We arrive in Honduras. Robert and Leigh go through the Tegucigalpa baggage claim first and busied themselves collecting the trunks. A new immigration system is in place (finger prints and face photo) and we giggled afterwards when Robert explained his experience. He was asked to place his forefinger on the scan, which he did, but was then was told "no, four fingers". Leigh was reprimanded for having a clementine in her bag. Frank made it through with a New Jersey apple.
Our trunks do look as if we intend to open a theater. We have props for the classes we will be holding along with the water filtration system and plumbing parts. As a result we have little space in our luggage for clothes.
Our week begins at 7am Friday morning. We are greeted by our Honduran team members who quickly load our trunks and bags. We lunch at a nearby city restaurant and Robert is told that our hotel will only take cash. So he goes to a nearby bank but is refused. Of course, Robert is still wearing his leather jacket and New Jersey winter gangster clothing and is clearly suspicious. Mark drives us back to the airport where we eventually change money with a man standing on the street (the exchange rate of 21 "limps" to the $ is the deal from the man).
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| Robert (without NJ gangster clothing) |
We stay at Marie Christina hotel in the town principality of Villa San Francisco. Then "the water crew" travel to Quebrada Grande. We first look for Pastor Enrique Ochua. He greets us with bloody feathered hands - he has just killed a chicken for dinner - and rightly did not wish to embrace us. We are paired into rooms. My sleep buddy is Nineth (Mumguia Alvarado), our living water assistant. The TV has a bigger shelf than the space we have been given to unpack. The rooms have two beds and an extra large TV stand as well as a leaky shower pipe, cracked toilet and wall sink with no trim. Why does tile grout have to be lumpy and discolored? Nineth has assured me this is not a bad room. She is correct - it does indeed function.
Frank and I walk across the road to our newly discovered beer provider. It's a small one room store with ornate metal bars. The room is full of refrigerators and shelves stocked full of drinks, plantain chips and toilet rolls . You only get a tiny view into the room and that's all we could see. The room is attached to the owner's home, off the living room. TV was on and we caught the smell of dinner cooking. We bought small quantities (4) of cold quart-size Salvavida beer. After an adventurous first day, drinking this beer was "pure nectar. " We dine on meat kebab, avocado, salsas and feta cheese tortilla. Finally a team meeting to discuss who is ready for day 2.
Go Water Team
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| Quebrada Grande group photo |
