We're home!

We're home, in case you were wondering. We arrived in PA around 11:30 p.m. on Monday. It was an uneventful travel day from San Pedro Sula to Atlanta and then to Washington D.C. We breezed through all the security checks and customs. It is great to be home again and to process all the things we learned in Honduras. Backing up just a little bit, Sunday we spent the day and overnight in San Pedro Sula. About a week ago they had a lot of rain which created a flash flood. The road in front of the bed & breakfast house was totally broken up and now is impossible to drive on. Because of the governmental unrest, it may be a long time until that is fixed. People in Honduras just learn to "deal with it" and wait. Since coming home we have been trying to catch up with mail, unpacking, gardening, housework, etc. We want to thank the many people who helped us during our time away. Thanks Dustin for mowing our yard, our neighbors Bob & Rhonda for watching over our place,and Phil & Moni for helping with Sandy our dog. Zeke for taking and picking us up at the airport and for keeping Sandy (don't ask how many times she ran away), and for the numerous kind "weeding" angels who came and worked in our garden. Our neighbor said he saw four women there at one time...we have our guesses it was some special folks from church!

Thanks everyone for your prayers during our time in Honduras. Carl will continue the rest of his sabbatical in the states now. At the present time, Carl's parents are spending a few days with us and we will enjoy a family reunion in Johnstown on Saturday with the Luther family (Carl's maternal grandmother's family tree). We can't promise as many beautiful pictures but we do look forward in later July to a time in the Smoky Mountains and then Carl & I will be biking in upstate New York August 2-6. (If you would be able to sponsor us with a monetary gift towards MCC, please let us know.)

We wish all our family and friends a good week. We are praying for the church at Marion Mennonite, especially those who are experiencing physical pain.
Peace to you and in the world !

~Rochelle

Adios Honduras, Hola Estados Unidos

July 13, 2009

Today is the day we return home! We are excited and I must be as much as the girls, since it’s 6:15 a.m. in Honduras and I can’t sleep anymore. The last week of our schooling went really well. The teachers pushed us and we learned a lot about the verbs in Spanish. It will take years to learn all the necessary verbs and all their tenses, but the schooling was very helpful. Friday was our last day of classes and we took many pictures and the school gave each of us a certificate. That afternoon we jumped in our host family’s vehicle and headed for the mountains. In the states, the vehicle would only allow 5 passengers, by the time we picked up two nephews of our host, we had 10 people in the vehicle. We passed the Jungle River Lodge where we had stayed a few weekends ago and went farther up the mountain to where Gloria’s (our host mom) brother lived. After visiting for a while, we walked to the river to go swimming. The current was strong at the spot we went swimming. We would jump off a rock and allow the current to take us down stream a little and then we would swim against the current to get back to the rock. There were little kids from the area swimming and they were amazing to watch. Even though it was fresh water/river from the mountains, it had to be close to 80 degrees. We enjoyed walking around that tiny village and seeing the sights. Some people were living in extreme poverty and then there was a new construction happening that was probably going to be a tourist lodge. It even had a pool.

Saturday we met up with Uncle Abram Zuniga. He grew up in Honduras and met and married Carl’s Aunt Mary (in the 70’s) when she was in Honduras as a missionary. They live in Miami, FL and in the past few years he purchased a farm in Saba, his home area. (It was about 1 hour from La Ceiba.) He took us to his meet his parents, and then we traveled out to the country. The locals grow palm trees from which they harvest the fruit/berries that grow on the tree. They process the fruit and make palm oil. It is more profitable than raising cattle. After we took some pictures, at the palm fruit collection station, we headed to his farm. It took about 15-20 minutes of driving back through the shade of acres of mature palm trees until we reached the farm. It is beautiful, near the mountain and he is in the process of growing corn, and nurturing his young palm trees. When he is not in Honduras, he has a family that takes care of the farm. While they are paid fair wages, they lived, like most families in the rural areas, in a one-room shack. Seasonal farm workers live barely at a subsistence level. It was a new experience of seeing this level of poverty first hand for the girls and I. We had taken along punch balls (balloon-type balls on a rubber band) and shared them with the children. Deanna even gave one to a young girl that look older than Deanna and wow did her eyes ever light up. That opened up some deep discussions about “contentment”. We enjoyed lunch in town with Uncle Abram and then took a bus back to La Ceiba.

Sunday morning was time for our “goodbyes”. Our host family and our relationships with them was just one of the many blessings God allowed us to experience here. Even though the country was in political turmoil, we were so glad to be able to come before the “coup” and to remain in Honduras and learn a lot about the people and the country. What a blessing indeed! We had a prayer time together and then gave our hugs and kisses. We left La Ceiba around 10 a.m. and arrived in San Pedro Sula at 1:00. We spent the night in the same B&B as when we arrived, but the street and neighborhood look quite different as only one week ago, they experienced an awful flash flood right in the street in front of their home which destroyed two blocks of asphalt and left 2-3 ft. deep gullies. There was sadly even a fatality of a child who was a passenger in a car that had driven into the water. Now with politics in the turmoil they are, we can only imagine how long it may take for the street to be rebuilt. Yet another reminder of the many privileges we take for granted at home, and another situation and family we will be praying for and keeping in touch with in the months ahead.

Now we have checked the Delta Airlines website and according to the info there our plane is thankfully on schedule! We were just a bit concerned as many airlines have cut back on flights into and out of Honduras over the past weeks, but we fly out around noon, land in Atlanta and then to DC…then a drive home. It will be late when we finally get home.

I was thinking about all the young adults and families that I know that have served the Lord in other countries, and I now understand in a small way how hard it must have been to go, but what a blessing their new home became and then how hard it must have been to come back and adjust to the life in the States. I pray that this experience will help our whole family, especially the girls to see beyond themselves and the desires they have for things, but to think about the people God has made all over the world. God is alive and present in Honduras. Let’s continue to pray for the country and its people. Thanks for partnering with us in prayer!!!


What I will enjoy when I get home??
-safer drivers on the roads
-less trash along the roads (no one adopts a road in Honduras)
-our yard & garden
-warm/hot water
-cooler temperatures (less humidity and sweating)

What I will miss?
-hearing Spanish
-the food, like tortillas, rice, beans, baleadas, fresh fruit, etc.
-seeing people enjoy people…people took the time to visit and talk

~ Rochelle

July 4 thru Ro's Birthday

7 de Julio del 2009
Feliz Cumpleanos a mi! Well, I’m celebrating my birthday here in Honduras. We went to school and they sang to me, plus at lunch our host mom made a delicious Chinese dinner and wonderful pastel (cake) to top it off. She’s a great cook! (The picture to the right is of our host family.)



We enjoyed last Friday afternoon and Saturday at Rio Cangrejal with “Jungle River” outfitters at their riverside lodge. It was a VERY rustic place, (think Split Rock Roost at Cove Valley Camp) with not much in the way of luxury, but what it did have was beautiful scenery and a place to relax. Friday night Katrina & Carl went on a jungle canopy/zip line tour. The other girls and I were swimming and we got to see Carl & Katrina flying over the river. We met people in the swimming hole from France and the US. The little French girl spoke no English or Spanish, so the girls got along teaching each other how to count in their own languages. They had fun as children do, even when they can’t talk the same language.



We began our Saturday with a pancake breakfast and then Katrina , Steph & Carl went on a rafting trip. Since the water is much lower at this time of year, the guides said it was quite safe for Stephanie. (enter Katrina) Before starting down the river in our boats, we hiked up the river for practice swimming across the river. At one point Dad and I, along with some of the rest of our group, got to jump off of a rock that was about 4 ½ meters tall. From there we floated back down to our boats and hopped in for a short training session. We were finally ready to face the rapids. They started out easy and got progressively harder, but since the river was so low there was never any worry about falling out. Despite that it was still pretty draining and it was great to be back on shore at the end. (exit Katrina) One thing I’m jealous about is they saw two toucans on their way to rafting. Deanna & I went on a long hike, almost two hours through the mountains. The beginning of the hike meant walking over the river on a swinging bridge that was probably 100 yards long and 80-100 ft. over the river. It was newly made and very sturdy (unlike the wooden one I used to walk over when I lived in Ephrata beside the Cocalico Creek). But about ½ way even I almost chickened out, but Deanna & I kept saying ”we can do it!” We kept looking ahead, rather than down, and were very proud of ourselves when we crossed the bridge. The mountains were amazing. We saw all different kinds of plants, flowers, lizards, hummingbirds, butterflies, birds, a small waterfall, and even a snake. To end our time, Katrina had to jump off one of the huge rocks (7 meters) into the river. She did it and we screamed with delight or terror as she went. Then Carl had to rise to the challenge and he jumped too. (No broken bones-PTL!)

Sunday, July 5 we enjoyed worshipping with the Mennonite church here in La Ceiba again. It was great to be there to hear their perspective about the political situation. They read a statement from the national Honduran Mennonite Church that was then published in a national newspaper the next day, calling for dialogue and pledging to work for reconciliation. The main thing that stood out to us is that they are praying for all the leaders and not trying to take sides, but willing to talk with those in whose midst they live to encourage peace. Carl had an opportunity to speak again (w/translator) and shared his heart with them and that the church in the US will continue to pray for them. We continue to feel safe, thanks for your prayers for our family and the whole country. The media pictures you see of angry people are not an accurate image of the Honduran people. Please do pray that we can purchase our bus tickets to arrive in San Pedro Sula on Sunday. There has been intermittent breaks in transit services and almost daily country-wide curfews to work around. We feel confident once we get to the airport that we’ll be able to fly home to the US.

We have had some break in the heat, with some cooling rains in the afternoon. It has made sleeping at night much better. Of course the absence of hot water means that we can always count on a cold shower to refresh us!

~Rochelle, Carl and Katrina

It's Great... But It's a Grind... But It's Great

It’s the end of Thursday, July 2, 2009. I am very thankful for electricity. Yesterday from 3:00 – 8:00 p.m. we had no electricity, and again for two hours this afternoon. Our host mom still made us amazing baleadas (cooking on a gas camping type stove outside) and we enjoyed sitting outside where the breeze was keeping us cool. The family we live with has a telescope and the moon and stars were very bright last night. As we could tell, other parts of the city had electricity, just not our street. Many shouts of joy were given on the street when the power came back on, but many people continued sitting outside enjoying the night air. The road we live along is quite narrow and extremely BUSY!!!! Buses, taxis, cars, trucks, bicycles, motos and walkers all doing their thing. Also people are always stopping in and visiting our host family, or our family is next door (probably to get away from the noise of 5 extra people). ☺

We continue to enjoy our Spanish classes, though they’re getting more difficult as we keep plowing new territory. Some of us have switched teachers this week. It gives a new perspective and has been a positive change for all of us as we’ve found some teachers are more effective than others. My teacher now is the director’s wife and she speaks hardly any English, but is such a good teacher that I could follow her teaching so well today! The reality, of course, is that 3 weeks has us only skimming the surface, but it has deepened a love of the language for us. Katrina has become the most advanced since she had one year of Spanish in school. Our schedule each day is quite on time …breakfast around 7:00, off to school at 7:45, class begins at 8:00, break at 10:00 and classes are over promptly at noon. We have about 10 min. to check email during our break and send out the blogs, so it’s not much time. We eat our main meal at around 12:15, and then the afternoon/evening is free. We often take a nap (as it’s HOT and four hours of thinking in another language is exhausting) or read, play games, TV, go the beach, go to the market or supermarket. Our plans to volunteer to do volunteer work has changed a bit as the schools and day-cares have been closed due to the political unrest. We can go anywhere we need to in the city with a taxi, as they are everywhere. It costs 20 limps (around $1.00/person/ride). Sometimes our host mom or dad will take us on little trips.

Funny, I’m sitting at the kitchen table and the TV is on and I looked up and recognized the news anchor. Here he was our S.S. teacher the first Sunday we were in La Ceiba at the Mennonite church. Interesting!

Today after lunch, the school director picked us up and took us to a daycare center where they often send volunteers. They take care of children that are from single parent homes where the father was abusive. They were waking up from their nap when we arrived. We shared punch balls/balloons and little stuffed animals and toys. Even though our Spanish was limited we had fun with them. Our last stop today was at a local store that had many souvenirs and the store was air-conditioned. Wow, that was a foreign feeling, but wonderful. We plan to go to the Rio Cangrejal river and Pico Bonito Nat’l Park tomorrow for an overnight trip when our school-week is over.
~Rochelle


While we have had numerous restrictions on some of our activities, and we wonder if the unusual and prolonged power outages have had anything to do with the political situation, for the most part life is going on as normal for most everyone here no matter what you may be seeing on CNN. It’s been interesting being on the inside of a developing international story, when we’ve generally only heard the U.S. media’s slant on such things in the past. Though we have struggled to keep up fully understanding the details of the situation, I do sense that the perspective of the Hondurans that we are among is much different than what we read when we get on the internet and hear what other OAS heads of state and news outlets have to say. Rather than a coup de tat, I’d say Hondurans see Zelaya’s removal as having been a quick no-nonsense “impeachment” and they wish everybody would mind their own business. From what I’ve seen and heard here, I doubt international pressure will get them to change their minds about any of what’s been done, but we’ll have to wait and see.

Well, it’s bed-time and my Spanish homework’s not done, so ‘til later…
~Carl