one month? already?!?

as i sit here in the mi esperanza house, listening to the bustling capital city traffic outside, i can't believe i have one full day left in honduras. the weeks have rushed by, yet looking back i realize how many amazing experiences i have had here, how many exhausting, crazy, unexpected days have been thrown my way, and how many memories i will hold very dear to my heart. i am thankful that so many faces and scenes are forever engrained in my mind, mental pictures that will keep me humble and forever mindful of God's continuing grace. i don't know what to expect upon my return to the United States. there are things i miss, like my independence. i want to be able to get into a car, obey traffic laws, drive around town, run errands, without having an escort. i appreciate the safety i have in the states. and as i long for this element of my life, i can see multitudes of women and young girls walking along the highway at dusk, putting themselves in danger of burglary and rape here in Honduras. i met a young girl in a village called Villa Nueva Sector Ocho who shares my birthday. Little Estefani turns 7 the same day i turn 18, and while i am at home celebrating with family and friends, she will be spending her day in the same clothes, same place, same crowded house. i want to put her in my carry on. how far could i get? she's small enough that perhaps i could declare her as an infant sitting on my lap. i want to give her an amazing 7th birthday. but it's more complicated than that. and it's ok. one of the most monumental things i have learned here is that things are allowed to be complicated, and can stay complicated....trying to fix everything results in frustration and exhaustion. God has Estefani living in Villa Nueva, and He has me living in Indiana. He also brought me to Estefani that day, He brought us together to translate Mary Had a Little Lamb into Spanish and to bring smiles to both our faces when we learned what this Saturday meant to both of us. We parted with hugs and a very exuberant "Feliz Cumpleanos" (Happy Birthday). I think of her constantly, and will continue to on every July 19th. i so wish i had a picture of her now. my heart aches for the kids i have come in contact with...but i have faith that God will continue to protect them. i fear that the comfort of my life back home will slowly numb the impact of my trip here...but i've come up with a solution...to come back as soon as possible. i know it is difficult to imagine how changed i feel, how much spiritual growth i've experienced in the month i have been here, but i know God planned on Honduras changing me more than me changing Honduras, and i am so okay with that. i hope that i have been able to relay to you all my experiences here and the amazing work that God is doing here, through the hands of countless devoted people. please continue to pray for the work here, and if my writing has inspired any questions about Honduras or mission work, please feel free to contact me. i will never get tired of talking about it. please pray that Janet and I both have a safe trip home on friday. again i want to thank all of you for supporting me on this journey and for keeping in touch with my blog...it means so much to me that so many people are interested in this work. with this final post, i praise God for my family, my safety, and the opportunity to learn so much from the Honduran people. see you all back here on my next trip!!! in His abounding love, annie
p.s. i've attached some additional pictures from the last few days:
this is Marina, who lives in the same neighborhood as Estefani...this is her with her house...she's standing on the edge of the stream, and the house is across the bridge. this denim shirt was all that she was wearing that day.
some of the kids hanging out on the bridge in the same neighborhood. the girl in the middle has some kind of mental handicap.
this is the road in the community...you have to cross the stream (by car and on foot) to get to the other part.
i thought this man was sweet...and characteristic of most Hondurans, he has a 2 liter container of soda on his shoulder.

this is a picture of the taxi strike i talked about in a previous post...all of these taxis are empty, with most of the drivers up front at the fence. talk about a traffic jam...it was very difficult to get around this mess!!

just kidding.

so of course, plans have changed. continental has decided finally to fly out of teguc, so i'm flying out of here on friday now, which is really nice cuz it eliminates a puddle jumper flight and a 4 hour + layover in San Pedro Sula, yay! this of course is typical honduras style, you seriously never know what's gonna change by tomorrow....love it! it definitely humbles you and shows you how much God is in control and how much you are not in control...it is a very liberating feeling.

taxi overload

we had to go to the marriott yesterday to fix a few group reservation things and upon pulling up to the road in front of the hotel, we find it is completely blocked off with taxis. taxis parked in the middle of the street-no, all over the street. the taxi drivers were out on the sidewalks hanging out talking, and some were in the front of the "line" of taxis picketing and such. it was a rather crazy spectacle. as janet's telling me not to get shot (thanks janet), i go outside to take some pics. it is amazing how many strikes/riots/angry mobs occur here. everyone here is angry with the rising prices of gas, bus fares, food prices, etc, so they strike in front of the presidential house, which unfortunately for the marriot is right next door. the sad thing is that the people think the president is going to be able to lower gas prices, so they lose a day's wages sitting there waiting for him to respond. their strikes aren't helping them at all, just causing traffic jams everywhere, and trust me the Hondurans don't need help with that. it is hard to see people suffering so much from these rising prices, and even harder to know that their efforts aren't working, at least for right now. the president isn't even addressing the needs of the people. please pray for the Honduran people as the struggle continues.

and oh, by the way, the airport is open. does that mean i'm flying out of it next thursday? nope. it appears that mr. president has a different definition of "open" than the rest of the world. he has put numerous weight restrictions on the planes and the major airlines (American and Continental) are refusing to fly in based on these guidelines. i don't know if people are actually going to believe their eyes when a full-sized jet does actually land in Toncontin. mercy.

ok i'm back, i know it's been awhile, sorry. the past couple days have been quite exciting. yesterday i went with Tim, Lori, and Janet to Danli for the dedication of a children's nutrition center. the center was sponsored by Brazos Abiertos (Open Arms), the vice president's wife's foundation. so i got to shake the hand and talk to the vice president of Honduras...sweet! it was a very cool project and very encouraging to sense patriotism and a social consciousness among Hondurans, powerful, rich Hondurans. the vice president and his wife are amazing people, and he is in disagreement with the current president and his actions, which is really good. we are praying that he wins the next election, they are very supportive of Torch's work here. on our way back from Danli, we stopped in a tiny town on a side of a mountain (like most other small towns here) called Yuscaran. it was an amazing little town, definitely off the beaten path. cobblestone streets (if you can call them streets), a 550 year old church, no tourist stops, the works. we ate lunch in an itty bitty restaurant (as in a woman's home) and the food was spectacular, best mashed potatoes i've had to date. then we stumbled upon an old police barracks that was in ruins, and there we found a breath taking view. we were in awe. the pictures are so cool, and yet they barely do the sights justice. talk about observing God's awesome creations. it was a such a treasure to stumble upon the town, we will definitely return. enjoy the pictures!

Bean Soup with a Breast Surgeon

while everyone back in the states was picnicking and watching the fireworks, i was doing something quite different on July 4th. i got to observe surgeries at the Hospital Viera here in Teguc, shadowing Dr. Zelaya, a friend of Janet. the first surgery i observed was a orthoscopic knee surgery with Dr. Zelaya. i had seen one of these surgeries last year while at governor's school, and it was rather different than the one i saw yesterday, which shows the differences in medical technology and advancements between the two countries. the second surgery i saw was a breast reduction and lift....talk about a crazy surgery!!!! it was so incredible though. the anesthesiologist was at least two inches shorter than me, with 4 inch wedges on...yes she actually wore wedges into the operating room, with the surgical booties over top, no less. hilarious. one thing i realized very quickly was that it is ten times more difficult to understand spanish when the people speaking it have surgical masks on. i felt like a complete idiot when the head surgeon spoke to me because i had to ask her to repeat everything. she asked me if i liked beans. i said yes. then she asked if i liked bean soup. i said sure. then she asked if i had had any yet. i said no. then she asked if i wanted some. i said "now?" and everyone laughed and said the hospital cafeteria makes excellent bean soup and that she was going to take me to have some for lunch after the surgery. some how i managed to get all of this in spanish, after a few repetitions at least. the surgery was very long and the anesthesiologist and the surgeon (both women, by the way) were worried i was going to fall over...i must have looked rather out of it. i was fine though...the surgery technique was absolutely fascinating-i won't go into details, but i was definitely in awe. unfortunately the surgery lasted longer than expected, so the surgeon couldn't have bean soup with me in the hospital cafeteria. perhaps next time :) i'm supposed to go back sometime this week for some "neat" surgeries that Dr. Zelaya has planned, so we'll see. sorry i've been slacking on the blog, i will definitely try to keep up!!!

down time

hey everyone..i know i haven't blogged in a few days. i have been taking it easy this past weekend, i needed an emotional break. i spent alot of time with the San Diego group who were with my cousin Phyllis...we had a lot of fun...after packing food for over 200 families on saturday, we went to the national rainforest (like 15 min from where i'm staying) and had lunch. a new group from nashville/tennessee/other places is here, and there are over a hundred of them so it's been crazy. it just makes for some awesome singing at devos!!! sunday we went to janet's house and took a tour...they are getting so much done that i'm not taking pictures until right before i leave. we had church (with the SD group) in janet's garden...so cool. monday was alot of crazy running around as usual. janet and i moved some stuff to santa anna to stay for a few days (same place my mom stayed while she was here) while gayle is still here. this morning gayle and i worked in the pharmacy for a few hours - in the dark no less because the electricity was out for 9 hours today...for no good reason, that is. i went back up to the clinic pharmacy later in the day when the electricity came back on. it is very peaceful and quiet here, an atmosphere janet and i both decided we needed for a few days. i am still hoping to shadow an orthopedic surgeon while i'm here, the surgeon is a good friend of Tim and Janet, so i hope it will work out. as for now it is nice to have a break from everything, but i'm also eager to get back to work.