When you wish upon an estrella...

I know all of you have been incredibly preocupados (worried) about my welfare since my last posting, so let me be the first to inform you that……I finally ate baleadas hondureñas! There had been talk all day yesterday (Friday) of these special tortillas that were going to be prepared by hand by the vecinas (neighbors), but I did not for one second assume that they had anything to do with blessed baleadas. Then Abe finally broke the news to me sometime yesterday afternoon that my wish would come true later that day, as his Honduran wisdom (or simply his keen ear) had led him to the conclusion that baleadas were being prepared for my final meal. Baleadas, for those of you who have not been transported directly to heaven via a culinary treasure, are a distinctly Honduran semi-burrito that include a flour tortilla, mantequilla (translated directly to “butter,” but it is more like a cream), frijoles (refried beans), and crumbled cheese. Most of the time they also incorporate huevos (eggs) (the amazing ones prepared for me last night did), but that begins to describe a baleada especial. Unlike burritos, though, baleadas are not wrapped all the way around; they are instead eaten like a soft taco. Any guesses as to how many I ate? Uno? Nope. Dos? Guess again. Tres? Almost there. Cuatro? Sí! Oh, and I guess I did eat another one this morning as part of my breakfast. Cinco, entonces (five, then).

The other Honduran treat that I had to consume before leaving this country was of a different nature. Back when I was here in ’06, we (the group of Calvin students) discovered a slightly-caffeinated treasure that resembles both a slurpee and a frappucino, with a price that rivals that of the 7-11 delicacy: una granita de café. Ringing up at about a dollar and filling you up with slurpified coffee, granitas are the perfect treat for a hot day (and it was hot yesterday!). For all you Rita’s Ice fans out there, this is right up your alley. I managed to find an Espresso Americano (a popular Honduran coffee shop) yesterday on my way to see la familia Páiz (más (more) to come later), so you can imagine my giddy approach to the ordering process when I saw granita on the menú.

I am sure some of you are yearning for a time context at this point. I am composing this blog posting at 1:15 p.m. (la hora hondureña (Honduran time)) while the Hedman Alas bus bounces around the Honduran carretera (highway) on its way to San Pedro Sula. When I arrive allí (there), I will take a cab over to the airport and make it back to the United States in time for….la madrugada (super early in the morning). Hehe. My flight from San Salvador arrives at 1:30 a.m. EST, which means I will tener bastante sueño (be pretty tired) upon landing. At this point I plan on sleeping at the airport in D.C. since I was not able to get a ride back at the aforementioned time. However, as my housemate returns from Spain in the afternoon, he has agreed to give me a jalón (ride).

As has been the case, I will compose several additional blog postings after this one highlighting the different projects I have learned about and observed throughout the week. This blog posting will simply convey what I have been up to since Thursday afternoon when I last corresponded with my readers.

On Thursday evening I had a lively dinner with the Calvin group who is studying International Development during their spring semester in Honduras. Before our delicious meal, I sat in on their book study discussion, which related to one of Richard Foster’s books, Freedom of Simplicity. While most of the time I sat listening to questions and answers pertaining to issues of contentment, listening to God’s voice, apathy, and having enough, the lattermost topic was given to me to speak about because of my recent entrance into the “real world.” In other words, I was surprise-attacked with the pregunta (question), “How do you know when you have enough?” My first response was the one I shared, which related to not feeling the need to pander to society’s “requirement” that you have what everyone else around you has. After additional thought, I have realized that the question was being asked of people who cannot answer the question apart from their blessed situations. I will speak for myself here. I know I have enough because I can sit around and philosophize about what it means to have enough. I live a life of joy, of peace, and of abundance, so I am not able to tell you when I have enough. Ya tengo bastante (I already have enough). In my opinion, this question would be better answered by someone who quite possibly does not have enough. I hope the Calvin students try that tactic at some point! When the stew was eaten and Joanne broke out the ice cream, we began watching a slide show of a certain group’s spring break adventures in the Mosquitia (another region in Honduras) and I talked with a few students about their experiences thus far. Can you believe that the first student (la primera!) that I asked about her Honduran family situation told me that she was living with the very same family I did? And with the very same problemas (problems) too! To be polite, I will call them disagreements. Hehe. Hearing this, I decided that I needed to visit la familia Páiz sometime during my stay, and since Friday was my last full day here, Friday was going to be the day of the visita (visit).

To finish up with Thursday, I spent the rest of Thursday night sugar-loading since the girl living next door had kindly decided to make me (and other neighbors….but mainly me, I want to believe) deditos (little fingers). These sugar-enriched snacks are essentially an evil combination of two kinds of sugar and flour that are made to look like the digits on your hand. These ones were pretty beefy looking, but not everyone can be a hand model, right? You can imagine what ensued when the entire Cerrato family began consuming the same treats so late in the evening. Utter locura (craziness). Little Isaac started to run around on all fours; Jonathan was jumping from couch to couch; Dennis (el padre—father) was captivated by the Disney channel; and I was speed-reading a story backwards and forwards that the younger Dennis was assigned for homework. Ultimately it was me who did the homework since the younger Dennis was disinterested and the elder Dennis was praising God for bringing a Spanish teacher to visit the family and help his children understand what preposiciones and determinantes are. I was getting such a kick out of approaching grammar lessons from a different language viewpoint (like most of my readers, my initial experiences learning and using grammar were in an English class) that I didn’t mind “identifying,” “copying,” and “using” grammar for two whole hours.

Before I forget and Friday becomes the main topic of discussion, I was incredibly surprised when the Calvin students told me that they would not be staying in Nueva Suyapa at any point during their trip. Sure, they go there each Thursday in their own private bus to one of the nicer houses in the community, but does that really give them an idea of how the community operates (or fails to, a veces (at times))? If there is one thing about this trip I believe put me in the right mindset when approaching ASJ’s work in Honduras, it was the stay in Nueva Suyapa. As I told Abe, living in Honduras is difficult on its own, entiendo (I understand), but part of working in the field of international development is living it. And Nueva Suyapa (a terribly-impoverished community that has experienced its fair share of violence) seems like the most appropriate context for that life. I hope that at least a few of the students on the trip ask for the opportunity to spend a day or two in the community I now want to call my home whenever I return to this country.