands and the kind of shoes an elf would wear. Yep. Guess who got voted off the “isla”… As if demonstrating my artistic (in)abilities wasn't humiliating enough, I ended the day by playing frisbee ("platillo") in the streets of Nueva Suyapa. Luckily Celeste (the youngest of the children) was my throwing partner, so I wasn't shown up too horribly.

And then the real work began... A continuacion!