Home again

It is mostly good to be home again. We had a wonderful visit with Nate, Cori and the kids. At least, Mama did. I was sick most of the trip. Not violently ill. I just did not feel good. Sore throat, slight cough and general malaise. The Spanish speaking population of Central America refers to such a malady as the “gripa”. It even says so on the medicines they sell to combat the symptoms. Where our medicine packaging says things like Cold and Flu, or Sore Throat and Cough, their packaging simply says Gripa. Mama and I had good flights there and back. Traveling out of Houston is a bit easier than traveling from Dallas. With the contact Cori provided in Houston, it was fairly easy to make the connections both in departure and arrival. The travel to Houston is not a hardship and the time and effort it saved us in collecting our luggage, going through security a second time – which is what happened in Houston when you fly out of Dallas – was worth the road time. Last time we flew to Honduras out of Dallas and it was a real struggle to get all our checked baggage, all our carry-on items, Mama’s walker and us to the second security line and through the additional check in with the limited time between fights. . Fortunately, we had Victoria to help us that time. With how well this worked out, we will avoid doing that again.

While Mama waited at our gate in Terminal E in Houston, I made the long trip to Terminal B to get some chicken mini’s at Chick-fil-a. That was a challenge to get all the food items, our carry-ons, our personal items and Mama’s walker onto the flight when we were called to do so. But we made it. Nate, Cori and the kids were happy to get the delicacy even though there are so many places for them to get great food in Honduras. We went to the market in San Pedro on Tuesday to buy gifts for our Chinese friends and just to look around. It was fun and it gave me a chance to break into my Spanish before church on Wednesday.

Mama was able to attend the Come Away Conference at the church in El Progresso. Those meetings went from Thursday evening to Saturday morning. I went Thursday evening but got to feeling too poorly to go Friday.  I was able to watch the sessions via Facebook. It was a great time to meet other missionary families serving in the same area as Cori and Nate. Steve Pettit, President of Bob Jones University, preached for the conference. He did a remarkable job. Bob Jones University is not known for taking a Fundamentalist stand, but Dr. Pettit’s preaching was very much in line with our beliefs. Very encouraging to the local missionaries. I went to church Sunday morning, but I still was not feeling well. Sunday afternoon we left for Tela and La Playa Escondida.

Cori and Nate put us up in the boy’s room, but after the first night with the air conditioner blowing on me, making my sore throat worse, I began sleeping on the couch in the living room – without air conditioning. The nights were in the low seventies and the house where they are now living, has more air flow than the house they first rented. Plus, it is in a gated community far enough from the highway (such as it is) that it is far quieter than their first Honduran house.  I slept quite well through the nights. Without the air conditioning my cough improved and my sore throat cleared up. By the second night in Tela- Monday of the second week - I was starting to feel better. Not well, but better. That is how I came home. Not well, but better.

Our time in Tela was fantastic. I mostly endured, but Mama had a fantastic time. We stayed at a very upscale resort. La Playa Escondida. The Hidden Beach. The waves in that part of the Gulf were pretty fierce, so we did not get in the saltwater but there was a beautiful pool at the hotel which the kids used quite a bit. There were no shells to gather, so Mama started collecting rocks. There were plenty of them. Some of them even made it home with us. Most of the rocks Mama collected were refused by the airline and had to be left with Cori and Nate. Her plan is to make jewelry with the ones that did make it back to the States with us. We will see if that actually happens.

Overall the trip was a great experience. Cori and Nate are part of a great team doing a great work in Honduras. It is always a pleasure to visit.