Houston2Honduras: THE ARRIVAL!! Sunday, October 31, 2010

Well, we have arrived. And I already have my first regret of the trip: that we didn’t video the landing. Tegucigalpa is a city surrounded by mountains, so the landing is a little interesting. The plane has to drop quickly after you come over the mountains to reach the runway. You come very close to the trees, powerlines, and homes that are around. There are little colorful homes with tin roofs built all over the mountain side. When the plane starts its steep descent, you can look out the airplane window and see these little homes. They are so close it seems like you can reach out and touch them. At times it seems like the tips of the wings are going to bump into them. When we were taxing in, we passed an airplane off to the side that was propped up on what looked to me like two large wooden sawhorses. Several pieces of the plane were missing including any propellers.

Accommodations

It seems like missionary travel to these countries has come such a long way since the days of taking a boat across the ocean, pen and ink as the only form of communication, etc.

By the end of our first day here, I had bought 2 cheap cells phone along with some minutes so that Joy and I can communicate when we are apart, got online and emailed my Dad to let him know I had arrived, sent a few facebook messages, and hooked up my magic jack to call my Dad and Joy’s Mom to say we were OK - all unfathomable conveniences just 40 years ago.

Then again there are still some things to let me know I’m not in the

. I’ve seen two men relieving themselves along the side of the road. One used a tree, the other a fence post. Apparently, this is a fairly common occurrence. The power lines are a sight, too. There are about 57 lines coming off of one pole. (Incidentally, we were without power for about 3 hours on our first day here)

Another reminder of where I am . . . our apartment has no hot water heater. You get hot water thru a device that fit directly onto the showerhead. Notice (see picture) that this plugs right into the wall complete with wires that have been covered with electrical tape. All this is less than 6 inches from where the water comes out. I’m not comforted by the fact that this device is affectionately referred to as a “widowmaker”. But at least they cover the empty sockets with electrical tape too.

I haven’t yet seen a single piece of carpet in this country. All floors here are some sort of tile or stone. I’ve never liked houses whose living areas are completely hard flooring, but here in Honduras it seems to really have some charm.

All in all though, the apartment is quite nice. We are really going to enjoy it here and we’re having a blast so far. Here are some pics if the apartment if you care to see. And here are some views from our apartment windows. Several restaurants including Denny’s, Pizza Hut, and McDonalds are close by. We bought some fresh flowers with Lempiras given to us from Tonya Boothe before we left. Fresh flowers are sold a lot along the road and are relatively cheap here.