Miriam, Spanish and da Bus

This flower is about 8 inches or so long and about 4-5 inches wide. In Planet Earth a similar one of these is shown opening up at night and dripping nectar--Pollinated by night-flying moths.

March 11
Tomorrow is Aspen’s birthday and baptism in the Zamorano Branch in the Uyuca Stake in Honduras. That is exciting for everyone! Last night for our date Stuart and I drained the green water out of the outdoor baptismal font, swept out the leaves and sediment, and started to refill the font. The water source at the church, in fact in the entire little town in which the church is located, is unpredictable. We thought it best to start filling the font on Saturday while there was water to be had. Because the water pressure was low (and the missionaries said it can take up to 3 hours to fill the font) and we didn’t want to leave our children too long, we filled the rest of the water up today after church. We also added a bottle of bleach. We will borrow the necessary white clothes this evening, and we should be all set for tomorrow. Everything worked out OK.

And of course we’ll have a piñata at home after dinner. Aspen and I are working on making a unicorn out of some empty boxes. It is filled with coconut lollipops, cardamom-flavored hard candies, and sugar-free melon-flavored gum.

Right now Henry and Jack are hanging in their hammocks in the back yard. Swinging weightlessly in a gentle cool breeze is something like heaven (just ignore the occasional deafening roars of semi-trucks passing by). They are so glad to have figured out a place to hang the hammocks that they bought a couple weeks ago.

A few weeks ago Miriam told me that she wishes she could learn to be a seamstress or a beautician, but can’t afford the training. So I have been plotting. Aspen needs some skirts for school, we need a couple of tablecloths to cover our utilitarian plastic dining table, and Miriam needs to learn to sew. A couple weeks ago I went with our landlady to Teguc to the fabric store (which, by the way, sells only fabric; all notions and threads and elastic, etc., you have to obtain at a separate store, and patterns are nowhere to be found). On Thursday I obtained a sewing machine from our friend Namiq, and on Friday I gave Miriam her first sewing lessons. She hemmed the edges of a piece of green gingham fabric for a tablecloth. She laughed about her attempts at sewing a straight line, which she observed were more like zigzags. And when she accidentally lowered the needle through my finger, it only slid under the top layers of skin, drawing no “sangre.” However, she is a quick learner and good with her hands, and I suppose she will quickly zoom through any lessons I have expertise to teach her.

Miriam taught me how to make “pastelitos”—little fried empanadas made from a seasoned corn tortilla and filled with mashed potatoes. They were tasty, especially with a topping of a simple cabbage-lime juice-tomato salad. These are a recipe we will import back to the States with us. We look forward to sharing them with you!

Talking with Miriam every day is really helping my Spanish. It seems everyone in Honduras is speaking more clearly these days. They are saying more things that make sense and are interesting. I realized that, when I can’t understand a conversation in Spanish, I automatically assume that the things being said are not interesting, or not funny, or are about topics that are out of my understanding. I catch myself being surprised when I understand a joke or conversation and realize that these people do talk about ordinary things that, in fact, are relevant to my life. I am on an uphill trajectory, but still quite near the bottom of the hill of mastering this language. Whenever I relate to Stuart something that Miriam told me, I do so with the “Miriam caveat,” which is that I think this is what she communicated to me.

We all get a giggle out of the funny English of the children at the school. They use English words in Spanish format, saying things like, “How many years do you have?” or “How is she called?”

One of the main meeting rooms on campus.

Abe has started really trying to speak Spanish. He loves to have little Spanish exchanges with Miriam, with Jorge the groundskeeper, or with the guards at the entrance to campus. Everyone is quite friendly here, greeting strangers on the sidewalk and always smiling and waving. Abe calls out “¡Buenos!” as we pass by. Calla has started loving to do the same.

The language barrier continues to be particularly problematic at church. The children don’t understand much, and the fledgling Primary is not always well-organized. Sometimes it is very hard to spend three hours sitting still and being reverent when nothing they hear is comprehensible. However, they are good sports. And our family religious instruction has become more precious and effective. We love Family Home Evening! Every Monday we all gather for an awesome evening of singing, talent-sharing, treats, and a lesson. Calla has been put on the roster of participants. She loves her opportunity to shine each week—and shine she does, whether as teacher, chorister, conductor, or Spanish-word instructor. Her enthusiasm and dedication have refreshed and inspired us all in our love for this family tradition. I feel how essential this time is for our children to learn and love the gospel.

Jack: Me and Dad rode on a “chicken bus” on Saturday. It was really loud. Weird Al probably wrote the song, “Another one rides the bus” after riding on a bus in Honduras. The bus played loud music the whole time through a bus-wide Pioneer sound system. On the way back from Teguc [about 45 min] I sat on the giant subwoofer in the back. It was probably 2’ tall, by 3’ wide by 1.5’ thick—large enough to fit under most of the seat of the bus. When they were playing “Party Rock Anthem” I got up and danced and sang [to the delight of the other youth on the bus]. When we got off the bus, the bus driver said “Adios Bailarina” [good bye dancer] or something like that. I hung up my hammock in the back porch.
We went to Teguc for the elimination trials track meet. Hardly anyone showed up, so we were all selected to run, since we were the only ones there. [this illustrates the blessings of doing your duty. Just for showing up, they got the blessing]

Henry: We went bug collecting with my dad and I caught some bugs. While we were collecting a pond was nearby and we saw a dead frog and at least 5 other live ones. We saw an owl at night. Dad took pictures of it. I hung up my hammock between two trees out in the back yard.

Aspen: [she didn’t have much to say today]
Calla: A banana or a bamama. She sings twinkle twinkle little star. She is growing up. She is still a wacky sleeper.

We leave you with a Tabebuia tree in full bloom!
Another variety is red and is the national tree of El Salvador.