Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Day of Rest























Pictures from top to bottom: (1) Alfredo Rodriguez and his beautiful 9 months pregnant wife, Carmen; (2) Alfredo, Jennifer, Daniel, Carolina, Marisol, Jack and Maria Louisa Cerrato; (3) Douglas, Stevie, Phil, Mizael, Steve, Cory and Daniel in front of the Siguatepeque "Famous Thing"; (4) John, Mizael, Steve, Douglas, and Stevie in front of the church in Siguatepeque's city center; and (5) Mizael and his beautiful family in their home.

After finishing the hard work week, we enjoyed a day of rest on Saturday, as we were treated to a tour of Siguatepeque by Douglas and Mizael. We went to the Mercado, the town square, saw the "Famous Thing" (dubbed by Stevie) in the town square, as well as some other local relics. Following the tour, we partook in one of John's favorite activities -- eating ice cream.

Since the ice cream was nothing more than an appetizer, our next stop was lunch at Alfredo's (bus driver Alfredo) house. This truly was one of the highlights of our trip, as Alfredo and his very-pregnant wife (due on April 28), Carmen, rolled out the red carpet for our visit. Carmen prepared tortillas (of course), bean soup with beef, and a dessert of arroz con leche. Great conversation was had by all, and the looks of utter joy on Alfredo's and Carmen's faces were priceless. One of the most touching and meaningful moments of my week was when Alfredo dropped us off at the apartment on Saturday night and said, holding back tears (unsuccessfully), "Thank you for allowing me and Carmen to have you over for lunch today." I cannot put into words the feeling I had at that moment.

After Alfredo's house, we went to a mall for some last-minute shopping for loved ones at home, and then headed off to the home of some other local missionaries, where we drank some iced tea and chatted on their porch. And John was able to catch up on some sleep in their extremely comfortable hammock.

After that restful time, we were treated to a flashback to the 80's at Mizael's home, as we watched a DVD of the videos and concert footage of Journey from 1980 to 1998. If anyone wants great fun in Siguatepeque, simply ask Mizael if he wants to watch music videos or concerts. Trust me, you will not regret it and you will never forget the experience. After the rock concert, we enjoyed dinner at a local restaurant, Stevie finally got to see a Toucan (she was very excited even though it was in a cage), and Phil was attacked by fire ants (quite the experience that I hope you all can avoid).

On Sunday, we enjoyed breakfast at Alfredo Cerrato's house and then headed off to the airport. After God, once again, delivered us through the insanity known as the Honduran "highway system," we boarded our airplane and returned to the U.S. While it was difficult to leave the beautiful country and people of Honduras, knowing that we all will be back in the near future made our departure a bit easier to swallow.

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