From Tegucigalpa to Washington D.C.

Monday, February 23, 2015

My prayers were answered and we had a wonderful outing today with Pres. and Sister Matute! (Mah-too-tay) My friend Lupe (Loo-pay) and her husband were going to go with us, but he ended up having to work and her residence card had expired so she had to go to the immigration office. I felt bad they couldn’t go. Anyway, Pres. Matute called last night and suggested that we go to Comayagua instead of the Honduran Lake since it was a shorter travel distance and would make an easier day. That meant we didn’t have to leave until just after 8:00 a.m. after they had dropped off their children at school. It made me soooo happy! There were no mosquitoes!! And it wasn’t too terribly hot!

Although we went to Comayagua almost two years ago with the Salgados (the egg farmer) and the Bassetts (the 80-year-old missionary couple from Wyoming), we saw new things this time. After a brief stop at a couple of shops in this old historical town, we drove a short distance to a country club and had a wonderful afternoon. Nothing is allowed by law to change in this city so that it can keep its historical status. So no improvements or upgrades take place and it is pretty primitive looking. It houses the oldest functioning clock in the world.

At the country club we had a wonderful lunch of grilled chicken, mashed potatoes, par-boiled matchstick carrots and young peas in the pods, and a fresh salad with cucumbers and sliced apples on the greens. We were served a small piece of chocolate cake for dessert and even had Fresca in a bottle to drink. We ate outdoors on a large covered patio and had to swish away a few house-flies, but since there were no mosquitoes, I didn’t even care about the flies!

The Matutes were great fun to be with and kept up energetic conversation on the hour-plus drive out of the city. They were funny and kind and told great stories. She speaks a little English; he speaks even less, but nearly all of the conversation was in Spanish. It was amazing and wonderful how much more I could understand this trip than on the first outings we had with friends when everything went right over my head. Maybe if I were to be here for another two years I could actually participate! But of course, that is not happening J

I took lots of pictures—until the phone battery died—but will probably post only a few tonight.

Good Night, Everyone. See you all soon J

Waiting for our ride this morning.

I knew it was going to happen--the last of the poinsettias were replaced this morning with these pretty geraniums.

They carried away all my favorite plants!

Removing the poinsettias--they are still planted in the pots they grew in.

What a great looking guy!

--And his wife :)

This is just a random photo in Comayagua

One of the better streets

A fun shop we spent some time in. This is Pres. and Sister Matute. Of course, like everyone else, theyare much younger than we are. there oldest son is 15 years old.

Hamming it up!

He spent quite a bit of time teaching Glade
an original Honduran game that he played as a child--
for hours and hours!

More instruction and a little practice.

Now Glade tries it.

Then they went outside at the back of the store to practice
and finally got it!!

This is the building with the world's oldest functioning clock.
You can see it on the second level between two small windows.
There is also a bell that chimes the hours.

The Matute's

When we arrived at the country club we saw a huge group of people there
getting training on self defense--or combat of some kind. They were involved
with a big conference there.