teguc is so much cooler than SPS!

hello everyone! I'm now in the capital city of Honduras, which is only 3.5 hours (and $14.50) by bus from San Pedro Sula. BUT.... that doesn't take into consideration that sometimes, teachers like to randomly go on strike because they are unhappy with their wages, and make the major highway impassable for a day, which is what they chose to do yesterday. No cars/busses were getting to or from Teguc for a good part of yesterday. So, to make a long story short, I didn't arrive in Teguc at 2pm as planned...... I got there at 7pm... 5 hours late. So, sitting on a bus from 10:30-7 wasn't that exciting, and it was downright boring. But, I watched 3 movies in spanish and listened to my iPod. God was really awesome, because a super nice and bilingual Honduran woman in front of me let me use her cell phone a few times, and another woman from the front of the bus noticed that I didn't ever get up or eat anything, so she gave me some of her crackers to eat, and made me take 3 instead of just one. The woman next to me gave me gum, and I'm hoping it was just to be nice, and not because my breath smelled really badly. haha. Then, this Honduran doctor and her 15 year old bilingual son made me wait in their truck with them until the Becks picked me up, because "you are a gringa, and it is not safe for a pretty girl like you to be all alone. I am a Christian, and my son speaks English, and we will not hurt you. But you are not safe outside here. Please sit in our truck with us." So nice! I've realized in Honduras that you just have to trust people, because they (most of the time) really want to help you. Now, I'm not about to go walking around by myself or anything, but God put those people there to help me yesterday.

Teguc is not as hot as SPS, and breezes feel amazing. I ate dinner last night and breakfast this morning outside on the porch overlooking Teguc. It was beautiful. I love spending time with the Becks and their 3 foster children again. Their intern Megan, who is 22 and from Michigian (yeah, Babbs!), is AWESOME and we've hit it off... I'm just sad that I'm not staying longer to come back and visit her more. But, sh'es coming to SPS for 5 days with me next week. We're in our own house tonight, and we're gonna watch a movie, and eat popcorn, and we went shopping and grabbed dinner at the mall tonight, 3 blocks away.

this afternoon we went to a prison and ministered to the juvenile girls there. The prisons are awful here, and the government hates gangs to much that the president allows the guards to machine gun down inmates, and then set a fire to burn the bodies, so it looks accidental. Just last week 2 of the inmates were found dead... and it's never exactly certain of how they die... people just say it's because of other inmates. The prison is in 4 sections, adult male, adult female, juvenile boys, and juvenile girls.... and only the adult men ever die. But, the gangs are awful in Honduras, and the two main gangs are 18 and 13... which were the two prominent numbers in the mayan culture (18 rabbit was the name of the most powerful king in the mayan culture, and he was king #13, and after he died, the civilization when to pieces.).... so.... maybe it's a conicidence... maybe it's something else... who knows, but those numbers are very prominent and almost synonymous with bad and evil in Teguc.

But, the girls at the prison were sweet, and I can't help but think of that Nelson Mandela quote where he said something like "you don't know a country until you've been inside it's prisons." my friend Bethany had it in her profile one time on AIM, i think.... anyway, it's so true.. Those girls have awful stories, but yet some of them have changed, and need people to spend time with them and/or minister to them, because their families don't visit them a lot. My friend Carrie works with girls like that in PA, and it gives me even more respect for her now, than I did before, beause she works with those types of girls from Chester County. They can be tough, and I've heard stories from Carrie, and also from the Becks about the girls in Honduras, but I was humbled that I got to see their ministry to these girls there today. I'd love to start a prison ministry or something back in West Chester or up at Princeton, or at least visit a prison in USAmerica, because I can't say that I've done that before.

Tomorrow we're probably going to go to Valles de Angeles, which is goregous, and has fun stores and good shopping. Fridays are the City Dump ministry, and I will go with Megan and the Becks to that.... more about that later when I know exactly what it is.

It's great to get out of SPS for a few days, and see another part of the country. The views here are beautiful, because it is so much more mountainous. Have a great rest of the week!