Out of Dallas, TX on a 757 after not sleeping the night before for the sheer excitement of heading out to new places, Steve, Rayner, and I could say, "This is it, it's official".
We met up with two of our other teamates, Kale and Felicia, in Miami after going through Taca's ticket counter and through security with our passports. We were ecstatic and I looked around at all the people waiting at the gate and thought, "Wow, these are the people of Honduras and we are going with them to their country. "
We boarded the plane and I came to my spot were there was a very beautiful elderly woman. I tried to communicate that my spot was the window, and she quickly understood that I didn't speak much Spanish. After I'd sat down I quickly learned that she could speak English very well.
Before the flight took off, the flight attendents handed out visa forms for entrance into Honduras. My teamates and I were sitting fairly near eachother so me asked eachother questions, but with what we didn't know, the elderly woman, Lilo, was so helpful.
Lilo and I talked quite a bit. She is from Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras. I found out that she is a Christian and that her daughter is too. Her grandson is not much older than me, and she says that he is a good kid. She helped me with my Spanish and she was so patient. She said I was a good student, but I told her that she was a good teacher. I asked, "Como se dice "God bless you" en Espanol and she smiled and said, "Dios le bendiga".
Our plane stopped in San Pedro Sula in the north west corner of Honduras and it was neat to see the land there, which from the sky wasn't all that much unlike the farmland in northeast Texas. The landing was cool. At the descent it was quick because they free falled and did some great turns, finally to hit a bumpy runway that was short. Once we grounded, there were crates of chickens flapping their wings as they were unloaded with the rest of the planes' cargo and a whole crew came on the plane to clean and there was a air cleaner that rolled out in a fog from the vents. After an hour stop we flew out to Tegus.
Shortly after being air borne we were descending again. It was a similar landing, except before we descended we went over a volcano to get down into the valley. On ground, Lilo and I parted, and I am going to try to be in touch with her and her family while in Honduras. She told me if I needed anything, to got to the market, or just hang to call her. Really, her love is beyond what I can express, except that that it is compelled by the love of Christ.
We all got in the line to go through customs and at my turn I gave the lady my passport and visa papers, she looked at them, and took my picture and summoned me through. We all got our luggage off of the belt and stood in line for the luggage check. Once I got there, I put my luggage through their scan and waited for my turn to get my luggage search, but since I was last, and security seemed tired, they just waved me through.
Some men in green shirts helped us get out luggage out and we were met by Marc and Terri Tindall the missionaries of Santa Ana, our coordinators, and Keith, our other teammate who'd gotten on a flight earlier out of Dallas. We all hugged and tipped the guys and then loaded up in Marc's truck and Terri's SUV.
I was feeling stoked and sort of hazy. All around was Spanish and new smells, fruit stands and the wildest driving I've ever seen. People watching from the streets, and windy roads and mountain air and trees and humidity and so many new and exciting things. After driving for about 45 minutes we came to the village of Santa Ana, which is where Casa de Esperanza is, our new home.
Us girls packed the luggage down the rocky path to Marc and Terri's and then worked on setting up a bunkbed for our room. The guys got there later with Marc with some groceries. We met Marc and Lori, another couple who have recently returned to live and work permanently as well as their dog Esperanza and the Tindalls' dog Skillet. I helped Terri get some sheets out of the guest house and Marc started dinner. We all mingled and just were taking in the newness and enchantment of the jungle, all the birds and bugs and plants, etc. That night we all ate fried tortilla with beans and fellowshipped and tried to start to get to know one another. Eventually we all turned in for the night. Our God is amazing!
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