Settling in to Honduras!

Sorry for the extra long post after and extra hiatus. I'm having some difficulty balancing the blog with facebook and family updates as well as personal correspondence. Most of the blog entries will be focused on our work at CURE and mission/ministry-- with some human interest/family items interspersed. If you would like to receive our weekly family photo journal, please send me your email address.

On our very first Sunday in Honduras, Ned took us to Danny and Ruth Castro's church. (Ruth is the executive director of our hospital, and Danny is the retired spiritual director.) Lillian climbed right into Danny's lap.


Abigail had been feeling sad, missing our home church-- but God turned her Yuck! into a Yeah! with a nice Sunday school teacher, Jenny, who spoke English and a group of girls who included her by playing games that required no Spanish, like "touch" (or tag).


This is the courtyard of CURE Honduras, a pediatric orthopedic hospital that serves patients from all over Central America. (Jay had a patient who traveled 9 hours to get to her 7am appointment this week.) The plants were provided by the family of a grateful patient.

The land for the hospital was graciously donated to CURE. It is surrounded by a high wall/fence that is guarded by two armed guards around the clock. It is within these walls that we are living until our rental home is ready. We have enjoyed getting to know the guards-- this is Bilhilio who has six children.

This is the waiting area where clinic patients and their families wait. The families arrive on the day of their appointment at 7am for hospital devotions-- and then they receive a number for their turn. Then they wait in this area for their number to be called. They may be waiting for up to six hours for their appointment.

There is a television mounted on the wall. It is on this screen that the spiritual director shows the Jesus film, Veggie Tales cartoons, and various Bible stories.

Although most patients come the day of their surgery and leave soonafter, some patients need to spend the night before their surgery due to long distances traveled or after their surgery due to the nature of their procedure. This is the ward in which the children and one of their parents will stay.

Here is Jay in clinic. I'll let him write more about his work in a later post.

And Jay in surgery. One of the hospital's goals is to involve more Honduran physicians. This week one of the most prominent Honduran orthopedic surgeons came to CURE to do some arthroscopic surgeries. Jay also operated on a two-month-old fracture (the age of the fracture, not the child) of the femur that had not been in traction. A very difficult surgery.

Another fracture that was weeks old by the time Jay saw the patient.

There are some Honduran medical students rotating at CURE now. So Jay is giving a Powerpoint talk on compartment syndrome in the conference room. In the foreground in purple scrubs is a visiting college student from the US, Sarah Black, who is the daughter of the orthopedic chairman at Penn State, Jay's former boss.

And last Wednesday, we had a most unexpected surprise! When we came to Honduras in 2009 as a family, Abigail bonded with a patient who came for surgery. It was this friendship with Myrah that led to her decision that she could live in Honduras as a missionary. It was incredible when Jay ran up the steps to the apartment to bring Abigail downstairs to see Myrah who happened to be back for her surgical follow-up!

We are so excited about the CURE staff. We have just loved our new family and look forward to getting to know them better. This past Saturday night before he left in the morning to return to Hershey, Ned took our family, Ruth and Danny Casto, and two other CURE doctors to dinner. In the foreground is Dr. Canales who is general practioner who works at CURE. He's been so helpful to Jay in translating for him in the clinic. Behind him is Dr. Mineusa who is in private practice orthopedics with his father after his orthopedic residency in Mexico and a spine fellowship in Spain. He also works for CURE around his practice schedule.

Now to the family adventures... one of our adjustments here is that we cannot drink out of the tap. We must drink bottled water from dispensers all over the hospital. All fruits and vegetables have to be washed in tap water with a few drops of bleach.

This is Grace Zablah who is the Honduran clubfoot program coordinator! She has been so helpful to us in our rental home search-- acting as our guide around the city, translator, and general advisor in terms of safe and unsafe areas to live. It's been a joy to spend time with her.

This is the trusty CURE van (nicknamed "Eleanor" by Bunny Schwentker) that has taken us all over SPS and back in our school and home search.

Traffic is much different. Pedestrians, motorcyclists, bicyclists, and horse carts weave through the vehicular traffic with no rules. Aggressive driving is rewarded. New lanes of traffic form without warning. There are few street signs and some missing manhole covers. No speed limits except those imposed by speed bumps. And accidents abound. I've driven by two fatalities in our short time here-- seen only the morgue truck in one circumstance, but saw the body bag being loaded in the other. Pray for safety for us as we travel around the city.

This is Diunsa-- a Walmart-like store where we can find household goods for a reasonable price.

We grocery shop in stores, but buy our fruit from a truck near CURE. The fruit is picked at the peak of ripeness, so we have to buy it and consume it quickly. It's mango season! A small watermelon, six large mangoes, a bag of green-but-ripe oranges, and two bunches of bananas cost me about $4.

After our school visits, we decided on the bilingual Village Montessori-- a very small but classical-yet-progressive school in the north. (It was also exponentially less expensive than the big international school.) The girls are thrilled since they attended a montessori school in Hershey. It gives us a few years to make the final decision regarding any further schooling. They wear these uniforms four days a week-- and a PE uniform on Thursdays. On the first day Abigail had music class in Spanish with a translator. The class is learning to play the recorder (flute). Abigail's class has 12 children-- including the director's child. Lillian is in a class of seven.

Before school began, the teachers spent three hours with our girls one-on-one to get to know them better. We are so grateful that God provided a lovely and safe school that our girls love.

Across the street and half a block away is the swimming pool where the San Pedro Delfin swim team practices. They are the most successful team in Honduras-- according to their website. Beginning next month, the Montessori children will be coming here on Mondays for swim lessons during PE.

One huge difference for us in starting Honduran school is the fact that we need to purchase all the school supplies and books. This necessitated a long trip to the school supply store with two lists of about 30 items each-- thankfully we looked so helpless that three ladies helped us find everything.

After 1 1/2 weeks of daily trips out to see potential homes, we did find a rental house within our budget in a safe neighborhood. We have been repeatedly warned by North Americans and Hondurans alike that SPS is not a safe place. We were advised to find a home in a gated community. El Barrial is a neighborhood of about 50 homes within a gate and wall that is guarded around the clock. No one gets in without an appointment that is confirmed by phone on that day.

The home is just right for our family. God was certainly in the details of this! The family are strong Christians who are moving to the capital city. She owns an Italian restaurant where she makes gelato-- even flavored with basil and avocado. The house is one story (safer for our one year old Charlotte and very unusual for SPS) and shaped like a U around a covered patio and a small yard where the kids can play within my line of vision from every room in the house. There is a door that divides the social areas from the bedrooms so we can feel free to host Bible studies or invite friends to dinner while still respecting our children's bedtimes. The house is clean and well-kept and the kitchen will be a joy in which to cook! There is even a water filter built into the kitchen tap and a garbage disposal-- which is also unusual for SPS. A wall and gate surround it for security, but inside it still feels open with a view of the sky!

It was our hope that we could find a safe neighborhood where we could take walks or even bike rides-- also a very tall order for SPS where this is very unusual. It turns out that El Barrial is a neighborhood designed around a small eco-tourism center where people can rent a little cabin, tent, or even apartment on stilts to enjoy an area of nature within the city. There are trails on which guests can walk or bike around a farm and a pond where you can birdwatch. In eco-center (where they recycle) they have a laundry, minimart, and cafeteria for guests that we can use. There are also activities-- story time twice a week, movies under the stars, chess games, Honduran cooking classes, and even urban gardening classes. All within the safe walls of our gated community. You can read more about this unusual place on http://www.techosverde.net/. God has given us a wonderful place to call home. This is a photo of the urban community garden.

And a few more photos of our Saturday adventure with Ned Schwentker. Ned took us to Pulhapanzuk Falls (about an hour away) where we took this photo. Abigail is looking forward to returning for a longer visit to swim and do the child zipline.

Then we drove another 40 minutes to the largest lake in Honduras-- Lago de Yojoa-- to have lunch. There are about 15 fish restaurants in a row-- but we knew to go to Iris' because it's a favorite of Danny and Ruth's.

We picked our fish from a freezer full of freshly caught and frozen fish.

Then we washed our hands under a spigot overlooking the beautiful lake. The temperature was very nice-- cooler than SPS at the higher elevation.

Iris scaled, cleaned, and salted the fish before frying them.

And then she cut some plantains into chips for frying too.

And then we ate it at a table with a view.

On Sunday we took Ned to the airport for his return to Hershey-- a bit symbolic to us of the baton being passed, a story that goes back eleven years to our trip to Kijabe, Kenya where we met Ned for the first time.

Then we visited an English-speaking church of about 50-60 international Christians-- many of whom are missionaries. We will visit our friend Aracely's church this coming weekend.

Thank you for praying for us. We are adjusting to our new life here. And we can definitely testify to the gracious care of our loving Father during this time.

Friday Progress and Saturday Plans

I promise I won't be writing evey day-- just initially when there are a lot of decisions and first impressions to record.

On Friday, Jay's patient's parents did not come-- so the surgery was postponed until Monday when consent could be obtained. A non-parent friend came to take the child home over the weekend. So the hospital is closed now until Monday. A "brigade" is going out this Saturday morning to the Puerto Cortes (the port of Cortes) which is the largest Carribean/Atlantic side port for Honduras. They will have an outreach clinic as well as continuing to establish relationships with local churches and pastors for further work in that region. They will see new patients at the local hospital (ones who have been referred for pediatric orthopedic consultation with CURE) as well as seeing follow-up patients who have already been seen previously by CURE staff. Ruth, Danny, Dr. Gustavo, and others will be going... Jay will be staying back with us to get some necessary work done.

Yesterday, Grace took all five Bridgemans out to see five homes in the north part of the city near the mountains and the schools. We were encouraged to find safe, gated areas-- and clean, new-ish homes. Several would be fine-- but we did not both have immediate peace about any one of them in particular. So we are going out with a realtor by ourselves this morning (our first time looking without a CURE staff accompanying us). We are going to meet her in the parking lot of a grocery store and look at three places. These homes are also in a safe residential gated community near markets and malls. They are bit less of a drive to CURE but a little further from the schools. Then we will go to the Zizima waterpark.

In the evenings, a slightly cool breeze sometimes blows- but it affects the ground level more than the second floor where the apartment is located. So we have been going down to scooter in the parking lot. The two night guards are Bilhilio and Jose. Bilhilio has six children-- the youngest of whom is twenty years old. Jose has one two year old daughter. Jay and I try our best to communicate with our very limited Spanish-- it's amazing how much can be said without words. And I think they look forward to our evening treks down the stairs to their world. There are a lot of mosquitos. Bilhilio tells me I need to put on some pantalones and spray my ankles with insect repellant. We've also noticed fireflies.

Please continue to pray for just the right home soon so we can start to unpack and settle for the start of school and surgery.

A Better Day!

(NOTE: If you are reading from the blog page, you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them.)

Last night we spent a little time as a family sharing some of our Yeahs! and our Yucks! of being in Honduras. While at our cross-cultural training course in Colorado, we learned about the paradox of going to the missions field-- part of you really wants to go, but part of you really wants to stay. For the children, they taught them that the experience is a "pair of ducks"-- a Yeah! duck and a Yuck! duck. This was one of the many reasons why we are so grateful for having spent those three weeks in preparation-- we now have a vocabulary for talking to our children about their experience in cross-cultural adjustment. Abigail said that one of her Yeahs! was the many new kinds of fruits which she is enjoying. Lillian said she was happy for the ice cream we had for dessert. Another Abigail Yeah! was all of us sleeping in one enormous bed for the initial adjustment-- Jay said this was a Yuck! for him:) Abigail also told us that the heat was yuck! And I agree. But today was my first day without a heat headache-- and I'm told that we will eventually adjust to the oppressive heat. And then we took turns thanking God for both the Yeahs! and the Yucks!

Today was much more of a Yeah! day. We got up early enough to go downstairs for the staff/patient devotions at 7am as a family. Jay's been going without us. Then we had a little time to watch some Spanish TV-- we get Spanish PBS Kids, Disney, and Nickelodeon here at the CURE apartment. And the girls worked on some paint-by-numbers sent in a big bag of crafts from Heidi Garber. Abigail has also been enjoying playing Moshi Monsters on the computer. Then, while Jay worked on issues still related to moving back at the hospital while taking Charlotte, the girls and I went on another school hunt this morning with Aracely (the spiritual director) and Grace (clubfoot program director). It's been really fun to get to spend time with these wonderful women who speak English and committed to the mission of CURE.

Our first stop was the Village Montessori school, located in the northwest area of San Pedro Sula. Aracely (who has children of the same age) had heard about the school and arranaged for a visit for us. The school serves children through the third grade currently-- but has plans to expand to a full elementary school.


Inside the gate.


A shaded area for play.

It was thrilling for Abigail and Lillian who attended a wonderful montessori in Hershey-- Abigail for two years and Lillian for three (and would be going for one more year if we had stayed). They even call the upstairs area for the younger children Children's House, just like ours in Hershey. They immediately saw materials that were familiar. Lillian pulled out these map templates with which the children make their own maps.

This photo came out sideways-- but shows some of the exact same biology material as we used in Hershey. The school was not quite set up since classes do not begin for another two weeks, but we saw enough to get excited.

Sensorial materials that teach gradation of size and volume as well as fine motor skills.

The building does not allow for one large area for everything-- so each room has several stations-- like reading and math or culture and geography. Maybe a good thing for Lillian who sometimes needs encouragment to try new areas of study and play.

More math materials. All their teachers have montessori certificates through the Honduran montessori organization-- and they continue to update their training regularly.

Each class has 15 students maximum. Most students are from Honduras with a few from Guatemala and other nations. Classes are conducted in English except for Spanish class during which time they will give our girls special tutoring until they can catch up.

Both Abigail and Lillian jumped right in to doing some of the activities that are familiar to them. And they both expressed that they really wanted to go to school here. It's difficult to assess the academic level of the school, but we had been advised to be liberal with academics for the first year while the girls learn the culture and language and adjust to their new life. So we have an appointment on Tuesday morning from 8-11am for an evaluation.

(They also already have two children with DS enrolled there.)

And then we went to visit the Agape Christian school-- a school to whom I had written in inquiry, but had received a response saying that they could not accept Lillian. But, encouraged by the fact that she was accepted by the most academically rigorous school in town, we pushed on with a visit. Once inside gates, there is a large soccer field beyond which the school lies.

This is the primary school.

The computer lab

A high school classroom. The school has about 700 students who go up to high school. They offer an American diploma curriculum. Quite a few missionaries send their children there. And both Aracely and Dr. Vasquez (the other CURE orthopedic surgeon) send their children to this school.

The library in progress.

The view from the primary school.

Afterward, we drove around the area looking for houses for rent-- even getting to go inside one. It was very encouraging. We have some calls out to look at other homes. Several times we had to cross this road with a river running over it which I thought was interesting. Of note, I drove everywhere on this trip today without problem. There are very few street signs and even fewer indications of traffic laws (including no speed limit signs and numerous bicyclists-motorcyclists-horse carts around which I need to weave).

One of the gated neighborhoods is the Villa Mackay where Aracely is building a new home. In the center is a large park with some playground equipment where the neighbors walk and play in the cool of the evening. We would be able to ride our bikes here and play in relative safety.

And we made it safely back for lunch at the hospital! The hospital provides a big noon-ish meal for all the employees as one of their benefits. And we get to join them. Gina has even purchased Tinkerbell plates for our girls. And in the evening, we cook our own supper in the apartment. On Tuesday we made mushroom-clam pasta and fruit salad. On Wednesday we made rice, chimichurri chicken, and stir-fried ronde du nice (round French) zucchini. Tonight Ned is going to make us breakfast for dinner.

Today's lunch was a marinated piece of beef, marinated salad of cabbage-onions-beets, tortillas, refried beans, a piece of white cheese, and breadfruit. Yes, Olivia, after a lifetime of reading about breadfruit in Robinson Carusoe and other such survival-on-island books, I finally got to eat it! A bit like a piece of foam board that's been fried-- but much tastier with beans spread over it.

Gina really is an excellent cook, and we look forward to our lunches every day. Today she made some chicken noodle and vegetable soup for the girls with a bowl of rice on the side.

So please continue to pray for our decision. We long to finish this part of the adjustment so we can unpack and start to make a home. Living in San Pedro Sula will mean a longer drive with traffic for both of us to get to CURE-- but may result in an easier adjustment for our girls. Tomorrow Jay will do his first surgery-- a short one on a child's thumb. And then we will go look at some other homes with Grace. On Saturday we would like to take the girls to do something fun here-- so they can start to make some happy memories of Honduras. They would like to go to the waterpark Zizima.