Day 4 - First Church Service & Valle de los Angeles

This morning, we went to Victor's church for morning service. Apparently they don't always have morning services, as usually they start at 4pm. It was a really good service. We were welcomed in Honduras fashion with hugs and kisses. It was not a huge building, but it wasn't as small as some of the churches we visited in the Dominican. They had a nice set up, with purple curtains at the front. They had all the instruments that we have in our churches back home: drums, keyboard, acoustic guitars, and bass guitars. I didn't recognize any of the songs they played, but the first couple songs they did were really upbeat and we were all clapping along to them. The first song I noticed lasted a lot longer than our songs typically do, which I found interesting. Hondurans don't really care about keeping to a set schedule of time, so it makes sense that it would be longer as they just want to praise God. Speaking of praising God, I found it interesting that when the service began, they said we were going to start by praising God, which was followed by the two upbeat songs, and then they paused to say they were moving into a time of worshipping God, which led into softer, less upbeat, clappy music, and more so gentle, worship music. I found it interesting that they separated praise and worship into two different moments, as in North America, we generally say we're doing a time of praise and worship, not one or the other. I've always associated them as being one and the same thing, but the Hondurans mark them as two separate aspects. I found this enlightening as it was true. The praise section was upbeat and joyful and exciting, as we were in a time of praising God for all that He has done. And then the worship section was a more personal, thanking time of worship, in which we gave our personal adoration to God. Praise was more of a fellowship while worship was more personal. Or at least, that's what I found it to be.

Something I found really cool during the service was that it was a little girl's birthday and she gave 1 lempira into the offering for each year of her life (she gave 7 lempiras, which the church all counted with her). Then the band played a kind of birthday celebration music as people in the church could come up and give the birthday girl a hug and, if they wanted to, some lempira birthday money. I just found this so cool how the whole church celebrates someone's birthday and how supportive they are of each other.

Something I forgot to mention was the trip up to the church. The church is located in the same area where many of the schools that Schools of Hope is involved in are located (at least 2 were pointed out on our way there). They are located up in the mountains as during flooding back in the 1990's, many people had to flee to higher ground and set up temporary homes there. But, years later, they still live there. The roads are very bumpy and rough (they are not paved) and driving up there involved a lot of steep hills that we weren't sure if we were going to make it up (well Elisa was a little concerned, but they've driven up those roads hundreds of times so I trusted that we'd make it). On our way up and down, we also passed a cemetery that is for those that are not as wealthy. Judy was telling us about how people are buried in cardboard boxes or sheets or whatever the family can find and that they are buried not as deep as we bury bodies in North America as they have to dig out the graves themselves. The terrain was really rough and rocky there. Here is a picture of one section of the area (it covered a large area):

For lunch, I got to try my first traditional Honduran meal, the name of which currently escapes me. What it was was a tortilla wrap which you fill with fried beans, scrambled eggs, and cheese (shredded and this creamy kind that is almost like a Honduran cream cheese). Apparently this is a traditional Honduran breakfast (which we had for lunch). It was interesting. I'm not sure if I would eat it every morning, but it was interesting to try.

This is the meal (I forgot to take a picture before I started eating so there is a bite missing). Also included are avocado slices and fried plantains.

After lunch, we all piled into the vehicles and took a trip to Valle de los Angeles, which is like a little shopping valley. This is the view right before you get into the valley:

Valle was really neat! There were all of these little shops with different trinkets and such in them. I unfortunately forgot my money (I thought my purse was in my bag but I had taken it out the night before), but I knew that I'd be coming back here with the next team, so I wasn't too worried about it. We had to stick in pairs and eventually it ended up being Elisa, Nic, and I wandering around together, finding Nic green elephants and a machete. Nic is one of the team members from Essex and we really started bonding over this trip. He is a really funny guy and we get along really well. The three of us had a lot of fun exploring all of the little shops. Nic and I scared Elisa with a wooden snake at one shop and we continued to tease/scare her with it the rest of the evening, which was all good fun. Elisa and I are really getting close too. She's kinda come to be like a little sister to me. She fell asleep with her head on my lap on the ride home later. She's a really sweet girl and so funny. We have a lot of fun together.

Back in Valle, the three of us got ice cream before we met up with the group (it was the imported kind so it was safe to eat). That is Elisa on the left and Nic on the right. These two are my closest friends here and they are so much fun to be around. Part of me is really sad now that Nic is only here for a week. And Elisa has school during the week so we're only able to hang out on weekends and evenings.  We're kind of like the Three Musketeers or the Three Amigos! ...Actually, we're probably more like the Three Stooges :P We're all just such goofballs! The fact that we were using our straws as blowguns to shoot bits of napkins and rice at each other after dinner kind of proves that. Dinner by the way was amazing! We went to a restaurant in Valle and they served us tortilla chips and a bean and cheese dip, and then we had rice and tortilla wraps and like four different kinds of meat! We had steak, chicken, pork chops , and sausage! They were all so good, especially the steak! Ok, I didn't actually have the pork chops, but they looked good! Oh, and we had french fries, but those weren't part of the traditional Honduran meal we were having.

We would put the meat and rice on the wrap and eat it like that. It was sooooo good! I'm looking forward to going back there next month with the next team!

Overall, it was a great day. I really got to bond with my new friends and enjoy some of the Honduran food and culture. Tomorrow we are heading up to the schools. I'm really looking forward to finally getting into the schools and working with the kids. I can't wait to see what tomorrow holds!

Oh, one last side note about driving! There are A LOT of speed bumps here! Like seriously! On the main roads and everything! I guess it must be to help traffic not to go so fast or something. I'll have to ask Dale about that tomorrow. It's actually crazy how many speed bumps we go over on a trip. I'll have to count one of these days and record just how many we go over.

Early morning start tomorrow! Have to be ready to leave by 7:15am! So I must call it a night! Buenas Noches! Hasta mañana!

~ Cass Haines ~