Week of Jun 16-24: I started this week with a long hike in the mountains. Saturday morning at 9 am Adolfo, Joel and I packed our backpacks and went for a hike up the mountain. It was a beautiful day and the sun was shining on the tops of all the mountains. Adolfo and Joel showed me a fishery where a farmer built his own pool and is now breeding fish for a living. They also showed me what they call their "swimming pool". The pool was actually just a stream that ran down the mountain and was dammed up by bags of rocks and sticks. They seemed to enjoy themselves swimming in their underwear. I was a little more reserved and stuck to only rolling up my pants and putting my feet in the water.
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Sunday was another gorgeous day. Unfortunately I did not get to see much daylight. I was confined to my room because I had picked up a stomach illness. I was feeling terrible and had to visit the bathroom frequently. About 6p, the family that is taking care of me, gave me some tea made from some kind of plant and mixed it with Alka Seltzer. It tasted gross but the warmth seemed to help my stomach.
On Monday morning I was feeling much better! I was off to work in the clinic all week. This week went pretty fast helping out at the clinic.
Tuesday was exciting because the doctor delivered a baby. He asked me if I wanted to go in the room with him and help.
I told him "thank you" but I don't have the stomach for that kind of stuff. The cost to deliver a baby in La Unión is about $10.50.
It would not be that cheap in the cities here, but the clinic is more of a non-profit service to the people.
Most of the families have a minimum of 5 children but usually have more like 7 children.
The rest of the week was good as I just went along doing my normal duties. Things such as: monitoring employees, balancing financial statements, help with computer problems, or anything else that was needed of me.
Almost everyday after work I play soccer with the children and some adults.
We play on the church grounds on a cement soccer field.
It's very small but I have a lot of fun and I get a lot of exercise playing.
On Friday morning I left at 4 a.m. to go to San Pedro Sula to pick up the St. Lutheran mission, arriving from Grand Rapids, Michigan. They were supposed to arrive at 10 AM but they did not get in until 11 PM. So, the International Aid employees and I went around to a couple of malls. The malls here are not much different than those in the U.S. The prices are about the same and they have the same kinds of stores. After we finished wasting time, we headed back to our hotel to catch a nap. We were all very tired from having to get up so early. The hotel was the 2nd nicest one in San Pedro Sula. It cost about $75 a night. I would compare it to a nice Holiday Inn.
Saturday was a very relaxing day. We left San Pedro Sula at 10 AM and headed back to La Unión. There were no problems on the drive back and everything went smoothly. There are 18 people that came with the mission trip. We got them all settled in the dorms, set up some ground rules, then went to bed.
This week I look forward to working with these people and helping them achieve the goals that they have for being in Honduras. They are going to be building outhouses and will also be evangelizing. They will be split up into 3 groups, 2 groups will be doing construction while the 3rd group will be evangelizing. My job is to be a team leader of one of the groups and to make sure that everything is done correctly.
I look forward to showing everyone back home the smiling faces of the people of Kiskamote when they see their new bathrooms :)
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