Yo escogo alegria!

I choose joy...I will invite my God to be the God of circumstance. I will refuse the temptation to be cynical...the tool of the lazy thinker. I will refuse to see people as anything less than human beings, created by God. I will refsue to see any problem as anything less than an opportunity to see God.

-from Akron training

Halfway point: 6 months left to go. Here I sit in the office with a cool breeze sipping strong Indio coffee, having run 20 minutes on a country road that leads to Ojo de Agua (the nearest town), and being welcomed home by my morning breakfast of fried eggs, liquified beans, hard cheese and tortillas, not to mention that my host mom tried to serve me tea but I just couldn't do it after sweating so much. The summer is here. The weather is hot, especially during the afternoons. The boys got into a big soccer game yesterday and we played musical chairs with the girls. I am quite excited to be back to work with the kids after being gone for nearly a month.
In the beginning of January, I had the chance to go to Nicaragua for an MCC retreat as well as language school in La Ceiba, Honduras. After catching up with more people here I have found that traveling is such a luxury. So many Hondurans don't know places in their country because of hard economic situations and the fact that travel can take quite a while here. Many people cannot take off work or find care for their kids while they are aware. Now that my spanish has gotten better I seem to be more aware of the struggles of my fellow co-workers.
Yesterday, I was talking to the cleaning lady here who was saying that she struggles with depression. Her husband left her to care for her 11 and 18 year old daughters. She lives in a neighboring town and says that most of her connections are with people from Montana de Luz here in Nueva Esperanza. However, so many women have children at a young age and motherhood can make it difficult to make time for anything else.
Another co-worker I was talking with says that she can hardley pay school fees this semester. It is difficult because the prices can be high and the government hardley helps anyone pay for school. She works at as a cook at MDL but she hopes to find another job here. All the temperal work is usually with the watermelon harvest in this area, which requires lots of manual labor and the workers must focus on the job 24/7 for a month at a time.
My other friend had to switch Universities because her last one was too expensive. That also meant switching career paths, which kinda rocked her life for a couple weeks. It just seems so unjust to have so little options and opportunities in a democratic society...She asks for your prayers to be at peace, find confidence to continue in her new career of ecotourism, and find the money to support her schooling.
In the midst of hearing about the U.S. economic crisis, I also have paused to acknowledge that Honduras has been in an economic crisis for many years. People have been struggling, sacrificing, and scraping by. Yet, they earn degrees, they construct houses after the rainy season, and they feed the children, though it may be the same beans and eggs and tortillas they had for dinner the night before. My eyes are definitely opened to the creativity of those with less resources and their true appreciation of what it is to afford a birthday cake and pinata to celebrate a birthday, money to finally buy a sofa, and the relief of finally fumigating for mosquitos that seem to take over on summer nights.

In all of this, I will choose joy. I refuse to see any problem as anything less than an opportunity to see God...

Escuela en Ceiba

Como esta el nieve?? How is the snow? I don't miss it but I do miss my sunny Kansas skies. The rain has been crazy this week and last week here in Ceiba. Michael and I are in language school trying to better our spanish in the northern part of Honduras. It has much more of a Garifuna population, an African indigenous group that decended from slaves. Now there are various Garifuna villages here that speak Garifuna and are known for dancing punta and eating lots of seafood. Punta, their traditional dance, is composed of fast beats and moving your butt in tiny circles. Various kids at Montana de Luz can do it and its impressive, not to mention wonderful exercise!
Things are going well here at language school. I feel encouraged with my spanish and I can tell that I am learning more right now. We attended a Mennonite church here and the service was surprizingly short but I guess I've just finally gotten used to the 3 or 4 hour church services here. Its great to finally know the music that is playing on the radio stations around me and feel at ease speaking to basically anyone around me. I'm still bothered by the machismo but I am learning to ask God for more courage.
My 23rd birthday is this Friday and I'm excited to spend it here in Ceiba, discovering the world around me. I've tried pastelitos de carne *(like empanadas) and various soups here. I've also heard that this was the birthplace of baleadas and have yet to eat one that has been "authentically" made. It will be a pleasure. Michael and I also went to a Dole company park here. Honduras was one of the most passive countries in the fight with the United Fruit company and it is evident in how active the Dole companies and other banana farmers are still present in this area. It will be hard, but I feel convicted to give up bananas especially after seeing how much control foreigners have on this sector of the Honduran economy contributing to more poverty here.
I hope you are all well and finding new reasons for getting out in the cold world in which you life right now. Enjoy this season, whatever it may be for you, and remember to enjoy some kind of chocolate for me on Friday, probably kitkats are the best!