Carmen & Nicolle

There's something about kids that gets to your heart.

Across the Border

Every ninety days I'm supposed leave the country of Honduras and come back in to renew my passport. So, for the first venture across the border we spent the day seeing some of Guatemala.

I feel pretty lucky to have peanut butter here. Not every student missionary does.

At the Honduras/Guatemala border checking out a nice tourist map.


Hungry for bananas?




Esther.

Orieta.








This was at a bridge we stopped at while we were in Guatemala. It's the biggest bridge I've seen so far down here.



Is that really a five person jet ski? I saw these guys spinning around and I remembered the fun times I used to have riding around.


The letters on this cute little vehicle say "God is Love".



As we were coming back home we stopped by this village horse race that was going on. I had never seen anything like it before. They asked me if I wanted to ride a horse just to get a picture. At first I was kind of reluctant but I decided to jump on and a lady even through me her hat to make it more authentic. ¡Soy un vaquero real!

A Red Sky

We all long to believe in something. Whether it's cheering for the little handicapped boy or girl that struggled all the way through school but finally made it to graduation, or your favorite team that lost a few games but you know can make a comeback to victory. That movie with the hometown hero that inspired you to greater things. Something stirs in us when we see hopes met and dreams fulfilled, when we see someone hanging on with all they have left. We were all made to be believers. We were all made to be dreamers, to hope in things that we can't see but know must be there.

What do you believe in? Where do you place all your hopes and the dreams you hold so dear to your heart? As for me, I can't think of anywhere more worthy of placing my hope but in Jesus Christ. What could be more fulfilling than to put everything you have into the hands of the One who created you, the One who made you to be a dreamer? Strangely enough though, the one thing that I know to be true, and that brings me real peace in life, is the one thing I have to remind myself of the most. Maybe it's because we have all been born with deceitful hearts that somehow are able to mistake the pureness of truth for something completely opposite - a lie. If there weren't any lies, neither would there be doubts or the terrible confusion that comes from believing in something other than you were created to believe in.

Like the poor old man that died thinking the sky was red. You see, every day he had an opportunity to see otherwise, that the sky was really blue, but he choose not to. The truth was right above him the whole time but he couldn't let go of the things he heard about the sky growing up and all the doubts about its true color that filled his mind as a young man. So, every day he walked about with so much inner turmoil because he was fighting against the truth. If only he would have let go of all the silly lies about the sky being red, he would have led a much more peaceful life. Just as the sky was made to be blue, he was made to believe it was so.

Deep Expression

These days the weeks seem to be passing by faster and faster. Days are starting to become blurs. I guess I'm getting to the point where I'm not thinking about time as much and I'm just living the life here. I've been writing a lot of songs and I've really enjoyed recording with my guitar and my computer. One time, someone here asked me if I ever get tired of playing the guitar because it seems like I'm always playing it. I told him that it's something that I've always loved to do and when I was back in the states I used to play the piano 6 to 12 hours a week. I never count the hours, it's just a part of me.

The other day I watched a show about a lady that is an amazing musician. They were filming a impromptu recording session she was having with another guy. All they had was a huge room and some random things to use for percussion. They would tap on pipes, play guitars with sticks stuck in the strings, whatever they wanted to create sound with. I was even more amazed when I found out that this woman is deaf and has been since she was 11. She doesn't hear the music through her ears, she feels it through her body. The whole thing really resonated with me because I could really relate to their approach to making music. All the time I find myself taping a beat out on a desk, hitting sticks against different objects to see what quality of sound they make. I realized the thing that captivated me the most was the intense emotion that went into it. They were recording an impromptu CD. Nothing was planned. They just went in there and did it. Whatever they felt came out. They had to be totally in touch with themselves and their surrounds to create such a beautiful union of rhythm. When something is 100% emotion, it comes from a deep, deep place that isn't pre-planned but experienced. That's why I think the experience they had creating the music might have been even better than listening to it. I know that the experience of creating music for me is a huge part of enjoying it. It's part of the processes. But at the same time, once you've put so much of yourself into something, it's only natural to want to sit back, relax, and push play when it's all done.

As I came away from watching that show, I realized that it's really important for me to feel totally free to express myself. I'm a creative person and being all that I am might produce off the wall results but that's where I find the most inner peace within myself. I can't restrict who I am by absorbing lies that say I have to fit certain mold. I shouldn't worry about what other's think or worry that I might make them feel uncomfortable. Chances are, if I express who I am, I'll have more fun and the people around probably will too.

Spring Break in Central America

They call it Semana Santa. Honduras, like many Spanish countries has a strong Catholic influence and they set aside a whole week to celebrate around Easter weekend. Many people take off work and go visit relatives or spend time at the beach. After being thrown into the whole new world of teaching for 2 months I was ready for a break. I was looking forward to some down time and I heard them say that we would take a day to travel a bit to some different places in Honduras. Perfect, time to chill, a little time for travel but not long enough to worry about where I would be sleeping or where I would take a shower. Well, I was in for a surprise.

The day we were leaving, I grabbed my camera and ran down the stairs to pile in the car for our long day of site seeing. That's when Mrs. Orieta asked me,
"Where's your clothes?"
"What do you mean where are my clothes? I'm wearing them of course."
"We're going to be gone for four days. You haven't packed anything!?"
I was shocked. They tend to joke around a lot and I thought this might be one of those funny moments that they like to laugh at Jonathan, the gringo. They laughed, but it wasn't it joke. So, after I quickly shifted gears in my mind I ran up stairs and started throwing stuff in my bag that I'd need for the trip. I would say that was my first large miscommunication experience. I realized when they Mr. Guifarro was talking to me about the trip earlier he was talking in Spanish and obviously I missed something, about four days worth. Anyway, after I smoothed out my ruffled feathers we all got in the car and I set my eyes on the coming adventure.

These are the two great people that take such good care of me. Mr. and Mrs. Guifarro. It was just me and them on the trip. The twins went to a Pathfinder camporee for the break.

I love the ocean, it was nice stopping by at different points along the way. Sometimes I felt kind of weird always taking pictures by myself, but I didn't have to much choice. If anyone would like to Photoshop themselves in and become my traveling buddy I'm cool with that.

Wow, this was good. It was some kind of marshmellow bread. Yeah, bet you've never had that before.

We stopped by the little port wear people get on the boat to go to Roatan, the big beautiful island of Honduras. I've never been there but I'm hoping to visit at least once before I leave. Everyone says I have to go.

We stopped at a couple resorts a long the way. They did a great job of being tour guides and I appreciated the sites they let me see. It was so gorgeous. If anyone is looking for a get away, this should be an option for sure. Right on the beach, jet skis, boats, four-wheelers, pools, palm trees, all very nice.


This was my cab. We stopped a long the way to catch the view.

One of the first Dole trucks I saw. I've seen many, many after this one but I thought it was cool. I've heard Honduras is famous for its bananas. Next time you buy a banana see if the sticker says what country it's from.

After a long day of driving, stopping to chat with relatives and friends, we finally made it to Tocoa. This is Mrs. Orieta's mother's house, the place where we stayed. This was a fun kid that I got to spend some time with.

If you're wondering what on earth is on that bicycle just scroll down, that's just the beginning of the story.

People riding bicycles is a very common site here. I thought I'd catch part of the culture for memories sake. That girl has a bag in her hand. It's very possible she's just finished going to the local store to buy some juevos (eggs), mantequia (butter), and queso (cheese), so she can make breakfast for the morning.


This is a museum we stopped at the day we went to the beach about and hour away from Tocoa. It has a bunch of very old things from ships and other things I really didn't understand. It looked pretty interesting though.

From what I can understand from this beat up sign, this post is from 1911 from some kind of boat. Maybe in a few months I'll be able to translate more for you.



Relaxation is the word. These guys know how to live the good life down here. No we didn't stay at this resort but we sure soaked up the natural hot spring pools that were there. You might think that's kind of strange in a hot country, but it was actually close to perfect. It wasn't to hot out and there was a nice breeze out that made it just right.

This isn't a picture you'd set as a background to your computer or hang on your wall but it does have some significance to me. This is entrance to the room I stayed in the four days we were at Tocoa. They had an extra house that was vacant behind there's and so I got a room all to myself. I must say, even though the light or sink didn't work in the bathroom I was very grateful to have a place for myself. I just ignored the cockroaches. And no, all that luggage is not mine in case you wondered. Anyway, it was nice to have a place to escape to when I needed a break from absorbing Spanish.


Kids, please don't try this at your house. If you do, you might get hurt and then I would have angry mothers e-mailing me telling me to take my blog down. Thanks.

I think I've played bingo once or twice in my lifetime. This time made it three. I had some good practice learning my numbers in Spanish!

Mrs. Guifarro's mother.

Ok. I should probably say something about these pictures. I found out that the people in Honduras have some kind of strange tradition to celebrate Semana Santa where they dress up and play out good and evil. The weird thing is I seemed to only see the evil side. Anyway, early in the week, these people go around collecting money in socks, kind of like Halloween accept in the daytime. Then, they all get together for the final battle and the whole town comes out to watch. The guy in black goes round hitting a metal thing with his machete and all the other guys around him fall down to the ground like they've been hit. Very crazy event. They would do that a few times and then they would run to another street and do it again. I was running a long amidst the crowd with the boy you saw in the earlier picture.

I must say, I don't think I've ever felt so much like a minority as I did then. I was the only tall, blond haired male there with a sleek, slim digital camera. I might as well have had an American flag draped around my body. Some of the guys in costume ran up to me and say, "ARHH! You're from the United States. Give us some money!!" (Spanish of course) I kept trying to tell them I didn't have anything, nada, and the finally left me alone. I felt somewhat insecure at that moment, like they could all turn on me, mob me and steal my camera. Fortunetely I made it out alive and I have the pictures and videos to prove it.





Which one do you think is more attractive? Hopefully you didn't say the one on the right. I think they'd make a good couple, don't you?


This is the church I visited on Sabbath. Very typical Central American church.

These are the people I met and stayed with. I'm glad I got to know them, even if we didn't talk much.

The parrot we brought home with us. It was in Tocoa but it belongs to Mrs. Orieta. Now, it lives in a catch outside right next to the place where I iron my clothes most mornings. The thing is SO INCREDIBLY LOUD. I think I'll start to notice hearing lose if I keep out there to iron. Maybe you can help me think of something to teach the bird in English. Right now it can whistle and say, "Lorito!", which I believe means Little Parrot. What about, "You look great today!" or "Brush your Teeth!" or "I know what your thinking! Don't try to hide it!" I really should leave some legacy here that will live on through that bird. If you have any ideas let me know.