Day 3, part I: Honduras 2012: Transition

Today we left San Pedro Sula and headed for Puerto Lempira. The first leg of our journey was a 3 hour bus ride to La Ceiba. Not bad. Henry was our driver again and he did a great job. 

 We stopped on the side of the road and bought some lychee fruit. It is a strange looking thing. Red and spiny. You split it open and inside is the sweetest white fruit you have ever tasted.

 It did sort of look like an eyeball and the texture was a bit 'thick' and you couldn't eat the seed inside... but after all of that it really was delicious. :) Really!

 Despite the funny face both kids really liked them. Maylin was just trying to show it to me... Nothing like see -food.  :)

 Part way into our '3 hour tour' we had to stop for the restroom.  Wouldn't you know it was the exact same place we stopped last year. Same gas station with the same cargo container guarded by  a guy with the huge gun. What in the world could be in that container?   Don't want to know!

 Our ride.

We were due to arrive in La Ceiba around noon for our 2:00 flight. But the airline had called and said they wanted to leave an hour early... huh? Well... there wasn't much we could do to get there earlier than we had scheduled. I was a little worried but knew that we made up all but three seats on the plane so it wouldn't make much sense to leave without us.  Once we arrived in La Ceiba we quickly grabbed a bite to eat and rushed through 'security' (they definitely aren't the TSA). and waited to board. While we were waiting one of our team members noticed a young man that looked familiar. We realized it was Maxs one of our friends from Mama Tara's we met last year. Maxs has been away at school (and speaks perfect English). He was coming home to Mama Tara's to visit. Was it coincidence that we ran into him? Nope. God had the whole thing planned. You see Max want's to go to medical school. I told him that we had a medical group with us and asked him if he would want to shadow them for a day. His eyes sparkled and he said "yes of course!"  Max and his roommate from school, Jeremy, ended up being an valuable asset as translators for the medical team. How cool is that!?  Could God be anymore awesome?!!

 From La Ceba we took a small plane to Puerto Lempira. It was a cloudy day and it was quite the bumpy ride. But we made it with no problems.

The coast line of Honduras is breathtaking from the air.

 Flying into Puerto Lempira, a very rural place. A place where time seems to stand still. A place that brings my eyes to tears. A place that warms my soul. A place my heart aches for. It isn't necessarily a safe place. It isn't an easy place to live. But it is a place that is home to some of the most wonderful people I know.

Walking to the "House of Hope" from the airport. House of Hope is the orphanage where we sleep (and play with even more kids).  

 The cow was leading the way!  OK not really but I thought it was funny that we followed this cow almost the whole way there.
It was good to be there. It was good to hug old friends and make new friends. It was good to sweat again. It was good to brush off my 'walking' shoes. It was good to jump over puddles/ponds in the middle of the road. It was good... oh how good it was.

I'll finish day 3 tomorrow. Here is really where my story begins...