Honduran Independence

Today was the big independence day celebrations all across Honduras. In Comayagua all the schools marched and there was music everywhere. The main street was shut down to accommodate all the participants and people lined the streets to watch. It was quite a sight. This is the first time either of us have been in a parade. Watching it on t.v. is a lot different than being in it. No one ever thinks of the amount of walking you have to do or the fact that you don't really get to see everything...or much of anything for that matter once you're the one on display. We walked for like 3 hours and ended up a little sunburned but it was a lot of fun and the sights and sounds just spectacular. There were many bands and cheerleaders and cultural displays. At the end of the parade route each group was announced and got their 15 seconds of fame on national television. Our little group was announced as the teachers of Maranatha Adventist Bilingual School and we boasted teachers from the United States, Jamaica, England and the Cayman Islands much to the surprise and delight of the delegates. We felt good.

Military People

More Military People

Emily and Alejandra Del Cid (a 9th Grade Student)

Students from Maranatha

One of our cute primary students

Que cute!

Meez Twinz

Cheerleaders from another school.

Maranatha 11th Graders which includes 2 exchange students from Italy

Beautiful Cultural Costumes

Emily B and Ashley

We're marching!

Honduran Pride

Oh the joy of marching!

Our School

Fellow teachers David and Emily B.

Meez Twinz and Emily

El Jefe (The Boss)

Que lindas!

We all agreed we should have been in dresses!

Emily, Dawnelle, Ashley, Emily B. and Darcia
(Kadian joined the band and she's good!)

Kadian

Interesting Costumes

Que hermosa! I think this is the best costume we saw - so much detail!

Beautiful and so creative.

Another pretty one

Beautiful cultural costumer. These are the best dancers in Honduras.

Some more of the best dancers.

Parade Float

Home at last!

Saturday Night

We were invited to a little get-together on Saturday night but declined because we were all feeling tired and a bit dirty from Sabbath afternoon. I also wasn't feeling well - because of the rain I started sniffling and my throat was feeling a bit sore. The only thing I wanted to do was go home and rest. Dawnelle was feeling better when we arrived. Her headache was gone and she decided to pull out her twists. So we all helped unravel her hair...at one point we looked like the Discovery Channel...think of those scenes when the animals are grooming one another. Anyway, her hair came out so big and nice we had to take some pics.

Dawnelle y su grande afro puff

Muy hermosa

Oh No! Esta lloviendo :(

So today was a really interesting day at church. After the main service in the morning, we were asked to come back and help plan the afternoon program which would be at a church we've never been to before. Dawnelle was unable to make it, so it was up to Kadian, Emily and I. Comayagua City is in a valley surrounded by  beautiful montanas. The church we went to is just on the outskirts of the city, very close to the mountains. Here the air is cleaner and cooler and you feel so much more connected with la naturaleza. Plus the church is outdoors. 

En la manana 

Before church in the moring

Emily, Kadian, Dawnelle, Darcia

En la tarde

Una Bella Vista
The great view of the mountains as seen from the church

La Iglesia

The church - a simple metal building; worshipping in nature.

Darcia at the "door" of the church

Emily and Kadian in front of la iglesia 

Darcia y las montanas 

Emily, Darcia, Kathy and Kadian

Emily, Darcia, Effie and Kadian

We were all enjoying the view and fresh air and about to begin the service when the rain began to fall. And fall, and fall. The wind whipped our skirts and us girls had to grab them in order to prevent a Marilyn Monroe moment. We all huddled and shivered in the cold, getting wet with raindrops and dirt because of the strong winds. (Dawnelle missed all the fun). The rain finally died down and we were able to have the service. We, the missionaries, gave a part of the welcome (Emily in English, Kadian, in French and me, in Italian) and we even did the special music. I messed up on my solo part (hehe) but the song turned out so well. Our blending was beautiful. It was a nice end to un dia muy interesante.

El Dia de Los Ninos = Lots of Hyper Kids & Tired Teachers

So, Friday was Children's Day in Honduras which means every school does something special for the children. This includes making piñatas and having treats and parties for them at school. The high schoolers made piñatas for the children in primary school. After lunch it was one big party, at least for the younger ones. They had cake, and an abundance of candy and the rest of the day to run free. It was quite a sight.  Dawnelle and I were lucky, we teach high school so most of our day was spent away from the screaming children. Kadian and Emily however were so beat by the end of the day. Looking forward to the independence festivities next week : )

In the main auditorium...the kids smashed a  piñata and were going for the candy 

Amigas y Amigos

Outside of the house

Kadian, Darcia, Emily

Church Day

Emily, Darcia, Kadian, Dawnelle

Us and Church Friends
Top: David, Kathy, Paul, Gabby, Walter, Edward.
Bottom: Nicole, Dawnelle, Darcia, Kadian, Emily

The Fantastic Four

Darcia, Dawnelle, Emily, Kadian

In the Kitchen

Dawnelle & Darcia

Interesting Meal (pero muy deliciosa)

Asparagus soup, hard boiled eggs, papaya and freshly baked muffins (courtesy of Emily with a little help from Darcia)

Are you Meez Roxanne or Meez Darcia?

Today was a good day. Aside from one hard to manage class, everything went smoothly. The kids, however were a bit confused with who is who. They kept coming up to us and saying, are you Ms. Roxanne or Ms. Darcia with their adorable Spanish accents. (N.B. The Hondurans have trouble pronouncing Dawnelle's name so they chose to call her by her middle name, Roxanne). Most of them are super kind...offering snacks and saying things like "Meez, I love you" or "Meez, you are beautiful". So cute! So teaching ain't so bad after all. There will be rough days but its good to focus on days like this.

After school it was another game of futbol. I (Darcia) scored two goals and Dawnelle discovered her talent as the goalie....she is good! I love the sounds of the game..hearing chants like "gemela, gemela" or shouts of "duro" or "arriba, arriba". Our futbol games will be twice a week so by the end of the year we should be pros (*fingers crossed*).