Brown rivers, new friends, and baleadas

Here I am safely in Comayagua. My journey started early Monday morning as I left my home a little after 3 am with a little less than three hours of sleep. The clouds looked like a pillow fight had taken over the sky. My first view on Honduras consisted of winding dirt roads and curving rivers that were just as brown as the roads. I arrived in Tegucigalpa by lunch time with a deer-in-the-headlights look on my face that slowly faded the sleepier I became. Keren Ortiz and her husband arrived and took me through the busy, bustling, bombarding streets of Tegucigalpa to a--you'll never guess--McDonald's. We continued our trip to Comayagua using an alternative and much longer route since the main road had been broken by flooding.

A few hours later we were at the Maranatha Bilingual School that I will be working at. Pastor Trundle talked to me for a few minutes, and then we were off to my new home for the year. Miss Myla (my next door neighbor and 2nd grade teacher at the school) greeted me with my keys and a much needed glass of water. Despite my exhaustion, I spent the remainder of the evening cleaning every inch of my room I could reach and unpacking. Miss Myla came to check on me and had me over for my very first Honduran meal. Yum!

Today was my first day at school. Norma (the primary principal) gave me a packet and lesson plan ideas to look over from last year. After looking over papers for a couple hours, Effie (a teacher from Guatemala) helped me go grocery shopping. We went to Jumbo and struggled to carry eight bags of groceries back to my house. After buying a lunch of plantains, we went back to the school. There wasn't much to do, because I'm not sure what grades I will be teaching. I might be teaching Math, Science, and Bible classes for first grade, or I might be teaching something else. I won't know for sure until the end of the week. Since I am the first Adventist student missionary to get here, they want to wait to make final decisions until the other girls arrive.

Two sisters from Jamaica are supposed to be arriving tomorrow afternoon, and the last girl is coming from England on Monday. I'm so excited to not be alone in the house anymore! Don't worry--there is a big locking gate and locked doors. And, I am surviving quite well spending time with Miss Myla and my new friends across the street, Ashley and Emily. They are also missionary teachers here from another church in the US. Emily's parents help run an orphanage called the Hogar just outside the city. Tonight we went to La Princesita, and I had my first famously delicious baleada. A baleada is a big tortilla type shell filled with beans, cheese, eggs, and a liquidy sour cream called mantequilla.

Lots more to say, but now you have a quick update! I still can't believe I'm here, but I'm sure the shock will wear off after a while. I am looking forward to the year and the start of school. God is good, and I know He will give me the courage I'm lacking.