Friday, July 30, 2010

Our Rottweiler will be so happy!

Allen has been in San Pedro Sula handling some errands - he returns home later today. He'll be bringing a female Rottweiler-mix puppy with him. I'll post a picture, probably tomorrow, as I don't know how late Allen will get home. So, now the bull and the Rottweiler have mates.

Also, earlier this week Russell brought home a teensy male rabbit. We've had a female rabbit for about a year. Eventually, I assume we'll have bunny babies.

Strains of the "Matchmaker" song from Fiddler on the Roof have been heard around my house this morning. And when we mentioned all the matchmaking to Russell, he said, "And I'm getting married, too!"

Next year, I suppose I'll be posting pictures of babies . . .

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Our bull will be so happy!

Yesterday we bought our first cow. Watch this space for a picture later today - after the boys walk the cow home from the nearby town of Catulaca.

Update: Here's the young lady who has come to live at our place. The bumps are bot flies - she'll need a bit of care for those, but they're quite common on the cattle here, and not a big deal.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

More Lempira Day Photos - Banners

In most cases, the large banners carried in the parade were handmade, from local materials, like the Indian costumes. Below are a few examples. Take a minute to look closely - a lot of time was invested in these signs.







More Lempira Day Photos - The Goddesses of the Lenca Indians


I don't know much about the traditions and historical beliefs of the Lenca Indians, the local indigenous population. But, based on the parade, I can speculate that they believed in a group of goddesses, who controlled the forces of nature. Here are a few depictions of the goddesses, of sun, moon, rain (or lightning/thunder), fire, and corn (or harvest):











Monday, July 26, 2010

More Lempira Day Photos - The Spanish Influence

Because the Lempira Day parade celebrates all the influences to local culture, there are children dressed to represent Chief Lempira's enemies: the Spanish. Many of the girls wear Spanish-style dresses, there are conquistadors on foot and horseback, and a few of the boys wear outfits with rick rack trim, which, as far as I can tell, is the most overwhelmingly used and long-lasting cultural clothing decoration in these parts. Out in the mountain villages today, you'll still see lots of dresses adorned with rick rack. Did the Spanish really import rick rack trim to the New World?







More Lempira Day Photos - Indians!


Lempira Day is a dream day for the little boys! They get to dress up as Indians, smear oil and paint on their bodies and carry weapons around. (I imagine the thrill is a bit less for the teen boys.)

After the parade, there's a re-enactment of the life of Chief Lempira staged at the park, and some of the boy Indians take part in this action, as well. I was tickled by the fact that everyone calls the re-enactment "the killing of Lempira." So people said things to us, as we were walking in the direction of the park, like, "Are you going to go see them kill Lempira?" and "If you hurry, you might get to see them kill Lempira."

I don't have pictures of the "killing of Lempira" because I didn't get to the park early enough to get a good view. That's something to look forward to, for next year.





Sunday, July 25, 2010

More Lempira Day Photos - Indias Bonitas



I have so many photos from Lempira Day that I've decided to post them over several days, in categories. The following photos show the fancy "Indian" dresses which are created by students in the public schools. As you will see, these dresses are made almost entirely from local, natural materials, including leather, burlap, seeds, feathers, beans, corn, etc. The dresses aren't attempts to recreate an authentic historical costume - instead, these dresses are flights of fancy. Some are simply decorative, others showcase a particular part of Honduran history or culture. Make sure to check out the elaborate headdresses - this year, it seemed to me, the headdresses were bigger than ever!

Many of the girls wearing the dresses also have sashes, which announce that they won a particular prize in the school India Bonita (beautiful Indian) competition, or won an award for best costume, etc. Click on the photos for a closer look at these - the details are amazing!

Tomorrow I plan to post pictures of the boy Indians!












A really great ministry slide show!

Last summer, a group from our home church, Fredericktowne Baptist Church in Walkersville Maryland, spent a week with us. Although we've now lived in Honduras for nine years, all of these guests were people we knew before we left, and most had been friends with our kids when we lived there. It was wonderful for our children to reconnect with their old friends. We had such a blast!

Our main goal for their visit was that they would see as many of all the different ministries as possible, so that they could report back to our faithful supporters at home. They created this slideshow with music, from pictures taken during their trip, and Allen received a copy of it on his recent visit to Maryland.

I think it's really great. You can see what an exciting and busy week we had, and what a sense of fun this group brought with them - plus you can see lots of pictures from various ministries.

Thanks Melissa (and anyone else who might have helped) for putting this slide show together!

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Family Camping Trip!

This week we took a few days off for some plain old family fun and "relaxation." My family isn't all that good at relaxation, so we like to go camping. That means chopping wood, building fires, putting up tents, dealing with bodily functions in an area with no facilities, etc. We love it! Strange, I suppose, but we do.

Although our buildings are up at the top of our property, to catch the view, we also have a small piece of riverfront, in a secluded valley - a good long walk from home, or a round-about drive, with a good bit of 4-wheel driving and several river fordings. That's where we camp. It's quite private, as long as you don't mind cows.

Here are a few pictures from our camping trip:


Our campsite - the river is just behind the tents.


The water is freezing cold, but the air temp is quite hot in the valley, so it all works out.


This is the final ford, where we cross "our" river to get back onto our property from the road.

I walked home from the campsite yesterday (a quick trip to grab a shower), and was rewarded with several gorgeous views like this one.