The Cockroach Massacre of Fall 2008

Yesterday morning at approximately 10:45, 62 cockroaches met their death. Most were poisoned with the spray Raid while others were crushed by a dustpan. The turmoil lasted about ten minutes as large and small attempted to scurry to safety but to no avail. The oppressors were too powerful and quick and left none alive. The carcasses were quickly gathered together and unceremoniously dumped into the front yard.

We took on the task to clean out our bottom cupboards in our kitchen, because it gets musty down there since our sink has a leak. We also wanted to take inventory of our tupperware and kill the cockroaches we knew lived down there. As Bethani and I were washing the tupperware, I commented that we should look in the cupboard directly under the sink, because I had the suspicion that the cockroaches were hiding someplace else (we had only killed five from the other cupboards). We had never really opened that cupboard before, because it's so nasty from the leaky sink. As Bethani opened the doors, her eyes grew wide as she began to count, "Three, five, seven..!". We had found a cockroach den. To make an already long story shorter, I graciously stood back and let the other three have their fun killing and crushing cockroaches (I'm not really the destructive type unless I have to be. Creepy crawly things aren't really my forte either). Yes, I'm a slightly ashamed I did not help in the heat of the battle, but the kitchen was crowded as it was.

That hadn't been the first time that morning I had faced something creepy either. At 5:00 A.M. I thought I felt something crawling on my back towards my neck. I half sat up to see something run down my back and off the end of my bed. If it was a gecko, it was the largest gecko I've seen since I've been here!

Those have been my adventures to report for the weekend.

School Makeover

Another week of school has come and gone. This week had a slightly different twist, because the school was evaluated by some people from the Adventist Conference. The evaluation was mostly yesterday, but they stopped in today as well. The school was in a flurry of activity, trying to prepare for the evaluation, which we (the missionaries) found hilarious. The library was moved to a separate room upstairs, exit signs were painted, the gates were painted, the classrooms were stifled with newly made posters, etc. It was almost like the school got a 24-hour makeover!

The funniest moment of the day was when one of my first graders got her head stuck in the door. First, let me explain that the doors have bars on the top half of them, so it's an open window. I don't know what she was looking at, but she couldn't move when I told her to sit down. I couldn't laugh at the time, because she was crying. I mean, I would be traumatized as well if I couldn't move my head! An office worker and a couple teachers were nearby, so they helped her "unstick" herself.

This weekend will be relaxing, because we don't have school on Monday. Tomorrow we will experience our first potluck at church. I hope they have some vegetarian options, because I have quickly discovered that they are few and far between in this country. Happy Friday!

Lake Yojoa

Last Friday we didn´t have school, so Thursday afternoon seven of us hopped on a bus headed for the lake! After making two more bus connections and walking down a dark dirt road, we arrived at our destination with the help of a couple locals (since it was dark and we couldn´t see the signs). We stayed at the D and D Brewery, which is run by an American who has been living down here in Honduras for the past 8 or 10 years. When he heard that we were Adventists, he laughed that we would pick his brewery to stay at.

It is a nice place with good food! There are two covered dining areas with lights strung around the beams, a pool, and cute little cabins nestled in the ¨garden¨of jungle plants (I don´t know what else to call it). Once again, it was nice to get out of the city. Friday we spent the entire day hanging out at the cabin, because it rained on and off. We met an interesting fellow at breakfast who gives bird tours. He´s from England and just recently moved down to Honduras, where he believes he will settle. He certainly looks the ¨bird watching type¨ to settle down in the marsh of Honduras with crazy long white hair, a bushy beard to match, and enormous binoculars draped around his small neck. His stories were interesting, though, because he´s been quite the traveler! We also met three other groups of Americans who came in Friday. One was a group of students taking Spanish classes, another was a backpacking couple, and the last was a group of teachers like us. It was kind of refreshing being surrounded by so many Americans living in Honduras!

Saturday the other girls went to row around the lake while I sat for another relaxing day at the cabin. Something I had eaten the night before hadn´t quite agreed with me, so I spared my queasy stomach from a day of sunburning and rigorous rowing (the girls all came back fried!). We left Saturday afternoon and arrived back in Comayagua around 5:30.

That concludes my adventures from this weekend. We plan to have more in the future!