Don't get me wrong, I would go through 20 crazy weeks if it meant getting to see my parents. We had a great time together last week, and they really got to see and experience what my life is like here. If you haven't gotten a chance to talk to my parents yet, or haven't seen all the pictures on Facebook, I'll give you a recap of everything we did.
Note: If you haven't talked to my parents you probably should because their perspective will be completely different from mine.
Mom and Dad arrived on Tuesday afternoon in the Tegucigalpa airport. Some of the other teachers also had family coming in on the same flight so we all arranged to go to the airport together and pick them up. My parents were the last to come out because they randomly got stopped after they picked up their suitcases. The lady opened their luggage and went through everything. She asked them what all was in the packages (which they had no idea because Mimi, my friend, had mailed several packages to our house at home and asked them to bring them) and how much everything cost. She told them that they would have to pay extra but luckily another man came up and decided to let them go on through. Once we finally were reunited, we all (10 of us) hopped into a busito and headed back to school.
Tuesday night we went out to dinner with Mr. and Mrs. Agurcia (high school physics teacher and her husband), my housemates and a few others. We ate a very typical Honduran meal and thoroughly enjoyed it. After dinner we had a taxi pick us up and take the three of us up to the Crooks house. We got there around 9:30PM and were greeted by Mimi and all three girls. I was so happy for my parents to finally meet the Crooks, but we were all exhausted so we talked for a bit but quickly headed to bed.
One of mom's favorite parts: The next morning we woke up bright and early to catch the bus at 6:15 with the girls to school. Yes we actually rode on the school bus with the other kids, which sounds awful, but mom really enjoyed it!
Wednesday at school was boring so I'll skip that part.
Wednesday after school (half-day) we went out to lunch at one of my favorite restaurants, Las Tajitas. Another typical Honduran meal, which was delicious. Then, instead of having a taxi take us all the way home, we stopped by the supermarket to pick up a few essentials for dinner and breakfast and then walked about 20 more minutes to get home. On the way, we stopped by the "fruit guy" and bought some bananas, a pineapple and a papaya. The papaya we just bought on a whim, but it ended up being pretty good. At least I thought so.
Wednesday night we stayed at my house because Jess had left after school to go to Tela for the break and we had an extra bed. I wanted mom and dad to really get the feeling of what it's like to live here in the city. The beds are great, but we were all so tired that it didn't really matter.
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| At Valle de Angeles |
Thursday we went to Valle de Angeles with Andrea, Sophie and Gabby. My favorite part of going to Valle is eating the Papusas that they make there. Oddly enough, the restaurant is called "Virginia's Papusas" which I hadn't noticed until this trip. Anyways, we had a great time shopping in all of the little stores and my parents were able to really get to know the girls (my little sisters). We came back and headed up to the Crook's house again. We felt right at home staying with them; that night we watch Scott's favorite movie, Big Fat Liar, and then headed to bed.
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| At the market |
Friday we got to go to the market downtown with Carlos. He goes every Friday morning to get fruits and veggies for the Humuya Inn. My parents were incredibly impressed with the amount of fresh produce and how cheap it all was. Everything looked so delicious, until we walked down the meat alley. Boy, oh boy, was that disgusting (again for me). Andrea, Gabby, Mom and I walked through with our fingers holding our noses and mostly looking down at the ground. Dad, however, didn't seem to be too grossed out. Must be a man thing.
We went back to the Humuya Inn and had lunch for Sophie's Birthday. ( I forgot to mention Friday was Sophie's 12th Birthday) We had enchiladas, which may have been the one of our favorites. Friday night, we were all sitting around, a little bored, so we decided to start a puzzle. Apparently, this puzzle took a while to put together the first time, so of course I took the challenge to heart and was determined to do it faster. Andrea, Mom, Dad and I got that thing together by the next night!
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| This picture was taken from up at the Jesus statue |
Saturday we went to Picacho, the park up in the mountain with a huge Jesus statue. Gabby and Andrea came with us and we also met a missionary family there who are friends with the Crooks. Andrea, Gabby, Parker and I had fun playing baseball and football while mom and dad read/did sudoku. We headed home after lunch because Sophie had her birthday party at 1:00. The party consisted of water balloons, capture the flag, pizza, snacks, baseball, cake and presents. Overall, great birthday party!
Sunday was a crazy day, but here's the quick version. Four girls on a missions trip spent Saturday night at the Crooks, Mimi got sick, Scott took her to the hospital Sunday morning, I woke up and made breakfast and coffee, woke up the girls, headed down to church, dropped Gabby and Andrea off at the Humuya Inn, Mom, Dad, Sophie and I went to church, got there 30 minutes late, power was out, no translation, no air conditioning, back to the Humuya Inn and had lunch, layed out on the veranda and napped, went to the mall, had dinner at the Wing Factory, back to the Humuya and in for the night. (Hope that makes a little sense)
Monday my parents got to see me teach at school. I was glad they were able to stay until Tuesday and really get to see what I do. I think they got bored though, because they left and went outside by 6th period:)
Overall, we had a really great time! My parents really got to see the good things that I experience everyday. The Honduran people are genuinely sweet and hospitable and that is exactly what we experienced last week. I wish everyone could have the opportunity to visit and see how different life is in Honduras, and yet how it is kind of the same. Having my parents here, reminded me how much I miss home, but it also made me aware that in three months I am going to miss living here.
God has blessed my life so much. From Surry, to Lynchburg, to Honduras. He has been with me everywhere I have gone.
Well, I've left out so very much, but I'm sure my parents would love to fill in the details if you just ask!
Glad they were able to come visit you! Sounds like you kept them pretty busy.
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