BLOG -Thur., 12 Feb., - One of Eva’s students who lives across the street had a birthday yesterday. After the evening class we were invited over for birthday cake. It was beautifully decorated with flowers and trimming and was very tasty. We were offered coke or ‘horacho’ which is a locally made drink, different formula in different countries, (check google). Since we didn’t know if they had used bottled water, we settled for coke, but I really like horacho.

Sat., 14 Feb., - This morning there was a youth conference in the church. There were about 25 teens in attendance and the speakers were Dean Alejandro and LP Victor, (LP = Lay Pastor). It ran from 10 am to 2 pm. Also this morning Jeannie came by with the ‘Peace Corps’ workers from Danli and Yuscaran. They will be doing the translating for the pilgrimage in those cities as both have taken the ‘translator course’. Both girls are named Anna Marie. This evening one of the houses across the street is holding a worship service. They set up lights in their parking area, put out chairs, set up BIG speakers and opened the gates. We were going to watch a movie on the computer but will have to wait until they are finished. Instead we sat out on the balcony and enjoyed the music.

Sun., 15 Feb., - We went to Jalcaleapa today with Dean Alejandro. As the city bus doesn’t run on Sunday we took a taxi. We had our folder with all the pilgrimage info, maps, and a DVD of Rev. Gladis Velasques’ ordination last year. It got left in the taxi. Most of it can be rebuilt, but we are praying it will get back to us. We arrived in Jalcaleapa shortly before 3, expecting the service to start at 3:30 as normal when the Dean is there so he can get the bus home. No one had showed up until just after 4 pm, including the pastor. We started about 4:15. Immediately after the service we walked up to the highway to catch the bus and were about 100 m away when it went past. Last bus was 6 pm, (we think). About 5:45 a van stopped and offered the three of us a ride for the taxi rate of 15L each. He even took us past the normal drop off point and 2/3 way to Nueva Esperanza. We walked the rest of the way even though it was very dark. There is a pedestrian walkway which we shared with other pedestrians and unlighted bicycles, with car headlights blinding us. We got home about 7 pm.


Rev. Dean Alejandro Chirnos and Dick

I sometimes think Hondurans have death wish. None of the bicycles, even those on the side of the auto traffic lane had lights or reflectors. Some drivers don’t like to use their headlights because ‘it costs gas to use them’. These are 2 reasons I don’t like driving after dark.

Mon., 16 Feb., - We got a phone call this morning from Anna Marie, the Peace Corps worker in Danlí, saying she had our folder with the Pilgrimage material. They looked in the notebook inside and saw her recently recorded phone number and called her, then dropped it off. We wanted this material for our meeting with Rev. Maria Consuelo in Teguc. tomorrow. Thank you Lord.

PRICES are interesting here. ($1 cdn = about 15.1 L). This afternoon I visited the barber, 25 L (about $1.65), then went across the street and bought 10 eggs, 28 L,($1.85). A 2.5 liter bottle of coca cola costs 26 L, and a taxi ride anywhere in Danli/Nueva Esperanza costs 15 L per person. When we buy fresh corn tortillas they are 3 for 1 L, (about 10 cm diameter), and a loaf of bread is 25 L. Bananas are 2 for 1 L and oranges are 2 L or 3 L depending on size. Tomatoes run 3 L each and potatoes are 15 L lb. Lean ground beef is usually 42 L per lb. Most US made goods and food tend to be more expensive than Central American. And for you drivers, premium gas is 57 L per US gallon, about $0.89 liter.

Tues., 17 Feb. - Jeanie headed for the Us today and we went with her to do errands and drive her car back which we can use while she is away.

At the end of Jan. we rec’d word of a donation for chairs, bibles or hymn books for churches in Honduras. Today we went to the dioecian office in Tegucigalpa after dropping Jeannie off and picked up the cheque. We then had to go to a bank which specializes in cashing US cheques where Eva opened an account to enable her to cash the cheque. All told it took about an hour. I wish they had inter-branch banking here. The money will be used for hymn books in Oropoli, and Sunday School furniture in Jacalaipa, both missions where the pastor is supported by SAMS Canada. We plan on presenting them during our visit with the people on the pilgrimage.

After cashing the cheque we went to a friend’s home, Patti Eregurie, for lunch, then on to the church Santa Maria where we met with Rev. Dean Maria Consuelo to discuss the plans for the Pilgrimage while in her deanery, Francisco Morizan.

The drive home was uneventful except that I only hit one of the hundreds of pot holes between Ojo de Agua and Danli. We got home about 5:40 and had spaghetti for supper using a sauce already made. Eva had a class at 6:30.