Our Spanish Progress

We are all working diligently on our Spanish. Laura is speaking Spanish with an Italian accent. Mike is picking up all the ¨good¨ words. Angela speaks beautiful Spanish. How am I doing you may ask - no se. This is my new favorite phrase. It means I don´t know. Of course no comprendo is coming in a close second. I have lost all illusions that I will be fluent in Spanish by the time I return home.

Internet Problems

We have all taken many wonderful pictures of the people, projects, and places. Unfortunately, the internet connections in Honduras are not allowing us to connect them to our posts. Perhaps the internet gods will shine more favorably on us in La Ceiba. I apologize now to my computer at home and my internet connection at home - I will never yell at you again for being slow!!

Our First Presentation - Tocoa

We made it to Tocoa and settled into our hotel rooms. The Tocoa Rotary Club showed us many of their wonderful projects. At one of their projects, a school, we met a young boy about 8 years old that told us he works 7 days each week to help support his family because his father drinks. This young boy earns the equivalent of ten dollars each week. He is a mechanic and can fix cars.




School in Tocoa


We also saw a Hogar Maternidad (home for pregnant women). Without this critial pre-natal care the infant mortality rate would be higher than it already is. The Rotary Club paid to build the home and also pays to support the running of the facility. The home is near a hospital. We went to visit the pediatric ward. The boys and girls had separate ¨wards¨. There were childen there suffering from asthma and dengue fever. They even had a burn unit where one child was being treated.

Home for Pregnant Women

We were very greatful that Carlos, one of the Rotarians, spoke beautiful English. In addition, there was a woman here from MIT working on her Ph.D. project which is an early warning system for flooding.

We visited a fire house where we met many bomberos (fire fighters). The Tocoa Rotary Club provided all of the equipment for the firehouse including several trucks and a boat. Most of the fire fighters are volunteers.




Firehouse in Tocoa


On our last night in Tocoa we gave our presentations to the Rotary Club. They were very kind since our Spanish is very bad. We leave today for La Ceiba.





Tocoa Rotary Club

The Long Road to Trujillo

We left San Pedro Sula for the long ride to Trujillo. The ride was made worse by the horrible roads. The weather was wonderful with the sun shining brightly for the entire ride. The trip was made worth while when we were greeted very warmly by some of the women of the Trujillo Rotary Club.


Church in Trujillo

They are a small club but very active. Some of their projects include a kindergarten, computers for a school, a playground for the kindergarten, reforesting the mountain to prevent errosion, a 36,000 gallon water shed to service the Garifuna community, a mobile library for children and a kindergarten for the Pech community.


Watershed Project

We were able to see much of the town including Fort Santa Barbara, the Pech community, and the Garifuna community.





House in the Pech Community


On our first night in Trujillo they welcomed us with a wonderful dinner.






Welcome Dinner



On our last night in Trujillo we had a wonderful farewell dinner which included some traditional Garifuna dancing.






Farewell Dinner

San Pedro Sula - We have arrived!!!

We landed in San Pedro Sula around 10 pm last night after long day of travel with heavy luggage. We had three great Rotarians waiting for us despite it taking 2 hours to get off the plane and through customs. It was humid and rainy - much to the dismay of Angela's hair.

Mike is staying with a wonderful family that has 4 girls. He had many cervesas with Hugo on his first night. Angela, Laura and I have the pleasure of staying with Horacio and his lovely wife Alba.

Today we had an early start and saw el centro de ciudad. We witnessed a baptism at San Pedro Cathedral and saw the capital building. While we were downtown, we saw an ambulance that was donated to the city by the San Pedro Sula Rotary Club.

We then went to Tito's place at the beach. It was wonderful and his wife put out a grand meal. Many of the Rotarians from San Pedro Sula Rotary Club attended. After walking on the beach under overcast skies, we went to a museum and fort where the Spanish defended Honduras from British invasion. The sun finally came out. We also went to visit a project the club is working on in Omoa. There is a small village there that is growing. They are providing computers for the school, a clinic, a waste treatment facility and water supply system.

We finished our day back at the beach, watching the bright Honduran sun set behind layers of clouds and mountains. The landscape was breathtaking. Tomorrow we head out to Trujillo, a city approximately 5 hours from San Pedro Sula. Another day of new experiences, new places and new friends.

We have a Plan

WOW - we only have a couple of weeks left before we leave. We just received our itinerary from District 4250. It is very exciting. We have several professional/vocational visits planned as well as cultural events. The only disappointing aspect is that we are not going to Belize.