Typical day in Honduras, for some reason, rather long

People often ask what a typical day is like for me.

Short answer: There are none.

Long answer: Keep reading

Wake up 6:30 (going to the gym and running with the Ford not happening with the gate issues we are having...and more because I would have to deal with them at 5:15), help Valerie with the kids, get them ready, see them off at 7:30.

7:30 to 8:35, get showered, get ready, do some work email and print some paperwork for the mission. Forget to eat breakfast...no worries, I should be back by lunch. Forgot to bring water, again, no worries, I should be back by lunch....doorbell rings, no time for this now...

8:35, Oscar picks me up to go test drive a vehicle we are thinking about buying for the new pastor in Sampedrana. The pastor will need a vehicle to be able to get down the hill, get materials, etc.

9:00, arrive at shop/residence to test drive vehicle.

10:05, discover upon arriving in a village on our test driving route that the route served the purpose of testing....if the car would overheat. It did, but we discovered that it was not the motor, but rather an old hose, just which one we could not pinpoint.

10:15, with the motor cool enough, we add more water, and move on down the road.

10:25, we decide to stop to see how the water was leaving the vehicle. Why stop here? Well, this whole area is a very developed small-time agricultural area, and we stopped at an easily accessable....watering trough for the cattle in the area. I made a mental note not to eat until I wash my hands after both interesting water holes we have found, which reminds me again I forgot to eat breakfast. No wonder I am hungry. See beautiful picture for my wonderful work filling whatever used bottles we could find along the side of the road for en-route filling of the radiator (alternate version...we looked through the trash strewn about to find vessels to fill with somewhat clear water). Finding such a watering trough by the side of the road and accessable via a gate is not something we figure we will find again for quite some time.

11:30ish, arrive back at the place where we got the car. Explain the problems the truck had, tell him thanks for the drive, and leave to see other cars.

11:40, stop to drop off air filter that last group brought for the Defender at the shop where it is being worked on. Get terrible news about some of the Defender problems, nothing life threatening though, get shown the '68 Mustang they are restoring (being nice, not like I wanted to sit in the car or hear it rumble), Oscar sends me text message telling me to speed it up, Harold (our used car salesman friend) is waiting for us.

12:00, excuse myself from the stimulating car conversation (my mechanic is a car nut...very reassuring...really!), run to the car telling Oscar of the problems and potential solutions for the Defender. I do not expect to see me driving it for at least another week.

12:20, arrive at Harold's, meet some other man that knows Roger and Jim. He throws some English my way, and when I answer in Spanish, he compliments my command of the language. Little does he know.

12:30, get to finally use the bathroom of the guy we are visiting. His car is not quite ready for a test drive (read: many bolts missing from holding important pieces of the car together), so we go to see another truck Harold thinks might be right for us. Just around the corner.

12:45, arrive to see the older, more broke, but fully functional (what is not broken that is) vehicle. Decidethis is not something we are interested in, and leave. Stimulating car discussions with Harold on the way back to leave him where we picked him up.

1:00, drop off harold, decide to forgo buying any vehicle today, and praying for more guidance. (now Oscar will drop me off at home, I will eat lunch, and catch up on more work around home...how smart am I?)

1:10, not very, as Oscar and I come to the conclusion that it would be more efficient for me to go with him to get a new RTN card from the government that we need for the clothing container that has arrived to port.

1:15, we try to get the card, nothing doing. Of course we need more paperwork, blood tests, hair samples, etc. Since we are leaving for Sampedrana tomorrow, we have to put pedal to the metal...

2:00, pick up Jorge at the Church with the paperwork we (and the Church) need...get copies, head back downtown. Forget Petula Clark...instead of forgetting your troubles, just going downtown is trouble...traffic, people, problems. Ugh.

2:30, head downtown, do chinese fire drill (where did that start anyway?) so I can drive, and Oscar and Jorge can get the paperwork done.

2:35-3:15, I wait in the car on the street while they do their thing, waiting for a call to pick them up.

3:15, get the call, pick them up...no suprise, we needed much more paperwork, etc. Departure time tomorrow pushed back now as Oscar will have to take care of that (and find someone we know there since we can not get all the authenticated stuff they want), and get the materials to the customs agent for the container coming in.

4:00, arrive at the clinic. Take care of some minor stuff there, take over for Silvia (longer story) watching Soren so Valerie can take some maternity clothes to Dora. Soren and I enjoy watching Return of the Jedi (mommy would not approve), and he enjoys watching me eat two frozen PB&J sandwiches and some leftover chips from the last group (lupper as it were...yes, I remembered to wash my hands, proving just how dirty they must have been).

5:15, leave the clinic after Valerie gets back with Cecilia

5:50, arrive at home, kids try to find the cats as I inspect the latest work on the big damaged gate. Slowly but surely...well, at least I am sure about the slow part, the sure is yet to be determined. Our gate? Who knows when we will get that fixed.

6:15, finish loading the projector and other items from our house I am taking with us tomorrow for projecting the Matthew video in Sampedrana

6:30, supper! Left over lasagna (Valerie made it Honduran style, very good) and Irish soda bread (spray butter rules!). Wash dishes, get other items packed or charged and ready to go, kids go to bed, I get to work some more on the laptop, and then...

10:20, post this, get ready for bed. Another normal day tomorrow to be sure.