Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Purple Wolf

Another cold front, another reason to be actually excited about weather change here. Cold being a relative word of course for Honduras. Another front is also passing through, this one expected to last four years with a new president being inaugurated today. His name is Porfirio Lobo, but normally uses the nickname Pepe. Porfirio of course having its origin in Italian for purple, and Lobo is Spanish for wolf. For my own amusement I am thinking right now of the nickname Pepe the Purple Wolf. Perhaps there is a children's book I could write there somewhere.

Pepe along with the congress has arranged for amnesty for everyone involved in the whole presidential ousting last June, and Zelaya is expected to leave with safe passage guaranteed by the new government today with the president of the Dominican Republic to that country and then to parts yet unknown. So far all is calm, we pray it would continue as such and that the country would be able to move on from here in a positive direction, although some are already not happy with the amnesty being given and the way it was done. Time will tell.

Valerie continues to work with the women's counseling ministry that was formed through a group that came here a couple years ago to start counseling at the clinic. And the importance of that she saw yet again in the past few days. Person #1 was not even a patient, just someone that needed someone with whom to talk, and the clinic seemed a good place. She shared with Valerie that she was a single mother with three kids. She was on her way to work several months ago and was raped. Six months later...she is six months pregnant. She lost her job and is struggling with...just about every aspect of life. Person #2 was an eye patient who wanted to see again. Elderly and with cataracts, Valerie explained her options and the likelihood of seeing again especially with out of control diabetes (what might be lurking on the retina behind those cataracts...had to tell) and she broke down and cried. After talking about her faith in Christ, Valerie exhorted her that she is in Christ and should be joyful for that and the life that is to come, not focusing on something like this that might not change...and the patient actually stopped and thanked her for knocking her out of her self pity. Seeing that reaction that quickly is unusual.

I am off this afternoon for the US for a quick meeting with CIY about short term trips and the international conferences. Why I have been invited is a little beyond my comprehension, and that is not fake humility talking, I really am dubiuos that my contributions are worth my presence, but I guess that remains to be seen. I leave today and will be back on Saturday, embracing the cold of Missouri and Oklahoma as little as possible, especially since all my winter clothes are in Indiana. Coming back Saturday I will actually be on the plane with the dental group that will be serving with us for a week. That should make for some very interesting blog pictures I would imagine.

Speaking of which....

I can not get blogger to post this picture rotated correctly. Go figure. I have been by this market many times. For some reason the name sparked me to notice it this time. Rong market may sound funny in English (emphasis on may) but actually Rong is a Chinese family name and means glorious.





I did not want to follow this truck, but could not resist the picture. The ladder is a good two or three feet hanging off the side. We saw him through traffic for several miles, and amazingly he did not take out any pedestrians or motorcycles. Apparently the driver felt that it was safer for it to be strapped sideways that stick out the back or in the air placed in the bed of the pickup...interesting choice.


This supermarket is located in a very nice part of town. Nice enough to be the first I have seen to sell maid uniforms in the store, which seemed interesting to me. This store also has a dry cleaner in the store as well. The store itself does not stand out as being that much fancier than other stores in the chain, but by just people watching and looking at some of these interesting items that only this store had, it is not hard to figure out who the usual clientele is.

I borrowed this picture. It is a T-shirt being sold by woot. If you need to know the joke, then you do not know about chinese finger traps, or about Star Wars episode VI. If you do remember General Ackbar's famous line...no doubt you find this hilarious. Not funny enough for me to buy the shirt, but funny nonetheless.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's a trap!

Jamie

Unknown said...

I am not sure what I like the most about this post: the purple wolf comment, the wierd side views or the last monster pic. Good but strange combo.