More Travels, an American day, and a surprise visitor!

Hi again, folks, hope you enjoyed your Labor Day. Here in Santa Rosa, the fair is finally over, and the last of vacations before the end of the school year. About 14 girls stayed behind this time, since they got less than a week off, and again, it's super expensive for them to go home, especially if they live far away.

I went to Teguc again, hoping to finally be done with immigration. But I pretty much got nothing done there. After two visits to the office, and lots of waiting in various lines, I have to go back in October to finish up. Well, supposedly finish. We'll see what they say when I go back again. I just can't leave the country until the end of October. But I don't have any more plans to leave until then anyway, so I guess my traveling will be restricted to the interior for now.

While I was in Teguc, I managed to have the most American day yet. I ate in my first fast food restaurant since being in Central America, a Burger King. I wasn't so excited about breaking my trend, and I'm still not sure it counted, since I just bought an ice cream cone from the window in the street. But then, Sor Mirna and I went inside to sit down, so I guess it's official. I also went sightseeing around town again, making a visit to the Basilica of Our Lady of Suyapa, the patroness of Honduras, and an art museum! I was surprised to find that there aren't very many museums in Teguc, and most of the sisters living there had never been to any of them. In fact, when we went to the only one anyone had heard of, it was really small and pretty much empty. It's called the Museum of the Honduran Man, but turned out to be an art gallery. Definitely worth the trip, especially with no entrance fee. All the art was by Honduran artists, and everything was for sale. Here are some of my favorites:

The US/Mexico border

Do fades into Re minor

The Four Winds

St Michael the Archangel

The Heart is the most important organ

After that, we headed back to the house, and one of the girls who works there while she's studying (Carmen) and I went to the movies! Yes, an actual movie theater. She'd never been, even though it's across the street, so I got to show her how to watch a movie in a theater, for once. We saw Batman, which I thought was amazing, except that we had to leave before the end, so I was left hanging. Carmen got nervous about being out after dark, and she had to be back to make dinner for the sisters, so we left right at the climax. I guess I'll have to buy it now to find out how it ends. In a sidenote, I just want to express my hatred for pirated DVDs too. Last weekend, I tried to watch Juno, which I also highly recommend (I'm pretty sure it's good, anyway), but the disc was ruined and it stopped working right before the end too. I'm wondering if I'll ever watch an entire movie again!

Anyway, while we were in Teguc, the fair finished up here, and we missed the horse show and the carnival and the Japanese dancing (yes, all the way from Japan!), but I got to go on two "retreats", one with the sisters to a house in the mountains, and the other with the five "hijas de casa" to a pool resort and to some hot springs. The mountain house was gorgeous and in the middle of nowhere (just outside of the community of Lepaera). It took about an hour to get there, and we packed a picnic and had lunch there. We watched a movie in the morning, but of course, since I was out exploring, I missed the beginning, continuing my trend of not being able to watch an entire film all the way through. Then, after lunch, I took a wonderful, very necessary nap in a hammock on the front porch. Very beautiful and very relaxing.

The next day, I went to a pool! They're not very common here, so we had to drive to a tobacco farm that doubles as a resort. It's about 45 minutes outside of town, but it had a few pools and lots of visitors. The girls who got to go are not internas. They work in the house, like Carmen in Teguc, and they hardly ever go home. During the week of vacations in July, three of them stayed here and two went home, because during the previous vacations for Holy Week, those two had to stay while the three went home. They won't get to go home again until Christmas. Anyway, they got to go on this retreat, and I think they thoroughly enjoyed it. I didn't realize that I'd taken advantage of being able to swim, until I saw these girls. They're between 15 and 20 years old, and only the 20-year-old could swim, and basically it was just doggy paddle. They never learned how to put their heads under water without swallowing water. I felt like a lifeguard, watching more than enjoying myself, but it was definitely needed. There weren't any actual lifeguards there, and there were a few close calls, just within the first hour!

After we spent the morning at the pool, we left for some hot springs that were nearby. On the way there, it started raining, pouring actually (gracias a huracán Gustavo), and we only got to look at the hot springs from the car. It looked like a great place, though, so I think I'll be back to visit for real.

Then, last night, as the last of the internas were arriving back at school, I was standing in the entry way to help people bring in their bags since it was stormy out, when somebody knocked on the door so hard that it opened, despite being locked. Outside stood a very tall, very wet Austrian volunteer, visiting Santa Rosa before she goes home in September. She already finished her mission in San Pedro Sula and is just traveling right now. She'll be here all week, and the best part is, she speaks English (as well as German and Spanish)! I don't think any of the sisters knew she was coming, but they'd met her in San Pedro, so of course, she's welcome to stay as long as she likes. I don't know if I'll ever get used to the way things work here. No plans, you just show up whenever you want, and people are more than happy to accomodate!

So, despite the end of vacations and the fair, I got to see and do lots of fun things, and still have a lot to look forward to! Until next time, adios, God bless the Americas, and Hook 'em!