Sunday, May 27, 2007

NCET at UPNFM

Don´t you love acronyms? Reminds me of the good ol days at Pepperdine.
Last Thursday, Friday, and Saturday I went with some coleagues to a Conference of English Teachers. It was held at the Pedagogical University In Tegucigalpa. It was a lot of fun, informative, and worth the time and money. Of course, the school paid our way, so I guess I should say it was worth THEIR money. I got to stay the 2 nights with Steve and Jeanne White, the President and First Lady of the Baxter Institute. It was such a blessing. They have good ol fashion southern hospitality...and a washer and dryer, and Jeanne is a first rate cook. The first night I had 3 of her homemade rolls, the second night 2 plus I think I put away half the caserole dish of macaroni and cheese all by myself. Thank you Steve and Jeanne! I always enjoy my time with you!
I got a little of a cold in Teguc. even though it was hot hot hot, but that was part of the problem. Here in La Esperanza it is very mild so the sudden change back and forth did me in, plus I´m not used to A-C, which they have in Teguc.
On the bus ride back my seat was empty until a woman with a 3 month old baby asked if the seat next to me was free. Of course I couldn´t lie. I was just praying that the baby wouldn´t cry the whole time. This was before we left and we were sitting at the station. Then a young lady pulls up in a cab and gets out with a beautiful white toy-sized dog. I thought, oh my word, certainly she´s not getting on the bus with that! It´s a puppy! and if it has to use it? Sure enough she did get on, and sat next to my colleague. THen I was very happy to have to 3 month old baby next to me! I was like, oh my gosh, it´s the Paris Hilton of Honduras! The dog had a neon pink collar with rhindstones and a shirt! But it was surprisingly very well behaved, and rode the 3.5 hour tour all the way to La Esperanza. On the second leg after the lady next to me deboarded, a man sat next to me. I closed my eyes to rest and felt him put the arm rest down between us, so I comfortably leaned into it. When I opened my eyes I saw that it was his arm, not the arm rest! So I turned my body so as to not touch him, but that automatically put his hand brushing up against my backside. So I had to turn again. He was a pleasantly husky man. Hondurans have just about the opposite sense of personal space as us North Americans. If you get on a bus with just one other person in the STates you´d most likely choose a seat far from that person, but here if one gets on a bus and you´re the only one on it, you´re likely to have a seat partner immediately!

REcently I recieved 8 boxes of books donated by some friends and family. I hope to have my own store in a few months but meanwhile I put some up on display in this local internet cafe and the family that owns it isn´t charging me commission! In the first 2 days I sold 2 of the 5 books, so I´m very excited about that!

Things are going really well in life right now, spiritually and otherwise. In two weeks school´s out!, and at the end of June I´ll be traveling back to Tegu to spend time with some friends. My mom and aunt come July 2 thru the 23rd and we´ll be traveling all that time. I´ll be coming back with them to visit SoCal for one month! HOpe to see you there!

5 comments:

  1. You are so right about the personal space aspect here. In fact, my now 17 year old son will not go to the movies with just one other friend because as he says, "It looks gay." 3 or more is O.K. but can't do 2 and you know when they are at the movies if they can, there is one seat between each boy.

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  2. Ditto with what Cecil said, Marcus is the same way about the movies, have to have that seat in between the two.

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  3. looking forward to seeing you in socal! We will be in Camarillo!

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  4. Look forward to seeing you later this summer. Maybe you'll be here at the same time as the Raabs. We might have a critical mass of visiting missionaries!
    David Cron

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  5. Laura, Steve and I really enjoyed your visit...Come any time! Actually, we'll see you at the end of June in Teguc with your family. Looking forward to it.

    Keep blogging...you're my entertainment for the day. :)

    Love, Jeanne

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