Things were incredibly busy while in Honduras, and at the same time very slow moving. Generally you had two options every day. Go with Barry and some of the kids to run errands and visit churches with the Kia all day, or stay at the Lighthouse with Lisa and the kids and help out there.
I liked both options so I switched off, depending on the errands Barry was running. I usually made the trek to the surrounding churches to help distribute toys or for just a general "how ya' doin?" visit. Otherwise I liked to stay home with the kids and watch as they scaled coconut trees and help cut them up. In the kitchen there might also be something to do. For several days Lisa had to preserve produce (it doesn't last long in the heat) so mom helped a lot with that. One time I helped stuff sausages the old fashioned way, pick an intestinal casing and stick your meat in it, a smelly, slimy job. I also spent a good deal of time creaming all the kids in checkers. Upkeep in our own quarters was also something that took up the day. We went during ant season so we liked to sweep it everyday to keep the bugs to a minimum.
I remember the first full day was the wedding of the missionary's son, Barry Jr. Chaos is the only word for the all day preparations for that. Once we finally got to the location I was put in a room with all the kids under 12 to babysit. We're talking 15+ plus kids and two babies with the girl who's only every held one baby in her life. The babies peed all over me, no joke, I was literally wet everywhere (and so where they). I just assumed that diapers absorb that, but I guess Honduras diapers aren't that strong. I've never changed a diaper, and I was in a bare 4 walls room with nothing but toys so I just hung in there until someone was sent to relieve me of my duties. When I had to change into wedding clothes I used all the Wet Ones in my bag to give myself a sort of sponge bath. Yeeaaah, that's a keeper of a memory.
It is generally expected that when you go to a third world country you will get, lets call it "stomach issues". The lack of sanitation, the stress, and the strange food combine is lethal power and lay you on your back. And that's why we have antibiotics folks. Many of our group suffered from travelers sickness at some point or another and in varying severities but me and my family never got sick. It was in the airport coming back, after having eaten a rich American meal after 2 weeks of bland food that I got sick. Welcome home.
The language barrier was difficult. I knew a tad of Spanish before going down and found out while listening to people jabber on that I knew more than I thought. I learned a bunch too, that whole total immersion theory about learning languages is really true. Most of the people at the Lighthouse knew English, so that was easy. But knowing English and actually wanting to speak it are two different things. Sometimes the kids would speak to me in English and sometimes they would just prattle on as if I understood. Sneaky little Hobbitses. I learned how to communicate without words quite a bit though. Facial expressions, gut instincts, and body language, all subtle things that I'm not generally good at, suddenly became necessary if not for survival then for my sanity.
This post in getting long so I'll save the rest for another post.
To God be the glory.
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