After the usual routine for me on my trip (waking up, reading the Word in bed, praying with the roommates), our second day of Thanksgiving began: Thanksgiving for the kids. Though this isn't their "set ministry," the girls have a beautiful way of ministering to the kids that live close by. While they live in a really nice house, and their neighbors do as well, not too far away are a few shanty towns made of tin houses. Several families lived in homes and were kicked out by the neighborhood gang. Into the tin they went. There is one "town" on each side of a river close to Shannon's. While the girls tend to stay home and cook/clean/etc. with the moms, the boys look for work collecting bottles, doing odd jobs, etc. Many of the boys come by Shannon's daily to hang out, read, learn to write, hear Bible stories, and eat. This was a day to celebrate with these boys and anyone else that might show up. (And show up they did!)
Kenya, the housekeeper, arrived at 10. She works for the girls two days a week, from 10:00 to 4:00 and makes $10/day. She brings her two year old daughter, Mevis (pronounced Mebis) and y'all, Mevis is as cute as a button. I loved playing with her because she's cute, thought being in the hammock was the greatest thing ever, and is too young to talk a lot so the English/Spanish thing wasn't a challenge! I also have to say, before I forget, that (1) Kenya was an invaluable help -- especially when it came to de-boning the turkey and (2) I could get used to having a housekeeper.
We started cooking but didn't know how many mouths we would feed. It was really fun for me to cook and even more fun to cook with the kids. Giving instructions with limited Spanish was interesting, but it worked out! Shannon ended up leaving to help a family (read about it here; very cool! and also this), and once again, I was in charge of the kitchen...which, we know, I loved. We cooked a 13 lb. turkey, made gravy, rice, box mac & cheese (the kids just love it), green beans, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, and apple crisp for dessert. A 13 lb. turkey shouldn't feed 32 people, but it did! Remember the loaves and fishes? Very cool to see the Lord provide for all of these kids and to cook and eat alongside them.
Once Shannon returned, we plated all the food and Kate shared the gospel with all of the kids. PS, Kate has been fluent in Spanish for a number of years and this is a huge asset! It really was such a fun and joyful time.
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Something else to note: my buddy for the day was Edwin. We met when I sat down and started reading the Jesus Storybook Bible with him. I was amazed, in a sad way, that my Spanish pronunciation was much better than his and I could read aloud much faster and more smoothly. Edwin was 10 (I think), but I have likely had more educational Spanish. While he has greater comprehension of the language, it was very odd for me to have to correct him on his native tongue.
Edwin continued to be my buddy in the kitchen and was quite the little cook! But I learned that he had been kicked out for fighting with other kids. I was sad that he wasn't able to eat with us since he had done so much, but know that it was the right thing to do to teach him that fighting isn't best and there are consequences to our actions.
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Once the kids ate and headed home, we tidied up the kitchen and then I ran some errands around town with Shannon. She drove me by the beach and it was beautiful at night. I also tried my first lychee fruit -- not bad at all, yet not my favorite. Next, we joined the ranks of teeny boppers and saw Twilight. Kate, Caitlyn, and Erin joined us at the theater. The place was crazy packed. We got popcorn and it had been ages since I'd had movie popcorn. So good! I've read all the books and seen the first two movies. This was, by far, the best movie as far as production is concerned. The budgets keep increasing and it shows.
The movie was in English, with Spanish subtitles (this is the case for all adult movies, with children's movies dubbed in Spanish). In case you ever see a movie in Honduras, let me tell you, it is quite different than seeing one in the US. What we might consider rude is deemed perfectly acceptable. This includes talking loudly and yelling comments during the movie, getting up and down and walking around during the movie, taking pictures of the movie, and I must say that every time Bella and Edwin kissed it was as ooohing and awwwing were a requirement to be there.
We headed home for a night of laughing and talking and puzzling.
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