Mel is back. I'm sure some of you have seen it on CNN.
He returned to Teguc on Monday and all of Honduras was on lock-down. No one could leave their homes until 10AM Wed. But lucky for us, we could still roam around the Orphanage and carry on as normal. There is a curfew in place now- people are only allowed to be out from 10Am - 6PM. Loiterers have been and will be arrested.
So, needless to say, Derek and I didn't make it back to get our passports. They are still at immigration. We could have gone last week but thought we'd play it safe due to Independence Day (Sept 15). We thought it might be hectic... but like all things, we figure this is not a coincidence but another way for us to TRUST and have pacencia y fe tambien (patience and faith as well).
A group is coming a week from Saturday so we will try to ride into town with the Emmanuel Bus to pick them up. Then we can go to immigration from there and grab a chicken bus home.
We have decided the dates (tentatively, of course) for our trip to renew our visas. On Oct. 12 we will head off to Nicaragua! We will take the chicken bus but we will be stopping in Granada for a few days (to celebrate my 24th) then head to Liberia Costa Rica for a couple days, and lastly, we will hit up Tamarindo! This is if all goes as planned. We will be able to see a volcano or two and tour some National Parks. So excited!! We will return to Emmanuel around Oct. 23, renewed and ready for more work!
Please be praying for this country and all the goings on (politically, spiritually). Pray for our safety. And please be praying for our upcoming travels.
Other than that, business is as usual. Other than what happened about an hour ago, that is... He'd be embarrassed to know I'm telling you but when has that stopped me before? Derek walked into a pole and has a HUGE lump on his head above his left eye (he looks a bit like Quasimodo from the Hunchback of Notre Dame). He is stubborn and won't rest, but I'm sure he's in some pain. So be thinking of him. Or if you insist, you can laugh at him and then pray for him ;) And yes, I took a picture of it.
Thank you all for your continued thoughts!
Amor y Paz.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Estamos Ocupados
We are Busy!
Yesterday we went to Tegucigalpa to buy 30 more days on our visas (you are only allowed to stay 90 when you first enter the country). I cannot believe we have already been here almost 3 months! We took the "chicken bus" at 7:00 a.m. from Guaimaca and arrived in Teguc around 9:45. That was quite an experience. The "chicken bus" is an old school bus (yellow with green seats and all) that rides all over Honduras. It was packed so full that there were people standing, crammed in the aisles. Since we arrived early, we had a seat. People literally stood for hours. And if you remember from your childhood, there are no air-conditioners on the old yellow school buses.
We made it to the Immigration offices safely, bought our 30 days, stopped by the Multi-Plaza (mall) to eat and buy some groceries that we can't get in Guaimaca, then headed back home on the chicken bus, once again. Our bus left around 1:30 and arrived in Guaimaca about 4:15, just as full if not more so, than the first time. On our way back, however, we couldn't see as well from where we were sitting and missed our stop. Someone told us there would be one more stop for Guaimaca... they lied! We figured out about a 1/2 a mile away and yelled for the bus driver to stop. I'm sure everyone on the bus got a big laugh out of us (silly foreigners who don't know where they live). We had to walk that 1/2 mile on the highway back to town... The highways here are not like the highways back home. The highways here make Oklahoma Roads look like a luxury street! (If you can imagine that). The highway is more like a somewhat paved road with livestock all over the place...
But we finally made it back, exhausted.
We will have to return to Teguc next week to pick up our passports (you have to leave them there to approve your request for extra time). Once our 30 days ends we will have to leave the country for 3 days to renew our visas and start over on another 90 days stretch. But, you can't just go to a bordering country, Oh no. It must be 1 country away! So we will be leaving in October to go to Costa Rica!!! Derek wants to leave a little early so that we can arrive in Costa Rica by my birthday. Hopefully that will work out.
My art class has been going great! We had Honduran ladies from Guaimaca teach us how to make baskets out of thread and pine needles last week. They are beautiful! My fingers hurt and I think I had more splinters in one hand than imaginable, but I love this new hobby! Soon we will go on a "field trip" to the mountains to collect more pine needles.
Derek is staying busy at the dairy barn and helping with the pig barn as well. A couple days ago he helped kill, clean, and cut up a pig. I think they ended up with 100 pounds of meat, if you can imagine that! The man who was in charge of the dairy barn will be returning Sept. 21 from his furlough and Derek will be reassigned somewhere else. I think he's pretty ready to learn something new.
That's about all. I will try to upload some pictures of our baskets if allowed.
Blessings from Hondo!
P.S. Derek caught the "rat" the day after I posted about it. He said it was a mouse because it was too small to be a rat. Whatever it was, I'm glad the rodent is gone!!
Yesterday we went to Tegucigalpa to buy 30 more days on our visas (you are only allowed to stay 90 when you first enter the country). I cannot believe we have already been here almost 3 months! We took the "chicken bus" at 7:00 a.m. from Guaimaca and arrived in Teguc around 9:45. That was quite an experience. The "chicken bus" is an old school bus (yellow with green seats and all) that rides all over Honduras. It was packed so full that there were people standing, crammed in the aisles. Since we arrived early, we had a seat. People literally stood for hours. And if you remember from your childhood, there are no air-conditioners on the old yellow school buses.
We made it to the Immigration offices safely, bought our 30 days, stopped by the Multi-Plaza (mall) to eat and buy some groceries that we can't get in Guaimaca, then headed back home on the chicken bus, once again. Our bus left around 1:30 and arrived in Guaimaca about 4:15, just as full if not more so, than the first time. On our way back, however, we couldn't see as well from where we were sitting and missed our stop. Someone told us there would be one more stop for Guaimaca... they lied! We figured out about a 1/2 a mile away and yelled for the bus driver to stop. I'm sure everyone on the bus got a big laugh out of us (silly foreigners who don't know where they live). We had to walk that 1/2 mile on the highway back to town... The highways here are not like the highways back home. The highways here make Oklahoma Roads look like a luxury street! (If you can imagine that). The highway is more like a somewhat paved road with livestock all over the place...
But we finally made it back, exhausted.
We will have to return to Teguc next week to pick up our passports (you have to leave them there to approve your request for extra time). Once our 30 days ends we will have to leave the country for 3 days to renew our visas and start over on another 90 days stretch. But, you can't just go to a bordering country, Oh no. It must be 1 country away! So we will be leaving in October to go to Costa Rica!!! Derek wants to leave a little early so that we can arrive in Costa Rica by my birthday. Hopefully that will work out.
My art class has been going great! We had Honduran ladies from Guaimaca teach us how to make baskets out of thread and pine needles last week. They are beautiful! My fingers hurt and I think I had more splinters in one hand than imaginable, but I love this new hobby! Soon we will go on a "field trip" to the mountains to collect more pine needles.
Derek is staying busy at the dairy barn and helping with the pig barn as well. A couple days ago he helped kill, clean, and cut up a pig. I think they ended up with 100 pounds of meat, if you can imagine that! The man who was in charge of the dairy barn will be returning Sept. 21 from his furlough and Derek will be reassigned somewhere else. I think he's pretty ready to learn something new.
That's about all. I will try to upload some pictures of our baskets if allowed.
Blessings from Hondo!
P.S. Derek caught the "rat" the day after I posted about it. He said it was a mouse because it was too small to be a rat. Whatever it was, I'm glad the rodent is gone!!
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Emmanuel Website
(This is our little part on the Emmanuel Website under the Volunteers Section)
Nancy and Derek, both 24, decided to leave their lives as youth minister and exterminator in pest control behind to spend their second year of marriage volunteering at Emmanuel. Before coming to Honduras Nancy acquired a degree in sociology and religion in 2007 and worked as a youth minister (leaves Derek for the pest control) until coming here in June of 2009. Derek finished his general science degree in 2008 and spent one year gaining experience that helps him keeping cockroaches from entering the couple's little refuge in their staff apartment.
The Lehmans are an artistic couple using their gifts playing drums (Derek) and singing (Nancy) in the church worship band. While Derek gives drum classes to an older boy Nancy is the coordinator of the school's art program hoping to increase its size from currently 20 to up to 200 kids! During the rest of their time Nancy and Derek can be seen wrestling kids or cows respectively. Nancy helps handing out medicine to the kids and works at the toddler's house. Derek spends his time working at the dairy barn and helps out in the clinic. After returning to their home in Oklahoma both plan to go back to college, Derek wanting to gain a PHD in physical therapy and Nancy studying to become a high-school teacher.
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