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im frustrated right now. i cant put up the photos on my photos link. i seem to have a limit now that i didnt have before and i cant add a new album. i'll work on it later. i thought pictures might be nice instead of big long paragraphs. here go the paragraphs.

our group was 20 people, all but 5 from my church. there were 10 men and 10 women/girls. so with all that manpower plus 20 some hondurans that we hired, there wasnt a whole lot of building left for me to do. i helped dig a ditch one day but guys kept taking the shovel from me because women arent supposed to work... i put some windows up and unloaded cement blocks from a truck. thats about the extent of my physical labor.

we stayed at a sort of school dorm with a few large rooms with a lot of beds and a kitchen and showers (cold). the work site, mt hebron, was about 20 mins out of la ceiba in the country. two of our older women (one is 84!) stayed at the church building in la ceiba every day to fix dinner for when we got back all hungry. i stayed back 2 days at the beginning of the trip to help them order lunch meat at the grocery store. did i mention i was the only one that knew any bit of spanish? they did pretty well most of the time, but the lunch meat you had to ask for in pounds. i made some peanut butter cookies one of those days too. but the highlight for me was definitely going out to the building site all the other days.

i did a lot of hanging around the community there, trying to talk to the women and kids that just hung around all day. we gave lots of candy to the kids, i hope they dont get cavities because of us. we brought shoes to give them one day and we didnt have enough for everyone. the shoes had rubber bands around them so i gave those to the kids without shoes, and what do ya know they played with those rubber bands for at least an hour! it was so much fun. another day we gave them balloons and later markers and paper. we had a bunch of kids sitting in the church coloring pictures and then making paper airplanes. there were a couple little boys that i really got attached to. they'd bring us flowers and wierd animals like lizards and frogs. we saw some scorpions too. i saw a cock fight, just random roosters fighting in the street. i saw chickens mating =P there was a water tower next to the church that i climbed up on a clear day to get pictures. i was just clinging there on the ladder but next time i want to climb up on top of it.

i also spent a lot of time translating, or trying to. i had a hard time understanding the people. probably for a bunch of reasons, mostly because its been 2 years since i was in central america. also i think they had a funny accent and used some words i didnt know. i had to make them repeat themselves a lot but for the most part i understood. i went along with our guys to the lumber yard and hardware store almost every day to help order materials. i even got to go yell at the block people for not delivering our cement blocks =) it was hard translating construction problems because i didnt understand anything about building in english let alone in spanish. one day they had me trying to ask for a 'flange' which is some piece on a toilet, i had no idea what it was. i had to help order food at restaurants too, so i ate last sometimes. which was fine because it turned out the malaria pills took my appetite away and gave me an upset stomach a lot of the time. so the first week i didnt eat very much, until i figured out that was what it was and stopped taking the pills.

i had a great time getting to know some of the people closer to my age too. during the weekend and the second week i got to talk to alex and walter, two honduran guys that we hired for a couple years in a row now. they know the leaders of our group and were invited to spend the weekend with us. we saw a futbol game, the stadium was across the street from the church in la ceiba, and went to pizza hut and the beach with them. we didnt swim, their sewage goes into the water there. it was interesting to hear some of their views and talk about differences. i miss those guys, i got to talk to them on the phone last monday to let them know we got back alright. im trying to send some pictures too.

one of the disadvantages of being able to translate was having to hear everyone's pleas for money, material or whatever help we could give. it was really depressing hearing everyone ask us for help. and there are so many needs in honduras, life is rough. people needed money for operations, school tuition, and repairs to homes. one old man was very sick and needed a ride to the hospital and medicine. all i could understand was that he was 'gravely' ill, i didnt know what was wrong. we helped him and then i found out when walter and alex called that he died the day we left, about a week later. i wished a lot of times that we could have done more. and you also need discernment about what needs are legitimate and who is lying to you.

so stan, you asked what i brought back. i brought some limpiras, the honduran currency, a keychain for my little sister's b-day, some salsa and a big bottle of vainilla (which they say is expensive in the states and was about a dollar over there). we had a few chances to get some souvenirs but my heart wasnt into. for one thing i have seen a lot of what they had- i went to markets in guatemala and nicaragua which both border honduras. they did have some beautiful things but i think i mostly gave away money to people who needed. i didnt feel right spending it on myself and ive already got similar things for my family and friends. mostly i just brought photos and memories which i think are worth much more.