My first few days in Honduras...

So, I arrived in Honduras Thursday and spent the afternoon in the CRWRC/Diaconia Nacional (DN) office here in Tegucigalpa.  Diaconia's staff from around the country were there for their monthly meeting so I was very fortunate to meet them all right away.  Friday included some more orientation meetings with Ana, Irene and Reyna from CRWRC. 

Dilia, the director of Diaconia Nacional, has been very generous as she invited me to stay with her family until I leave for Catacamas on Monday.  They have a beautiful house on one of the hills just outside of Tegucigalpa.  They also have a lot of extended family staying with them right now so there's always someone to talk to.  Last night we all went to a major fiesta that lasted into the wee hours of the morning.  Dilia's niece turned 15 and the fiesta quinceañera is similar to a sweet-sixteen party so there was lots of food, balloons, musice, more food, and of course dancing.  Luckily church wasn't very early this morning considering we all had very little sleep. 

I really enjoyed the church service today.  We started off with prayer and a few songs and then the different age groups break off for Sunday School.  The lesson for the youth emphasized caring for creation.  They talked about how the world was created by God to be our home right now and it is our duty to take care of our homes.  The lesson drew our attention to preserving the trees in our neighbourhoods, not leaving garbge in the yard, being conscious of how we use resources like water and even pointed out that people ought to show respect for creation by refraining from peeing in the streets (which I have already seen numerous times!) 

Tomorrow Ana, Dilia and I are going to Catacamas to set me up in what will be my house for the next few months.  Tuesday will probably be more orientation on DN's specific programs in Catacamas and I should be starting my intensive Spanish lessons by Wednesday.