Quick Trip Home

 

We took a week of our precious vacation to travel home and touch base with our families and friends. As volunteers, we get 22 days over the 13 months that we volunteer and are discouraged from using them in the first 4 months. We chose the first week of December for this trip because it is a relatively slack time on the ranch between the end of the school year celebrations and Christmas events.

We had a bit of a rough start leaving Honduras because my Honduran passport stamp had expired. NPH had been having our passports restamped when necessary while applying for our year-long immigration status. We had both just completed the process and Allen even had his immigration card, but I had not received mine yet.             Therefore, when we went through the Honduras customs center at the airport (yes, they have a customs exit center at the airport), Allen’s credentials passed, but Honduras customs could not verify my status in their system and only had my expired passport date. After much discussion, including between the NPH lawyer and their customs agents, we ended up paying a fine of $260 so that we could make our flight.

As an added aggravation, our carry-on bags were individually inspected and the customs agent who inspected mine took a long time. We heard our names and last call for our flight while the agent searched my bag, removing some small safety pins and the mini file off of my nail clippers. I told her to keep it all, but she just gave me a “look” and kept removing the “dangerous” material. I got an additional glare from her when I took a photo of the items that she removed, but as I explained to her in my limited Spanish “Mis amigos necessitan saber que esto no esta permitido” (My friends need to know that these are not permitted.) By the time she was done, Allen was gesturing for me to hurry up to catch our flight. As this is highly unusual for Allen, I felt it best to run after him to the gate as soon as I had my things. We made the flight and the rest of the trip home was refreshingly uneventful.

Safety Pins and Fingernail Clipper Files Removed From My Carry-On Luggage

Our week was filled with get togethers of family and friends:

·       Saturday night/Sunday morning Tracy picked us up from the airport to drive us to Lakebay where Ron and Stacie had been taking excellent care of our home and were wonderful hosts over the week.

·       Sunday Alyssa, Ian, James, Fiona, and Wesley joined us for a day at home. In addition, Paul & Susan picked up Carol Jean and later Katy came and spent time with us. We tried out the new Mexican Restaurant in Lakebay.

·       Monday Allen and I stopped at Multnomah Falls and then went to Skamania Lodge for the 3rd annual “Birthday Bash” with 6 of our wonderful friends: Lorna, Holly, Dave, Gail, John, and Emily. If you are wondering, Holly and Gail are the birthday girls and John is the Santa Claus look-a-like.

Multnomah Falls
John, Gail, Emily, Dave, Lorna, Holly, Marcel, and Allen Dining at Skamania


 Tuesday Allen and I went to my Mom’s in Turner, Oregon for a pre-Christmas get together with my brothers and sisters and their spouses. Everyone was there except my brother Jon so that means 15 of us plus Tracy.

·       Wednesday we stopped in Portland on the way home and spent the day with more of Al’s family. Marilyn & Ron hosted so that Jim & Libby and Mike & Colleen could visit with us. Tracy and Galen also joined.  

Ron, Marilyn, Mike, Colleen, Jim, Libby, Marcel, and Allen in Portland

Thursday we showed Ron and Stacie where the Christmas decorations were stored and helped decorate the house. Al and Ron bought a tree. Afterwards, we had a “Happy Hour” get together with several of our neighbors.

Ready for Christmas!

Friday I was able to connect with Annita for a walk in the morning. Alyssa and the 3 grandkids joined us for dinner.

Wonderful Farewell Dinner Before Going Back to Honduras (Stacie took the picture).

·       Saturday morningTracy gave us a ride to the airport for our trip back to Honduras.

 Needless to say, the week went by way too fast. It was a good thing that Allen ordered lots of items ahead of time on Amazon. We brought the bare minimum of clothing and two empty suitcases so that he could fill them up with items not easily found in Honduras like size 13 shoes, quality maintenance tools, and a Santa suit. Actually, I bet he could find a Santa suit in Honduras, but I guess now we don’t have to look. We ended up with two full 50-lb suitcases of mostly gifts. I think we are all set for a fun Christmas on the Ranch!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Background on Our Adventure

Dear Family & Friends – Allen & I are volunteering at Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos (NPH) in Honduras for over a year. This blog is set up to keep you informed of our activities and welfare so you can explore with us the adventures that await. As a background, we became aware of the NPH orphanage ( www.nph.org ) through St Louise Catholic Church which was our parish when we lived in Bellevue, Washington. Our pastor, Father Tom Belleque, brought his love of this wonderful organization to our parish many years ago. At first we became sponsors to a child in Haiti. Later we had an opportunity to visit the NPH orphanage in Miacatlan, Mexico during a retreat with fellow parishioners. This was the first NPH established (in 1955) and we were impressed with the safe and loving environment of the over 400 children housed and cared for in a converted sugar plantation. After the retreat, we became more involved in NPH, attending local fundraising auctions and providing housing for NPH staff
Read more

Lake Yojoa (October 4 - 8, 2023)

Image
Written before we left:   We made arrangements to come to Lake Yojoa for a 5 day/ 4 night adventure. We are staying at the recommended D&D Brewery Lodge and Restaurant. Not only do they have inexpensive lodging and freshly brewed beer, they also are the center of things to do at Lake Yojoa with many guided services and lots of ways to make a stay enjoyable. With 4 days, we had the following list: -           Hike or guided tour to Pulhapanzak Waterfall -           Guided birding tour -           Kayak & swim on the lake -           Drink a free beer (perk of being a volunteer) -           Coffee tour -           Meet some interesting people -           Couples massage (with Allen) We were able to take the NPH bus into Tegucigalpa and arranged private transport through D&D for the rest of the trip (3.5 hrs each way) which cost more than we are used to paying ($160 each way), but was worth it for the peace of mind. Written Sunday after return:  Here is wha
Read more

Drinking From a Fire Hose (Saturday 6/3/23)

Image
  After our first week of Spanish Immersion classes, we are just starting to appreciate how much we have to learn. I thought I knew parts of the body, but found I only had words (palabras) for a small fraction. The good news is that we have very patient teachers (maestros) who make learning fun, but we wish that we had spent more time learning Spanish at home. We are both praying for a miracle (ombus orando por un milagro), but it will likely just take a lot of hard work. We have also taken time to explore the town of Copas Ruinas, especially the many coffee shops that have air conditioning, wifi, and some excellent Honduran coffee!   All greatly appreciated when we are working on our homework (tarea). Cafe Con Leche from Cafe San Rafael We bought yoga mats and have been doing daily yoga in the large salon at our homestay. Our host family, the Perazas, have an ideal setup for students with ensuite bedrooms and a spacious home. Abu
Read more