So we are in Honduras, yeah that's exciting and all, but a lot happened this year leading up to our travels that we were just too busy to blog about. So here are some highlights: 

Well, for now, the "beyond" part is simply returning back home, which I am very grateful to be. I had a very exciting trip, but really there is no place like home. Here are some pictures from my trip. The first (hopefully) is of my friend Garret and me at Club Banco which is where we spent some time. The next few pics are some of the work that we did to get the building in better working condition. I was able to use my electrical knowledge to fix some things like this fan and several light switches. I did try to work on some of their other electrical wiring issues, but the Argentine electrical code was a bit confusing to me...though I have some thoughts now on how to resolve it. :-\ 

After a kilo of ice cream...
...it is hard to stop laughing.
...you might see a man with his fly open.
...you begin to wonder if people are watching you.
...you might see another man urinating in a trash can.
...you stop worrying if people are watching you.
...you have a strange urge to ask for a refill.
...you find yourself embarking on a 5 hour bus ride for the beach.
...you think that it would be good to do it again, next year.

Enjoy!

Tonight was the Jazz concert and I must admit that I was not looking
forward to it. I was very tired from working on various electrical
wiring issues and I was beginng to really miss my wife and family. I
went anyway.

I had more fun than I had expected primarily because there were
several English speaking people there, many of whom are affiliated
with the Navigators. So I had several nice conversations, in
particular was one toward the end when Garrett was ready to leave. I
got involved in a techie conversation with a fellow computer
programmer...Garrett was totally unimpressed. It was fun to find out
that they use mostly English-based programming languages.

While at the Jazz concert we needed more bread so as we headed out for
the store I asked Garrett, "Why don't we go to the disco?" Perhaps you
are wondering why I would want to leave the Jazz concert for a disco
club? Well the answer is quite simple when you put things in context;
"Disco" is the name of the grocery store!

Enjoy!

Today was a reasonably eventful day. It started off by me finally
getting some money, but the more interesting part of that was that
while we were riding through the park we saw the Mayor (but that is
not really his title but that is essentially his job function). He is
not a Christian but he does seem to appreciate the work that is being
done here. I got to shake hands with him.

Next, I did some electrical work...yeah, the buidling that we are
renting is in pretty bad shape in terms of electrical power, but from
what I have seen much of City Bell is this way. I was able to fix some
light swithes which might otherwise cost the saints here several
hundred dollars. Praise the Lord, I'm glad that I can be some help
even though there is such a great language barrier.

This evening, we got back from a debate...it was actually called a
"forum" between a Catholic priest and the Protestant preacher here. I
did not understand much of the discussion but there were about 50
people in attendance, which meant standing room only. Most people
seemed quite pleased with the debate. It was the most Argentine
greetings that I had given/dealt in such rapid succession. (An
Argentine greeting consists of a small hug ang "kiss" on the cheek,
usually right cheek, though few kisses actually ever involve lips. In
reality it is more of a touch between cheeks and a kissing sound.) I
am getting better at it though Garrett says that I am still very stiff
about the whole thing.

The most awesome part about today was correcting Garrett! Well ok so I
did not really correct his grammer, but I did know and use a word that
he did not know. It is the word for "heel" like the part of a foot.
Facu had told me earlier in the day that his foot was hurting and I
managed to retain the word until I asked him about it at the end of
the day!

(Though I don't feel like I am making much progress, I am able to
recall words better and faster than I did only two days ago.)

Enjoy!

I fully recognize that I am different than other people, but I don't
think that I will ever fully understand some aspects in Larin and
Sounth America. To me there seems to always be a sense of "no
urgency". What I mean is if there is lots of work to be done then no
one seems to care when (or in my opinion: IF) it gets done. I'm not
sure how well I can get my point across, but if you know me then you
probably understand my difficulty. :-/

In the same day that I experienced this behavior I also experienced
genuine Argentine hospitality. :-) Now let me explain something first:
the people that I see here remind me of New Yorkers. With little
offense to New York people, they can appear a bit rude to a Southerner
when you meet one on the street. For example, if you were to say
"Hello." or "Can you help me find..." to an Argentine person on the
street then they might look at you like your were either a lunatic or
a thief. (I was told this but I did not fully believe it until I got
here...and yes, this is all just a setup for my main point.) As I was
wrapping up our painting project today, I ended up cleaning off a sign
that was in front of a store because there was some paint droppings on
it. The young man running the store was pleased with my effort, even
though I was not able to get much off the sign without ruining it.
While I was cleaning up, he offered me some "mate" (sounds like "ma"
from Mafia and "te" from Teresa; accent on the "e") which is an
Argentine drink (tea) that I expect to bring back home. Anyway...it
was a very friendly offer, it is an invitation to stop and talk and it
is not extended to everyone. So I quickly wrapped up my cleaning and
stood around drinking "mate" talking as best I could with the man. It
was truly an honor that this man wanted to try to communicate with me
knowing that I knew little Spanish. This was my first experience with
this type of Argentine hospitality from a stranger.

Enjoy!

I went running this morning with Vini and had a decent conversation
(Vini speaks little English and Garrett was gone). We ran for about 45
minutes and we were both tired, but I was concentrating so much on
listening and speaking that I failed to realizehow tired my legs were
until we were close to done.

Soon Chris, an engineer is coming to take us to an orphanage. (Garrett
asked me what I wanted to do while in Argentina and I told him that I
wanted to go to an orphanage.) Then we need to do some painting and
general maintenance on the building...I think that I'm going to be
stuck working on some electrical wiring issues.

This is going to be one exciting week!
Enjoy!

This place is not at all what I had expected! First of all it is NOT
Mexico. Next, many people want to practice their English out on other
English speaking people...quite annoying when I am trying to do just
the opposite.

Other than that, things are going well. There is an interesting accent
here in Argentina that is not heard in Mexico or Texas. It is taking
a bit of time to adjust to it. Tonight we are going to an "asado",
which, I am told, is a type of meat and/or an event. So I think
tonight we are doing both.

Well...I was just told that we have to get ready to go!

Enjoy!

In case you missed it, Daniel got his leg cutoff...well not really his "real" leg, but rather his cast. He actually did quite well considering that the doctor had to use a high-speed cutting device to cut off the cast. Daniel sat there patiently while Alesha and the kids tensed up for fear the the doctor really was going to cut Daniel's leg.