It's Sunday morning and everyone was grateful for a bit of a sleep-in this morning after a very short night on Friday and a long day of travel yesterday.  It was a joy to gather together for breakfast after a good night, hot though it was, before we loaded into the van and headed off to church which was a 45 minute drive into the city.  We were warmly welcomed by all present and loved the energy in the worship with the music and joy of the lovely people.  

Four of the students joined us for the day and we loved their company with their sense of humour and growing comfort with us as the day went on. 

Bishop Mariann was invited by Padre Gerrardo to assist with Communion and she felt honoured.

Having volunteered here in the 80's she was reacquainted with Don Lazaro who was the director of the Technical Institute until he retired last year.  She was also introduced to two of his sons who provide the music for the worship service.

Our afternoon was a delightful trip to a parque for a picnic and a chance to get a great view of the city of Tegucigalpa from atop Cerro Juana Lainas where a Peace Monument is located.    Our picnic lunch was traditional Honduran Baleadas - flour tortillas filled with mashed red beans with a thick cream and cheese  Pretty tasty!

The views of the city were amazing, far from the overwhelming traffic we had just come through. 

The city is beautifully set amongst the mountains and we found ourselves amazed at how houses survive on those steep inclines. In spite of the drought, we rejoiced in the beauty of the flowering trees. This purple one is a Jacaranda Tree.

 

On our way home, we had the experience of shopping in a grocery store, given a budget of 500 lempiras ($27) to buy fruit and some things for the guest house.  We were not very successful of keeping within budget, as we spent almost double that! You can see our happy faces after our rather unsuccessful shopping, but we certainly enjoyed the fruit which we were craving in this hot weather.

After supper, we were able to get the kids away from their phones (allowed only on weekends) to learn a little bit of juggling from our pro Melina and an intense game of Chinese Checkers as well as puzzles, ping pong, and a little soccer which was Daniel's favourite part of the day.  These boys have wicked soccer skills.  I think learning to juggle was Steve's!

 We gathered at the end of the evening as a group to talk about the day and to understand about privilege and blessings in our lives.  But that we have used our privilege to come to this  place  to live amongst the students and teachers, to eat the same food, live in the same kind of conditions and learn what we can about life in Honduras.