Semana Santa (Holy Week)

Well, Spring Break has officially been happening for 2 days and I am SOOO thankful. After 3 straight months of work, we were all definitely ready for a break!

We (Rachel, Tad and I) left right after school on Friday and headed to Santa Rosa to meet up with two of Rachel's friends and two of Tad's friends who came to visit. We enjoyed some good coffee, getting to know each other, and PIZZA!! (I think the friends from the states were a little disappointed that we weren't jumping to show them Honduran food but... we haven't had pizza for a very long time :))Then we pretty much crashed in the hotel and prepared for a morning of traveling. Saturday we left early and took buses to Copan. We settled into our hostel (one room, 3 sets of bunk beds, and one extra bed in the middle- but its like $7 a night so we don't complain :)) and went and visited the bird park here in Copan, then went and had some supper. We walked around the town and visited a couple places that Rach and I remember from when we were here in October. We found a karaoke bar to hang out at for the evening so that was pretty exciting. A group from Utah was there and the first thing we heard sung was "Dancing Queen" so.... we stayed :) This morning, everyone went to the Ruins, but since I've already been there and am trying to save a little money.... I stayed home and read East of Eden. AHHH. It has been SO long since I've been able to read and I really, really love this book so far so it was definitely a morning well spent. For lunch we went back to the bird park because they have a natural pool there and our tickets last three days, so we swam there and ate after. It was so relaxing and such a beautiful day. At 3, we left on a 3 hour horse tour up the mountain. Our guides were really great and it was so fun! (The only time I've been on a horse was at Hidden Acres when they set us on top of a horse with a helmet on our head and walked us around in a circle :)) We're freshening up here at the hostel and then we're going out to dinner somewhere. There's a place here that has suuuuper good dessert so we might check that out too. :) Tomorrow we are leaving at 6am to go to San Pedro Sula and then on to Tela (the BEACH!) for a few days. We'll be bringing all the friends back to San Pedro and heading back home to start school again on Monday! Semana Santa is this week of Easter, and it's very celebrated here- with parades and services and parties. I'm not sure what all we will be doing or how much we will be able to join in the festivities because of traveling, but I'm hoping to see some celebrating. Maybe I'll have to buy some eggs, find a stove and some dye and have my own Easter egg hunt on the beach :)

Enjoy your Palm Sunday and the rest of this Holy Week!

fathers day in honduras....

It's Father's Day today during school. We've been working on cards all week, so today while my kids finished up, I came up with a song. Why not? It's TRADITION! (get it? :))

(Fiddler on the Roof)

I'll let you guess the tune. Maybe it'll take you awhile but... I think if you read through it, you should get it :)

this used to be my dad's van. this is my parking job. (he taught me, not my fault)

Well doctor dads are hip
I really dig those styles they wear
And the gangsta dads with the way they walk
They knock me out when I'm out there

The dads that work on farms really make you feel alright
And the policemen dads with the way they hit
They keep their families safe at night

I wish they all could be Dan Vander Ploeg
(wish they all could be Dan Vander)
I wish they all could be Dan Vander Plooooeg


The business dad has the shoeshine
And the surfer dads get so tan
I dig the dads that have their own business
Though none are quite as good as Dan

I've kind of been around this great big world
And I've seen all kinds of dads
Yeah, but I can't wait to get back in the states
Back to the greatest daddy in the world!

I wish they all could be Dan Vander Ploeg
(wish they all could be Dan Vander)
I wish they all could be Dan Vander Plooooeg

we both look really good in this pic. happy fathers day ;)

the mom day

Saturday I felt like a mom. (I kind of liked it, anyone surprised? :)) It was our neighbor Paola's 10th birthday party and she didn't have anything for her party. I'm not sure why, but I volunteered to help her shop in Gracias. She, Ramon and I headed down in the morning in the back of a pickup truck with about 9 other kids (there had been a free doctor at the school so we brought them home) and we started shopping. Well, first Ramon and I had to go to the bank and get money, so Paola came and sat on my lap and waited with me to talk to someone. Then we walked around and got plates and napkins and basic stuff like that. We stopped and had lunch and one of Paola's friends came by so she ate with us too. I told Paola she could order anything she wanted on the menu so she got this pork dish that came with fries.... she ate the fries and like one bite of the expensive meat. :) Then, it was on to the party store. This is where I think I learned parent lesson number 1. Do not ever bring a child into a party store if you don't really want to spend a lot of money! We walked in and there were a billion piñatas hanging from the ceiling. Paola expressed interest in a life-sized guitar (actually I'm pretty sure it was bigger than a real guitar) piñata because it had Hannah Montana's name on it and little picture of her face on there as well. I was not planning on getting a piñata, and especially not one that big, but there weren't any other age appropriate options so I ended up telling her we probably couldn't get one. She was really sweet about it, but the storekeeper had noticed the whole Hannah Montana exchange and definitely used it to his advantage. He was laying out banners and balloons and bags for candy and hats (including a really special, more expensive one for the birthday girl, of course!) candles and invitations and packages of 7 plastic cups .... all overpriced, none of which I really wanted to get.... but Paola was so excited!!! So we got all those things except the cups and invitations (the party was that night, duh) and she was so happy so it was mostly worth it ;)

We stopped at a choco-fruit store (frozen fruit dipped in fondue chocolate and then covered with a variety of things) that's owned by a mom of one of Paola's friends. We chatted with Lorean's mom for awhile while Paola played in the back. I think one of things that made me feel like a mom was that she kept asking permission for things- she asked if she could go to the pulperia with the girls and asked to go across the street and talk to her aunt, things like that - I felt like I was really in charge!

We got cake and some candy and finally headed up the mountain (we were in town for like 5 hours, I was pretty exhausted). Paola fell asleep and drooled all over my shirt on the way home , it was precious :) We got home and instead of taking a nap like I really wanted to, I filled all the bags with candy for favors and helped her pick out something to wear and painted her fingernails and nice bright pink. Her mom and aunt had made a huge pot of Chinese rice for all the guests (it's like a delicacy here, everyone is in love with Chinese rice) so when everyone got there, us girls helped pass out plates and then cleaned up. Paola was so happy and had such a lovely day. It was great to see her with all her presents and friends, but I was tired after all my errands so I went to bed, and let her real mom take over for the rest of the night and weekend ;) All in all it was a great day, and a great party even without the piñata ;)