A Glimpse of Our Day

Although Allen had planned to travel to the city of San Pedro Sula today, for shopping and business, we received a warning last night from the US Embassy that there would be protests on the roads between here and there today, so he decided to stay home. Of course, the protests were then cancelled, but by the time we received word that the roads were clear, it was too late in the day to start the trip (it is a three hour drive each way).

Since he was home, Allen worked on emails, and met with the pastors who came by to visit. A lot of pastors come by every day now. Some come to purchase Bibles and other study materials, some to seek help with their construction projects, some to bring us gifts (generally a sack of oranges, or a cardboard box of avocados). We serve innumerable cups of coffee each day, to our many guests!

Because we are still in the midst of unpacking the items we received in our recent container shipment from Maryland, our main room is cluttered with family photos, unshelved books, and decorative items which need to be assigned to specific locations. The kids have enjoyed seeing their baby pictures, and Allen's and my school yearbooks and wedding pictures. It is time, however, to find these things permanent homes, and regain the lost floor space in the living area.

Allen bought some new appliances when we were in MD, and so far we have only set up the new refrigerator. It feels so spacious and looks so new and rust-free. Our old fridge lived on the island of Guanaja for five years, and the salt in the air there didn't do good things to it!

Tomorrow, we plan to set up our new stove (it actually has a thermostat for the temperature control . . . the girls will have to learn how to use that) and new chest freezer. We're excited to be able to purchase food in larger quantities, and not have to visit the stores as frequently. The freezer was an incredibly generous gift from a team which visited here in April.

For fun, Rachel made homemade pop tarts tonight. We enjoy finding recipes to make things that we can't purchase here. Some other things we've learned to make include ricotta cheese, sausage (both breakfast and Italian varieties), bread and butter pickles, French bread, bagels, soft pretzels, and cream-filled donuts. You know - health foods!

It is raining now, but not as hard as it was earlier, when we all had to run outside and bail out the yard. The low spot in the yard collects too much rain during big downpours, and eventually the water flows across our carport in a fast, deep stream. We still have items from the shipment sitting on the carport, so we had to rapidly bail the yard water into the drain (conveniently located higher than the low spot). With a big team effort, we were able to lower the water level before the impending disaster, and we are thankful that the rain has slowed now!