Instituto Evangelico Francisco G Penzotti

Above is the name of the school where Amy and I are helping with ESL... But, we'll get there in a minute.

I believe I left off on Saturday night (5/30): Sunday morning, we woke up early to go check out the Siguat market, which was busy to say the least. There were so many vendors, most of whom were selling produce and all trying to get your attention. There were also stands with children's toys, souvenirs, and clothes. Most of the produce was outside, and the rest were inside (a roof with walls and doorways). Oh yes, and we can't forget the meat section... I can guarantee you've never smelt anything like this in your life. There were more than 20 vendors selling different meats, as well as several selling seafood, and I could be wrong, but it didn't look like much of it was frozen... or even cold.

From here we all jumped in the car, picked up Mark's wife Michelle and their kids and headed to church. They called the church Betel, but I didn't catch the full name. It started at 10 and we got out around 12 (and this isn't including a Sunday School service). It was cool though to try and pick up on the service. He used a powerpoint, so that helped comprehension greatly. He preached out of Hebrew 10:24. And I picked up on a few words like comparte, alabanza, buenas obras, etc etc. So all in all, it was fun. The music was good as well. The only one I recognized was "Above All." But they had a full band and worship team. And oh my, it got hot in there!! If I haven't specified before, none of the buildings here have AC (other than the American restaurants and some grocery stores).

After church we ate lunch at Micah's (Mark's son) favorite restaurant called Villa Verde. I had a strawberry drink and pinchos which are basically kebobs served with rice, refried beans, and plantains.

Then it was on to Tegucigalpa. Teguc is about 2 hours away from Siguat (making it 4 hours away from San Pedro where we flew in) and has around 1.5 million people. It's such an interesting city because it has some extremely wealthy people and many extremely poor. It's so weird to see shacks made of cinder blocks and a tin roof next to a Wendy's. I don't really understand the makeup... You'll just have to see the pictures to know what I'm talking about. While here, Amy and I are staying with a host home. Gladys Davila-Fontecha is the matriarch, she is in her 50s and speaks no English. I believe her husband has passed on. She has three children David, 38, who is in a technical school and has a wife and two kids (Gabriel, 7, and Valeria, 6); Gabriela, 28, who is a lawyer and business owner (she runs a pinata/party supply store); and Ian, 21, who is in the tech school with David. All three of them speak very good English, and Ian and Gaby live with Gladys. They are wonderful people who really care about Amy and I. Gladys owns a bakery as well as runs the cafeteria at the school we're helping at. While Ian is not in classes, he helps at the cafeteria.

So, we got to sleep in till 7 Monday morning, ate breakfast at the bakery, then went up to the school. Now, I'm going to be straight with you guys, my Spanish is extremely rusty. I was so embarrassed all day! The first few days being here were easy because we were around Americans. However now, we're totally immersed in the culture. Ian, Gaby, and David have been speaking mostly english to us, but we're trying to reply in Spanish. Also, most of the teachers at the school know very little english. So Monday was tough. I really hated feeling so inadequate... I went to work for the secondary level english teacher (who thankfully speaks pretty good english), whose name is Gabriel Medina. We spent Monday and part of today answering questions that the students had about the USA and me. Talking with the students wasn't so bad because they were trying to speak english to me and part of the time I would respond in english and part in spanish. So at the end of the school day (3pm) we went to the grocery store, and got home about 5:30. Oh my, I was exhausted... I crashed out and woke up around 9!! It's possible I ruined dinner, but I'm not sure, because Ian said they eat late. I woke up with a headache and I was very hungry. We got dinner at a Duncan Donuts :) and then tried to get some sleep. Monday was not a nice day... To be completely candid with everyone, I was really wondering why I came, and what my purpose was now that I'm here. I was thinking that ESL is great and all, but is that really what the country needs me to do for a week? So I went to sleep discouraged, and wondering how I would make it through the week. 

Today was a little different. It was still difficult to communicate, but I felt a little more confident. And I was still wondering what the point was, but I had decided this morning that it doesn't matter if I see the purpose but just to trust that God has me where He wants me. Even though I may not see my effectiveness, He is surely placing me in a position to be effective. So with that attitude and a little coffee today went better. 

Well it's about bed time, so more to come tomorrow!

Here are pics of the waterfall and Tegucigalpa

Here is the site for the school if you're curious

In His service,

Allie

PS. The place Matt is staying at doesn't have internet, but he's journaling so hopefully he'll be able to post that on the blog soon