After returning from Christmas break, I quickly realized that life here (or anywhere) is much more fun when you get out and really LIVE it! A couple weekends ago, we went on a super fun day trip to a beautiful waterfall, a cool Honduran version of a swimming pool (little fishies included at no extra charge, of course) and even did a rope swing! Then we had a quick photo shoot on an overly large sized chair painted like the Honduran flag and had an amazing lunch with the lake as our wonderful view. Tilapia here is better than any other that I've had, you should try it if you ever find yourself down this way. :)
That day was easily one of my single most favorite days, mainly because of the simplicity of it. That, and of course the good company. I love the people I get to do life with here.
Last weekend, we had another fun Saturday, road tripping with a caravan of about 20 gringas (white people) to the Hot Springs. Seriously, it's out in the middle of nowhere unless you know where you're going. Hot is an understatement for these springs, as you could definitely cook an egg in these waters, which I very well did, in fact! Seriously, though, it was so good getting to hang out and chill with some terrific missionary friends, and doing some light rock climbing was just as wonderful, although our muscles were SERIOUSLY feeling it the next few days. I also made the mistake of wearing sunscreen with spf 30 when my skin has always needed 50...oops! Let's just say I still have a sunburn more than a week later! #LessonLearned
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| The view from where I lounged most of the day. They're fun to climb around on, too! |
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| I told you I cooked an egg.... |
This past weekend was our quarterly Girls Night that we do here at the school for high school girls, and this time we invited those crazy 6th grade girls, too. Not only that, but Miss Sarah and I decided to make it a sleepover because we've had so many requests for one. From 7:30 p.m. to about 10:00 a.m., the school was full of energetic girls who just wanna have some fun. We had a dance party (thanks to the awesome student teachers who actually like to dance), a bonfire where we learned some new Spanish songs and taught them some from America and Canada, and before we settled in watching movies for the night, some of the girls wanted to get wet. I thought this a rather odd request, but we said if they filled up buckets, we would dump them on them. Well, in case you didn't see it coming, like I very much so did not, those buckets of water were thrown at US in about 2 seconds. There are few things I despise more than wearing jeans that are dripping wet, but even so, it turned out being the highlight of Girls Night, throwing water on the teachers and being super silly is sometimes all you need to wind down from a stressful week of final exams. Thank You, Lord, for giving me these wonderful kids to witness and watch them grow into strong women of faith. Thank You for giving us nights where we can forget about all the work and just let loose and have fun.
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| Some of my crazy grade 7 ladies. |
After all the sleepover fun was done and over with, I got some work done and then felt the sleepiness kick in, that's what happens with only 3 solid hours of sleep, I guess! A 3 hour nap on a Saturday afternoon is quite fantastic. Follow that up with the best chicken baleadas in town for dinner, doing the Cha Cha slide in our living room with some of my favorite friends here, finished off with yet another circus experience! That is what I call a perfect day.
Perfection looks different for all of us, including church, which Caitlin and I tried a new experience of that this morning when she had the brilliant idea to listen to a church sermon out in our little kiddy pool while sunbathing. Not gonna lie, traditional church services will be hard to get used to from now on, so relaxing chilling in a pool in a swimsuit instead of sitting in a pew.
All that to say, Honduras has taught me a lot in the past few weeks. It's taught me how God loves to show up in completely unexpected ways just to remind you just how special you are to Him. Today, I'm fighting the urge to be sad because of some recent circumstances with a friend here, but I'm convinced that everything, and I do mean everything, happens for a beautiful reason that God rarely reveals on OUR timetable.
I have great friends here that I can't imagine having this experience without.
I have encouragement in everyday conversations with the people here in my life.
I have skype dates with the people from my other home whom I miss daily.
I have students that I love more than I ever thought I possibly could.
I have views of the mountains that are beyond belief.
I have hope that life can only get better, even when there ARE moments of harsh reality.
I have joy in a Father who loves me and directs my path even when I feel completely lost.
I have more moments of laughter in the simplest things.
And I have a place I call home.
Honduras.
Love this post!!
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